The front-running Phillies are one game away from a sweep in Miami.
The Phils jumped out to another early lead and won a 4-2 contest Saturday afternoon over the Marlins.
Jesus Luzardo tallied his 13th win for the 83-59 Phillies. He threw six innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Luzardo walked four and struck out eight, raising his season total to 190.
With Trea Turner sitting, Kyle Schwarber led off for the Phillies and reached on a hit by pitch. Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters in Miami that Turner’s rare day off was planned.
After Alec Bohm lined out, Bryce Harper cracked a 1-2 Sandy Alcantara fastball over the center-field wall.
The Phillies tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning. Brandon Marsh doubled and sprinted home on Harrison Bader’s RBI single up the middle. Max Kepler then blooped a hit into shallow left field and Edmundo Sosa beat out an infield single. Bryson Stott’s sacrifice fly extended the Phillies’ advantage to 4-0.
Luzardo struck out the side in the second inning and did it again in the third. He was a bit unfortunate to concede two runs in the fourth. Three of the Marlins’ four hits in the frame came on soft contact, but Miami halved the Phils’ lead.
The pitch has been a great go-to for Luzardo and it’s a major reason why he’s allowed zero home runs to left-handed batters this year. Among National League sweepers, Luzardo’s has the highest whiff rate (43.5 percent).
Luzardo walked Eric Wagaman with one out in the sixth inning and gave Javier Sanoja a free pass with two outs. Thomson stuck with Luzardo and he successfully finished off the inning after pitching coach Caleb Cotham’s mound visit. Troy Johnston flew out to center field on a sweeper.
David Robertson took the ball in the seventh inning and worked around Maximo Acosta’s leadoff double. Bizarrely, Acosta attempted to steal third base with one out. J.T. Realmuto rifled a strong throw to Bohm for his second caught stealing of the day and the 200th of his career.
The Phillies were unable to find any late-inning insurance runs. Schwarber was just short of his 50th homer in the ninth, flying out 389 feet to deep center.
The back end of the bullpen didn’t need a cushion. Matt Strahm pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Jhoan Duran did the same in the ninth.
Taijuan Walker (4-7, 3.92 ERA) will start the series finale Sunday at 1:40 p.m. ET. Miami has yet to name its starter.
The front-running Phillies are one game away from a sweep in Miami.
The Phils jumped out to another early lead and won a 4-2 contest Saturday afternoon over the Marlins.
Jesus Luzardo tallied his 13th win for the 83-59 Phillies. He threw six innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Luzardo walked four and struck out eight, raising his season total to 190.
With Trea Turner sitting, Kyle Schwarber led off for the Phillies and reached on a hit by pitch. Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters in Miami that Turner’s rare day off was planned.
After Alec Bohm lined out, Bryce Harper cracked a 1-2 Sandy Alcantara fastball over the center-field wall.
The Phillies tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning. Brandon Marsh doubled and sprinted home on Harrison Bader’s RBI single up the middle. Max Kepler then blooped a hit into shallow left field and Edmundo Sosa beat out an infield single. Bryson Stott’s sacrifice fly extended the Phillies’ advantage to 4-0.
Luzardo struck out the side in the second inning and did it again in the third. He was a bit unfortunate to concede two runs in the fourth. Three of the Marlins’ four hits in the frame came on soft contact, but Miami halved the Phils’ lead.
The pitch has been a great go-to for Luzardo and it’s a major reason why he’s allowed zero home runs to left-handed batters this year. Among National League sweepers, Luzardo’s has the highest whiff rate (43.5 percent).
Luzardo walked Eric Wagaman with one out in the sixth inning and gave Javier Sanoja a free pass with two outs. Thomson stuck with Luzardo and he successfully finished off the inning after pitching coach Caleb Cotham’s mound visit. Troy Johnston flew out to center field on a sweeper.
David Robertson took the ball in the seventh inning and worked around Maximo Acosta’s leadoff double. Bizarrely, Acosta attempted to steal third base with one out. J.T. Realmuto rifled a strong throw to Bohm for his second caught stealing of the day and the 200th of his career.
The Phillies were unable to find any late-inning insurance runs. Schwarber was just short of his 50th homer in the ninth, flying out 389 feet to deep center.
The back end of the bullpen didn’t need a cushion. Matt Strahm pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Jhoan Duran did the same in the ninth.
Taijuan Walker (4-7, 3.92 ERA) will start the series finale Sunday at 1:40 p.m. ET as the Phils go for a sweep. Miami has yet to name its starter.
Former Minnesota Wild defenseman Marco Scandella announced his retirement from the National Hockey League (NHL) on Thursday. The 14-year NHL defenseman was orignally drafted by the Wild with the 55th pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Scandella, 35, recorded 27 goals, 62 assists and 89 points in 373 games with the Wild across seven seasons. He was eventually traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a trade that also sent forward Jason Pominville to Buffalo in exchange for forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. Some draft picks were also included on both sides.
