For the Blue Jays, 2016 was a crazy one. Let's divide them up in parts so that you know what I mean.
January-March
The Blue Jays sign Drew Storen, Jesse Chavez, and J.A. Happ. The internet exploded on the debate on who the closer should be, Roberto Osuna or Drew Storen? WOW, hindsight really makes this debate seem lousy, huh?
April-August
Chris Colabello is suspended, Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney pitch in the same game, Marcus Stroman to the minors? #votecaptaincanada, Aaron Sanchez's pitching limit, Marco Estrada the new ace? Jason Grilli and Joaquin Benoit are on fire! Josh Donaldson hat trick!!! Playoffs here we come!
September
We might not make it to the playoffs. This offence is due any day now...
October
EDWIN YOU ARE OUR SAVIOUR, get the brooms out thanks to the Donaldson Dash! "I'd rather be punched in May than knocked out in October", the offence is back baby! Where did the offence go?
November-December
Yay we got Kenrys Morales? Bye bye Cecil and Edwin.
As you can tell, 2016 was one emotional year for the Blue Jays, but one that we will never forget.
Friday, 30 December 2016
2016 for the Maple Leafs
When the Auston Matthews hoists the Stanley Cup, which year will be the one that triggered this? 2016. This year was seperated into 2 parts. January-August and September-December. January-August was one hell of a ride. We finished 30th in the league, won the lottery, drafted Auston Matthews, signed Frederic Andersen, resigned Rielly and Kadri, changed our freaking logo, and so much more.
Those months were the building blocks that made September-December so great. We saw Auston Matthews on a line with CONNOR MCJESUS in the World Cup, we saw him score 4 goals in one game, Mitch Marner showed us that he belongs in the NHL for good, Nikita Zaitsev became a wonderful surprise, Zach Hyman and Nikita Soshnikov showed us what a "dog on raw meat" really means, and our specialty units improved drastically.
2016 is going to be forever remembered by Leafs Nation as the year we finally saw hope.
Those months were the building blocks that made September-December so great. We saw Auston Matthews on a line with CONNOR MCJESUS in the World Cup, we saw him score 4 goals in one game, Mitch Marner showed us that he belongs in the NHL for good, Nikita Zaitsev became a wonderful surprise, Zach Hyman and Nikita Soshnikov showed us what a "dog on raw meat" really means, and our specialty units improved drastically.
2016 is going to be forever remembered by Leafs Nation as the year we finally saw hope.
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
The Auston Matthews Dilema
Yesterday Auston Matthews scored his 15th goal of the season making him the goal leader of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sadly, we lost. Watching the game, I couldn't help but notice that it seemed like everytime Matthews' scores, we lose. I did a bit of research and the stats I found were shocking.
Auston Matthews scored in 11 games this season. Of those 11 games, we won 2. That means that we only win 18% of the games he scores in. THAT'S HORRENDOUS. Even the game where he had a 4 goal game wasn't enough to bring a victory to the team. Compare that to Mitch Marner's numbers. He scored in 7 games, and of those 7, we won 6 of them. that's 86%.
Now ask yourself why? Well let's see if it's because of the teams they played.
Auston Matthews scored against:
Auston Matthews scored in 11 games this season. Of those 11 games, we won 2. That means that we only win 18% of the games he scores in. THAT'S HORRENDOUS. Even the game where he had a 4 goal game wasn't enough to bring a victory to the team. Compare that to Mitch Marner's numbers. He scored in 7 games, and of those 7, we won 6 of them. that's 86%.
Now ask yourself why? Well let's see if it's because of the teams they played.
Auston Matthews scored against:
- Ottawa (Andersen)
- Tampa Bay (Bishop)
- New Jersey (Schneider)
- Washington (Holtby)
- Edmonton (Talbot)
- Vancouver (Miller)
- Boston (Rask)
- San Jose (Jones)
- Arizona (Smith)
Mitch Marner scored against:
- Boston (Rask)
- Buffalo (Nilsson)
- Vancouver (Miller)
- Philadelphia (Mason)
- Nashville (Rinne)
- Florida (Luongo)
- Arizona (Smith)
It obviously isn't the goalie situation because both of them score against elite goalies so what is it? What makes Auston Matthews so unlucky?
Sunday, 18 December 2016
Phil Kessel
The Maple Leafs beat the reigning Stanley Cup champions on Hockey Night in Canada. That was a phenomenal game and it had a great finish. The only thing that really bothered me was the booing of the former Leaf, and now Stanley Cup champion, Phil Kessel.
He shouldn't have been booed because he didn't deserve it at all. He brought our team to the first playoff appearance since 2004. He scored his brains out in Toronto while the media hounded him day after day. HE BROUGHT THE STANLEY CUP BACK TO TORONTO. If you had one day with the cup, would you return to your former team's city and spend it in a Sick Kids' Hospital?
Phil Kessel should be respected and remembered in this city rather than booed and made fun of. He is a great player and deserves way more than this disrespectful crap.
He shouldn't have been booed because he didn't deserve it at all. He brought our team to the first playoff appearance since 2004. He scored his brains out in Toronto while the media hounded him day after day. HE BROUGHT THE STANLEY CUP BACK TO TORONTO. If you had one day with the cup, would you return to your former team's city and spend it in a Sick Kids' Hospital?
Phil Kessel should be respected and remembered in this city rather than booed and made fun of. He is a great player and deserves way more than this disrespectful crap.
Friday, 16 December 2016
Peter Holland's Sweet Revenge Story
How many Leafs fans heard the name Peter Holland announced during the shootout and had their hearts drop? I know I did because EVERY FREAKING FORMER LEAF SCORES. That's not an opinion, its a fact.
