Toronto Raptors: When does training camp, preseason start?

Toronto Raptors: When does training camp, preseason start?

The Toronto Raptors flopped during their forced exile from Canada, as their temporary home in Tampa did little to provide them with an environment conducive to winning. After one year apart, the page has been turned, and the release of the 2021 Raptors preseason schedule has hope springing eternal once again. The Raptors aren’t projected […]
Toronto Raptors: When does training camp, preseason start? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Raptors: Pascal Siakam’s injury could help Precious Achiuwa shine

Raptors: Pascal Siakam’s injury could help Precious Achiuwa shine

The Toronto Raptors went 4-1 in the win/loss column during Summer League play, looking extremely dominant defensively. While Summer League play is not comparable to the grind that the actual NBA is, there are nuggets of wisdom that can be gleaned from these competitions, especially as it relates to Precious Achiuwa. It’s obvious from the […]
Raptors: Pascal Siakam’s injury could help Precious Achiuwa shine – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Jason Mills / Raptors HQ

BJN Radio – Ep. 38: There were no good vibes in Seattle

Well, things did not go as expected during the Blue Jays trip to Seattle. The vibes were not good and Jays dropped two of the three games.

Cam & Tyler broke down what went wrong in the series and managed to pull a few positives from the three games in today’s episode of BJN Radio! The bullpen struggled, but that might be a product of fatigue. As far as the offense goes, Teoscar continued his crazy hot streak while Vladdy started to bounce back from a rough week at the plate. On the mound, the Jays got a decent outing from Steven Matz in the series finale, which was a very good sign.
Moving forward, they move on to Washington for a quick two game set against a really bad Nationals team. There is immense pressure on the Jays to sweep this upcoming set of games and when you consider who the teams they’re chasing are playing this week, there is a chance for the Jays to get right back into the race this week.
You can listen to the episode here…

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Author: Tyler Yaremchuk / Blue Jays Nation

Raptors: Malachi Flynn’s scoring steals the show in Summer League

Raptors: Malachi Flynn’s scoring steals the show in Summer League

During the Toronto Raptors’ Summer League debut against the New York Knicks, all eyes were justifiably fixated on No. 4 overall pick Scottie Barnes. While the Florida State alum certainly impressed during his first NBA exhibition game, that shouldn’t overshadow the fact that Malachi Flynn looked like the best player on the floor at times. […]
Raptors: Malachi Flynn’s scoring steals the show in Summer League – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Raptors: Could DeMar DeRozan help turn the Bulls into contenders?

Raptors: Could DeMar DeRozan help turn the Bulls into contenders?

During what has been a very transformative offseason for the Toronto Raptors, two franchise cornerstones in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have confirmed that they will be wearing red and black next year. Unfortunately, neither of them decided to come back to Canada next year. Lowry made his departure from the Raptors all but official, […]
Raptors: Could DeMar DeRozan help turn the Bulls into contenders? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

It’s starting to look like Leafs assistant coach Dave Hakstol will be the head coach of the Kraken

During Saturday Headlines it was reported that the Leafs assistant coaches might be pursuing better opportunities elsewhere, and today we’re getting a bit of an idea around Dave Hakstol’s better opportunity…

One name that has surfaced as a possibility for the head coach job with expansion Seattle is that of Dave Hakstol, the former Flyers HC who was assistant coach with the Maple Leafs this past season….@TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 24, 2021

Kraken expected to name their first coach today. Hearing it is not Rick Tocchet. They’ve kept us guessing, but among other recent interviews whose name has not been out there: TOR assistant Dave Hakstol.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 24, 2021

Darren Dreger added that “all signs are pointing to this” and Chris Johnston has noted that there were multiple interviews between Hakstol and the Kraken, so basically by the time I finish writing this sentence, I expect that it will be have made official.
Hakstol has been largely responsible for the Leafs defense turnaround in the past couple of seasons, and as a former head coach of both the Flyers and the University of North Dakota, it seemed likely that he would try to find a …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

