 Today we're recapping the highs and lows for Canadians in international sports over the weekend. Plus, NHL free agency opens tomorrow, the WNBA is expanding (again) and Canada's top tennis players are off to a hot start at Wimbledon.
The Buzzer is off tomorrow (Happy Canada Day!). We're back Wednesday. | | | Weekend recap: A soccer shocker and a basketball bronze
| | | Here's a look at how Canada's athletes fared over the past couple days:
Soccer: Canada lost to Guatemala in the Gold Cup quarterfinals
In a shocker yesterday in Minneapolis, the Canadian men's soccer team, ranked 30th in the world, was eliminated by No. 106 Guatemala in a penalty shootout at the Concacaf championship.
Canada was in control after star forward Jonathan David converted a penalty kick in the 30th minute. But the match swung in Guatemala's favour when Jacob Shaffelburg was ejected near the end of the first half for receiving his second yellow card, forcing Canada to play the entire second half shorthanded. Guatemala scored the equalizer in the 69th minute and the match remained tied after 90, sending it to a penalty shootout (there's no extra time in the Gold Cup until the final).
The shootout was 5-5 through six rounds before 19-year-old Canadian defender Luc de Fougerolles hit the crossbar. Guatemala's Jose Morales then beat Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who got the start over Maxime Crepeau, to send his team to the semifinals.
Guatemala's opponent on Wednesday in St. Louis will be the host United States, which defeated Costa Rica in a penalty shootout last night to avoid a major upset. The other semifinal, in the Bay Area, pits defending-champion Mexico against Honduras.
The Canadians can take comfort in knowing they were without some key players in the Gold Cup, including star captain Alphonso Davies (out with a torn ACL) and important midfielder Stephen Eustaquio (away at the Club World Cup). But the loss to Guatemala denied Canada a chance to play the 16th-ranked Americans and potentially 17th-ranked Mexico in its final competitive outing before co-hosting next year's World Cup with those countries. The only matches left on Canada's schedule before that are friendlies.
In women's soccer, the eighth-ranked Canadian women's team rallied to defeat No. 43 Costa Rica 4-1 in a friendly on Friday night in Toronto. Canada exploded for all four of its goals between the 70th and 86th minute.
The Canadian women face a tougher test on Wednesday when they take on the top-ranked United States in a friendly in Washington, D.C.
Basketball: Canada won bronze at the 3x3 World Cup
After routing No. 15 Japan 18-6 in a play-in game and then upsetting No. 4 Spain 11-10 in the quarterfinals, the sixth-seeded Canadian women's team saw its run at the gold medal end with a 21-15 loss to the second-second Netherlands on Sunday. But Canada rebounded with a 21-9 defeat of No. 8 Poland to claim the bronze.
The Netherlands beat 12th-seeded host Mongolia for the gold. Mongolia's surprising run to the title game included wins over Olympic champion Germany, the defending World Cup champion United States and top-ranked China. Mongolia is coached by Steve Sir, a longtime star for the Canadian men's national team.
Paige Crozon had 13 points for Canada in the bronze game, while Saicha Grant-Allen was named to the three-person all-tournament team along with one player each from the Netherlands and Mongolia.
Grant-Allen and Cassandra Brown joined Crozon and Kacie Bosch for this tournament after the latter two teamed with twin sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe to take silver at the 2022 World Cup and lose the Olympic bronze game to the United States last summer. The Plouffes were unable to play in this World Cup due to a mix of minor injuries and scheduling conflicts.
Canada's men's 3x3 team, seeded 17th, did not make the playoffs at the World Cup after going 1-3 in group play.
Elsewhere in international basketball, Canada's 5-on-5 women's national team defeated El Salvador and Argentina to open the AmeriCup in Chile. Canada, ranked seventh in the world, faces No. 10 Brazil today in its toughest matchup of the group stage before closing against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
The top four in each group advance to the quarterfinals. The winner of the AmeriCup gets a spot in next year's World Cup, which will also serve as a qualifier for the 2028 Olympics.
Other Canadian results:
* Olympic canoe champion Katie Vincent broke the world record in the women's individual 500 metres on Sunday at the national trials in Montreal. Vincent, who won gold in the individual 200m and took bronze in the doubles 500m last summer in Paris, clocked 2:00.61 to lower the six-year-old record in the solo 500 by 0.12 of a second.
