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    Sunaya Sapurji

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    Sunaya Sapurji is the junior hockey columnist for Yahoo! Sports Canada.

    • Yakupov ready to go pro with or without NHL

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Tue, Aug 28, 2012 2:13 PM EDT

      Nail Yakupov says he’s not sure what the future holds for him in the event of an NHL lockout.

      His agent, former NHLer Igor Larionov, has said that the top pick of the Edmonton Oilers would play in either the KHL or Europe – but Yakupov himself is uncertain.

      “Nobody knows,” said the 18-year-old Tuesday on where he would play in the event of labour strife. “And I don’t know, too.”

      The only thing he knows with any great certainty is that he won’t be returning to the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting, where he spent two seasons living with Montreal Canadiens draft pick Alex Galchenyuk and his family.

      “No,” he said of a Sarnia return, before quickly added the following caveat.

      “Yeah, but just for a visit. I have a lot of friends there and I have my second family – the Galchenyuk family – I want to see [Alex Galchenyuk Sr.] and Gally’s mom, so I’d like to go and see the family for a couple days. Go to the rink and see my GM and coaches who have helped me Read More »

    • Players still in the dark over proposed CHL union

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Tue, Aug 21, 2012 9:11 PM EDT

      The inner workings of a union are often secretive. It comes with the territory when protecting the best interests of your members.

      It seems the Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association has taken this secrecy to a whole new level. It’s so secret, in fact, that of the 15 players contacted by Yahoo! Sports in the three member leagues – OHL, QMJHL and WHL – only two said they had heard about it prior to Monday.

      On Tuesday, former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque was hired as the new executive director of the CHLPA. He was not voted into the position by his membership, because there isn’t one. No junior hockey union has been certified.

      Saginaw Spirit veteran Brandon Archibald said he found out about the players allegedly forming a union via Twitter.

      [Related: CHLPA names Georges Laraque executive director]

      “I’ve been trying to read all the articles to figure out what’s been happening,” said Archibald on Tuesday afternoon. “From the people I’ve talked to, no one knows what’s going

      Read More »

    • Kitchener Rangers settle out of court with Michigan newspaper

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Fri, Aug 17, 2012 4:29 PM EDT

      Looks like there won’t be any courtroom drama involving the Kitchener Rangers and The Michigan Daily after all. The two sides reached a settlement on Friday afternoon. As part of the agreement, the University of Michigan newspaper published a clarification regarding a July 2 story which alleged -- based on an anonymous OHL source – that the Rangers had offered Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Trouba $200,000 to play in the Ontario Hockey League this season. The original story, written by reporter Matt Slovin, was also removed from the paper’s website.

      "The Michigan Daily has removed the article that caused the Kitchener Rangers to commence legal proceedings against the newspaper and the reporter, Matt Slovin,” said Rangers chief operating officer Steve Bienkowski. “As they have acceded to what was from the outset the Kitchener Rangers' primary demand, we are discontinuing the legal proceedings as against the newspaper and Mr. Slovin.”

      A payment like the one Kitchener was Read More »

    • OHL slaps Windsor Spitfires with massive sanctions

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Fri, Aug 10, 2012 4:12 PM EDT

      For years the Ontario Hockey League had been accused of having some teams that would break the rules in order to get an edge on luring the best available talent to report. For years when making such references, reporters had to use words like allegedly and rumour. No team in the OHL had ever been caught.

      That all changed on Friday.

      On Friday, the OHL announced that the Windsor Spitfires had been found guilty of breaking the league’s rules in regards to recruitment and benefits. The Spitfires have been fined $400,000 and will forfeit five draft picks as a result. The high picks include first-round picks in 2013, 2014 and 2016 as well as second-round picks in 2015 and 2017, which could potentially cripple the club’s on-ice product if it intends to bid to host the 2014 Memorial Cup.

      “On one hand it’s a real dark day for our league,” said OHL commissioner Dave Branch, who also serves as the president of the Canadian Hockey League. “But we’re going to try to turn aRead More »

    • Nathan MacKinnon's hockey prowess is no act

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Mon, Aug 6, 2012 9:23 AM EDT

      Nathan MacKinnonThere’s little doubt at this stage of his very young career that Nathan MacKinnon is destined for stardom. He has yet to see his 17th birthday, but he’s already being touted as the potential first-overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. This summer though, the Halifax Mooseheads phenom was in the spotlight for something other than hockey when he made his first foray into acting on the CBC television show Mr. D.

      “It’s was different,” said MacKinnon of the acting experience. “It’s a comedy show, so it’s pretty hard not to laugh when (show lead) Gerry Dee is making jokes all the time. It’s pretty exciting though.”

      The show – shot on location in Halifax– is set in a high school. And while MacKinnon can’t divulge the specifics of his scenes, he said the part wasn’t really that much of a stretch since he’s playing a student-athlete.

      “It was definitely an unbelievable experience and I had a lot of fun acting,” said MacKinnon.

      “I said a couple lines and I was there for a couple scenes.” Read More »

    • Kitchener Rangers’ lawsuit against student newspaper is ‘bullying’: lawyer

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Tue, Jul 17, 2012 4:51 PM EDT

      It looks like it’s game on for the lawsuit involving the Kitchener Rangers and The Michigan Daily newspaper.

