SIMMONS SUNDAY: Leafs Mitch Marner separates himself from the crowd

When Mitch Marner slid the puck into the empty net Wednesday night, keeping his point-scoring streak alive at 18 games, it put him in a place few hockey players have ever known before.

How rare are 18-point scoring streaks, which could extend to 19 games on Saturday night in Tampa?

The longest scoring streak the great Bobby Orr ever had was 18 games. The longest any Maple Leafs player has had — and those were Darryl Sittler and Ed Olczyk — was 18 games. Eric Lindros hit 18 games once as did Bobby Clarke — combined they hold the Philadelphia record.

No player in the history of the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets (Atlanta version), Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights, or Florida Panthers have ever hit the 18-game mark that Marner has. The best the Buffalo Sabres ever did was an 18-game streak from the legend Gil Perreault. Mike Rogers hit the 18-game mark twice with Hartford and that remains the record for the Carolina Hurricanes. Steven Stamkos has the record in Tampa Bay at 18 as does the late Dale Hawerchuk, which is now an Arizona record from his time in Winnipeg.

Marner has this way of separating himself from the hockey crowd. Always has. He was voted first-team all-star at right wing last season in the NHL and voted first-team all-star the year before that, as well. The last time any Leafs winger was voted first-team all-star in consecutive seasons — well it only happened once before — Charlie Conacher got his third straight all-star selection. That was 87 years ago. You may remember it.

Conacher won just one Stanley Cup in his 12-year career. It’s certain Marner would trade the streak and all his all-star votes in exchange for one championship, equalling Conacher for that total.

THIS AND THAT

Jason Robertson has scored 80 goals in his first 152 NHL games with the Dallas Stars, which is hugely impressive. And getting more spectacular by the day. In the first 152 games of his career, Auston Matthews had 84 goals. Matthews leads Robertson in goals, Robertson leads Matthews in points, 164-148 … Other players’ goal-scoring numbers after their first 152 games: Alex Ovechkin, 93 goals; Sidney Crosby, 71; Connor McDavid, 56 … In McDavid’s last 152 games, he has scored 91 goals. Matthews has 114 goals in that time period, even with the slow start to this season … Since returning from a wonky West Coast trip, the Leafs have played 15 games, and lost just one of them in regulation time. And including three overtime losses, they’ve only surrendered 31 goals in those games, playing mostly with a makeshift defence … What’s even more impressive, the Leafs were on a streak heading into Saturday night and, for the first quarter of the season, Matthews was no better than their fourth best scorer. That big picture makes no sense at all … Speculation continues about Matthews’ future with the Leafs, even though there is this season and next season on his contract. Some are saying he doesn’t like this roster much. But his on-ice body language suggests otherwise. Question to ponder: why would he make any decision on his future at this time of year, especially as he’s struggling and especially before you have any idea of what might happen in this season’s playoffs? … If you do the math, this is Jack Campbell’s 12th season as a professional goaltender. He’s had two or three impressive years — that’s all. Nice man. Hard worker. Beloved teammate. But dependable? That’s an essay question … Leafs rookie Mac Hollowell is 24 years old but he sure doesn’t look 24. He looks like Richie Cunningham’s little brother. Or maybe Phil Housley’s nephew.

HEAR AND THERE

Paul Beeston is among the 16 voters on the contemporary baseball era committee who on Sunday will determine if there are any new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Beeston is in a fascinating position, having had Fred McGriff on the Blue Jays, having been a central part of the Roger Clemens signing in Toronto and now with Blue Jay ties to another of the eight candidates, Don Mattingly … Here’s hoping the era voters, most of them Hall of Fame players themselves, will keep Barry Bonds, Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro on the outside. McGriff is the best choice on Sunday along with the rather despicable Curt Schilling. Not sure will what happen with Mattingly, Albert Belle or Dale Murphy, all of whom had terrific careers … The Nathan Rourke NFL tour continues. He has thrown for the Las Vegas Raiders. Will throw for the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Bucs and Minnesota Vikings in the next week or so. In all he’s expected to visit more than 10 teams before making any determination on his future … Mattingly has managed 12 years in the big leagues. John Schneider has managed 12 weeks with the Blue Jays. Will be interesting to watch how these two work making decisions next season … If you don’t play for a winning team in the NBA, you just don’t get enough notice. The Canadian, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, continues to light it up in Oklahoma City, scoring more than Steph Curry or MVP favourite Jayson Tatum this season, but he barely gets a mentioned in any NBA television talk … Are the past two games, prior to Saturday night, the two worst back-to-back defensive games a Nick Nurse team has played since he took over the Raptors five years ago? … After 10 games, the Raptors looked solid, the Leafs looked lost. Now, past the quarter mark of the schedules, the Leafs look solid, the Raptors look semi-lost.

