TORONTO – After digging themselves into a couple of enormous holes in two ugly losses on the road, the Toronto Raptors gathered before tipoff Saturday to talk about getting out to a better start.

Message received.

O.G. Anunoby tied his season high with 32 points and the Raptors led virtually from tipoff en route to a 121-108 rout of the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

“We just wanted to regroup, be better. It was a bad feeling in the locker room,” said Scottie Barnes, who had 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.

Pascal Siakam finished with 26 points and 10 assists, and Fred VanVleet finished with 13 points and seven assists, as the Raptors (12-11) sent the Magic — the league’s worst team at 5-19 — to their eighth consecutive loss.

Former Raptor Terrence Ross and seven-foot-two centre Bol Bol, who ran the length of the floor for an impressive one-handed dunk, scored 18 points apiece to lead the Magic.

The Raptors were back from a disastrous two-game road trip that VanVleet had summed up simply with: “We suck right now.” They dug themselves an early 36-point hole in their 114-105 loss Friday in Brooklyn. It was a similar story two nights earlier in a 126-108 blowout loss at New Orleans.

Coach Nick Nurse was relieved to see his team turn the tide on Saturday.

“We talked about it before the game … we were talking about being a little more ready,” Nurse said. “We also addressed that maybe our offence needs to maybe get the ball moving a little bit more, and I thought we really did that tonight. All night long. It just obviously created a lot better shots and a lot more cuts to the basket and things like that.”

The Raptors scored on eight of their first 10 shots to take an early 11-point lead, and shot a sizzling 71.4 per cent in the first quarter. Barnes’ turnaround shot with 1.8 seconds left in the frame sent them into the second with a 36-22 lead.

“That was probably the biggest emphasis tonight, just getting off to a good start,” Anunoby said. “Just playing hard from the start.”

The Raptors stretched their lead to 17 points early in the second and headed into halftime up 64-48.

Early in the third quarter, Anunoby attempted a 360 dunk but was caught by Bol.

“He turned too slow on that,” Nurse said laughing. “Speed rate on the circle has got to be a little quicker.”

It was the only blip on yet another excellent night for Anunoby, who moments later snatched the ball off Moritz Wagner and finished with a running dunk that capped a 25-8 run and gave Toronto a 33-point lead. The Raptors led 94-73 with one quarter left.

“O.G. had a great game, looked up in the first or second quarter, he had like 16 early,” Barnes said. “He was doing what he do, getting to the rim, getting to the line, making shots. He was doing amazing today.”

Ross, who was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including four three-pointers, scored from long range with 5:42 to play to pull the Magic to within 17 points. But that’s as close as the visitors would come, and Nurse subbed out his starters moments later.

The Magic have been hit by injuries, and were missing top rebounder Wendell Carter Jr., point guard Jalen Suggs and Mo Bamba on Saturday.

TIP-INS

The Raptors have won or tied the season series against Orlando for the past 10 seasons, and have now won nine of their last 11 home games against Orlando dating back to March of 2017 … Magic rookie and Canadian Caleb Houstan was recognized with a brief video tribute. The forward from Mississauga, Ont., who was drafted 32nd overall, had eight points in 24 minutes.

HOME SWEET HOME

Saturday began a stretch of nine of 14 games at home for the Raptors, where they are 9-2 this season.

UP NEXT

The Raptors host the conference-leading Boston Celtics on Monday and LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2022.

© 2022 The Canadian Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mitch Marner broke the Toronto points streak record at 19 games, scoring short-handed and power-play goals in the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

Alex Killorn scored from the right circle 33 seconds in the extra period. Anthony Cirelli, who made his season debut followng shoulder surgery, passed the puck to Killorn for the winner.

Marner opened the scoring from the low slot off a pass from behind the net by David Kampf at 5:18 of the second. The right wing broke the Maple Leafs record set by Darryl Sittler in 1977-78 and matched by Eddie Olczyk in 1989-90. The NHL record is 51 games, set by Wayne Gretzky (1983-84).

