Taking Center Stage

By: Mark Halpern

Steve Cohen has done more in his first two years as the New York Mets owner than the Wilpons ever did. He has said, “He won’t back down from spending money if it brings Championships to this club.” what is that, you may ask? Well, bringing talent to this team and recognizing what the needs and wants are is part of his bankroll helps; however, it’s his passion for the sport and his love of the Mets and its fan base. Free Agency is not something many teams look forward to

because they realize that other teams will steal their talent by way of the all-mighty dollar. Over the last two years, Steve Cohen brought in talent like Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Edwin Diaz (Resigned), Mark “Can Do” Canha, and many more to make this team great. However, there is one name that fans know drives this team’s personality and energy: Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo was drafted 13th overall in the 2011 draft. He progressed through the team’s farm system very quickly to AAA. In 2016 Nimmo got his first taste of action as he was called up to play 32 games in his first year, getting a taste of the MLB. In 2017 he started in AAA and was called up again during the dog days of summer to play 67 games in CF and was impressive on all fronts. In 2018 he was named the Mets starting Center Fielder and had an excellent offensive year batting .263 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI’s but his most impressive number was his OBP (On Base Percentage) of .407 and as a leadoff hitter. OBP is an important stat. He has a fantastic amount of patience at the plate and is in complete control. The reason Nimmo’s OBP was so high because he generates walks and gets on base. He sets the tone for the lineup, which is how you score runs, and in his first year, he scored 77 runs. He had an injury year in 2019, then the 2020 covid year, and a late start to 2021; we didn’t get a good sample size, but it wasn’t just his offense that was getting better. He was getting better defensively. In 2022 when things got back to normal somewhat, so did Nimmo by having a monster year, Batting .274, with 16 home runs, generating 64 rbi’s, scoring 107 runs, and recorded 7 (which he led the majors in) triples as the leadoff hitter for the Mets. Nimmo also had eight triples in 2018. The Mets club record for a season is 21, set by Lance Johnson, who had 21 in 1996. Nimmo had an OBP of .367 and 71 walks. Yes, he also struck out 116 times, but that can show he is trying to be more aggressive at the plate but still has excellent patience and helps generate runs. The Mets had a lot of holes to fill on this squad after the 2022 season, and one of their top priorities was Nimmo. There were rumors of other teams showing interest, but Cohen ended all of the worries when the Mets announced they had signed Nimmo to an 8-year deal worth $162 million. Nimmo is the most energetic and passionate player on this team. Nimmo is off to a hot start to the 2023 season by batting .349 with a .481 OBP and 10 Rbi, and 15 walks in just the first 19 games. I don’t doubt that Nimmo will only get better at every facet of the game. No matter what is happening, Nimmo is always smiling, and his offense and defense are getting better as he has become a featured player on a team with enormous talent. Nimmo keeps on impressing not only the fans but other top players as well, and I won’t be surprised if he is the starting Center Fielder for the 2023 NL All-Stars at the All-Star game this summer, and that is how the old man sees it.

Need More 

By: Mike Rifkin

Despite losing in game two, the Knicks will return to Madison Square Garden tied 1-1 in their first-round series with the Cavaliers. Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, who missed the last couple of weeks with a sprained ankle, have done their part. Brunson is averaging 23.5 points, four assists, and 3.5 rebounds. Randle is averaging 20.5 points, nine rebounds, and 2.5 assists. 

There are two other players that the Knicks will need more from if they are to win this series. Those players are Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett. Quickley, a finalist for the NBA’s Sixth Man Of The Year, averaged 14.9 points per game and shot 44.8 % from the field and 37% from three. Quickley, through two games in this series, is averaging 7.5 points per game and is shooting 30.8% from the field and 16.7% from three. Quickley, who had a significant impact on the regular season for the Knicks, needs to start impacting this series. 

RJ Barrett also needs to pick it up for a different reason. Before the season, Barrett was signed to a four-year 107 million dollar contract, and not just the contract, but Barrett was one of the pieces the Utah Jazz wanted in exchange for Donovan Mitchell, who is now a Cavalier. Barrett averaged 19.6 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists during the season. Through two games in this series, Barrett is averaging 10.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 3.0 assists per game, and 2..5 steals per game. Barrett shot 43.4 percent from the field during the regular season. In this series, he is shooting 24 percent from the field. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 27.5 points per game through two games. If the Cavs win this series, people will look and say if the Knicks had gotten Mitchell, they would’ve won. If Barrett plays well and the Knicks win the series, it becomes a non-issue, if they lose, people will look at Knicks management and ask why they didn’t make the deal.

