Alberta
Bruins win 8th straight, Ullmark frustrates Flames with 54 saves
Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy, centre, keeps Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund, left, away from the puck as goalie Linus Ullmark looks on during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
By Darren Haynes in Calgary
Charlie McAvoy scored the overtime winner and Linus Ullmark made 54 saves as the Boston Bruins stunned the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Tuesday night.
The Flames overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit and led 3-2 in the third period until Pavel Zacha scored a power-play goal at 14:07 to tie the game for the Bruins, who have now won eight straight games.
Dmitry Orlov had two goals and an assist for Boston, which improved its league-leading record to 47-8-5.
Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube, and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Calgary (27-21-13). The Flames are five points back of the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers, who are tied for the two wild-card spots in the NHL’s Western Conference
It was another stellar night for Ullmark, who is the league leader in wins, goals-against average and save percentage. He is 31-4-1 on the season.
It was also a career high in saves for Ullmark, whose previous best was 44 done twice.
At the opposite end, Dan Vladar was pulled after the first period in which he gave up two goals on five shots. He was replaced by Jacob Markstrom, who stopped 13 of 15 shots to take the loss and fall to 15-16-7.
On the overtime winner, McAvoy was able to deflect in Patrice Bergeron’s pass just as the game was looking like it was going to go to a shootout.
After relinquishing the 2-1 lead that the Bruins took into the third period, the visitors got it back to even at 14:07 on a power-play goal.
Flames defenceman Nikita Zadorov stepped up to lay a heavy hit on Jake DeBrusk as he crossed the blue line with the puck, but the collision also took out teammate Andrew Mangiapane and with two Flames down on the ice, Orlov corralled the loose puck and set up Zacha for an open net.
After trailing most of the night, Dube tied it 2-2 at 8:16 of the third when he took Tyler Toffoli’s pass and put a shot inside the far goalpost.
Less than 90 seconds later, the Flames took their first lead when Huberdeau’s attempted pass to Jakob Pelletier deflected in off a Bruins’ skate.
The Bruins are the NHL’s No. 1 team with a 13-point cushion over the Carolina Hurricanes in the overall standings, but they didn’t look the part most of the night against the scuffling Flames who dominated the play throughout.
Boston had not generated fewer than 21 shots in a game or allowed more than 41 shots against and both of those marks fell with the Flames outshooting the visitors 57-20.
Down 2-0 after the first period despite holding a 19-5 edge in shots, the Flames kept up the pressure in the second, finally breaking through on Coleman’s goal at 1:07 when he put a shot inside the post after being set up in the slot by Rasmus Andersson.
But after that it was all Ullmark.
After Coleman scored 1:07 into the period, the Flames had a bunch of dangerous chances only to be thwarted time and time again by the 29-year-old Swede.
Mikael Backlund had a short-handed breakaway. Pelletier was sprung for a partial breakaway. Later in the period, Ullmark jabbed out his blocker to deny Huberdeau than snagged Pelletier’s shot on the rebound.
Through 40 minutes, the Flames trailed 2-1 despite a 39-9 edge in shots.
It what’s been a consistent storyline all season, the Flames outplayed the Bruins by a wide margin in the first period, outshooting the guests 19-5, but exited the period down 2-0.
Orlov scored his first goal as a Bruin at 4:47 when he took a pass from his defensive partner Hamphus Lindholm and wove through the neutral zone and over the Flames’ blue line, beating Vladar blocker side on a rising shot from 40 feet out.
Shortly after, Huberdeau got in alone but was robbed by Ullmark. Boston responded to make it 2-0 with Orlov scoring again, this time off setup from DeBrusk.
WESTERN DOMINATION
The Bruins improved to 21-2-2 against the Western Conference. Included is an 11-1-2 mark against the Pacific Division.
MILESTONE NIGHT
Flames centre Nazem Kadri played in his 800th career game while Coleman’s marker was his 100th career goal.
BLUE LINE SHUFFLE
Both teams made tweaks to its blue line. Matt Grzelcyk came back in for the Bruins after sitting out last game, bumping Brandon Carlo to the press box. The Flames switched their top two pairings that have been together all season with Noah Hanifin partnering with Chris Tanev and Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar forming a duo.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Open a four-game home stand on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Flames: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2023.
Canada’s agricultural land is under increasing pressure to produce more food as demand grows domestically and internationally, while the industry grapples with limited resources and environmental constraints, a new report found.
“We need to grow more food on less land and in a volatile climate,” said Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.
The report by the institute released Thursday looks at the pressures on Canada’s agricultural land to produce more food while also mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change, said McCann.
Despite Canada being a big country, it doesn’t have as much agricultural land as people might think, said McCann, with the report noting that agricultural land makes up only around seven per cent of the country.
Because of that, we can’t take what we do have for granted, he said. “We need to be really thoughtful about how we are using our agricultural land.”
In 2020, Canada was the eighth largest country in terms of cropland area, the report said, with that cropland decreasing by seven per cent over the previous two decades.
Canada is a major producer and net exporter of agriculture and agri-food products, the report said, exporting $91 billion in products in 2022, and one of the top 10 exporters of wheat, canola, pulses, pork and beef.
In the coming years, Canada will face increased demand from countries whose populations are growing, the report said.
“With population growth on one side and climate change on the other, Canada will be amongst an increasingly smaller number of countries that is a net exporter,” said McCann, noting that Canada’s own population is growing, and farmland also needs to be protected against urban sprawl.
The wildfires clouding Canadian skies this week are a “vivid reminder” of the pressure that extreme weather and the changing climate are putting on the agricultural sector, said McCann.
“We need to clearly mitigate … agriculture’s impact on climate change. But we also need to make sure agriculture is adapting to climate change’s impacts,” he said.
One of the ways the world has responded to demand for increased agricultural production over time is to create more agricultural land, in some cases by cutting down forests, said McCann. But that’s not a viable option for Canada, which doesn’t have a lot of land that can be sustainably converted into farmland — and even if it could, doing so could have a variety of adverse environmental effects, he said.
Some of the practices used to reduce emissions and sequester carbon in agriculture can also improve production output on existing farmland, the report found, such as precision agriculture and no-till practices.
However, intensifying the production of current agricultural land also comes with potential environmental downsides, the report said.
For example, McCann said fertilizer is an important part of sustainable agriculture, but there’s a balance to be struck because excessive use of fertilizer can quickly turn food production unsustainable.
“We need to be a lot more thoughtful about the inputs that we’re using,” he said, adding the same can be said about the use of technology in agriculture and the policies and programs put in place to encourage sustainable intensification of Canadian agriculture.
The report recommends that Canada adopt policies that provide financial incentives and technical assistance to farmers and develop regulatory frameworks promoting sustainable land use, as well as promoting education and awareness campaigns, so that the country can “ensure the long-term sustainability of its agricultural sector while protecting the environment.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
A family member of five slain students holds a heart sign with their names on it following a court decision in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Alberta’s highest court is being asked to overturn a review board decision on the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party that confined a man to a supervised Edmonton group home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
By Ritika Dubey in Edmonton
Alberta’s highest court is being asked to overturn a review board decision that confined a man to a supervised Edmonton group home after the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party.
The lawyer representing Matthew de Grood argued Wednesday the review board’s decision was biased, citing what she described as political interference from Alberta’s former justice minister.
“The appellant says, ‘I think the conclusion about me is wrong. The board’s conclusion is incorrect and not supported by evidence,”’ Jacqueline Petrie said before the Alberta Court of Appeal. “He says there’s no significant evidence that he’s a risk.”
De Grood, 31, was found not criminally responsible in 2016 for the killings two years earlier of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong because he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time. Petrie said de Grood has been stable on medication, is at low risk to reoffend and should be allowed to live with his parents while being monitored under a full warrant.
She argued the review board misunderstood medical evidence during the September 2022 review, which deemed de Grood a significant risk despite the assessment showing improvements. She said the board is supposed to recommend the least onerous disposition compatible with public safety and did not do that for de Grood.
The defence lawyer has said the review had been influenced by former justice minister Doug Schweitzer, who weighed in on de Grood’s case in October 2019 after the panel allowed de Grood to transition from institutional care to a supervised group home.
He has been under supervision at a group home. His case is reviewed by the Alberta Review Board yearly to see whether he can transition back into the community while maintaining public safety.
Petrie pointed at de Grood’s “exemplary record,” and that he has been “compliant to the (medical) treatment team.”
“Nobody knew he had schizophrenia (at the time of the stabbings) and needed medication.”
Crown prosecutor Matthew Griener said the board considered a conditional discharge but dismissed it, citing a relapse in schizophrenia symptoms in 2021.
Griener said de Grood’s relapses were brief and happened at the hospital, providing an early window for medical professionals to intervene.
Justice Kevin Feehan said de Grood may be low-risk, but the consequences of even one relapse could be significant.
Reading from an expert’s report, Feehan said: “A low risk to offend doesn’t mean the reoffence would not be severe.”
Some family members of the victims drove from Calgary for the hearing.
Segura’s mother, Patty, said the last nine years have been about de Grood and his rights.
“He should be thankful that he ended up NCR (not criminally responsible) rather than end(ing) with five life sentences for murdering five people,” she said. “He should not be appealing.”
Hunter’s father, Barclay, opposed a potential full release.
“The idea that he wouldn’t be monitored for the rest of his life seems to defy logic, it doesn’t make any sense,” said the father.
Hunter’s mother, Kelly, said the family has had “no healing.”
“We do this every year, at least once. Now, this is the second appeal,” she said. Barclay
Hunter said although there are attempts to reintegrate de Grood into society, he hopes the man is not left on his own with an absolute discharge.
“Regardless of what they say, he killed five people. If that doesn’t stand on its own as a risk factor, then I don’t know what does.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.
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