“It’s cool,” Marner said. “I grew up in the city. I love being part of this team now days. It’s special to me. It’s special growing up to watch this team play hockey. Now to have my name on something amazing, it’s hard to describe.”

Marner’s power-play goal tied it at 3 with 8:05 left in the third.

Tampa Bay had taken a 3-2 on power-play goals by Nikita Kucherov and Ross Colton in the opening 4:34 of the third. Kucherov’s goal came after Marner was sent off for tripping at 4 seconds.

Toronto’s John Tavares had a goal disallowed with 4:04 left in the third after a review determined he kicked the puck into the net,

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves, and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Lightning.

Cirelli assisted on Namestnikov’s goal. He played 12:45.

“It felt great just to be out there with the guys,” Cirelli said. “It’s awesome. It’s been awhile.”

Steven Stamkos extended his point sstreak to 10 games with an assist on Kucherov’s goal. Stamkos has five career 10-game points streaks. Only Martin St. Louis (seven) and Kucherov (six) have more in team history.

Toronto’s Matt Murray stopped 29 shots, and William Nylander had a goal.

The teams combined for 15 minor penalties. The Lightning went 2 for 6 on the power play, while Toronto converted one of five chances.

“It was a weird game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I think both coaches and staffs will look at it, and the only benefit was we got the extra point.”

Just 22 seconds after a goal by Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point was overturned for offside after a video review, Nylander made it 2-1 with 3:10 left in the second on his eighth goal in the last 10 games.

Namestnikov tied it at 1 on his first goal in 24 games 2:22 after Marner’s goal.

RECOGNITION

Stamkos was honored pregame after becoming the first Lightning player and 95th in the NHL to reach 1,000 points Thursday night at Philadelphia.

He received a Tiffany Crystal from Don VanMassenhoven, who represented the NHL, and an engraved gold stick from Tampa Bay owner Jeff Vinik.

STRANGE STREAK BUSTER

Stamkos set the Lightning record with an 18-game point streak at Toronto on Mar. 11, 2009 and said he remembers it “like it was yesterday because my sticks got stolen after the game at the Toronto airport.”

The Lightning captain then went three straight pointless games.

NUMBERS

Lightning RW Corey Perry had two assists in his 1,200th game. He is the 122nd NHL player to reach the milestone. … Tampa Bay has a power-play goal in 10 straight games. … The Lightning have allowed an NHL-high six shorthanded goals. … Toronto C Auston Matthews had an assist and eight shots.

TRAINERS ROOM

Lightning: C Anthony Cirelli (shoulder surgery) made his season debut.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Play Tuesday night at Dallas.

Lightning: Host Detroit on Tuesday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

© 2022 The Canadian Press

Stop one of the four-game road trip for the Montreal Canadiens was a theft in Calgary as Jake Allen made 45 saves in a 2-1 win. Stop two was even more difficult for the goalie as the Canadiens faced powerhouse shooters like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

The Oilers used their exceptional power play to win 5-3.

Wilde Horses 

Connor McDavid embarrasses defenders. It’s what he does. He embarrasses defencemen like the Roadrunner embarrasses Wile E. Coyote. So in the first period, when McDavid had a full head of steam and made one of his patented lateral moves, it looked like Kaiden Guhle was going to be a victim.

What happened instead is one for the history books for the rookie. Guhle was able to square up and meet McDavid right in the chest and stop him cold. What a vote of confidence that must have been for Guhle. No one stops McDavid like that.

There are times when McDavid is taken wide and his shot comes from a bad angle on a rare good defensive one-on-one play, but to actually square him up and stop him from skating forward completely, that’s a special moment in hockey circles.

Guhle has the goods. It was a big game for him, returning to where he won the Western Hockey League championship for the Edmonton Oil Kings and being the MVP of the playoffs. He wanted to impress at Rogers Place and he certainly did.

