The first week of December is starting to establish an elite duo at the top of what is becoming a top-heavy league.

The win streak of the Milwaukee Bucks didn't come close to being snapped this week, and they retain the top spot ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. But here come the Boston Celtics surging right behind them to leap past the LA Clippers to round out the top four.

Throughout the regular season, our panel (ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Andre' Snellings, Royce Young and Bobby Marks, and The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous: Week 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Camp | Free agency | Post-Finals

1. Milwaukee Bucks
Record: 20-3
Week 7 ranking: 1

The Bucks aren't just sporting the longest winning streak in the NBA this season at 14 games and counting, but they are also lowering the boom on their opponents. They are fresh off a 28-point demolition of the Clippers that may not have even been that close, and their +13.6 scoring margin on the season is ahead of pace for the best such margin in NBA history of +12.3 from the 1971-72 Lakers. -- Snellings

This week: ORL, NO, @MEM, CLE

2. Los Angeles Lakers
Record: 21-3
Week 7 ranking: 2

The Lakers have won 11-straight road games and ended Sunday with a league-best 11-1 road record. After beating the Timberwolves on Sunday, Los Angeles will go on the road to play Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Indiana before a showdown in Milwaukee. The Lakers' only road loss was in the season-opener against the Clippers on Oct. 22, and they have not lost a road game away from Staples Center. -- Spears

This week: @ORL, @MIA, @ATL

3. Boston Celtics
Record: 16-5
Week 7 ranking: 5

The wins over Miami and Denver last week further cemented the status of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as Boston's new Big Three, a trio that could also represent the Celtics in Chicago for the All-Star game. The three players combined to average 72 points out of the team's 110 during those two games, and Brown had his breakout performance of the season, averaging 26 points (on 51.4% from the field and 50% from 3) and 5.5 rebounds and committing only two total turnovers. -- Marks

This week: CLE, @IND, PHI

4. LA Clippers
Record: 17-7
Week 7 ranking: 3

It's hard not to have some kind of a reaction to the Bucks' jarring 28-point win in what was supposed to be a marquee showdown. But it probably says more about the Bucks' general awesomeness than an issue with the Clippers. Doc Rivers said it best after the game: "It was Giannis' birthday, and we searched all over the city to find a gift and we couldn't find one, so we gave him this one. That's all I can come up with because we were awful." That's it for regular-season games between the Bucks and Clippers, though. If they're going to meet again, it would have to be in June. -- Young

This week: @IND, @TOR, @MIN, @CHI

5. Dallas Mavericks
Record: 16-7
Week 7 ranking: 8

Luka Doncic's streak of 19 straight games with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists surpassed Michael Jordan as the longest such run since the NBA/ABA merger. Doncic's reaction to this basketball-reference.com search result: "I mean, I don't know, there's a lot of stats going on. I think it's too much stats. You can't compare nobody to Michael Jordan. He's one of a kind. Those are just stats." -- MacMahon

This week: DET, MIA

6. Miami Heat
Record: 17-6
Week 7 ranking: 10

The Heat's win in Toronto -- an intense overtime victory featuring a Jimmy Butler takeover -- was the kind of statement they've been looking for since the opening week of the season. Which made it understandable that the Heat were run over by the Celtics 24 hours later in an unfortunate back-to-back. But they handled the Wizards and escaped the Bulls in overtime (with Tyler Herro hitting big shot after big shot after big shot ... after big shot), continuing their impressive trend of taking care of business against teams they're better than. -- Young

This week: ATL, LAL, @DAL

7. Toronto Raptors
Record: 15-7
Week 7 ranking: 7

The Raptors just completed a tough four-game stretch that saw them face the Jazz, Heat and Rockets at home before going on the road against the rival 76ers. They stumbled a bit during this stretch, especially defensively, but are still right in the mix with the five Eastern Conference teams vying for second behind the surging Bucks. The Raptors also got Kyle Lowry back, reintroducing another strong perimeter threat to a balanced unit that currently ranks 10th in offensive efficiency at 110.1 points per 100 possessions. -- Snellings

This week: @CHI, LAC, BKN

8. Denver Nuggets
Record: 14-7
Week 7 ranking: 4

It's the first real rough patch of the season for the Nuggets, who have lost four of five, with the lone win being a gimme against the Knicks. In litmus test games against the Lakers and Celtics, Denver looked a notch below and showed signs of tangible issues on offense. In these past five games, they are pretty much holding steady defensively. But offensively, they're scoring 104.8 points per 100 possessions, which for the season would rank just above the bottom five of the league. -- Young

This week: @PHI, POR, OKC, NY

9. Houston Rockets
Record: 15-7
Week 7 ranking: 6

Ben McLemore, a former lottery pick/reclamation project, has been a big bargain after the Rockets signed him to a partially guaranteed deal for the veteran's minimum. McLemore, whose minutes are higher than anticipated due to serious injuries to Gerald Green and Eric Gordon, ranks second on the team behind James Harden in raw plus-minus (plus-144). He's in the midst of the best stretch of his career, averaging 22.5 points on 57.1% shooting from the floor over the past four games. -- MacMahon

This week: SAC, @CLE, @ORL, DET

10. Philadelphia 76ers
Record: 17-7
Week 7 ranking: 9

The sight of Cleveland on the schedule Saturday night is exactly what the 76ers needed. On the heels of a six-point loss to the Wizards on Thursday, the Sixers went on to beat the Cavaliers by 47 points, setting a franchise record with a 41-point halftime lead. In Thursday's loss, however, the 76ers turned the ball over 21 times -- Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons committed a combined 15 turnovers -- and that led to 30 Washington points. Until the 76ers find consistency on the road (5-7 compared to 12-0 record at home), their ceiling could be a second-round exit once again.-- Marks

This week: DEN, @BOS, NO, @BKN

11. Indiana Pacers
Record: 15-8
Week 7 ranking: 11

The Pacers have won eight of their last 10 games behind a balanced attack. Myles Turner (37 total blocks, T-8th in the NBA despite missing eight games) and Domantas Sabonis (9.5 defensive rebounds per game, seventh in the NBA) have led the defense to a top-10 defensive rating mark of 104.2 points per 100 possessions. Offensively, T.J. Warren averaged 20.4 points to lead the team during that 10-game stretch. -- Snellings

This week: LAC, BOS, @ATL, CHA

12. Utah Jazz
Record: 13-10
Week 7 ranking: 12

The Grizzlies are the only team that the Jazz have beaten over the last seven games. Fortunately for Utah, Memphis was on the schedule twice in that span. The Jazz's 126-112 win over the Grizzlies on Saturday was the start of a soft stretch of schedule, featuring seven straight opponents who are .500 or worse. -- MacMahon

