Don Cherry and Ron MacLean hosted their usual Coach’s Corner during Hockey Night in Canada before the end of Monday’s Game Three match between the Hurricanes and the Capitals.
Here is the transcript of Cherry and MacLean’s comments about the incident.
Don Cherry: Now. I got something to show you. Right off the presses, as they say. I going to ask you a question, cause you and I get it.
Now watch this here: little shot there, little shot there, little shot there. “You want to fool around?” A good look in here. Now watch this, “you want to go?” This is a pretty good one. They only show the one bench [punch?]. “You wanna fool around?” And down he goes.
Don Cherry: Now. You say what? Go ahead.
Ron MacLean: I say he shouldn’t have picked on the kid.
Don Cherry: He never picked on a kid! If you’re a kid, and you want to go–he gave Ovechkin a hard time, Ovechkin didn’t want to go. That guy played for Barry [Trotz], by the way.
Ron MacLean: What do you mean [Ovechkin] didn’t want to go? He invited him to go.
Don Cherry: Listen: when you stick a guy, and you go after a guy, you better be prepared. I’m not knocking [Svechnikov], he had a lot of guts.
Ron MacLean: It’s funny, when Ovechkin hit Jagr at the Vancouver Olympics, and Jagr was kind of at the tail end of his career and Ovechkin’s full of–[gestures with fists, perhaps attempting to convey Ovechkin’s youthful vigor]–I thought, I don’t know.
Don Cherry: Look, [Svechnikov] was looking for trouble. I’m not knocking the guy…
Ron MacLean: He’s a key player. Maybe there’s a background [we don’t know about], right?
Don Cherry: When you look for trouble, you find it.
Ron MacLean: Play with a bull–
Don Cherry: –yeah, you fight with the bull, you get the horn.
With the 2019 NFL Draft just a little more than a week away, here's my third look at how teams will draft when Round 1 begins in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 25.
I'm
not as confident as I once was that Murray will be the pick here because of all the team visits Murray is taking, but I still think he ends up being Arizona's selection.
Nick Bosa - Edge
School: Ohio State | Year: Junior
There's a lot of talk about
Quinnen Williams going to San Francisco with this pick. I don't think the Niners could go wrong with either him or Bosa.
Ed Oliver - DT
School: Houston | Year: Junior
Gregg Williams coached
Aaron Donald during his time as
Rams DC and could easily find a way to utilize Oliver in the Big Apple.
Quinnen Williams - DT
School: Alabama | Year: Sophomore (RS)
With needs all over the field, the
Raiders should take the best player available.
Josh Allen - Edge
School: Kentucky | Year: Senior
I could see this as a trade-down spot if a team wants to move up for a QB. However, if the Bucs stay here and Allen is still available, he'd be too tempting to pass up.
Daniel Jones - QB
School: Duke | Year: Junior (RS)
If the
Giants want a QB, it makes more sense to secure him at No. 6 than leave it to fate and wait until they're on the clock again at No. 17.
Jawaan Taylor - OT
School: Florida | Year: Junior
Taylor is a DNA match with how the
Jaguars want to play. He's a physical player.
Jonah Williams - OG
School: Alabama | Year: Junior
Detroit has spent a lot of draft capital on the offensive line, but I could see the
Lions going back to the well one more time.
T.J. Hockenson - TE
School: Iowa | Year: Sophomore (RS)
Hockenson would quickly emerge as the best friend of
Josh Allen and
LeSean McCoy. He helps in both the passing and running games.
Devin White - LB
School: LSU | Year: Junior
I know the
Broncos have done a lot of homework on the quarterbacks in this draft, but I just can't envision them taking a QB here before they get a chance to see what
Joe Flacco looks like in this offense. Instead, they go with the top LB available.
Dwayne Haskins - QB
School: Ohio State | Year: Sophomore (RS)
New coach and a new era at QB. Haskins would create a spark in an organization that desperately needs one.
