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MONTREAL — Didier Drogba is Major League Soccer's player of the month for September.
The Montreal striker had seven goals and an assist in five starts for the month, helping the Impact to a team-record six-game unbeaten streak.
It was the former Chelsea star's first full month in the league.
He was named player of the week twice last month.
The Canadian Press
FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick man who was convicted two years ago for smuggling about 250 narwhal tusks into the United States has lost an appeal of an extradition order to the U.S.
Gregory Logan of Woodman's Point was convicted in a New Brunswick court in 2013, fined $385,000 and given an eight-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.
The record fine under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act followed a 2 1/2 year investigation.
Environment Canada officials said Logan bought the tusks from northern Canada and violated the law by smuggling the items into a country that prohibits the importation of marine mammals.
The officials said Logan tied the long, spiralled ivory tusks to the bottom of his vehicle and drove across the border where he sold them to eight people in areas ranging from Maine to Hawaii.
In 2012, Logan was indicted in Maine on charges brought by American officials relating to unlawful importation and money laundering, and the United States sought his extradition, which was granted.
Logan appealed the order surrendering him to the United States and also sought a judicial review of the justice minister's order.
However, in decisions released Thursday the New Brunswick Court of Appeal dismissed both requests.
Logan's appeal argued that he faces double jeopardy and the charges in the United States could result in him being effectively convicted twice for the same events.
In her decision Justice Kathleen Quigg wrote: "There is no legal precedent for an extradition judge to grant a stay of extradition proceedings on the basis of a claim of double jeopardy."
On the issue of judicial review, Quigg said the minister of justice acted properly.
"With respect to the issues raised by Mr. Logan, the minister applied the correct legal tests and principles," she said. "Overall, the minister exercised his discretion properly."
The court has ordered that Logan surrender himself to authorities within three days.
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Volkswagen Canada is offering incentives to attract customers and offset lost sales since its parent company admitted last month that it cheated on government emission tests on diesel-engine models.
Until Nov. 2, Volkswagen says it is offering a choice of lower finance rates, lower lease rates and cash incentives on select vehicles.
"The incentives were implemented to support our customers and dealers during the period in which our TDI diesel sales remain suspended pending resolution of the recent EPA Notice (from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)," VW Canada's spokesman said in an email.
The TDI diesel engines were available on a variety of Volkswagen models that accounted for nearly 22 per cent of VW Canada's sales before Sept. 22 when the company told dealers to stop selling the models in question.
"That figure is now lower, as all sales since have been of gasoline powered cars," Volkswagen Canada said Friday.
As of Oct. 1, VW Canada's choice of incentives include finance interest rates as low as zero per cent for up to 84 months, depending on the model.
Alternatively, customers can opt for lease rates as low as 0.9 per cent for up to 48 months, depending on the model, or up to $6,000 cash back. On top of those options, VW is offering up to an additional $1,500 in bonus cash.
The company declined to comment on a memo that was sent to its dealers. According to the Globe and Mail, the memo by Volkswagen Canada president Maria Stenstrom said: “The scale of these programs is unprecedented for Volkswagen in Canada, but necessary and appropriate given the circumstances.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed last month that stealth software made VW's 2009-2015 model cars powered by 2.0-litre diesel engines run cleaner during emissions tests than in actual driving. The fallout from that revelation has included investigations in other countries, class-action law suits against the company and a drop in VW's stock price.
Volkswagen Canada announced on Sept. 22 that its dealers had been instructed to suspend the sale and delivery of any new Golf, Golf Sportwagon, Jetta, Beetle or Passat models with 2.0 TDI engines until further notice. The order also applied to certain previously owned models from the 2009 model year or later, if equipped with the same engine.
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Lions know the next two games will go a long way in defining their season.
Starting with this weekend's visit by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Lions play consecutive home dates critical to not only the CFL's West Division playoff race, but also in fending off a potential crossover berth from the East.
"You don't want your destiny to be controlled by other teams," said B.C. quarterback Jonathon Jennings. "We're up for the challenge."
