World Juniors Is Cooling Off

Word has it that the IIHF World Juniors tournament is not as popular as it was.

Yesterdays Canada/Finland game drew just 9,552 fans at the Key Bank Centre in Buffalo, New York.

That's sad.

I remember when the World Juniors were huge in Canada.

It all started in1986 when my dad got tickets to the tournament as a Christmas gift.

The tournament took place at the brand new Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

I had a good time watching the games.

After that, I followed the tournament ever since.

Makes me wonder about the future of the tournament.

The holidays won't be the same without it.  

Rumor Mill: Napoli's Talking To The Twins

Mike Napoli

It is unclear on how close the Minnesota Twins are in striking a deal with veteran first baseman, Mike Napoli.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the talks are becoming serious, however, MLB.com's Mark Friensand. tweeted that the Twins are not even closed to a deal.

Napoli hit 29 home runs with the Texas Rangers last year.

In 2016, Napoli hit 34 home runs in 150 games.

Rumor Mill: Inquiries About Blue Jay's Closer.

Roberto Osuna

Here's a bit of a shocker.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is reporting that there's been inquiries about Toronto Blue Jay's closing pitcher, Roberto Osuna.

As of now, the club hasn't indicated that Osuna is on the chopping block.

In 2017, Osuna posted a 3.38 earned run average, (ERA.), a career low .86 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 64 innings.

Osuna is projected to earn $5.6 million in arbitration.

Leafs Get Lucky With An Offside Call

I have to admit, even though it is hard, but the Toronto Maple Leafs were really lucky last night to win 3-2 over the New York Rangers.

William Nylander got the ball rolling by scoring at 17:14 of the first period.

Just 50 seconds into the second period, Rick Hainsey made it 2-0 Leafs.

Jimmy Vesey closed the gap to 2-1 at 2:37 of the (second) period.

In his first game back from injury, Auston Matthews scored at 11:22 to put the Leafs head by two goals again.

In the third period, the Rangers were flying.

J.T. Miller made it 3-2 Leafs at 11:25.

New York tied the game shortly after Miller's goal, but Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock challenged the play, saying a Ranger player was offside.

After the review, it was determined that the play was offside and the goal was waved off.

Toronto's Morgan Rielly had two assists last night.

Both goalies were terrific in net last night.

Leaf's Frederik Andersen stopped 32 shots and Henrik Lundvist stopped 37.

The Leafs don't play until the December 29th when the team faces the Arizona Coyotes.

Preview: Leafs Verses Rangers

Tonight 7 p.m. EST.

Boy!  The Toronto Maple Leafs are in for it tonight.

The New York Rangers are by far the better team in this matchup.

The Rangers are 14-5-3 on home ice and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.

The Leafs are 10-9-1 on the road and are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

NYR: Mats Zuccarello - 28 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Nikita Zaitsev - Lower Body - Injured Reserve, (IR.),

Nikita Soshnikov - Lower Body - IR.,

Auston Matthews - Hand - day-to-day.

New York

Jesper Fast - Strained Quadriceps - day-to-day.

Rumor Mill: Darvish Going Back To The Rangers

Boy!  The Yu Darvish saga is become a bit of a soap opera.

It was reported earlier this week that the Chicago Cubs were pursuing him, (Darvish).

Now, the possibility of him becoming a Cub is probably going to be squashed after Darvish had dinner last night with representatives from his former team, the Texas Rangers.

Darvish tweeted a picture of himself being at last night's dinner.

Obviously, this saga has now taken on an unusual twist.

This is the third meeting this week for Darvish as he also met with the Cubs and the Houston Astros.

Judging by the new developments, who knows how this saga going to pan out.

Preview: Leafs Verses Blue Jackets

Tonight 7:30 p.m. EST.

Both teams are even.

There's no telling how this game is going to go tonight.

Toronto is 21-13-1 overall.  Columbus is 20-13-1.

The Blue Jackets, however, are six games over .500, (12-6-0), on home ice.

This gives the Jackets the advantage over the Leafs tonight.

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

CBJ: Artemi Panarin - 28 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Nikita Zaitsev - Lower Body - day-to-day,

Nikita Soshnikov - Lower Body - day-to-day,

Auston Matthews - Hand - day-to-day.

Columbus

Zach Werenski - Undisclosed - day-to-day,

Brandon Dubinsky - Eye - late December/early January,

Ryan Murray - Upper Body - day-to-day,

Sam Vigneault - Finger - day-to-day.

