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Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss sports off-day, the MLB All-Star game, Canadas field lacrosse team and Huston Streets comments upon being traded. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is up to Wednesday of this past week. Now, you probably read and heard a lot of sympathetically depressed moaning about how it was the slowest sports day of the year - no baseball, no hockey, no basketball, no football, and nothing to entertain those in search of sports except... Well, Major League Soccer, the Tour de France, and the ESPYs, featuring Drake. Thats hardly nothing, the semi-vacancy of the ESPYs aside, but you know what? Good. We could use some time with less sports. The days are packed with sports. Christmas day is basically a basketball tournament now. We could use some time to breathe, take a walk, reconnect with family, learn to make a bookshelf. Sports are fun, no question. But how can we miss them when they wont go away? Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun My thumb is down to major league baseball, the Minnesota Twins and broadcasters of the All-Star game for failing to appropriately recognize the passing of Tony Gwynn just one month ago. Its not like Gwynn was just another player. He was a 15-time All-Star, perhaps the most beloved figure in a game with not enough beloved figures, and yet somehow there was no tribute to Gwynn throughout the three hour Derek Jeter infomercial that we endured. And I have nothing but regard for Derek Jeter, who has had a storied career; but there should have been something for Gwynn. For the fans. For baseball. A moment of silence. Some words of tribute. Something. At least Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles had it right. He wrote in marker on his baseball cap the initials TG with the number 19. He had the sense of moment baseball didnt have. Gary Lawless, TSN Radio My thumb is up to Canadas national mens field lacrosse team for winning the world championship last night. Canada defeated the U.S., handing the Americans just their third loss in tournament history dating back to 1967. All three of those U.S. losses have come to Canada and all three in championship games, 1978, 2006 and now 2014. Lacrosse is our national sport but its box lacrosse most Canadians play, not field. In fact, Canada has never lost a box lacrosse game at the worlds. Winning the field championship doesnt qualify as a shock but more of a nice surprise. Congrats to Team Canada, who just so happened to be one of the youngest teams weve ever sent to the worlds, and will be a very serious threat to repeat in 2018. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the refreshing comments of relief pitcher/closer Huston Street as he departed the bottom-feeding San Diego Padres for the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels. There would be lots to say about the horrible state of the Padres franchise, but street said this; "I believe in the ownership--they want to win--theyre not satisfied with the status quo. I blame the players for what has happened here." Well, even though theres plenty of blame to go around and it does extend to the front office and to ownership - the Padres field a lineup that is not of big-league quality - Street is quite right, as a player, to let others find fault with others and to say that, of all the reasons teams lose, the biggest reason is always that players perform badly. Sparky Anderson Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. Omar Infante Jersey .J. Fair didnt have many chances to be the main option for Syracuse last season. http://www.tigersgearshop.com/. The Calgary skip fell 10-8 to Swedens Oskar Eriksson in semifinal action Saturday and will face Switzerlands Peter de Cruz for the bronze medal (Saturday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2). Travis Wood Jersey . The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled to arrive in Boston in time for a workout on Tuesday afternoon. Much of Mondays discussion focused on Bostons lineup considerations as the series progresses, specifically when the venue shifts to St. Alex Wilson Jersey . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile.TORONTO – When he lines up at centre ice, James van Riemsdyk has an idea of what he might attempt, but doesnt quite know for sure. Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. He and the Leafs continue to find good fortune in the individual reality that is the shootout, now up to a league-leading nine victories following a 4-3 edging of the Sabres at the ACC on Wednesday night. "The shootout is a game in itself obviously," said head coach Randy Carlyle afterward, his team boasting a 9-4 record in such situations. "When you win them its a positive. When you lose them its a negative. Thats the bottom line. "Were fortunate this year that our record in the shootout is a real strong positive for our hockey club and its earned I dont know how many extra points." Still trying to establish who and what they are, the Leafs have needed each and every one of the nine additional points theyve gained from their success in the shootout. On a whole lot of nights, including Wednesdays against the league-worst Sabres, theyve struggled to find a complete performance only to emerge with a victory of sorts in the shootout. Carlyle assigns shootout selection duties to assistant coach Greg Cronin. His choices have narrowed recently around three shooters – van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, and Tyler Bozak – each of whom has been better than 60 per cent on the season. Leaf shooters have actually been among the most accurate in the league this season after posting the worst mark in 2013. Led by Lupul, who has scored on six of seven attempts, including the winner against Buffalo, Toronto owns a 48.6 per cent success mark in the shootout – good for second-best in the NHL. Last season, a year in which they dropped every one of their five shootouts, the Leafs had the most futile shooters in the league – just 12.5 per cent on 24 attempts. Bozak, in fact, was the lone shooter to even score. Toronto boasts eight shootout victories since