Peter Holland is a decent NHL player that played for the Leafs for almost 3 seasons. He was on that Maple Leafs playoff team in 2013. He has been okay for the Leafs but we just have no room for him so instead of sitting him out for months (Frankie Corrado), we trade him to the Arizona Coyotes, a team with promising young players.
And how does he repay us? HE SCORES THE SHOOTOUT WINNER. Thanks Pete.
I wonder how many goals Phil Kessel's going to score tomorrow!
Peter Holland is a decent NHL player that played for the Leafs for almost 3 seasons. He was on that Maple Leafs playoff team in 2013. He has been okay for the Leafs but we just have no room for him so instead of sitting him out for months (Frankie Corrado), we trade him to the Arizona Coyotes, a team with promising young players.
And how does he repay us? HE SCORES THE SHOOTOUT WINNER. Thanks Pete.
I wonder how many goals Phil Kessel's going to score tomorrow!
Wednesday, 14 December 2016
LEAFS CAN'T HOLD A FREAKING LEAD
The Leafs are up 2-0 with eight minutes to go! Yay! We are about to beat the 2015 Stanley Cup finalists! Oh no they scored, but thats okay, there's only six minutes left! Now there's a penalty- but we killed 5 straight this game! let's make it si-they tied it. THEY FREAKING TIED IT. For the THIRD time this season we blow a 2 GOAL LEAD IN THE THIRD.
I'm not even ready to blame this game on the Leafs though.
The first goal was a laser and a miracle I cannot blame Andersen or any of the defenders because that outcome was the last thing I expected. THIS DUDE HASN'T SCORED IN 31 GAMES AND NOW HE BREAKS THE DROUGHT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
They also had some pretty crappy calls against them. The overturned goal because of "goalie interference" was absolute trash.
"Goaltender interference is a penalty in ice hockey whereby a player is found in the goal crease when a goalie is establishing his position in the same area." (Wikipedia)
Let's run through that play shall we? Kadri is pushed by Pavelski into Jones. Kadri barely grazes the goalie AND THIS WAS NOT EVEN IN THE BLUE PAINT. How can the refs call this a bad goal? How can they review it and still call it a bad goal?
The Matt Hunwick penatly was a pretty crappy call too.
All in all, this was a pretty forgettable game.
I'm not even ready to blame this game on the Leafs though.
The first goal was a laser and a miracle I cannot blame Andersen or any of the defenders because that outcome was the last thing I expected. THIS DUDE HASN'T SCORED IN 31 GAMES AND NOW HE BREAKS THE DROUGHT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
They also had some pretty crappy calls against them. The overturned goal because of "goalie interference" was absolute trash.
"Goaltender interference is a penalty in ice hockey whereby a player is found in the goal crease when a goalie is establishing his position in the same area." (Wikipedia)
Let's run through that play shall we? Kadri is pushed by Pavelski into Jones. Kadri barely grazes the goalie AND THIS WAS NOT EVEN IN THE BLUE PAINT. How can the refs call this a bad goal? How can they review it and still call it a bad goal?
The Matt Hunwick penatly was a pretty crappy call too.
All in all, this was a pretty forgettable game.
Saturday, 10 December 2016
Peter Holland is Free
Peter Holland has been sent to the Arizona Coyotes for a conditional 6th pick. That pick could be ours or not, but the main reason that this is important is because we finally freed up a roster spot and Peter Holland can finally play a freaking hockey game. The last time he played an NHL game was November 26. This means that a roster spot will be open for potential Marlies players such as Josh Leivo, Brooks Laich or Milan Michalek to finally play in the NHL.
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
A New Blue Jays Team
As of the time that I am writing this post, the Blue Jays have already signed DH Kendrys Morales and utility player, Steve Pearce. These two players are very important to mention because now the chances of resigning Edwin Encarnacion is literally impossible. Everybody in Canada already said their goodbyes to Jose Bautista, and Joaquin Benoit and Brett Cecil have resigned elsewhere. This team already has a different look to it. We have a utility player and a hitter who hits for average rather than power, and our rotation will look so much stronger with R.A. Dickey gone. Here's a list to really help you understand the magnitude of changes that have happened in this off season so far.
Gone New Guys Current Rotation
Jose Bautista Steve Pearce Marco Estrada
Edwin Encarnacion Kendrys Morales Aaron Sanchez
Brett Cecil Jason Grilli (resigned) J.A. Happ
Joaquin Benoit Marcus Stroman
R.A. Dickey Francisco Liriano OR Joe Biagini
Josh Thole
Michael Saunders
Chris Colabello
Dioner Navarro
I just decided to include our rotation as of now because the Red Sox just signed CHRIS SALE and I wanted to see if we could compete with their rotation. In my opinion, we DEFINITELY can. We have 3 pitchers who deserve at least a CY Young candidacy and 2 pitchers who are also really good. I'm quite confident next year. How about you guys?
Gone New Guys Current Rotation
Jose Bautista Steve Pearce Marco Estrada
Edwin Encarnacion Kendrys Morales Aaron Sanchez
Brett Cecil Jason Grilli (resigned) J.A. Happ
Joaquin Benoit Marcus Stroman
R.A. Dickey Francisco Liriano OR Joe Biagini
Josh Thole
Michael Saunders
Chris Colabello
Dioner Navarro
I just decided to include our rotation as of now because the Red Sox just signed CHRIS SALE and I wanted to see if we could compete with their rotation. In my opinion, we DEFINITELY can. We have 3 pitchers who deserve at least a CY Young candidacy and 2 pitchers who are also really good. I'm quite confident next year. How about you guys?
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