The 6-foot-3 defender played 176 games with the Sabres before he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. He played 20 games for the Canadiens before he was moved to the St. Louis Blues that same year.
He played four more seasons in the NHL after that, all with the Blues before he played his last NHL game during the 2023-24 season.
In his career, Scandella recorded 51 goals, 119 assists and 170 points in 784 games.
Here at The Hockey News Ottawa, we obviously try to focus on stories that matter directly to Ottawa Senators fans. But if you're of a certain vintage, the Senators aren't your first love, simply because the Sens didn't exist until 1992. So I'd wager that half of the current Sens fans out there over the age of 40 grew up cheering on the Montreal Canadiens.
And so a lot of fans in Ottawa today are mourning the passing of Habs goalie Ken Dryden at the age of 78, in much the same way they'll mourn a beloved Ottawa Senator in the future. As a result, as someone who loved the Habs as a boy, I'm going to break format to share a few personal thoughts about Dryden, even if they emanate from what's now a rival NHL city.
In Ottawa during the 1970s, no matter who you cheered for, it was impossible not to admire Dryden. He was the calm giant who led Montreal to six Stanley Cups in eight seasons. He also defended our goal when Team Canada saved the world (it sure felt like that) with a win over the Soviet Union in the eight-game 1972 Summit Series.
Dryden was a fixture on those great Montreal Canadiens teams, which lost just 29 regular-season games combined over three seasons in the mid-70s. To put that in perspective, that three-year total is one fewer than the Senators lost last season, and Ottawa couldn't have been happier with that seasonal performance.
As a kid, only my best school teachers could disrupt my Hockey Night in Canada classroom daydreams and sketches, often starring Dryden, either making an impossible save, or famously standing there during stoppages leaning on the top of his stick.
Like so many Canadian kids of that era, I was a hockey card collector. Richmond Public School recess was often spent huddled with friends, flipping through stacks of trading cards and reciting the familiar refrain: “Got 'em, got 'em, need 'em.”
Our school playground was right across the street from Storey’s General Store, which stocked more candy and hockey cards than a nine-year-old Warnesy knew what to do with. The O-Pee-Chee cards came in waxy blue packs with 10 to 15 players inside – it seemed to vary from year to year. And there was this thin pink rectangle of stale, petrified gum that we should have thrown away but never did.
Opening a fresh pack of cards was magic. Sometimes you'd find a no-name player from a team you forgot existed. Sometimes you got a star, and once in a while, if you were lucky, a Montreal Canadien. But for me, nothing compared to pulling a Ken Dryden card.
When that happened, I was Charlie Bucket, and Dryden's card was the golden ticket.
As an adult, my career in sports media brought me face-to-face with Dryden on four occasions, usually around the release of one of his books. He wasn’t what I expected. He seemed more professor than athlete – thoughtful, measured, and serious in a way that made you sit up a little straighter. I did my best not to slip into fanboy mode.
After one radio interview, while discussing his book Game Change in 2017, he challenged my co-host and me on the issue of concussions in hockey.
The Senators had just come off their run to the Conference Final, and Clarke MacArthur’s comeback from long-term concussion symptoms was fresh on everyone’s mind. MacArthur had played just four games in 2015-16, then just four more in 2016-17. So he had just missed 156 of 164 games due to concussions. But suddenly, MacArthur was able to play in all 19 playoff games that spring, before immediately retiring due to concussions at age 32.
Dryden wanted to know why we, as members of the Ottawa media, weren’t pressing harder on the story, asking about the health risks that may have been taken and permitted, and why a player with long-term concussion issues was seemingly allowed to have his one last hurrah before calling it a career.
It was jarring to be taken to task by my childhood hero—but it was also quintessential Dryden: principled, articulate, and unwilling to let the easy answer slide. It's part of why Dryden’s legacy extends well beyond the crease.
He was an author, a lawyer, a broadcaster for the 1980 Miracle on Ice, an NHL executive, and even a cabinet minister. Few figures in Canadian sport have been as accomplished, or as thoughtful, in so many areas.
That said, I'll remember him best as the star of my childhood Saturday nights in front of our low-def TV, the perennial MVP of my hockey card collection, and the calm giant who stood tall in the crease for the Canadians and the Canadiens.
News of his passing on Saturday hit harder than I expected. At this stage of life, I’ve grown used to seeing idols leave us, but this one landed flush.
