Weekly Takes - Monday, October 24 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, October 24 Edition

1. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Coyotes on Monday…

Mitch Marner

TJ Brodie

John Tavares

The Leafs played embarrassingly badly in the second period, which is unacceptable against a team like Arizona. Still, they did enough to win, dominating the Coyotes in the first and third periods.

But three late-game moments was the difference…

• A phantom slashing call on Calle Jarnkrok. The Coyotes defenceman was barely hanging onto his stick. It was a total bailout call from the ref.

• A brutal turnover from Justin Holl, who has had far too many four games into the season

• The reversal of the Alex Kerfoot game-tying goal, which will go down as the worst call all season. An embarrassing look for the league, who continues to have the worst replay system in North American sports. What is the point of video replay if you are going to totally botch the call anyway?

2. What makes losses to the Coyotes and Habs so annoying is that the whole point of this regular season for the Maple Leafs is to take the next and final step that they have to take in the regular season.

The next step being a President Trophy calibre team rather than a top-five team.

You will not always win every game against “bad teams”, because hockey does not work that way, but you have to come pretty close.

They failed to do so last season and they are 0-2 at it this season.

The good news for them is there are still 78 games left to play.

3. I only managed to watch the third period and overtime of Stars-Leafs, but the night Nick Roberston had should not surprise anyone, as this is how he played all training camp long.

He has always had the skillset to be an impact top-six winger and after years of development, he sure looks ready.

What a game-changer he can be for this team.

4. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Jets on Saturday…

1. Ilya Samsonov

2. Tavares

3. Auston Matthews

I thought William Nylander and Rasmus Sandin were great too, as well as Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford.

They both made sure the game did not get out of hand.

My thoughts are with Mark Scheifele, though. I am not sure how he will be able to recover from the devastating hit he received from Simmonds.

5. The situation in Vancouver with the Canucks is rock bottom. There is only one way out of it and it is firing everyone involved.

Ownership then has to bring in a person to run the whole operation and that person has to have the absolute power to do everything he or she sees fit without any interference.

It includes trading any player that he or she sees fit, knowing that any contract that was previously given out (JT Miller) has nothing to do with he/she. A total blowup is needed.

This is not a knock on Jim Rutherford, either. He has had a great career and I still think he can run an NHL team in the right situation, but not this one. He himself has no idea what direction this team should go in and that is a… major issue.

6. A more extensive search would have been nice, solely for the purpose of proper due diligence, but the Blue Jays probably got it right by taking the interim tag off of John Schneider.

He knows the core, the core knows him, the core likes him, he seems like the kind of guy that will fight for his players, and he showed enough moments throughout the season that leads me to believe he can manage at this level.

His game two performance against Seattle was rough, but he now has a three-year window for redemption.

7. It is not often that an athlete who is hyped from an early age ends up being everything he was advertised to be – and then some – but that is the case with Bryce Harper.

He is an all-time great. The greatest hitter of this generation. The most thrilling, flair for the dramatic player of this generation.

8. You do not have to like or respect the Astros, but you have to admire what they have done as a franchise.

Six ALCS' in a row and three Fall Classics in six years is not supposed to happen in baseball. But it is and that is because the Astros are the most well-ran team in the sport and have been for a decade.

No team drafts better than them, no team trades better than them, no team develops players better than them, and no team is at the forefront of new technology more than them.

They have lost Gerrit Cole, George Springer, and Carlos Correa for nothing throughout this run and have not missed a beat.

Greatness.

9. Early takeaways from the beginning of the Raptors season…

• Pascal Siakam is continuing his evolution into NBA stardom. I do not think he will ever be a true number one option on a championship team, but there is no question he is a legitimate number two option. He is unguardable and is destined for another All-Star/All-NBA season.

• Chris Boucher and, more importantly, Otto Porter, can not get healthy soon enough. Nick Nurse, to no fault of his own, is trotting out way too many lineups that simply do not have enough shooting. The Raptors probably beat the Nets on Friday with them in the lineup, providing much-needed shooting off the bench.

• Masai Ujiri has probably done it again by drafting Christian Koloko as late as he did. He is so raw, yet he is already making a positive impact off the bench. He is exactly what the Raptors needed off their bench.

10. The Christian McCaffrey trade has the potential to be the definition of a win-win trade for the 49ers and Panthers.

In the case of the Panthers, they received a mammoth haul for a running back to kick off their rebuild, while the 49ers will not regret the price they paid if they end this season as Super Bowl Champions.

It is a risky trade, trading that many draft picks for an injury-prone running back, but McCaffrey in a Kyle Shanahan-led offence is a perfect fit.

But you have to win if you make trades like this.

11. Kenny Pickett failed to deliver for the Steelers when he had the chance (twice) to impress the entire country on primetime, but you can see the tools.

He can run with the football, he can extend plays with his feet, he is comfortable in the pocket, he throws an accurate football, his deep ball has been better than expected, and he does not take many sacks.

He is misreading way too many plays right now, but that comes with being a rookie quarterback in the NFL.

He will learn, though it would be a lot easier to learn with someone not named Matt Canada as the offensive coordinator.

12. My Week 8 NFL Picks…

• Ravens (+1.5)

• Jaguars (-3)

• Steelers (+10.5)

• Patriots (-1)

• Falcons (-6)

• Raiders (-2)

• Cowboys (-10)

• Dolphins (-3)

• Cardinals (+5.5)

• Titans (-3.5)

• Colts (-4)

• Rams (+2)

• Giants (+2.5)

• Bills (-10.5)

• Bengals (-2.5)

I went 6-6 in Week 7, with MNF still pending. On the season, I am now 44-58.