This week: OKC, @MIN, GS

13. Brooklyn Nets
Record: 13-10
Week 7 ranking: 14

If there was a silver lining to Kyrie Irving's injury, it is that it came at the right time in the schedule. In the absence of Irving, Brooklyn has gone 9-3, including a 7-0 record against teams under .500. Besides taking advantage of the schedule, Brooklyn has patched up two deficiencies that plagued them early in the season: rebounding and sharing the ball. In the two wins at Atlanta and Charlotte, the Nets averaged 51 rebounds, including 16.5 offensive boards and 30.5 assists with a season-high 35 at Charlotte. Prior to both games, the Nets averaged 10.5 offensive rebounds with only 23.8 assists. -- Marks

This week: CHA, @TOR, PHI

14. Minnesota Timberwolves
Record: 10-12
Week 7 ranking: 13

The Timberwolves have lost eight of their last 11 games, including four in a row, and now find themselves tied at 10-12 with Oklahoma City and Phoenix for seventh in the West. The Timberwolves lack a consistent team identity on either side of the ball, ranking 20th in the NBA in defensive efficiency (109.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) and 17th in offensive rating (108.0 points scored per 100 possessions). They are getting some strong individual contributions, but have yet to put those together into a cohesive team attack. -- Snellings

This week: @PHX, UTAH, LAC

15. Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 9-14
Week 7 ranking: 15

Rodney Hood suffered a season-ending Achilles' tendon tear, another brutal injury for the already extremely shorthanded Blazers to try and overcome. After winning three straight and celebrating a Player of the Week award for Carmelo Anthony, Portland has lost three of four, all by double digits. And Melo's triumphant comeback may have plateaued a bit to coincide with the Blazers' slide. His last four games: 13.3 points on 32% shooting (33% from 3). He played 10 games with the Rockets, averaging 13.4 points on 40.5% shooting (32.8% from 3), and Houston was 4-6. He's played 10 with the Blazers, averaging 15.9 on 40.8% shooting (35.9% from 3), and the Blazers are 4-6. -- Young

This week: NY, @DEN

16. Phoenix Suns
Record: 10-12
Week 7 ranking: 16

Devin Booker remains a big reason why the Suns are still competitive despite injuries and center Deandre Ayton still serving a 25-game suspension. While it's still early, Booker is shooting over 50 percent from the field (51.2) and over 40 percent from 3-point range (41.5) for the first time his career. Booker has also scored a combined 79 points in his last two games. -- Spears

This week: MIN, MEM, SA

17. Orlando Magic
Record: 11-11
Week 7 ranking: 18

The Magic took advantage of playing four straight games against teams with a combined 30.3 win percentage to run off a four-game winning streak. They will face a much sterner test moving forward, starting with three games against the Bucks, the Lakers and the Rockets, followed by a four-game road trip out West that includes stops in Utah, Denver and Portland. Their performance during this gauntlet will tell us a lot about where the Magic actually stand at this point in the season. -- Snellings

This week: @MIL, LAL, HOU, @NO

18. Oklahoma City Thunder
Record: 10-12
Week 7 ranking: 19

The Thunder have won four of their last five, and a big part of it has been because of their offensive improvement. Balance has been a big part of OKC's step forward offensively. In the bonkers overtime win against the Wolves, OKC had five 20-point scorers (first time that's been done in the NBA since 2004), and in a quality road win over Portland, the Thunder had three more 20-point scorers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's closing instincts shined in both of those games, scoring 11 of OKC's 17 in overtime against Minnesota, and 14 in the fourth against the Blazers. -- Young

This week: @UTAH, @SAC, @DEN

19. San Antonio Spurs
Record: 9-14
Week 7 ranking: 20

San Antonio's first consecutive wins since October featured encouraging performances by young players who could be critical to the franchise's future. Lonnie Walker IV, last year's first-round pick who has yet to earn coach Gregg Popovich's trust, scored a career-high 28 points and defended James Harden as well as humanly possible in Tuesday's double-overtime victory. Dejounte Murray, who recently lost the starting point guard job, had 14 points and hit the game-winning jumper in Friday's OT win over the Kings. -- MacMahon

This week: CLE, PHX

20. Detroit Pistons
Record: 9-14
Week 7 ranking: 24

The Pistons have won three of their last four games to help right the ship after losing eight of the previous 10. Andre Drummond, who continues to lead the team, has maintained his 17.0 RPG average now beyond the quarter pole of the NBA season. The last NBA player to average more than 17 rebounds for a full season was Dennis Rodman during the 1993-94 season. -- Snellings

This week: @NO, DAL, @HOU

21. Sacramento Kings
Record: 9-13
Week 7 ranking: 17

The Kings have to be the hardest team in the NBA to figure out. In the last five games, Sacramento beat two of the West's best teams (at Dallas and against Denver), but in between lost three games against teams with losing records in San Antonio, Portland and Chicago. While the Kings have won just nine of 22 games, keep in mind that starting power forward Marvin Bagley III (thumb) has yet to debut this season and starting point guard De'Aaron Fox (ankle) has been out since Nov. 8. -- Spears

This week: @HOU, OKC, NY, @GS

22. Washington Wizards
Record: 7-15
Week 7 ranking: 23

Their win over the 76ers really shouldn't be as surprising as it seemed, with the way they compete on a nightly basis and have the ability to score with anyone. Rui Hachimura had his most impactful game of his young career in the win over the Sixers, showing more than enough signs of possible future stardom. But forget all of that and direct your attention to the human microwave that is Davis Bertans, who might be the best heat-check player in the league right now. -- Young

This week: @CHA, @MEM

23. Charlotte Hornets
Record: 9-16
Week 7 ranking: 21

Before a 12-point, 4-17 performance in Sunday's loss to Atlanta, Devonte' Graham was having a week to remember and was likely on the verge of being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. In the three games prior to Sunday, the guard averaged a team-high 25.7 points per game on 20 attempts, 45.9% from three and 10 assists per game. If there were an award for coach of the year of a team below .500, James Borrego would be a candidate. Before the loss to Atlanta, Charlotte was 8-5 against teams under .500. Borrego and his staff certainly deserve credit for the play of Graham and also for balancing a roster with both youth and veterans on expiring contracts. -- Marks

This week: WSH, @BKN, @CHI, @IND

24. Chicago Bulls
Record: 8-16
Week 7 ranking: 26

After a dismal November, forward Lauri Markkanen has picked up his game in December. The 7-foot, 240-pounder has scored at least 20 in three of four games in December, and is averaging 19.3 points and shooting 43.2% from 3-point range. He only scored over 20 points once in November while averaging 11.9 points and shooting 33.3 percent from the field in 15 contests. -- Spears

This week: TOR, ATL, CHA, LAC

25. New Orleans Pelicans
Record: 6-17
Week 7 ranking: 22

The Pelicans have been outscored by 119 points during their eight-game losing streak. "We don't want to become the pin cushion for the NBA," coach Alvin Gentry said after a 46-point blowout by the Mavs on Saturday, the most lopsided loss in franchise history. "And the way we're doing it right now, that's where we're headed. We'll be the pin cushion for the NBA." -- MacMahon

