Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 20, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A20 A 20 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMSPORTS BETTMAN ● FROM A12 “My preference would be to stay out of summer as much as possible. Our fans typically like watching us through the fall, winter and spring, and it’s al- ways been a goal to be done by the end of June. Playing July, August, Septem- ber is something that was important to do now, and if we can avoid it we will,” said Bettman. “We understand the issue and we’re going to try to deal with it as best we can. Our goal is to get back to as great a sense of normalcy as possible under whatever circumstances are presented.” The NHL will be closely watching what transpires this fall in the NFL and U.S. college football, along with European hockey leagues, where fans are starting to be allowed in limited numbers, “Those are all valuable data points that we’ll have to consider when it comes time to making decisions,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “We certainly want to maximize efforts to create circumstances where fans can attend our games. We can wait a certain amount of time to try to accommodate that. But at the end of the day we also want to play a season. We’re going to see what circumstances are like and make decisions when we need to make decisions.” As for the financial toll on the league and its member teams — attendance is cited as impacting about 50 per cent of all league revenues — Bettman be- lieves better days are on the horizon. “The ownership of the 31, soon to be 32 NHL franchises has never been stronger and healthier. While nobody has any revenue coming in right now and owners are obviously writing cheques to cover overhead and ex- penses, our franchises will get through this and will come out stronger on the other side,” said Bettman. There were plenty of skeptics that this return-to-play could be pulled off, and Bettman was quick to hand out praise on Saturday to the players for “being the drivers and inspiration for what we put in place.” The quality of play has been excel- lent, despite the empty arena environ- ment, and the league has dressed up the broadcasts with plenty of bells and whistles. Despite the original plan, families of both the Lightning and Stars have not been cleared by the Canadian government to enter the secure environment. Only loved ones who were already in Canada got the green light. “Making it to the Stanley Cup Final in any year is a test of endurance and skill unmatched in all of sports. Doing it this year, and ultimately winning the Stanley Cup might just be the most remarkable achievement in the history of our league,” said Bettman. He was asked if he’d consider ex- panding the playoffs going forward, as they did this summer with 24 teams competing instead of 16. He quickly poured cold water on the idea. “It will take a fair enough of con- vincing to me at least that we need to make a change. I think what we did this year we needed to do to be fair to the clubs that were on the bubble in terms of making the playoffs. But I’m not sure that’s necessarily a prototype for the future, In fact, I still believe that what we have in a normal year is the right way to go,” said Bettman. Bettman said the league is still not taking a “victory lap” until the best-of- seven series between Tampa Bay and Dallas is over. “Handing the Cup over to the cap- tain of the winning team will be the first time since March 12 (the day the season paused) that I’ll breathe a sigh of relief, and maybe get a full night’s sleep,” he said. mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg NHL commissioner Gary Bettman C HARLOTTETOWN — The Canadian Premier League is just two years old but it’s already clear who is the team to beat. Forge FC won the CPL title for the second straight year Saturday, defeating HFX Wanderers FC 2-0 on second-half goals by Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson and Maxim Tissot in the Island Games final. Under coach/technical director Bobby Smyrniotis, the Hamilton club has gone 22-7-9 in regular-season play and 3-0-0 in the playoffs over the last two years. “The expectation is we want to be on the top. That we want to be a club that competes for whatever’s put in front of us,” said Smyrniotis. “We know win- ning championships is not easy. We’ve done it now two years in a row. The hardest thing to do is repeat. And the hardest thing after you repeat is to do it a third year. But we want to always put ourselves in a position to be able to do that.” Eight teams started the Island Games, an abridged 35-match, 38-day season played in