Browsing: milestone

Oct 13, 2025, 03:29 PM ET

ELMONT, N.Y. — Jonathan Toews reached another milestone in his NHL comeback Monday, recording his first point in nearly 2½ years.

“I guess when you put it that way it’s nice to get the monkey off your back,” Toews said after he and the Winnipeg Jets beat the New York Islanders 5-2.

Toews helped set up Nino Niederreiter’s power-play goal in the Jets’ third game of the season and picked up a secondary assist. Toews last got on the scoresheet April 13, 2023, in his final game with the Chicago Blackhawks before stepping away from hockey because of health issues.

“Felt like I had a few chances to score, too,” Toews said. “Hopefully find a way to get that first goal here, too. I think ultimately you just concentrate on making plays, getting around the net, being more confident when the puck comes to you in those dangerous areas. It’s a numbers game. Just got to keep creating and find ways to find the back of the net.”

Editor’s Picks

• 

Toews, 37, chose his hometown team to make his return after sitting out the past two seasons because of the effects of chronic immune response syndrome and long COVID-19. He said he’s feeling good physically while getting up to speed.

“Still finding my way a little bit,” Toews said. “It takes time to become second nature. And then you have to find your game. You’ve got to go out there and relax a little bit. The first couple games I felt like I was getting tired late in shifts, because you’re just overskating everything and overworking yourself. You’d rather be safe than sorry, and sometimes less is more.”

Toews captained the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup three times, in 2010, ’13 and ’15. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during the franchise’s first championship run since 1961 and in 2016 was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league’s 100-year history.

“He’s worked hard to come back and feel good, and I think that’s the most important thing is he’s feeling good,” longtime Blackhawks teammate and current Detroit Red Wings winger Patrick Kane said last month. “I’m really happy that he’s back.”

Toews also helped Canada win two Olympic gold medals. Those tournaments and world championships are the only times he and Kane have faced off against each other since breaking in together with the Blackhawks in ’07.

Assuming they’re healthy, that is set to change on Dec. 31 when Winnipeg visits Detroit. Kane already asked coach Todd McLellan to put him out for the opening faceoff against the former teammate with whom he’ll forever be linked.

Asked before camp opened if he thought Toews — nicknamed “Captain Serious” for his low-key demeanor — has mellowed over the years, Kane shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” Kane said. “I’m sure he’s pissed off about something. Someone said something about him, or he’s always got to prove someone wrong. That’s a great thing about Johnny. He’s always out to prove something.”

Toews is proving he still has it, averaging over 17 minutes of ice time as the Jets’ second-line center. Coach Scott Arniel used Toews on the penalty kill against the Islanders after forward Cole Koepke was injured blocking a shot, but the staff is trying not to overplay him.

“He’s getting better every day,” Arniel said. “That’s what we talked about, him and I, that it wasn’t going to come in one fell swoop. Every day, he’s gotten better and better and I think he’s recognizing just how to kind of play the game with his hockey smarts.

“He does veteran things. He does elite things, whether it’s using his body or his stick or his positioning and you’re just seeing him getting more and more comfortable: getting comfortable with our team and how we play but also his linemates and different people, as well.”

The next task is a long shot bid to make Canada’s Olympic team one more time in NHL players’ return to the Games in Milan in February. He’d also like to help the Jets win the Cup for the first time, and his teammates love having Toews around.

“It’s the leadership he has, the things he’s done in this league, and there’s nothing that he hasn’t done,” Tanner Pearson said. “It goes a long way. [He] helps us along. He’s very vocal in the room, says the right things.”

Source link

Alex de Minaur has hailed the milestone 50th tour-level victory in his best ever season as “amazing†after easing into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

But now the Australian No 1 hopes his win – a 7-5 6-2 win over Portugalâ€s Nuno Borges – is just a staging post on his way to what could be his first ever ATP Masters 1000 triumph.

De Minaur became just the third man in 2025 to hit the 50-win mark, following Carlos Alcaraz (67) and Taylor Fritz (50), with the Sydneysider also leading the tour in 37 hard-court victories for the season.

The landmark never looked in doubt once de Minaur had earned the only break of the opening set to go ahead 6-5, starting a run of six straight games as he assumed total control in the second, eventually hitting 19 winners and making just 10 unforced errors over the course of one hour 48 minutes.

It has set up a last-eight date with 16th seed Daniil Medvedev, who outlasted Learner Tien 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 later on Wednesday.

De Minaurâ€s season, with 50 wins and 18 losses, tops his previous best of 47-21 last year.

The world No 7 did, though, earn two titles in 2024 and is aiming to match that by landing his second of 2025, following his triumph in Washington in August, with the draw looking wide open following the exit of his nemesis Jannik Sinner and the absence of Carlos Alcaraz.

“For me, it just shows consistency and that is what I am most proud of,†de Minaur said of his landmark. “Showing up every single week, and it is an amazing number.

“I am hoping for many more to finish off the year and not stay at 50. It has been a successful trip to Asia so far.â€

The brutally hot and humid conditions in Shanghai have taken their toll, with Sinner retiring against Tallon Griekspoor with cramp while Novak Djokovic was sick on court during his win over Yannick Hanfmann.

“I told myself at the start of the week it was all going to be a big mental effort to go out there and compete,†said de Minaur. “I am happy to be in the quarter-finals and give myself another opportunity.â€

Medvedev struggled with cramp in his win. He kept telling his watching team “Iâ€m done†and looked at one point as if he was about to quit before he eventually prevailed after nearly three hours against US teen Tien, who beat him in another gruelling affair at the Australian Open in January.

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Australia Sport

Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk

Privacy Notice:Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

De Minaur will be facing his old Russian foe for the 12th time on Friday, with 29-year-old Medvedev leading their head-to-head 7-4 but “Demon†winning their only 2025 clash in Monte Carlo.

The winner would then have a semi-final against the victor between 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

Canadian Auger-Aliassime outplayed Italyâ€s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday, while Rinderknech accounted for Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Musettiâ€s defeat is further good news for de Minaur as theyâ€re both direct rivals to grab a place in the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin.

The Italian is on 3435 points in eighth place, 110 behind de Minaur in seventh. Auger-Aliassime has moved on to 2905 points in 10th, with Briton Jack Draper, in ninth, already out for the season with injury.

Source link

Next Match: Lakeland University 9/6/2025 | 12:30 p.m. Sep. 06 (Sat) / 12:30 p.m.  Lakeland…