Tough As Nails Kevin Pillar

Baseball can be a rough and physical game. Players get hit will pitches and batted balls all the time. What happened on Monday night in Atlanta is a testament to just how tough baseball players can be. In the 7th inning of the contest between the Braves and Mets, outfielder Kevin Pillar was struck flush in the face with a 94 MPH fastball. Resulting injuries included multiple nasal fractures which will keep him out of the lineup for considerable time. That still didn't stop him.

When he walked into the clubhouse before last nights game against the Braves, Pillar not only said he felt fight but was jokingly stating that he wanted to be inserted into the lineup that night. All this coming after he was, amazingly, able to get up and walk off under his own power after getting hit. The fact that he wanted to get back out and play says a lot about not only his toughness but his overall character as well. So did the fact that he was more worried about Braves pitcher Jacob Webb (the pitcher that hit Pillar on accident). Pillar told Webb don't worry about it and stuff like this happens. That shows a lot of class on Pillar's part.

With Pillar out, it only adds to the growing list of players on the IL at the moment for the Mets. He's joining Conforto, McNeil, Davis, Almora, Guillorme, Davis and Walker who have all hit the IL as of late. And yet, somehow, as of this writing, the Mets are STILL sitting in first place in the NL East. But hats off to Pillar for wanting to come back and play. Shows a lot of guts

Stanley Cup First Round Preview

The time has finally arrived. After a 56 game regular season, the National Hockey League has reached the greatest time of the year. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally upon us. We started this journey back in January with 32 teams, and now we're down to the final 16 clubs. All with one goal in mind. Raising the Stanley Cup high over its head. We got to take it one step at a time. That first step is the opening round, which will see play commence within each division. Here's the matchups and predictions for the first round.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Islanders
Pittsburgh won the East division with 77 points, while the Islanders locked up the final spot in the division with 74 points. This is the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with New York winning four of the five previous series. They last met in the 2019 Eastern Conference First Round, which New York won in a four-game sweep. Pittsburgh won six of eight games in this year's regular season series.

Here's what has me worried going into this series. Pittsburgh has home ice advantage for this series, and the Islanders haven't been anywhere near as strong on the road this season as they are on home ice. They haven't looked that great at stretches against the Pens either. Plus with the way the Islanders looked over the final few games of the regular season, it's tough to tell if this team is really playoff ready.

Pick: Penguins in 6!

Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins
Washington finished second in the East with 77 points, losing out on the tie breaker to the Penguins. Boston finished third in the East, finishing with 73 points. This is the fourth playoff series between these two teams, with Washington winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Washington won in seven. These teams split their eight-game regular season series.

From a Boston point of view, goaltending has been a bit of an issue, but with Tukka Rask healthy again and ready to play, the Bruins should be fine. Scoring should be decent with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastranak, all of whom scored more than 20 goals this season. Craig Smith and Nick Ritchie were the only other Bruins who scored double digits in goals this season. Washington has plenty of scoring punch to counter what Boston has, with five guys hitting double digits in goals. But they have a problem without having the goaltending to match Boston.

Pick: Bruins in 6!

Carolina Hurricanes vs Nashville Predators
Carolina locked up a central division title, finishing with 80 points this season. Nashville finished fourth in the division with 64 points. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Carolina won six of eight games in this year's regular season series.

This may be one of the easier series to be able to predict. Nashville has veteran experience come playoff time, but they got into the playoffs in a weak way. This isn't discounting the fact that they are a good hockey team, but when your leading scorer from this season finished with 33 points (Roman Josi) I'm not giving it much hope. Carolina had the more balanced attack with Sebiastan Aho leading the charge. They've gone on deep runs each of the last few seasons into the playoffs and it looks like they got a great chance to do it again this year.

Pick: Hurricanes in 5!

Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida finished finished second in the Central Division with 79 points. Tampa Bay picked up 75 points, good enough for third in the Central. This is the first playoff meeting between these two rivals. Florida won five of eight games in this year's regular season series.

Florida surprised a lot of people by playing as well as they have this season. Huberdau and Barkov powered a pretty balanced Florida attack. But here's where it gets interesting. Florida hasn't won a playoff series since 1996. And they facing the defending Cup champions in the Lightning. Yes, Tampa has had stretches where they've looked out of sorts but they know how to turn it on come the post season. Plus there is still the treat of Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos being back healthy and available during this playoff run.