a P.E.I. bubble due to the global pandemic. “I told the guys this is probably the most challenging football experience you’ll go through in your lives,” Smyr- niotis said. “The best way to go about it is to try and come out as champions so we’re able to tell a story that has the best ending.” Forge was good value for the tourna- ment win, finishing on a six-game unbeaten run (4-0-2) in the bubble. The Hamilton side went 6-1-4 through the tournament, with its lone loss coming 3-2 to Toronto’s York 9 FC on Aug. 26. It scored a league-best 19 goals and allowed the fewest (10) of the four teams that competed beyond the first stage. Ten different players scored and every player on Forge’s 22-man roster made at least one appearance. Goalkeeper Triston Henry recorded a league-best five clean sheets, includ- ing three straight to finish the season. Forge’s team’s culture was reflected in the post-game availability when captain Kyle Bekker and Achinioti- Jonsson took time to thank their sup- port staff for all their work behind the scenes. The breakthrough came in the 60th minute on the latest of a string of Forge corners. Goalkeeper Christian Oxner failed to deal with Bekker’s de- livery to the far post and the ball went to Mo Babouli, who chipped it back to the other post where Achinioti-Jonsson headed it in. Halifax will rue the Swedish midfielder’s goal, having had seven defenders in the six-yard box. “All credit to them,” said HFX coach Stephen Hart, a former Canada and Trinidad & Tobago national team coach. “In their period of domination, they got the goal and they hung on to (the lead) very, very well.” Substitute Tissot rubbed salt in the wound with a long-distance free kick that was fumbled by Oxner in the 90th minute. In addition to hoisting the North Star Trophy, Forge earned a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF League — a feeder competition to the CONCACAF Cham- pions League — and will meet Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship final, with the victor there earning a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF Champi- ons League. Time and location of the Canadian Championship final has yet to be an- nounced. HFX went 4-3-4 at the tournament, with earlier losses of 2-1 to Calgary’s Cavalry FC on Aug. 23 and 5-0 to Pacific FC of Langford, B.C. The loss to Pacific came Tuesday in a meaning- less game with a reserve lineup after the Halifax team had already qualified for the championship game. “I thought they were excellent this tournament,” Smyrniotis said of Halifax. HFX came into the season with just seven returning players after finishing bottom of the table in 2019 with a 6-12- 10 overall record over the spring and fall seasons. “We showed that we can run with the big boys in this league,” said Hali- fax captain Andre Rampersad. “I can never be more proud of these guys. We keep working and we come back stronger next year.” The two finalists had tied 1-1 twice earlier at the tournament — Aug. 19 in the first stage and Sept. 9 in the group stage. Both teams survived some sloppy play in the early going on a gusty day at the UPEI artificial turf field with the stands empty. Babouli, the benefi- ciary of a Halifax giveaway, was on target in the sixth minute but his weak shot did not trouble Oxner. HFX had more of the ball but failed to turn that into scoring chances. That changed late in the 40th minute when Alessandro Riggi’s shot deflect- ed off Forge defender David Edgar’s arm to teammate Akeem Garcia but the Trinidad & Tobago international’s lunging shot from close range was stopped by goalkeeper Triston Henry. Forge began to turn the screw with HFX having to defend four straight corners some 10 minutes into the second half. Oxner came up big in the 73rd minute, denying David Choiniere from in-close after another HFX turnover. Babouli turned heads six minutes later, beating three defenders before Oxner stopped him. Forge outshot HFX 10-6 (5-2 in shots on target) despite the Halifax team having 55.7 per cent of possession. Forge had 11 corners to two for HFX. Hart said his club has shown its lofty expectations. “It takes a while for anybody to build a team that has a certain character, that has a certain culture. And I think we’re well on our way to do that if we could retain the majority of this squad. Forge is already there. Smyrniotis had 17 players back from last year when Forge defeated Cavalry FC 2-0 on aggregate last year in the two-legged final. And it defended its title despite losing Tristan Borges, last year’s MVP, to Belgium’s Oud-Hever- lee Leuven in January. — The Canadian Press FORGE FC 2 HFX WANDERERS 0 Hamilton club wins second