Devin Bush - LB
School: Michigan | Year: Junior
I think Bush could go much earlier than many people expect due to the combination of his talent and the lack of depth at his position.
Rashan Gary - Edge
School: Michigan | Year: Junior
The
Dolphins did not pick an offensive or defensive lineman last year. This draft will be heavy in both for them.
Greedy Williams - CB
School: LSU | Year: Sophomore (RS)
The
Falcons need an upgrade in their secondary. Williams offers an intriguing mix of size and playmaking ability.
Brian Burns - Edge
School: Florida State | Year: Junior
I still have Washington as the likely landing spot for
Josh Rosen, which would take the 'Skins out of the quarterback derby. So, their pass rush took a hit with the departure of
Preston Smith. Enter Burns.
Andre Dillard - OT
School: Washington State | Year: Senior (RS)
I can't see Dillard going much later than this spot. Carolina needs help on the O-line.
Montez Sweat - Edge
School: Mississippi State | Year: Senior
The
Giants end up with their edge rusher and quarterback -- but in the opposite order from what's been expected. Sweat could go later than some anticipate.
Garrett Bradbury - C
School: N.C. State | Year: Senior (RS)
Bradbury was made to play in this Gary Kubiak-style offense. The
Vikings will move
Pat Elflein to guard to clear a spot for the rookie at center.
Christian Wilkins - DT
School: Clemson | Year: Senior
Wilkins will help the interior pass rush and be a perfect complement to
Jurrell Casey.
Lonnie Johnson Jr. - CB
School: Kentucky | Year: Senior
This is higher than I have Johnson rated, but he's catching a lot of buzz right now and the
Steelers have a need at the position.
Jeffery Simmons - DT
School: Mississippi State | Year: Junior
He did suffer an ACL tear in February, but I would not be surprised if, five years from now, Simmons is viewed as the best player from this draft class.
Clelin Ferrell - Edge
School: Clemson | Year: Junior (RS)
Ferrell fits Baltimore's profile. He's physical, tough and has a high floor.
Cody Ford - OT
School: Oklahoma | Year: Junior (RS)
With their pass-protection woes, the
Texans have to take the best available offensive lineman.
Noah Fant- TE
School: Iowa | Year: Junior
Fant would be an upgrade over
Jared Cook, the tight end they just lost in free agency.
Marquise Brown - WR
School: Oklahoma | Year: Junior
It would make sense for the
Eagles to add a receiver because I don't think
DeSean Jackson's a long-term solution and they could lose
Nelson Agholor next year, as he's due to hit free agency.
Johnathan Abram - S
School: Mississippi State | Year: Senior
Selfishly, I would just love to see him play opposite
Malik Hooker in Indy. Abram could play in the box and allow Hooker to make plays over the top.
Chris Lindstrom - OG
School: Boston College | Year: Senior
GM Mike Mayock gets a year pass on donating to his alma mater by taking a fellow Eagle! All jokes aside, Lindstrom is highly regarded and has a good chance of being picked in the 20s of Round 1.
Rock Ya-Sin - CB
School: Temple | Year: Senior
There are other needs here -- safety and defensive tackle among them -- but it was apparent that the Bolts need to add some talent on the outside based on their performance against the
Patriots in the Divisional Round of last season's playoffs.
Byron Murphy - CB
School: Washington | Year: Sophomore (RS)
This would be a no-brainer. Kansas City takes the best defensive back still available and gets good value.
Drew Lock - QB
School: Missouri | Year: Senior
The
Packers have been doing a lot of homework on quarterbacks this draft season. They once spent a first-round pick on a QB who'd become the eventual replacement for a 35-year-old future Hall of Famer, and they repeat history here.
Elgton Jenkins - OG
School: Mississippi State | Year: Senior (RS)
Jenkins is another player who's made his way into the first-round conversation. Teams love his strength and power inside. He can play any of the three interior positions.
