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Maple Leafs look to Raptors for a sense of direction

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Maple Leafs look to Raptors

Kyle Dubas, seen here on Feb. 6, 2020, believes there are lessons the Maple Leafs, who have fallen short in postseason the past three years, can learn from that.

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

In the joy that followed Toronto’s basketball team capturing its first NBA title, the years of disappointment that preceded it have largely faded from public memory.

There were plenty of questions asked and criticism hurled as the Raptors were eliminated from the playoffs five successive years, three times by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kyle Dubas believes there are lessons the Maple Leafs, who have fallen short in postseason the past three years, can learn from that.

“I hear a lot, ‘Why can’t they be like the Raptors?’” the general manager of Toronto’s NHL team said last week during a lengthy media scrum at the club’s practice facility. “I think it is a great story for us to tell our players and learn from.

“If you go back three or four years, what we are going through now are similar things to what the Raptors were going through and the questions asked about them.

“[Their victory] was years in the making and I think they have the scars to show it. Once you go through it you can lean on them at times and really develop your identity. It would be great if we could just flip the switch and roll along and reach our potential, but it is never linear like that.”

The Raptors won a team-record 14th consecutive game on Saturday and will likely be among the highest seeds when the NBA playoffs commence in mid-April. The Maple Leafs currently hold one of the postseason slots afforded to the top three teams in the Eastern Conference standings, but are girded for a struggle. Should they fall in the standings, there are three teams with more points battling for the conference’s two wild-card berths.

They came out of the weekend as well as could be expected, beating Anaheim in overtime at home on Friday and losing in extra time to the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday. They collected three of four points in back-to-back games behind backup goalie Jack Campbell.

They were only 4-6-4 playing back to back this season before that. Campbell stopped 28 of 30 shots and has looked more confident in the net than Michael Hutchinson, who served as Frederik Andersen’s stand-in before he suffered a neck injury a week ago against the Florida Panthers.

Andersen, whose 24 wins is tied for the second-most among all NHL goalies, took some shots at practice on Friday, but was deemed not healthy enough to start. It is unknown whether he will return against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The Coyotes, who play Monday night in Montreal, have won only three of their past 13 and have fallen off the pace in the tightly bunched Pacific Division.

Toronto continues to play without top defenceman Morgan Rielly, whose broken foot could keep him out to the end of the regular season. Fellow blueliner Cody Ceci hurt an ankle against Florida in the same game as Andersen, and is not expected back for at least a month.

Dubas scoffed when he could have used those injuries, and a multitude of others, as an excuse last week. He pointed out that the Maple Leafs’ 20-9-4 record since Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach ranks in the upper third of the league.

A strong Dallas contingent comes to town on Thursday before Toronto hits the road to play Ottawa, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and then returns to home ice to play the Penguins again on Feb. 20.

“I think as an organization we have to able to endure and accept that this is a severe test,” Dubas said. “We are not in a great spot, but it is an opportunity for our guys to grow. I don’t fear it; I am excited about it.

“I know there is some consternation about it … but I look at it as one of the best opportunities we have had my whole time. I do have a strong belief in the group and I do think it is capable of great things.”

Dubas has been general manager for two seasons. The team is better now than when he took over, but fans are getting restless. Toronto hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and has been ousted from the playoffs in the first round in each of the past three years.

The city’s hockey team is held to a higher standard than the Raptors, but there are similarities when you look at the trajectory of the two clubs, which are both owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

“One of my favourite parts of working here is the amount that people care. You grow a really strong appreciation for how passionate [they] are in this marketplace. It is an early test for myself and our staff that we have to be patient and keep the long game in mind always.

“It is about being able to go through the crucible and endure that and come out the other side.”

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Jays reliever Green and Canadian slugger O’Neill nominated for comeback player award

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NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.

Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.

The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.

Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.

The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.

O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.

After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Panthers’ Reinhart named NHL first star after posting nine points over four games

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NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.

Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.

New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.

Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.

Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s season ended by ruptured Achilles tendon, team said he’ll have surgery

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.

He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.

Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.

The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”

Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.

It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.

The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.

He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.

As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.

Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.

The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.

“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.

“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”

Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.

“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.

“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”

The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.

Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.

With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.

The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.

But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.

Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.

Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.

Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.

Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.

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AP NFL:

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