The Lions (4-8), with a tenuous hold on third in the West, have lost three straight and five of their last six heading into Saturday's tilt against Roughriders (2-11) before the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-9) visit B.C. Place Stadium on Oct. 10.
"If we want to be in the playoffs then absolutely this is a must-win," said Lions running back Andrew Harris. "The teams we're playing the next two weeks are behind us. If they win they could be right next to us."
On top of that, the CFL's crossover rule states that if the fourth-place team in one division finishes the regular season with a better record than the third-place team in the other division, that team earns the playoff berth.
That means the Montreal Alouettes (5-8) are also in the mix as the fourth-place team in the East despite falling 39-17 to the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.
"We understand the scenario right now," said Lions defensive back Ryan Phillips. "We don't have that many games left, or do overs or extra chances. We have six games left. We play a few at home against Western opponents we need beat, teams that are trying to take our place and jump us.
"We need to go and turn this thing around. If we want to get on a playoff run we have to build some momentum."
The Lions lost 29-23 on Saturday in Edmonton against the Eskimos in Jennings' first professional start with both Travis Lulay (knee) and John Beck (pectoral muscle) out injured. The 23-year-old pivot will get the call again this week after going 18-of-30 passing for 281 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
"Just getting more experience, things are starting to feel a little bit more comfortable," said Jennings. "I'm just learning on the fly. I was excited about throwing my first couple touchdowns, but obviously we have to get better as a team."
Two of the Lions' four wins this season have come against the Roughriders, but a lot has changed since the teams last met on July 17. Saskatchewan, which has lost seven games by four points or less, fired head coach Corey Chamblin after an 0-9 start and replaced him on an interim basis with Bob Dyce, who is 2-2 since taking over.
"I know what Saskatchewan's record is, but they're a much better football team than that," said Lions head coach Jeff Tedford. "They've played so many close games."
The Roughriders picked up their second win of the season last weekend against the Alouettes to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive, something Dyce said he isn't playing much attention to at the moment.
"All I know is that as long as we win we have a chance. That's what we focus on," Dyce told reporters in Regina. "We can't control anything outside of that. We have to handle our business on the field."
Notes: Lulay returned to practice on Tuesday with a brace on his left knee and said he hopes to be available soon. ... The Roughriders visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 9.
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Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano says the team's upgrades will help them push the pace even more this season.
The arrival of defenceman Dougie Hamilton and right-winger Michael Frolik means their new teammates can play quality — not quantity — minutes.
"What it does do is add so much depth to our team and add so many different options," Giordano said. "Last year we had guys playing close to 30 minutes on the back end and forwards playing well over 20. Where the depth helps is you limit those minutes so every shift, you are full out.
"The strength of our team is our hard work and being able to go full out every shift."
Under head coach Bob Hartley, the winner of the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's top coach in 2014-15, the Flames' relentless, buzzing attack and their willingness to block more shots than any other team in the league helped end a five-year playoff drought.
A second-round loss in five games to the Anaheim Ducks was the deepest Calgary (45-30-7) had gone in the post-season since their appearance in the Stanley Cup final in 2004.
Calgary opens the 2015-'16 regular season at home Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks — the team they eliminated in six games in the first round — with great expectations from their fan base.
The most suspenseful position is in goal as Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo and Joni Ortio are all on one-way contracts.
Hiller played the majority of the regular-season games and started in the first round of playoffs. Ramo took over for Hiller early in the second series versus Anaheim.
Whatever tandem the Flames go with, Hartley will continue the philosophy of he who wins plays the next game, and he who loses gets the hook.
Not every team can have a Carey Price, so the belief is two goalies jockeying for starts gives the Flames a level of goaltending that can win a championship.
"We want someone to carry the ball," Hartley said. "This business is about winning."
Wily veteran Jiri Hudler, last season's Calder Trophy nominee Johnny Gaudreau and 20-year-old centre Sean Monahan, who's entering his third NHL season, make up a formidable top line for Calgary.
Early indications are heralded rookie Sam Bennett and Frolik will flank Mikael Backlund on the second line, which gives Calgary a solid top six.
The emergence of Micheal Ferland as a punishing deterrent late last season and his re-signing is an important ingredient for a team expected to be fit and fast again, but not very beefy.
