Hot Buttered Post: Canada's world juniors find out just how good their goalies are

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• Canada’s world junior team opened its slate of pre-tournament exhibition games with a 3-0 loss to a team of U Sports all-stars last night. On the brighter side, junior goalies Colton Point and Carter Hart tended net for the all-stars and shut out their prospective teammates with a combined 32 saves, and two of the goals Canada allowed were via an empty net. If anything, the result should be seen as an endorsement of the level of play in Canada’s university ranks — or as an understandable growing pain this far out from the championships.

The teams will face off again in St. Catharines, Ont., at 4 p.m. today. Canada plays Denmark at 2 p.m. Friday and is expected to pare its roster from 33 players down to 22 after that. The world juniors start Dec. 26 in Buffalo.

• Longtime Senators forward Chris Neil announced his retirement this morning. Neil spent his entire 15-season, 1,026-game career with Ottawa, scoring 112 goals and 250 points and adding 2,522 penalty minutes — an average of 202 every 82 games. His last NHL action came in the second round of last year’s playoffs, when he was inserted into the lineup for two games against the New York Rangers. He’ll play in a Senators alumni game on the outdoor rink at Parliament Hill tomorrow night, a day before the Senators and Canadiens face off outside in the Heritage Classic at TD Place.

• The Blue Jays stood pat during MLB’s annual Rule 5 draft this morning: they didn’t select a player, nor did they lose any of the prospects they had left off their 40-man roster. Toronto did select three players — Giants pitcher Andrew Muren, Cubs catcher Alberto Mineo and Cleveland shortstop Ivan Castillo — in the minor-league portion of the draft, where they lost Single-A third baseman Mitch Nay to the Reds.

Muren is already 29, but is a converted outfielder who has only been pitching in the minors for the past three seasons. And he’s capable of throwing 100 mph. Winnipeg baseball fans might remember Muren for the two seasons he spent in the independent American Association playing for Goldeyes opponents in Sioux Falls, Gary and Fargo before making the position switch. The Jays will need to keep all three at least as high as Triple-A this season or offer them back to the original clubs for half of the acquisition price of US$24,000.

• Henrik Sedin became the 31st player in NHL history to collect 800 assists last night in Vancouver’s 7-1 loss to Nashville. He’s one of only eight players on that list who have played exclusively for one team, and he’s only the second Swede on the list, joining Nicklas Lidstrom. Fifteen more assists this season will get Sedin ahead of Pierre Turgeon (812), Mike Modano and Johnny Bucyk (813), and Gilbert Perreault (814).

• Cam Ward and Kari Lehtonen became the 32nd and 33rd goalies in NHL history to reach 300 wins. Ward earned his milestone win on Tuesday in Las Vegas and Lehtonen did it last night against the Islanders. The game was Lehtonen’s 624th in the NHL, moving him past Miikka Kiprusoff for the most by a Finnish goalie in NHL history.

• Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist joined a more exclusive list last night — the 15th goalie to make 20,000 saves (at least since the statistic started being recorded in the 1955-56 season).

• The Steelers and Eagles locked up their NFL post-season spots last weekend, and they are among the six teams on this week’s playoff scenario report. Pittsburgh (11-2) plays New England (10-3) on Sunday; a victory would give them the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They can also secure a first-round bye with a tie and a Jacksonville loss.

The Patriots can clinch the AFC East with a win and a Buffalo loss; they can clinch a playoff spot if Baltimore loses. The Jaguars (9-4) can earn their spot with a win or a combination of other outcomes.

Philadelphia (11-2) can earn the top spot in the NFC with a win and a Minnesota loss. They can secure a first-round bye with a win. The Vikings (10-3) clinch the NFC North with a win or losses by both Detroit and Green Bay. They’ll get their playoff spot with a combination of outcomes that all include a loss by Seattle and a loss or tie by Atlanta.

The Rams (9-4) can also clinch a playoff spot with a victory and losses by all four of Detroit, Green Bay, New Orleans and Atlanta.

Nutritional analysis

Below is a custom-made interactive data visualization from Qlik that shows every goal scored in the Montreal Canadiens’ history as a member of the National Hockey League. We’d like to apologize to our friends at Qlik, a Boston-based company, for making them stare at those thousands of Canadiens goals.

In this post we published earlier today, which also contains the interactive graphic, we picked out 10 of the most significant and dramatic Canadiens goals in the 100 years of the NHL.

Back in March, we did the same thing for the 100 years of Toronto Maple Leafs goals.

Photo of the day

Here’s a shot of the 23,235th — and latest — goal in Canadiens history: Phillip Danault’s marker at 15:58 of the third period in a 6-2 loss to the Oilers last Saturday.

At nationalpost.com

• The news that four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome failed a doping test back in September came out of the blue yesterday, but it was hardly surprising. At best, Froome’s positive test for excessive levels of an asthma drug was a rookie mistake, writes Juliet Macur. But even if his intentions weren’t nefarious, Froome’s name will forever be associated with scandal — just like every other great cycling champion of the last couple decades.

• How does it feel to win world junior gold — or to lose it in heartbreaking fashion? Former NHL forward Anthony Stewart experienced both results with Team Canada back in the mid-2000s. He joined the Off the Post podcast to share memories of the TSN door knock, keeping away from social media during the championships, playing with a 16-year-old Sidney Crosby and more.