If these two give the Knicks more, their chance of winning goes up. But for now, this series has turned into a best-of-five. Friday night, the Garden will be rocking.

Heavyweight Battles 

By: Mike Rifkin

It’s April and early in the Baseball season, but the schedule makers gave us a great week of Baseball. Three series stand out above the rest this week. In the American League, the Blue Jays travel to Houston to play the defending World Series Champs, Houston Astros, in what could be an ALCS Preview. In the National League, these two series could be NLCS Previews; the Mets travel to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers, and the Braves travel to San Diego to play the Padres. 

The Blue Jays are coming off winning two of three from the Rays. The Blue Jays are currently third with a .277 batting average, led by Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., currently the top two hitters in the American League. Blue Jays starting pitching outside of Kevin Gausman has been underwhelming. Gausman, who the Astros will see Monday night, is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA. The Astros are off to a 7-9 start and just lost two of three to the Texas Rangers. Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez have been great offensively, but the rest of the lineup has struggled. Two players in particular, Jose Abreu and Jeremy Pena, have struggled. Abreu, who signed a three-year contract in the offseason, has a slash line of .239/.282/.269 and doesn’t have a home run yet. The ALCS and World Series MVP, Pena, has a slash line of .227/.301/.409. They will also need Alex Bregman to hit better than .194, especially with Jose Altuve out. 

Pitching Matchups : 

Monday: Kevin Gausman vs. Cristian Javier

  Tuesday: Chris Bassitt vs. Jose Urquidy 

Wednesday: Jose Berrios vs. Luis Garcia.

The Braves and Padres are meeting for the second time this season. The Padres took three of four from the Braves in Atlanta last weekend. The Padres outscored the Braves 25 to 14 in that series. The Padres are coming off losing three of four to the Brewers, while the Braves swept the Royals. Manny Machado was 7-19 (.368) in the four-game series in Atlanta, with two doubles and four runs scored. Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth each had a home run in the series. The Padres so far are hitting .231, which is 26th in Baseball. The same cannot be said for the Braves’ offense, tied for fifth in average hitting.274. Matt Olson leads the team with five home runs. Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies have three homers each. Acuna has a slash line of .373/.455/.567. The Braves will get ace Max Fried back to start Monday. Fried, who injured his hamstring on Opening Day, has been excellent for the Braves since they acquired him from the Padres in the Justin Upton trade. 

Pitching Matchups :

 Monday Max Fried vs. Ryan Weathers

 Tuesday: Spencer Strider vs. Blake Snell

Wednesday: Charlie Morton vs. Nick Martinez

Two of the top five payrolls in Baseball will share the field starting Monday in Los Angeles when the Mets play the Dodgers. The Mets just swept the Oakland Athletics, and the Dodgers are coming off, losing two of three to the Cubs. Neither team has gotten going offensively. The Dodgers are 25th in average, hitting .231, and the Mets are 28th, hitting .217 as a team. Both teams are middle of the pack with their pitching. The Dodgers are second in Baseball with 27 home runs. Max Muncy leads them with six. Freddie Freeman has a .302 average with 28 home runs and 112 RBI in his career against the Mets. Pete Alonso has seven home runs and 16 RBI against the Dodgers for the Mets; Starling Marte had three home runs in the seven meetings last season, while Francisco Lindor hit .348 in those games. 