Flight Plan For Success - Jan. 13 2020 - Vol. 73 Issue 1 - Jared Clinton
THERE’S A story, one you might have heard before, about the Winnipeg Jets returning home. No, not the current Winnipeg Jets, not the ones who headed north from their former home in Atlanta and have since put down roots in Manitoba’s capital. The other ones, the original franchise, which now makes its home in the Arizona desert. And as the story goes, it was only by the narrowest of margins the franchise that left Winnipeg in 1996 and headed south to become the Coyotes failed to complete the circuit. But Mark Chipman isn’t sure it’s understood just how close that return was to coming to fruition. “We had a press conference scheduled for a Saturday morning and the chairs were set up,” said Chipman, chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment, of the flirtation with an NHL homecoming in May 2010. “Nobody knew that. But on that Friday, there was a good chance that we would have reacquired the original Jets.”
It took another year, however, before Chipman, along with True North’s David Thomson, commissioner Gary Bettman and other executives, stepped on stage to announce the acquisition of the Thrashers and Winnipeg’s reintroduction to the NHL ranks. But after 15 years spent laying the foundation for the historic return by turning the Manitoba Moose into a first-rate AHL organization, Chipman didn’t see the May 2011 announcement as mission accomplished. “It’s never, ever been our intention to just be in this league – it was never, ever (assistant GM) Craig Heisinger’s or (GM) Kevin Cheveldayoff’s or any of our mindset to say that we’re in. ‘Let’s just be satisfied that we’re in,’” Chipman said.
THE PHYSICAL SIZE OF THE MARKET DOESN’T DICTATE HOW MANY HOCKEY FANS RESIDE WITHIN IT
- Mark Chipman
Despite the lack of early on-ice success, the results, particularly in recent seasons, bear out Chipman’s assertion that satisfaction didn’t come from simply punching Winnipeg’s ticket back into the big leagues. Across the three seasons prior to 2019-20, Winnipeg iced one of the NHL’s most competitive rosters, and the Jets’ 300 points are tied for the seventh-most in the league over that span. That’s not to mention Winnipeg’s back-to-back playoff appearances, which included a trip to the 2018 Western Conference final.
It’s that success, and the capacity to retain star players such as Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey on long-term deals, that also sees Chipman repudiate the long-held notion that the majority of NHL players bristle at the thought of playing in Winnipeg. Some have considered the small market – at a population of roughly 750,000, the city proper is the smallest in the NHL – and Winnipeg’s climate as two of the greatest challenges facing the organization. Chipman, however, maintains that perception has been “fictional for so long,” something that was even said, and did not hold true, during his pre-professional hockey ventures. “It’s really a fallacy,” Chipman said. “The physical size of the market doesn’t dictate how many hockey fans reside within it and how many really passionate hockey fans reside within hockey fans. The collective bargaining agreement that we operate under makes it not only possible for us to succeed, it absolutely allows us to compete.”
However, if there is a sector where the market size does present drawbacks, Chipman concedes that large corporate sponsors can be more difficult to secure in Winnipeg. “There are not as many large headquarters (as bigger markets),” Chipman said. “Although Winnipeg, surprisingly, has a lot of head offices in it that people don’t appreciate or understand, more so than Edmonton. Still, the biggest revenue number on any team’s profit and loss statement comes from tickets, the sale of tickets. We do really well there.”
Indeed, that is the case. Prior to a failed sellout in mid-October – for which a winter storm that felled trees and left large swaths of the city without power was somewhat at fault – the Jets had packed the house for 332 consecutive games. It’s no surprise, then, that the streak has started anew. Winnipeg is often heralded as one of the most raucous arenas in the league, and the famed Whiteout, which has been co-opted and parodied by other franchises throughout the NHL and North American professional sports, is inarguably among the fan base’s greatest exports. Coincidentally, it’s the passion of the fan base that presents the greatest test. “People are so invested, financially or emotionally, that you carry this responsibility,” Chipman said. “That’s the biggest challenge, not wanting to let people down.”
That goes beyond the ice, too, and Chipman and Co. pride themselves on the establishment and evolution of the True North Youth Foundation.
With humble beginnings that date back to its days as The Manitoba Moose Yearling Foundation, which was established in 1996 and served primarily as a charitable passthrough, TNYF has transformed into a self-programmed organization that features several initiatives, including the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, Camp Manitou and Project 11, a mental-health awareness program that was launched following the suicide of former Moose player Rick Rypien. Last year, the program reached 30,000 students, and its growth – and the work that Heisinger, a close friend of Rypien’s, has put into the program – has been among the most fulfilling of TNYF’s accomplishments. It’s projected to be in more than 2,000 classrooms in the coming year. “We are extremely mindful of the responsibility of being an NHL team in a Canadian market,” Chipman said. “It’s often referred to as the responsibility to give back. It’s more than that. It’s a responsibility to be a part of, to be woven through the community, so that’s what we try and do.”
THAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE, NOT WANTING TO LET PEOPLE DOWN
- Mark Chipman
The most recent way, and unquestionably the most visible way, in which True North’s footprint in the community has grown is through its development downtown. After announcing its intention to transform a downtown space adjacent to Bell MTS Place, True North purchased the land and has since opened a 17-story office building and retail space and a 25-story residential building. Additionally, a food hall is set to open its doors in early 2020, while the announcement of an intention to build a fifth tower, which will act as the North American headquarters for Wawanesa Insurance, was made in June 2019.
Chipman insists this wasn’t in the cards, let alone even dreamt up, a decade or two ago, though he did have hopes that putting the arena in the city’s core would rejuvenate the downtown. Even now, he says the development of True North Square was solely the result of an opportunity presenting itself. “That’s all this was, a matter of looking out the window at some less-than-favorable conditions and saying, ‘Maybe we can leverage the momentum that was starting to occur in downtown,’” Chipman said.
As for what comes next, Chipman is quick to note that True North has its hands full. Not only is there work to be done on the ice – “It’s an up-at-dawn strategy trying to win in this league,” he said – there are upgrades to be completed inside Bell MTS Place, there’s another tower to be constructed in the burgeoning arena district, and the efforts of TNYF are unceasing.
But Chipman has faith that the Jets and True North will continue to move in the right direction despite the reputation as a small market with a harsh climate, especially if they adopt the resilience that he believes is born, bred and has been baked into the community throughout generations. “As long as that mindset resides here,” Chipman said, “we can be the smallest team in the NHL and not just be a team in the NHL.”
After a heartbreaking ending to his NHL debut, Red Wings winger Carter Mazur returns more driven than ever, opening up in an exclusive interview with The Hockey News.
The Detroit Red Wings are coming off another turbulent season, finishing the 2024–25 campaign with a 39-35-8 record that ended in disappointment as they surrendered a two-goal lead in their final game. While fans are eager to move on and focus on a fresh push for the playoffs this season, it’s important not to overlook one of the most heartbreaking storylines from last year.
After being drafted in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, Carter Mazur quickly worked his way up the prospect rankings before finally getting his call up to the NHL last season. The Michigan native was red hot with the Grand Rapids Griffins, totalling eight goals and seven assists for 15 points through his first 20 games of the season. Due to his play showing signs of an impact player, Mazur was called up to play for the Red Wings, his childhood team in what seemed like a dream scenario.
Earlier in the season, Mazur did miss time with an undisclosed upper-body injury but had recovered and was ready to make his debut. With his family in attendance, including his mother, Mazur shared a heartfelt moment as the family celebrated the realization of his lifelong dream. However, the joy was short-lived. On just his second shift in his NHL debut, Mazur attempted to lay a body check and reaggravated his upper-body injury, bringing his season to an abrupt end.
The Hockey News recently got an exclusive interview with Mazur and asked him about his recovery, how he feels going into this season and what his future goals are with the Red Wings. He said felt “a lot of mixed emotions” after sustaining the injury but revealed that getting so close to his dream before having it taken away makes him more motivated than ever.
“It's been my dream ever since I was a little kid to play for the Detroit Red Wings, so just to get the taste of it was kind of a good thing, and it just makes me want to work even harder to get back there,” Mazur said “I’ve had the right people behind me, the right training staff and everything to go through that injury, it was pretty tough when it happened but I'm looking forward to getting back out there and showing them what I can do."
The 23-year-old winger has his sights set on making the Red Wings roster once again and feels like he is in a favorable spot to rejoin the team once again.
“I'm not really a stat guy, I don't really care about stats and I'm more about making a team right now, I'd say I think I'm in a good position to make Detroit, that's my main goal” Mazur explained “I got a little taste of it last year, even though it ended pretty badly, which kind of sucked, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to go into camp and just put my best foot forward and just show them what I can do."
The former Denver Pioneer had a successful college career with 75 points in 81 games and helped lead his school to a NCAA National Championship in 2022. He carried that momentum into the AHL, where he became an impact player over two seasons, posting 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points in 86 games. What makes these numbers even more impressive is that Mazur doesn’t view himself as a point producer, but rather as a gritty, physical player who brings energy and edge to the ice. One of his favorites in the NHL to watch right now is Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett.
“I was watching [Bennett] in playoffs, and just how he competes, and he's just a hard player to play against, I feel like that's kind of how I am I'm not going to be a guy who's going to go out there and dominate and get you 80 points,” Mazur outlined "I'm a gritty guy, I like to go to the hard areas, I feel like I would fit well on a top line, I could play up and down the lineup, and it's just something that I've really built in my game, I like to penalty kill, I just like to be hard to play against. I think that's probably the biggest thing that stands out about my game."
