Under Further Review – Douglas Smith with Editor Bill Morphy. Special thanks to our regular contributors including Jordan Moss, Ian MacPhee, Dave Kittle, Ted Tait, Peter Hucul, Glen and Bill Myles, Howard Steiss and Rob Wagner. This week, sizing up the NHL playoffs and dysfunction in Toronto as the Leafs bow out and the Blue Jays flounder.

Bring It On – Oilers-Canucks Preview – At the start of the season, you would have to had to be a psychic to predict the Canucks success to date. Winning the Pacific Division and reaching the second round of the playoffs was unthinkable. But here we are.

Sometimes you need crazy things to happen. The Canucks knocked out the Nashville Predators behind unlikely hero Arturs Silovs who had appeared in only 12 NHL games before taking over the net from Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. The Canucks are the first team since the ’73 Chicago Blackhawks to have three different goalies register wins in a playoff series.

With Demko still sidelined, Silovs will need to continue his heroics in round two against Edmonton. The Canucks went 4-0 vs. the Oilers in the regular season but throw that out the window now. The Oilers look poised for a deep playoff run. If the underdog Canucks are to have any success, they will need to slow the Oilers power-play. The Kings could not. Edmonton scored nine PP goals in the opening round series. L.A. went scoreless with the man advantage. Game over.

The Canucks penalty killing was outstanding vs. the Preds. It will need to be equally effective against the Oilers. The power-play was another matter. It will need to be much better in round two. If the special teams battle is a saw-off, the Canucks have a fighting chance.

The Canucks cannot match the Oilers firepower but they have the potential to frustrate them. Vancouver’s strength is in the neutral zone. Force turnovers and transition quickly. Edmonton’s defence group is short on footspeed. Can the Canucks pressure enough to make their life difficult?

The Canucks look very thin up front. Elias Pettersson absolutely has to get going. He’s become a lightning rod of discontent in Vancouver. Pettersson went without a goal in the series against Nashville and has scored only one goal in 19 games going back to the regular season. He had two assists in the series and was on the ice for only one five-on-five goal. That was Pius Suter’s series winner. It’s about time EP asserted himself. Ilya Mikheyev and Nils Hoglander both went pointless against Nashville. Mikheyev has now gone 56 games without a goal. Can’t see the Canucks advancing if this line remains lifeless.

Demko is not likely to return until late in the series, if at all. Without Demko at his best, it’s hard to pick the Canucks. We’ll take Edmonton in six.  At least one Canadian team will be reaching the Final Four.

The Young and the Hapless – It’s Canada’s longest-running soap opera. You knew it was going to happen. The Maple Leafs know only one outcome. Inflicting maximum pain on their fan base is a spring ritual in Toronto. How much evidence do you need before you realize the situation is hopeless?

• The Leafs are 2-7 at Scotiabank Arena over the past two post-seasons
• The Leafs have played 14 straight playoff games without scoring more than three goals
• The power-play was decrepit, going 1-for-21 against the Bruins
• The Leafs have lost eight playoff series in nine tries during the Shanahan era
• The Leafs are 0-7 in winner-take-all elimination games
• One playoff series win in 19 years

You can’t keep running it back. This is a losing culture and it’s not something you can change overnight. The Leafs lack an emotional leader. If you think it’s John Tavares, think again. Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour were emotional leaders. They set the tone. Matthews, Marner and Nylander seem to have no concept of how to turn it up in the playoffs. Matthews and Marner have played in six game 7’s. They are goalless.

It begs the question. Is the organization too satisfied? The seats are always full. Revenues are at the top of the league. Franchise value is through the roof. From a strictly financial standpoint, winning is not even necessary. Had the Leafs come back from a 3-1 deficit and knocked the Bruins out, fans would have been satisfied even if they were ousted quickly by Florida in round two. Therein, lies the issue. The organization and its fanbase are content with failure. Don’t forget, this is a team that held a reunion for the 1993 team that made it to the conference final. Who celebrates a trip to the Final Four?

Change is coming. It should start with Brendan Shanahan. The Leafs will probably make Sheldon Keefe a sacrificial lamb. Mitch Marner is due an extension this summer. Eat $4 million of his salary and send him somewhere, anywhere. There’s always a way to unload a player if you are highly motivated even if he has an NTC.

For Leaf fans, amnesia will set in around August like it always does. The pundits will list the Leafs among the Cup favourites for next season. It’ll be Déjà vu all over again.

Coach Chippy – The kid playing Coach Chippy in the Tik Tok videos mocking the Maple Leafs is an absolute hoot. No one has a better handle on the Leafs never-ending drama. Love the Auston Matthews stache! Here’s a sampling of his video posts.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZmmHWYj_vrE?si=GbY9LvI29kZQVTw9

https://www.tiktok.com/@coachchippyy/video/7366062135887154437?lang=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@coachchippyy/video/7358673703019744518?lang=en&q=Coach%20Chippy&t=1714510922847

https://www.tiktok.com/@coachchippyy/video/7360169602275413253?lang=en&q=Coach%20Chippy&t=1714510922847

https://www.tiktok.com/@coachchippyy/video/7195405518423248133?lang=en&q=Coach%20Chippy&t=1714511238703

Coach Chippy also weighed in on the menace that is Matt Rempe. Priceless!

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZmmHWYj_vrE?si=GbY9LvI29kZQVTw9

Then there’s Kurtis from Alberta, a diehard Leafs fan who’s spent a small fortune on Leaf paraphernalia. Check out his Leafs man-cave. Sad, really.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/408953925269905

NHL Playoff Notebook – We can celebrate the fact we’ll have a new Cup champion this season. So long Vegas! Full credit to the Dallas Stars for taking out the defending Stanley Cup champions. Taking four of five after falling behind in the series 2-0 is impressive. The Golden Knights may be the most despised Cup champion ever. Hockey fans on social media have been blistering the team for their LTIR manipulation of the salary cap. When a team wins the Cup, you would hope they are moving the game forward with the way they play the game. There is nothing exciting or redeeming about how Vegas plays.

We went seven of eight with our first-round predictions. The only series we missed on was the Jets/Avalanche. That will teach us to go against a team with a Cup on their resume. The Jets can’t get over the playoff hump. They had 52 wins during the regular season. That’s out the door now. Connor Hellebuyck will win the Vezina Trophy but he can’t stop a beach-ball in the playoffs. The defence group is simply not good enough. Change is coming in Winnipeg with Rick Bowness announcing his retirement.

The Dallas-Colorado series promises to be far more entertaining than anything Vegas would have served up. The Stars don’t have much time to recover. You would think Dallas has a big advantage in goal but that’s what we thought with the Jets. The Stars need to limit the Avs power-play. We’re picking Dallas. Whoever survives this series may end up in the Cup final.

In the East, the Bruins have had Florida’s number all season. Despite going down 1-0, we still think the Panthers will advance. It would help if Sam Bennett returns because it gives Florida an advantage down the middle. Boston just can’t score enough goals. The Rangers have the early jump on Carolina. New York has the size on defence to shut down the Hurricanes. Look for the Rangers to move on to the conference final.

Craig Berube remains a hot coaching candidate. Don’t rule out the possibility he lands in Toronto if and when Sheldon Keefe is gassed.

The Ottawa Senators are reportedly about to hire Travis Green. Can you think of a lamer choice than Green? Decent enough guy but he won’t move the needle with the fan base.  No personality whatsoever. He’ll cost about 18 bucks an hour so that works in Ottawa. They only shop at the Dollar Store for coaches.

The NHL Draft Lottery is set to take place on Tuesday night. For the second straight year, the prize is a kid from Vancouver – Macklin Celebrini. Unfortunately, the odds of Celebrini landing in Canada are very low. The Montreal Canadiens have an 8.5 percent chance of winning the lottery. The Ottawa Senators have a 6.5 percent chance.

Prior to the 2017 NHL draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs conducted an extensive interview with goalie Jeremy Swayman. The Anchorage, Alaska native was sure the Leafs were going to draft him. He told his parents as much. Swayman was still waiting when the fourth round came around. The Leafs selected goalie Ian Scott. With the very next pick, the Boston Bruins chose Swayman. The rest is history.

Greg Wyshynski is the lead hockey writer for ESPN. You would assume he knows a lot about hockey. How could he have chosen the Maple Leafs to make the Stanley Cup final? He predicted a Leafs/Oilers final in ESPN’s Playoff Preview. Really? Based on what? I can see picking the Oilers, maybe. But the Leafs? He placed Auston Matthews atop his playoff player rankings.

The Los Angeles Kings claim they have no intentions of buying out Pierre-Luc Dubois. The Kings paid a king’s ransom to acquire him from Winnipeg and the deal was made worse by the rich extension handed Dubois upon his arrival in Los Angeles. Under the front-loaded terms of Dubois’ eight-year, $8.5 million AAV extension, he is slated to earn $11.25 million next season which is more than Connor McDavid will take home.

Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic reports the Kings were considering a buy-out. If the Kings exercise a buy-out before Dubois turns 26 on June 24, they could buy him out for one-third of the remaining value of the contract. Spread it out over 14 years and it would cost an average of $1.13 million per season. There would be larger cap charges in three of the seasons but it may be a pill worth swallowing. Once Dubois turns 26, the buy-out will be much more expensive. Is it a risk you want to take?

The Kings should take a hard look at their front office structure. Please explain how Luc Robitaille is qualified to be a club president? He’s buddies with his old agent Pat Brisson. Guess who represents Dubois? If Kings ownership were paying attention, Robitaille and GM Rob Blake would be fired immediately.

There should be a lot of movement around the National Hockey League this summer. Teams like Montreal are moving past the asset accumulation phase and will be looking to make a leap forward. The Canadiens have a ton of draft capital and some attractive young defencemen that could be used to acquire an impact scorer. (As long as that player is not named Trevor Zegras) Zegras is one of the players who could be on the move this summer. The Habs should be looking elsewhere. The Ottawa Senators are likely to find a new home for Jakob Chychrun.

The goaltending market is flush with potential trade candidates. Nashville is motivated to move Juuse Saros with young Yaroslav Askarov waiting in the wings. You’ve got Jacob Markstrom in Calgary. Linus Ullmark in Boston. Some very talented goalies available for teams wanting an upgrade.

Not sure if you’ve had a chance to check out Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars. The 20-year-old is a breakout star. With Dallas GM Jim Nill on the Team Canada staff for the 2026 Winter Olympics, you wonder if he won’t be hyping Johnston to general manager Doug Armstrong.

Nice comeback by Team Canada to win the Under-18 men’s World Championship in Finland. The gold medal game showcased two highlight-reel talents who may be the top picks in the next two NHL drafts – James Hagans of the U.S., the consensus top choice in 2025 and Gavin McKenna of Canada who could go first overall in 2026. Draft eligible forward Trevor Connelly took a needless five-minute major for a head shot that cost the U.S. the gold medal. He has a reputation for being immature and a poor teammate. Any team drafting him would be crazy.

Blue Jays Notebook – The more I watch this edition of the Blue Jays, the more I realize change is necessary. Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins need to go. Atkins has been in the GM seat for nine seasons. Enough already!

You can predict how this is going to play out. The Jays have been in and out of last place in the AL East. At press time, they had the 23rd-best record in baseball with the 8th-highest payroll. It’s just a matter of time before John Schneider is bounced as manager. Don Mattingly is the manager-in-waiting.

The Blue Jays finished the month of April with a record or 15-16. In their end of April review of the first month of the MLB season, ESPN gave the Jays a grade of D+. Seems about right. The Jays can’t hit a lick. Their offence is ranked 24th overall. Vladdy and Bo are playing like they have already checked out. It’s hard to win when your best players are not performing.

The feeble front office has not been able to reach an agreement on extensions for the team’s franchise cornerstones. You can’t head into next season with both Bo and Vladdy in the final year of their contracts and preparing to hit free agency. They should probably act now but do you really want Atkins and Shapiro to make the deal? I would be very uncomfortable.

The Blue Jays haven’t won a playoff game since 2015. Someone has to share the blame. It’s time for ownership to wake up and do something. How about calling Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta and making an offer he can’t refuse?

MLB Notebook – Great to see so many Canadians making their mark in major league baseball. The latest to debut is infielder Tyler Black of the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s the son of longtime Canadian broadcaster Rod Black. Tyler had two hits in his first MLB game and figures to have a long career ahead of him. He’s got great plate discipline and should hit for a high average.

Mike Trout is injured again. Now there’s a real bulletin. When has he not been injured. Trout is 32 and his body is already breaking down. Knee surgery has ended his season. Baseball junkies have called Trout the best player in baseball for years but when does he ever play? No doubt he has incredible talent.

Baseball players are not supposed to be put together like a body-builder. Blame it on steroids or HGH if you want. Roberto Clemente was lithe. He was sinewy. That’s the body you need. Did you see Clemente getting injured year after year? Of course not. In case you are wondering, Trout has six years left on his contract and is due another $213 million. Trout is likely to be remembered as just another bulked-up ball player with a too-short career.

There are some severely bad teams in major league baseball this season. The Chicago White Sox are abysmal. So are the Miami Marlins and the Colorado Rockies. In the case of the Rockies, what else is new? They lost 16-1 on opening day and they’ve been careening off a Rocky Mountain cliff ever since.  

The once-mighty Houston Astros are sitting in last place in the American League West. You would think there will be some correction as the season moves along but it appears as though the Astros dynasty days are over. The pitching staff has been hit hard by injuries. Jose Abreu was sent to the minors after hitting .099 with zero home runs. You just don’t get what you used to in baseball for $19.5 million.

One team we expected to be better is the Arizona Diamondbacks. After reaching the World Series last season, you figured the D-Backs would be continuing an upward rise. Hasn’t happened. Arizona has allowed five or more runs in more than half their games.

The only thing keeping the Blue Jays out of last place in the American League East is the fall of the Tampa Bay Rays. Apparently, there isn’t an endless supply of pitching in the Rays minor league system. Still, the Rays have several productive bats so we won’t peg them for last place just yet.

