Ice hockey: Draisaitl excels in the Oilers’ first NHL win of the season
With his best performance of the season, national ice hockey player Leon Draisaitl led the Edmonton Oilers to their first win in the NHL. The 27-year-old from Cologne scored four points in the 6-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday evening (local time). In addition to his goals to make it 1-0 and 5-1, he also prepared Zach Hyman’s 2-0 and Connor McDavid’s 4-0. After three games this season, Draisaitl now has seven scorer points. After the two defeats against the Vancouver Canucks with a goal difference of 4:12, the win against Nashville was the hoped-for liberation for the ambitious team from Edmonton.
Draisaitl also set an Oilers record with his two goals from power-numbered situations. His opening goal was the 127th goal of his career from a power play, overtaking Ryan Smyth and Glenn Anderson and later extending the record to 128 such goals. He needed 641 games to set the record, while Smyth and Anderson needed 971 and 845 games respectively.
In 24 games against Nashville so far, Draisaitl also has a strong record of 24 goals and 15 assists. “Sometimes it works better against certain teams than against others,” said Draisaitl. “I’m sure it’ll stop at some point. I hope I can extend it for a few more games.”
Basketball: Wagner brothers in strong early form
The German basketball world champions Franz and Moritz Wagner were in good early form about a week before the start of the NBA season. In the 92:104 defeat in the friendly against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, Franz Wagner put up 19 points as a starter, while his brother scored 16 points off the bench.
“I think today was a day where sometimes we had a few free throws or good threes that we didn’t take and went back into the zone where everyone was. But if we find a rhythm, if we play more together, we’ll definitely get it under control. “But I think it’s great to see that we want to share the ball,” said Franz Wagner.
National team captain Dennis Schröder, who sensationally won the World Cup with the Wagners in September, scored twelve points in his Toronto Raptors’ 106:102 win against the Chicago Bulls. Isaiah Hartenstein, who was not there in Manila, lost with the New York Knicks 110:123 to the Boston Celtics. The center had 13 points and eight rebounds.
The new NBA season begins next Wednesday night. Orlando starts on Thursday (1:00 a.m.) against the Houston Rockets, on the same day the Knicks face the Celtics (1:00 a.m.) and the Raptors face the Minnesota Timberwolves (1:30 a.m.).
Football: NFL wants to enable stars to take part in the Olympics in flag football
The NFL wants to enable its stars to take part in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Flag football, a low-contact version of American football, will be included in the Olympics for the first time at the Summer Games in California. “This is the pinnacle of sports worldwide,” NFL executive Peter O’Reilly said at a meeting Tuesday. “In the end, the decision to form Team USA is a decision made by USA Football and the national association and the national associations of other countries with comparable missions,” he said, pointing to the current 113 NFL professionals who were born outside the United States.
O’Reilly said he understands athletes’ need to represent their countries at the Olympics. He announced talks with the players’ union and the NFL teams “towards a process” and then they would work with the US Football Association and the International American Football Association.
At the general assembly in India, the International Olympic Committee included flag football along with cricket, baseball, softball, lacrosse and squash in the program for the games in the summer of 2028. The NFL has been very committed to this in recent months and has aggressively marketed flag football.
After the IOC decision was announced, NFL star Tyrek Hill from the Miami Dolphins announced his interest in participating in the Olympics. “How great would it be to send a great team to the Olympic Games,” he also asked.
From Germany, Jakob Johnson (Las Vegas Raiders) from Stuttgart and Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions) are currently on the active rosters of NFL teams. St. Brown’s older brother Equanimeous of the Chicago Bears is inactive for at least three more weeks due to injury. The 23-year-old Amon-Ra St. Brown is officially a flag football ambassador for the NFL and, in his third season, is one of the league’s best pass receivers.
2023-10-18 11:45:23
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