Weekly Takes - Monday, June 13 Edition
- RyanEakin

- Jun 13, 2022
- 3 min read

Weekly Takes - Monday, June 13 Edition
The Oilers attempted to win the Cup with Mike Smith as their starting goalie and it was truly spectacular to watch the entire way.
Nothing highlighted the greatness of McDavid’s run in these playoffs more than that.
2. It would be greatly disappointing if Nazem Kadri is not healthy enough to play in the Cup Final.
Career season, career playoffs, and was about to be on the biggest stage for the first time in his career.
Thank goodness the NHL suspended Evander Kane for one game, though. That’ll show him.
3. What Cale Makar has done these playoffs is what Erik Karlsson did – and then some – in the 2017 playoffs for the Senators.
For me, he is the most important player in the league. What he does on both ends of the ice is more valuable than what any player in the NHL brings, so much so to the point where if I were to do a “top ten players in the NHL list”, my list would be…
Makar
Connor McDavid
Matthews
Nathan MacKinnon
Victor Hedman
Sidney Crosby
Leon Driasaitl
Nikita Kurechov
Adam Fox
Roman Josi
4. There was all this talk about how the Lightning were out of gas against the Leafs when, it turns out, it was simply a battle between two elite teams.
The Leafs are right there. Right. There.
5. The Lightning-Avs series is the ultimate playoff series in sport. There is no NBA Finals, World Series, or Super Bowl matchup that will match the entertainment level that this series will provide.
6. The Bruins firing Bruce Cassidy, a top-five coach in hockey, is not going to bring Brad Marchand or Charlie McAvoy back to health for Boston.
What a pointless firing from a team who looks to be heading down a very bad path as a franchise after years of success.
7. 59 games into the Blue Jays season and their needs are clear.
They are going to need to add a depth starter with Hyun Jin-Ryu likely to be a non-factor the rest of the way, a left-handed reliever to complement Tim Mayza, and a couple of bench pieces, especially an outfielder who can come on as a defensive substitution for Lourdes Guerriel Jr. late in ball games.
Do that and the roster below sure looks like a World Series roster to me…
Starting Rotation…
Alek Manoah
Kevin Gausman
Jose Berrios
TBD
Yusei Kikuchi
Bullpen…
Closer: Romano
RHP SU Man: Cimber
LHP SU Man: Mayza
Mid-Inning RHPs: David Phelps, Ross Stripling, Yimi Garica, and Nate Pearson
Mid-Inning LHP: TBD
Lineup…
George Springer (CF)
Bo Bichette (SS)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B)
Teoscar Hernandez (RF)
Alejandro Kirk (C)
Santiago Espinal (2B)
Danny Jansen ( DH )
Matt Chapman (3B)
Lourdes Guerriel Jr. (LF)
Bench…
C: Gabriel Morerno
1B, 2B, LF, and RF: Cavan Biggio
SS and 3B: TBD
OF: TBD
The Bradley Zimmer’s and Raimel Tapia’s are not getting it done for me.
8. The firing of Joe Maddon by the Angles, in the midst of a long losing streak, has me truly convinced that Mike Trout will never play a meaningful game of baseball ever again.
What an absolute waste of a legendary career.
9. As each day passes, it is more and more amazing that the Browns mortgaged their entire future and reputation for a quarterback who should never be allowed to play football again.
Desperate franchises do desperate things.
10. There is all this talk about how Forge FC taking TFC to penalties for the Canadian Championship a week ago is a big moment for Canadian soccer, but how can that be when the game was only aired for the biggest soccer fans in the country?
For the CPL and soccer to grow in Canada, these games need to be on TSN or Sportsnet. Full stop.
11. Speaking of Canadian soccer, between the Iran fiasco and now the Canada-Panama fiasco, Soccer Canada looks… not ready for the stage that their players have put themselves on.
Good on the men’s team for turning this into a major issue.
12. The stance the PGA needs to take towards any golfer who joins the Saudi-backed golf league is pretty simple: A lifetime ban.
It is the right thing to do morally (obviously), but also for the bottom line. The number one way to stop golfers from taking part in this is to make sure that they know that there is no turning back from this.



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