Expansion drafts are fun, 34 team leagues decidedly less so

There are a lot of fun things that go along with expansion. You get to wait for the team name, the logo, the jersey, there’s all the speculation that goes into the expansion draft and some fun roster fallout (or decidedly less fun if you briefly have Jared McCann on your roster and then lose him in favour of keeping Justin Holl.) Yeah, expansion has a lot of fun elements to it and expanding to 32 teams wasn’t the worst thing for the NHL. It gave the league a nice even divisional/conference balance and now half the league makes the playoffs and the other half doesn’t. Expanding to 32 teams was the next best thing to shrinking the league back down to 21 teams, 24 if you want a bit more of that conference/division symmetry.
Of course, the NHL apparently can’t leave well enough alone and looks be considering expansion again.

👀 🤐.@espn @NHL @NHLNetwork @TSNHockey @DKSportsbook #HockeyTwitter https://t.co/g8aLnSVQgJ
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) March 5, 2023

At least we’ll assume that’s what the eyeballs from Kevin Weekes means. It’s great that he was able to take enough time to tag his favourite sportsbook but was too busy to add any context to the retweet.
Fortunately, plenty of others have been trying to add context to it and the NHL’s taken the first step towards expansion by denying that it is happening and that’s why it’s time to weigh in on this nonsense because in addition to the alluded to Houston and Atlanta locations above, people are taking the opportunity to talk about Quebec City and the most relevant of locations to a Leafs site, a second team being placed in Toronto.
We’ll save the Toronto thing for last and start with the painful suggestion of the NHL trying Atlanta for the third time. Much like how the NHL has a hard time letting go of the Phoenix market given its size and the success of sports leagues there, …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors fans rip Scott Foster after awful calls in Raptors-Nuggets

Raptors fans rip Scott Foster after awful calls in Raptors-Nuggets

There remains no more sure way to ruin a great basketball game in the NBA than by having Scott Foster officiate it. The Toronto Raptors were reminded of this unfortunate NBA truth during what was a fantastic back-and-forth game between themselves and the Denver Nuggets. After largely holding MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic in check on […]
Raptors fans rip Scott Foster after awful calls in Raptors-Nuggets – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Toronto scores runs for Drew Hutchison (2023 edition), the prospects shine, and more as the Blue Jays pummel the Tigers 18-5

For a quick second there, I thought we were teleported back to late July when the Jays thrashed the Boston Red Sox 28-5.

While the score only finished 18-5 and there was only one home run from our player of the game, the Jays decimated the Tigers. This included a thirteen-run fourth inning.
Due to it only being a radio broadcast, there were no highlights I was able to clip from this afternoon’s game. I did, however, have time to make a sick meme, which you can see in the header. Let’s look at the player of the game.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: Vinny Capra
There were a few position players that could have gotten the player of the game award (and they’ll be explored in “Things worth mentioning”, but today, it belongs to Vinny Capra.
Capra hit the only Blue Jays run of the game but also drove in seven runs, going 2-4. Coming into this game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had the most Blue Jays RBIs with five, but Capra overtook that within just a game.
Last season with the Buffalo Bisons, he slashed .283/.378/.403 with five homers, and an even 13.1 BB% and K% in 222 plate appearances. Interestingly, his homer numbers actually declined from the 2021 season, when he hit 10 homers in just 282 plate appearances.
The 26-year-old super-utility player also appe …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline

Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline

There once was a time when OG Anunoby was viewed as one of the few untouchable players on the Toronto Raptors roster. Long thought of as one of the most underrated and versatile defenders in the NBA with his offense improving every season, Anunoby is the archetype of the ideal Masai Ujiri player. The script […]
Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Nylander plays OT hero again. Leafs beat Wild 2-1: Game highlights

There wasn’t a ton of action during Friday’s game versus the Wild. It was tight checking battle with solid goaltending on both ends. The Leafs squeaked out a 2-1 win in overtime. This is the type of win that proves they can get it done in the playoffs. Below are the highlights from the game.
Disaster almost struck early as Ilya Samsonov was fooled by a Ryan Hartman dump in. Just as Samsonov left the net to play the puck Hartman threw it on net instead…

Hartman almost got Samsonov there pic.twitter.com/MWbSv2qMRM
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

The weird bounces continued when Brandon Duhaime opened the scoring from behind the net. The Wild won the battle deep in the Leafs’ zone and Duhaime’s pass banked in off Calle Jarnkrok…

the puck goes off Jarnkrok’s skate and in
Brandon Duhaime gets credit pic.twitter.com/z7d52gqQrQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

David Kampf tied it up a few minutes later. William Nylander did his best Gretzky impression setting up in the Great One’s office and feeding Kampf in front. 1-1…

That feed from Willy Nylander to David Kämpf 👌 pic.twitter.com/wiODxNW3K1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2023

Ryan O’Reilly had a chance to put the Leafs on top in the second but Filip Gustavsson made the save look easy…

O’Reilly goes for the slapper pic.twitter.com/Mgd3uFzarF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Gustavsson had the Leafs frustrated all night. He stopped O’Reilly again later in the frame…

another chance for O’Reilly
his reaction was picked up on the mic pic.twitter.com/1GI4CI3nJB
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

John Tavares had a pair of chances partway through the third. Again, it was Gustavsson who came out on top….

pair of chances for Tavares pic.twitter.com/y4qxcWHxxo
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Late in the game the Wild had a great look for the go ahead goal but Timothy Liljegren broke up the Mats Zuccar …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