Pick: Lightning in 6!

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens
Toronto won its first division title since 2000 by capturing the North with 77 points. As for Montreal, they finished 4th in the North division with 59 points. This is the sixteenth playoff meeting between these two rivals, with Montreal winning eight of the fifteen previous series. They last met in the 1979 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, which Montreal won in a four-game sweep. Toronto won seven of ten games in this year's regular season series.

In order for Montreal to even sniff pulling off the upset in this series is how well Carey Price plays between the pipes, fi he can even go. Don't get me wrong Jake Allen is no slouch between the pipes, but Price needs to be back in the net and the go to guy for the Habs. They can get scoring from Toffoli and Petry but it won't be enough. Toronto high powered offense lead by Matthews, Marner and Tavares is going to be too much for Montreal to handle. The only question the Leafs are going to need to answer is between the pipes as the playoffs roll along as to who's going to be the answer. Campbell or Andersen needs to take charge now or it could be a quick exit for Toronto.

Pick: Leafs in 5!

Edmonton Oilers vs Winnipeg Jets
Edmonton finished second in the North with 72 points. Meanwhile Winnipeg came in with 63 points, good enough for a 3rd place finish. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams, and the first playoff meeting between these two cities since the 1990 Smythe Division Semifinals. Edmonton won seven of nine games in this year's regular season series.

Lets be real here, goaltending is the only real thing that can allow Winnipeg to even possibly pull off the upset in this series. Connor Hellebuyck is going to have to find something that strongly resembles his form from last season to give the Jets a chance. Sure, they have scoring punch with the likes of Connor and Scheifele, but its between the pipes thats going to matter the most. Edmonton we know can score. McDavid hit over 100 points on the year, while Draisaitl managed to add in 31 goals. Mike Smith is going to be key in the Oilers net too, but he's been a lot more sound in the Oilers nets.

Pick: Oilers in 5!

Colorado Avalanche vs St Louis Blues
Colorado not only won the West but also captured the Presidents Trophy with 82 points this year. St Louis finished 4th in the West with 63 points. This is the second playoff series between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2001 Western Conference Final, which Colorado won in five games. Colorado won five of eight games in this year's regular season series.

The Blues look quite different from the team that won the Cup two years ago. Binnington has been decent in net and O'Reilly still makes this offense go along with Perron. But they going up against the team that has been the best in the league all year long.Grubauer won 30 games in net for Colorado. MacKinnion and Rantanen leading the Avs in scoring. This maybe the easiest matchup of the bunch to pick.

Pick: Avalanche in 4!

Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild
Vegas finished second in the West with 82 points. Minnesota finished the 3rd place team in the West with 75 points. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Minnesota won five of eight games in this year's regular season series.

Yes I know that the Wild won five of the eight games and on paper may have the Golden Knights number, but Vegas has had a lot more playoff experience and depth to it the last couple of seasons. Minnesota is solid no doubt, but Vegas at the end of the day is going to have the edge and come away with the win

Pick: Golden Knights in 5!

2021 NFL Schedule Release

It has finally happened. We got four more months before the madness begins. The National Football League has announced their schedule for the 2021 regular season for all of its 32 teams. Fear not, we'll give you the full slate of games for both the Jets and Giants, like we always do. Before we get into that, here's some of the other out of market games that will have fans drooling over to watch as the season wears on.

Week 2: SNF: Chiefs @ Ravens Mahomes vs Jackson

Week 4: SNF: Bucs @ Patriots This one is a given, Brady's first game back in New England

Week 4: TNF: Jaguars @ Bengals: Matchup of two guys with bright futures in this game. Burrow vs Lawrence

Week 5: SNF: Bills @ Chiefs Another easy one to pick AFC title game rematch

That's just some of the marquee games. Lets get right to local business. Here's what the two New York teams will be doing this season