When you see a moment like that, a game like that, and, so far, a season like that, you know Guhle is a first pair defender in the NHL in waiting. Just a little bit more seasoning in positioning and puck battles and the entire package is there for Guhle. One of the pieces needed to find NHL success has been found.

Some nights Guhle plays 25 minutes against the best the NHL has to offer. When that’s the first 20 games of your career and you stop McDavid in his tracks, you are on your way to greatness.

READ MORE: Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens shut out by San Jose Sharks in 4-0 loss

The Stay-At-Home defenceman is about to become obsolete in the NHL. In fact, the ones that remain are basically just being grandfathered in at this point. If a defender can’t join the rush on offence and supply an opportunity to score as well as stop goals, the usefulness of this player is just about finished.

Take the freedom that the Canadiens have as defenders in the NHL. Mike Matheson has finally returned to the line-up after injury, and right away he adds an offensive element to the blue line that is absolutely vital for success. He drew a penalty on a rush that gave the Canadiens a power play which they scored on to tie the game at three.

All of the new generation of great defencemen all add an offensive element to their games. The new defenders on the Canadiens add skating and puck skills to their ability to stop forwards. A new day has dawned where Matheson, Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jordan Harris, and Jonathan Kovacevic playing a 200-foot game makes the Canadiens a much more dangerous club to play against.

Head Coach Martin St. Louis is all about this new dynamic. He’s a coach for his time; a coach for these new times in the NHL. The game is changing and a coach with his head in the sand won’t cut it. Changes are afoot and St. Louis is leading the charge. He wants the minds of his players to be free. He wants them to take every spot of ice that they can fill with creativity.

His line-up choices in the moment also are about developing his players for the future. The stars of tomorrow can’t be the stars of tomorrow from the bench. On a 5-on-3 power play with the Canadiens down 3-2, the head coach put out two players with not a half-season between them. Arber Xhekaj scored and Juraj Slafkovsky got an assist. In the old days, they would have been watching; not creating.

It is so easy to be excited about this club with all of these players with so much of their best selves in front of them in the next five years. Four rookies on the blue line and all the best players up front on the top line each scoring around a point-per-game.

There’s a core of players who are already middle of the pack in the NHL, winning too many games for some people’s liking. Those players are about to be joined by some of the best prospects this club has had in ages.

The only issue is all this improvement is coming a little too soon to get one more piece in the draft that could be a franchise player. That’s a good problem for General Manager Kent Hughes to already have in only his second season.

Wilde Goats 

The Oilers have a power play operating at 28 per cent this season. McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse are hard enough to stop 5-on-5, but when the Oilers get a 5-on-3 — that’s a recipe for disaster.

How about three different 5-on-3 power plays? In one period? That doesn’t happen most games; never mind three times in one period. The result was three power play goals in the second for the Oilers to take over.

It’s too bad that it happened from a hockey point of view, because when the Canadiens were able to stay out of the penalty box, they held the Oilers to only four shots in the first period. Montreal 5-on-5 was the better team. They just didn’t play enough of the game at even strength.

READ MORE: Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in shootout

Wilde Cards

The level of Montreal Canadiens prospects has elevated so much in the last two years that yesterday’s hopefuls barely get mentioned today.

At one point, Jesse Ylonen was the best bet to break into the NHL line-up, but these days, he’s barely given a chance. He’s playing good hockey still, but there are simply too many that have leaped above him.

Owen Beck, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, Riley Kidney, Vinzenz Rohrer are all scoring machines and suddenly better prospects are bountiful.

On defence, the same story as Mattias Norlinder can barely get in the conversation anymore because there are so many who have leapfrogged him.

Recently, the Lane Hutson story keeps growing into something resembling historic.

Hutson has 17 points in 14 games for Boston University. That’s vying for the best freshman season in college history for a defender.

That mark is held by Brian Leetch, who had 47 points in 37 games for a points-per-game of 1.27. That was also in an era of hockey where the average game had nine goals; not six. Hutson is at 1.21 points-per-game.