This week: DET, @MIL, @PHI, ORL

26. Memphis Grizzlies
Record: 6-16
Week 7 ranking: 25

Times are really rough for a rebuilding team when both of their prized rookies are sidelined by injuries. Point guard Ja Morant, the Rookie of the Year frontrunner, is listed as week-to-week due to back spasms. Power forward Brandon Clarke, the No. 21 pick who has performed at an All-Rookie level, is also week-to-week due to a sore left oblique. -- MacMahon

This week: @GS, @PHX, MIL, WSH

27. Atlanta Hawks
Record: 6-17
Week 7 ranking: 28

Vince Carter, 42, will play in his 1,500th career game on Tuesday at Miami in his 22nd season. Only four players in NBA history have appeared in 1,500 games, including Robert Parish (1,611), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,560), Dirk Nowitzki (1,522) and John Stockton (1,504). With 59 regular-season games left, Carter could easily move up to third on the list but be just shy of Abdul-Jabbar in his final NBA season. -- Spears

This week: @MIA, @CHI, IND, LAL

28. Golden State Warriors
Record: 5-19
Week 7 ranking: 30

Rookie forward Eric Paschall has scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games, the longest streak for a Warriors rookie since Klay Thompson posted a 14-game double-figure scoring streak from April 4 to April 26, 2012. Paschall ended Sunday with the Warriors' second-best scoring average of 17.1 points per game and a rookie-best 393 points through 23 games. -- Spears

This week: MEM, NY, @UTAH, SAC

29. Cleveland Cavaliers
Record: 5-17
Week 7 ranking: 27

Long losing streaks and the recent speculation on what the future holds for Kevin Love were to be expected from the Cavaliers this season. As for the play on the court, the Cavaliers are on a six-game losing streak, including a 47-point loss to Philadelphia on Saturday, and have gone 1-12 since Nov. 10. In those 13 games, eight of them at home, Cleveland had an average point differential of -16.8 overall, including -26.4 -- yes, that is not a misprint -- on the road. To say Cleveland has not been competitive on the road would be an understatement. As for the future of Love, the forward is under contract through the 2022-23 season with an average cap hit of $30M.-- Marks

This week: @BOS, HOU, @SA, @MIL

30. New York Knicks
Record: 4-19
Week 7 ranking: 29

We will see if there is any lasting effect of New York's one-point loss to the Pacers on Saturday night. One day after head coach David Fizdale was fired, interim head coach Mike Miller led the Knicks to their most complete performance of the season. Miller made no drastic lineup changes to a roster that had been blown out by a combined 81 points to Denver and Milwaukee in the previous two games. The difference is the Knicks competed on the defensive end of the court. New York had 11 steals, 37 defensive rebounds, six blocks and held Indiana to 104 points, including a scoreless final five minutes. -- Marks

This week: @POR, @GS, @SAC, @DEN

Baseball's winter meetings are underway in San Diego, beginning Monday and continuing through Thursday's Rule 5 draft. With big-name free agents such as Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg narrowing their lists of potential landing spots and stars including Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor and Kris Bryant reportedly on the trade block this MLB offseason, it's sure to be an exciting week of wheeling and dealing.

Start the fun with our experts' predictions on which moves could shape these meetings and check back throughout the week for the latest news, rumors, buzz and analysis.

Key hot stove links

• Trades we want to see at the winter meetings
• Jeff Passan's trade tiers
• Keith Law's top 50 free agents (ESPN+) | Free-agent tracker
• A blockbuster move for all 30 teams
• Hot stove survey

ESPN+ reaction to offseason's biggest moves: Padres acquire Pham | Phillies sign Wheeler | Reds get Moustakas | White Sox add Grandal

MLB winter meetings predictions

We asked our ESPN MLB experts to weigh in on what they think could happen in San Diego. Here's what they said.

Who will be the biggest name to sign during the winter meetings?

Anthony Rendon: Three votes (Alden Gonzalez, Jesse Rogers, Marly Rivera)

Rendon's market seems more limited than that of Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, and he doesn't seem like the type to want to wait around. -- Gonzalez

The pitching market started fast but will slow down while top hitters start to come off the board. There's none bigger than Rendon. -- Rogers

There is no other position player on the market in Rendon's league. Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg will be the talk of the town, but with so many teams interested, they might drive each other's market up, and their signings could take a bit more time. -- Rivera

Madison Bumgarner: Three votes (Bradford Doolittle, Sam Miller, David Schoenfield)

This winter's relatively brisk market (compared to those of the past two winters, at least) has swept up only one Scott Boras client, and Boras is famously patient, so it wouldn't shock me if his top clients (Cole, Rendon, Strasburg) stay unsigned for a few more weeks. -- Miller

With Zack Wheeler off the market and Cole unavailable to all but a couple of teams, the tier for free-agent starters behind Cole and Stephen Strasburg is shrinking quickly, so pitching-hungry teams such as the White Sox, Twins and Braves need to pounce. -- Doolittle

The Yankees have shouted their desire to sign Cole from the top of the Empire State Building, but don't expect Cole to the Yankees (or Angels or Dodgers) to happen this week. With Boras doing the negotiating, a contract of this magnitude is unlikely to happen so soon, as the Yankees just met with Cole. Although the market is moving more quickly this offseason, I don't expect any of the big three names (Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon) to seal a deal in San Diego. Let's go with Bumgarner. -- Schoenfield

Gerrit Cole: Two votes (Dan Mullen, Matt Marrone)

I know, I know. Scott Boras guys usually sign during the NCAA tournament, not before college football bowl season, but it seems like there is real traction here, especially given that the Yankees have ownership-level approval to offer Cole a record-setting deal. There are so few teams that could go there that maybe -- just maybe -- it'll speed things up. -- Mullen

The Yankees aren't going to be beaten on this one. Except maybe by the Angels. Expect Cole's suitors to pounce. -- Marrone

What will be the biggest trade to go down in San Diego?

