Mixed Bag
I had every intention of writing something yesterday but never did find the time. It was a day packed with father/husband duties from morning till night. By the time everyone else in the family was in bed and I was literally the last man standing, I didn't have the energy to fill this space.
(So instead, I downed a couple of Coors Lights, did some reading and watched bits of Canucks-Oilers and Flyers-Lightning. I need to get a life.)
Saturday was also a pretty busy family day, too. There was that weekly inline skating class for the kids, which overlapped with the 9 a.m. twin bill for the Leafs-CBJ and the Raptors-Magic.
We normally get a shuttle to pick us up, which would have allowed me to watch some early parts of the games. But I had to drive them today, so I missed most of the early parts of both games.
I got myself a new phone for Christmas, and I can still do surfing and stream games on my old one. I took these two phones with me to the gym and had both games on. I chose to listen to hockey, thinking it was going to be probably a more closely contested battle and the Raptors could handle the Magic with ease.
Well, no.
The Leafs defeated the Jackets 4-2 to extend our winning streak to five. Tavares scored twice in the victoy and Marner scored a goal and had a couple of assists, too. Backup Garret Sparks made 27 saves, and it was a shame we let in that Panarin goal near the end to make the final line look worse than the game was.
As for the Raptors... we suffered our worst loss of the season against the Magic. I only caught a few minutes of the game, and since it was such a forgettable game, I am going to pretend it didn't happen.
The boys led 29-25 after the first quarter, which allowed me to maintain some optimism. Then Freddy went down with a shoulder injury (I forgot if it was 2nd or 3rd Q) and once he was out of the game, well, frigging Lorenzo Brown had to play PG. LORENZO BROWN!!!
That's when the Magic started to make a run. Danny G was in foul trouble, and Kawhi wasn't his usual self, going just 7-of-19 from the field for an inefficient 21 points.
I reserve the rights to gloat and wax poetic about victories, and just ignore defeats like this. Let's move on to hockey. I'll just keep watching the recap above on a loop and keep basketball out of my mind.
Marner on Fire
Look, I don't think Mitch has ever read my blog, but I still want to take a full credit for his goal-scoring surge of late. Ever since I implored the young man to shoot more, Mitch has netted seven goals in six games. He had six in his previous 31 contests.
And the goal he scored today? It's every Leafs fans' dream: Matthews to Marner on a breakaway at even strength.
If I remember the Sportsnet commentary correctly, this was only the third time in their careers that Matthews had assisted on a goal by Marner at even strength. Of course, they're dynamite on PP.
Anyway, if we didn't have Tavares, I'd certainly love to see these two on the same line. But Babs likes to spread his wealth anyway, and last year without JT, Marner mostly played with either Bozak or Naz.
But with some extra ice at 4-on-4, these two can give defenses fits. And in OT, if I am the coach, I'd just say, "Screw it, You guys go ahead and finish this thing" and send Matthews, Marner and Tavares over the board. Who needs a D when these three are more than capable of winning the game in 20 seconds? If we win, chances are we'd do so with a goal you can only hope to score in a video game. Even if we lose, we'd still get one point.
Because Tavares was such a prized free agent signing and Matthews was the first overall pick and the Calder winner, Marner, I feel, is still getting lost in the shuffle. And he's also been overshadowed by Rielly of late, with Morgan leading all defenseman in goals, assists and points.
That's the kind of depth we enjoy. Marner is 5th in the NHL in points and isn't even the most celebrated star on his own team.
Tavares and Chase for 50
That "on pace for" kind of stuff isn't really my thing, especially in hockey, because, well, so many things can and usually do happen over the course of an 82-game season. But after JT's two-goal effort today, I am officially on the "Tavares is on pace to score 50 for the first time in his career" bandwagon.
As great as he's beeen, the man has never even touched 40 goals in a season in his career. With 26 after 38 games, he's now on pace (that P word again) to net 56 in 82 games.
Despite being an Original Six club, the Leafs don't exactly boast illustrious scoring history. We've only produced three 50-goal scorers: Rick Vaive (3 times), Gary Leeman and Dave Andreychuk (twice but one season was split betwen the Leafs and the Sabres). Andreychuk is the last Leaf to score 50, with 53 in 83 games in the 1993-94 season, back when the teams played 84 games.
Matthews has an outside chance at getting to the half-century mark as well. Scoring 50 has become increasingly difficult in recent years (Ovie has been the only one to do so in the last five years, but the last time he got to 50 was 2015-2016) and producing two 50-goal scorers in the same season would be a major cause for celebration.
And who's to say JT won't do it, when he has a shot like this?
Some Final Thoughts
Sportsnet televised the Raptors game but its website didn't have a writer covering the game in Orlando. Just a writer doing a "takeaways" story that I have been doing in this space watching from 14 time zones away. They also didn't have a writer for the Miami game.
(I guess the bosses didn't want their minions enjoying the sun in Florida in December while they were toiling in the tundra, though my weather app tells me Toronto had a high of 9C on game day.)
Meanwhile, the Leafs get pretty substantial coverage anywhere they go. Not that I am complaining, but I suppose that is just how it's always going to be no matter how well the Raptors do. Before this ugly loss, we were in first place in the entire NBA and were still getting less love from the national rights holder than the hockey team, which is second overall in the NHL.
