Weekly Takes - Monday, December 19 Edition
- RyanEakin
- Dec 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Weekly Takes - Monday, December 19 Edition
My three stars from the Maple Leafs blowout win over the dreadful Ducks on Tuesday…
Michael Bunting
Zach Aston-Reese
William Nylander
Another dominant performance.
2. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Rangers on Thursday…
Bunting
Aston-Reese
Auston Matthews
The point streak – for both the team and Mitch Marner – was going to end eventually. Just so happened to come against a team that played fantastic defensively with an elite goaltender in their net.
What a run it was.
3. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Capitals on Saturday…
Nylander
Alex Kerfoot
Connor Timmins
Poor goaltending from Ilya Samsonov, great goaltending from Charlie Lindgren, and poor neutral zone play were the differences in this one.
4. In a short tournament, anything can happen, but Canada’s World Junior team this Christmas has all the makings to be an all-time great team.
Their forward group is stacked, with NHL-experienced players in Shane Wright and Dylan Gunether, already proven to be dominant World Junior players in Logan Stankoven and Brendan Othmann, and two draft-eligible players who could easily win the tournament MVP in Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli.
Never mind the likes of Joshua Roy, Nathan Gaucher, and Zach Ostapchuk, all of whom are returning from the team that won Gold in the summer.
Their defence is top-heavy, but that is not a bad thing when their top three D are Brandt Clarke (who has played in the NHL this season), Owen Zellweger (who may be the best defencemen in all of junior hockey), and Ethan Del Mastro, who should physically dominate this tournament the way he did in the summer.
I would not rule out the likes of Kevin Korchinski or Noah Allen having big tournaments either.
Their goaltending is a major question mark, but Canada’s goaltending being a talking point is as much a part of this tournament as anything else is.
5. The Blue Jays signing of Chris Bassitt was a must.
While it would have been nice to go after a Justin Verlander or Carlos Rodon to form a dream 1-2-3 in the rotation between Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman, they at the very least needed to add a number three so that they are not banking on a serious turnaround from Jose Berrios.
The signing of Bassitt is just that. It is a low-risk, medium-reward signing. And an important one at that.
6. After the Cubs signing Dansby Swanson, they may be giving the Red Sox a run for their money as the best .500 team in baseball.
There is nothing worse than being in no man’s land in professional sports.
7. I wrote a week ago about the big-picture impact of the Raptors struggles and how it is going to lead to Masai Ujiri changing the direction of this team, one way or another.
But the small picture analysis of this team? They are getting a bit unlucky when it comes to their three-point shooting, they do not have the depth to survive the injuries they are dealing with, and they look absolutely awful defensively.
The fight they played with a season ago looks gone. This looks like the Tampa season all over again.
8. My Week 16 NFL Picks…
Jaguars (-1.5)
Browns (-3)
Ravens (-6.5)
Bengals (-3.5)
Bills (-9.5)
Giants (+4)
Lions (-3)
Seahawks (+10)
Titans (-7)
49ers (-7.5)
Eagles (+1.5)
Raiders (+2.5)
Dolphins (-4.5)
Broncos (-1)
Bucs (-4)
Chargers (-3)
I went 6-9 in Week 15, with MNF still pending. On the season, I am now 97-118 on the season.
9. My Super Bowl ranking after 15 weeks, compared to my ranking after Week 10…
Eagles (-)
Bills (-)
Kansas City (-)
49ers (-)
Bengals (New)
Cowboys (+1)
Ravens (-1)
Dolphins (+1)
The Bengals come in, while the Vikings and Bucs fall out completely. The Chargers are an interesting enough team to consider, but I do not see it.
10. Sunday’s World Cup Final cemented two things…
Leo Messi now claims the title as the “Greatest Soccer Player of All-Time”
He will not hold that title for long, as Kylian Mbappe is destined to become the greatest player ever in due time.
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