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The Toronto Argonauts have a lot to look forward to in 2014. Patrice Evra France . Long gone are the glory moments of the 100th Grey Cup, back to reality, which is an almost total rebuilding effort on defence in effort to get back to the 102nd Grey Cup come November 30th. First and foremost, this year has such special optimism because they get their quarterback back. With Anthony Calvillo out of the picture, Ricky Ray is the best in the league. He did have issues staying healthy last year but in the time he played he was remarkable. Completing 77 per cent of your passes and finishing with a 21:2 touchdown to interception ratio is an accomplishment that other quarterbacks envy and respect. His quarterback rating was 126.4. If Ray can stay healthy for the year, the Argonauts will always be in position to win it all. Health really is the only issue as age, now creeping into the mid 30s, is still not a significant detriment. Other positions? Absolutely. If you are a running back or defensive back, when you lose that athletic burst or reactive ability, you lose a lot. But quarterbacks, more than any other position, are cerebral more than physical and as long as the first dominates the second, you can continue to play at a very high level. The next aspect of success could be a re-designed defence. Losing Chris Jones, now the head coach with the Edmonton Eskimos, was intense as Jones transferred his intensity successfully to the players he directed. But when a coaching void is opened it is usually filled quickly, and the combination of Tim Burke and Casey Creehan will develop their own style based on experience, not experiment. Toronto will be a much more "upfield" team, depending on a front four to pressure and a back eight to react. As a coordinator, Burke has always been successful, and as a linebacker coach so has Creehan. Then after Mike OShea left to become the head coach in Winnipeg, the void was filled by Jim Daley, who knows this league better than any. Losing two assistants to head coaching jobs says a lot about how good the defensive staff was, but it could be even better potentially with the positions filled in the present. Running back will be a battle. With Chad Kackert retired, it appears to be a three-man competition between Steve Slaton, Curtis Steel, and Anthony Coombs. Can Coombs be an 18 game starter? Very unlikely, but possible. Nothing would be better than to see the University of Manitoba star be the next Jon Cornish. If he does, then everything falls into place on offence and with ratio flexibility. Overall, from last year there are major priorities for improvement. Toronto ended the season with the best red zone offence and the best red zone defence. 69 per cent of the time the Argos produced touchdowns over field goals on offence. And only 46 per cent of the time Toronto allowed touchdowns, forcing opponents into field goals. Inside the 20, the Argos were the best in CFL football. Outside the 20s: a priority to improve. On average, teams produced 389 yards of offence, 289 of which was through the air. Those totals were both eighth in the league. Toronto finished dead last in rushing yards as well, with only 85 produced per game. And that eighth-place reality is for the second year in a row. But you can rationalize that with a +18 takeaway/giveaway number and arguing what happens between the 20s is not as significant as what happens from the 20 in. But all that yardage against takes time away from Ray and the offence; that has to be improved. So looking into the future one year at a time, Toronto will have a good team. Looking into the future more than one year, Toronto needs a new home for the team. BMO Field is an excellent choice but the financing is still floating in space. Because the stadium was built with tax payer money, there is no reason not to include all. If it was privately funded, than those who paid for it can use it as they see fit. But it was paid by the public so should be open to public use, and that includes the Toronto Argonauts. To me, expansion will create more revenue for all and the location and design can be adapted for all. Where there is a will, there is a way. Both Hamilton and Montreal will be better and are better right now than at this time last year. Ottawa is a complete unknown but is not to be looked at as a guarantee win day. Toronto is somewhere in the middle, catching up perhaps to Hamilton and Montreal but way ahead of Ottawa. But with Ray at quarterback the catch up is more of a threat than a desire. Two years removed from the Grey Cup means a new team in Toronto. Zinedine Zidane Jersey . He missed a three-game series against New York this week after suffering the injury last Sunday while trying to leg out a base hit during a game in Cincinnati. Moussa Sissoko Jersey . Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema scored two goals each Wednesday night in a 6-1 rout of Schalke in the first leg of their second-round matchup. "We played a very, very good match," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We got well into the match, scored two early goals and that opened the game and left us able to counter and to use the speed of our players.LOS ANGELES -- Nothing bothered Seymon Varlamov when the Colorado Avalanche goalie shut out the Los Angeles Kings. Varlamov made 19 saves in winning his third straight start, and Jamie McGinn provided all the offence 2:32 into overtime to lift the Avalanche to a 1-0 victory on Saturday night. Varlamovs 12th career shutout and first this season came one day after prosecutors in Denver filed a misdemeanour assault charge against him following a complaint by his girlfriend that he attacked her on Oct. 30. The six-year veteran spent a night in jail before he was freed on $5,000 bond. "You know what? Varlys been like this since the start of the year, and hes been very focused," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "In some ways, it was not a big surprise. Those charges were dropped (three of the four), which is good news for him. "He made a couple of big saves at the right moments. Hes having the support of his teammates, and his teammates want to play hard in front of him, as well." The Avalanche, who have allowed an NHL-low nine first-period goals, blocked nine shots during the first 20 minutes and finished with 15. Los Angeles received a 4-minute power play with 77 seconds left in the second period, after John Mitchell cut Willie Mitchell with a high stick, but the Kings got only two shots during that stretch and finished 0 for 4 with the man advantage. "Team defence is something we pride ourselves in, and we try to take away time and space" defenceman Nate Guenin said. "Our forwards and defencemen take pride in the defensive zone, and weve got two rock-solid goalies back there (including Jean-Sebastien Giguere). So if we make a mistake, they are there to bail us out." McGinns fourth goal of the season, and first game-winner, helped the Avalanche (17-5-0) improve the best start in franchise history. They are 15-0 when they score first. Ben Scrivens made 32 saves in his sixth straight start for the injured Jonathan Quicck. Loic Remy Jersey. He got a bad break when a rebound trickled into the net off the elbow of teammate Jarret Stoll after Scrivens made the initial save on McGinn. "Im just trying to drive to the net, get a lot of wood on it, and make sure I hit the net," McGinn said. "I thought Scrivens made a great save on the shoulder, and it was unlucky for them that it hit their guy -- but lucky for us that it hit the back of the net. We worked hard the whole game, so were glad we got rewarded." The Kings, coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to New Jersey on Thursday, were shut out for the first time this season and ended an eight-game stretch in which they recorded at least one point. Scrivens was at his best during the second one, stopping point-blank shots by John Mitchell, Ryan OReilly, rookie Nathan MacKinnon and two more by P.A. Parenteau after Willie Mitchell was off for high-sticking Maxime Talbot with 7 minutes left in regulation. "Its hard to win in this league, so you cant take anything for granted," Scrivens said. "You have to respect Colorado. They are a good team and they find ways to win. I dont think a lot of people at the start of the season had them where they are in the (standings), so you have to give a ton of credit to them." NOTES: The Kings activated LW Kyle Clifford from the injured list after he missed six games with an upper-body injury. C Trevor Lewis was placed on the injured list because of a lower-body injury. ... Colorados Marc-Andre Cliche, who came in with the teams lowest winning percentage on faceoffs (34 per cent) won seven of eight. ... The Avalanche are 5-4 since LW Alex Tanguay sustained a knee injury on Nov. 2 against Montreal. He is the only player left from Colorados 2001 Stanley Cup-winning team. ... MacKinnon, the first overall pick in the June draft and the NHLs youngest player at 18, leads rookies with 65 shots. He has three goals. ... Colorado was 0 for 3 on the power play. ' ' ' |
