You see it the first time and you’re not sure what to think.
You watch it a second time and it looks even better on the replay.
Then you watch it and stop it and rewind and watch it again in slow motion just to be sure. I was trying to come up with a goal I’ve seen in person that was better than the one Connor McDavid scored against the Maple Leafs on Monday.
I covered a lot of Wayne Gretzky games when he was scoring 200-points regularly with the Edmonton Oilers. I don’t remember seeing anything as fast and slow and quick and skilled as the one McDavid scored on Michael Hutchinson.
I was fortunate to see special Mario Lemieux moments up close — his goal against Boston and Raymond Bourque in the playoffs, his goal against the Minnesota North Stars when he undressed every played on the ice — spectacular goals they were. Those were the best I’d ever seen.
The McDavid goal on Monday was a take-your-breath-away hockey moment. I asked Paul Coffey about it right after the game. He smiled and said: “Don’t ask me. I couldn’t do that. Are you kidding me? Why don’t you ask 99?”
He meant Gretzky.
McDavid has entered that special territory, that short list for players who do things no one else can do, or ever do. I think was the greatest goal I’ve ever seen.
THIS AND THAT
It’s a Toronto thing, saying Auston Matthews is in the Hart Trophy conversation. He may be in our conversation. But around the NHL he’s behind McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl to name three and if their teams were in playoff positions, Jack Eichel and Patrick Kane would be under stronger consideration, too. And it’s impossible to choose between David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand on the Bruins, who will split votes, as to which would be the MVP choice. So yeah, Matthews is probably in a conversation somewhere, and maybe around the Top 8 at this time, but ahead of whom? … Rick Vaive, Dave Andreychuk and if you can believe this, Gary Leeman, are the only 50-goal scorers in Leafs history. The underappreciated Vaive did it three times, in consecutive seasons, in Toronto. Andreychuk scored his 50 playing alongside Doug Gilmour. After scoring 51 with the Leafs, Leeman scored just 47 the final six years of his career … Matthews needs 19 goals in 37 games to hit the 50 mark. He’s scoring at 63-goal pace since the Leafs made the coaching change … Pekka Rinne scored a goal. Better he should be stopping goals, which he hasn’t done very well this season for the Nashville Predators … All Peter Laviolette does is make teams better. He did it on Long Island, in Carolina, where he won a Stanley Cup, in Philadelphia and in Nashville, where he lost in the final. If I had an opening for a coach, I’d hire him in a second.
HEAR AND THERE
Mitch Marner and Matthews lead the Leafs in points scored per minute, and when you consider that Marner kills penalties and Matthews doesn’t, Marner actually is the leader in the category. Surprisingly, not far behind them is Jason Spezza who, after the initial controversy that began his season, has settled in nicely and is much appreciated around the Leafs as a jack of all trades … Rasmus Sandin dominated the world junior hockey tournament. Up next for him: Dominating the American Hockey League. If he does that, he forces the Leafs to call him up. There’s no pointing rushing him now, at least until next season when they’re going to need him … This much I can tell you: If Mike Babcock was still coaching the Leafs, Pierre Engvall would almost certainly be in the AHL. Babcock didn’t care much for Engvall and Justin Holl, both of whom are showing themselves as NHL players of some value … The Arizona Coyotes have lost 22 games. Phil Kessel has scored goals in just two of those defeats, 11 of them one-goal games. Kessel, with just three even-strength goals, is having an equal-opportunity season, minus-10 at home, minus-9 on the road. No one else on the Coyotes is worse than Derek Stepan’s minus-6 … Thoughts are with Marlies assistant coach Rob Davison, who suffered a grand mal seizure Friday night in Dallas. That’s frightening for all who witnessed this, frightening for Davison and his family … Not enough has been said about the quick release of the Winnipeg Jets’ Kyle Connor. You know Patrik Laine can shoot; you know Mark Scheifele can shoot. I didn’t realize until recently, how high end Connor’s release happens to be.
SCENE AND HEARD
Now that the Raptors have won an NBA championship, the DeMar DeRozan-returns-to-Toronto storyline becomes less and less intriguing. First time, it was a big deal. On Sunday, meh, it’s just another game in this odd and scrambled Raptors season … If the Miami Heat has any kind of dip in the second half of the NBA season, Nick Nurse has a shot of winning coach of the year. But it’s Erik Spoelstra’s trophy right now … There is something about Oshae Brissett, the 21-year-old from Mississauga who is splitting time between the Raptors and their G League team, that screams NBA. This kid is going to be a player, here or somewhere else … Is anybody else bothered by the Blue Jays hiring of Shane Ferrell, son of former Jays manager John (Benedict Arnold) Ferrell, as director of amateur scouting? … The Houston Astros won in 2017. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2017. What seems rather clear now is that both teams — one managed by Alex Cora, one coached by him — used electronic devices to essentially cheat their way to championship seasons. What the rather invisible commissioner, Rob Manfred, does now can’t possibly match the stench that surrounds those tainted World Series wins … The garage sale shopping has been pushed to the side. The one thing you can’t accuse the Blue Jays of this winter is being cheap. And I liked the re-signing of reliever Ken Giles. Signing him, to me, was a notice of commitment to winning. Trading him would have been almost contradictory in the wake of the Hyun-Jin Ryu signing.
