This Toronto Raptors lineup features 5 players who are 6-7 or taller

This Toronto Raptors lineup features 5 players who are 6-7 or taller

The Toronto Raptors have hammered home how they want to build rosters from a fundamental point this offseason, as the continued reliance on players like OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam proves. Drafting a switchblade like Scottie Barnes with the No. 4 overall pick further encapsulates that point. In an era of pace and space reigning […]
This Toronto Raptors lineup features 5 players who are 6-7 or taller – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Rumours: 24 hours until we get some new Leafs

Here we are in the home stretch. So long old roster full of bad memories, hello new roster full of… well… pretty much the same guys, but a few new role players and a fancy new 1B goaltender. Still, with change comes hope, and right now Leafs fans need hope almost as much as they need a 3rd line center, top six forward, and goaltender who can share the workload with Jack Campbell.
Given that we’re in the final hours of rumour mongering and we can soon switch over to overanalyzing new players, roster construction, etc, we’ll take a look at as much as we can for what’s out there for the Leafs at the moment.

Nick Foligno, #Leafs still talking
— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) July 26, 2021

So that’s somewhat to be expected. If the NHL was to follow the rules (they aren’t) the only team that Foligno could talk to right now would be the Leafs. The Leafs obviously attach value to Nick Foligno, as they traded a first round pick for him. They didn’t get to see a lot of him in a Leafs uniform, and with the departure of Zach Hyman, the …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

What the 2019 Toronto Raptors and 2021 Bucks had in common

What the 2019 Toronto Raptors and 2021 Bucks had in common

While the Toronto Raptors were on the couch at home, licking their wounds after a very unlucky 2020-21 season, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship by defeating the Phoenix Suns 4-2 after losing the first two games. Raptors fans were at one point hoping and praying that Masai Ujiri’s connection […]
What the 2019 Toronto Raptors and 2021 Bucks had in common – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Alaa Alarashi / Raptors HQ

A Fortnight On The Farm: Mid-Season Edition (Part Two, Double-A, High-A, and Low-A)

Picking up where I left off yesterday…

New Hampshire
Famously the home of the cream of the prospect crop in the Jays system, if you go 40 deep, Buffalo actually edges them out by two, but it is indeed the top-heavy team.
Start with #1 prospect Austin Martin, fresh off playing in Sunday’s Future’s game. He was building momentum in June before getting hit in the helmet with a pitch on June 24 and missing the next eight days going through concussion protocol. You can’t draw much of a conclusion the six games since but really, there’s a reason he’s #1.
Taking my cue from some of the professional commentary I’ve seen, I bumped up catcher Gabriel Moreno to #3. Given that he’s likely to be on the IL recovering from that thumb injury for more than a month to come, I’m just calling out his name and moving on because you know.
It’s a bit of a slide that Jordan Groshans is #7, but you shouldn’t read that as him having disappointed. For a 21-year-old with a total of 109 professional games, playing at AA, a .751 OPS is fine. It’s not failure, the slide is …

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Author: Tammy Rainey / Blue Jays Nation

Toronto Raptors: 4 free agents from eliminated playoff teams Raps could get

Toronto Raptors: 4 free agents from eliminated playoff teams Raps could get

The Toronto Raptors might be watching the postseason at home after almost a decade of consecutive appearances, but eight more teams have since joined them at home on the couch. Among them are plenty of Raptors free agency targets. The New York Knicks and Boston Celtics joined their Atlantic Division mates at home after getting taken down […]
Toronto Raptors: 4 free agents from eliminated playoff teams Raps could get – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

The Blue Jays, in what felt like their first home game of 2021, beat the Marlins

It feels good to be back home close-ish to home!
Robbie Ray put together a great start, the bullpen was good, Vladdy hit a three-run homer, and, most importantly, Sahlen Field was packed with Blue Jays fans. That’s a nice sight.

