Vasily Podkolzin<\/a>.<\/p>\nAdvertisement 4<\/p>\n
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The day of the great line may be over in hockey. The day of the great two-thirds of a line may not be new in today\u2019s NHL \u2014 but across the league, it is certainly apparent.<\/p>\n
THIS AND THAT<\/p>\n
This is what separates Aaron Judge from just about everybody else in baseball. With a week to go in the regular season, he ranks first in OPS, first in WAR, first in on-base percentage, first in batting average, first in runs scored, first in walks, first in total bases and first in slugging. By comparison, the very good but not generational Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ranks fifth in OPS, 13th in WAR, thrd in on-base percentage, sixth in batting average, seventh in runs scored, fifth in walks, 13th in total bases and 14th in slugging. Judge, by the way, is second to Cal Raleigh in home runs in the American League. Guerrero is 27th in homers \u2026 Guerrero, especially if Bo Bichette is missing come playoff time, will be the entire focus of the Jays offence. When judging him, remember this: Judge had a rather dreadful post-season with the Yankees last year \u2026 If the Jays finish the season 4-4 in their final eight games, they\u2019ll win 93 games, the same number as the much beloved 2015 Blue Jays wound up with \u2026 Don\u2019t get caught up fantasizing about who Max Scherzer used to be. The notion of him starting a playoff game for the Jays was quaint a few days or weeks ago. Now it\u2019s mostly frightening \u2026 If Trey Yesavage were 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, he would be Tim Lincecum. But Yesavage is 6-foot-4 and 225, which makes him even more dangerous. The downhill delivery looks the same \u2014 it\u2019s just coming from a higher point. Lincecum was 7-0 with a 2.34 earned run average with the San Francisco Giants\u2019 World Series teams. Makes you wonder just what Yesavage is capable of now \u2014 and in the future \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t be the least bit upset about a starting playoff rotation of Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Yesavage and Chris Bassitt in the post-season. Quite likely, the Jays will play with either the Yankees or the Red Sox in the American League Divisional Series, assuming the Jays don\u2019t collapse in the final week of the season and relinquish first place \u2026 One of the quietly sound trades Ross Atkins made: Cavan Biggio for Braydon Fisher \u2026 When the season began, the Jays were 15-1 to win the AL East, the fifth longest odds in a five-team division \u2026 Prospect lists and ratings make for fine reading and so does all kinds of fictional material. Just about the highest-rated Jay the past five years, Orelvis Martinez, has been released by Toronto. Nowhere to be found on most of those top-25 Blue Jays lists: Addison Barger or Davis Schneider \u2026 One of the reasons the Jays lost to Kansas City in the 2015 American League Championship Series was superb situational scouting done by the Royals. K.C. almost knew what the Jays were going to do before they did it in the series. Now I wonder: with scouting as sophisticated as it has become in baseball, how will this unusual version of the Jays hold up to scouting at the highest level.<\/p>\n
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HEAR AND THERE<\/p>\n
I majored in English at university. I\u2019ve listened to every interview McDavid has done in trying to explain why he hasn\u2019t yet signed with the Oilers. I have no clue what he\u2019s trying to say, other than he\u2019s saying nothing of substance, using a variety of sentences. For a player who hates being the story and hates drama, he\u2019s sure making himself the story and creating drama around his eventual re-signing \u2026 Keith Pelley promised the Leafs would be more accessible under his watch. On the opening day of training camp, the Leafs made Matthews, John Tavares and the always interesting Morgan Rielly the only Toronto players available on the podium, for all of 13 minutes combined. That\u2019s less than one question per reporter. That\u2019s about as unavailable and protective as you can get \u2026 Had Marner stayed with the Leafs, the Matthews-Marner-Knies line had a chance to go down as the best in modern franchise history. Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald, with either Tiger Williams or Errol Thompson was pretty good. Same with Doug Gilmour with Dave Andreychuk and Nik Borschevsky. Mats Sundin never had a memorable line except for the moment or two he played with Alex Mogilny \u2026 McDavid is third in career points per game in the NHL, which is pretty remarkable considering that those ahead of him, Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, played in higher scoring times. Gretzky leads historically at 1.92 per game, followed by Lemieux at 1.88 and McDavid at 1.52. After McDavid is Bossy at 1.5 and Bobby Orr, a defenceman, at 1.47. After that, it\u2019s Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Peter Stastny, Peter Forsberg and Crosby in that order \u2026 This is McDavid\u2019s 11th NHL season and Matthews\u2019 10th. By this time in their careers, Guy Lafleur had five Stanley Cups, Gretzky and Bossy had four and Lemieux had two. Bobby Hull and Drew Doughty won Cups in their fourth NHL seasons and Forsberg won in his second year \u2026 This won\u2019t happen again: Jaromir Jagr won Cups in his first two NHL campaigns. McDavid, Draisaitl and Matthews are still looking for one.<\/p>\n
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SCENE AND HEARD<\/p>\n
