This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

After starting out 7-1, Blue Jays’ Jesse Litsch has gone 1-6 since the beginning of June with an Earned Run Average (ERA) of well over five. So either he is finally reaching puberty or the rumors are trueand he can’t handle it.

The Jays are also still reportedly shopping AJ Burnett around to the rest of the league. However, it is starting to look as if Burnett is a piece of bacon at a bar mitzvah .

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment recently announced that they were giving away free tickets to a Leafs exhibition game. Either MLSE is actually trying to give back or trying to rub it in people’s faces that the Leafs will still sell out every game with a team full of minor leaguers. I’m thinking the latter.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

Magic or Michael? Ruth or Mays? Montana or Unitas? Sampras or McEnroe? Woods or Nicklaus? Gretzky or Howe? Ali or Tyson?

There is one common argument that comes up despite what sport you are talking about. Judging by my lead in, I’m assuming that you know by now that the argument I’m talking about is; who is the all-time best?

Naturally, when this type of argument comes about there are cases to be made for each and every player involved in the discussions. It seems as if each argument ends up in a stalemate with the impossible task of comparing stars from different generations.

So to help knock out one of these arguments, I’m going to take a look at Wayne Gretzky and compare some of his starts to others in an attempt to see if he truly was the greatest player to ever play the game of hockey, or if it was just the generation that he played in.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope and Blake Murphy.

The Ducks know they have to clear cap room with Niedermayer back and need the cash to sign free-agent Corey Perry so they have decided to cut their ties to Todd Bertuzzi.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

As I embark on writing my first hoops article since arriving here, I can openly admit that I am definitely a little less knowledgeable about the hard court then some of our prestigious writers. I would also like to apologize for the article being late. Work has been putting my opinion on hold.

However, that is not going to stop me from telling you exactly what I thought of the post game festivities in game six in Boston.

When the finals were set, I was one of the select few that were upset not to see a Pistons – Spurs finals. The main reason I was rooting for the Pistons and Spurs was basically because that was exactly the last thing David Stern wanted to happen. Not to mention, every year it seems most fans continue to hate on the Spurs and almost everyone outside of the ‘D’ always forget to mention the Pistons when talking about the leagues elite because of the lack of star power.

With the beloved Raps out of the playoffs long ago, I was left with having to choose to cheer for the Celtics or Lakers. The way that Chris Wallace basically handed Pau Gasol over to the Lakers like it was Christmas Eve in a soup kitchen hit me the wrong way. That along with Ray Allen, KG and Pierce all going for the first ring made me want the Celtics to win.

That is until it actually happened.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

The 2008-09 National Hockey League season has come to an end and another team has chiselled their names into Lord Stanley and lifted the Holy Grail over their heads after an invigorating post season.

Every year upon the completion of the season, the NHL hands out certain awards and deems it necessary to do so on a nationally televised broadcast that will most likely bring in almost as many viewers as a new episode of Bob Saget’s Full House. Fans love to debate on who should have gotten each award and how this person got robbed and so on so forth. Most of the awards this year are almost automatic – take note Mr. Ovechkin, you should buy some lumber for a new trophy case for your son.

I felt the need to go through the main awards that are being distributed tonight and make my opinion known as to who I think should be awarded the hardware.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

During the week leading up to the eventual start of the Stanley Cup Finals, this year’s championship series was being touted as the dream final for the NHL. A final that may actually be able to get viewers in the United States – that is, until the NHL scheduled the Wings home games the same nights as the Pistons. Drawing comparisons to the Gretzky-led Oilers versus the defending champion Islanders, the series pinned the ageless, experienced powerhouse, Detroit Red Wings, against the young, skill-filled, up and coming Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sid and Co. vs. Hank and friends.

A captain trying to become the youngest player to lead his team to the Cup vs. a captain trying to become the first European captain to ever win a Cup.

Kids vs. veterans.

The old guys vs. the new guys.

The past vs. the present.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

This May 2-4 when most older teenagers are sippin’ on gin and juice, drinking long necks down and enjoying everything else that comes along with the wonderful life of camping, four major junior teams will be playing some of the most important hockey of their lives – thus far – in the Memorial Cup tournament.

As the four-team round robin kicked off Friday night, each team brings something different to the table and each team will have a few certain players to watch. Sportsnet plans on broadcasting each game and with the average hockey fan not knowing much about some of the teams from outside of Ontario, I thought I would dip into the four teams and what each has to offer.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

As The Rock would say, finally the Belleville Bulls have come back….to reality.

The Bulls battled back from a three games to none deficit to force a game seven in Kitchener on Monday night.

Game seven began with both teams playing it safe and both looking almost scared to make a mistake. Six minutes into the first period and both teams having only tallied four shots a piece, the Rangers showed why they were the number one ranked team in the country when they turned the shots into 21-3 and the score 1-0 for the blue shirts.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

This year was another rumour filled year for the Maple Leafs. This year the Leafs fired their GM to bring in someone who could clean house but was unable to because of the numerous no-trade clauses and the many players that basically anchored the Leafs ship at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Two years at the helm and no Stanley Cup, let alone a single playoff berth, signalled the departure of Paul Maurice on Wednesday. Cliff Fletcher was brought in as interim General Manager and spoke openly about how the future of the Head Coaching position would be decided by the new permanent General Manager. Instead they leave the dirty work to the interim. Reminds me of Bill Clinton. Oh wait, that was the intern. My bad.

So with ‘Fletch’ being the one to drop the axe this must mean that the Leafs are either having trouble finding someone who wants to take over a club that is falling apart quicker than Brittany Spears or their still sitting on Brian Burke and waiting for his contract to expire. I find it hard to believe that no one would want the job, even with the team in the state that it’s in.
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This article has been submitted by Chris Pope.

The Kitchener Rangers failed to clinch the OHL Championship against the Belleville Bulls in game five of their OHL final at home in front of a packed house at the Kitchener Auditorium on Thursday night.

The Rangers took a commanding three games to none lead in the series and looked poised to make yet another sweep. That was true until game four of the finals in Belleville where they lost in overtime after taking three penalties in the extra frame.
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