      Herschel Fink, the lawyer representing the University of Michigan student paper and reporter Matt Slovin, confirmed to Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday that his clients had both been served with libel notices.

      “It’s really disturbing to me what the Rangers are doing and it’s bullying,” said Fink. “It’s bullying a student newspaper and student journalists who are reporting on a legitimate subject of public interest, particularly in the public interest of those who follow hockey.”

      The Rangers are suing The Daily over a story published on July 2 in which Slovin reported – based on an anonymous OHL source – that Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Trouba had been offered $200,000 in lieu of an education package to play in the Ontario Hockey League this season. Such a payment would contravene the OHL’s rules pertaining to impermissible benefits. The Rangers hold the Canadian Hockey League Read More »

    • Rangers move forward with lawsuit over Trouba report

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Tue, Jul 10, 2012 7:43 PM EDT

      The long, bitter and ongoing feud between the Canadian Hockey League and NCAA hockey took an interesting twist when the Kitchener Rangers announced they had made good on a previous threat to sue The Michigan Daily.

      According to Kitchener’s chief operating officer Steve Bienkowski, the Ontario Hockey League team has filed a statement of claim in a Kitchener, Ont., court against The Daily – the University of Michigan’s student newspaper – and to reporter Matt Slovin. The issued claim is expected to be served on Wednesday morning.

      The lawsuit stems from a report the newspaper published last Tuesday, which quoted an anonymous OHL source, who alleged the Rangers had offered standout defenceman Jacob Trouba, a Wolverines commit, $200,000 in lieu of an education package to play for Kitchener this season. Such a payment would contravene the OHL’s rules in regards to impermissible benefits.

      Ryder Gilliland, the lawyer representing the Rangers in their suit, said the team is seeking $1 Read More »

    • Kitchener Rangers irate over Jacob Trouba report

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Tue, Jul 3, 2012 6:13 PM EDT

      Nothing says summer quite like the ongoing bitter feud between the NCAA and Canadian Hockey League.

      If the latest firestorm over defenceman Jacob Trouba is any indication, it’s going to be a scorcher.

      On Monday night a report in The Michigan Daily – the University of Michigan’s student newspaper – suggested that Trouba could potentially forgo his commitment to the Wolverines to play for the Kitchener Rangers who, according to unnamed sources, had offered $200,000 in place of an education package.

      Such a payment would contravene the Ontario Hockey League’s rules in regards to impermissible benefits.

      Steve Bienkowski, the Rangers’ chief operating officer, flatly denied the report and any kind of payment offered to the Trouba family. In addition, Bienkowski said the team has retained a lawyer and will purse the matter legally.

      “We’re going to look at every legal remedy we have against the newspaper, the reporter and these so-called unnamed

      Read More »

    • Shawinigan Cataractes cap Cinderella story as Anton Zlobin's OT goal delivers MasterCard Memorial Cup crown

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Mon, May 28, 2012 9:44 AM EDT

      SHAWINIGAN, Que. — Anton Zlobin sat on the Shawinigan Cataractes bench, too exhausted to take his next shift. Shawinigan Cataractes Anton Zlobin kisses the trophy cup after defeating the London Knights during their Memorial Cup final ice hockey game in Shawinigan, Quebec, May 27, 2012. Zlobon scored the game-winning goal. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger (CANADA - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

      It was the final of the MasterCard Memorial Cup and the score was deadlocked at one with the game in the dying minutes of the first overtime period against the London Knights.

      The star winger, not exactly a defensive specialist, was worried that he might become a liability if the Cats lost the faceoff in the Knights zone.

      "Go! Just go!," Shawinigan coach Eric Veilleux told him. "He went for 10 feet and came back. He's like, if we lose the faceoff and the puck gets out (of the zone) I'm coming off.

      "I said, 'No problem, you have a deal.' We lost it, but the puck stayed there. He scored."

      It was meant to be, the 19-year-old said, even though he could not recall how the puck went past Michael Houser into the London Knights' goal.

      "Eric just told me 'Go!' I think he was feeling I would score this goal."

      For the record, Zlobin fired the puck from the right circle

      Read More »

    • Sea Dogs stunned in semifinal loss to host Cataractes at Memorial Cup

      By Sunaya Sapurji | Yahoo! Sports – Sat, May 26, 2012 1:08 AM EDT

      SHAWINIGAN, Que. — It was a shocker in Shawinigan that no one saw coming – least of all the defending Memorial Cup-champion Saint John Sea Dogs.

      Saint John was in a state of shock after losing to rival Shawinigan in the Memorial Cup semifinal. (Reuters)The team that had rolled through the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs, losing only once en route to a second straight league title, was eliminated from major junior’s title tournament in the semifinal by the host Cataractes 7-4.

      Veteran defenceman Charles-Oliver Roussel, who had come to Saint John from the American Hockey League with the intention of winning a Memorial Cup trophy, wiped the sweat and tears from his face. He had a hard time trying to understand what went wrong for the club that was considered, by far, the class of the Canadian Hockey League.

      “I’m sorry,” said the overager. “I don’t know what to say.”

      No one took the loss harder than goaltender Mathieu Corbeil. The last time Corbeil had given up six or more goals was back on Nov. 28, 2010, when he was a member of the Halifax Mooseheads. The team to score

      Read More »

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