— Up until 1967, the NHL had only six teams, then in the fall of 1967, they added six expansion teams, doubling the size of the league.
Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in ’67, the last year with six teams; it was their fourth title in six years, but in 56 years since then, Toronto hasn’t won the Stanley Cup, they haven’t even made the finals since then.
Maple Leafs fired their coach this week; their next coach will be their 20th head coach since the last time they hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup.
— Speaking of hockey, Friday was the 54th anniversary of the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup win, when the great Bobby Orr clinched the Cup with an overtime goal against St Louis. There is a famous picture of Orr parallel to the ground, after he was tripped while scoring the goal.
Couple years before that, friend of my parents had given me a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a Christmas gift; the first issue that came to our house had Bobby Orr on the cover, and I became a big hockey fan, listening to lot of games on the radio, on WBZ in Boston, so March 10, 1970 was a very fun day for me.
— Pacers 111, Knicks 106
Indiana outscored the Knicks 26-16 in 4th quarter.
Pacers’ starters were +83, their subs minus-58.
New York leads series, 2-1
Knicks’ guard Josh Hart played 43:00 Friday; in his last five games, Hart has played 53-46-48-48-43 minutes. Lot more time between games in the playoffs, so the Knicks aren’t subbing as much as they do during the season.
— Nuggets 117, Timberwolves 90
Road team is now 3-0 in this series.
Jokic had 30 points, 9 assists, 14 rebounds.
— Phoenix Suns fired coach Frank Vogel (they still owe him $20M+), replaced him with former Bucks’ coach Mike Budenholzer, who gets a 5-year deal worth $50M+.
— In the NFL, New Jersey Giants signed WR Allen Robinson, who will be playing for this 4th team in four years this fall. Robinson played his first four seasons for the Jaguars; he led the NFL with 14 TD receptions in 2015, but his last three years…….
2021- Bears. 38 catches, 410 yards, 1 TD.
2022- Rams. 33 catches, 339 yards, 3 TDs.
2023- Steelers. 34 catches, 280 yards, no TD’s.
— Top pitching prospect Paul Skenes makes his MLB debut for the Pirates Saturday, at home against the Cubs. Smart move having him debut at home; it should draw a much bigger crowd.
— Famous birthdays for May 11th:
Walt Terrell, 66
Bobby Witt, Sr, 60
Jeffrey Donovan, 56
Matt Leinart, 41
Cam Newton, 35
Madison Lintz, 25
— Royals 2, Angels 1
Adam Frazier hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th.
Teams combined to go 0-21 with runners in scoring position.
— Padres 2, Dodgers 1
Luis Arraez’ walk-off single ends the Dodgers’ 7-game win streak.
— Braves 4, Mets 2
Atlanta hit three home runs in the third inning.
Charlie Morton allowed four baserunners in 7 IP.
— Astros 5, Tigers 2
Houston scored four runs in top of the 8th.
— Twins 3, Blue Jays 2
Minnesota has won 16 of its last 18 games.
— Phillies 8, Marlins 2
Ranger Suarez tossed seven shutout IP.
— Reds 4, Giants 2
Cincinnati snaps its 8-game losing streak.