Dexter Lawrence - DT
School: Clemson | Year: Junior
While the rest of the league moves away from massive DTs like Lawrence, the
Patriots see the value in a dominant run defender who can push the pocket on passing downs.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins is expected to miss the remainder of the postseason with a significant left quadriceps injury, but there’s faint optimism that he could possibly return for the NBA Finals, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Cousins, 28, will undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning, which should reveal if the Finals are a realistic target for the four-time All-Star, sources said.
But the Warriors, sources said, are mentally preparing for the worst: a torn quad diagnosis and a postseason run devoid of Cousins.
“There's a pretty significant quad injury,” coach Steve Kerr said after the Warriors’ Game 2 collapse in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. “We'll get an MRI [Tuesday]. But he's going to be out for … I'll just say a while because I think it's unclear right now how long he'll be out. It's significant.”
Cousins sustained the injury in the first quarter, when he pursued a loose ball and his left leg gave out after getting a hand on the ball. The 6-foot-10 center immediately grabbed his left quadriceps and asked to be pulled from the game.
Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins reacts after injuring his left quad in Game 2 Monday night. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
He refused assistance to the locker room by teammates and walked off on his own power to be examined with cameras catching what appeared to be a noticeable injury to his quad.
The Warriors’ big man is only a few months removed from returning from a left Achilles tear that sidelined him for a year, and for the first time in his nine NBA seasons, he was experiencing his first taste of a long playoff run.
“It's tough, for sure,” Stephen Curry said. “You feel for him, considering what he's been through this last year. This is a big stage, the playoffs. He's been looking forward to this. I don't know the extent of the injury at this point. Hope he gets back sooner than later. Just man to man, in terms of him, what he's been through, it's tough for sure. There's no sugarcoating it at all. You hate seeing that opportunity again on this big stage taken away from him like that.”
Cousins, who averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 30 games this season, is facing another major blow that could conclude his season for the second consecutive year.
“You just love this group,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. “They don’t give in.”
And in a sure sign of frustration with the way the game turned out, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green left the arena without addressing the media.
It was the Warriors’ first playoff defeat in the shot-clock era in which they led by 15 or more points at halftime. And according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Clippers became the second team in NBA history to trail by 23 or more points at the half and win.
“We’re some tough guys,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer told Yahoo Sports after the win. “Physical and mental, we’re some tough guys. Damn, I love our guys.”
With the physical nature of the Clippers, a team that doesn’t have an All-Star on the roster, it wouldn’t behoove the Warriors to drag out this series.
Patrick Beverley continues to be physical with Durant, delivering body shots from his head and elbows while denying him the ball. And Durant took a few hard screens, one from JaMychal Green that stung him and had him bent over in pain for a few seconds.
Taking a pounding in an extended first-round series isn’t ideal for a championship favorite.
Montrezl Harrell, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Clippers, pulled out his JBL Pill speaker after the game in the locker room and played “Clean Up Man” by Houston’s own Willie D.
It was all smiles and high-fives from the visiting team on Monday.
“We’re definitely a team that doesn’t quit,” Harrell said as he sat on the podium beside Lou Williams, who had a game-high 36 points and 11 assists. “We compete and play hard all four quarters. I think we did that tonight. When we got down big, we didn't hang our heads. We just turned it up a notch on the defensive end, took away the things we’re supposed to, made tough shots. Just kept running the offense, kept playing.”
In Monday’s “First Call,” Alex Ovechkin’s knockout in a fight. A preview of the Pirates series in Detroit. Gerrit Cole is heating up for Houston.
Ovi K.O.
Alexander Ovechkin didn’t score for the Capitals on Tuesday night. No one from Washington did. The Capitals were blanked by the Hurricanes, 5-0, after winning the first two games of their series against Carolina.
But Ovechkin won this fight against Andrei Svechnikov in convincing fashion.
That was Ovechkin’s first playoff fight. And it occurred against a 19-year-old rookie that Ovechkin outweighs by 51 pounds.