Marner Gets Four Points In Leafs Rout Over Canes'

Mitch Marner, (left), had his best game of the season yesterday.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Toronto's first ever NHL game, the Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes played in the afternoon yesterday.

The players on the Leaf's squad wore the Toronto Arena's uniform in yesterday's game because that what the team was known as in 1917.

In fact, the team didn't become the Maple Leafs until 10 years later, (1927), when the legendary Conn Smyth took over the franchise.

As for yesterday's game, Toronto's Mitch Marner had the game of his life, collecting four points in a 8-1 rout over the Canes'.

Leo Komarov got the ball rolling at 2:50 of the first period by scoring a short-handed goal.

At 5:33, Marner scored to make it 2-0 Leafs.

Jeff Skinner closed the gap to 2-1 at 9:07.

James Van Riemsdyk put the Leafs ahead 3-1 at 10:34.

At the end of the opening period, the Leafs were ahead 4-1.

There was no scoring in the second period, but Toronto poured it on in the third (period).

Patrick Marleau scored at 9:25 of the third period.

Just six seconds later, Kasper Kapanen scored Toronto's sixth goal.

William Nylander made it a 7-1 game at 14:05.

Connor Carrick scored Toronto's final goal of the game at 18:35.

Toronto's Tyler Bozak also had four points during yesterday's game.

Leaf's goalie, Frederik Andersen was fantastic in net, making a few stellar saves.  Andersen stopped 32 shots yesterday.

The Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.

Rumor Mill: Donaldson Possibly Being Traded And More

I don't really want to think of it, but there's a possibility that the Toronto Blue Jays are going to trade third baseman, Josh Donaldson.

Word has it that the Jays are unable to agree on a contract extension for Donaldson.

The St. Louis Cardinals are amongst the teams who are rumored to be eying Donaldson.

The good news for Jays fans is the asking price is probably going to make it hard to move the 32 year-old.

The Jays probably be asking for another third baseman or a starting pitcher.

Getting a good starting pitcher is going to help the Jays.  The team needs better pitching.  Toronto's pitching was terrible in 2017.

 Yu Darvish.

In other MLB news, there are reports indicating that Cub's president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Harper went to Dallas yesterday to meet with Yu Darvish.

Finally, MLB Network's Ian Rosenthal listed potential candidates for Baltimore Orioles, Manny Machado.

The Chicago White Sox, the Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees are amongst the teams seeking Machado.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the Arizona Diamondbacks are also eying Machado.

Montreal Never Should've Traded For Shea Weber

Shea Weber

I make no secret that I'm a Toronto Maple Leaf fan.  I've been a fan since I was eight years old.

I know the rivalry the Leafs have with the Montreal Canadiens.

I'm also a hockey fan and a trained journalist.

Objectivity is really important when writing an article.

News broke out yesterday the Canadien's defenseman, Shea Weber injured his foot and is out indefinitely.

This is not good for Montreal.  The team is 12th in the Eastern Conference standings with just 32 points.

Montreal acquired Weber on June 29, 2016 from the Nashville Predators in exchange for fan favorite, P.K. Subban.

To add injury to insult,  a few weeks after the trade, Canadien's general manager told the media that his team didn't need Subban.

In reality, Montreal does.

t

This year, Nashville is first in the Western Conference standings with 46 points.  As of now, the Canadiens are in danger of missing the playoffs

Trading Subban for Weber was a huge mistake on Montreal's part.

Last year, Nashville went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Montreal was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Even though Subban just has 22 points in 32 games, his Predators are playing really good this year.

As for the Canadiens, the misery continues.

  

Rumor Mill: Longoria No Longer A Ray? It's Posslble

Evan Longoria

Is it possible that Evan Longoria is going to play for another team?

The answer is yes.

Rumors have been heating up about the 32 year-old third baseman being traded.

It is hard for Tampa Bay Rays fans to imagine Longoria in another uniform.

Longoria has been with the Rays since the beginning of his career.

Unfortunately for the fans, the possibility of Longoria being traded elsewhere is real.

USA Today Sport's Bob Nightengale is reporting that the San Francisco Giants are eying Longoria.

Longoria had his worst season offensively of his Major League care last year, hitting .261/.313/.424 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs over 156 games.

Right now, the Giants have Pablo Sandoval on the hot corner, but he also struggled at the plate in 2017.

Sandoval hit .229/.284/.333 with just 19 home runs.

Longoria is owed $86 million and has five years to go on his contract. 