One of the most notable topics of conversation this off-season around the Red Wings has been the top line left wing spot with few solutions to the problem. Teams like the Edmonton Oilers are rumored to be experimenting with rookies in their top six forward group like high-end prospect Isaac Howard being thrusted into a top line role with Connor McDavid. When asking Mazur if he would like the opportunity to receive the same treatment and play on the top line, he said it would be “a dream come true” and that some have compared his style of play to a former Detroit top line winger in Tyler Bertuzzi.
“Making the team, let alone playing on a line with two of the best players in the NHL, especially in Detroit, It's just something that I gotta work for, everyone wants to be a top line player, and everyone wants to be out there when it matters the most and those guys have done it for a couple of years, and watching them develop, and watching them play together is pretty special,” Mazur noted “I would really buy into that role. I feel like, I know a lot of people like to compare me to Bertuzzi, and he did that role for quite a while, and I feel like that's something I am aiming for, I know you have to work your way up the lineup and It's not going to be that easy but again, I'm more focused on making the team.”
In a brief conversation, Mazur came across as an incredibly driven player whose success is rooted in his high compete level and relentless work ethic. During the offseason, he enjoys golfing and spending time with family in the Jackson, Michigan area. A die-hard Detroit sports fan, Mazur is focused on cracking the Red Wings roster next season, but he’s also eagerly following the Lions' Super Bowl hopes. His personality shines through quickly, as Mazur is open and easy to talk to, turning what could have been a standard interview into a fun, engaging conversation. Detroit fans will no doubt be cheering for his comeback next season.
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Thomas Sorber, the No. 15 pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder in last June's NBA Draft, will miss his entire rookie season after tearing his ACL and needing to undergo surgery, the team announced.
Sorber suffered the injury during a workout in Oklahoma City. He did not play at Summer League this year because he was still recovering from a foot injury that ended his season at Georgetown early.
Sorber averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game for the Hoyas during his one season in college. The 6'10" big man would have had a limited role this season on a stacked Oklahoma City team, but this is still a setback in the development of a guy the Thunder are going to lean on for frontcourt minutes in the future.
This is the third time in four years that Oklahoma City's top pick is going to miss his rookie season due to a significant injury. Chet Holmgren missed his rookie season, 2022-23, with a foot injury. Last season, Nikola Topic missed the entire year with an ACL tear similar to Sorbert. Topic recovered and showed some promise playing for the Thunder at Summer League this year.
It’s not easy to modernize a franchise that has been around forever and is the oldest team in the NHL. If the Montreal Canadiens were to try to revamp their jersey or alter their logo, there would likely be protests in town, as their jersey has almost become sacred. It’s therefore not all that surprising that the team opted to revamp the logo at center ice instead.
In the past, the face-off dot at the Bell Center featured one oversized Canadiens logo. There was nothing wrong with the classic look, but it didn’t exactly pop out, and owner Geoff Molson requested a change.
The task fell to the Canadiens’ art director for the last three years, Antonin Brault Guilleaume. According to The Gazette’s Stu Cowan, Guilleaume tried to introduce a bit more blue to the design. Still, the team owner, president, and chief executive officer was adamant about wanting the circle to be red.
This season, at center ice, there will be one big Canadiens logo, and the whole face-off circle will be painted in solid red. Aside from the logo itself, the words “Canadiens de Montreal” and 1909, the year of the team’s inception, will be featured.
The team didn’t just settle on a simple paint job, though; the logo is 3D-styled, and alongside the circle, there are 24 grooves representing the team’s 24 Stanley Cup conquests. On its website, the organization explains that it has chosen to have its name written in French because it’s the province’s official language and it underscores its unique NHL roots.
Chances are that if they didn’t decide to use the French name, the Office de la Langue Française, Quebec’s language watchdog, would have objected, just like it did to the STM allowing its drivers to put the “Go Habs Go!” message on their bus during the last playoffs, claiming the message should have included the word “Allez” instead of “Go”. The watchdog backed down after the prime minister’s intervention, but the damage was done.
Fans will be able to admire the new logo next weekend, on September 13 and 14, when the Canadiens will host a prospect showcase at the Bell Centre, featuring its own prospects, those of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets.
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The popular sporting video game series by EA Sports, NHL 26, is set to launch next week on September 12 for Playstation and XBOX.
Over the past two weeks, the software developer has begun unveiling its rankings for each different playing position in the game.
Among those listed within the Top-10 at each position have been a handful of Winnipeg Jets players.
The first position ranking provided by EA Sports was defenceman Josh Morrissey, who was given a 90 overall rating, ranking him eighth among all blueliners.
The second Jets player to earn a place on the Top-10 position rankings was winger Kyle Connor, who was named the No. 4 left winger in the game with a 92 overall stat line.
