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THIS AND THAT

The beauty of the world junior hockey tournament is this: Games can be one-sided, attendance can be down, organizers can be clueless, prices for tickets can be too high, weather can work against them, but in the end the pure emotion of the best kids in the world playing at the highest level wins the day. It always does … This is the seventh time in 10 years the world junior has been played either in Canada or in a border city. It’s in Canada again next year. This is an event for Canada and about Canada … That was both dumb and disrespectful for Swedish captain Lias Andersson to throw his silver medal into the stands Friday night.He may not regret that today or tomorrow. If he’s the great kid everyone says he is, he will regret it one day … More on the magic of Johnny Bower: Amazing how his passing brought the Leafs of so many generations together for his memorial service. It was emotional just to watch players from so many eras together in one room Wednesday night … First half ofthe NHL season is over and not a single coach has been fired. The last time that happened, Bower was still playing goal for the Leafs … What the Leafs need, other than a defenceman and someone with a slapshot, is a winger who is strong on the boards and hard on loose pucks … If you’re going to wear Joe Thornton’s beard and you’re going to fight, somebody’s going to grab a handful of hair. Accidentally or not.

HEAR AND THERE

Here’s what we don’t know: Is the Blue Jays off-season this darn quiet because the baseball market is this darn quiet (even after they traded for Yangervis Solarte Saturday)? And here’s what we don’t know, Part II: Are the Jays doing enough business this winter selling tickets that they believe they can afford to remain rather conservative and garage sale-like over the winter? …Alex Anthopoulos’ first conversation with Mark Shapiro, after Shapiro took over as president of the Jays went something like this. “What university did you go to?” Shapiro, the Ivy Leaguer, asked. “McMaster,” answered Anthopoulos. “Where’s that?” asked Shapiro in a somewhat derogatory tone … The Blue Jays didn’t actually fire longtime security chief, Ron Sandelli, who made a career putting out background fires for the Jays. They wanted him to keep working for them, one year after cutting his salary, without any salary … Simple math: If you can’t kill penalties in the NHL, you can’t make the playoffs. The seven worst penalty-killing teams — Edmonton, Islanders, Philadelphia, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary — are all out of playoff positions right now … I’d love to see Lucas Nogueira healthy for an extended period of time with the Raptors. Just to see what he could do. With his skill set and his remarkable passing ability, he could be a defining player if he could ever be well enough to play regularly.