What Hutson is accomplishing is sensational. He’s actually higher in points-per-game than even Luke Hughes, who is the best blue line prospect in hockey.

On Friday night, Hutson had three assists against New Hampshire. It felt like he could have had a point every shift.

He’s a remarkable player. It will be required viewing when the World Junior Championships start Boxing Day to see how Hutson performs in a best-on-best tournament. He’s just out of the NHL draft in a tourney that favours 20-year-olds.

Hutson shone in the U18s last year as he was arguably the best defenceman in the event, though the USA lost in the final to Sweden.

The U20s will be required viewing for Canadiens fans as it’s possible that there could be 11 Habs prospects there, though the number will likely finish at around seven. That’s a remarkable total.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators seem to have found their footing.

Claude Giroux led the way with a pair of goals and an assist as the Senators picked up a solid 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks Saturday night. It was Ottawa’s second straight victory and fourth in its last five games.

“We were playing good hockey for a while and we weren’t getting the result … and when you don’t get the results, you start doubting the way we’re playing, but we just have to trust that the way we’re playing is going to work,” said Giroux.

“(Saturday) was a great example of you just have to stick with it.”

Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot also scored for the Senators (10-13-1), while Anton Forsberg made 35 saves.

The team also gave full credit to the 17,101 on hand who were vocal from the start.

“Kudos to the fans and the crowd that gave us that energy,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “If it’s a dead crowd or maybe there’s not enough fans here tonight maybe we don’t find this gear. I think the guys felt that, right from the anthem on out.”

Ottawa especially benefitted from going an impressive 3-for-5 on the power play against the best penalty kill team in the league.

“You can’t take that many penalties against that team,” said Sharks coach David Quinn. “Some sloppy stick penalties that we can’t have. It’s frustrating because I thought there were some things in our game that I liked. We had some good chances we didn’t capitalize on.”

Tomas Hertl scored both goals for the Sharks (8-15-4), who are 1-2-0 so far through their four-game road trip that wraps up Sunday. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 34 shots.

“We find ways to lose,” said Sharks captain Logan Couture. “I’ve said that many times this year. Until we fix that, and find ways to start winning games, it’s not going to be going in the right direction.”

The Senators entered the contest on the heels of an emotional 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers Friday night. The Sharks, although having not played since Wednesday, did not look like the more rested team.

Ottawa scored its third power-play goal 5:18 into the third period when Mathieu Joseph fed Chabot to take a 4-2 lead.

Chabot is now up to three power-play goals on the season after entering the campaign with just three for his career. It was also his 200th career point, making him just the fourth Senators defenceman to reach the milestone.

“It’s something I’ve tried to change,” said Chabot of being more productive on the power play. “I think everybody around the league kind of got aware that I’m a pass-first kind of guy and this year I’ve tried to bring more pucks to the net and lucky enough they’ve been going in.”

The Senators’ final goal came as a result of an impressive sequence of events. The Sharks were on a 4-on-3 power play that consisted of numerous chances and Ottawa’s Travis Hamonic being without his stick at a point. But just as the power play expired, Giroux was able to break in alone and fire a slap shot past Kahkonen.

Forsberg made a number of incredible saves in the sequence leading to the goal.

“At the time you’re not really thinking about it too much,” admitted Forsberg. “I see the stick that’s broken and obviously that’s not good for us, but I thought we did a really good job of us just staying there and staying within our box and try to get as many passes as we could and then we got a good bounce and we scored so it was great.”

After trailing 2-1 to start the second, the Senators took a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

A brutal giveaway by Matt Benning put the puck on Giroux’s stick and he took full advantage for his 10th of the season at 5:22 of the second period.

Ottawa took the lead at 16:40 of the middle frame with its second power-play goal of the night thanks to a perfect touch pass from Drake Batherson to Stutzle.

Hertl netted his pair of goals in the first period to help the Sharks jump out to an early lead.

The Sharks centre beat Forsberg on the power play 7:26 into the frame to open the scoring.