Rumor Mill: Cubs Seeking Darvish

Cubs are reportedly eying Yu Darvish, (left).

The question still remains.  Where is pitcher, Yu Davish going to end up next year?

Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago is reporting that the Chicago Cubs are pursuing the Japanese free agent.

For the Cubs wanting to sign Darvish makes sense.

The team is trying to fill the void in the rotation after losing John Lackey and Jake Arrieta to free agency.

As of now, Darvish is the top starter in the free agent market.

Levine is also reporting that Darvish has also met with the World Champions, Houston Astros and the Minnesota Twins.

Darvish has a career win-loss record of 56-42 with a 3.42 earned run average, (ERA.), and 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

In 2017, Darvish had a win-loss record of 10-12 with a 3.86 ERA.

Rumor Mill: Yankees Have Sign Sabathia To A One-Year Deal

C.C. Sabathia

There's reports indicating that the New York Yankees have re-signed pitcher, C.C. Sabathia.

The contract is reportedly for one-year and worth $10 million.

In 2017, Sabathia had a 3.69 earned run average in 27 starts.

Word has it that Sabathia was going to sign with the Yankees all along.

Leafs Lose Third Straight As Slump Continues

Henrik Zetterberg got two assists in 3-1 win over the Leafs last night

Man!  The Toronto Maple Leafs are really in a slump right now.

The Leafs lost their third straight game last night 3-1 to the Detroit Red Wings.

Things started out okay in the first period when Andreas Borgman scored at 1:53 to put the Leafs ahead 1-0.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, the Red Wings were flying in the second period.

Danny DeKeyser tied the game at 5:22.  Then, Trevor Daily scored a short handed goal at 11:22 to put Detroit ahead 2-1.

Tomas Tartar sealed the deal at 3:39 of the third period with a goal.

Henrik Zetterberg had two assists in last night's game.

Toronto plays the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Minnesota Blanks Toronto. Preview: Leafs Verses Red Wings

It is safe to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be happy when Auston Matthews gets back from injury.

Last night, the Leafs were blanked 2-0 by the Minnesota Wild.  It was Toronto's second straight loss.

Tyler Ennis opened the scoring at 18:06 of the first period.

There was no scoring in the second period.

Mikael Granlund secured the win for Minnesota by scoring at 8:06 of the third period.

Preview: Leafs Verses Red Wings

The Leafs are going to try to stopped the mini losing skid tonight as the team takes on the Detroit Red Wings.

Almost everything is in Toronto's favor except goaltending.

The Leafs are going to have backup goalie, Curtis McElhinney in net.

On the positive side, Toronto has a 20-12-1 overall record and are 10-7-1 on the road.

Detroit is 11-13-7 overall and are 5-6-6 on home ice.

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

DET: Dylan Larkin - 26 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Auston Matthews - Hand - doubtful for tonight,

Nikita Soshnikov - Lower Body - out indefinitely.

Phillies Sign Santana To a Three-Year, $60 Million Contract

Carlos Santana has reportedly signed a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

There are reports indicating that first baseman, Carlos Santana has signed a three-year, $60 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 2017, Santana hit 23 home runs and had 79 RBIs with the Cleveland Indians where he spent eight seasons of his Major League career.

Santana started out as a catcher in 2010 and then shifted to first base in 2015. 

Preview: Leafs Verses Wild

The Toronto Maple Leafs are probably be looking to bounce back from that 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday as the team faces the Minnesota Wild tonight.

It won't be a cinch, though,

Although the Leafs have a good 20-11-1 overall record, the Wild are 9-3-2-0 on home ice.

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

MINN: Eric Staal - 26 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Auston Matthews - Hand - won't play tonight,

Nikita Soshnikov - Lower Body - out indefinitely.

Minnesota

Devon Dubnuk - Lower Body - Late December,

Jared Spurgeon - Groin - late December,

Zach Parise - Back - early January.

Preview: Leafs Verses Flyers

Statistically, the Toronto Maple Leafs ought to win tonight's game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Toronto is 20-10-1 overall and 10-5-1 on the road.

Philadelphia is 11-11-7 overall and 4-6-4 at home.

Also, the Flyers are 3-10 in their last 13 games, however, both teams have won three straight.

To predict that the Leafs wins this game hands down is a bit pre mature.

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

PHI: Jakub Voracek - 37 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Auston Matthews - Hand - won't play tonight,

Nikita Soshnikov - Lower Body - out indefinitely.