Hamilton's presence offsets the loss of T.J. Brodie to a broken finger to start the season. The 22-year-old Hamilton was paired in the pre-season with Giordano, a Norris Trophy candidate until a season-ending torn biceps Feb. 25.
Giordano, Brodie, Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman were all green-lighted to jump into the rush and shoot the puck a lot last season, which made Calgary's attack difficult to contain.
Brodie's temporary absence creates an opening-day roster job for defencemen such as Tyler Wotherspoon or Jakub Nakladal to join Deryk Engelland on the third defensive pair.
Russell, the NHL's leading shot-blocker last season, said on the first day of training camp the Flames need to improve their puck possession numbers. Giordano agrees to a point.
"We'd like to hold the puck in the other team's zone a lot more than we have in the past, but last year when we weren't possessing the puck and the other team was, we were eliminating a lot of scoring chances and weren't giving up much," the captain explained.
"They had the puck on the outside and that's fine, but for sure offensively we have to do a better job of holding it and creating more plays behind their net and stuff like that."
The Flames have established a reputation as a team hard to put down with 24 of their 97 points last season earned when trailing after two periods. Their challenge this season is to maintain that culture.
"I think our guys are pretty aware of what we have to do to win games and why we were successful last year, but if we're not our coaches hammer it into us pretty good," Giordano said.
"The mistake you can get into as an organization is allowing guys to feel pretty comfortable and I don't think we have that here."
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
HALIFAX — The Canadian Hurricane Centre says it is monitoring hurricane Joaquin, which may move into Canadian waters early next week.
The storm is battering the central Bahamas with torrential rains that flooded homes and forecasters warned that the "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm could grow even stronger as it roared along a path that could take it near the U.S. east coast.
The Halifax-based Canadian Hurricane Centre says there's a high degree of uncertainty around the storm's track forecast.
It says there are two particular scenarios, one that would have it moving into the Carolinas and the other showing it far offshore from Atlantic Canada.
The latest trends from computer models lean toward it being an offshore system with little impact over land.
If it does move into the Carolinas, the centre says that could lead to rainfall in southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
It says the saturation of the ground after heavy rainfall this week means there is a risk of flooding if it does track across land.
"Once again, the threat of that situation appears to be decreasing but still has to be considered," the centre says in a statement.
The centre says it expects to have a better indication whether the storm is going to be a concern over land on Friday afternoon.
"The hurricane is compact (small) which often means that the intensity will fluctuate significantly even over the span of 24 hours."
The Canadian Press
Two men charged in the killing of a Canadian diplomat's son have agreed to testify against his 15-year-old brother in exchange for the withdrawal of the murder charges they faced.
Anthony Rodriguez, 19, and Johann Ruiz-Perez, 21, have pleaded guilty to lesser, drug-related charges under an agreement that will see them take the stand in the trial of their co-accused Marc Wabafiyebazu.
Wabafiyebazu was arrested March 30 outside an apartment in which his 18-year-old brother Jean Wabafiyebazu and another man, Joshua Wright, 17, were shot dead.
He has pleaded not guilty to felony first-degree murder.
Police allege the younger sibling confessed that he and his brother had gone to rip off the dealer, but the armed robbery had gone sour.
While the prosecution does not allege Wabafiyebazu shot or even threatened anyone, Florida law allows for the felony murder charge if he was part of the armed robbery that resulted in the killings.
Surveillance video shows that he remained outside until he heard the deadly gun shots and ran inside to see what happened.
Still, a grand jury indicted him as an adult, meaning he could face life behind bars if convicted.
Wabafiyebazu — the son of Canada's former consul general to Miami, Roxanne Dube — was refused bail in May and remains in custody pending trial, tentatively set for the end of the year.
Rodriguez, an alleged drug dealer, and Ruiz-Perez were initially charged with felony third-degree murder, a charge laid in a killing that was unintentional but occurred during a non-violent felony. However that charge has been dropped as a result of their deal with the prosecution.
Both will spend 364 days in county jail and take part in a boot camp program, followed by five years of probation.
