Today's Sports Headlines

Including: Bruce Arthur: The Leafs returned to a different world, but playoff hockey is playoff hockey — and they still haven’t figured it out [Star Logo] Sports Headlines OPINION [Bruce Arthur: The Leafs returned to a different world, but playoff hockey is playoff hockey — and they still haven’t figured it out]( [The Leafs are trying to salvage a season that started with Stanley Cup hopes, shuddered backwards as often as it glided forward, before everything was interrupted. It’s pandemic hockey, and everyone gets a chance to prove they can handle life in the new world, Bruce Arthur writes.]( [Read More [arrow]]( OPINION [Rosie DiManno: The boring Blue Jackets are a Babcock dream. In Game 1, they were also a nightmare for the Leafs]( [Columbus has its hands full with Toronto’s vastly gifted top two lines, a three-line attack actually. It will be a tough assignment for Columbus to contain Toronto’s goal bursts — often in bunches — in a best-of-five series, Rosie DiManno writes.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Leafs-Jackets Game 1: Maple Leafs drop the opener to Columbus in a not-so-sweet 'homecoming']( [The best-of-five Stanley Cup play-in series begins between clubs with no playoff history and very different styles of play.]( [Read More [arrow]]( ANALYSIS [Kyle Lowry dominates right out of the gate, setting the bar for every Raptor]( [The Raptors’ first seeding game, a win over LeBron’s Lakers, featured Kyle Lowry at his best. The lights go on, the ball goes up, the score gets kept and the star point guard can’t help himself.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [A Raptors win full of important statements and a trip through the usual weekend mail]( [The thoughts behind the pre-game anthem peaceful protest, liineups and all kinds of good questions]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Bo Bichette gave dad his blessing to join the Blue Jays coaching staff]( [“He was very wary of the possibility of things being awkward, so it was up to me if he took the job or not,” the star shortstop said Sunday, the Jays’ third of four straight days without a game because of coronavirus cases on other clubs.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Matt Dumba thanks supporters, calls out haters — and wishes he’d knelt for ‘O Canada’ too]( [After Saturday’s powerful on-ice call for change and social justice, the Wild defenceman said Sunday: “My biggest regret is not doing it for the Canadian national anthem as well, because there is a lot of light that needs to be shed on what is happening in Canada.”]( [Read More [arrow]]( OPINION [Damien Cox: The NHL sells nastiness at playoff time. It’s no different during a pandemic]( [Matthew Tkachuk’s hit on Mark Scheifele has led to wildly different reactions: from premeditated to accidental. Either way, the league doesn’t want these games to look like NHLPA-organized free skates. It wants a hard, bloody and nasty chase for the Cup, Damien Cox writes.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [‘The better I got in sports, the worse the racism got’]( [The fight for racial equality hits close to home for San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, whose harsh experiences as a Black Australian shaped his perspective: “It’s the same battle on two continents.”]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Mets slugger Cespedes leaves team, opts out of 2020 season]( [General manager Brodie Van Wagenen said the organization was notified by Cespedes’ agent that he had decided to opt out for “for COVID-related reasons.”]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Kadri scores buzzer-beating goal as Avalanche beat Blues]( [By winning the game held at an empty Rogers Place in Edmonton, Colorado took an early lead in the seeding race among the top four teams in the West.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Hart has 34 saves in Flyers’ win over Bruins]( [Hart is 11 days shy of his 22nd birthday in becoming the youngest goalie in Flyers history to win a playoff game.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Coyotes hold off Predators to win series opener]( [The Coyotes were beneficiaries of the new playoff format for the restart, earning a spot in the qualifier after ending the regular season 11th in the West.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Cincinnati’s Joey Votto on injured list, Reds activate Desclafani]( [The team gave no reason for the move but specified that Votto, a Toronto native and a six-time all-star, is not on the 10-day injured list.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Lewis Hamilton wins British GP to close in on Michael Schumacher’s F1 record]( [The championship leader’s record-extending seventh Silverstone win saw him finish six seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who unexpectedly moved up a place after Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas sustained a puncture with three laps left.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [The Star]( If you’re not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. 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