If anyone understands the crazy Kawhi Leonard negotiations, it would be Larry Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum heads up the Board of Governors in the NBA. He was party to some of the wild asks in 2019. It will be interesting to see how far the NBA wants to go in punishing the Clippers and Leonard for potentially violating rules and how much Tanenbaum is willing to push from his BOG position \u2014 which greatly influences commissioner Adam Silver \u2014 to punish a fellow owner in Steve Ballmer \u2026 For the past two decades, Los Angeles has been blessed with the presence of greatness. Within days of each other this week, Clayton Kershaw and Anze Kopitar announced their retirements. This will be Kershaw\u2019s last season pitching for the Dodgers. This coming season will be Kopitar\u2019s last with the Kings. Kopitar won two Stanley Cups. Kershaw was part of two World Series teams with the Dodgers, won three Cy Young Awards, five ERA titles and is the modern-day leader for starting pitchers with an ERA of 2.54. Kopitar won two Selke Awards, three Lady Byngs, was a finalist for the Hart Trophy. In his past eight seasons, he missed just four games. Kopitar is 38. Kershaw is 37. What a run both men have had: Same city, different sports, over most of this century. Both will be first-ballot Hall of Famers \u2026 Thought we stole Justin Jefferson in the second round of our fantasy football draft. Thought that until we realized how terrible the quarterbacking is for the Minnesota Vikings \u2026 Things to brag to Americans (or other nations) about: We are the hammer-throwing champions of the world. Both men and women. Nobody can throw a hammer like we do \u2026 And when we\u2019re not just throwing hammers, we\u2019re kicking butt in World Cup women\u2019s rugby tournament.<\/p>\n
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AND ANOTHER THING<\/p>\n
In 1960, the Maple Leafs traded for Red Kelly, one of the great defencemen in hockey history and then did the unlikely. They moved Kelly to centre after 13 seasons on the blue line in Detroit. It was considered a reach at the time. Kelly had 70 points in his first year as a forward, finishing sixth in NHL scoring. He played his last seven seasons in Toronto and won four Stanley Cups, a lot of the time centring Frank Mahovlich. Why does that old news matter now? I know some hockey people of prominence who think the Leafs should pull a Kelly with Rielly and move him to forward. Take advantage of his speed, skating and natural puck-handling skills. I\u2019m not saying I agree with that thinking \u2014 in fact, I don\u2019t \u2014 but considering the history and Rielly\u2019s challenges defensively in recent seasons, it might be worth more than consideration \u2026 The best officials in any sport are the ones you notice the least. Apparently, none of them are working in the Canadian Football League \u2026 Those who know Jack Hughes are surprised to see him with a bit of an edge and sauciness in recent public appearances. Not sure what, if anything, this will mean for his play, but it\u2019s surprising for those who you used to deem as the boy next door with New Jersey Devils \u2026 If you look close enough on the sidelines, you might well think that Novak Djokovic is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles \u2026 If I were in charge of football, doesn\u2019t matter the league, quarterbacks would not be allowed to throw forward passes underhand. Just seems wrong to me \u2026 It took only until Week 2 of the NFL season for Canadian rookie Elic Ayomanor to score his first touchdown. The farmer from Saskatchewan via Medicine Hat is off to a fine start, having been thrown to 13 times already with the Tennessee Titans \u2026 Wasn\u2019t Chad Kelly supposed to be back under centre for the Argos by now? Like Labour Day or around there? \u2026 Why can\u2019t TSN televise Argos games showing the north side of the stands at BMO? They\u2019re mostly full and it would look way better to a television audience \u2026 Canadian Rob Thomson didn\u2019t get a chance to manage in the big leagues until age 58 and, at first, that was an interim appointment. The interim part didn\u2019t last long. This is his third straight 90-plus win season with the Philadelphia Phillies. His winning percentage as of Saturday is .581, which is the equivalent of winning 94 games a season \u2026 The Jays have won more than 94 games four times in their history \u2026 Did you know that local guy Jordan Romano was a 10th-round pick of the Jays in 2014: Their first pick in that draft: Then starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Hoffman was drafted from East Carolina, same place the Jays selected Yesavage from \u2026 Wishing a happy and, more importantly, a healthy New Year to all who celebrate Rosh Hashonah \u2026 Happy birthday to Sittler (75), Tavares (35), Wynton McManis (31), Cecil Fielder (62), Sergei Bobrovsky (37), Renee Paquette (40), Greg Valentine (75), Ed McAleney (72), Jason Bay (47) and Artis Gilmore (76) \u2026 And hey, whatever became of Anthony Gose?<\/p>\n
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With the NHL moving away from dominant three-man forward lines, it likely will not matter much who skates on the right wing with Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews this season. Photo by Carmen Mandato \/Getty ImagesArticle contentDoes it really matter who will replace Mitch Marner on a line with Auston Matthews<\/a> and Matthew Knies with the Maple Leafs this season?<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.5.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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