The Orlov trade makes the Atlantic Division arms race real for the Leafs

The Orlov trade makes the Atlantic Division arms race real for the Leafs

I don’t think there is really a need to ask how the Orlov trade affects the Leafs, it’s pretty obvious. Toronto took a nice first step to the deadline with a huge move to bring in Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, and that was a nice little way for a team in “win now mode” to try and close the gap with the heavily favoured Boston Bruins.
As much as we obviously focus on the Leafs need to win this season, the expectations, age, and salary cap realities for the Bruins make this season a do or die one for them as well. Bergeron and Krejci are in the back half of their 30’s and taking deep discounts to keep playing together in Boston. Marchand is crossing over into his later 30s pretty soon as well, he’s likely on his last NHL contract. And of course there’s the small matter of pending UFA David Pastrnak. They are either going to need to pay him a mint or this truly is a last dance situation for the Bruins. They want to win now and they showed their commitment on Thursday night:

The full details ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/4tkcRiMoei
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 23, 2023

That price the Bruins paid looks awfully familiar to Leafs fans, and while I think most Leafs fans would take O’Rei …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Mitch White’s build-up to a starter’s workload delayed by an off-season shoulder injury

There are very few interesting internal competitions at Blue Jays’ spring training this year as the team’s roster appears to largely be set.

One of the few battles worth talking about is for the fifth spot in Toronto’s starting rotation, which is between Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White. But based on this injury update from manager John Schneider on Thursday, Kikuchi has the inside edge to earn that spot out of camp.
White apparently suffered a right shoulder impingement earlier in the off-season and it’s delayed his build-up to a starter’s workload…

Mitch White had a right shoulder impingement earlier this off-season.
He’s past it now, but that delayed his build-up to a starter’s workload. It’s still White vs. Kikuchi for the No. 5 job, but that will be an early factor. #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 16, 2023

Both Kikuchi and White are looking to rebound after difficult performances for the Blue Jays last season.
Kikuchi inked a three-year, $36 million deal last off-season and posted a 5.19 ERA with the club. He was ultimately moved out of the starting rotation in August and pitched the rest of the season as a reliever. White was acquired from the L.A. Dodgers ahead of the trade deadline to give the Blue Jays some much-needed starting depth but he put up a 7.74 ERA over 10 appearances.
The expectation is that one of Kikuchi or White will be the fifth starter and the other will be a swingman in the bullpen, as Ross Stripling was for the first coupl …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Sportsnet announces Blue Jays Spring Training television schedule and changes to broadcast team

There will be a Blue Jays game on TV in just over two weeks.

Sportsnet PR announced the company’s broadcast schedule for Spring Training games on Wednesday afternoon, in which all 16 home games at TD Ballpark in Dunedin along with some road games (currently listed as TBA) will be televised. All games, both home and away, will be played on the Sportsnet Radio Network.
The dates of the 16 home games can be viewed below…

Sportsnet also confirmed some changes to the broadcast team that’ll be working Blue Jays games for the 2023 season.
Buck Martinez and Dan Shulman are in the booth, as we knew, and Joe Siddall will also be providing colour commentary in place of Pat Tabler, who parted ways with Sportsnet earlier this winter. Also, it seems that Arash Madani has been replaced on the broadcast team by Arden Zwelling, who will join Hazel Mae as one of the two in-game reporters.
Sportsnet’s broadcast team for the 2023 season can be viewed below…

The Blue Jays will kick off Grapefruit League play on Saturday, February 25 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and they’ll play their first televised home game the following day against the New York Yankees.
Spring Training will wrap up on March 28 and the Blue Jays will play their season opener on March 30 in St. Louis against the Cardinals. Toronto’s home opener will come on April 11 when they host the Detroit Tigers.
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…

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Auston Matthews might not set a career high in goals, but nothing about his pace should worry Leafs fans

Yesterday there was a strong reaction to Frank Seravalli and Jason Gregor’s take on Auston Matthews goal output for 2022-23 and how they found the lack of concern from Leafs fans a little strange.

I dunno b’ys, probably because he’s still on pace for 95 points and is the best two-way center in hockey pic.twitter.com/InU6ocbwS0
— Ryan (@ryanfancey) January 5, 2023

Ryan did a solid breakdown of why Leafs fans shouldn’t be bothered by that here, and the argument boils down to a few facts, the first and most obvious one being that the Leafs are winning games at a solid clip without requiring Matthews to score at a historic rate. There is also the fact that Matthews is still on pace for a 95-point season, he has been playing a more physical/playoff-style game to add to his ever-improving defensive game, and the Leafs are making up the difference on the strength of William Nylander on track for a career year. So yeah, the Leafs shouldn’t be too concerned and I don’t think individual stats have ever been a driving concern in Toronto like they’ve been in other markets like say Edmonton. We are living that “just win a round” life. It becomes a concern if production completely dries up, which hasn’t happened with Auston. So no worries.
That being said, the topic has been raised so let’s look at Auston’s production.

Matthews is definitely down from the rate that only three players in the past 22 years have hit, and that’s the 60-goal mark. You can blame a slow start with the first ten games not being overly electric for Auston, but he has certainly picked …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors news: Chris Boucher update, Gary Trent Jr. makes history

Raptors news: Chris Boucher update, Gary Trent Jr. makes history

There was almost nothing positive to take away from the Toronto Raptors’ dismantling at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, as Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes combining for six points show just how bad things got. Gary Trent Jr. was the one player who really stood out. Trent put up 35 points, the most […]
Raptors news: Chris Boucher update, Gary Trent Jr. makes history – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