Columnists

​Nick Robertson will make his season debut replacing Alexander Barabanov, who logged just four minutes and 19 seconds of ice time last night. TSN's Mark Masters has more.

The Vancouver Canucks visit the Calgary Flames for the first time this season.

It wasn’t the best start for Nick Taylor, but the finish was pretty good. Taylor played the first five holes of his second round of the Sony Open in 1-over and looked as if he might have trouble making the cut. Instead, he went 9-under over the next 13 and takes a two-shot lead into the weekend.

With his boundless energy, emerging Raptors big man Chris Boucher – who went from being a fringe rotation piece last season to landing his first big NBA contract this past fall – has been a revelation in 2020-21. Through 11 games, he’s averaging career-highs of 15.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks through 11 games, all in just 22.8 minutes per contest, Josh Lewenberg writes.

TSN's Mark Masters is back with his game day notes column as the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for the first installment of the Battle Of Ontario this season.

Adhering to the NHL’s stringent COVID-19 protocols while on road trips this season means the Maple Leafs won’t be bonding over restaurant meals or other social outings, so Mitch Marner is spearheading another initiative to help his teammates stay close. Kristen Shilton has more.

When you face Connor McDavid 10 times in a season as the Canucks will in this COVID-shortened campaign, you have to be prepared for nights like Thursday

Stanley Johnson and Yuta Watanabe both know who they are, but even more importantly, they both know who they’re not. On a night in which Toronto scored 111 points, the defensive-minded forwards combined to score just nine of them on a mere five field goal attempts. However, logging 21 and 15 minutes off the bench, respectively, Johnson and Watanabe played crucial roles in Thursday’s victory over Charlotte, Josh Lewenberg writes.

No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere took control of his perspective Thursday in his NHL debut, finishing with one shot, one hit and a minus-1 rating in 15:27 of ice time for the Rangers in a 4-0 loss to the Islanders. But it’s his “next game will be better” positive attitude that continues to keep him buoyed during unprecedented times, Frank Seravalli writes.