HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-01-13, Page 14Championships in Toronto
A city deprived of championship gold in a major
sport may have a light at the end of a long tunnel
Josh Batkin
Freelance Writer
I am twenty six years old
and the last time a Toronto-
based sports team won in one
of the three major sports
(hockey, baseball and basket-
ball), I was five years old.
Thanks to a phenomenal run
last season, the whole country
of my generation, and above,
had flashbacks of those '93
Toronto Blue Jays.
The Montreal Canadiens
had stormed back after a
game one loss, to win four
games in a row that beat out
the Los Angeles Kings to win
hockey's Holy Grail for a
league best, twenty-fourth
time. Fun fact; Those Cana -
diens were likely the last team
in the NHL to be comprised of
solely North -American born
players.
The Toronto Raptors were
two years away from being
The Toronto Raptors.
The Toronto Maple Leafs
were actually doing not only
good, they were doing great!
Doug Gilmour and Felix "The
Cat" Potvin were leading the
Buds to the promised land.
Gilmour scoring a franchise -
record 127 points, while Pot -
vin was posting under three
goals against average when
ninety percent of the league
was scoring over three goals. It
was a promising year and the
parade route, I'm sure, was in
the drafting room in city hall.
However, they would go on all
the way to the Western Con-
ference Final, where they lost
in seven games to Gretzky's
Los Angeles Kings. That game
sixloss still leaves a bitter taste
in my mouth to this day.
Now thanks to the recent
surge and talent on the rosters
of the Raptors, Leafs and Blue
Jays, Toronto may finally see a
championship brought back
to the city oh -so -deserving of
a champion.
New head coach for the
Toronto Maple Leafs and
highest paid coach in NHL
history, Mike Babcock, has
noticeably changed the cul-
ture of a team that is mostly
unchanged from last year's
team that had some of the
worst team stats in the league.
The plan is long term. Nobody
expected the Leafs to be
where they are today in the
standings and that directly
reflects the attitude that Bab-
cock and Co. have brought
behind the Leafs bench. A
number of players have been
quoted saying that Mike has
brought out the best of their
competitive nature. The day
he was announced at the new
coach for the Leafs, one of his
first statements to the media
was "there's going to be pain,
but it will make us better and
put Toronto back to its rightful
place atop the league" With
the amount of up-and-com-
ing talent that the Leafs have
in their minor systems, some-
thing that hasn't been seen in
recent years because they
have usually traded their up
and comers for "now" players,
the light at the end of the tun-
nel isn't only there, it's as
bright as I've ever seen it.
John Gibbons, the Toronto
Blue Jays skipper, successfully
managed what was likely a
team full of big egos last sea-
son when the Blue Jays went
all the way to the ALCS
(American League champion-
ship series). With a roster, in
my humble opinion, full of
potential all stars, Gibbons
knew who to play, where to
play them and when to play
them. The biggest move
would be on every fifth day
when he would sit newly
acquired gold glove, all star
catcher, Russell Martin in
favour of backup catcher,
Dioner Novarro. Novarro, now
a Chicago Cub, would catch
for the Jays most consistent
pitcher in Gold Glove nomi-
nee, Marco Estrada. Estrada
would go on to have a career
season, posting a 13-8 record
in the regular season. His big-
gest win however, came in the
playoffs when the Gibbons
went to Estrada over former
Cy Young winner, RA Dickey
against the Texas Rangers in a
must win game three of the
ALDS. Estrada went six shut-
out innings and went on for
the win, getting the Jays
started in the series that they
would ultimately win in five
games.
Minus the additions the
Jays had at the deadline last
season in ace David Price and
leadoff hitter Ben Revere, the
Blue Jays are still amongst the
favourites this up and coming
season to get to the World
Series. With the help of
League MVP, the bringer of
rain, Josh Donaldson, there's
no doubt in my mind that the
Jays will do great things this
season.
This leaves the Toronto Rap-
tors. Established in 1995, the
Raptors have had many high
and many low times in their
twenty year history. The future
however is as bright as it has
been in a long time. With cur-
rent all stars, DeMar DeRozen
and Kyle Lowry manning up
the best back court in the
league, the Raptors today are
nine games above .500 for the
first time this season, the Rap-
tors were tops in the East last
season, and are only 3.5 games
behind King James's Cleveland
Cavaliers for tops in the East
this season. Head coach,
Dwayne Casey says playoffs
could start to become a regular
occurrence for this squad,
which has never been the case
for the only NBA team north of
the boarder. They have been
noted to have the "best fans in
the league'; and thanks to that
and having Global Ambassa-
dor, Drake, the Raptors are get-
ting noticed by the who's -who
in the NBA and are nowconsid-
ered a "force in the league."
That is something neither
other Toronto-based team has
established as of yet, but are
both well on their way to follow-
ing the Raptors' pace in bring-
ing hope to a city that hasn't
had much in the last two dec-
ades. A sense of pride, winning
and consistency is on the way,
Toronto sports fans. It's been
the punch line of jokes my
entire life, but "wait 'till next
year" might actually mean
something now in Toronto. I
look forward to it and as a
sports fan myself, am also very
excited about the up and com-
ing seasons in 2016.
Let's Go Toronto!
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 • News Record 15
BCH Minor Hockey
results January 3 - 9
January 3
Midget Rep 4, Twin Centre
Stars 3
Novice Local 1 3, Central
Perth LL 1
Peewee Rep 2, Goderich
Sailors 0
Atom Girls 1 1, Mt. Brydges
Cougars C 3
Midget Rep 3, South Kent
Lightening 4
Bantam Rep 1, Goderich
Sailors 1
January 4
Midget Local 1, Blyth -Brus-
sels Crusaders 3
January 6
Peewee Girls 6, Lambeth
Lancers C 1
Bamtam Local 11, Wingham
Ironmen 6
January 7
Pewee Local 1, Mitchell
Meteors 6
January 8
Midget Girls C 0, Almaguin
Gazelles 1
Peewee Rep 1, Drayton
Defenders 4
Bantam Local 2 4, Blyth -
Brussels Crusaders 2
Midget Girls C 2, Bruce Pen-
insula North Stars 5
January 9
Atom Local 1 0, Ripley
Wolves 3
Peewee Local 8, Seaforth
Stars 2
Novice Local 3 9, Ripley
Wolves 2
Midget Girls C 3, Timmons 2
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Annual Vestry meeting January 31