Tkachuk tied the game with a power-play goal of his own at 10:25 of the period jumping on a rebound in front of Kahkonen.

Thirty-eight seconds later, Hertl scored his second when he was left alone in front and beat Forsberg to restore San Jose’s lead.

INTERESTING FACT OR STAT

The Ottawa Senators and Seattle Kraken are the only two NHL teams Erik Karlsson hasn’t scored a goal against.

NOTES

With his 44th NHL career goal, Tim Stutzle set a franchise record for goals before turning 21 years old. … The Senators were without defenceman Artem Zub after taking a puck to the face Friday in New York.

UP NEXT

The Senators host the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night, while the San Jose Sharks are back in action Sunday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2022.

© 2022 The Canadian Press

Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at Rogers Place.

“I thought the power play did a good job of finding a way to capitalize,” McDavid said.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three helpers.

The Canadiens took the lead on a power play goal by Nick Suzuki late in the first period. Early in the second, the Oilers responded on a man advantage of their own when Draisaitl set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for his 11th.

Read more:

Edmonton Oilers beaten 5-3 by Wild in Minnesota

Montreal got into penalty trouble as the second went on. While already down a man, Joel Edmundson was assessed a five-minute major for cross checking Zach Hyman in the head. Now enjoying a five-on-three, McDavid set up Draisaitl for his big one-timer to put the Oilers up 2-1.

“I’m happy we scored on that. That was a tough play and I thought it was the appropriate call,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said of the major penalty. “They had time to review it and make sure it was the right call. You want to really make sure you’re bearing down on that one.”

“It’s a form of our team toughness,” McDavid said of the power play. “If teams want to come in and take shots and runs at guys, we’ve got no problem scoring on the power play — it’s what we get paid to do.”

Then, Suzuki was charged with closing his hand on the puck to give the Oilers another two-man advantage. McDavid beat Jake Allen with a wrister to put the Oilers up 3-1 halfway through the second.

Read more:

Edmonton Oilers hang on for 5-4 win in Chicago

Still in the second, Evgenii Dadonov tapped in a rebound. Arber Xhekaj beat Stuart Skinner from the point on a two-man advantage to make it 3-3. The Oilers forced a turnover in Montreal’s end with time expiring, allowing Darnell Nurse to put the Oilers back in front with 4.2 ticks on the clock.

“I thought our group did a really good job of playing a nice, solid, mature third period and not giving them anything. And anything we did give them, (Skinner) shut them down,” McDavid said.

With the Canadiens pressing for the tying goal in the third, Draisaitl sent McDavid in on a breakaway. He went to his forehand to make it 5-3 Oilers with 5:20 left in the third.

“I thought as a group in the third period, we were blocking shots and doing everything that was needed to finish out the game, and you can’t ask for a better period surrendering no goals,” Skinner said.

Skinner made 30 stops for the win. The Oilers were 3/5 on the power play while the Canadiens were 2/3.

“He’s earned the right to feel good about himself and his game, but what I know about Stuart is he’s a professional guy and he’s not going to let it get to his head,” Woodcroft said after the game.

The Oilers, 14-11, will host Washington on Monday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 5 p.m., game at 6:30 p.m.).

— With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Noodles, a senior pug who predicted on social media whether it would be a bones day or a no bones day, has died, according to his owner.

Jonathan Graziano posted on Instagram on Saturday that his 14-year-old dog died Friday, calling it a “day I always knew was coming but never thought it would arrive.”

Read more:

Pug-A-Palooza in Dieppe, N.B. draws in ‘grumble’ of pups

The little dog became famous in 2021 when Graziano began posting morning TikTok videos of Noodle deciding whether he was going to stand up or flop down in his soft dog bed. This coined the phrase “a no bones day” if Noodle decided to sleep in. Graziano would encourage his fans to follow his lead and treat themselves to soft pants and self care, which was a popular message during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He lived 14 and half years, which is about as long as you can hope a dog can. And he made millions of people happy. What a run,” Graziano said in the emotional video.

