Some things are stewing in the NHL pot. On Monday, the NHL’s Board of Governors held a conference call to discuss a range of issues, including the possibility of staging the NHL Entry Draft in June before the completion of the 2019-20 regular season. However, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, no decision was made about the 2020 draft.
LeBrun tweeted that an announcement might not be made until next week. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly had emailed LeBrun that, “We think it’s more important to get the right decision than to get a quick decision.”
Good discussion on Board of Governors call re: NHL draft. No decision yet. Decision either this week or potentially now dip into next week. “We think it’s more important to get the right decision than to get a quick decision,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said via email.
With these discussions in the wind, in this post I’d like to help Toronto Maple Leafs fans stay up-to-date on any news and rumors emerging from and about the organization.
Item One: Maple Leafs Sign Defenseman Mikko Lehtonen
On Monday, May 4, the Maple Leafs officially announced they had signed former KHL defenseman Mikko Lehtonen to a one-year entry-level contract. Lehtonen led all KHL defensemen with 17 goals, 32 assists, and 49 points last season while playing 60 games for Helsinki Jokerit.
Make no mistake Maple Leafs fans, this is a great signing for the team. Unless there’s a huge surprise, the 26-year-old Lehtonen will immediately assume a roster spot on the team’s blue line for the 2020-21 season. At the same time, because general manager Kyle Dubas signed him to an entry-level contract, that offers the team – even in a time of not knowing where the upper limit of the salary cap will eventually land – great flexibility. It’s likely the signing makes both Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie expendable this summer.
Finally, Lehtonen might have been the best defenseman in the entire KHL (he was named a KHL All-Star), which further makes this a huge signing for the team during a time when it really needs to re-shape its blue line. Now they can do that re-shaping in a time of salary-cap crunch.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted that, although Lehtonen did play right-defense for Finland at last year’s World Championship, Travis Dermott probably has the most experience and aptitude to switch.
Lehtonen is a left shot who played left side in KHL this season but he did play RD for FIN at last year’s World Championship. He’s a candidate, along with multiple others, to play RD but Travis Dermott is probably the LS D with the most experience/aptitude to play RS. https://t.co/8aalTq74nE
Lehtonen comes with pedigree. He played for Team Finland at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019 (was named the tournament All-Star in 2019 when his team won gold), played for Team Finland’s 2018 Olympic team, and won gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships.
Item Two: Wendel Clark Speaks about Former Maple Leafs Coach Pat Burns
For die-hard Maple Leafs fans, Wendel Clark – the tough-as-nails Saskatchewan farm boy who took the city of Toronto by storm – has always been a favorite in the team’s history. In a great interview last week by Sportnet’s Luke Fox, Clark talked about a wide-ranging number of subjects over his career with the team. Although I will only report a single part of that interview here, I invite fans to follow the link and enjoy Fox’s article.
During the interview, Fox asked Clark about playing for equally-tough Maple Leafs head coach Pat Burns. Fox asked Clark what strings Burns pulled as a coach.
An intense Wendel Clark, as featured in the 1991-92 Topps Stadium Club set.
Clark answered: “He was a tough cop. It was gonna be his way, and he was gonna force you to do things — even though everybody on the outside didn’t know you were forced to do it. Everybody had to do what he wanted to do, and he got everybody on the same page.”
Clark also noted: “A lot of times we’re all sticking up for each other because you’re mad at Burnsy. That was part of his coaching – he knew that would make us closer as a team, right? It’s all part of him putting in a structure that he wanted, and he did it every year.”
Finally, Clark added: “He started in Montreal, then Toronto, then Boston, then Jersey. He coached the same way in every spot. He had a game plan, and he had us as a very hard team to play against. We were all on the same page from ’92 to ’94.”
By the way, in the 1991-92 season (the season before Burns came as Maple Leafs coach), the team’s record was 30-43-7 (67 points), and the team finished 5th in Norris Division. In 1992-93, Burns coached the team to a record of 44-29-11 (99 points), and the team finished 3rd in Norris Division. In Burns’ next season (1993-94), the team’s record was 43-29-12 (98 points), and they finished 2nd in Central Division. Clark was captain on all those teams.
Item Three: Jack Campbell Simply Loves Playing in Toronto
A few weeks before the NHL trade deadline, Maple Leafs general manager Dubas pulled the trigger on a trade that brought backup goalie Jack Campbellfrom the Los Angeles Kings to the Maple Leafs. That was Feb. 5; and, shortly a month later Campbell was on his way back to his California home to wait out the NHL’s regular-season suspension.
In a recent conference call, although his first weeks with the Maple Leafs were a whirlwind, Campbell reported he’s loved being part of his new team. He especially lauds the organization, calling it “fantastic.”
Jack Campbell, Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
Campbell noted, “I’ll always be grateful for L.A. and the opportunities they gave me to establish myself in the league, but I mean, getting traded to Toronto, it’s the hockey mecca of the world. What a fantastic organization, top to bottom; the fans, the management and, number one, my teammates. I just really enjoyed getting to know everybody.”
He admitted that, when he saw fellow goalie Frederik Andersen and teammate Auston Matthews on Instagram, he experienced FOMO (fear of missing out). As Maple Leafs fans probably have read, because Andersen was unable to return home to Denmark, he’s staying with Matthews in Arizona during the quarantine. (As an aside, can you imagine the bond Andersen and Matthews could have when this self-quarantine is completed?)
Campbell also said, “I love those guys (Andersen and Matthews). They’re awesome. We’ve been texting once a week or so, just staying in the loop, and it looks like they’re having a good time. Those two guys are pretty similar, they love spending time outside playing sports.”
They better also find some things to do inside as well. It’s been exceedingly hot in the Phoenix area – tomorrow the temperature is going to be +42 C. It’s air-con time.
What’s Next with the Maple Leafs?
There was a lull for a while, but when Dubas’ signed Lehtonen that was a major coup. He and his team are always working on something, and they seem to have better-than-average success making what they hope to happen actually happen.
It will be interesting to see what the organization is up to next.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