Pitching Matchups

Monday: David Peterson vs. Dustin May

Tuesday: Tylor Megill vs. Clayton Kershaw

Wednesday: Max Scherzer vs. Noah Syndergaard

Six outstanding teams in these three series, all of which could be an October preview. Sit back and enjoy the Baseball.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PREVIEW: WESTERN CONFERENCE 

By: Mike Rifkin

Central Division

  1. Avalanche vs. (WC1) Kraken: The defending Stanley Cup Champions start their quest to repeat against the second-year franchise, making the playoffs for the first time. The Kraken did win two of three meetings during the regular seasons. Both teams will be without essential players as Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog will not play in the playoffs recovering from knee surgery. Andre Burkaovsky, an Avs Cup-winning team member last season, underwent surgery for a lower-body injury, which will be a big blow for Seattle. Jaden Schwartz had a goal and three assists in two games against Colorado. Former Avs goalie Phillippe Grubauer was 1-0-1 with a 1.70 GAA and a .928 save percentage against his former team. One key for the Kraken during the regular season was they contained Nathan Mackinnon and Mikko Rantanen to a combined one goal. They don’t do that during this series. Alexander Georgiev gave up three goals on 35 shots in his only start against Seattle.

Prediction: Avs in five 

(2) Stars vs. (3) Wild: These two teams split their four regular-season meetings. Roope Hintz led the way for the Stars by having four goals and seven points in the four meetings. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, both of whom had bounce-back seasons combined for five goals. Jake Oettinger went 2-0-1 with a 1.87 GAA and a .937 save percentage against the Wild. Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov combined for three goals in the season series. Joel Eriksson Ek also had two goals. Marc Andre Fleury was 1-1 with a 3.87 GAA and a.896 save percentage against the Stars, while Filip Gustavsson was 1-1 with a 1.97 GAA and a.939 save percentage.

Prediction: Stars in six

Pacific 

  1. Golden Knights vs. (WC2) Jets: This is a rematch of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, where the Golden Knights won. Vegas won all three meetings during the regular season, but the two teams last played each other in December. Jack Eichel had three goals in his two games against the Jets. Jonathan Marchessault also had three goals in the three meetings. Laurent Brossoit, who played for the Jets for three seasons, will get the start in game one. Mark Schieffle had three goals in the three meetings for the Jets. Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor were held to an assist each against the Golden Knights. In two starts against Vegas, Connor Hellebuyck was 0-1-1 with a 3.40 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Vegas captain Mark Stone has been practicing with the team, so we’ll have to wait to see if he appears in the series.

Prediction: Jets in seven

(2) Oilers vs. (3) Kings: This is a rematch from last year’s first round, which saw the Oilers beat the Kings in seven games. The Oilers enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NHL. Edmonton is 9-0-1 in their last ten games. The teams split their four regular-season meetings. Connor McDavid, the Art Ross trophy, Rocket Richard, and presumed Hart Trophy winner had two goals in the four meetings. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists in the four meetings. Stuart Skinner, who has been impressive for the Oilers this season, was 2-1-0 with a 1.78 GAA and a .950 save percentage against the Kings. Adrian Kempe and Viktor Arvidsson had two goals in the four meetings for the Kings. Joonas Korpisalo was 2-1 with a 3.01 GAA and a .925 save percentage, while Pheonix Copley was 1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and a .921 save percentage against the Oilers this season.

Prediction: Oilers in six

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Eastern Conference

By: Mike Rifkin

The most incredible playoffs in all of sports are upon us. Here is a preview of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Eastern Conference 

ATLANTIC DIVISION : (1) BRUINS VS (WC2) PANTHERS: The Bruins had a historic regular season, having the most wins and points in a regular season. The Panthers did defeat the Bruins twice during the season. The biggest question for the Panthers is what should they do in goal. Should they roll with the hot hand in goal with Alex Lyon, who played well down the stretch, or do they go to Sergei Bobrovsky? Lyon defeated the Bruins in January, while Bobrovsky lost to Boston in October in their only start against them in the regular season. Aleksander Barkov had two goals and four assists against the Bruins. Linus Ullmark was 2-0-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .925 save percentage against the Panthers. David Pastrnak had four goals in four games against the Panthers. 

Prediction: Bruins in five 

(2) Maple Leafs vs. (3) Lightning: This is a rematch of last year’s first-round matchup that saw the Lightning win in seven games. The Lightning are looking to get to their fourth consecutive Cup Final, while the Leafs are looking to win their first series since 2004. The Leafs won two of three meetings during this regular season. William Nylander had three goals and three assists during the regular season meetings. Ilya Samsonov, the presumed starting goalie for the Leafs, did not play against the Lightning in the regular season. Andrei Vasilevskiy went 1-2 with a 3.06 GAA and .911 save percentage against the Leafs in the regular season. In 104 playoff games, Vasilevskiy is 63-38 with a 2.30 GAA and a .923 save percentage. The trio of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos combined for a goal and five assists against the Leafs during the season. 

