How Rich Clune cemented his legacy in the Maple Leafs organization

When Rich Clune returned home to join the Maple Leafs organization, I’m not sure he’d understand the footprint he’d leave behind seven years later.
15 seasons, eight professional teams, 624 AHL games, 143 in the NHL — the 35-year-old is entering retirement with a legacy that’s going to be remembered forever.
We could say it began in 2015 when Clune returned to play for his hometown team in Toronto, but really, it started long before that. From the ages of 15-24, he faced the toughest battle of his life against alcohol and substance use disorder.
“I was such a mess that I was either going to wind up dead or kill somebody else.” Clune wrote in a Players Tribune article back in 2015.
He openly told his story — something that’s incredibly hard to do — to help others. Clune called it “The Battle”.
“As a hockey player, you’re constantly worried about what the boys think. What coach thinks. We have been taught to view words like “disease” as a weakness. I am an alcoholic. I have a disease. But I am stronger than I have ever been.” Clune wrote. “I blame nobody but myself for my past, and I realize that every day I wake up to a choice: How do I want to live? I still go out with my teammates. I go to weddings. I go to the beach. I dance and laugh and part …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Danny Jansen activated from Injured List, Gabriel Moreno sent to Triple-A

Danny Jansen will join the Blue Jays as the team opens up a two-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies in Toronto. Gabriel Moreno has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to make room for Jansen on the active roster.

ROSTER MOVES:
C Danny Jansen reinstated from 10-day IL and will be active tonight
C Gabriel Moreno optioned to Triple-A pic.twitter.com/CsI0CenUHt
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 12, 2022

There had been some speculation that the Blue Jays might opt to keep all of Jansen, Moreno, and Alejandro Kirk on their active roster in order to utilize Kirk more frequently as a designated hitter, but Moreno will instead go back down to Buffalo where he can be the everyday catcher.
The Blue Jays will maintain the three-man catcher tandem for now, though, as Zack Collins is still on the active roster. Collins has been played sparingly as of late, as he’s made just one appearance since getting recalled a couple of weeks ago.
 
Jansen has been very good this season, slashing a .232/.290/.625 line with seven home runs across 62 plate appearances, but two different injuries have now kept him out of action for two months. Jansen suffered an oblique injury in April and missed one month of play and then a fracture in his hand in June resulted in Jansen going on the shelf for another month.
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation