Today on CKDU Sports, Chris Trembley, Halifax Mooseheads insider, picked the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup over the Pittsburgh Penguins. As the two teams march undeterred towards their fated rematch of last years cup final, many people are beginning to predict that the Penguins, having been a taught a stern lesson by the Wings, will overcome Detroit and win their first cup of the Sydney Crosby era.
“The only way Detroit loses is if they beat themselves”, said Trembley. “There’s too many weapons with that team.”
I have to agree. I’ve always believed that if you win a championship, and then bring back the same team the next year with some added parts (i.e Marion Hossa), then you should be considered the favorite. Of coure, Pittsburgh is looking very good, and they have the 2 best players on both rosters. But as Trembley explains, “Detroit has the deeper hockey team. There are too many guys with the ability to finish and too many character guys.”
It may be officially time to panic in Blue Jays land. Mind you, it is only late May, and despite losing 7 games in a row, including 3 to divisional rival Boston, the birds are still only 1.5 games out of first place.
However, it seems like the AL east is going to be a 4 team race this season, and although it certainly appears the wildcard will come out of the east, that leaves two teams on the outside looking in. The AL east is going to be so competitive this season, that even games in May are important, and extended losing streaks could be the difference between hosting a playoff game, and watching the playoffs at home.
How do the Jays end the losing? Well it wouldn’t hurt to start scoring runs again. The Jays were the #1 hitting team in baseball this time last week. They’ve only dropped to 2nd (behind LA Dodgers), but they’ve only scored 10 runs in 7 games. Prior to the series with the Red Sox, the Jays had scored at least 10 runs in a game 8 times!! That means that almost 1/3 of their victories had been blow outs. So where has the offence gone? Well, just looking at numbers, the team is still getting lots of hits. Going through the box scores, every significant Jay is still getting on base, although Alex Rios is batting .230 over the losing streak. It would appear that the Jays are struggling once again with getting runners home. Lack of production in the clutch has killed this crop of Jays over the years and it would seem that it is hurting them at the moment. Roy Halladay pitched 7 shutout innings vs the Braves on Friday and the Jays couldn’t score a single run in support!
Regardless, the Jays had better get things straightened around, the Red Sox are coming to town this weekend for a three game set beginning Friday.