September 12th vs Denver 4:25PM
September 16th @ Washington 8:20PM
September 26th  vs Atlanta 1:00 PM
October 3rd @ New Orleans 1:00 PM
October 10th @ Dallas 4:25 PM
October 17th vs Los Angeles 1:00 PM
October 24th vs Carolina 1:00 PM
November 1st @ Kansas City 8:15 PM
November 7th vs Las Vegas 1:00 PM
November 14th BYE WEEK
November 22nd @ Tampa Bay 8:15PM
November 8th vs Philadelphia 1:00 PM
December 5th @ Miami 1:00 PM
December 12th @ Los Angeles 4:05 PM
December 19th vs Dallas 1:00 PM
December 26th @ Philadelphia 1:00 PM
January 2nd @ Chicago 1:00 PM
January 9th vs Washington 1:00 PM

September 12th @ Carolina 1:00 PM
September 19th vs New England 1:00 PM
September 26th @ Denver 4:05 PM
October 3rd vs Tennessee 1:00 PM
October 10th vs Atlanta (London) 9:30 AM
October 17th BYE WEEK
October 24th @ New England 1:00 PM
October 31st vs Cincinnati 1:00 PM
November 4th @ Indianapolis 8:20 PM
November 14th vs Buffalo 1:00 PM
November 21st vs Miami 1:00 PM
November 28th @ Houston 1:00 PM
December 5th vs Philadelphia 1:00 PM
December 12th vs New Orleans 1:00 PM
December 19th @ Miami TBD
December 26th vs Jacksonville 1:00 PM
January 2nd vs Tampa Bay 1:00 PM
January 9th @ Buffalo 1:00 PM

So which games you looking forward to the most?

More Changes On Broadway

When they said there was going to be a rebuild on Broadway, they weren't kidding. Trying to win in New York isn't an easy thing, just ask David Quinn. Three years after being hired to take over a rebuilding franchise, Quinn has been relieved of his duties as head coach, the team announced this morning. The search has begun immediately for his replacement. The only coach from Quinn's staff that kept his job was goalie coach Benoit Allire

This announcement was made a few days after firing of General Manager Jeff Gorton and President John Davidson. Quiin missed the playoffs in two of the three years he was bench boss. The only year he made it was last year, and it resulted in a three game sweep in the qualifying round against the Hurricanes. Quinn went 96-87-25 in three seasons as Rangers coach. He had some good young pieces to work with along with some star veterans. At the end of the day, he just wasn't able to get the right mix working well together to take the blueshirts to the next level.

Coaching anywhere is a tough job, but in New York its even harder. When you have the win now attitude that we New Yorkers do, it adds just another layer of things for coaches to have to deal with. And its not all on the coaches, if the players don't produce. We say that all the time. You can't get rid of the players, so somebody has to take the fall. Usually that lands on the head of the coaches. Quinn did what he could, but it wasn't enough. So now the question becomes, who's next behind the bench?

According to various reports, there are a few early candidates. Names like Gerard Gallant, Rick Tocchet, Bob Hartley, John Tortorella, Mike Babcock and Patrick Roy have been tossed around already to take over behind the Rangers bench. Of those listed, I think Tortorella would be the least likely fit. We already went through this song and dance with him once on Broadway. Four and a half years and he was dismissed. Yes I do realize that it was a different group back then, but still I don't think Torts coaching style has changed that much. If it didn't work well then it might not work that well now.

Now we just wait and see. Whoever takes over running this franchise, in both the front office and behind the bench is going to have its hands full that's for sure.

Dark Knight Returns

Interleague games around Major League Baseball can still be fun. They provide interesting matchups between teams that don't face eachother all that often. We get that here in New York this week with the Baltimore Orioles coming in for a two game series with the Mets starting today. As if that wasn't intrigue enough, the pitching matchup for Wednesday's afternoon start makes it even better. Taijuan Walker gets the start for the Mets, while the O's will send the Dark Knight himself, Matt Harvey to the mound. It will be Harvey's first appearance on the New York mound since being traded away in 2018.

Harvey has good numbers in Baltimore this year, going 3-2 in seven starts with a 3.60 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 35 innings.  He was the talk of the town during the early part of his six year stint with the Mets, the teams ace while he was here. Then injuries started to take hold, and Harvey wasn't the same after that. Once he had that magic after Tommy John Surgery during the 23015 season, the year in which he practically willed the Mets into the World Series, he fell off. It was a combination of injuries and a poor performance mentally that saw Harvey get his exit from town. He had struggled at times with the Reds, Angels and Royals since then.