Kris Bryant: Two votes (Dan Mullen, Jesse Rogers)

Here's a prediction: The Cubs will trade Bryant to the Braves for Max Fried and top prospects. -- Rogers

If there's a blockbuster deal that rocks the winter meetings, the Cubs seem to be the most likely candidates to make it. My gut says Bryant is slightly more likely to move this week than Willson Contreras or Anthony Rizzo, but no deal involving Chicago would surprise me here. -- Mullen

Starling Marte: Two votes (Sam Miller, Bradford Doolittle)

Starling Marte to somewhere. There's no great center-field option on the free-agent market, and that's one of the positions on the field that a team can't fake. -- Miller

Given our diminished expectations for winter meetings trades, Marte is actually a pretty big name to move and one of the few impact players who seems readily available on the trade market, at least among those who wouldn't require an acquiring team to empty the prospect vault. -- Doolittle

Anthony Rizzo: One vote (Alden Gonzalez)

He's relatively affordable for two more seasons, heads elsewhere, and the Cubs get a bounty of prospects in return. -- Gonzalez

Francisco Lindor: One vote (David Schoenfield)

It would seem that Kris Bryant's trade value is somewhat tied to where Rendon and Josh Donaldson end up. If, say, the Nationals or Rangers lose on both of those third basemen, their interest in Bryant would increase. That means a Bryant trade might have to wait. I'm still skeptical on whether Mookie Betts will be dealt at all. Of the big three trade candidates, Francisco Lindor is my pick as most likely to get traded this week. -- Schoenfield

David Price: One vote (Matt Marrone)

Cole -- and likely Stephen Strasburg -- will soon shatter Price's record free-agent deal for a pitcher. That is a testament to Cole, but it also shows that the market is hungry for pitching. Boston will find a way to unload a huge salary -- if not Price's, then maybe Nathan Eovaldi's -- and keep Mookie Betts for at least one more year. -- Marrone

Matthew Boyd: One vote (Marly Rivera)

Boyd was one of the pitchers the Yankees tried to acquire last year, but the asking price was deemed too high. With the Tigers mired in a rebuild, Al Avila will need to find a market for the talented but inconsistent left-hander. -- Rivera

Which team is most likely to be the talk of the winter meetings?

New York Yankees: Four votes (Dan Mullen, Jesse Rogers, Matt Marrone, Marly Rivera)

If the Yankees leave San Diego with Gerrit Cole in pinstripes -- or spend the next three days having everyone buzz about the possibility of it -- there really isn't anything anyone else can do that would have us talking more than that. -- Mullen

Everyone knows the Yankees need starting pitching. Before it's over, they'll be linked to many available names. -- Rogers

Is the Death Star fully operational? Whether or not the Yankees sign Cole this week, there'll be plenty of buzz around the Bombers and baseball's biggest free agent, not to mention the various other questions in the Bronx after the team's second ALCS loss to the Astros in three years. -- Marrone

Just how high will the Yankees be willing to go to outbid the Angels for Gerrit Cole? -- Rivera

Atlanta Braves: Two votes (Sam Miller, David Schoenfield)

The Braves have already been active on midtier moves, but if they're really pushing to join the superteam tier, they make sense as a destination for almost any headline name out there. -- Miller

The Braves have a lot of potential to take this honor if they're willing to up the payroll a little. They could be in on signing Donaldson or trading for Bryant. Maybe they still want to add a veteran starter to the rotation even after signing Cole Hamels. Heck, Dansby Swanson isn't enough to block a potential Lindor trade (in fact, Swanson could be part of the deal). The Braves have drawn a hard line on their payroll under Liberty Media, but they need one more big star, and they have the financial and minor league resources to do it. -- Schoenfield

Los Angeles Dodgers: One vote (Alden Gonzalez)

The Dodgers appear to be in on all the big names, on the trade market and in free agency, and now might finally be the time for Andrew Friedman to make a big splash. -- Gonzalez

Los Angeles Angels: 1 vote (Bradford Doolittle)

With L.A.'s other team in spend mode and their need for starting pitching so acute, the Angels have the kind of pent-up desperation needed to push things in the market, perhaps more than any other club. -- Doolittle

Who is one under-the-radar team to watch in San Diego?

Texas Rangers: Two votes (Alden Gonzalez, Dan Mullen)

They're heading into a new ballpark, have unveiled new uniforms and need a new star to market around. -- Gonzalez

The Rangers want to do something big as they get ready to move into their new ballpark. The question is if they find a free-agent or big trade fit that takes them from a team to watch to one actually making moves. -- Mullen

Cincinnati Reds: Two votes (Jesse Rogers, Marly Rivera)

Perhaps it won't be so under the radar, considering they already inked Mike Moustakas to a deal, but the aggressive nature of the Reds -- who see an opening in the NL Central -- might come as a surprise to many. -- Rogers

The Reds indeed sense an opportunity to contend in the NL Central and have already made some significant offseason moves. -- Rivera

San Diego Padres: Two votes (David Schoenfield, Matt Marrone)

A.J. Preller has already made two interesting trades for the Padres, bringing in Tommy Pham, Zach Davies and Trent Grisham, but this roster is hardly a finished product that can contend with the Dodgers or Braves for NL supremacy. The rotation still could use a veteran leader with more upside than Davies, and an upgrade over Manuel Margot in center field is a possibility. How about signing Hyun-Jin Ryu or Bumgarner and trading for Starling Marte? -- Schoenfield

The home team is already off and running and won't stop this week. -- Marrone

Milwaukee Brewers: One vote (Bradford Doolittle)

Milwaukee has shed talent like a molting snake since the World Series ended, but with just two more years of Christian Yelich ensured, it's hard to believe that the departures have been a harbinger of a soft rebuild. -- Doolittle

Arizona Diamondbacks: One vote (Sam Miller)

The Diamondbacks are probably a big bat away and seem to have already successfully, admirably completed their flash rebuild, so it's a little surprising not to hear them more frequently speculated about (speaking of "Starling Marte to somewhere," now that I think of it.) -- Miller

What's the one thing everyone will be talking about on the plane home?

The winter meetings are back! They have been exceedingly dull the past two years, but this time, the big stars will sign and major trades will be made, and baseball observers everywhere will be shocked multiple times over, just like the old days. I'm going to will this into existence. -- Gonzalez

Gerrit Cole. Whether or not Cole signs this week, his name will be prevalent throughout our stay in San Diego, just as it is now, and if he hasn't committed to a new team by Thursday, our collective appetite for news about him will grow ever more ravenous. -- Doolittle

How long will it be before Cole, Strasburg and Rendon sign? -- Schoenfield

Teams overpaying for starting pitching and the exorbitant numbers being discussed regarding Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg. -- Rivera

I'll go a little outside the box here and say the Astros. If Cole signs, what he means to INSERT TEAM HERE will certainly dominate. But the sign-stealing scandal remains the biggest story in baseball. How -- and when -- will it be resolved? -- Marrone

Women’s bronze added to men’s PSA Gold in Zurich super show
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

Tickets for the 2020 Grasshopper Cup are on sale now as Zurich’s Halle 622 gets set to feature a men’s and women’s PSA Tour event for the first time in the tournament’s 41-year history between March 17-22.

A men’s PSA World Tour Gold event will be held alongside a women’s PSA Bronze event, with a best-of-three games scoring format being used up to and including the quarter-finals stage, before reverting to traditional best-of-five scoring for the semi-finals and final.

Last year’s tournament saw World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy become the third Egyptian in four years to lift the Grasshopper Cup and the 2020 edition will see an inaugural women’s champion crowned. $165,000 worth of prize money will be on offer throughout the week, making the Grasshopper Cup the second most lucrative PSA Tour event in Europe after the Allam British Open.