"The defendant agrees to provide truthful testimony and co-operation in the investigation into the murder of Jean Wabafiyebazu and Joshua Wright and the prosecution of all parties who in any way participated in the murder of Jean Wabafiyebazu and Joshua Wright," the agreement reads.
"The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office agrees that no statements made by the defendant during the course of this co-operation will be used against him, except as outlined in this agreement, provided that he does not violate the terms of this agreement."
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
HALIFAX — It's another wet day in Nova Scotia as New Brunswickers continue cleaning up after a torrential downpour that caused widespread damage in that province.
Environment Canada says Shelburne to Halifax County could see up to an additional 35 millimetres of rain.
The weather office says Shearwater had received 86 millimetres of rain as of early today.
Yarmouth was reporting 62 millimetres while the Halifax airport reported 59.
More than 160 millimetres of rain fell in parts of New Brunswick this week, damaging bridges, highways and guardrails.
Police say a 51-year-old man died in Berwick after a retaining wall collapsed on him as he was connecting a sump pump at his home.
In the community of Hoyt, one resident says the damage is overwhelming.
Addison Sweet says it looks like a "war zone" with sections of road completely gone, culverts gone, and brooks running wide open.
The Canadian Press
Six stories in the news today, Oct. 2 from The Canadian Press:
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LEADERS SET TO SQUARE OFF IN FIFTH ELECTION DEBATE
The federal party leaders square off tonight in the second French language debate of the election campaign. The debate comes as public opinion polls suggest the New Democrats' lead in the province is loosening somewhat. The New Democrats must hold on to the surprising gains they made in Quebec in the last federal election if they want to try to win the Oct. 19 election.
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BAIL HEARING TODAY FOR SUSPECT IN DEVASTATING CRASH
A community north of Toronto joined hands Thursday to mourn three young siblings and their grandfather whose deaths in an alleged drunk driving accident have sparked an outpouring of grief. Many sobbed at a vigil in Vaughan, Ont. as candles were lit in memory of the victims. Marco Muzzo, of King Township, Ont., is facing a dozen impaired-driving offences and other charges in connection with the crash and is scheduled to appear in court today for a bail hearing.
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JULIAN FANTINO FACING ASSAULT COMPLAINT
A lawyer for federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino says an assault complaint dating back four decades has been made against the Conservative incumbent. The complaint concerns an alleged incident during an arrest in Toronto when Fantino was a police officer. Lawyer Mark Sandler says Fantino will "vigorously" defend himself against what he describes as "completely spurious allegations."
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MARCEL AUBUT FACING FRESH ALLEGATIONS
As the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee awaits the results of an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint, two other women have come forward with their own allegations against him. Marcel Aubut temporarily had stepped aside as president of the committee and chairman of the Canadian Olympic Foundation on Wednesday after a sexual harassment allegation surfaced.
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OMAR KHAD VISITING KIN IN TORONTO
Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr is in Toronto for a court-approved visit to his grandparents. An Edmonton judge eased his bail conditions last month, allowing him to travel to Toronto with one of his lawyers for up to two weeks. Khadr's lawyer, Dennis Edney, says his client flew to Toronto from Edmonton, dispelling doubts that he might have been on Canada's no-fly list.
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POLITICIANS URGED TO TAKE MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE SERIOUSLY
The co-president of the group The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted says the findings of inquiries into miscarriages of justice tend to sit on the shelf. Ron Dalton, who was wrongly convicted of killing his wife, says a number of inquiries have called for an independent federal commission to review possible miscarriages of justice. But Dalton says there are no votes in dealing with systemic problems with the justice system so politicians don't take them seriously.
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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY ...
— Alberta Premier Rachel Notley speaks to the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto.
— Eighteen First Nation and environmental groups are in court to challenge federal approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline.
— TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle is joined by provincial officials and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson to make a technology announcement.
— Statistics Canada issues report on principal field crops for September.
The Canadian Press
REGINA — The Saskatchewan government spent $11.2 million on a public inquiry into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The final report was released in 2008. Here are Justice Edward MacCallum's 13 recommendations and the provincial government's response so far:
— Creation of a dedicated medical examiner's facility where autopsies would be performed by qualified forensic pathologists in the service of the province. Betty Ann Pottruff with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice says the province complied in a "slightly different way" by creating two forensic pathologist positions.
