CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The odds of the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup were out of sight at the beginning of the 2018-19 season and they got even worse when the club hit the NHL basement in early January.
On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors, although they finished second in the NBA Eastern Conference, the smart Las Vegas oddsmakers picked Milwaukee, Philadelphia and the Boston Celtics to last longer than the Raptors.
The oddsmakers conceded the NBA crown to the Golden State Warriors. Today, the Raptors are the NBA champions and the Blues winners of the Stanley Cup, a stunning outcome for sports fans south of the border.
If you had suggested to me that St. Louis would win the Stanley Cup last January, I may have recommended a stint in the “Enchanted Castle” because the Blues were dead last among 31 NHL teams as of Jan. 2, 2019. Goaltender Jordan Binnington made his first start for the Blues on Jan. 7, and from that point onwards fashioned a story that’s almost unbelievable.
The little goaltender who toiled for seven years in the minors, starting out with Kalamazoo of the ECHL and working his way to the Blues’ farm club in San Antonio of the American League at the beginning of last season, was the difference. In my opinion, Binnington, not Ryan O’Reilly, should have won the Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP, but nobody in St. Louis cares.
The Raptors’ win was not nearly as much of an upset for Canadian fans. They had the second-best record in the NBA and people were anxious to see what superstar Kawhi Leonard would do in the playoffs. He was the best player, a standout offensively and defensively. Leonard is as popular as any pro athlete that ever played in that city.
In both the Blues and Raptors’ runs to the championships, the head coaches, Nick Nurse of the Raptors and Craig Berube of the Blues, used their players wisely.
Some air-head NBA analysts tried to blame Nurse for a timeout in the Game 5 loss, but that was completely unfair. Leonard and his own players were running on empty, so Nurse needed the timeout. Had his team shot better in the final stages, it would not have mattered, but someone has to be blamed for a loss.
The same thinking prevailed in some circles after the Bruins’ Game 7 loss, pointing fingers at goaltender Tuukka Rask, who was their best player in the playoffs. The Blues shut down the Bruins over the last 40 minutes and allowed one goal in the final game while the Raptors won three road games in Oakland. It’s time for people to give credit to the champions, both most deserving.
Golf
Golf fans on Prince Edward Island and players are finally getting golfing weather and that’s great news for the Island courses that have been plagued with damp, wet, cold weather during April and May.
The U.S. Open is now underway in Pebble Beach, California. At the start of this tournament, Las Vegas oddsmakers listed Rory McIlroy at 9-1 and that’s a hefty price for a guy that has been sharp this year and is coming off a blistering final-round 60 to win the Canadian Open last week.
It’s like betting horses coming off a lifetime best, a wise move and which tells me Rory will be in the hunt heading into Sunday’s final round.
Another to consider at longer odds is Jordan Spieth, who is coming off three straight top-10 finishes and who won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2017, so he’s a sleeper in my books.
Of course, most of us love to see Tiger Woods and he’ll be trying to repeat a U.S. Open victory at Pebble Beach almost 20 years ago. Tiger will be looking for his 4th USA Open crown and, at age 43, the odds are against him.
Hale Irwin was 45 when he won the U.S. Open, but Tiger is considered one of the greatest of all time and that’s why Las Vegas bookmakers has him listed at 10-1, trailing the two favourites, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.
Celebrity tournament
On the topic of golf, the Novus Celebrity Golf tournament (previously the Gerard Gallant Celebrity tournament) is just around the corner and Adam Binkley sends word that although all the golf will take place at the beautiful Mill River course, the Monday night Celebrity Dinner will be held at Credit Union Place in Summerside.
The new Tough in the Rough scramble on Monday, July 15, at Mill River features noted NHL and pro hockey tough guys like Forbes Kennedy, Clark Gillies, Terry O’Reilly, Alex and Brett Gallant, Darren Langdon, Goldie Goldthorpe from Slapshot, Billy McGuigan and a huge cast of others.
Avondale’s Saul Lanigan is a name not that familiar with the P.E.I. sports crowd, but he may soon be. He goes to school at U of Texas on a golf scholarship and has had rounds of 65 and 66 at his home course and seldom plays higher than par at any course.
You can see Saul at the baseball fundraising tournament on July 11, $450 per team. Coaches Dave McIsaac, Ron Hennessey, Vern Doyle and Doug Hines and Myles Grady have the applications, or contact Connor Lea at Avondale.
Harness racing
Live harness racing resumes Saturday at Charlottetown at 6 p.m., with the Maritime Breeders final – $22,375 for three year old fillies and $18,000 for colts. There’s also a $3,100 top class with Bugsy McGuire, Rose Run Quest, Euchred, Rockin Indy and Screen Test… a great card at Mohawk Saturday with the $1,000,000 North American Cup, where four or five horses can win. The sleeper here is the red-hot De Los Cielos Deo, who stormed home in 25 seconds for David Miller last week. Also Saturday, the Fan Hanover Stakes for three-year-old fillies, the Roses Are Red and a $100,000 Invitational with McWicked… at the Meadowlands this week there are a pair of $40,000 trot events, where Hambletonian winner Marion Marauder and Pinkman meet Island ex-champ Pappy Go Go and seven others… at Yonkers Saturday, Mark MacDonald has the outside seven hole with Mach It So in the $44,000 Open Pace and the six hole with Swansea in the $44,000 Open Trot.
Fred MacDonald's column appears every Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at [email protected].