So maybe not the tough-guy move Ovechkin thought he was pulling off? At least that’s what Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour seems to think.
Brind'Amour: "One guy’s gloves comes off way first. And that’s Ovi, not our guy. So it’s a little bit frustrating because he got hurt. It's his first fight. He's played 90 games. He’s never fought in his life, and I'm pretty sure Ovi knew that. So that stuff bothers me.”
— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) April 16, 2019
Evegeny Svechnikow is a little older and bigger than his brother. He’s 212 pounds and 22 years old. So maybe Ovi will have to fight both brothers next year.
Nice debut
Last weekend, Cale Makar was playing college hockey in Buffalo. He was a defenseman for the UMass team that lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA hockey final.
Last night, the Hobey Baker Award winner made his NHL debut for Colorado. And he did this for the Avalanche.
That proved to be the game-winning goal for the Avs as they beat the Flames, 6-2, in Game 3.
Colorado now leads the series 2-1.
Bonino bomb
Predators forward Filip Forsberg scored this highlight-reel goal to help Nashville win in Dallas.
But give credit to former Penguin Nick Bonino for making the home-run flip-pass. That’s Bonino’s second playoff point. It was Forsberg’s first goal of the playoffs.
Nashville has a 2-1 series lead.
So what do they have?
The Pirates are in Detroit today and tomorrow for a short series. Joe Musgrove and Trevor Williams start for the Pirates. They’ll be opposed by Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull.
The Tigers are off to a surprisingly decent start. Detroit is 8-7 after losing 98 games a year ago. However, they have lost three in a row.
The pitching has been good for the Tigers. Like the Pirates, they’ve allowed only 49 runs. That’s the second fewest in baseball behind only Tampa Bay.
Detroit’s fielding has been much better than what we have seen in Pittsburgh, though. Ron Gardenhire’s club has committed only five errors. That’s the second-lowest total in the majors behind only the Royals with three. Meanwhile, the Pirates have 14.
Unfortunately for the Tigers’ lineup, it can’t hit right now. Detroit’s seven homers are a league low. And their .201 batting average is 28th out of 30 teams.
Checking on Gerrit ‘K’ole
Former Pirate Gerrit Cole is 1-2 to start the year in Houston. Over four starts, his ERA is a so-so 3.24.
But he is striking out batters at a remarkable rate. In fact, Cole is tied for the MLB lead with 36 Ks. The right-hander fanned 11 in his most recent start against Seattle on Sunday.
Meanwhile, he has walked only six batters in four starts.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Getty Images
The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin knocks out the Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov as they fight during the first period in Game 3 on Monday, April 15, 2019, at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
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Stephen Curry reminded the media Monday night that Golden State has suffered much more painful defeats than their Game 2 collapse against the LA Clippers.
The Warriors blew a 31-point lead and fell 135-131, and Curry said “the wheels fell off” for the two-time defending NBA champs.
Curry scored 29 points and put the Warriors up 131-128 with 58 seconds left before [Landry] Shamet’s dagger on a night the two-time defending NBA champions lost DeMarcus Cousins to a leg injury in the first quarter.
“We changed a couple things offensively and defensively in the third on the fly. It worked out for us. But I thought it was our spirit more than anything,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Just every single guy. I loved the end of the game.”
The Warriors committed 21 turnovers in Game 1, then 22 more Monday — nine by [Kevin] Durant.
“We let our guard down. We weren’t the aggressors anymore. We didn’t deserve to win that game,” Thompson said.
The LA Clippers pulled off the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history on Monday, rallying from 31 points down midway through the third quarter to shock the Golden State Warriors in Game 2, 135-131.
Those are the raw facts, and they speak for themselves. Let it sink in: Greatest comeback in NBA playoff history.
And yet, those details don't nearly encapsulate the sheer magnitude of what took place at Oakland's Oracle Arena, where the two-time defending champions were well on their way to taking a commanding 2-0 lead before the bizarre inconsistencies that have plagued them all season reared their ugly heads once again, at the worst possible time.