The third player from the Jets to garner a Top-10 spot of the 1,000-plus players in the database was centreman Mark Scheifele, who was listed as the tenth-best centre in the game.
Now, in the final position rankings, was goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, last season's Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Jennings Trophy winner.
Undoubtedly the best goaltender in the league, Hellebuyck's NHL 26 ranking reflects that, as he is the No. 1 goaltender on the platform with a 94 overall rating.
The 32-year-old put up a 47-12-3 record to go alongside a career-best eight shutouts, a 2.00 goals against average and a .925 save percentage as he helped Winnipeg to the Presidents' Trophy as the No. 1 team following the conclusion of the regular season.
Hellebuyck's overall rating went up one percentage point from NHL 25 from a 93 to a 94 overall, ranking him as the best goaltender and No. 8 player in the game overall.
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Jonah Tong gets the ball for his first start on the road after he allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out six over 5.0 innings in his MLB debut. The young righty has allowed just 19 earned runs in 118.2 innings across the majors and minors (1.43 ERA) this year
Mark Vientos added a homer and two RBI in Friday's win as he stays hot: .324 (22-for-68) with 14 extra-base hits (nine homers) and 24 RBI with a 1.192 OPS in his last 18 games
Juan Soto added two more hits in the series opener and is now slashing .309/.469/.711 for a 1.180 OPS with 12 home runs in his last 27 games
With five walks in his last two games, Francisco Lindor is continuing to get on base at a fantastic rate: .481 OBP in his last 22 games. During that span, the shortstop is batting .393 and has a 1.133 OPS with 13 extra-base hits, including five home runs
Brady Singer will get the ball for the Reds. He has a 4.08 ERA, 1.256 WHIP, and 140 strikeouts in 143.1 innings over 27 starts
METS
REDS
Francisco Lindor, SS
TJ Friedl, CF
Juan Soto, RF
Noelvi Marte, RF
Brandon Nimmo, LF
Elly De La Cruz, SS
Pete Alonso, 1B
Austin Hays, LF
Jeff McNeil, 2B
Gavin Lux, DH
Mark Vientos, DH
Spencer Steer, 1B
Brett Baty, 3B
Sal Stewart, 3B
Luis Torrens, C
Jose Trevino, C
Cedric Mullins, CF
Matt McLain, 2B
What channel is SNY?
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Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices.
Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.”
To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available.
For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here.
Born with a bravado to match that of the team he led to a world championship, Davey Johnson was the perfect manager for the 1986 Mets, brash enough to predict his ballclub would “dominate” the competition that season and immodest enough to howl “I told you so” when all was said and done.
Johnson, 82, died Friday night, leaving a legacy as an accomplished major league player and manager for several teams. He was most successful as a manager with the Mets, racking up 595 wins over six-plus seasons, the most by any skipper in team history.
Above all, he’ll always be remembered most fondly in New York for winning the second and still the most recent championship in the history of the franchise.
It took something of a miracle in Game 6 of that World Series against the Boston Red Sox to bring home the title, of course, with Mookie Wilson’s ground ball trickling through Bill Buckner’s legs to complete a two-out rally in the 10th inning. Yet in some ways, that too was fitting for the team and its manager, both forever oozing with a confidence that bordered on arrogance and created a belief that they couldn’t lose.
Johnson’s self-assurance was at the heart of what made Queens the place to be in the mid-to-late 1980s, the rare period in New York baseball history when the Mets, not the Yankees, unquestionably owned the city.
It was Davey, after all, who was secure enough in his ability that he managed with a loose rein, giving a famously boisterous group of players the freedom to flaunt their talent, speak their mind, and even publicly disagree with the manager on occasion.
In his 2018 book, “My Wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond,” Johnson succinctly summed up his style during his time with the Mets: “I just let everybody do their thing.”
Yet there was never any mistaking who was in charge, thanks to Johnson’s brilliant baseball mind. Even as a player who helped the Baltimore Orioles win championships in 1966 and 1970 -- and lose to the upstart Mets in 1969 -- Davey was always considered a deep thinker who was destined to manage.
May 28, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets former manager Davey Johnson is introduced to the crowd during a pregame ceremony honoring the 1986 World Series Championship team prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. / Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
In fact, as a young player, he was nicknamed “Dum-Dum” by some veteran Orioles who thought he was a little too smart for his own good at times.
“He was a guy who was always thinking about things,” Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer once said about Johnson. “Very cerebral, even to the point of overanalyzing a situation, but I think that became one of his strengths as a manager.”
In fact, Johnson was ahead of the curve as one of the first managers to rely on a computer to give him an edge in creating lineups, bullpen matchups and the like. Analytics before there was such a thing, in a sense.
As a player, Johnson even tried to convince Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver on the benefits of statistical analysis, as he recalled when he was hired to manage the Orioles for the 1996 season.