— Mandatory sharing of investigation reports between all police forces assisting in major cases. Pottruff says that's already part of the process.
— Assurance that municipal police forces who ask for assistance from the RCMP have in place a written agreement describing the terms, conditions and responsibilities of inter-agency relationships. Pottruff says that's already covered by existing policy.
— Assurance that every statement taken by police from a young person in a major case, whether as a witness or a suspect, is recorded in both audio and video. Pottruff says recording statements is a best practice and police attempt to do so where they can.
— Amendment of the Criminal Code to permit academic inquiry into jury deliberations with a view to gathering evidence of the extent to which jurors accept and apply instructions on the admissibility of evidence, particularly relating to inconsistent out-of-court statements. This is not yet allowed.
— Referral to the public prosecutions director every complaint to police calling into question the safety of a conviction. The policy change has been made.
— No unsolicited contact by prosecutors with the National Parole Board. This recommendation has been completed.
— Retention for a minimum of 10 years of exhibits capable of yielding forensics samples in homicide cases. Notification to convicted persons of impending destruction of exhibits, allowing applications for extensions. Pottruff says that is under development and review by a provincial-territorial working group.
— Scanning and electronic storage of documentary exhibits in all indictable offence cases, unless a court orders otherwise. Pottruff says most exhibits are being kept, but a policy is still in the works across jurisdictions.
— Retention for a year and in their original form of all prosecution and police files, including police notebooks relating to indictable offences. They should then be scanned and entered into a database where a permanent, secure electronic record can be kept. Pottruff says there are policies on retention, but they're not consistent across the country.
— The informing of victims of crime when their cases are resolved. That is in place with the new Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.
— Door to compensation should not be closed for lack of proof of factual innocence where a miscarriage of justice has resulted from an obvious breach of good faith in the application of standards expected of police, prosecution or the courts. Pottruff says there is always an executive power within government to compensate.
— Investigation of wrongful conviction claims should be done by a review agency independent of government. The federal government has not done this and instead points to the Criminal Conviction Review Group, which reports to the minister within the Justice Department.
The Canadian Press
REGINA — A Newfoundland man wrongfully convicted of killing his wife more than 25 years ago says major recommendations made after public inquiries into cases such as his tend to "sit on the shelf."
Chief among them, Ron Dalton says, is the call for an independent federal commission, similar to one adopted nearly 20 years ago in England, to review possible miscarriages of justice. The creation of such a body has been called for in no fewer than five different provincial inquiries.
Dalton, who is now co-president of The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, says politicians don't take the issue seriously.
"The reality is there are no votes in justice," says Dalton, who spent more than eight years in jail for killing his wife who had choked on cereal.
"Get tough on crime sounds good, and build more prison cells, but when it comes to actually looking at some of the underlying problems, the structural things — what they call systemic issues in most of these inquiries — they don't really get looked at and there's not much appetite for change."
Currently, someone who has been convicted of an offence and who has exhausted all appeals can only apply to the minister of justice for a review.
An independent review commission was called for at the inquiry into one of Canada's worst wrongful convictions.
David Milgaard was 16 years old when he was convicted of the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. He spent 23 years behind bars before the Supreme Court threw out his conviction in 1992. He was exonerated in 1997 through DNA tests.
An $11.2-million inquiry into Milgaard's wrongful conviction was launched by the Saskatchewan government in 2004.
After hearing from 133 witnesses Justice Edward MacCallum wrote in his report released in 2008 that such a commission might limit the need for similar inquiries in the future.
"Public inquiries will continue to be desirable, or even necessary, in some situations, but they are very expensive exercises, and they are not the answer," he said. "The answer lies in the creation of an independent review body which will be able to investigate, detect and assist in remedying wrongful convictions."
The federal Department of Justice did not make anyone available for an interview.
In an email, spokesman Ian McLeod pointed to the Criminal Conviction Review Group, which has been in existence since 1994.
