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Moore’s Morning Sports Briefing for Tuesday, April 9

Winnipeg Jets' Josh Morrissey (44) shoots during practice prior to their first round of NHL playoff action against the St. Louis Blues in Winnipeg, Monday, April 8, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods. . THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Gooooooooodddddd Morning!

The St. Louis Blues won seven more games, and were 16 points better than the Winnipeg Jets during the second half schedule. But following the first practice of the post season, Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice talked about “flicking the switch” for the post-season:

 

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And good timing for the Jets is the return of Josh Morrissey who will be reunited with Jacob Trouba on the No. 1 D-pairing. And Morrissey feels the Blues showed they were going to be a force the last time the teams met back in early December:

 

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Game One goes tomorrow night at 7 p.m. And the Jets will not have Brandon Tanev available as he recovers from the slash to the left hand he took from Eric Staal last week in Minnesota.

The Colorado Avalanche, LA Kings, and New Jersey Devils own the best odds for tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery in Toronto. The playoff-bound Avs top the tote board at 18.5 per cent as result of the trade about 17 months ago that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa. But centre Jack Hughes of the US National Development Team and Finnish right-winger Kaapo Kaako are said to be in a dead heat as to who goes No. 1 overall on June 21 in Vancouver.

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Team Canada finishes up round robin play at the World Women’s Hockey Championship in Espoo, Finland against the host country this morning at 11:30 a.m. Canada will be without Captain Marie Phillip-Poulin, who aggravated a knee injury in yesterday’s 5-1 win over Russia.

The Virginia Cavaliers blew a 10-point lead, but recovered in overtime for an 85-77 win over Texas Tech to win their first ever NCAA men’s basketball title. Kyle Guy was named the tournament MVP and says there is no doubt that becoming the first ever No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 last year, laid the foundation for last night’s success.

San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar hits a grand slam against the San Diego Padres during the fourth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, April 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu).

Hours after posting a lengthy thank you to Toronto Blue Jay fans on his Instagram account, Kevin Pillar smacked a grand slam homer for his new team in San Francisco. Unfortunately for Pillar, the Giants blew a 5-0 lead and wound up losing 6-5 to San Diego. The struggling Chicago Cubs, coming off a 2-7 road trip, hammered Pittsburgh 10-0 in their home opener at Wrigley Field. The Boston Red Sox will look for something along the same lines when they receive their World Series rings ahead of their home opener this afternoon at 1 p.m. against Toronto.

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And I know Baltimore’s Chris Davis is a professional athlete. And there are no tag days for a guy who is midway through a seven-year, $161 million contract extension. But he’s still a human being. And on the heels of a disastrous 2018 when Davis hit just .168, this season has started even worse. The Orioles DH setting a major league record by extending his hitless streak to 0/49 dating back to mid-September of last year. Davis went “nada” in five trips to the plate last night – but at least Baltimore beat Oakland 12-4.

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