“I used to work on this program I called ‘optimizing the Orioles lineup,’” Johnson told reporters. “I would run it through the computer and bring the data to Earl Weaver. I found out that if I hit second instead of seventh, we’d score 50 or 60 more runs, and that would translate into a few more wins. I gave it to him, and it went right into the garbage can.”
Johnson was never shy about voicing his opinion on all matters baseball. It was a trait that would create conflict with Mets GM Frank Cashen and may well have hastened his departure when Cashen decided to fire him during the 1990 season.
It also led to some tension during his playing days with the equally headstrong Weaver, but eventually Johnson came to regard his Orioles’ manager as one of his mentors.
“He handled the pitching staff the right way,” Johnson once said of Weaver. “He knew how to use his relievers. He was a genius that way. I took it in.”
As a player, Johnson was a fixture at second base on those Orioles teams that went to the World Series four times from 1966 to 1971, winning three Gold Gloves and putting up solid offensive numbers.
Sep 12, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson looks on before the game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
It wasn’t until Johnson was traded after the 1972 season, reportedly because Weaver felt his second baseman was becoming more interested in bulking up to hit for power than playing defense, that he had his most memorable season.
Playing for the Atlanta Braves in 1973 at age 30, Johnson hit 43 home runs, setting a record for second basemen that stood until 2021 when Marcus Semien hit 45 with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Johnson never hit more than 18 in a season before or after that year, and by the mid-1970s, his stock had fallen to the point that he went to Japan to be a starter for two years before returning to the U.S. to finish out his career as a part-time player for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.
After his playing days, Johnson got into managing due in part to his connection with Cashen, who had overseen baseball operations for the Orioles in the 1960s and 1970s before taking the GM job with the Mets.
Cashen hired Johnson in 1981 to manage in the minors with the Mets and then decided the time was right to promote him to manage the big-league club in 1984. With a wave of young talent led by Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, Johnson experienced immediate success, winning 90 games in ’84 and 98 games in ’85, both times falling short of the postseason at a time when there were no wild-card berths.
“Davey had great knowledge, and I think his real strength was knowing how to develop the young pitchers we had then,” former GM Joe McIlvaine, who was Cashen’s assistant in ’84, once said. “I don’t think anybody could have done a better job with Doc, with Ron Darling, and Sid Fernandez that first year. That set the trend for the next five years.”
After finishing behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East in ’85, despite their 98 wins, Johnson wasn’t shy about predicting greatness going into the ’86 season. He told his team in spring training, and anyone who would listen, “We’re not just going to win, we’re going to dominate.”
His team backed up his words, winning 108 games and running away with the division title, then surviving an epic NLCS against the Houston Astros and finally coming back after losing the first two games of the World Series to defeat the Red Sox, miracle Game 6 comeback and all.
“Like I told you guys all along, there was never a doubt,” Johnson crowed gleefully after Game 7.
Davey Johnson while managing the Mets / Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
In total, for those five years that McIlvaine referenced, from ’84 through ’89, the Mets were the best team in the National League. However, their failure to win more than one championship left a sense that they didn’t fulfill their promise.
As such, Johnson eventually faced criticism from Cashen, who wanted his manager to be more of a disciplinarian. And then there was the 1988 NLCS, which the Mets lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers after having dominated them during the season, winning 10 of 11 games.
The turning point came in the ninth inning of Game 4 with the Mets poised to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Gooden, after walking light-hitting John Shelby, famously gave up a game-tying two-run home run to equally light-hitting catcher Mike Scioscia, and the Dodgers won the game in extra innings.
Though it was an era where pitchers routinely went much deeper into games than they do now, there was a case to be made that Gooden was running out of gas, especially after he walked Shelby. Yet over the years, Johnson remained defiant about his decision.
“That was Doc’s game,” Johnson said in 2013, when he was asked about it. “I’ve never had a second thought about leaving him in.”
True to his confident nature, Johnson rarely doubted himself, at least publicly, about any decision he made. But in 1990, with the Mets off to a 20-22 start, Cashen fired Johnson on May 29, replacing him with third-base coach Buddy Harrelson. The team went on to win 91 games but finished second in the division behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
From there, Johnson went on to have success managing the Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and the Washington Nationals, reaching the postseason with each of them, in addition to a stint with the Dodgers. A career managerial record of 1,372-1,071 (.562).
He won Manager of the Year awards in ’97 with the Orioles and then in 2012 with the Nationals in a distinguished career that, together with his playing accomplishments, has made his Hall of Fame candidacy on various veterans committees a subject of considerable debate.
Whether he ever gets into Cooperstown remains to be seen. However, Johnson is a member of the Mets Hall of Fame, with a legacy in New York that was forever secured with the ’86 championship that defined Johnson in so many ways.
