The World Junior Championship has kicked the Air Canada Centre’s two primary tenants out of the building for the balance of the month – the Toronto Raptors’ next home game is Jan. 8 against the Charlotte Hornets, while the Maple Leafs’ next home game is Jan. 7 against the Washington Capitals. That’s a six-game road trip for the Raptors starting Monday in Chicago and a seven-game trip for the Maple Leafs that started Sunday in the same building with a 4-0 loss to the Blackhawks.
It’s a safe bet that the Raptors feel better about themselves than the Maple Leafs, although it’s wise to note that after playing six consecutive games against teams with a record under .500, the opponents the Raptors face on this trip are playing at a .658 clip. Nice. The Raptors are 9-3 in DeMar DeRozan’s absence thanks mainly to Kyle Lowry’s ability to shoulder a bigger load and timely contributions from the likes of Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson. Patterson is part of a bench that is averaging a full five points per game more than they were when DeRozan was healthy. Sunday’s 49 points by the reserves was above their season average of 42.1 and well ahead of last season’s 39.7.
This road trip is a virtual advertisement for Lowry as an all-star. He will be up against Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry – pretty much a who’s-who of point guards.
As for the Maple Leafs? Who knows? The numbers guys warned all of us that there were several unsustainable aspects to that 10-1-1 run and they were right. The Leafs had been getting crushed in the faceoff circle in the five games before Sunday, when they lost 31 of 58 — that’s a lot of puck chasing when you don’t have the last line change.
LO-GO
The Raptors unveiled their new logo last week and were rightly tweaked on Twitter by the Nets for a design that barely deviates from Brooklyn’s widely-acclaimed three-year-old logo – which flew off the shelves after its launch.
I’ve always felt the test of a great logo is whether or not a 10 or 12 year old kid can doodle it on a page in a school book, and on that level I think the new Raptors claw grasping a basketball passes muster. The crucial question will be the colour: As long as the organization veers away from a simple black and white scheme, all will be well. Think of the marketing possibilities created by mixing and matching of colors for various occasions. Hell, if someone could add a little reggae splash to the logo, I’d be all over it …
WHAT I LEARNED
The things you learn in a week hosting a sports talk-show:
“It’s two different kinds of frustration. With the great city of Toronto, it’s that 1967 just hangs heavy … that’s different from a team like Edmonton that rattled off multiple Cups … then came this whole rebuild and that’s the level of frustration here. I believe the market thought that by drafting high this would be real easy. And it’s not …”
* Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins discusses the difference in frustration levels between Oilers fans and Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
“No, I don’t think so. There’s a scenario where that does occur, a guy like (Daniel) Norris will still come in and compete for a starting spot. We’re going to stretch (Marco) Estrada out … But we do view Aaron (Sanchez) as a long-term starter. I think a lot of that will be determined by what we have on the ball club when we start spring training … there are scenarios where you could see a Norris or even an Estrada take the fifth spot in the rotation … but we think Aaron’s ceiling as a starter is so high that he’s going to be given every opportunity to win that job.”
* Despite the fact that most of the high-profile back-of-the-bullpen arms are off the free-agent market, Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos still doesn’t see Aaron Sanchez as the team’s closer in 2015. Listen to the interview.
“We brought in (Stephane) Robidas for two reasons: One, we think he can still play at a pretty high level or we wouldn’t have signed him, and I think he’s rounding into form after coming off that pretty significant injury … the second reason we brought him in was because of his character and leadership qualities. If you speak to anyone who has had him as a coach or manager around the league and what he brought to those team, they will talk about his play but they’ll talk glowingly about him as a person and as a leader and how he’ll have an effect on younger players … if we had to go back and do one signing again last summer, it would have been bringing him in.”
*Dave Nonis, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, discusses what he thinks was his best move of the off-season. Listen to the interview.
QUIBBLES AND BITS
- No sport mistakes bafflegab for analysis like the NFL, but there was a fascinating contribution made to the Minnesota Vikings-Miami Dolphins game on Sunday by former NFL vice-president of officiating Mike Pereira, who correctly predicted a close call on the field involving Vikings tight end Chase Ford would be upheld despite video evidence that appeared to show Ford made it into the end zone without stepping out of bounds. Pereira said the NFL has undergone a philosophical shift and was determined to stay with calls on the field unless there was “100 percent” indisputable evidence – which, frankly, is how the system should work in order to keep intact the integrity of its on-field crews. The reversal rate through 15 weeks was 36.8 percent, compared to 45 percent in 2013. I’m a fan of Pereira, who also stated that if the NFL wants to stop post-whistle fights all it has to do is crack down on the preening post-touchdown celebrations that create the environment.
- People around baseball are all agog over the moves made by San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller, which makes sense I guess if you get excited by the notion of three below-average defensive outfielders – one of whom, Matt Kemp, has arthritic hips and $107 million over five years left on his contract. I’m a little more impressed by what the Miami Marlins have done in building a roster around Giancarlo Stanton; adding Martin Prado behind Dee Gordon gives them an impressive top of the order. They’ll be the front-runners in the National League East.
- Look: I’m glad Mr. Hockey’s doing better, but you know what I wish Gordie Howe’s family would do? I wish they’d enjoy their time together without feeling the need to give us weekly updates. I don’t understand why the Hockey Hall of Fame or the Detroit Red Wings can’t step in and give the same type of guidance in terms of information dissemination that allowed Jean Beliveau and Pat Quinn to live out their final days in dignity. It may not be my place to suggest it, but somebody has to give voice to things being said sotto voce.
THE END GAME
You know what I miss? I miss all those MMA fans who would take you to task whenever you suggested their sport was destined to become a niche sport. Time’s here, folks: 2014 will go down as a year of plummeting pay-per-view figures; as the year in which UFC on Fox 11 was pummelled by a re-run of Mike & Molly in the ratings; and the year in which Dana White asked washed-up wrestler C.M. Punk to help save his business. I hate to say I told you so …