So many stories from life of George Armstrong
George Armstrong was anything but politically correct. His nickname was Chief. He didn’t think that offended anyone.
Armstrong walked up to the Air Canada counter at Pearson Airport one day and the woman behind the computer asked: “Do you have a reservation, sir?”
He said, “yeah, east of Toronto.”
That was Armstrong, the contradictory, self-deprecating and often hysterical captain and coach of the Maple Leafs, of a different time, really a different place in history, one of the most fascinating men in Toronto sports history.
And if he had a line he liked, he used it. Often more than once.
Armstrong didn’t want to be noticed and yet couldn’t help but be the funniest man in the room. He didn’t want to make appearances for the Leafs, even though Johnny Bower bugged him to do so. He couldn’t make his speech when honoured outside Scotiabank Arena with a statue. He never opened his fan mail, never signed autographs on photographs that could be sold. He preferred to be left alone.
Family mattered to Armstrong. The rest was window dressing.
He used to take his mother scouting with him. He cared for his ailing wife as long he could manage. He was a great friend to those he was closest with and everyone has an Armstrong story.
My favourite: When Doug Carpenter replaced him as coach of the Leafs, it was learned somehow that Armstrong and Carpenter were related. Someone asked George how was it they were related?
Said Armstrong: “A long time ago, one of his relatives %^&$#@$ one of my relatives.”
It sounded better the way Armstrong told it.
When he was captain of the Leafs, Armstrong and teammate Dick Duff went to see owner Conn Smythe and plead for an additional $20 a week for training camp money for the players. Smythe wasn’t happy with the interruption.
“I’ll give you $12,” he said. And right after that, Armstrong started to walk out of his office.
“Where you going?” Smythe asked.
“I’m going to go check with the players.”
“Tell ’ em it’s $12 or nothing,” Smythe growled.
“Well,” said Armstrong, “I guess I don’t have to check with the players then.”
Armstrong, who captained the Leafs to four Stanley Cup wins in the 1960s and scored the last goal of the Original Six era, passed away at the age of 90 last Sunday.
George Springer will wear No. 4 for the Blue Jays, which means coach Luis Rivera will need a new number next season ... Springer was part of one of the great scandals in baseball history, the sign-stealing episode that cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs and tainted the 2017 World Series win, and along with it his MVP award. He was asked just one question about it in his 40-minute Blue Jays media availability. Guess who asked? ... One of the truly amazing Hank Aaron statistics: He struck out only 1,383 times in 22 big-league seasons, never more than 96 in any season, an average of 62 per year. When Aaron Judge hit 52 homers in 2017, he struck out 208 times.
The Blue Jays have spent an uncharacteristically large amount of money with the signings of Springer and Marcus Semien — almost US$50 million by itself for the coming season — for two veteran major league players of high quality, who should make their everyday lineup among the best in baseball. That’s the good part. Upon making history, and that’s what the Springer signing was for a team with little record of bringing in everyday free agent stars, they continue to throw darts at the wall, hoping to somehow piece a pitching staff together.
It’s wonderful when you look at all the possibilities of the Jays daily lineup. Will Springer lead off? Will he bat second? Where does Vladdy Guerrero hit and does he move back to first base now that Semien has been acquired to play second? And what to do with Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and that’s without even getting into their best returning player, Bo Bichette?
But after Hyun-jin Ryu, who pitches? Who starts? Steven (0and-9) Matz? Nate Pearson, who turns 25 this summer and has one major-league win? Tanner Roark? Robbie Ray?
After Ryu, it’s a garage-sale rotation unless Pearson finally makes it big.
Big props to Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins for getting the Springer and Semien deals done and props, yes, to Rogers, the ubiquitous owners, who border on clueless from year to year. George Springer said the Blue Jays remind him of the budding Houston Astros team he played on.
Those teams had Dallas Keuchel at his best and Lance Mccullers and Colin Mchugh and after that Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole. The Jays have Ryu. That is all.
What to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Jim Rutherford is out as GM under somewhat mysterious circumstances early in the season and the longtime contender Penguins have one regulation win in their first eight games of the new season.
This is Sidney Crosby’s 16th NHL season. Two weeks from now, he’ll play his 1,000th game with the Penguins. He isn’t necessarily slowing down but around him the leaks are apparent.
Evgeni Malkin doesn’t like the way he is playing, and neither does anyone else. This is his 15th season. He’s one year older than Crosby, one year slower. This is Kris Letang’s 14th year with the Penguins. He has carried the backline seemingly forever in Pittsburgh, with a team that has contended for virtually all of the years Crosby and Malkin have driven this bus.
Who will be the new GM and what does he do with the roster? In a division with Boston, Washington and Philadelphia, there’s no certainty this is a playoff team.
The Penguins aren’t blessed with a bevy of prospects ready to emerge. They’re a little bit like the Blackhawks post-stanley Cups, without the salary cap trappings.
You probably have to ride the generational talents of Crosby and Malkin as long as you can, because really, what’s the alternative? Mike Sullivan is as good a coach as there is in the NHL. The new GM, whomever he may be, is caught. The Pens can’t necessarily contend and aren’t ready for a rebuild. And the one person who might have figured it out, Rutherford, is gone.