Prediction: Lighting in seven 

Metropolitan 

  1. Hurricanes vs. (WC1) Islanders: The Hurricanes took three of four meetings against the Islanders during the regular season. Brock Nelson had three goals in the four meetings. Sebastian Aho had three goals in the season series. Frederik Andersen was 2-1 with a 2.67 GAA and a .905 save percentage. The Hurricanes will be without Max Pacioretty and Andrei Svechnikov, who are injured. Ilya Sorokin, who should be a Vezina finalist, was 1-3 against the Hurricanes with a 2.79 GAA and .911 save percentage. 

Prediction: Islanders in seven

(2) Devils vs. (3) Rangers: The Devils won three meetings during the regular season. Jack Hughes had four goals and six points in the four games. In four meetings, Nico Hischier had four points (1g, 3a). Vitek Vanecek went 3-0-1 with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 save percentage. The Devils did add Ondrej Palat during the offseason. In 138 playoff games, Palat has 48 goals and 94 points. Igor Shesterkin was 1-2-1 with a 3.23 GAA and a .907 save percentage against the Devils. Last year in the playoffs, Shesterkin had a 2.61 GAA and a .928 save percentage. Chris Kreider has 34 career goals in the playoffs. Kreider also had three goals in four meetings against the Devils this season. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and three assists in the four meetings. 

Prediction: Rangers in seven 

Same Team, Different Direction

By: Mike Rifkin

Two of the three longest playoff streaks in the NHL belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Both teams have missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06. Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and Washington won the Cup in 2018. Since winning these Cups, neither team has won a playoff series. Both front offices believe they are obligated to their star players, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, to remain competitive as long as they are still playing. Both players are still playing at a superstar level. Alex Ovechkin has another 40-goal season, giving him 822 for his career. Sidney Crosby has a 33-goal and 91-point season. 

The Penguins had a decision over this past summer when Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, both of whom are franchise icons in their own right, were free agents. The Penguins were able to bring back both, along with Bryan Rust. The Capitals made a splash over the summer when they signed goalie Darcy Kuemper, who won a Stanley Cup last year with the Avalanche. Kuemper has had a solid season with a 2.83 GAA and a .910 save percentage and was tied for second with five shutouts. 

As I said, both front offices must keep their franchise superstars in contention. The Trade deadline was when we saw things shake up for both teams. The Penguins went into a buying mode but weren’t pushing all in. They brought in Mikael Granlund and Dimitry Kulikov. The Capitals went into sell mode, trading Dimitry Orlov and Garnett Hathaway to the Bruins. They traded Marcus Johansson to the Wild, Lars Eller to the Avalanche, and Erik Gustafsson to the Maple Leafs. In return, the Caps received many draft picks in 2024 and 2025, and defenseman Rasmus Sandin is 23 years old. It will be interesting to see how the Capitals utilize the draft compensation, whether they keep it all or move them for a player who could have a significant impact.

This offseason will be interesting to see what both these teams do. Both teams can use an infusion of speed and youth onto their teams. The Caps added that when Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano signed on this past summer. Strome, a former third overall pick, put up a career-high 23 goals and 64 points. Milano put up 11 goals and 32 points. The front office did sign both multi-year extensions. 

That’s where both teams went in different directions. The Caps recognized they weren’t good enough to win the Cup this year, and the Penguins still tried to push for it. We will see what is left to be had this summer. Both teams will have significant competition in a very competitive Metropolitan division and Eastern Conference. 

History

By: Mike Rifkin

Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 and, in the process, set a league record with 133 points in a season. They broke the record held by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976-77. The points record comes a game after the Bruins set the all-time wins record with 63 breaking the record set by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995-96 and tied by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19. The Bruins will look to do something that those two teams were unable to do, win the Stanley Cup. The Bruins’ last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals was in 2013 when they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games; they last won the Cup in 2011, defeating the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. 