Things worth mentioning…

Robbie Ray had a nice bounce-back after his first rough outing of the season last week at Yankee Stadium. Ray went six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits and two walks while striking out nine. The one run that Miami scored came on a double by Starling Marte that prooooooooobably should have been caught by Gold Glove Nominee Lourdes Gurriel. All in all, excellent stuff from Ray.
Since I pointed out that Gurriel had an ugly go in the outfield, I should also mention that he made up for it with the stick, going 3-for-4 with a solo dinger. The star of the day offensively, though, was Vlad Jr., who put together a 4-for-4 day at the plate with a three-run bomb. The crowd starting doing an MVP chant for Vladdy and also gave him a standing ovation when he ripped from first to third on a ground out by Teoscar Hernandez. Vladdy …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

News and Notes: Glachenyuk loses waiver exemption, Andersen still out, Amirov’s season is done

News and Notes: Glachenyuk loses waiver exemption, Andersen still out, Amirov’s season is done

The Leafs have returned home after a successful road trip where they went 4-0-0, including two wins on back-to-back nights against the Flames. As is the case for a team that is in the midst of a strong run, the morning skate saw no changes to the lineup.

#Leafs lines at morning skate (vs. MTL tonight):
Hyman-Matthews-MarnerGalchenyuk-Tavares-NylanderMikheyev-Engvall-SimmondsThornton-Kerfoot-Spezza
Rielly-BrodieMuzzin-HollDermott-Bogosian
CampbellHutchinson
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) April 7, 2021

One of the unique things about tonight’s game is that this will be Alex Galchenyuk’s 10th game with the club where he has produced one goal and three assists to begin his tenure. As a result of reaching this milestone, his waiver exemption status is gone and he will have to be placed on waivers if the team wants the cap benefit of putting him on the taxi squad during non-game days. Judging by the fact that the Leafs have already lost Jimmy Vesey and Travis Boyd to waivers in the past few weeks, I wouldn’t expect them to try and risk it with Galchenyuk.

Alex Galchenyuk appears set to play his 10th game for Toronto tonight, which means he’ll lose his waiver exemption.
The #leafs will no longer be able to …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation

The TLN Trade Bored: Seven Days until the deadline

We are in the home stretch. The final week. Down to the last seven days before all this trade related nonsense disappears until the offseason where it becomes the all consuming topic again. Still that seems like a welcome break. Given that we can now see the finish line it seemed fitting that we once again update The TLN Trade Bored with revised trade rankings based off of what we’ve been hearing and reading for the past few days. Many of the names remain the change, but the prices seem to be more friendly to the Leafs, and but with fewer big names to focus on. There’s also the added intrigue of the Leafs absolutely (but not willing to acknowledge publicly) looking for goaltenders. Fun!

So yeah, Taylor Hall is still the prize above all else, but his teammate Linus Ullmark seems to be emerging as the best goaltending option for the Leafs going forward too.
Kyle Palmieri now sitting out, waiting to find out where he will be traded adds some intrigue to his name, and while there are other teams like the Islanders and Bruins that are pursuing him, the fact that he is the next …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Growing up coloured with the game of hockey

Toronto, Torono, The Six, Home — whatever you may call it. Toronto is objectively one of the best and most diverse cities in the entire world. A city filled with so much history, culture, and the greatest sports teams.
There’s nothing that can be compared to the feeling of getting off the train at Union Station, hearing the rumblings and excitement of fellow fans going to a Maple Leafs game on a Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena. Your heart’s racing, you’re smiling from ear to ear, you can’t wait to see your favourite player score on ice, and then, someone looks at you and spits out a racial slur, or they ask you what you ‘really know about hockey’, and you suddenly can’t wait to go back home. The NHL says that Hockey is for Everyone, but is it really?
Being the daughter of immigrant parents, people would sometimes look at me confused when I told them that hockey was my favourite sport or when I tried to talk about a game with them. Why do you like hockey? What do you know about hockey? Hockey makes me happy. The plays, the speed of the game, …

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Author: Roxanne Khasow / The Leafs Nation

Leafs by the numbers: Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton is coming home. I mean, he was already in the grander scheme of things, but today I mean it quite literally.

Joe Thornton is travelling to Toronto today ahead of the anticipated return of the NHL. He had 11 points in 12 games in his stint at HC Davos. https://t.co/DyxDSZBz5G
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 14, 2020

Joe Thornton in a Leafs uniform is damned exciting, even if it is happening a decade later than the ideal time frame for it, we’ll take it. The man is a treasure, and that’s what made it a bit of a challenge to come up with a number for him. Do we go with 700,000, and the bargain deal he took to play here? Do we go with 97, as Jumbo Joe makes his case for being the greatest player to ever wear that number? Do we go with 4, for goal total we want to see him put up in a single game? Do we go with 1, because we probably won’t get many seasons more than that out of him.
Instead, we’ll go with 3.5 as Thornton’s number as we try to figure out if Joe is going to be …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation