Bleacher Report - Articles by Jacob Dearlove

Toronto Blue Jays Season Preview: The Outfield

Jacob Dearlove — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:16:44 -0400

Here is the third and final installment of my preview of the Toronto Blue Jays of 2008.

It has taken a while in coming, but here it is, my preview of the Jays' outfield.

The Jays look like a strong bunch on paper, but the overall health of the outfielders could be an issue.

Left Field

The Jays don't look too strong out in left with Matt Stairs, Adam Lind, and Marco Scutaro patrolling the field behind third base.

Matt Stairs: Matt Stairs, the 39-year-old utility player for the Jays could be seeing some considerable time out in left field for the only Canadian team in the Majors. The oldest player on the Jays hit .289 last year chipping in 21 homers and knocking in 64 runs in 125 games.
Adam Lind: Adam Lind had a bit of an emergence last year with the Jays seeing time in 89 games last year for the big club. He batted .238 with 11 homers and 46 RBI. He could have a break out year this season and it would sure be nice if he does because the Jays are very weak in left field after the departure of Reed Johnson.

Center Field

The Jays have one of the best center fielders in the league in Vernon Wells, but they don't exactly have much of anything behind him.

Vernon Wells: Wells, one of the best in the game at his position, is coming into the season looking to do better than he did in the last. He is coming off of surgery on a torn labrum that bugged him from May of last season until the end of the year. He looks to improve on his numbers last year, with a batting average of just .245 with 16 homers and 80 RBI. If he and Alex Rios have a good season at the same time the Jays might actually have a chance of challenging for the AL East division title.

Right Field

The Jays have an up-and-coming right fielder in Alex Rios and it will be hard to improve on his great numbers last year, however, it is doable.

Alex Rios: Alex Rios' breakout season last year wasn't much of a surprise to a lot of people; it had to happen soon enough. A kid with that much talent wasn't going to hang under the radar for too much longer. His numbers were incredible last year. The youngster batted .297 and added 24 homers and 85 RBI. Rios also came home as a runner-up in the Home Run Derby last year. Alex will look to build on his breakout season this year and establish himself as the leader of the team this year.

So there you have it folks, my season preview of the Jays is complete with all three phases. It took me awhile but here it is, enjoy.

NHL Playoffs Need Changing

Jacob Dearlove — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:12:21 -0500

The setup of the NHL playoffs is ridiculous.

Why does every team leading their division get a top three playoff spot in their conference?

The NHL should outright get rid of this rule. Every team should have an equal bid at the playoffs instead of all this crap about winning your division.

If the playoffs began at this point in the season, the Washington Capitals would grab the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres, and Boston Bruins all have more points than the Caps—but sit lower in the playoff position because they didn't have the luck of being in the Southeast Division.

In the West, the Minnesota Wild lead the Northwest Division putting them in third place while the fourth and fifth place teams, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and San Jose Sharks, have 71 and 70 points apiece.

Last year the Colorado Avalanche missed the playoffs in the West with 95 points while the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Islanders clinched sixth, seventh, and eighth place seeds in the East with 94, 93, and 92 points respectively. What a joke.

The NHL needs to have the best teams in the playoffs. To do this they need to set up a few new rules.

First, the three division leaders in each conference should no longer get the top three seeds in the playoffs. Instead, these teams get a certain amount of cash to acknowledge that they won their division and nothing more, while the top eight teams in each conference make it to the playoffs.

The following scenario could really spice up the NHL season if it came into play. If a team that isn't going to make the playoffs (such as Colorado last year) has more points than a team in the other conference that is going to make it to the playoffs, the two teams battle head to head to decide who moves on.

If the team that is the "challenger" wins they would take the seed of the team they defeated.

These are my ideas on what the NHL should do to make the playoffs more about the best teams, instead of who got lucky and made it into the weak division and conference.

Maple Leafs-Red Wings: Toronto Wins in Overtime

Jacob Dearlove — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:58:49 -0500

On a day when hockey is celebrated across Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 3-2 overtime decision against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Leafs have won three of their last four games against very strong teams in Ottawa, Montreal, and Detroit.

Nik Antropov tipped home Anton Stralman's point-shot just over a minute into the extra period in his first game back since his three-game suspension for abuse of an official.

Darcy Tucker scored for the Leafs nine minutes into the game to take an early lead on the power play. Almost 28 minutes later, Niklas Lidstrom scored to tie up the contest with just over three minutes left in the second period.

Mikael Samuelsson then took the lead for the Red Wings with a goal 11:18 into the third period. The goal was quickly followed with an equalizer from Mats Sundin.

The Wings out-shot the Leafs 34-25 as Vesa Toskala now has a 6-3-1 record in his last 10 games and an overall record of 20-16-5 on the year. Toskala is now 6-1-0-0 in his career against the Detroit Red Wings.

Chad Kilger sat out his fifth straight game for personal reasons while Alexei Ponikarovsky missed his seventh straight game with a dislocated shoulder.

Kris Newbury was sent down to the Marlies again after getting in a scrap and scoring a goal against the Canadiens on Thursday night. This left Don Cherry outraged on Coach's Corner Saturday night in Winkler, Manitoba.

Toronto travels to Buffalo on Wednesday night.

Leafs-Senators: Toronto Snaps Skid With Win Over Ottawa

Jacob Dearlove — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:31:13 -0500

The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a four-game skid last night with a 4-2 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators.

Despite holding the top spot in the conference, the Sens are also in a slight skid—they have now dropped lost seven of their past 10 contests.

Carlo Colaiacovo notched the game-winner for the Leafs at 4:28 of the third period. It was Colaiacovo's first goal of the year, as he's been sidelined for various reasons over the past 12 months.

Robbie Earl appeared in his first career NHL game and assisted on the winning goal for his first career NHL point.

Earl was drafted 187th overall in the 2004 entry draft by Toronto. In 44 games this year, the Chicago native has scored 11 times and added 22 assists for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Jiri Tlusty added his second goal in as many games for the blue and white playing on the top line alongside Mats Sundin.

Dominic Moore and Jason Blake added the other goals for the Leafs while Chris Neil and Nick Foligno scored for the Senators.

Moore's goal was his first in a Leaf uniform, an achievement that left him ecstatic.

Vesa Toskala stopped 19 of 21 shots in goal for the Leafs in victory, while Ray Emery stopped 22 of 26 in the loss.

The Leafs next game is a home against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

The Sens also play their next game on Tuesday, in Montreal.

Montreal is three points back of the Sens for the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference lead. They'll look to gain ground on the Sens with another win on Tuesday.

Toronto Maple Leafs-Ottawa Senators: Battle of Ontario, Round Five

Jacob Dearlove — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:53:35 -0500

The new year hasn't been a great one off the ice for Ray Emery.

The netminder hasn't seen any action since being fined by the team for sleeping in and showing up four minutes late for practice on Long Island a week ago.

Emery claims he went to Nassau Coliseum instead of the Islanders' practice rink, causing him to be late.

On the ice, Emery hasn't stood out this season either. After leading the Sens to the Stanley Cup Finals last year with a record of 33-16, a GAA of 2.47, and a save percentage of .918, Emery was expected to lead Ottawa back to the playoffs.

But this year, Emery has a dismal record of 8-7-3, a GAA of 2.95, and a not-very stellar save percentage of only .891.

The 25-year-old netminder will get the start tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and will look to put in a strong performance to make up for his recent mistakes.

Meanwhile, the Leafs aren't worried about their goaltending situation, they've got bigger issues to worry about.

Alex Steen, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Chad Kilger, Boyd Devereaux, Bryan McCabe, and John Pohl will all be sitting out due to injuries. Nikolai Antropov will also miss the game as the first of his three-game suspension for abuse of an official.

With so many missing players, the Toronto Maple Leafs could be soon called the Toronto Maple Marlies, as they will have called up a substantial proportion of their AHL affliate's roster.

Jiri Tlusty has been seeing time on the first line alongside Mats Sundin the past two games, and contributed a goal in his most recent appearance against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Leafs are on a four-game skid, and aren't looking too good on the power play. They have connected on none of their fifteen shots in their last five man advantages.

But Toronto will look to rebound against the shorthanded Sens, who are missing their two stars Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

The game starts at 7:00 Eastern time on CBC.

Jake's Predicition: Leafs win, 3-2.

From Grizzly To Laker: Pau Gasol Heads To L.A.

Jacob Dearlove — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:08:30 -0500

Kobe Bryant is finally happy with the Lakers.

Bryant didn't like what management had been doing this year, and even asked to be traded.

But yesterday, the Lakers pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, sending center Kwame Brown, guards Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol and two future first rounders to the Grizzlies—in exchange for Pau Gasol.

Gasol had been unhappy in Memphis this past year, and trade talks were circulating around him.

Gasol is averaging 18.9 points per game and 8.8 rebounds this season.

The Lakers are 29-16 this year, only three games behind the Phoenix Suns for the Pacific Division lead.

With the acquisition of Gasol, the Lakers can expect to challenge for the division—or even the conference title.

Center Andrew Bynum will be returning in the next couple of weeks, which will give Los Angeles two intimidating seven-footers up front. Add in Kobe and Lamar Odom on the wings, and this team starts to look like the Lakers of old—the Lakers who won three straight NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.

Leafs Season: Second Half Can Only Get Better

Jacob Dearlove — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:25:55 -0500

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had another mediocre first half this year.

They've started the season a dismal 16-18-8, and are sitting at 13th in the Eastern Conference and last in the Northeast division.

Yet, the Leafs have left lots of room for improvement in the second half.

But they have their work cut out for them if they want to avoid missing the playoffs for the third straight year.

Here's the big letdowns of the first half, some areas needing improvement, and some ideas for John Ferguson to think about before he gets let go.

The Letdowns

1. Jason Blake: "Big off-season acquisition" has plummeted from a superb 40 goal season last year, netting only eight goals in 42 games.

2. Andrew Raycroft: (2-6-4) record, 3.79 GAA, and .878 save percentage. Enough said.

3. Bryan McCabe: Another awful season full of injury. Has played in only 27 games so far, and put up only 12 points.

4. Mark Bell: Six words for Bell: You can't fight, so don't try.

Areas for Improvement

1. Special Teams: The Leafs are ranked 26th in the league in both power play and penalty kill percentage. It doesn't help that Jason Blake has chipped in only eight goals and Bryan McCabe has only contributed four.

2. Team Defense: The Leafs have given up the 5th most goals in the league this year. Maybe instead of wasting all of their money on players like Bryan McCabe and get a defenseman that doesn't score half of the other teams' goals for them.

Ideas for the GM

1. Two words—Trade Sundin: As much as I hate to say it, the Leafs need to trade Mats for a good young player already in the league, and a first- and second-round pick.

2. Get Rid of Raycroft: Andrew Raycroft hasn't done anything this year. Vesa Toskala has emerged as the Leafs number-one 'tender and there is no further need for Raycroft.

This is my opinion on the Leafs season, and what they should do to save it. Please post any and all comments.

Maple Leafs-Penguins: Toronto Takes a Beating

Jacob Dearlove — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:07:55 -0500

After a rousing shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Toronto Maple Leafs were trampled 6-2 by the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Evgeni Malkin posted his first career hat-trick, while Erik Christensen, Petr Sykora, and Tyler Kennedy added goals for the Pens.

The Penguins are now on a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

Scott Clemmensen made his second start in a Toronto uniform after leading the Leafs against the Lightning on Tuesday night. Clemmensen is now 1-1 with a 3.90 GAA and a .839 save percentage.

Toronto's Jason Blake found the net for the second straight game. He has eight goals on the year after potting two in a single game for the first time in the Blue and White.

Blake opened the scoring at 10:34 of the first period, with assists going to Alex Steen and Mats Sundin.

The Penguins answered with five straight goals, from Christensen and Malkin in the second period and Kennedy, Sykora, and Malkin again in the third.

Blake notched a tip-in on a power play at 12:53 in the third period. Malkin scored to take home the hat-trick three minutes later.

The Leafs play at home tomorrow night against another Atlantic Division team, the Philadelphia Flyers.