It turns out the Blue Jays won’t be playing in Toronto this season

Despite a report on Thursday that stated that the Blue Jays had been granted permission to play their home games at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, it appears as though their request has been denied.

Breaking. The federal government has rejected the Blue Jays plan to play in Toronto for the upcoming season.
— David Cochrane (@CochraneCBC) July 18, 2020

On Thursday, Lisa MacLeod, a Member of Ontario’s Provincial Parliament, said that the government had given the Blue Jays the green light to play in Toronto. Shortly after that, the organization stated that they had not yet been given clearance from the Canadian Federal Government.
Ultimately, the federal government denied the Blue Jays’ request due to the amount of cross-border travel that it would require.
“Unlike preseason training, regular season games would require repeated cross-border travel of Blue Jays players and staff, as well as opponent teams into and out of Canada. Of particular concern, the Toronto Blue Jays would be required to play in locations where the risk of virus transmission remains high,” Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said.
Toronto is set to be one of the NHL’s two hub cities (along with Edmonton) for …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

The NHL still wants to hold the draft in June

Despite having plans to finish up the 2020 playoffs as late as September, the NHL has reportedly sent a memo to teams on Friday suggesting the possibility of having the draft in June.

In this situation, the draft order would be put together based on points percentage when the league was paused. The bottom 15 teams would be put into an altered version of the draft lottery in which there was only one winner drawn and teams could only move up the draft board by a maximum of four spots.

Here’s the proposed first round. For playoff conditional picks, interpretation is “currently in a playoff spot” would trigger any conditional swaps. pic.twitter.com/4Nx31oHfAL
— Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike) May 2, 2020

The Leafs don’t have their first-round pick this season because of an off-season deal that unloaded Patrick Marleau’s contact to the Carolina Hurricanes. That pick is top-10 protected, but Toronto would be one of the 16 teams not in the lottery, so the pick wouldn’t move up at all and it would be given to Carolina.
The more interesting situation would be all of the other conditional draft picks that are currently floating around in limbo. …

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Author: Cam Lewis / The Leafs Nation

Three reasons the Toronto Raptors won’t repeat as champions

Despite losing Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors have exceeded all expectations. Well coached, well-built and exciting to watch, the team seems to have all the ingredients to win it all again. Unfortunately, that might not happen. The Toronto Raptors have been pretty good this year. As of March 11, the 2019 NBA Team of the […]
Three reasons the Toronto Raptors won’t repeat as champions – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Andrew Gula / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors: The biggest surprises so far in 2019-20

  Despite all the injuries, the Toronto Raptors just keep winning games. Which players have exceeded expectations in 2019-20? Who has struggled to make their mark? At the start of the 2019-20 season, a reporter asked Nick Nurse, head coach of the defending champion Toronto Raptors, a question about his team and the differences compared […]
Toronto Raptors: The biggest surprises so far in 2019-20 – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Jordan Skuse / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors: Midseason record is a testament to roster depth

Despite a myriad of injuries weighing the team down, the Toronto Raptors have an impressive record midway through the season. That’s a testament to the depth of the roster. Usually, when a team is ravaged by injuries, it can make or break a season. Some of the biggest what if’s in NBA history are decided […]
Toronto Raptors: Midseason record is a testament to roster depth – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Thomas Valentine / Raptors HQ

Auston Matthews is reaching a new level

Despite the Leafs’ loss to the Jets last night, Auston Matthews was the story.

He scored two goals in the game, one to open the scoring and one to tie the game late and send it to overtime, giving him 30 goals on the season. It was the fourth time in his four-year career Matthews had eclipsed the 30-goal plateau, making him only the 15th player in league history to reach such a feat. Matthews has 142 goals in 257 games in his NHL career and he’s on pace to finally reach the 50-goal mark this season. He’s been a great goal-scorer since breaking into the league as a 19-year-old, but, this season, he’s reaching another level.
For those who missed the game, here are his goals from last night…
First, he takes a feed from Mitch Marner in the Jets’ zone and roofs a shot over a completely frozen Connor Hellebyuck to tie the game at 1-1. The best part of this goal, though, wasn’t the perfect shot. It was the backcheck, steal, and between-the-legs pass to Marner that Matthews made to flip a Jets transition into a Leafs opportunity.

Then, …

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Author: Cam Lewis / The Leafs Nation

The Toronto Raptors should make a trade for Alec Burks

Despite a number of key players going down with injuries, the Toronto Raptors continue to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Now Masai Ujiri and his staff must evaluate the roster and decide if a move is needed before the trade deadline. Before the season started, a number of “experts” south […]
The Toronto Raptors should make a trade for Alec Burks – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mark Birdsell / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors: How Marc Gasol impacts the game beyond the box score

Despite poor numbers to start the year, Marc Gasol is still helping the Toronto Raptors in ways that don’t show up in the box score. Marc Gasol is shooting 34.4-percent from the field. Let’s rephrase that: The Toronto Raptors 6-foot-11 center, Marc Gasol is shooting 34.4-percent from the field. Included in that, he’s shooting a […]
Toronto Raptors: How Marc Gasol impacts the game beyond the box score – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Andrew Hughes / Raptors HQ

Should we be worried by the Toronto Raptors rebounding?

Despite their strong start to the season, the Toronto Raptors have struggled to rebound the ball. Is it time to panic? X games into the season and the Toronto Raptors have a winning record and sit among the pantheon of strong NBA teams in 2019-20. Even without Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka for the last […]
Should we be worried by the Toronto Raptors rebounding? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Thomas Valentine / Raptors HQ

Would the Toronto Raptors have repeated if Kawhi Leonard returned?

Despite the loss of Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors have started the 2019-20 season on a good note. If the finals MVP was back, would the Raptors have repeated? No matter the NBA circle you dive into, the Toronto Raptors aren’t being considered title contenders. Theoretically, they could’ve started 10-0 and still wouldn’t be in […]
Would the Toronto Raptors have repeated if Kawhi Leonard returned? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Hunter Surphlis / Raptors HQ