Philadelphia

Jori Lehtera - Illness - questionable for tonight,

Michal Neuvirth - Leg - late December,

Brandon Manning - Hand - early January,

Colin McDonald - Lower Body - out indefinitely.

McElhinney Stops 41 In Leafs Win Last Night

Curtis McElhinney (left) stopped 41 shots in Leafs 1-0 victory over Edmonton last night.

All it took is Zack Hyman's goal, scored just 34 seconds into the game and Curtis McElhinney did the rest.

Leaf's backup goalie, McElhinney helped the Toronto Maple Leafs big time last night by stopping 41 shots in a 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

With this win, the Leafs have three straight victories.

Toronto is going to try to make it four in a row when the team takes on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night.

Bozak Scores Two In Leaf's Win Over Pens.

Tyler Bozak (left) scored two goals in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night.

It was a nail biter in the end, but the Toronto Maple Leafs put on quite a performance last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Leafs were a bit sloppy in both the second and the third periods.

Toronto, however, dominated the first period.

The Leafs went ahead 3-0 quickly in the first period with goals by Connor Brown, James Van Riemsdyk, and Tyler Bozak.

Riley Sheahan put Pittsburgh on the scoreboard at 14:24 of the second period.

Evgeni Malkin closed the gap 3-2 at 17:51 of the (second) period.

Just 22 seconds later, Bozak made it 4-2 with his second goal of the night.

Sidney Crosby scored at 17:12 of the third period.

Pittsburgh scrambled to tie the game with the extra attacker with no avail as the Leafs walked away with the 4-3 victory.

Toronto's Mitch Marner had three assists and Bozak finished the night with three points.

Leaf's goalie, Frederik Andersen stopped 33 shots last night.

Pittsburgh's Dominik Simon had two assists last night.

The Leafs host the Edmonton Oilers tonight.

Preview: Oilers Verses Leafs

After defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to win their third straight game tonight as the team hosts the Edmonton Oilers.

The odds are in Toronto's favor too.

Toronto is 19-10-1 overall and is 9-5-0 on home ice.

The Oilers are 12-15-2 overall, however, Edmonton has a decent road record, (7-6-2).

Best Players:

EDM: Connor McDavid - 35 points.

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

Injuries:

Edmonton

Adam Larsson - Upper Body - questionable for tonight,

Cam Talbot - Upper Body - mid-December,

Andrej Sekera - Knee - late December.

Toronto

Auston Matthews - Upper Body - questionable for tonight.

Preview: Leafs Verses Penguins

Despite having a 10-4 record in their last 14 games, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in tough tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Toronto is 3-8 in their last 11 meetings with the Pens.

Also, the Penguins have an amazing 10-3-1 record on home ice.  In fact, Pittsburgh is 44-14 in their last 58 games at home.

Get the picture?

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

PITT: Phil Kessel - 35 points.

Injuries:

Toronto

Morgan Rielly - undisclosed - probable for tonight.

Pittsburgh

Tom Kuhnhackl - Upper Body - out indefinitely,

Justin Schultz - Lower Body - out indefinitely,

Matt Murray - Leg - mid-December.

Stanton Gets Traded To Yankees

Giancarlo Stanton

After two months of speculation, Giancarlo Stanton has finally got a new home.

The New York Yankees acquired Stanton in a blockbuster trade that sent Starlin Castro and two Minor Leaguers to the Miami Marlins.

There are reports indicating that Marlin fans are not too pleased with general manager, (former Yankee), Derek Jeter for trading Stanton.

As for Stanton's contract status, he is due $295 million for 10 years.

Reports indicate that the Yankees are going to pick up $265 million of the $295 million that Stanton is owed from his Major League Baseball record 13-year, $325 million deal with the Marlins.

The Yankees have now created a powerhouse, offensive lineup for next season.

Imagine Stanton in the same lineup with Aaron Judge?

Judge hit 52 home runs in his rookie season with New York in 2017.

Stanton hit 59 home runs for the Marlins last season and was named the National League's Most Valuable Player.

Nylander Makes Mincemeat Out Of Smith In Shoot Out

Frederik Andersen stopped 47 shots in Leaf's win.

Toronto Maple Leaf's forward, William Nylander, made mincemeat out of Calgary Flames goalie, Mike  Smith in last night's shoot out.

Nylander completely fooled Smith with a nifty move to score the winning goal in the shoot-out to give the Leaf's the 2-1 victory.