Matches will take place at the glass court staged at Halle 622 and also at the Uster Squash Arena for fixtures in the early rounds.

Tickets for the Grasshopper Cup are available for purchase via the tournament website.

For more information on the tournament, squash fans can view the teaser trailer for the event and follow the event on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

‘Your memories are stored in your brain, not your muscles’
By TONY GRIFFIN – Squash Mad Coaching Correspondent

Muscle or cell memory are terms that I had heard of but didn’t really understand. Some months ago I was introduced to the concept in more detail. In essence, the idea is that every movement or action we make is recorded within us, more probably in our subconscious.

The more I thought about it, the more I became aware of the implications this could have in our learning processes, especially in relation to the way we train and the retention of new skills. I started questioning if this concept is related to why low numbers of repetitions is proving to be more beneficial in training.

Coaches aim to get players to organise their bodies and their footwork into a functional shape at that one special moment when their racket strings make contact with the ball.

Essentially, that’s what much of coaching is all about: that one magic moment of contact with the ball.

However, in the heat of a match you may well end up scrambling from back left to front right chasing a tight boast and you are in fight or flight mode, doing anything you can to simply get to the ball.

Your brain then makes this the absolute priority: Get to the ball! Don’t let it bounce twice!

In those moments, all of your pre-planning goes out of the window… or does it?

Does the knowledge (and muscle memory) from so many matches and training sessions still kick in so that your brain arranges some semblance of order so that you can move across the court, extend your arm with a racket on the end of it, and hit the ball before the death knell of that second bounce? Of course it does!

In June of this year I was selected to present my work in the FIEP World Congress – “Sports, Physical Education and the Scenic Arts as Tools for Change in Society”.

In the speakers room I met one of the main speakers Richard Bailey (he leads research at the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education) and we talked about this cell memory idea. He explained to me, with scientific detail, that these memories are stored in our brains and not in our cells or muscles.

I am not qualified to defend either one of these ideas about where we store the memories of all of our actions/movements but I was relieved that there is a consensus that they are stored somewhere…

This idea has led me to ask whether all the movements and shots we do in our training sessions are going to be useful sometime in a match? Is the quality, the sensation, the body position, the movement, the accuracy, the focus etc what want to reproduce in our matches?

And the next question was: How should we train so that what we put into our body memory is more beneficial for our matches?

So imagine if all the repetitions of a particular shot in a routine go into a memory box which we then open when we need that specific solution or shot in a match.

If we have done hundreds of repetitions, some good, lots average, some not so good, some without concentration, some thinking about what is for lunch, etc, what happens if we have very little time when we look into the memory box for that shot we need?

Do we take the first one we find? Is it easy to find those good shots among all the others, or do we chose anyone of them because of the rush?

If we have done fewer repetitions and because of this, more of them are good shots, we have been focused on our body position, aiming for the target area, and even practiced changing from one shot to another. In this case what happens when we open our solutions box? Do we have more chance of choosing a better shot and being able to execute it?

The clearer the sensation is within the player, the more chance they have to reproduce the shot well. This brings me to the question we are working on recently which also related to body memory. If all the details and sensations of the shot we take from our memory box are very clear, does this help our body self-organise towards that solution?

Visualisation is an accepted sports psychology practice used by many athletes to help them achieve their goals. By giving clarity to their goal, the body and mind self-organises to achieve their objective.

I have seen professional players stand on the T and stare at the front wall, then ghost a few imaginary shots with their hands on each side of the T. Many of us may think that all squash courts are the same, with white walls and a tin. 

But there could be subtle changes, say, in the colour of the adverts on the tin (or even the height of the tin). Lighting, too, can be different from club to club and court to court. The players doing these visualisation exercises are making their brains feel at home in their new surroundings. Every little bit of sensory awareness helps towards the delivery of a game plan.

Part of our Gevolution process is similar. We help the player to hit the ball very well, often from a static position when necessary. We now know they cannot hit the ball well many times in a row, so, after a few well-hit shots, we change position or shot. Those good sensations of hitting the ball well are then stored inside their memory box.

Here’s an example. We see the opportunity to play a winning drop shot in the front of the court. Like visualisation, if we are clear about how we are going to play the drop shot our body self organises towards the clear solution from the memory box.

If we are not clear about how we want to play the drop shot, the path to the shot can be filled with various degrees of doubt or insecurity that can interfere with our ability to play the shot well. It appears that our body organises itself depending on the clarity it receives when it opens the memory box.

Now it is inspiring for me as a coach when I see a player hit the ball like a good player just once and I happily change shots or exercise.

And, because of the fantastic sensation of hitting ball well, the player wants want to play more. It is like opening the door for a new path to follow. That’s the endless beauty of coaching. There are so many doors to open! 

With 51 games on the docket for next week, no team is getting a light schedule. Everyone plays either three or four games.

The New Jersey Devils are among the teams with three games and have one of the worst ratings on the Forecaster, but they are one of the clubs to keep a close eye on this coming week. They have played one game since canning coach John Hynes and promoting Alain Nasresddine in the interim - and already we are seeing some big changes.

Nasreddine immediately split up the trio of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Nico Hischier at even strength. Hall anchored a line with Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha, while Palmieri and Hischier were joined by Jesper Boqvist. The Devils lost 4-3 to the Golden Knights and one of the goals came late when Hall, Hischier and Palmieri were put back together again for the third period. So we can't read too much into the actual combinations.

But the new lines out of the gate are a very, very good sign for fantasy.

It means the new coach is willing to try some new things to get this team playing to its potential. So far this season, Palmieri and Hall are arguably the only fantasy-relevant Devils - and despite that, both have been below expectations. Coming into the season, we expected Hall, Palmieri, Hischier, P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds, Jack Hughes and even Nikita Gusev to be on the fantasy radar after the team made some major changes.

We know Hall has the capacity to put this team on his back, as he did in 2017-18, and we know Palmieri is his main sidekick. They both need to be treated as "holds" for the time being in fantasy. Don't trade them away, but don't necessarily target them either. The discount you want to take on their current trends just won't be there. Everyone knows Hall is MVP caliber and everyone knows Palmieri is his wingman. That makes it difficult to trade for them, and the same logic applies if you are thinking of trading them: Your trade partner likely wants a discount they don't deserve.

But after those two, we can start building cases for acquisition for the rest of these Devils. And I want to start with Subban.

Why on earth is a defenseman with one of the 10-best fantasy seasons by a defenseman in the past three years not being deployed as the power-play quarterback here? This has to change. It didn't on Wednesday against the Golden Knights, but maybe that's because Nasreddine only had one day to prepare. Keep a close eye on how the power play looks in the next few days, because we should see Subban get a "clean slate" shot at being the QB.