the start of November, owning just five in regulation in that same span. Now streaking with wins in three consecutive games, they sit seventh in the East with 53 points. "Theres been a lot of extra points gained by it," said Carlyle of the shootout, which sealed the season series with Buffalo. "If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what our job is [to] get ourselves back [on track] and climbing into a playoff position." Five Points 1. Balance Rare is the night in which the Leafs have received offence from many different sources, but against the Sabres that was just the case. Each of the top three units accounted for a goal in victory, including Phil Kessels 22nd of the year, Nik Kulemins sixth and the second in the NHL career of Morgan Rielly, set up by generally quiet second unit (more on that below). "Its always an advantage if you can get three lines providing certain levels of offence," said Carlyle, who moved Peter Holland onto a third unit recently in hopes of spurring more of an attack. Toronto had scored eight goals in the previous three games, all of which came from a scorching top line of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak. "We need everybody contributing," Carlyle continued. "If you look at the teams that are having success theyve spread that offence around and theyve been able to get quality minutes from everyone in their lineup." Often over-dependent on that top unit – each member played more than 22 minutes vs. Buffalo – Wednesday marked just the 13th time in the past 35 games that the Leafs have managed three goals or more. 2. Second Line Slumber Aside from an occasional burst or odd contribution – the line had a hand in the third goal from Rielly – Torontos second line of Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and Joffrey Lupul has remained an infrequent source of offence. Kadri has just one goal in the past 16 games, Raymond has two goals in the past 21, and Lupul, the most effective of the group recently, has still gone pointless in 12 of the past 18 outings. A source of production for the trio earlier in the year, some of the trouble stems ffrom lacking success on the power-play.dddddddddddd. Kadri has just one power-play point in the past 19 games, Raymond owns three in the past 21 and Lupul, just four in the previous 28 outings. 3. Reimers Night Making just his second start since Dec. 21, James Reimer showing some rust in yielding three goals on 30 shots to the Sabres, including an unlikely game-tying goal from Cody Hodgson. The first marker from Matt Ellis snuck through short side. The second goal, a Matt Moulson snipe from an odd-man Sabres rush, went post to post and under the bar, a slick shot from the former Islander. The final strike, a power-play marker from Hodgson, found an unlikely hole between Reimer and the post – one that still puzzled the 25-year-old afterward. "I still dont really know how it went in," said Reimer, who earned his first win since Dec. 19. "My foot was against the post. Thats my play. Thats what I do. Ill look at the video and see if it squeaked in somewhere where I can close it. I do that every play, every time and its never gone in." 4. Stacked Deck Jonathan Bernier has unquestionably grabbed hold of the Toronto crease in recent weeks, but theres also no doubting that Reimer has been handed a bad deck of cards. A look at the 25-year-olds five starts prior to Wednesday night and the poor performances which surrounded them: • Dec. 12 at St. Louis: 6-3 LReimers Night: 3 goals/15 shots*Post-Game Quote: "Tonight it looked like we were totally brain-dead in a lot of areas." – Randy Carlyle • Dec. 17 vs. Florida: 3-1 LReimers Night: 3 goals/23 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We simply got embarrassed." – Mason Raymond • Dec. 19 vs. Phoenix: 2-1 SOWReimers Night: 1 goal/35 shots.Post-Game Quote: "Thats the one thing we know we can count on Reims for is compete level and battle." – Joffrey Lupul • Dec. 21 vs. Detroit: 5-4 SOLReimers Night: 3 goals/12 shots* Post-Game Quote: "Obviously we didnt have a very good first period." – Randy Carlyle • Jan. 9 at Carolina: 6-1 LReimers Night: 6 goals/36 shotsPost-Game Quote: "We stood around for most of the hockey game tonight." – Randy Carlyle *Pulled after the first period 5. Riellys Progress Morgan Rielly is now 40 games into his NHL career, adding his 13th point against the Sabres. The 19-year-old has, according to Carlyle, "taken some steps and then has taken a few sideways", evaluated with a similar lens as his 23-year-old defence partner Jake Gardiner. "Our expectations for Morgan arent as high as they are for Jake at this point just being where he is in his career," said Carlyle. "Theyre both talented young players. We think that theres a future for those two guys to be a big part of our defence. We want to make sure were handling them the right way." Unlike Gardiner, who was pulled from the lineup last week, Rielly has played in every game since early December, when he sat for three consecutive games with World Junior speculation swirling. Stats-Pack 9 – Shootout victories this season, most in the NHL. 48.6 per cent - Effectiveness of Toronto shooters in the shootout this season. 1 – Goals in the past 16 games for Nazem Kadri. 5-6-0 – Record in the second end of back-to-back sets this season. 2 – Goals in the past 21 games for Mason Raymond. 3-1-1 – Record versus Buffalo this season. 4 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel. Kessel has two goals and eight points in that span. 23:33 – Ice-time for Kessel against the Sabres, most among forwards. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-2Season: 22.1 per cent (5th) PK: 1-2Season: 77.5 per cent (27th) Quote of the Night "Youre in the same locker room then youre in the same bus, the same plane, the same hotel. The hardest part is trying to stop it from going through the entire team. Those guys have kind of been quarantined off and the rest of us have been just washing our hands and trying to stay away from it." -Joffrey Lupul, on stopping the spread of the flu bug through the Leafs dressing room. Up Next The Leafs host Montreal at the ACC on Saturday. 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