Days of the dominant three-man forward line in the NHL all but over

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In that time, they played with whoever was available — Brett Callighen, Dave Lumley, Dave Semenko, Mike Krushelnyski, Mark Napier, Esa Tikkanen, Dave Hunter and Raimo Summanen. And I’m probably missing a few.

They never stopped scoring, no matter who was on their left side. They never stopped producing, playing together for four Stanley Cup winning seasons in Edmonton.

It was a little different with Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy of the four-time Cup champion Islanders. They didn’t have a regular left winger either. Sometimes they played with Clark Gillies. Sometimes they played with John Tonelli.

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The difference between what Gretzky and Kurri did, and what Matthews and Knies are hoping to do, is that Trottier and Bossy were blessed to play with upper echelon banging wingers such as Gillies and Tonelli for the most part.

There are no Gillies or Tonellis waiting for Matthews and Knies. But in today’s NHL, are there many great lines?
Sasha Barkov will start the season in Florida with Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe on the wing. That’s pretty good, but it’s not Trottier, Bossy and Gillies.

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The day of the great line may be over in hockey. The day of the great two-thirds of a line may not be new in today’s NHL — but across the league, it is certainly apparent.

THIS AND THAT

This is what separates Aaron Judge from just about everybody else in baseball. With a week to go in the regular season, he ranks first in OPS, first in WAR, first in on-base percentage, first in batting average, first in runs scored, first in walks, first in total bases and first in slugging. By comparison, the very good but not generational Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ranks fifth in OPS, 13th in WAR, thrd in on-base percentage, sixth in batting average, seventh in runs scored, fifth in walks, 13th in total bases and 14th in slugging. Judge, by the way, is second to Cal Raleigh in home runs in the American League. Guerrero is 27th in homers … Guerrero, especially if Bo Bichette is missing come playoff time, will be the entire focus of the Jays offence. When judging him, remember this: Judge had a rather dreadful post-season with the Yankees last year … If the Jays finish the season 4-4 in their final eight games, they’ll win 93 games, the same number as the much beloved 2015 Blue Jays wound up with … Don’t get caught up fantasizing about who Max Scherzer used to be. The notion of him starting a playoff game for the Jays was quaint a few days or weeks ago. Now it’s mostly frightening … If Trey Yesavage were 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, he would be Tim Lincecum. But Yesavage is 6-foot-4 and 225, which makes him even more dangerous. The downhill delivery looks the same — it’s just coming from a higher point. Lincecum was 7-0 with a 2.34 earned run average with the San Francisco Giants’ World Series teams. Makes you wonder just what Yesavage is capable of now — and in the future … I wouldn’t be the least bit upset about a starting playoff rotation of Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Yesavage and Chris Bassitt in the post-season. Quite likely, the Jays will play with either the Yankees or the Red Sox in the American League Divisional Series, assuming the Jays don’t collapse in the final week of the season and relinquish first place … One of the quietly sound trades Ross Atkins made: Cavan Biggio for Braydon Fisher … When the season began, the Jays were 15-1 to win the AL East, the fifth longest odds in a five-team division … Prospect lists and ratings make for fine reading and so does all kinds of fictional material. Just about the highest-rated Jay the past five years, Orelvis Martinez, has been released by Toronto. Nowhere to be found on most of those top-25 Blue Jays lists: Addison Barger or Davis Schneider … One of the reasons the Jays lost to Kansas City in the 2015 American League Championship Series was superb situational scouting done by the Royals. K.C. almost knew what the Jays were going to do before they did it in the series. Now I wonder: with scouting as sophisticated as it has become in baseball, how will this unusual version of the Jays hold up to scouting at the highest level.

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HEAR AND THERE

I majored in English at university. I’ve listened to every interview McDavid has done in trying to explain why he hasn’t yet signed with the Oilers. I have no clue what he’s trying to say, other than he’s saying nothing of substance, using a variety of sentences. For a player who hates being the story and hates drama, he’s sure making himself the story and creating drama around his eventual re-signing … Keith Pelley promised the Leafs would be more accessible under his watch. On the opening day of training camp, the Leafs made Matthews, John Tavares and the always interesting Morgan Rielly the only Toronto players available on the podium, for all of 13 minutes combined. That’s less than one question per reporter. That’s about as unavailable and protective as you can get … Had Marner stayed with the Leafs, the Matthews-Marner-Knies line had a chance to go down as the best in modern franchise history. Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald, with either Tiger Williams or Errol Thompson was pretty good. Same with Doug Gilmour with Dave Andreychuk and Nik Borschevsky. Mats Sundin never had a memorable line except for the moment or two he played with Alex Mogilny … McDavid is third in career points per game in the NHL, which is pretty remarkable considering that those ahead of him, Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, played in higher scoring times. Gretzky leads historically at 1.92 per game, followed by Lemieux at 1.88 and McDavid at 1.52. After McDavid is Bossy at 1.5 and Bobby Orr, a defenceman, at 1.47. After that, it’s Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Peter Stastny, Peter Forsberg and Crosby in that order … This is McDavid’s 11th NHL season and Matthews’ 10th. By this time in their careers, Guy Lafleur had five Stanley Cups, Gretzky and Bossy had four and Lemieux had two. Bobby Hull and Drew Doughty won Cups in their fourth NHL seasons and Forsberg won in his second year … This won’t happen again: Jaromir Jagr won Cups in his first two NHL campaigns. McDavid, Draisaitl and Matthews are still looking for one.