While we have a fresh start, it may also be worth scooping up a freebie Hughes, Simmonds or Gusev.

The rookie Hughes was back at practice this week and could return from injury in time for the weekend. He should get another chance at top-six minutes under a new coach. Hughes has probably been dropped in about half the leagues out there given his slow start and subsequent injury.

In addition to Subban, Simmonds could be a choice to help revamp the struggling power play. Only Alex Ovechkin had more power-play goals than Simmonds between 2013-14 and 2017-18, a stretch of five seasons that wasn't that long ago. It seems a no-brainer for a new coach to put Subban and Simmonds on the top unit and give them some run there. Simmonds will be available in maybe two-thirds of leagues, depending on whether hits are used as a category or not. He won't be available in leagues that count hits.

Gusev had an OK start to his NHL career, but faded fast. His ice time has been nearly non-existent under Hynes, so it's been hard for him to get going. I noted this on Oct. 18 and the stat has plummeted since then, but almost three weeks into the season, Gusev was 20th in the league in goals per 60 minutes at even strength. At that time, that was better than Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak. Gusev will be available in 90 percent of leagues, but is probably the more-desperate grab here. There just isn't a clear path for those top-six minutes he needs. Still, the first sign of a more prominent role would be reason enough to stash him.

After hosting the Blackhawks on Friday, the Devils are on the road for four games (three of them on next week's schedule). Watch the lines, check out the power play and follow the results. This team has the talent to turn this thing around - at least for fantasy purposes, anyway.

Fantasy Forecaster: Dec. 9 to Dec. 15

No team gets a short schedule this week, with a minimum of three contests for all. Nine teams get an extra game by playing four times, including the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are all light on contests next week, and the Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals are the two teams to stack for daily-moves leagues. Both play three games on those off days, which can complement the rest of your roster. Joonas Donskoi, Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller are your targets here. Even with Gabriel Landeskog returning, the Avalanche kept Donskoi on the wing with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. That meant Burakovsky got Landeskog as a linemate. It also looks like Nazem Kadri might miss a few games, so J.T. Compher may also be an option playing with Landeskog and Burakovsky. Meanwhile, Nicklas Backstrom remains out for the Capitals, giving Eller more run as the second-line center.

For those new to the forecaster chart, here are some explanations: "O" (offense), which is on the left for each game, and "D" (defense), on the right, matchup ratings are based upon a scale from 1 (poor matchup) to 10 (excellent matchup) and are calculated using a formula that evaluates the team's season-to-date statistics, their performance in home/road games depending on where the game is to be played, as well as their opponents' numbers in those categories. The "Ratings" column lists the cumulative rating from 1 to 10 of that week's offensive ("O") and defensive ("D") matchups.

In the notes below, the focus every week will be mainly on players that are available for potential use. Ownership below 50 percent of ESPN leagues is a good generalized cutoff. I'll try to also include players below 10 percent ownership whenever possible to cater to deeper formats.

Team notes

Minnesota Wild: Don't keep sleeping on Kevin Fiala. The winger is playing a big role in the Wild turning around their offense of late. He's been locked into an even strength role with Zach Parise and the pair are thriving no matter who is at center (it was Mikko Koivu at first, but Luke Kunin since Koivu was hurt). After getting only one point in October, Fiala had 11 points in 13 games during November and has started this month with three in three. He'll be one of those guys that was a late pick in most leagues, but then dropped after the first couple of weeks. Fiala should be available in 85 percent of leagues and is a must-add for the Wild's approaching four-game week.

Also widely available from this surging group: Mats Zuccarello (top line with Eric Staal and Jason Zucker) and Jonas Brodin (potting assists and plus ratings in droves of late).

Calgary Flames: The Flames are shaking up the lines, big time. Elias Lindholm stayed on the top line, but Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan slipped down the depth chart together. Lindholm skated with Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane on Thursday, while Gaudreau and Monahan were with Mikael Backlund. The result was a win and Gaudreau's first goal since Nov. 7, so we'll call this move a win. If it continues to work, Backlund is going to be available in about 80 percent of leagues and is a worthy addition to your bench.

Player notes

Jake Allen, G, St. Louis Blues: By no means would I be sweating too much as a possessor of Jordan Binnington in fantasy. But Tuesday's game was not a back-to-back and could have easily been started by a Binnington. But after recent solid performances, the start was given to Allen and he responded with a shutout. That's three rock-solid starts from Allen in a straight rotation with Binnington since Nov. 25. Handcuff him now if you have Binnington.

Ilya Mikheyev, W, Toronto Maple Leafs: It was very notable that in Mitch Marner's return, coach Sheldon Keefe did not reunite the trio of Marner, John Tavares and Zach Hyman. Hyman was bumped down the depth chart to the third line, while Mikheyev stayed with Tavares and Marner. It was one game, and one game only, but if there's a guy available in 90 percent of leagues that is going to play with Tavares and Marner, I'm at least looking at them.

On Nov. 17, the Minnesota Wild fell to last place in the NHL. With just seven wins in their first 20 games, no team had fewer points (16) than Minnesota.

The Wild were looking like a veteran team weighed down by too many bloated (and regrettable) contacts. Their big free-agent acquisition, Mats Zuccarello, wasn't producing. Goaltending looked suspect. It appeared Minnesota was much closer to entering a rebuild than it was to contending. General manager Paul Fenton had been fired in late July, less than 15 months into the job. Bill Guerin, who won two Stanley Cups as a player and two more as a member of Pittsburgh's front office, was hired as a replacement in August. And it sure looked like he had a huge mess to clean up.

But even as the losses piled over the first six weeks of the season, Guerin stood pat. Fans were calling for the Wild to fire coach Bruce Boudreau, or make a seismic trade to shake up the roster.

But Guerin did nothing. And all of a sudden, the Wild started winning. With an 11-game points streak -- and five-game winning streak, both of which were snapped in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday -- Minnesota miraculously climbed into playoff contention.

"I'm happy for the guys. They did this," Guerin told ESPN in a phone interview Saturday. "I'm glad I didn't do any knee-jerk moves or anything like that."

Guerin spent the previous five seasons as assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was considered a strong candidate for several GM openings before landing in Minnesota. Upon taking the job, he tried to spend as much time as he could with the coaching staff. "The most important thing for me was to just to get to know everybody," he said. "I came into a situation where I didn't hire anybody."

He also scheduled as many one-on-one meetings as he could with players. Guerin asked them to share their feelings about what went wrong the previous few years. He asked them how they felt about playing in Minnesota. Guerin then relied on advice from his mentors.

"I worked for Jim Rutherford, I worked for Ray Shero, I consider Lou Lamoriello a mentor and a friend -- he's taught me a lot over the years," Guerin said. "The biggest thing I heard from a lot of GMs: They preached patience to me. Brian Burke even reached out. Guys like that, giving good, solid advice. A lot of them said, 'Don't rush into anything.'"