Outside of messing up the promotion of Jackson Holliday, the Baltimore Orioles have been as advertised. Corbin Burnes has given the O’s an ace at the top of the rotation. The lineup, with the addition of Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser, is as deep as any team in baseball and that includes the Dodgers.

The Boston Red Sox have been a nice story early in the season. May not last however. Victoria native Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello are all on the injured list and pitching wasn’t exactly a Red Sox strength to begin with.

Building through free agency is a fool’s game in baseball. Case in point, the San Francisco Giants. Blake Snell was 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA before being placed on IL. Former Blue Jay Mark Chapman has an OBP of .267. The Jays were smart to take a pass on Chapman in the off-season.

The World Series champion Texas Rangers are off to a slow start. Starters Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle can’t return quick enough.

We are finally witnessing some improvement in Detroit. Seems like the Tigers have been rebuilding forever. Nice to see this once-proud franchise showing progress. They certainly have some valuable young pieces. Tarik Skubal could be in the Cy Young conversation.

Too bad we don’t get to see the Cincinnati Reds more often. Elly De La Cruz may be the most exciting player in baseball. His base-running is worth the price of admission.

The Winner’s Circle – Canada’s Taylor Pendrith is a PGA Tour winner. The native of Richmond Hill, Ontario won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas, becoming the fifth Canadian on the tour to post a victory. Pendrith birdied the final hole to win by one shot but it was par-saving putts on 16 and 17 that proved critical.

It’s been a long road for Pendrith. He’s has always had loads of talent. Injuries have held him back. He has length off the tee and is an underrated putter. Pendrith has gone 188 holes without a three-putt. Winning opens so many doors. He’s now fully exempt until 2026 and is eligible for all the remaining 2024 signature events. Pendrith make his first visit to the Masters next year.

The opportunity to be part of the International team at this year’s Presidents Cup competition in Montreal seems to be bringing out the best in the Canadian contingent. It’s going to be interesting to see how many Canucks are selected. Mike Weir may have some tough choices.

Random Leftovers – Always happy to see the Los Angeles Lakers exit the NBA playoffs. Another entitled franchise. We are tired of seeing Lebron James ‘strike a pose’ every time he makes a great play. It’s not something Michael Jordan ever did or needed to. And Jordan didn’t pick his own nickname either. Who gives themselves a nickname – The King?

I guess it’s not surprising that Canada’s Jamal Murray mocked LeBron’s ‘pose’ as the Denver Nuggets showed the Lakers the door. No one…and I mean no one…would ever mock Jordan. EVER! For edification, Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals. LeBron’s NBA Finals record is 4-6.

Murray is turning into Mr. Clutch. He nailed a buzzer-beater in game two of the opening round series, then came back with another haymaker with 3.6 seconds to go to put away the Lakers in game five. Can’t wait to see Murray performing for Team Canada at the Olympic games in Paris this summer.

Nathan Rourke is the odd man out in New England. Looks like the Patriots will be starting Jacoby Brissett at quarterback next season with top draft pick Drake Maye in a backup role. Rourke might be better served returning to the BC Lions although he can earn $12K per week on an NFL practice squad without getting hit.

Deion Sanders is about as self-serving as you can get. He’s created a toxic culture in Colorado where 53 players have left the football program since he arrived. Many left voluntarily. The entire 2022 roster is gone. That team went 1-11. Last season, the Buffaloes went 4-8 with Deion’s son Shadeur at quarterback. They had an entirely new offensive line. This year, they will have an entirely new O-line again. All Deion seems to care about is fluffing up his kids stat line so he can go in the top five in next year’s NFL draft. Watch Deion follow him to the NFL. There’s no chance he stays in Colorado past this season.

Platter Chatter – Here’s some selections for this week. Dave Alvin has a new album coming out with Jimmie Dale Gilmore called ‘Texicali.’ They’ve released two songs – Southwest Chief and We’re Still Here.

Check out  the track Any Other Night from a release entitled ‘Fine Tuned’ by Paul Richards featuring guitar great Arlen Roth.

A.J. Fullerton is a Tennessee-based singer-songwriter. Have a listen to Good Times off the album ‘Closer.’

A talented young female singer popped up on our weekly Spotify playlist. Her name is Paige Plaisance. She is yet to release a complete album. Different Now is a four-song EP. We recommend checking the title track and the single ‘Bayou Moon.’ She has a bright future.

Robyn Black is another young singer with a great voice. Check out the single Dreaming These Walls Away.

The Honeycutters hail from Ashville, North Carolina. They’re fronted by singer Amanda Anne Platt. We recommend Golden Child from the release ‘On the Ropes.’

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