Oh well, the loss today was so ugly that it was probably better we didn't have much national coverage.
(So instead, I downed a couple of Coors Lights, did some reading and watched bits of Canucks-Oilers and Flyers-Lightning. I need to get a life.)
Saturday was also a pretty busy family day, too. There was that weekly inline skating class for the kids, which overlapped with the 9 a.m. twin bill for the Leafs-CBJ and the Raptors-Magic.
We normally get a shuttle to pick us up, which would have allowed me to watch some early parts of the games. But I had to drive them today, so I missed most of the early parts of both games.
I got myself a new phone for Christmas, and I can still do surfing and stream games on my old one. I took these two phones with me to the gym and had both games on. I chose to listen to hockey, thinking it was going to be probably a more closely contested battle and the Raptors could handle the Magic with ease.
Well, no.
The Leafs defeated the Jackets 4-2 to extend our winning streak to five. Tavares scored twice in the victoy and Marner scored a goal and had a couple of assists, too. Backup Garret Sparks made 27 saves, and it was a shame we let in that Panarin goal near the end to make the final line look worse than the game was.
As for the Raptors... we suffered our worst loss of the season against the Magic. I only caught a few minutes of the game, and since it was such a forgettable game, I am going to pretend it didn't happen.
The boys led 29-25 after the first quarter, which allowed me to maintain some optimism. Then Freddy went down with a shoulder injury (I forgot if it was 2nd or 3rd Q) and once he was out of the game, well, frigging Lorenzo Brown had to play PG. LORENZO BROWN!!!
That's when the Magic started to make a run. Danny G was in foul trouble, and Kawhi wasn't his usual self, going just 7-of-19 from the field for an inefficient 21 points.
I reserve the rights to gloat and wax poetic about victories, and just ignore defeats like this. Let's move on to hockey. I'll just keep watching the recap above on a loop and keep basketball out of my mind.
Marner on Fire
Look, I don't think Mitch has ever read my blog, but I still want to take a full credit for his goal-scoring surge of late. Ever since I implored the young man to shoot more, Mitch has netted seven goals in six games. He had six in his previous 31 contests.
And the goal he scored today? It's every Leafs fans' dream: Matthews to Marner on a breakaway at even strength.
If I remember the Sportsnet commentary correctly, this was only the third time in their careers that Matthews had assisted on a goal by Marner at even strength. Of course, they're dynamite on PP.
Anyway, if we didn't have Tavares, I'd certainly love to see these two on the same line. But Babs likes to spread his wealth anyway, and last year without JT, Marner mostly played with either Bozak or Naz.
But with some extra ice at 4-on-4, these two can give defenses fits. And in OT, if I am the coach, I'd just say, "Screw it, You guys go ahead and finish this thing" and send Matthews, Marner and Tavares over the board. Who needs a D when these three are more than capable of winning the game in 20 seconds? If we win, chances are we'd do so with a goal you can only hope to score in a video game. Even if we lose, we'd still get one point.
Because Tavares was such a prized free agent signing and Matthews was the first overall pick and the Calder winner, Marner, I feel, is still getting lost in the shuffle. And he's also been overshadowed by Rielly of late, with Morgan leading all defenseman in goals, assists and points.
That's the kind of depth we enjoy. Marner is 5th in the NHL in points and isn't even the most celebrated star on his own team.
Tavares and Chase for 50
That "on pace for" kind of stuff isn't really my thing, especially in hockey, because, well, so many things can and usually do happen over the course of an 82-game season. But after JT's two-goal effort today, I am officially on the "Tavares is on pace to score 50 for the first time in his career" bandwagon.
As great as he's beeen, the man has never even touched 40 goals in a season in his career. With 26 after 38 games, he's now on pace (that P word again) to net 56 in 82 games.
Despite being an Original Six club, the Leafs don't exactly boast illustrious scoring history. We've only produced three 50-goal scorers: Rick Vaive (3 times), Gary Leeman and Dave Andreychuk (twice but one season was split betwen the Leafs and the Sabres). Andreychuk is the last Leaf to score 50, with 53 in 83 games in the 1993-94 season, back when the teams played 84 games.
Matthews has an outside chance at getting to the half-century mark as well. Scoring 50 has become increasingly difficult in recent years (Ovie has been the only one to do so in the last five years, but the last time he got to 50 was 2015-2016) and producing two 50-goal scorers in the same season would be a major cause for celebration.
And who's to say JT won't do it, when he has a shot like this?
Some Final Thoughts
Sportsnet televised the Raptors game but its website didn't have a writer covering the game in Orlando. Just a writer doing a "takeaways" story that I have been doing in this space watching from 14 time zones away. They also didn't have a writer for the Miami game.
(I guess the bosses didn't want their minions enjoying the sun in Florida in December while they were toiling in the tundra, though my weather app tells me Toronto had a high of 9C on game day.)
Meanwhile, the Leafs get pretty substantial coverage anywhere they go. Not that I am complaining, but I suppose that is just how it's always going to be no matter how well the Raptors do. Before this ugly loss, we were in first place in the entire NBA and were still getting less love from the national rights holder than the hockey team, which is second overall in the NHL.
Oh well, the loss today was so ugly that it was probably better we didn't have much national coverage.
Comments