Many people, myself included, wrote the Bruins off at the start of the season due to injuries, some unknowns, and improvements from other teams in the Atlantic Division. According to ESPN, the Bruins are the fourth team in NHL history to lead a division for an entire season joining the 1977-78 Canadiens, 1984-85 Oilers, and the 2008-09 Sharks. The Canadiens and the Oilers won the Cup those years. The Bruins will rake up the hardware at the NHL awards after the season, but the only hardware they care about is winning the Stanley Cup, and their journey for that begins next week. 

Dallas Drama 

By: Mike Rifkin

On February 6th, the Dallas Mavericks traded for Point Guard Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), and a 2029 second-round pick. On Friday night, the Mavericks needed to beat the Chicago Bulls and win on Sunday against the Spurs, and the Mavericks would have a chance to make the play-in. Before the game, the Bulls announced they were resting their top two scorers, Demar Derozan and Zach Levine. 

So it came as a shock that Friday afternoon, the Mavericks announced that Kyrie Irving was not going to play along with four other players. Irving was ruled out with a right foot injury, Tim Hardaway Jr had ankle soreness, Josh Green and Christian Wood were getting rests, and Maxi Kleber had a hamstring injury. How can you justify resting if your season is on the line? There is one game left in the season, which will have no bearing on the Mavericks based on Friday night’s loss. The Mavericks went 8-12 with Kyrie Irving. Head Coach Jason Kidd said pregame that it was an “organizational decision” to pull Luka Doncic after playing 13 minutes. 

Kidd said, “ We were fighting for our lives and understanding this is a situation we’re in, but the organization has made the decision to change.” After the game, Kidd said, “It’s not so much waiving the white flag. Its decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We’re trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully, it leads to going forward.” These are two different schools of thought from Kidd, so I’m guessing someone in the organization talked with him postgame about what to say. Because you don’t go from we’re fighting for our lives to just saying it’s a business decision. Now if the Mavericks wind up with a pick outside the top ten in the NBA Draft in June, that pick will belong to the New York Knicks based on the Kristaps Porzings trade. 

Things are very dysfunctional in Dallas right now. Who knows if they will re-sign Kyrie Irving? What does the future hold for Jason Kidd? And what happens with Luka Doncic, now I’m not saying they would trade the superstar, but earlier this week, he talked about how much he missed Jalen Brunson, who signed with the Knicks last summer, and it was a struggle for him and Kyrie together. Last season the Mavericks lost in the Western Conference Finals, and now they’re missing the play-in. It’s an epic collapse, and I will be interested to see how Mark Cuban and company navigate this offseason. 

Masters Preview

By Ross Mazin

Spring is in the air, meaning the annual tradition known as the Masters’ Tournament is upon us. The Masters is the tournament that every golfer has on their calendar. This course has so much history and commands so much respect. Augusta National has so much history behind it like Tiger winning the tournament back in 2019. We will see a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces at this year’s tournament. This year, the Masters’ tradition will see its most significant competitive change. To blunt the slowly advancing forces of golf’s equipment, the club has elected to move back the tee box on its famed par-5 13th hole by 35 yards. My pick to win this year’s tournament is Scottie Scheffler.

Searching For Answers

By: Mike Rifkin

On Tuesday night, the New York Mets were shut out 10-0 at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the second consecutive shutout the Brewers have had over the Mets. We are six games into the MLB season, and the New York Mets have scored 17 runs in those six games. Fans and media talked all offseason long about the possibility of the Mets needing another bat. Will Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Mark Canha struggle all season? No, I don’t, but Eduardo Escobar’s struggled until September last season and has started the season slowly again. With Brett Baty leaving Syracuse’s game Tuesday with a thumb injury, for right now, Third base is Escobar’s job, but if he continues to struggle, what do the Mets do? Call up Mark Vientos. See what Robin Ventura is up to? Do they play Guillorme there? I don’t know what the plan is, but they need either Escobar to pick it up or one of the catchers and the DH spot need to pick it up. If they don’t and Carlos Correa has a great year for the Twins, people will ask the Mets why they couldn’t work things out with Correa. 

Manager Buck Showalter said after the game that he “has a lot of confidence in the group and that it will work itself out.” Is he right? Yes, this is an overreaction to the season’s first six games, but it’s very telling that something many people thought could be a problem for the Mets has become one so quickly in the season. If the Mets want to go where they want this season, they will need their offense to produce. Last season it was part of their downfall. Will they let it happen again?