That group is a unit of the Justice Department and reports to the minister. That's not the same thing as an independent review, Dalton says.
"As I society ... when we see all these mistakes not being addressed, we tend to lose faith in the system itself — and the system basically operates on faith.
"You have to believe that when you call the police, they're going to thoroughly investigate any given crime, but particularly a homicide, that they may not always get it perfectly right, but if they don't that there'll be a mechanism to correct it as ... quickly as they can."
Jennifer Graham, The Canadian Press
MORELIA, Mexico — Canada's quest for a NORCECA women's continental championship came to an end on Thursday after falling in four sets to the Dominican Republic in semifinal action.
The Dominican Republic defeated Canada 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 to reach the gold-medal match and will face the United States, which beat Puerto Rico in the other semi.
Canada had an early 6-2 lead in the first set with good blocking and scoring on Dominican Republic errors. The Dominicans pushed hard with serves to tie 8-8, but Canada kept up its effective blocking to go ahead 14-10, before taking the first set 25-18.
After that, however, the Canadian side couldn't find any consistency in their game and gave up the next three sets.
"Our blocking executed well in the first set, after that we had ups and downs," said Canadian captain Brittney Page. "We needed to make better choices while spiking, we were too inconsistent."
The Dominicans held a huge advantage overall in spikes 51-35, while Canada had a 13-12 margin in blocks and 2-1 in aces. The Dominican Republic scored on 29 Canadian errors but gave away 38 points from its own.
Canada's top scorer was Tabitha Love with 14 points, followed by Dana Cranston with 11 points and Rebecca Pavan with 10 points.
"We started aggressive but our serves failed in the second set making it easier for Dominicans to score, they have more experience and are more clever," said Canadian coach Arnd Ludwig.
The Canadian Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Canada's under-23 squad was caught sleeping early, and it cost them late.
Forward Jordan Morris scored twice — including his first less than a minute into the match — as the United States beat Canada 3-1 on Thursday at the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying tournament.
Morris put the U.S. ahead before fans were even settled into their seats after heading home a cross from forward Jerome Kiesewetter. Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau dove out to intercept the cross and missed, leaving Morris a wide open goal.
"It was a really early goal and it was unexpected," said forward Michael Petrasso, who scored Canada's lone goal. "I think with that goal it woke us up a little bit. We started slow but came on strong and possession of the ball in the second half was really strong."
Despite its slow start, Canada didn't change its approach to the match and stuck with a 3-4-3 setting. The Americans kept the pressure on early and spent much of the first 25 minutes of the match on the opponent's side of centre, but Canada turned up its pressure and held 56 per cent of ball possession in the opening half.
Any chance of a Canadian comeback seemed to go away when Morris scored again in the 73rd minute to make it 2-0. Morris was sprung by midfielder William Trapp, who stole the ball at midfield.
"I felt at half, one goal down we were playing well enough to get back in the game," said Petrasso. "When they scored to make it 2-0 a couple heads went down, but we kept fighting."
Petrasso responded in the 81st minute, heading in a corner kick from a set piece that brought some late life back into the Canadian squad. But that was as close as Canada could make it as Luis Gil tacked on a penalty kick for the U.S. in extra time after defender Jerome Gagnon-Lapare took down an American in the box.
"I got the goal back and I thought it lifted the team and I thought we were gonna have a good push, which we did, but we got unlucky on that third goal," said Petrasso.
Morris, who is a standout at Stanford University, was a force early for the American side and had another scoring chance in the sixth minute, but was off balance and put the ball harmlessly wide of the Canadian goal from the top of the penalty box.
Midfielder Christopher Mannella had Canada's first shot on goal off a free kick in the ninth minute and put it right at goalkeeper Zackary Steffen.
Kiesewetter got behind Canada's defence in the 21st minute only to put the ball wide of the far post. Kiesewetter had another scoring chance right before half but couldn't get the ball past Crepeau.
Forward Caleb Clark had a scoring chance early in the second half for Canada, but his left-footed shot was easily handled by Steffen.
Crepeau kept Canada in the match when he stopped Kieswetter in alone in the 64th minute by coming out to cut down the angle — forcing the forward to go low with his shot.
