Abbotsford Canucks Live: It's a 5 p.m., Game 3 in Texas with Abby up 2-0 in series
Article content
Everything is bigger in Texas.
Article content
Article content
Houses are huge. Food portions are gigantic. And so is the appetite for sports.
Article content
Egos and expectations could easily be the state slogan because sports spectacles aren't just something, they mean everything in a place where the only thing that matters is winning.
Article content
For the Texas Stars, who trail the Abbotsford Canucks 2-0 in the best-of-seven AHL Western Conference finals, it's must-win desperation tonight in their home arena at Cedar Park, a 20-kilometre drive north of bustling Austin.
Article content
If the Stars expect to stage a series rally and take the next step to claiming their second Calder Cup championship in 11 years — former Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins was at the helm in a 2014 title season — they'll have to get past standout stopper Arturs Silovs.
Article content
He's on the cusp of equalling another AHL playoff record and is in constant about his NHL future.
Article content
Silovs, 24, who made 29 saves Saturday in a 1-0 blanking of the Stars in Abbotsford, has five post-season shutouts to go with his league-leading 1.61 goals-against average and .941 saves percentage. The shutout record of six is held by former Canucks goaltender Mika Noronen, who established the mark by backstopping the Rochester Americans to the league crown in 2000.
Article content
Article content
'It's our game overall,' Silovs said of Abbotsford's playoff progression. 'We're getting better every single game by doing the right things by blocking shots and taking guys away from the net front. And we're doing a good job on the PK with guys sacrificing their bodies.
Article content
Article content
'It's a team effort. We have big confidence and we've put them (Stars) on the ropes.'
Article content
Article content
Noronen played just four games for Vancouver after being acquired at the 2006 NHL trade deadline. In his first appearance, he was bombed in a 5-0 loss to the Nashville Predators. Noronen then signed in Russia as opposed to serving as backup to workhorse Roberto Luongo.
Article content
As for tonight, the Stars now need Justin Hryckowian and former Canuck Kole Lind, who have seven playoff goals apiece, to strike early. They'll also need leadership from hockey-lifer Curtis McKenzie, 34, who has four playoff goals and was 22 when the Stars won the AHL title in 2014. He had a career high 27 goals that season.
Article content
The Golden, B.C. native was a sixth-round pick of the NHL Stars in 2009 and had 23 points (10-13) and 131 penalty minutes in 99 games.
Article content
The Canucks have scored by committee in the post-season. While winger Linus Karlsson leads the club with seven goals, they've also got eight from defencemen.
Article content
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
33 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Bruins name former winger Marco Sturm head coach
The Boston Bruins hired Marco Sturm as coach on Thursday to help the Original Six franchise get back to the playoffs after missing them for the first time since 2016. The Bruins picked the 46-year-old German to replace interim coach Joe Sacco, who took over from Jim Montgomery in November and led the team to a 25-30-7 record — much of it after a trade deadline roster purge. Sturm, who spent the past three seasons as head coach of the AHL's Ontario Reign and coached Germany to a silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, is a former Boston player — just like Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney. 'Boston has always held a special place in my heart, and I know how much this team means to the city and to our fans,' said Sturm, who was a Bruins left wing from 2005-10. 'I've felt that passion as a player, and I can't wait to be behind the bench and feel it again. I'm excited to get to work and do everything I can to help this team succeed.' A three-time Olympian and first-round NHL draft pick who played most of his 14 seasons for the San Jose Sharks and Bruins, Sturm scored 242 goals with 245 assists in 938 career games and is No. 2 on the league's all-time scoring list for players born in Germany. As a coach, he worked as a Los Angeles Kings assistant guiding the Reign, the Kings' AHL affiliate, to a 119-80-11-6 record and three playoff appearances. 'His path — playing for multiple NHL teams, coaching internationally, and leading at both the AHL and NHL levels — has shaped a well-rounded coach who's earned this opportunity,' Sweeney said. 'As a former Bruin, he understands what this team means to the city and our fans. We're embracing a new direction with Marco behind the bench and are confident his energy, standards, and commitment to a competitive, hard-nosed brand of hockey reflect exactly what Bruins hockey should be.' Sacco, a Bruins assistant and former Colorado Avalanche head coach, replaced Montgomery 20 games into this season, but with the team unable to challenge for a playoff berth Sweeney traded away captain Brad Marchand and other veterans, and the Bruins stumbled to a 33-39-10 record overall, tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Only three teams in the league were worse, and CEO Charlie Jacobs said after the season that the results were 'absolutely unacceptable' and apologized to the fans for the performance. 'We owe you a better team, and we aim to deliver a better team,' he said after the season. 'I share your disappointment and, frankly, embarrassment on how poorly things played out over the course of this season.' Sacco was a candidate for the permanent job. Others who reportedly received consideration were Washington Capitals assistant Mitch Love, former Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson and Bruins assistant Jay Leach. Montgomery, 55, was 120-41-23 in two-plus seasons in Boston. The Bruins finished with more than 100 points in each of his first two years — including a record-setting debut, when their 65 wins and 135 points were both the most in NHL history. But the team lost in the first round of the playoffs that season and advanced to only the second round last year. The struggles carried over into an 8-9-3 start this season before Montgomery was fired. He was hired five days later by the St. Louis Blues and was given a five-year contract; the Blues reached the playoffs and lost in the first round in seven games to the Winnipeg Jets. Boston never improved under Sacco. Heading into the trade deadline with a three-game losing streak that left them at 28-28, the Bruins traded Marchand — the only remaining member of their 2011 Stanley Cup championship team — along with forwards Justin Brazeau, Marc McLaughlin, Trent Frederic and Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo. And they left Sacco on the bench to ride it out. The depleted roster lost 10 straight games — the team lost only 12 in its record-setting 2022-23 season under Montgomery — and fell from possible playoff contender to the NHL draft lottery. Despite the disappointment, the Bruins signed Sweeney to a two-year contract extension, with Neely saying it would help to have stability in the front office during the coaching search. 'I am confident in the plan he has followed these past few months — and excited for what's to come for our team,' the former Bruins forward said of the former Bruins defenseman. 'The expectations in Boston have always been clear. It's about winning championships.'