And so Guerin resisted temptation. "There are good players here. I've said that since Day 1. There's potential here," he said. "You want to help them. You want to make this team as good as it can be. So you think of changes you can make or improvements you can make. So yeah, I had to pull my finger off the button a couple of times, but I'm glad I did."

Asked how close he was to make a coaching change or pulling off a trade, Guerin said, "Well, not the coach, I'll tell you that. There are always things that come across your desk. You're always talking to other GMs. But my message to the team was, they're going to get the opportunity to prove themselves as a group. I didn't feel the need to put my personal stamp on this team just to make a trade, just because. I didn't feel the need to do that. This group is proving that they're a good hockey team, they're a close group of guys that like playing together and like playing in Minnesota."

The Wild averaged 3.5 goals per game during their points streak; prior to that, their season average was around 2.6. Zuccarello, the longtime New York Ranger who signed a five-year, $30 million contract in free agency, started producing. He has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past 10 games after tallying just seven points in his first 16.

"When I was in Pittsburgh, we really liked Zucc, too; I just think the world of the guy," Guerin said. "He's got a presence about him, he's got that swagger that we're looking for, and he can make plays. But when you sign a big contract, going to a new team, and you've been somewhere for a long time, it takes a while to adjust. The most pressure put on you is from yourself. I think it took him just a little while to get used to things. But we're seeing the way he can play now."

Goaltending has been a question mark for this group, and starter Devan Dubnyk is currently on leave from the team as his wife, Jennifer, is dealing with serious medical issues. It doesn't sound as though Guerin is looking to add to the goaltending group. In Dubnyk's absence, the team has looked to his usual backup, Alex Stalock, and also called up 23-year-old rookie Kaapo Kahkonen, who shined in his first two NHL starts, going 2-0 with a .950 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average. He was especially impressive in a 44-save victory against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

"The way I see it right now, with Duby being away, it's an opportunity," Guerin said. "It's an opportunity for Alex, for Kaapo, and they've taken advantage of the opportunity. Devan is away for personal reasons, he's not injured or anything like that, but he'll be back. So I see it as an opportunity for those two to play more to prove more and see what they can do. They've done a great job of filling in to the No. 1 and No. 2 spot."

The Wild went through a grueling road schedule early. They've already played half of their season's road games, with 30 nights in a hotel in 39 days. (Only one other team, the 2005-06 Chicago Blackhawks during the circus trip era, has played 20 of its first 30 games on the road.) Fenton and team president Matt Majka told the NHL they were comfortable with the early road-heavy schedule, and signed off on it. After all, the team didn't exactly have great home success last season, going 16-18-7 at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild now have new challenges, as exposed in the loss to Carolina, as they are now without two of their best players (captain Mikko Koivu and defenseman Jared Spurgeon) due to injuries. Both players are expected to miss at least a couple weeks.

"To me, getting through that tough part of the season and realizing you're not in that bad of a spot gives them a lot to play for," Guerin said. "They've proven to themselves, and to me, that they're a good team. But we're only 20-something games in. They've got to keep going. Now the expectations are higher than they were before. And we can't just be happy with where we are now. Nobody stopped playing because we started winning."

Jump ahead:
Emptying the notebook | What we liked this week
Three stars of the week | Biggest games coming up

Emptying the notebook

The team the Wild -- and everyone in the Central Division -- has to chase is the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. What they've been able to do with major injuries to the lineup (Vladimir Tarasenko is out until at least April, while Alexander Steen has been out a month and Oskar Sundqvist is battling a lingering injury) is quite impressive. They're 13-5-3 since Tarasenko went down, good for fourth place in the NHL in that span, with 29 points. I caught up with Blues GM Doug Armstrong last week to ask how his team was persevering. "We always said as an organization, death by a thousand cuts," Armstrong said. "We feel comfortable by our depth. We're getting great play from key positions. Our goaltending has been outstanding, and our defense has been very good, and that keeps us in a lot of games."

Armstrong said he's still confident Tarasenko will be able to join the team for a playoff run. Tarasenko had surgery on his dislocated left shoulder Oct. 29, and the team set a five-month timetable for him to be reevaluated. "He's diligent with his rehab," Armstrong said. "I know that he works very hard. We actually tried to slow him down a little bit. We told him to spend time with family, take vacations, because when we get into January and he can start going full barrel, we want him to. Five months will be April 1. Season ends April 4, and we're hopeful he'll be on that timeline."

Since Tarasenko is on long-term injury reserve, the Blues have approximately his entire salary-cap space ($7.5 million) available. Of course, that means cash out of pocket for ownership, since St. Louis is still paying Tarasenko. The team also has to get back to being cap-compliant if Tarasenko returns before the end of the regular season. So how creative does Armstrong expect to get with the cap space? "There's no player we're going to get that's as good as Vladdy," Armstrong said. "So I'd rather get Vladdy back than spend that money. But also, it's not an injury where you can come back exponentially earlier than the doctors say, because it's just a healing thing. It's not a strength thing. So I think we're looking into the first round anyways."

How do all of the early-season injuries affect the Blues at the trade deadline? "This group, last year we did nothing at the deadline," Armstrong said. "This year, we made a major acquisition in Justin Faulk. We're having a really good look at some of our younger players -- [Nathan] Walker is in there as guys have gotten hurt, he's played well. Jordan Kyrou is a top prospect we'd like to get in here, too. So what we'd like to be able to do between now and the trade deadline is find out how advanced our younger players are, to see if they are actually able to help us as we push for a playoff spot, or do we have to look outside?"

It hasn't been the easiest transition for Faulk, whom the Blues acquired right before the season. He has just seven points in 31 games. "It's been an adjustment for him," Armstrong said. "As it has been quite honestly for Colton Parayko. When you have four right-shot defensemen -- most teams are lucky to have two -- and you'll see in the NHL, a lot of lefties can play the right side, but not a lot of righties are asked to play the left since there is such a shortage. So we're putting guys in off positions." Because the Blues have so much defensive depth, they haven't been able to get consistent defensive pairings. "We're trying to win, but keep everyone happy with their ice time," Armstrong said.

There was no much self-imposed emphasis for the Coyotes to make the playoffs this season. So it's neat to see them tied for first place in the Pacific Division. This is the latest in the season they've held that spot since the 2010-11, when they won the division. The Coyotes have a plus-14 goal differential -- the second-best mark in the Western Conference -- and the biggest reason why is stout goaltending from Darcy Kuemper (.935 save percentage) and Antti Raanta (.926).

Three stars of the week

John Carlson, D, Washington Capitals

The Johnny Norris campaign hasn't slowed down. Carlson scored six points in three games this past week (three goals, three assists) as the Caps swept their California road trip. Two of his goals were game winners.