The geriatric dog even inspired a children’s book that came out this summer.

© 2022 The Canadian Press

B.C.’s top burn doctor and medical director for Vancouver General Hospital’s burn unit has returned from Ukraine.

Dr. Anthony Papp spent two weeks volunteering in Lviv, Ukraine, providing care for those injured in the Russian invasion.

Read more:

B.C. doctor fundraising to bring medical equipment to front lines in Ukraine

“Most of the patients I treated were mostly soldiers, injured either in the trenches with explosions or burned in other ways at the front,” said Papp.

“These patients are almost always already infected with various bacteria before they even get to the burn unit, which makes things really complicated.”

Read more:

B.C. surgeon volunteers in Poland to help war victims wounded in Ukraine

But Papp says Ukrainian morale remains high, with few at the hospital talking about the war let alone complaining about it.

Beyond the patients he treated, one lasting contribution will be his input into new medical protocols for treating burns in Lviv.

As for his safety, he was fine during his stint in Lviv, but a Russian missile barrage a few days after he left served as a reminder that Canadian doctors have been taking real risks in providing their services in the wartorn country, he said.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

For two weeks, as he suffered, Walter Froebrich tried his best to get help. The Torontonian allegedly visited St. Joseph’s Health Centre, a hospital in the city’s west end, three times in 10 days before his death.

“The hospital dropped the ball with him. They could have done more or stepped up and delve into really what his issues were, but they chose to send him home,” said John Romanelli, a longtime friend of Froebrich.

The last time Romanellihad seen Froebrich was three weeks before his death. He noted that Froebrich had lost a lot of weight and complained about serious pain in his abdomen. A couple of days later, the 45-year-old Froebrich was at the hospital, dealing with severe abdominal pains. His friends claim that he was denied admission, with doctors and staff resisting looking deeper into his pains — they said he was sent home with antibiotics.

But, the pain persisted. Froebrich was back at the hospital a few days later, this time in more pain. His friends claim that trip, he was given antibiotics.

Then it happened for a third and final time. But, this time, Froebrich was found by friends dead inside his apartment.

“We’re devastated, he fell through the cracks. He couldn’t advocate for himself, and the poor guy was sent home to die,” said Romanelli.

Read more:

Ontario hospital wait times continue to worsen as health-care crisis grows

The calm demeanour of the head-banging metalhead could’ve been used to deny him services, according to Romanelli. He noted that Froebrich was a man of few words, and instead of staying to fight to have his alleged internal tears looked at, he went home.

“He was in unbelievable, unbearable pain and they just sent him home,” said Romanelli. “I think that’s one of the reasons he fell through the cracks, because he couldn’t advocate for himself.”

Global News contacted Unity Health Toronto, which operates St. Joseph’s Health Centre, and was told the hospital does not discuss individual cases.

“While we cannot share or discuss patient information publically, we would encourage the patient’s loved ones to reach out to Patient Relations so we can connect with them directly,” wrote a Unity Health Toronto spokesperson in an email.

On Saturday afternoon at a rally outside St. Joseph’s, metal music raged on, with friends of Froebrich’s holding placards reading ‘Justice for Walter’ and ‘Sent Home to Die’ among others. The frustration that the health-care system had failed their friend because he was poor and soft-spoken was evident among the crowd.

“It’s a crushing blow to have a friend die from something that was completely preventable. He just didn’t want to upset anyone. He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met in my life,” said Philip Villeneff, a high-school friend of Froebrich.

While he had known Froebrich for the past 25 years, Villeneff shared a common love of metal music with him.

“You’d always see him at shows in Toronto, every show you go to, you’d see Walter in the crowd, take a picture with him, have a drink with them, have a good time,” he said.

Walter wasn’t just a member of the metal community in Toronto, he represented the joy and unbridled passion for the music and culture, according to his friends.

“In Toronto, Walter was the mayor of metal. There’s nobody as well known as Walter ,” said Chris Larocque, who met Froebrich at a Slayer concert in 2018.