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SCENE AND HEARD

If anyone understands the crazy Kawhi Leonard negotiations, it would be Larry Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum heads up the Board of Governors in the NBA. He was party to some of the wild asks in 2019. It will be interesting to see how far the NBA wants to go in punishing the Clippers and Leonard for potentially violating rules and how much Tanenbaum is willing to push from his BOG position — which greatly influences commissioner Adam Silver — to punish a fellow owner in Steve Ballmer … For the past two decades, Los Angeles has been blessed with the presence of greatness. Within days of each other this week, Clayton Kershaw and Anze Kopitar announced their retirements. This will be Kershaw’s last season pitching for the Dodgers. This coming season will be Kopitar’s last with the Kings. Kopitar won two Stanley Cups. Kershaw was part of two World Series teams with the Dodgers, won three Cy Young Awards, five ERA titles and is the modern-day leader for starting pitchers with an ERA of 2.54. Kopitar won two Selke Awards, three Lady Byngs, was a finalist for the Hart Trophy. In his past eight seasons, he missed just four games. Kopitar is 38. Kershaw is 37. What a run both men have had: Same city, different sports, over most of this century. Both will be first-ballot Hall of Famers … Thought we stole Justin Jefferson in the second round of our fantasy football draft. Thought that until we realized how terrible the quarterbacking is for the Minnesota Vikings … Things to brag to Americans (or other nations) about: We are the hammer-throwing champions of the world. Both men and women. Nobody can throw a hammer like we do … And when we’re not just throwing hammers, we’re kicking butt in World Cup women’s rugby tournament.

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AND ANOTHER THING

In 1960, the Maple Leafs traded for Red Kelly, one of the great defencemen in hockey history and then did the unlikely. They moved Kelly to centre after 13 seasons on the blue line in Detroit. It was considered a reach at the time. Kelly had 70 points in his first year as a forward, finishing sixth in NHL scoring. He played his last seven seasons in Toronto and won four Stanley Cups, a lot of the time centring Frank Mahovlich. Why does that old news matter now? I know some hockey people of prominence who think the Leafs should pull a Kelly with Rielly and move him to forward. Take advantage of his speed, skating and natural puck-handling skills. I’m not saying I agree with that thinking — in fact, I don’t — but considering the history and Rielly’s challenges defensively in recent seasons, it might be worth more than consideration … The best officials in any sport are the ones you notice the least. Apparently, none of them are working in the Canadian Football League … Those who know Jack Hughes are surprised to see him with a bit of an edge and sauciness in recent public appearances. Not sure what, if anything, this will mean for his play, but it’s surprising for those who you used to deem as the boy next door with New Jersey Devils … If you look close enough on the sidelines, you might well think that Novak Djokovic is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles … If I were in charge of football, doesn’t matter the league, quarterbacks would not be allowed to throw forward passes underhand. Just seems wrong to me … It took only until Week 2 of the NFL season for Canadian rookie Elic Ayomanor to score his first touchdown. The farmer from Saskatchewan via Medicine Hat is off to a fine start, having been thrown to 13 times already with the Tennessee Titans … Wasn’t Chad Kelly supposed to be back under centre for the Argos by now? Like Labour Day or around there? … Why can’t TSN televise Argos games showing the north side of the stands at BMO? They’re mostly full and it would look way better to a television audience … Canadian Rob Thomson didn’t get a chance to manage in the big leagues until age 58 and, at first, that was an interim appointment. The interim part didn’t last long. This is his third straight 90-plus win season with the Philadelphia Phillies. His winning percentage as of Saturday is .581, which is the equivalent of winning 94 games a season … The Jays have won more than 94 games four times in their history … Did you know that local guy Jordan Romano was a 10th-round pick of the Jays in 2014: Their first pick in that draft: Then starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Hoffman was drafted from East Carolina, same place the Jays selected Yesavage from … Wishing a happy and, more importantly, a healthy New Year to all who celebrate Rosh Hashonah … Happy birthday to Sittler (75), Tavares (35), Wynton McManis (31), Cecil Fielder (62), Sergei Bobrovsky (37), Renee Paquette (40), Greg Valentine (75), Ed McAleney (72), Jason Bay (47) and Artis Gilmore (76) … And hey, whatever became of Anthony Gose?

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