The Vancouver Canucks are starting to build a strong prospect pool. Whether through the draft, trade or free agency, there are quite a few prospects who could make an impact at the NHL level sooner rather than later. Here is a look at the top ten prospects in Vancouver's system heading into the 2025-26 season
*Note: To qualify for this list, players must be 23 or under and have played fewer than 25 combined NHL regular-season and postseason games. Players are ranked based on age, position, potential, and overall performance during the 2024-25 season.
After two seasons with the Barrie Colts, Riley Patterson was traded to the Niagara IceDogs in search of a new start. The trade is already looking like it will benefit the 19-year-old, as he will get an opportunity to play more at center rather than on the wing. With Patterson projected also to get significant time on the power play, it is possible that he records his first point-per-game season in the OHL this year.
10. Anthony Romani- Michigan State University, NCAA
C, 6'0", 185 lbs- 162nd Overall in 2024
Anthony Romani is headed to the NCAA next season to join Michigan State. With a stacked roster, it is unclear what the 20-year-old's ice time will look like, which means he could be a bottom-six player for the majority of the year. The hope is that playing against older competition will help Romani's development and make it an easier transition when he eventually moves to the AHL.
9. Wilson Björck- Colorado College, NCAA
C, 6'0", 165 lbs- 143rd Overall in 2025
The first player from the 2025 NHL Entry Draft featured on this list is Wilson Björck. The 19-year-old was a standout at Canucks development camp and is on the radar for Sweden's 2026 World Juniors team. Björck's development this season will be something to keep an eye on, as he is leaving the J20 Nationell and joining the NCAA.
8. Ty Mueller, Abbotsford Canucks, AHL
C, 5'11", 185 lbs- 105th Overall in 2023
Ty Mueller is one of Vancouver's more intriguing prospects for the 2025-26 season. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut in 2024-25 and was a key member of the Abbotsford Canucks Calder Cup championship last year. If Mueller has a strong start to the season, he could be one of the first players called up if injuries occur.
After a successful WHL career, Sawyer Mynio looks ready to make the jump to the AHL. Based on Abbotsford's 2025-26 roster, the 20-year-old may play most of the season lower down the lineup, but should get some time on the penalty kill. Mynio should also get some games in the pre-season, as it is clear the Canucks have big plans for him in the future.
6. Alexei Medvedev- London Knights, OHL
G, 6'2", 178 lbs- 47th Overall in 2025
At the 2025 draft, Vancouver jumped at the opportunity to select goaltender Alexei Medvedev of the London Knights. The 17-year-old had a strong regular season, posting a 22-8-2 record with three shutouts as a backup. Now that Medvedev is the starter, the question is, can he lead London back to the Memorial Cup for the third straight year?
5. Ty Young- Abbotsford Canucks, AHL
G, 6'3", 181 lbs- 144th Overall in 2022
After a strong rookie campaign, Ty Young enters the year as the projected backup for Abbotsford. The 20-year-old looked strong in limited action at the AHL level last season, and could get extended time as a starter if injuries occur in Vancouver. Ultimately, Young will be a player to watch at training camp and should get some game action in this year's pre-season.
4. Kirill Kudryavtsev- Abbotsford Canucks, AHL
LD, 5'11", 200 lbs- 208th Overall in 2022
Kirill Kudryavtsev has developed into a draft-day steal for the Canucks. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut last season and was one of Abbotsford's most-used defensemen in the playoffs. While the Canucks do have some depth on the blue line, it would be shocking if Kudryavtsev does not receive a call-up sometime during the year.
With their first-round pick in the 2025 draft, Vancouver selected Seattle Thunderbirds captain Braden Cootes. The 18-year-old is a two-way center who is also one of the most completive players in the WHL. If Cootes can continue to develop as he did last year, it shouldn't be long before he finds himself a permanent spot in the Canucks middle-six.
2. Jonathan Lekkerimäki- Vancouver Canucks, NHL
RW, 5'11", 172 lbs- 15th Overall in 2022
All eyes will be on Jonathan Lekkerimäki this year as he looks to secure a full-time spot in Vancouver. The 21-year-old did play 24 games in the NHL last season, but spent part of the year being called up and sent down to the AHL. Ultimately, training camp and the pre-season will be crucial for Lekkerimäki as he will be competing with a handful of other players for spots on the main roster.
1. Tom Willander- Vancouver Canucks, NHL
RD, 6'1", 180 lbs- 11th Overall in 2023
After a successful career in the NCAA, Tom Willander is ready to make the jump to the NHL. While he may start the year in the AHL, the 20-year-old has the potential to be a top-four defenceman at the NHL level. Regardless of where he starts the season, it will not be surprising if Willander is a full-time NHLer heading into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