The U.S. finished with the edge in shots 14-13, but Canada won the shots-on-target 6-3.
Canada is in Group A with the United States, Panama and Cuba. It will play Panama on Saturday before facing Cuba on Tuesday. Head coach Benito Floro is confident that if his squad plays the way they did against the Americans that they can have success against the Panamanians.
"We have to do much of the same in the next game, to play well on attack, to take advantage of centring pieces, and to defend correctly," said Floro. "It is important to believe in our system, because in reality the team played well and controlled many parts of the game, but just needed to score more goals."
Earlier Thursday evening, Cuba and Panama settled for a 1-1 draw to open the tournament.
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders became the first team in the CFL to clinch a playoff spot for the 2015 post-season on Thursday.
The Stampeders were guaranteed a post-season berth when the Montreal Alouettes lost to the Ottawa Redblacks 39-17.
That result means the Stampeders, who will finish no lower than third in the West Division, can not be bumped from the playoff picture by Montreal in a crossover scenario.
It's the 11th year in a row the Stampeders have qualified for the playoffs. The B.C. Lions and the Alouettes are the only other teams who have qualified for the playoffs every year since 2005.
The Canadian Press
EDMONTON — It took some time, but the Vancouver Canucks have found their scoring touch.
Bo Horvat had two goals and an assist and Sven Baertschi had four assists as the Canucks spoiled Edmonton's spotless pre-season record with a 5-2 victory over the Oilers on Thursday.
Vancouver had only scored seven goals total in its previous six pre-season games.
Ben Hutton, Yannick Weber and Jake Virtanen also scored for the Canucks, who improved to 3-3-1 in exhibition action. Virtanen tacked on two helpers for a three-point outing.
"I thought Bo had a real strong game, he's a real good skater," said Vancouver head coach Wille Desjardins. "I thought Jake played one of his better games, went to the net well, battled hard. Baertschi was good too, I thought the whole line was good."
Baertschi, who split time last season in the American Hockey League, was happy to pick up the pace on offence.
"I felt I was practising really well and I was unable to translate the practices into the games," he said. "It's good to get some points, but I thought our line the way we played was really simple and in the end we created a lot and that's what I'm all about. I want to create offence, so it was good to finally get going."
Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov scored in response for the Oilers, who dropped to 6-1-0 in exhibition play.
"Tonight was kind of the first night that things didn't go according to plan," Hall said. "The battle level wasn't there on some plays. It's something we have to fix before the pre-season is done."
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, who was acquired in the summer from the New York Rangers, took much of the blame on is shoulders.
"I have to play better, bottom line," he said. "They didn't trade for me to come in here and play like that. I didn't think I played very well at all."
It didn't take long for the scoring to start as Edmonton got on the board 1:29 into the game when Hall was able to sweep the puck into the Vancouver net after Canucks starter Jacob Markstrom made the initial stop on a backhand attempt by Connor McDavid.
Vancouver responded just 23 seconds later as a pass from behind the net by Virtanen that caught Talbot by surprise, hitting his stick and deflecting right to Horvat for the goal.
The Canucks took a 2-1 lead with eight minutes remaining in the opening period as Horvat screened Talbot in front to allow for a goal on a long shot from Hutton.
Edmonton tied the game with 42 seconds left in the first as Yakupov put on a burst of speed and then beat Markstrom with a quick wrist shot.
Vancouver got a gifted goal 24 seconds into the middle period as Andrej Sekera put a no-look backhand clearing attempt right on to the stick of Weber in front, and he scored a power-play marker.
The Canucks took a two-goal lead with 4:36 left in the second as a Weber hit Virtanen in the face and the puck caromed into the net.
Virtanen was cut badly on the play and left the ice, but was back for the third period and picked up an assist on an early breakaway goal by Horvat.
The two teams play each other again on Saturday in Vancouver to close out the pre-season.
Notes: While the Oilers were close to icing their regular season-starting lineup, the Canucks were still looking at some bubble players and sat out their top line, including Henrik and Daniel Sedin, neither of whom have recorded a point in three pre-season games apiece.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