Just before Nylander scored the winner, Leaf's goalie stoned Calgary's star forward, Johnny Gaudreau.

Andersen stopped an amazing 47 shots last night.

Mark Giordano scored the lone goal in the first period at 10:37.

Morgan Rielly tied the game 1-1 at 18:47 of the second period.

There was no scoring in both the third and overtime periods.  As a result, the game had to be decided with a shoot out.

Toronto travels to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins Saturday night.

Preview: Flames Verses Leafs

Tomorrow night's game won't be a cinch for the Toronto Maple Leafs, despite defeating the Calgary Flames 4-1 last week.

The Flames have been really good on the road with a record of 7-4-1.

Best Players:

CAL: Johnny Gaudreau - 36 points.

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

Injuries:

Mikael Backlund - Illness - questionable for tomorrow night,

Kris Versteeg - Hip - out indefinitely.

Toronto

Tyler Bozak - Illness - questionable for tomorrow night.

Yankees Hire Boone As The Team's 33rd Manager In Franchise History

Aaron Boone, (left), was named manager of the New York Yankees yesterday.

Yesterday, the New York Yankees named former Major Leaguer, Aaron Boone as the franchise's 33rd manager.

"Words cannot express how humbled I am to wear the pinstripes again as manager of the Yankees," said Boone.

Boone replaces Joe Girardi, who was fired from the job about two months ago.

Boone's contract is for three years.

During his 12 years in the Major Leagues, Boone hit .263.

Boone played seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  He also played for the Cleveland Indians, the Florida Marlins, (now the Miami Marlins), the Washington Nationals, the Houston Astros, and the Yankees.

Canucks Edge Leafs 2-1 Last Night

Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots in Canucks win over Leafs.

It was a low scoring game last night as the Vancouver Canucks edge the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1.

Canuck's goalie, Jacob Markstrom, had a fantastic game, stopping 35 shots.

Before the game, though, Canuck's Daniel Sedin was honored for reaching the 1000th career point plateau recently.

In the first period, the Canucks went ahead 2-0 with goals by Markus Granlund and Alexander Edler.

There was no scoring in the second period.

The Leafs finally got on the scoreboard late in the third period with a goal by James Van Riemsdyk.

Toronto hosts the Calgary Flames Wednesday night.

The last time the two teams met, Toronto won 4-1.

Preview: Leafs Verses Canucks

After two big wins, the Toronto Maple Leafs continue their Western road trip tonight in Vancouver as the team takes on the Canucks

The Canucks are 4-22 in their last 26 home games, however, Vancouver has been hot lately.

Vancouver is 7-1 in their last eight games, despite having a home record of 3-5-2-1.

This is not a guaranteed win for Toronto.  Not by a long shot.

Tonight is probably going to be similar to Thursday's game against the Edmonton Oilers, (see "Andersen Makes 41 Saves In Leaf's Win", Dec 1).

Best Players:

TOR: Auston Matthews - 26 points.

VAN: Brock Boeser - 25 points.

Injuries:

Vancouver

Brandon Sutter - Upper Body - questionable for tonight,

Erik Gudbranson - Upper Body - out indefinitely,

Derek Dorsett - Neck - out for season.

Andersen Makes 41 Saves In Leaf's Win

Frederik Andersen

Toronto Maple Leaf's goalie, Frederik Andersen had a good night on Thursday in Edmonton as he stopped 41 shots in a 6-4 win over the Oilers.

Auston Matthews got the ball rolling with a goal at 2:15 of the first period.

Dominic Moore made it 2-0 Leafs at 5:55.

Edmonton got on the scoreboard at 12:37 with a goal by Mark Letesta.

Shortly after Letesta's goal, Toronto scored again.

At the end of the first period, Toronto was ahead 3-1.

In the second period, Edmonton tied the game 3-3 with goals by Zack Kassian and Connor McDavid.

William Nylander put the Leafs ahead again at 18:29.

At 3:01 of the third period, Kris Russell tied the game 4-4. 

At 18:55 of the third period, Patrick Marleau put Toronto ahead for good.

Nazem Kadri secured the Leaf's victory with an empty net goal at 19:59.

Matthews had two points in the game.

Matthew's teammate, Jake Gardiner had two assists last night.

Edmonton's Jujhar Khaira also finished the night with two assists.

Oiler's goalie, Laurent Brossoit stopped 30 shots last night.

Toronto continue their road trip out west tomorrow night as the team faces the Vancouver Canucks.