We Need To Talk About Justin Holl

I remember at the end of January, during the early stretch of the Maple Leafs regular season, seeing a meme about Justin Holl in a reply to the Edmonton Oilers team Twitter account. The Maple Leafs had just beaten the Oilers 4-3 and were off to a blazing 7-2-0 start. The meme made me chuckle, as it read “Thank you for your contribution to Justin Holl’s 2021 Norris Trophy”. Justin Holl had just emerged from the ashes as a top 4 right-handed defenseman for the Maple Leafs, not only providing steady reliability on the back end, but outright winning matchups against the league’s premier players, notably Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that very evening.
The story of Justin Holl’s ascent has been echoed ad nauseama amongst Maple Leafs fans, oftentimes as a jab at Mike Babcock, who famously scratched the Minnesota native for 71 games during the 18-19 campaign. Holl hung around nonetheless the year after, outlasting even Babcock, and eventually finding his way into the Leafs lineup as a regular beside Jake Muzzin for the Maple Leafs in their top four. The 19-20 season was a breakout campaign for Holl in many respects, as he ranked amongst the …

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Author: Jori Negin-Shecter / The Leafs Nation

A post trade deadline look at how the Leafs are situated heading into the expansion draft

During the Vegas expansion, the Golden Knights did an excellent job of putting together a world class team that could compete immediate. The Leafs were absolutely no help to that cause, losing only Brendan Leipsic to Vegas, and not having to deal any picks or prospects to force the Knights into making that underwhelming selection.
The Leafs were aided by the fact that the key pieces in their roster at the time were all exempt from the expansion draft, and it was more of a challenge to find players worth protecting than it was a situation about worrying who the Leafs would lose. Still there were plenty of Leafs fans who say losing Leipsic as the worst possible outcome, and terrible asset management. This fanbase will never be 100% pleased.
This go around, the Leafs are in a slightly different situation. There are plenty of good young players who are still exempt from the expansion draft. The Leafs can still easily protect the majority of their core. And whomever is selected by the Kraken really only represents a minor inconvenience in how the Leafs will take shape for next season. Still it’s probably worth taking a look at how this …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Waiver Wildness: A Tyler Ennis reunion coming?

During the recent Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Leafs were in the market for an additional forward. Which makes sense given that both Joe Thornton and Nick Robertson are out for a month and some of the healthy forwards are still getting adjusted to Toronto’s system.
Which is why the news of who was placed on waivers this afternoon could not have been better for the Leafs:

Waivers today:
Tyler Ennis (#LetsGoOilers) & Greg Pateryn (#GoAvs).https://t.co/gjOvqcSdnQ
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) January 25, 2021

You may recall that Tyler Ennis played with the Leafs during the 2018-19 campaign and did well by scoring 12 goals, eight assists, and 18 points in 51 games. By many accounts, the players and organization loved him and his hard work earned him a Bill Masterton Trophy nomination. He split time between the Ottawa Senators and the Edmonton Oilers last year and had his best statistical performance since the 2014-15 season as he recorded 37 points in 70 games.
In terms of why the Oilers would want to put Ennis on waivers in the first place, my guess is so that he can shuffle back and forth between the main roster and …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation

27 NHL’ers test postive for COVID-19 in training camp

27 players have tested positive for COVID-19 during NHL training camps, the league said.

The tests came from nine teams with the majority due to an outbreak on the Dallas Stars that infected 17 players there. They have been largely asymptomatic and are recovering without complication, the league said.
All of the tests were conducted between Dec. 30 and Jan. 11 on a daily basis. The league said a total of 12,000 tests were administered to over 1,200 players.
This year the league will be providing regular updates on COVID-19 test results and will be including the names of the players. This is a shift in the way the league handled the reporting of tests during their 2020 return-to-play.
There, the league opted to not identify players skirting it by deeming players “unfit to play.”
During the summer series’, no players tested positive inside the bubble, but before teams landed in Edmonton and Toronto, a total of 50 positive tests were found.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
 

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Author: Zach Laing / The Leafs Nation