The Toronto Maple Leafs have now entered the John Chayka/Mats Sundin era. What a time to be alive in Leafs Nation. The management duo was introduced at a press conference in Toronto on Monday, and it's obvious there's been a lot of pushback from opposing teams around the league over hiring Chayka back into a GM position, and for Sundin, it's certainly a huge risk to his legacy as a Leaf. Heading into the offseason, there's going to be significant change coming to the Maple Leafs roster, which ...
There is a whole mess of injury news this afternoon: Today’s lineup is similar to yesterday’s, minus Sosa and Heineman, and Varsho is DH today. He was having some better at bats yesterday. Hopefully that will continue. Today’s Lineups BLUE JAYS RAYS Yohendrick Pinango – LF Chandler Simpson – LF Kazuma Okamoto – 3B Junior […]
Rick Leach turns 69 today. In 1979, the Tigers picked him 13th overall. Leach reached the majors in the 1981 strike season, hitting .193/.320/.289 in 83 at-bats, mainly pinch-hitting with some first and right field. He played three seasons for Detroit without much success at the plate before his release. After leaving Detroit, the Blue […]
Wow. After weeks of "due diligence" to come up with their new general manager, MLSE President Keith Pelley probably didn't expect a question like this at the big news conference to introduce John Chayka (and Mats Sundin). Reporter Steve Simmons stood up at the media event and told Pelley, with Chayka seated beside him, that 19 of 20 prominent NHL people Simmons talked to called the hiring "a sham" and referred to Chayka as a "con artist", a "liar" and "salesman." Toronto is hockey cinema...
Leave it to the Toronto Maple Leafs to be nothing short of a source of entertainment. In a move that took the hockey world by surprise, the Leafs announced Sunday they hired John Chayka as general manager, and Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor. The Sundin news was tolerable, given his 13-years as a player…
The newest General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Chayka, discussed his childhood connection to the franchise, the interview process, his controversial exit from Arizona, and his plans for the first few weeks on the job. Opening Statements Chayka: This is not just a job. Being the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs […]
The post John Chayka on the importance of selling Auston Matthews on a winning vision in Toronto: “I just came from an organization where we spent our entire...
MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley discussed the hiring of Mats Sundin and John Chayka into senior management positions with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Opening Statements Pelley: We are here today, but we are coming off a heartbreaking loss last night for the Raptors in Cleveland. I can tell you that the Raptors were the […]
The post Keith Pelley on the rumours surrounding Tie Domi’s involvement in Chayka’s hiring as Leafs GM: “There have been countless erroneous reports and inaccurate inform...
The Maple Leafs’ new Senior Executive Advisor of Hockey Operations, Mats Sundin, discussed his decision to move back to Toronto to join the Leafs’ management and what he can bring to the organization’s front office. Opening Statements Sundin: I am extremely proud and excited to be sitting here today. I am very emotionally connected to […]
The post Mats Sundin on working with John Chayka in Leafs management: “We have the same vision of what a winning team looks like… I think we’re going to co...
The Dallas Mavericks have hired Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor, concluding a six-month search process, the organization announced on Monday. Ujiri spent 13 seasons leading the Toronto Raptors from 2013 to 2025 and was at the helm during the franchise’s 2018-19 NBA Championship. He made bold moves en route to Toronto’s only […]
The Edmonton Oilers extended a handful of players before the start of the 2025-26 season. Chief among them was Connor McDavid, who agreed to a two-year deal worth $12.5 million, the same annual average value as his previous contract. That set the deadline for the Oilers’ window of contention. With the extra money, the Blue…
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The Twins managed to finish the week with a win, splitting a four-game series with the reigning AL Pennant winner, the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, both Joe Ryan, Cole Sands, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins were the new additions to the injury report this week. There had been encouraging signs from the oft-injured Jenkins, as […]
Six months after the tumultuous tenure of Nico Harrison ended with a rare mid-season firing of an executive, it appears the Dallas Mavericks have found their replacement. ESPN reported Monday that the Mavericks have hired former Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri to be Dallas’ new team president and alternate governor. The Dallas […]
Happy Monday. So there is a little bit of good news, Louis Varland was named AL reliever of the month. He pitched a bunch, 16 innings, 0.56 ERA, 1.0 WAR, 4 saves. Batters hit .200/.277/.254 against him. We are pretty lucky to have him, I don’t know who would be closing games for us without […]
TUESDAY Bo Bichette became the first Met to homer on the first pitch the Mets saw since Brandon Nimmo off Adam Wainwright on June 17, 2023 Craig Kimbrel struck out three batters swinging in an outing for the 63rd time in his career, but only the fifth time since the start of 2022. One of […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers emerged from the rock fight against the Toronto Raptors. It was far from the prettiest series on the first-round slate. The number of times I thought this team was dead in the water was more than two hands can count. After RJ Barrett’s moonshot homage to Kawhi Leonard, it seemed like this […]
The Ottawa Senators were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and GM Steve Staios enters the offseason with a clear and specific list of things he wants to address.
Near the top of that list, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun , is a reliable backup goaltender.
Staios intends to go shopping for one this summer.
James Reimer, who signed with Ottawa midway through the season after clearing a professional tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs...
CLEVELAND — Reputations don’t change overnight, especially ones built through years of playoff failures. The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t alter how they were perceived with a gutsy 114-102 Game 7 win over the Toronto Raptors. They did, however, show that they don’t have to be defined by previous postseason letdowns. Jarrett Allen was the exact opposite […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers are moving on, courtesy of a certain Fro. Let’s check on tonight’s winners and losers. WINNER – Jarrett **c**** Allen I’m not sure if there was a more encouraging way for the Cavs to exorcise some demons and advance to the second round than Jarrett Allen going full-on beast mode in a […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 4-3 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 22 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers This wasn’t a great game from Mitchell, per se. We’ve seen him play much better than this. […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to get past a plucky Toronto Raptors team that put up a much better fight than we thought going into the series. Now, they have their hands full against a 60-win Detroit Pistons team. The Pistons didn’t look like the juggernaut they were in the regular season in the first […]
CLEVELAND — To say losing Game 7 to the Toronto Raptors would be disastrous for the Cleveland Cavaliers is an understatement. Eight years of building led to the most expensive roster in the league that traded for a 36-year-old former All-Star at the deadline just to save this season. Dropping this game would’ve been an […]
Head coach John Gruden discusses the Toronto Marlies taking a 2-1 series lead against the Laval Rocket with a 6-2 victory in Game 3. On the team’s performance: It starts right away with us taking advantage of a power play. That carries over to the five-on-five game as well. I thought they set the tone. […]
The post John Gruden on Mats Sundin joining the Leafs’ front office: “His name speaks for itself… We’re excited to work with him as a staff” appeared first on Maple Leafs Hotstove .
The Cleveland Cavaliers need a win to keep their season alive. We’ll see if they can bounce back from an ugly Game 6 loss to defeat the Toronto Raptors in Game 7. Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your […]
Blue Jays 3 Twins 4 That was irritating. Joe Ryan left the game with a sore elbow after walking the second batter and we had to think we had a good chance. But no. Trey Yesavage wasn’t good, but then only gave up one run. In four innings he allowed five hits, three walks and […]