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
For Wes Anderson, family is at the heart of every film
Q with Tom Power Julianna Romanyk 'Somehow the people you know best keep sneaking into it,' says Anderson Wes Anderson never intended to write his friends and family into his movies — but it keeps on happening anyways. Max Fischer, the jack-of-all-trades failing student in Rushmore, was a combination of himself and his frequent collaborator Owen Wilson. Now, his new film The Phoenician Scheme is about Zsa-Zsa Korda, a tycoon who is heavily inspired by Anderson's father-in-law. The movie follows Korda as he undertakes a massive construction project, and trains his daughter Liesl to take over his international business. WATCH | Wes Anderson's full interview with Tom Power: "When you write a movie, it becomes more personal as it goes along," Anderson tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview. "It begins with research, and you think you're going to tell a story that's about historical figures.… But somehow the people you know best keep sneaking into it. "And that's what happened with my father-in-law, Fouad, who died two years ago. He was an engineer and a businessman. And he had all these different projects, mostly in the Middle East. And there are aspects of his life that found their way into the movie, in particular his organization of his projects into shoe boxes. But also his aura, and his manner. He was a gentle person, very wise… but he also was spectacularly intimidating." From Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums to Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson's coming-of-age stories have become a hallmark of his unmistakable style. For him, adolescence and early adulthood feel more pure and vivid than other stages of life. "There's an urgency in the way somebody younger communicates, and how they pursue the things that they want that gets diluted in time," says Anderson. "And maybe that's part of what kind of appeals to me about a character like [Liesl]." The other theme in common among Anderson's movies is familial relationships. He says it's not intentional: it just naturally comes up when he's creating casts of characters. "Maybe most stories have something to do with a family dynamic," Anderson says. "Even if it's a metaphorical version of a family dynamic, you still can trace it back to the childhood home a bit. One movie after another, I've had scripts that have to do with families. I mean, it's not like I made a choice." With so many big movies under his belt, Anderson definitely knows how to run a film set. Mia Threapleton, who plays Liesl in The Phoenician Scheme, described the experience as being like "the best summer camp ever." Anderson recognizes that it's essential to make sure the actors have fun. WATCH | Official trailer for The Phoenician Scheme: "They are the ones who you're glued to during the movie, so I am conscious of, 'We've gotta look after these people,'" Anderson explains. "I feel like if we're not having fun doing it, it's not actually gonna turn out that well.… It's hard to make a movie. Especially — we tend to be doing something that's kind of bigger than we even have the means to do. And so I look for ways to make it efficient and fun at the same time.… Things to make it fun to play." When aspiring and established directors inevitably ask Wes Anderson for his wisdom, he quotes the best advice he got from the filmmakers who came before him. He shares a line that was passed down to him by Paper Moon director Peter Bogdanovich, who got it from the director of the original The Little Shop of Horrors movie, Roger Corman. "One shot at a time," says Anderson. "Don't try to understand the whole movie at once. Do the preparation, but when it comes time to make the movie, focus on the one thing you're doing." Wes Anderson also offers a piece of advice based on his own experiences. Over the years, he's seen the difference between going back to the editing room with all the footage he needs, versus trying to put something together with a shot that didn't go the way he wanted. He says it's made him obsessive about what he shoots on set. "The other thing I would say is, 'Remember that you probably aren't going to have a chance to do it again'," Anderson says. "This is your chance." The full interview with Wes Anderson is
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
‘Pure joy': Winnipeg child with rare neuromuscular disease granted Disney World wish
8-year-old Braelynn and her mom Maylia Bodman share how a magical trip to a Florida theme park brought joy and hope amid a tough medical journey.
