More gold for local Team Canada stars
If the three local members of the Canadian women’s hockey team ever decide to wear all their medals at once, they’re going to need chiropractic care afterward.
Hamilton’s Sarah Nurse and Burlington’s Renata Fast and Emma Maltais added a gold to their growing collection Sunday when Canada toppled the U.S. 6-5 — the final score all the greatest international games are apparently required to have — at the world championship in Utica, N.Y.
Canada scored in overtime to claim the title. Fast led Canada in scoring at the tournament with six points in seven games.
Nurse now owns three golds along with a silver and bronze from the world championship, a gold and silver from the Olympics and a gold from the world under-18s.
Fast has three gold, two silver and a bronze from worlds along with an Olympic gold and silver.
And Maltais has three gold and a silver from worlds, an Olympic gold and two under-18 world silvers.
This latest championship is just the most recent highlight for the teammates on Toronto’s franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Nurse is seventh in scoring in that loop (15 points in 19 games) while Maltais sits at No. 15 (12 points in 19 games) and Fast is sixth in scoring by a defenceman (nine points in 19 games).
Their Toronto team is in first place.
Rock clinches first
However long the Toronto Rock last in the upcoming National Lacrosse
League playoffs — and there’s reason to believe it’ll be for a while — they’ll have home-floor advantage.
With a 13-6 win over Rochester in front of 11,256 fans at FirstOntario Centre on the weekend, they clinched top spot in the league for the first time since 2015. They also earned victory No. 14, which is tied for the best in franchise history. The team has one regular-season game remaining (Saturday night in Saskatchewan against the 8-9 Rush) to set a new mark.
Single-game elimination quarterfinals will be played next week. Who and when they play are still to be determined.
Another box checked
Forge FC has done a lot in its first five years. But, until Saturday, it had never won a season opener. Consider that checked off the list. Forge topped Cavalry FC, 2-1, in front of 7,395 at Tim Hortons Field on the strength of second-half goals from Tristan Borges and Beni Badibanga.
The Hamilton side faces York United — 2-1 losers to Atletico Ottawa in its opener — on Sunday in Toronto. Forge returns home the following Saturday to host Winnipeg’s Valour FC.
Remembering Doug Harrison
A celebration of life for the founder of the Transway Basketball program will be held May 26.
Doug Harrison died last month at age 83.
The inductee into the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame and Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame created the girls’ hoops organization that has won dozens of provincial titles and hundreds of tournaments. It has also given a start to many women who went on to play university ball in Canada or the States, international basketball and even land in the WNBA.
The celebration will run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Leander Boat Club.
Owner appreciation
Michael Andlauer didn’t always seem to get the love here in Hamilton. But his new home seems to be making up for that.
The Bulldogs owner was named Brantford Sportsperson of the Year the other day. The award stems from his decision to move the team to the Telephone City and return the OHL to that town after a fourdecade absence.
Previous winners include Wayne and Walter Gretzky, Olympic middle-distance runner Kevin Sullivan, PGA Tour golfer David Hearn, former New England Patriot Nick Kaczur and two-time Around The Bay Race winner Krista Duchene.
Second Xhekaj signs
When the Hamilton Bulldogs signed local boy Florian Xhekaj two summers ago, it looked like then general manager Steve Staios was really stretching to catch lightning in a bottle twice within the same family.
Older brother Arber had been a dominating force with the team en route to the 2022 OHL championship and had quickly become a favourite in Montreal with the Canadiens. Florian wasn’t as big or as nasty, but maybe he could turn into something.
He has.
The 19-year-old finished second on the Bulldogs in scoring this year and the other day signed an entrylevel contract with the Canadiens, who drafted him in the fourth round last summer.