The Toronto Maple Leafs are taking advantage of the rather inconsistent NHL schedule.
After opening the regular season with three losses to Montreal, Detroit and Ottawa in four nights, the club practiced for the second straight day at the Mastercard Center in Etobicoke, ON with five days of inactivity before returning to action on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Both contests are with teams that many predicted would make the postseason who are both 0-3 on the season and include the first encounter of prominent ex-Leafs against their former team.
David Clarkson played just three games for Columbus after being traded for Nathan Horton before suffering a season-ending oblique injury. The oft-injured 31-year-old winger is expected to miss his fourth striaght game when the Blue Jackets play Ottawa on Wednesday, but will likely make his season debut against Toronto at Nationwide Arena according to GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
The high powered Pittsburgh offense has stumbled out of the gate, scoring just three goals in losses to Dallas, Arizona and Montreal. The Penguins will face the Senators on Thursday before Toronto visits on Saturday.
Pittsburgh's leading scorer is not named Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang, but is Phil Kessel, who scored his first goal against the Coyotes last Saturday and an assist in a 3-2 loss to the Habs on Tuesday. The five-time 30-goal scorer will face Toronto for the first time since the July 1st mega-deal that brought prospect Kasperi Kapanen, defenseman Scott Harrington, forward Nick Spaling and two conditional draft picks back in return.
“I think it will be fun. We got to see a different side of (Phil) than (the media), he was always a fun guy to be around. He’s a friend of mine, he’s a friend of a lot of guys in here, but it will be fun to compete against him.… former teammate Joffrey Lupul said. “They’re not off to the start they wanted, so I’m sure we’re going to get their best game.…
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Are the Toronto Blue Jays becoming more popular than the Maple Leafs in the GTA??
If you consider followers on Twitter an accurate gauge, then the answer to that question may be yes.
The Blue Jays account on the social media site has gained over 350,000 followers since the trades for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and pitcher David Price in late July and puts the Major League franchise over 1 million followers according to an article on the CBC website.
The Leafs hold on being the most popular Canadian sports franchise on Twitter may come to an end based on the Blue Jays success in the postseason, as they face the Texas Rangers in a deciding Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series at Rogers Center on Wednesday.
"We do see these kinds of spikes in sports around a team or athlete when they're winning," said Christopher Doyle of Twitter Canada. "A playoff run can really galvanize a fanbase."
Toronto is entering a rebuild under GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock and are not expected to be a postseason threat for a few years, while the Blue Jays may have their best chance at playoff glory during that same timeframe.
There may be no right way to determine who the most popular franchise in Toronto is until both clubs are both having success, as they did in 1993. The Blue Jays played most of the season in a stadium about half full until the trades for Tulowitzki and Price were made, while it took a decade of futility to start having empty seats at Air Canada Centre.
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