Read more:

‘Undignified’: New data shows Ontario hospital wait times growing worse

The metal community is a tight-knit group, one that has people come in and out, but Froebrich was a staple and, according to dozens who showed up to the rally⁠, a sign that a good night was on the horizon.

“He was just a huge fan of music and everything to do with it and everybody that liked it. The metal community is a community where we all love each other and take care of each other. It’s a devastating blow,” Villeneff said.

While he didn’t have any immediate family that he was close to, the metal community quickly became what mattered most to Froebrich, according to friends.

“He considered all the metal and punk community and music scene of Toronto to be his family and we’re here for him because he needs a voice,” said Romanelli.

Amplifying the challenge that Froebrich went through in his last two weeks is integral to his friends, who say there needs to be change. Romanelliadded that Froebrich was going through tough times and not working due to his pain, and he thinks he was treated differently because of his economic status.

“I think it was a factor, his status, his wealth, he was just a working man,” Romanelli said.

Read more:

Emergency room at Ontario hospital closing until December due to staff shortage

And while Froebrich’s friends are raising their voices over his struggles, they believe it’s not an isolated situation. Since talking about Froebrich’s death publicly, Romanelli said he’s received dozens of messages from those who also say they’ve been denied service or had loved ones turned away only to die later.

“This is not just about Walter, this is about the crumbling health-care system. Walter is just one of the people that lost his life at this hospital,” Romanelli said.

Froebrich’s friends have organized a benefit show in his honour at the Rockpile on January 6, 2023.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Union Gospel Mission’s annual Christmas meal is once again warming the hearts of people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Nearly 200 volunteers were up early Saturday morning cooking thousands of pounds of classic Christmas dishes such as turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Read more:

Charity offers free family photos for those in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

It is estimated between 2,500 and 3,000 people will eat a Christmas dinner at Vancouver Union Gospel Mission.

“I haven’t had a Christmas dinner for five years,” said attendee Darrin Lloyd.

“I have been living on the street for five years, usually I don’t get anything.”

The mission said it cooked more than 1,800 pounds of turkey, 800 pounds of mashed potatoes, 250 litres of gravy, 800 pounds of vegetables and 575 pies.

Read more:

Thousands attend 1st indoor Thanksgiving meal at UGM since start of pandemic

“Christmas symbolizes love and connection,” Dean Kurpjuweit said, Union Gospel Mission’s new president.

“I’m honoured to be here for this incredible Christmas meal that infuses joy into the community and lets people know that they matter and belong here.”

The non-profit charity said it’s important for the community to hold these types of events during the holiday season, as it can be a tough time of year with heightened levels of isolation and loneliness.

The Union Gospel Mission provides emergency shelter, meals, outreach, career development counselling, education, safe and affordable housing, and addiction recovery to those struggling with poverty, homelessness and addiction.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Hamilton Police are looking for your help after another shooting in the lower city.

Investigators say shortly after 4 a.m on Saturday, officers were called out to the area of Main St. E and Catharine St. S. when multiple gunshots were heard.

Read more:

Police share video of suspect believed to have damaged 16 vehicles in Niagara Region

When officers arrived, they apparently saw three suspects fleeing the area at the time of the shooting. A White SUV was also seen leaving the scene.

Police say the suspects are described as Black men in their late teens or early twenties and were wearing dark clothing at the time.

While it doesn’t appear that anyone was injured, police say they did locate bullet casings in the area and confirm a shooting did occur.

Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to contact them. They are also asking residents and businesses in the area to review their surveillance security cameras for any suspicious activity between the hours of 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

If you have any information that you believe could assist police with the investigation into this crime, you are asked to contact Detective Brad Clark by calling 905-546-3821.

The incident Saturday follows incidents at Campbell Avenue and Grosvenor Avenue Friday morning, as well as shootings at Barton and Sanford early on Wednesday, and Cannon and Balmoral on Tuesday.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.