TV tonight

All times Eastern

7 p.m. NHL: Washington at Boston SN 360, SN East, SN Pacific
7:30 p.m. NHL: New Jersey at Montreal TSN2, RDS
7:30 p.m. NBA: Detroit at Atlanta NBATV
8 p.m. NHL
— Toronto at Minnesota SN Ontario
— Chicago at Winnipeg TSN3
8 p.m. NBA: LA Lakers at Cleveland SN One
8:25 p.m. NFL: Denver at Indianapolis NBC, TSN1,4,5
9 p.m. NHL
— Nashville at Edmonton SN West, TVAS
— San Jose at Calgary SN Flames
10 p.m. NHL: Pittsburgh at Vegas Sportsnet, SN 360
10:30 p.m. NBA: Dallas at Golden State SN One

TV this weekend

All times Eastern

Friday

4:04 a.m. Skeleton: World Cup men’s heat 1 CBC.ca streaming
— Heat 2, 5:49 a.m.
6:15 a.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup men’s super-G CBC.ca streaming
8:04 a.m. Skeleton: World Cup women’s heat 1 CBC.ca streaming
— Heat 2, 9:34 a.m.
10 a.m. Luge: World Cup doubles first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 11:20 a.m.
11:25 a.m. Hockey: Channel One, Canada vs. Czech Republic TSN1,5
12:40 p.m. Luge: World Cup men’s first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 2:15 p.m.
7 p.m. NHL: Los Angeles at NY Rangers Sportsnet, TVAS
7:30 p.m. NHL: Toronto at Detroit TSN4
7:30 p.m. NBA: Brooklyn at Toronto TSN1,3,5
9 p.m. NCAA Hockey: Dartmouth at Denver TSN2
9:30 p.m. NBA: San Antonio at Houston NBATV
10 p.m. Women’s hockey: Canada vs. U.S. at San Jose TSN1,3
10 p.m. NHL: San Jose at Vancouver SN Pacific

Saturday

12:30 a.m. Freestyle skiing: World Cup aerials CBC.ca streaming
3:34 a.m. Bobsleigh: World Cup women’s heat 1 CBC.ca streaming
— Heat 2, 5:04 a.m.
4:40 a.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup women’s downhill CBC.ca streaming
6:15 a.m. Alpine skiing: World Cup men’s downhill CBC.ca streaming
7 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, Leicester vs. Crystal Palace SN World
7:30 a.m. Cross-country skiing: World Cup men’s 15km CBC.ca streaming
7:34 a.m. Bobsleigh: World Cup two-man heat 1 CBC.ca streaming
— Heat 2, 9:04 a.m.
8:55 a.m. Hockey: Channel One Cup, Canada vs. Russia TSN1,5
9:30 a.m. Luge: World Cup women’s first run CBC.ca streaming
— Second run, 10:50 a.m.
10 a.m. Soccer: Premier League
— Chelsea vs. Southampton Sportsnet
— Watford vs. Huddersfield TSN3
— Arsenal vs. Newcastle TSN4
— Stoke vs. West Ham SN One
12:05 p.m. Luge: World Cup doubles sprint CBC.ca streaming
— Women’s sprint, 12:45 p.m.
— Men’s sprint, 1:30 p.m.
12:30 p.m. Soccer: Premier League, Manchester City vs. Tottenham TSN3,4
1 p.m. NCAA Football: New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs. North Texas TSN2
1:20 p.m. Snowboard: World Cup parallel slalom CBC.ca streaming
2 p.m. NHL: Edmonton at Minnesota SN West
3:30 p.m. NCAA Football: Las Vegas Bowl, Boise State vs. Oregon ABC
3:30 p.m. CHL: Acadie-Bathurst at Moncton Sportsnet
4:30 p.m. NFL: Chicago at Detroit TSN1,3,4
4:30 p.m. NCAA Football: New Mexico Bowl, Marshall vs. Colorado State TSN2
7 p.m. NHL
— Montreal at Ottawa CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS
— Winnipeg at St. Louis City
7:30 p.m. NBA: Utah at Cleveland SN One
8 p.m. NCAA Football: Camellia Bowl, Middle Tennessee State vs. Arkansas State TSN2
8 p.m. NBA: Phoenix at Minnesota NBATV
8:25 p.m. NFL: LA Chargers at Kansas City TSN1,3,4
10 p.m. NHL: Nashville at Calgary CBC, Sportsnet

Sunday

12:30 a.m. Freestyle skiing: World Cup team aerials CBC.ca streaming
8:04 a.m. Bobsleigh: World Cup four-man heat 1 CBC.ca streaming
— Heat 2, 9:34 a.m.
9:30 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, West Brom vs. Manchester United Sportsnet
11:30 a.m. Soccer: Premier League, Bournemouth vs. Liverpool TSN1,4
1 p.m. NFL
— Cincinnati at Minnesota CTV (B.C., Alberta, Sask., Winnipeg, Northern Ont.), CBS (regional)
— Miami at Buffalo CTV (Toronto, Kitchener), CBS (regional)
— Philadelphia at NY Giants CTV (Montreal), FOX (regional)
— NY Jets at New Orleans CTV (Ottawa, Atlantic), CBS (regional)
— Green Bay at Carolina TSN3,5, FOX (regional), RDS
— Baltimore at Cleveland CBS (regional)
3:30 p.m. NBA: Sacramento at Toronto TSN1,4
4 p.m. NFL: LA Rams at Seattle CTV (B.C. only), TSN5, FOX (regional)
4:25 p.m. NFL: New England at Pittsburgh CTV, CTV Two (Atlantic), CBS (regional), RDS
6 p.m. NHL: St. Louis at Winnipeg TSN3
6 p.m. NBA
— Cleveland at Washington TSN4
— Indiana at Brooklyn NBATV
7 p.m. Women’s hockey: U.S. vs. Canada at Edmonton TSN2
8 p.m. NHL: Calgary at Vancouver Sportsnet
8:30 p.m. NFL: Dallas at Oakland NBC, CTV Two, TSN1,3-5

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