"We got exactly what we deserved," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
And so did the Clippers, who fought back from 28 and 25 points down to win games during the regular season.
"This is who we've been all season," Clippers sixth man Lou Williams said.
Trailing by 31 with 19:31 remaining, they proceeded to outscore the Warriors 72-37 the rest of the way. (Some perspective: That's only two fewer points than the Indiana Pacers scored during the entirety of their 84-74 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday.) While the Clippers shot 69 percent on their final 39 shots, the Warriors could do almost nothing right, misfiring on 19 of their last 27 attempts -- with 14 turnovers. It was a shocking display of carelessness and ineptitude from a team that, at its best, almost seems like it's playing a different sport.
Williams fueled the inferno with 26 of his 36 points coming in those final, crucial minutes, while fellow spark plug Montrezl Harrell scored 15 of his 25 in the fourth.
And what would a Clippers win be without some agitation from Hall-of-Fame irritant Patrick Beverley, who helped limit Kevin Durant to just eight shots in 34 minutes before fouling out. Beverley outdid himself at one point, fouling Durant twice and goading him into a pair of offensive fouls in a span of just 47 seconds.
Beverley fouled out as well, on a flop in which Draymond Green took immense delight.
But it wasn't too long before the Clippers were the ones doing the celebrating, heading back to Staples Center for Games 3 and 4 with home-court advantage while the Warriors look to pick up the pieces without staring center DeMarcus Cousins, who could be out for an extended period with what Kerr called a "pretty significant" quad injury.
"It's a tough feeling," said Stephen Curry, who finished with 29 points. "We're talking to each other, trying to figure out how we're going to move on and use this as fuel for Game 3. But other than that, it's just the playoffs. Everything is heightened. You have to lock into the details that separates champions from the rest."
Big Ben delivers
Saturday's first-round series opener between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets was one Ben Simmons would just as soon forget.
In addition to struggling through one of his least productive outings of the season (nine points, seven rebounds, three assists), the Sixers All-Star compounded his no-show by lashing out at the Philadelphia faithful for their, shall we say, less-than-enthusiastic reaction as Game 1 slipped away.
(Translation: They followed a time-honored civic tradition and booed the home team for playing poorly.)
Simmons walked that criticism back, then took matters into his own hands in Game 2 with his second career playoff triple-double as the 76ers unleashed a record-setting rout on the Nets to even the series at 1-1.
The Sixers shattered franchise playoff marks that had stood for 49 and 52 years, respectively, with 51 points in the third quarter and 145 points overall. Their 51 points tied the Lakers' 57-year-old record for the most points ever scored in a playoff quarter, and marked only the third time an NBA team has reached the 50-point threshold in a period.
On the individual level, Simmons racked up 18 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to match Wilt Chamberlain (of course) and Charles Barkley as the lone players in team annals with multiple postseason triple-doubles.
Despite the blowout final, the first half was very much a contest as the Sixers took a slim one-point lead into the break. They could largely thank Simmons for that as he either scored or assisted on 13 of their first 26 field goals.
He accounted for six more buckets in that blistering third, and the rout was on. At one point during the surge, Simmons delighted the same fans who were expressing their disgust just two days prior by cupping his ear to the crowd like Sixers great Allen Iverson -- who, along with Dikembe Mutombo, was in attendance and enjoying the action courtside.
Combined with a handful of other strong performances, including 23 points and 10 rebounds from fellow All-Star Joel Embiid, not even an off night from Jimmy Butler (seven points in 30 minutes) could slow the Sixers machine, or the man who drove it.
"I was thinking about the boos from last game," Simmons said of his Iverson tribute. "I’ve got a lot of love for this city. I was just showing that. The hustle I try to give every game is not only for my teammates and my family, but for the city."
Ben Simmons racks up the triple-double in Game 2.
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