SCENE AND HEARD

For all those who screamed about the contract Tage Thompson signed with the Buffalo Sabres, you can stop your screaming now. What a player this kid has turned into … When Gaylord Perry passed away the other day, I couldn’t help but wonder how he would be perceived today as a career spitballer. He won 314 big-league games throwing the spitter. Would today’s world chew him up as a cheater? … Is Justin Tucker the best field-goal kicker of all time? And if he isn’t, who is? … Jacob deGrom has started just 38 games in the past three big league seasons and now has signed on for five years and $185 million with the Texas Rangers. He won the National League Cy Young award in 2018 and 2019. That’s a lot of money to pay for hope … I’m having difficulty deciding what to do with Carlos Beltran on my Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I believe he was a Hall of Fame caliber player. But does being part of the Houston Astros cheating scandal disqualify him? Not an easy one to answer … The smell over the Alex Formenton non-signing in Ottawa has a Michael Jordan feel to it. Is Formenton, who played on the 2018 world junior team that is now under scrutiny, being suspended without being suspended, the way Jordan may have retired instead of being suspended by then-commissioner, David Stern, for gambling? Whatever it is with Formenton, it doesn’t look right … Starting pitchers the Blue Jays should consider, if affordable: Chris Bassitt, formerly of the Mets and sort-of Canadian, Jameson Taillon, formerly with the Yankees … Add Igor Shesterkin’s name to the list of goaltenders who have had marvelous seasons but not necessarily two in a row. Thatcher Demko is on that list, too. Once upon a time, the NHL had Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Ed Belfour, Grant Fuhr, Tom Barrasso, and Curtis Joseph. Today, there is Andrei Vasilevskiy and whichever goalie happens to be hot each year. The hot one this year: Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders.

AND ANOTHER THING

The Canadian athlete of the year will be announced Wednesday. My choice is Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. But there are fine candidates such as golfer Brooke Henderson, tennis player Felix Auger-Aliassime, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, swimmer Summer McIntosh, quarterback Roarke, Jays closer Jordan Romano, and longshot Gilgeous-Alexander … Jeff Saturday’s clock management on Thursday night was embarrassing. I’m sitting at home and calling time out for an Indianapolis Colts team I don’t care a whit about. And the supposed head coach, interim or not, is doing nothing … Terrific to see Bob Dyce hired as head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks and just as terrific to see he’s bringing in Khari Jones as his offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. At a time when African-Americans continue to get passed over for NFL coaching positions, the Redblacks have made deserved choices as head coach and offensive coordinator in Canada … Bo Levi Mitchell says he wants to play quarterback for four more years. Four more weeks maybe? And then how about a seat on the TSN panel … I still can’t believe that Hall of Famer Joe Bowen and sidekick Jim Ralph don’t travel on the road for Maple Leafs games on radio. The uber-wealthy Leafs should pick up the tab on this one if the radios stations won’t — the cost would be about a week of salary for Conor Timmins. In other words, pocket change … Do you believe it was Pat Tabler’s choice to leave Blue Jays’ broadcasts after all these years? I don’t. Rogers goes through broadcasters the way I go through socks … Kris Letang is a father of two and a husband and for that reason alone I’m not sure, if I was him, I’d play in the NHL again after suffering a second stroke. Letang has had a fantastic career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hard as it may be, it might be the right time to say goodbye … Happy birthday to Alex Delvecchio (91), Don Jonas (84), Igor Larionov (62), Rick Middleton (69), Bernard King (66), Dave Taylor (67), Frank Reich (61), Lee Smith (65), Sergey Bubka (59), Joe Thomas (38) and Klaus Wilmsmeyer (55) … And, hey, whatever became of Guy Boucher?

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SEEN AND HERDMAN
The late Bryan Murray, a terrific man, and a sound hockey coach brought the Detroit Red Wings as far as he could. Then it took Scotty Bowman and some select roster moves to make the Wings champions, year after year.

I was thinking about this as Team Canada bowed out of the World Cup, the buildup so much larger than the performance, the hope trampled on by the reality that is soccer at the highest level.

Is John Herdman the Bryan Murray of Canadian soccer? Did the coach do masterful work in first building the women’s national team program into something spectacular and then bringing this group of unlikely men together to qualify with optimism for the World Cup? But is he the right coach to take the Canadian national team to the next level?

And if this series of three games were any indication, there are many levels still to climb in the next four years, from talent to structure to deportment. And can Herdman get this team where it needs to go?

There are so many examples of the football coach or the baseball manager who can get his team to an impressive level, just not the highest level, not the championship level.

Jimmy Johnson did it all in Dallas with the Cowboys. Dusty Baker did it after all these years with the Houston Astros. Jon Cooper has undoubtedly shown that ability with the Tampa Bay Lightning, as did Joel Quenneville previously with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Herdman exposed himself as inexperienced at the World Cup, which could be a great learning opportunity for him. It depends on how he grows from this. Getting to the World Cup was an enormous accomplishment for Canada. There was nothing enormous about what happened in Qatar.

CANADIAN TENNIS CONTINUES TO SHINE
The Davis Cup is a rather odd event. We don’t exactly know when it begins. We don’t exactly know what stage it is at most of the time. We know there are tiers, we don’t necessarily comprehend what those are.

And most years — because we tune out when Canada loses — we don’t know when it ends, how it ends, or even who wins.

The rather remarkable Davis Cup victory by Canada last week was messed up by network television — which seems commonplace these days — and pushed to the side of our consciousness just a little bit because so much attention was on World Cup soccer.

The first time I cared about the Davis Cup was 1992 when I stayed up late to watch a young Daniel Nestor beat the legend, Stefan Edberg, in five sets in Vancouver. Canada was a marginal tennis country back then — and for years to come after that. That win, though, put Nestor on the map as a Canadian player of consequence, even though he would make his reputation later playing doubles.

But after that Nestor win, I have almost no memory of anything Davis Cup related. That’s me. That may not be you.

I didn’t catch one second of the Davis Cup victory by Canada and now feel like I cheated myself by doing that. The accomplishment is immense. Canada’s growth in tennis didn’t need this victory to accentuate that. After a historic U.S. Open victory by Bianca Andreescu, a final appearance by Layla Fernandez, and the multitude of terrific tournaments by Milos Raonic and, after him, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, it’s easy to be aware of how strong Canada has become at the world level.

And it’s easy to applaud the Davis Cup win, a tournament about depth, even if we didn’t happen to catch it.

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