The Maple Leafs failed to show up in a 6-1 Game 7 loss Sunday night as the Florida Panthers moved on setting up an Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I don’t think the moment is too big for them,” said Head Coach Craig Berube following Sunday’s loss. “We went into Game 6 in Ottawa and won that series, won a Game 6 (in Florida) to make it a Game 7. To me, it’s all between the ears, it’s a mindset.”
“These guys are capable of doing it, but you have to execute it. That’s the bottom line, but I don’t know why.”
The biggest question surrounding Toronto’s offseason will be unrestricted free-agent forward Mitch Marner. Stay tuned.
So it’s up to the Edmonton Oilers to represent Canada in the Stanley Cup Playoffs taking on the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference crown.
Meanwhile, there was a Game 7 Sunday in the NBA as well.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, led by MVP favorite and Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, downed the Denver Nuggets 125-93.
The Thunder will play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the west, while the New York Knicks battle the Indiana Pacers for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Locally, Niagara based teams were a perfect (5-0).
Friday night the defending Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) champion Niagara River Lions opened their season with a 98-94 home victory over the Calgary Surge.
Coming out of timeout, off an inbounds play, Kimbal Mackenzie found Ahmed Hill for the alley-oop dunk to bring the almost 3,000 fans to their feet inside Meridian Centre.
That same night the St. Catharines Jr. A Athletics battled back to best the Brampton Excelsiors 13-12 in overtime as captain Keaton Zavitz completed the hat-trick for the game-winner.
Saturday the Welland Jackfish, in front of a sellout crowd, beat the defending Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) Champion Barrie Baycats 9-3 as leadoff hitter Jonah Weisner was a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
“Great to get the first one out of the way, and to beat a really good team is nice,” said Welland Manager Brian Essery.
Sunday the Jackfish shutout the Hamilton Cardinals 6-0 as Euclides Layer struck out nine batters over seven innings, while the River Lions roared back to top the Ottawa Blackjacks 87-85. The aforementioned Kimbal Mackenzie led the way with 24 points.
Looking ahead this week, the Jr. A Athletics host the Orangeville Northmen Wednesday night 8 p.m., followed by a Saturday showdown against the Burlington Blaze at 7 p.m. Both games will be played at Canada Games Park.
Thursday, the Jackfish host Hamilton to close out a home and home. First pitch flies at 7:15 p.m. Saturday the Fish entertain the Kitchener Panthers in a 6:05 p.m. first pitch.
Saturday, the Jr. B Athletics host the Six Nations Rebels in a matinee matchup, 2 p.m., at Canada Games Park.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