AND ANOTHER THING
I got excited when I first heard the Royals were moving to Canada. I thought that meant baseball was back in Montreal. My all-time favourite Royal: George Brett … Kevin Stefanski, the Minnesota offensive coordinator who is getting interviews for NFL head coaching jobs, is the son of former Raptors and current Detroit Pistons executive Ed Stefanski … One thing about the Rooney Rule in the NFL. If Tony Dungy announced tomorrow he wants to coach again, there would be a lineup of teams wanting to hire him …. So sorry to hear of the passing of legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart. Bet you didn’t know he was the band’s second drummer. The first, the late John Rutsey, was brother to longtime Toronto Sun baseball writer Mike Rutsey … Eddie Olczyk will be in Toronto next Saturday signing copies of his book, Beating the Odds, at the Eaton Centre at 1 p.m. … My big-league commissioner power ratings: 1. Adam Silver, NBA; 2. Gary Bettman, NHL; 3. Roger Goodell, NFL; 4. Rob Manfred, MLB … Having said that, I can’t believe the NBA fined Jimmy Butler for his taunting post-game soliloquy the other night. They should have sent him a cheque and thanked him for his entertainment … In the future, McDavid, Brooke Henderson, Mike Soroka and Alfonso Davies will win the Lou Marsh as Canada’s athlete of the year. And McDavid’s the oldest of the four, he turns 23 on Monday … Born this date 90 years ago: Tim Horton … And happy birthday to Chris Boucher (27), Abdullah the Butcher (79), Nikolai Borschevsky (55), Claude Giroux (32), Nigel Wilson (50), Drew Pearson (69), John Avery (44), Bill Madlock (69), Marian Hossa (41) and Dominque Wilkins (60) … And hey, whatever became of Mason Raymond?
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*****
Edwin Encarnacion played more than 600 games at third base in the major leagues, not all of them well, with both the Cincinnati Reds and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the early years, the initials of his first and last name rather symbolized his career in the field.
But it seemed the minute the Blue Jays freed him from his difficulty at third — moving him to first base and designated hitter — his time as a big league star began to blossom.
In the eight seasons that followed his move from third base, he hit 42-36-34-39-42-38-32-and 34 home runs. Not just magnificent totals for the quiet man. Nearing the end of his career now, he has been one of baseball’s most consistent and successful power hitters.
So why does this matter now?
It matters because the eye test has met the statistical findings released the other day and after just one big league season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been rated as one of the worst defensive players in the game and probably not suited to play third base anymore.
Now, he hasn’t played anywhere near the 600 games it took for stubborn baseball men to move Encarnacion from a position he clearly struggled with to a place he felt confident. Guerrero is just a kid. He turns just 21 in March. His first big league season, for all it was built up to be, was clearly disappointing. But I wonder now, looking back at Encarnacion’s career and it’s straight-line brilliance, if Guerrero wouldn’t benefit offensively from a position change. It’s something the Jays have to be thinking about to make them better offensively and defensively.
*****
When Mike Babcock was fired as coach of the Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews was ninth in the NHL in scoring.
This morning, he is 10th in the NHL in the Art Ross Trophy race, 15 and 16 points behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
In the 22 games with Sheldon Keefe as coach — 15 of them wins — Matthews leads the league in goal scoring with 17, but is just 13th overall in points during that time.
The easy and popular narrative right now is that Matthews is playing significantly better under Keefe than he was under Babcock, whom Matthews clearly had some issues with. That may be true, but the statistics, though, aren’t quite so clear, even while Matthews is playing 96 seconds more at even strength per game than he was under Babcock – which is basically two additional shifts a game.
In the 23 games Babcock coached this season, Matthews had 27 points.
In the 22 games Keefe has coached 22 with the Leafs, Matthews has 27 points for him.
Same production, different coaches.
Matthews is indeed showing growth in his overall game but he reminds me of a construction project: The foundation is there, the skills and the will are there, but the decorations and furnishing, the final touches still need to come. This is Year 4 and he’s playing well and scoring well and yet there is more of him to give.
This is just the beginning for Matthews under Keefe. The convenient narrative, not necessarily accurate at this time, will come for the long term.
*****
I worry about Bianca Andreescu.
I worry that she is so young and vibrant and talented and full of moxie and already is having the challenge of staying healthy enough to play top-level tennis.
She just announced she won’t be playing the Australian Open this month, the first major since she won the U.S. Open.
This time it’s a knee injury. Last year, she had a shoulder problem. She missed more than half the 2019 season with injuries. And she’s just a kid, just starting out, really.
With good health and good fortune, who knows how many major tournaments Andreescu might win? Her talent is immense as is her toughness and her all-court game is quite unusual and powerful.
But you worry because this is really just the beginning of her second professional season. We underrate the way tennis beats up its athletes and how many players get hurt year after year. We’ve certainly seen an up close example of how Milos Raonic’s career has been altered and flattened by his inability to stay healthy. What would Raonic have accomplished by now with good health? Truth is, we don’t know.
There is this Canadian in all of us that wants Andreescu to be great, not just in one Major, but in a lot of them. That hope is on hold now as she undergoes her latest rehab on the road to the French Open.