* Tyler Mislawchuk reached the World Triathlon Cup podium for the first time in three years, taking silver in the men's race on Sunday in Morocco. The three-time Olympian has won seven World Cup medals in his career.
* Katie Clark finished fourth in the women's single sculls event at a World Rowing Cup stop in Switzerland on Sunday. It was Canada's best result at the three-day regatta.
* Canada's 11th-ranked men's volleyball team lost to top-ranked Poland and defeated No. 23 China to finish 1-3 in Week 2 of Nations League play in Chicago. The Canadians are now 3-5 on the season, putting them in 14th place out of 18 teams. | | |  | Paige Crozon led Canada with 13 points in a 21-9 win over Poland in the women's bronze-medal game at the 3x3 basketball World Cup in Mongolia. (Altan Gocher/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images)
| | | Quickly…
| | | Some other things to know:
1. NHL free agency opens at noon ET tomorrow.
With the salary cap increasing by a record $7.5 million US next season, to $95.5M, a lot of teams are looking to spend. The top target is Mitch Marner, who seems destined to leave Toronto after finishing fifth in the league in scoring with a career-high 102 points. In an attempt to get something from Marner's likely departure, the Maple Leafs are reportedly discussing a sign-and-trade deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, who might be motivated by a potential tampering complaint from the Leafs.
Other players who could be available as unrestricted free agents include Brad Marchand from the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, and fellow forwards Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks. Here's a look at the top free agents.
Over the weekend, Florida re-signed Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64-million contract, preventing the Conn Smythe Trophy winner from hitting the market. Today, the Panthers reportedly reached a deal with top defenceman Aaron Ekblad for eight years at $6.1M per year.
Toronto, after getting veteran centre John Tavares to stay for four years at a team-friendly $4.38M cap hit on Friday, is reportedly re-signing rising star Matthew Knies to a six-year deal for a reasonable $7.75M per year before he can become a restricted free agent.
As expected, the New York Islanders picked 17-year-old defenceman Matthew Schaefer first overall in the draft on Friday night. Forward Michael Misa, who led the Canadian major-junior leagues with 62 goals and 134 points, went second to San Jose and Chicago took Swedish forward Anton Frondell third. Here's more on the draft.
2. The WNBA is adding three more expansion teams over the next five years.
Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia will all join by 2030, the WNBA announced today, bringing the league up to 18 teams from just 12 before this year.
The Golden State Valkyries are currently in their inaugural season, while the Toronto Tempo and an unnamed Portland club are set to begin play next year. Cleveland will enter the league in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.
All three new teams have ties to NBA ownership groups. They each paid a $250 million US expansion fee — five times as much as Golden State and Toronto shelled out (Portland paid $75M). "The demand for women's basketball has never been higher," said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Here's more on the latest expansion.
The final of the Commissioner's Cup, the WNBA's in-season tournament, takes place tomorrow night. Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever face the league-best Minnesota Lynx, though Clark's status is uncertain due to a groin injury.
In the NBA, the negotiating window for free agents opens tonight at 6 p.m. ET, allowing players to agree to (but not officially sign) contracts with new teams. It's a lacklustre class, to say the least. The top unrestricted free agents include Indiana centre Myles Turner, journeyman guard Dennis Schröder and 40-year-old point Chris Paul, while the restricted free agents include Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga and Chicago's Josh Giddey.
Over the weekend, LeBron James reportedly exercised his one-year, $52.6 million US option with the Lakers. He'll become the first player in NBA history to play a 23rd season. Eleven-time All-Star James Harden reportedly declined his $36.3M option with the Clippers and intends to sign a two-year, $81.5M deal with the team instead.
3. Three Canadians advanced to the second round at Wimbledon today.
On the hottest opening day in tournament history (temperatures reached 33 C), men's No. 25 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, women's No. 29 Leylah Fernandez and unseeded men's main-draw rookie Gabriel Diallo won their first-round matches at the All England Club. Unseeded Carson Branstine lost to women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Denis Shapovalov, seeded 27th in the men's draw, faces 91st-ranked Mariano Navone of Argentina in the first round tomorrow. Gabriela Dabrowski and her teammate Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are the No. 2 seeds in the women’s doubles draw, which starts later this week. Here's more on today's Wimbledon action. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later.
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