consecutive championship Forge FC still king of CPL DAVID CHANT / HO-HFX WANDERERS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Forge FC’s Kwame Awuah (left) keeps the ball in bounds as HFX Wanderers’ Jake Ruby pressures during the Canadian Premier League championship final in Charlottetown, Saturday. Defending NFC champs shouldn’t blow this one EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The San Francisco 49ers are heading across the country banged up and bitter after blowing a fourth-quarter lead in their season opener. The defending NFC champions are 0-1 — and will try to avoid a two-game skid to start the year when they face the hapless New York Jets at MetLife Stadium today. “We’ve just got to move on, get to Week 2 and get this thing rolling now,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “You’ve got to deal with the situation that you’re given and control what you can control.” For the 49ers, it’s about not letting another late lead slip through their hands, as they did in a 24-20 loss to Arizona last Sunday. They became the first Super Bowl runner-up to lose a season opener since Carolina fell 21-20 to Denver in 2016. San Francisco will also try to avoid becoming the first to start 0-2 since Seattle in 2015. While the Jets looked awful in a 27-17 loss at Buffalo last Sunday, a victory at the Meadowlands might not be such a sure thing for the 49ers who are deal- ing with numerous injuries. Corner- back Richard Sherman (calf) is out and so is tight end George Kittle (knee). Wide receivers Deebo Samuel (foot) and Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring) didn’t play in the opener. “We’ve dealt with this before,” Garoppolo said. “I think every team, you’ve got to deal with your injuries. Next man up mindset.” GROUNDED JETS The Jets know exactly what the 49ers are dealing with. They’ll be with- out star running back Le’Veon Bell (hamstring), who’s on injured reserve, and leading receiver Jamison Crowder also won’t play after also injuring his hamstring. That will put even more strain on quarterback Sam Darnold, who struggled mightily in the opener with his mechanics, footwork and decision- making. He finished 21 of 35 for 215 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but those numbers were largely padded by a strong final drive. “My timing needs to be better,” Darnold said. “I think I did hurry some things. I feel like just at the beginning of a game I’ve just got to relax and take a deep breath, ease myself into it and make the throws when they’re there.” CORNER CONCERNS The Niners will be missing a key piece on defence after placing Sher- man on injured reserve. He was by far the most dependable part of the secondary last season for a team that allowed the fewest yards passing in more than a decade. Emmanuel Moseley struggled across from Sherman in the opener. There are questions about the other starter with Ahkello Witherspoon trying to get back from a concussion. The 49ers have lost all three games Sherman has missed the past two sea- sons, allowing nearly 10 points more per game and a passer rating that is 11 points higher without him. “I know guys are ready to step up,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “I think guys are ready and if we put the right week of practice in like we know we should, we should be firing on all cylin- ders this week.” BIG ADMIRER Niners coach Kyle Shanahan remem- bers studying Frank Gore’s college film back when he was getting his start in the NFL as a quality control coach in Tampa Bay in 2004. Gore is still going 16 years later and is set to get the start for the Jets this week against the team that drafted him in 2005. The 37-year-old Gore is the third-leading rusher in NFL his- tory. “I loved him then, I loved him every year,” Shanahan said. “He runs so hard. The guys that run that hard very rarely can play to his age, which just shows how dedicated he is, how much of a football player he is and obviously extremely talented, but he’s a special dude.” MIGHTY MAYE One of the few bright spots for the Jets against Buffalo was the play of safety Marcus Maye, who stepped into the role Jamal Adams played before he was traded this summer to Seattle. Maye was all over the field, racking up 10 tackles, two sacks, a forced fum- ble, two passes defenced, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. “Talk about a guy that probably did everything imaginable at the safety position,” Jets coach Adam Gase said. “I don’t think there’s many guys that could do what he did this last week, as far as the variety.” — The Associated Press DENNIS WASZAK JR. A_20_Sep-20-20_FP_01.indd A20 9/19/20 10:15 PM ;