Bettman upholds Rielly's penalty
Morgan Rielly won't be receiving clemency from the NHL commissioner. Gary Bettman ruled Tuesday he was upholding a five-game suspension for the Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman, stemming from the Feb. 10 cross check Rielly delivered on Ottawa's Ridly Greig after the Senator slapped a puck into an empty net to overemphasize his team's home win.
“I have closely reviewed the video footage of the incident,” Bettman wrote in his ruling. “Mr. Rielly changed his course and skated toward Mr. Greig with purpose. Covering some distance, (Rielly) raised his stick high and intentionally used the shaft to strike the left side of (Greig's) head with substantial force.
“As earlier indicated (in the referee report and by the department of player safety who assessed the suspension), the entire incident occurred after the (5-3) goal was scored and game play had effectively ended.”
There is one game remaining in the suspension, today in Arizona, and it became less of an issue when the Leafs rolled to four wins without Rielly.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's impact on the court extends beyond just praise from his basketball peers.
The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard from Hamilton has blossomed into an MVP candidate this season. He made his first start in the NBA all-star game in his second appearance this past weekend.
“Shai is incredible. He is just an incredible talent, he is fun to watch,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said. “An MVP candidate, he's an all-star and I think he has served as an inspiration to, not just Canadian players, but players from all over the world.”
The 25-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander has led the upstart Thunder (37-17) this season to second in the Western Conference and third in the overall NBA standings as of Tuesday morning.
Gilgeous-Alexander is fuelling the offence, averaging 31.1 points per game, second only to Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic among league scoring leaders.
Despite all the personal praise, Gilgeous-Alexander has long been one to mention his team first and not get caught up in outside hype.
“I've found so much success from, just not blocking it out, but not letting it faze me or control me,” he said.
Leylah Fernandez is out of the Dubai Tennis Championship after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the second round Tuesday. Fernandez of Laval, Que., won just 53.8 per cent of her first serves and was successful on only 3-of-11 breakpoints.
It was the 26th-ranked Paolini's first win in four meetings against Fernandez, who is ranked 33rd.
Fernandez and partner Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia fell 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 in the first-round doubles play in Dubai to Mirra Andreeva and Sofia Kenin on Monday.