NHL players part of action at women's tennis tourney

Tennis may have been the main course at the Women's Tennis Association's Rogers Cup on Saturday, but hockey also was on the menu in Montreal.
Tomas Plekanec and Stefan Matteau of the Montreal Canadiens, Alexandre Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks, Antoine Roussel of the Dallas Stars, and Michael Matheson of the Florida Panthers participated in the Sportsnet Ball Hockey Challenge at Uniprix Stadium.

The event was moved indoors because of heat, but hockey and tennis players managed to team up. WTA competitors Petra Kvitova, Barbora Strycova, Lucie Safarova and Karolina Pliskova joined Plekanec for this

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Plekanec, who has 216 goals in 843 NHL regular-season games, all with the Canadiens, took a turn in goal, but he was no match for Matheson's breakaway chance. He also failed to thwart the tandem of Matteau and Kim St-Pierre, the goalie for the Canada women's hockey team.

Plekanec did manage to stymie Burrows' opportunity in the shootout competition.

The ball hockey display helped kick off the women's tennis tournament. The Association of Tennis Professionals tournament begins Sunday in Toronto and also will feature a ball hockey display with NHL players, including Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Tyler Seguin of the Stars.