Now he seems to have found his footing again in Baltimore, showing slight flashes of his old self from his early days here in New York. Now that he's back pitching on the Citi Field mound again as a visitor for the first time on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see what happens. Both for his performance and for the crowd reaction. The crowd reaction to Harvey return is going to be good. I mean hey he did quite a lot for this franchise before he kind of fell off at the end of his run here. Lets face facts it was an event when Harvey took the hill for the Mets. We get the same kind of reaction now whenever Jake takes the hill. The fans still have a certain level of respect for what Harvey did here.

The other thing to look at is how well he's actually going to pitch being back here. He's been pitching solid for Baltimore this year and its a big game in the standings for the O's. So it makes for compelling TV on Wednesday afternoon in Queens!

Wake Up Call Needed

Its getting close to the most wonderful time of the year on the sports calendar. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are right around the corner. Yes the New York Islanders have already punched their ticket to the dance, for the third year in a row I might add. But the way things have gone the past few games, heck I'd go s far as to say the last few weeks, leave at least this Islanders fan with some level of concern.

There have been stretches this season, where it seems that everything is clicking and moving in the right direction. A direction that seems like the Islanders could equal or even possibly surpass last year's deep playoff run. And there's times where it looks like it's either going to miss the playoffs altogether or make a quick exit. The last two games have been trending towards a quick exit. It's been maddening to watch. They made an ECHL goalie look like the next big thing in two straight losses to the worst team in the league in the Buffalo Sabres. To make matters worse, both of those losses have come on the road, where the Islanders are now 11-13-3. It's even more glaring when you look at their 20-3-3 record on home ice.

It would take a miracle over the final weekend of the regular season for the Islanders to get home ice advantage in their opening round series, as they would need to win out in their final two home games against the Devils and then win in Boston on Monday. Combine that with needing the Bruins and Capitals to lose their games to give the Islanders a chance to host their first round matchup. Now, looking at the other three teams in the playoffs with the Isles, which one is the most favorable matchup? For the first round it would be a better draw facing the Boston Bruins. Why? easy, the Isle have had the Bruins number for most of the year this year. Washington and Pittsburgh have both had better results against the Islanders, not only during this regular season, but the last couple of times the franchises have faced off in the playoffs.

That's only half of it. The other half, and what has driven us fans up the wall, is the inconsistency of the Islanders offense. There's some nights that they set the world on fire and can shoot the lights out. there's some nights where the team looks like its just skating through the motions. I realize that this happens to every hockey team throughout the course of a season, it's part of the game. But you'd like to think that a good, to great, team finds their stride at the right time come playoff time. And don't get me wrong the defensive side of the game has been, for the most part, great. It's been more consistent then the offensive side of the game for sure. There's only so much and so far that the great goaltending and defense can take you. You need to be able to score goals and there needs to be more of that from the Blue and Orange.

They had better get this figured out and get that consistent scoring touch going again, or it could be a quick playoff exit

Cheap Shot Extraordinaire

The role of an enforce has been vital to any hockey team. They keep the stars on the team on their feet and gives them room to operate. Tom Wilson is the man playing that role for the Washington Capitals. Or at least he thinks he does. The view of Wilson around the league isn't very good. He's a cheap shot artist and has been known to cross the line more than once in a game.

Tonight against the New York Rangers was a perfect example of that. Here's the video in case you hadn't seen it yet:

I get what Wilson is trying to do, he's trying to throw the other teams off their game. he's good at that I'll give him credit it where it's due in that regards. But what happened tonight is crossing the line.

He's a repeat offender in the NHL, having been suspended by the league seven times already. The worst one being a 20 game suspension as a result of an illegal head hit on Oskar Sundqvist of the St. Louis Blues during a pre-season game. With what Wilson did tonight against the Rangers deserves another one. I'm not saying it should be as long as what he got in 2018 but it has to be something. Either that or kick him out of the league, there's no room in today's game for the kind of stupid, dangerous, stuff that Wilson does on the ice.

Its also worth noting, that any time he gets involved with another enforcer, Wilson disappears and has to be saved by the refs. The fact that the league still allows Wilson to get away with stuff like what he did in the video is mind numbing. If the league doesn't do anything to Wilson for his actions tonight, there's something wrong with this picture.