Alex Tuch, RW, Vegas Golden Knights

After a rough November spent battling injuries and inconsistency, Tuch is bouncing back in a big way. In four games this past week, he had six points (three goals, three assists), including scoring twice in four minutes against the Rangers, which doubled his season goal total.

Jack Eichel, C, Buffalo Sabres

Eichel has improved in every season as a pro, and is on quite an impressive stretch right now for the Sabres (41 points in his first 30 games). That includes seven points (two goals, five assists) in four games this past week.

What we liked this week

• Mark Borowiecki is the hero the Ottawa Senators deserve in these trying times, as he stopped an attempted robbery while the team was in Vancouver, British Columbia, to play the Canucks.

• Goalie Petr Mrazek was punched by the Sharks' Joe Thornton, and his Bunch of Jerks teammates created a crime scene for it:

Fun times at RCI. pic.twitter.com/1njfOwFN15

— Cory Lavalette (@corylav) December 6, 2019

• It's true, Alex Ovechkin is on fire these days. I recommend taking the time to watch Ovechkin and teammate John Carlson sit down last week with Linda Cohn for this In the Crease special. It was a fun interview, and both guys' personalities are on full display. Cohn asked Ovechkin what would happen if he passes Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading scorer. "You probably never gonna see me on the ice again." Instant retirement? "Yeah, right away," Ovechkin said, doing a salute. "See ya!"

• The Penguins have endured so many injuries this season that a fan sent a package of California white sage to their office, and asked if someone could "walk around the arena to exorcise some evil spirits." Andi Perlman, the Penguins' director of new media, was up to the task:

And what did you do on your lunch break today? pic.twitter.com/DiN9wu8Kwl

— Andi Perelman (@AndiPerelman) December 4, 2019

• Kevin Hayes miked up is pure gold:

Kevin Hayes (@KevinPHayes12) mic'd up is everything and more. ?

(? @NHLFlyers) pic.twitter.com/p9fokifFpx

— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2019

• I am pretty confident I am in love with these throwback beauties for the Canucks:

You either love these jerseys or you hate them. There is no in-between.

Us: ??? pic.twitter.com/JkJPZ069mp

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) December 7, 2019

• How can we better support women's hockey? Let's take a page from the Colorado Avalanche. Their social media team did a full-on blitz when J.T. Compher and some teammates spent their off day in Boston cheering on J.T.'s sister Jesse, a star player for Boston University.

What we didn't like this week

Among the allegations that Mike Babcock verbally abused players, the most disturbing has to be around Johan Franzen while they were with the Detroit Red Wings. It's especially troubling considering the issues Franzen has been dealing with following his playing career. Franzen, 39, is under contract with the Red Wings through 2019-20 but has not played in the NHL since 2015 as he deals with lingering problems with post-concussion syndrome. Franzen has opened up recently to say he fights a daily battle with depression, anxiety and panic attacks.

Chris Chelios first shed light on the relationship between Babcock and Franzen in an appearance on the "Spittin Chiclets" podcast. "Some of the things [Babcock said to Franzen] on the bench, I don't know what he said to him behind closed doors one-on-one, but he blatantly verbally assaulted him during the game on the bench," Chelios said. "It got to the point where poor Johan, no one really knowing he was suffering with the concussion thing and the depression thing, he just broke down and had a nervous breakdown. Not only on the bench but after the game in one of the rooms in Nashville. That was probably the worst thing I've ever seen."

Franzen corroborated the story in an interview with a Swedish outlet, Expressen.

"I get the shivers when I think about it," Franzen told Expressen. "That incident occurred against Nashville in the playoffs. It was coarse, nasty and shocking. But that was just one out of a hundred things he did. The tip of the iceberg. ... He would lay into a couple of the other players. The nice team players, the guys who don't say very much. When they left the team he went on to focus on me. It was verbal attacks, he said horrible things."

There is some fuzziness with the timeline of the Chelios anecdote. Then-GM Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press that "the situation Chelios described had nothing to do with Franzen. They were separate situations. That happened after a game in San Jose, when someone had said something on a telecast about there being unrest in the locker room. I told players they could come to me if they had anything to say. No one did."

Nonetheless, the fact that Franzen -- and Chelios -- are still scarred by the interactions to this day is telling, and tough to hear.

Games of the week

Friday: Vegas Golden Knights at Dallas Stars (ESPN+)

These two teams are trying to establish playoff position in the West. Could make for a great goalie matchup, as Marc-Andre Fleury has returned from his personal leave while grieving the death of his father, while Ben Bishop has been red-hot for the Stars.

Saturday: Toronto Maple Leafs at Edmonton Oilers

Canadian angst is on full display when these two teams -- both aspiring to snap Canada's 26-year Stanley Cup drought -- face off. Auston Matthews versus Connor McDavid is always a fun one. And who would have predicted that the Oilers would have more points than the Leafs at this point of the season?

Saturday: Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning (ESPN+)

The Lightning and Capitals rank No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in goals per game. Get ready for offensive fireworks. Plus, it looks like Nicklas Backstrom should be back this week after a long absence, meaning the Caps could have a full, healthy lineup for the first time this season.

Quote of the week

No quote this week, but with two beloved players coming back to their old stomping grounds, we got some nice tribute videos.

Phil Kessel, upon his return to Pittsburgh:

Thanks for the Cups, the laughs, and the thrills.

All the best to you, two-time Stanley Cup Champion @PKessel81. pic.twitter.com/PozrJmvu8i

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 7, 2019

The video for Nazem Kadri, as he returned to Toronto:

Nazem Kadri reacts to a video tribute in his return to Toronto. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/FaVIbLBKxn

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) December 5, 2019

MELBOURNE, Australia – The U.S. Presidents Cup team arrived in Australia for this week’s matches a little later than originally planned.

The team’s charter flight from the Bahamas, where most of the team was playing last week’s Hero World Challenge including playing-captain Tiger Woods, was delayed and didn’t arrive in Melbourne until 12:30 p.m. (local time).

“Justin [Thomas] is still half-asleep,” Woods joked at Monday’s opening event. “Do I look that bad?” Thomas asked with a smile.

All total it was a 26-hour trip for the team and Woods said they spent much of the flight sleeping and getting treatment to prepare for this week.

“Just to have the ability for guys to hang out and walk around, there was a lot of room. It was good,” Woods said. “It was a day to kill in a tin can.”

Many of the International team players were at Royal Melbourne Monday for practice rounds, but the Americans will have to wait until Tuesday to begin their preparations.

Royal Melbourne is the site of the International team’s only victory in the event in 1998, but captain Ernie Els embraced his team’s challenge this week, “We are the underdogs,” he said, “there’s no secret about that.”

A Spanish court has on Monday cleared 41 people, including Leganes coach Javier Aguirre, and Second Division side Real Zaragoza of match-fixing charges in a Liga fixture between Levante and Real Zaragoza in 2011.

A total of 41 people, including 36 current and former players, had faced punishments ranging from 24-month to four-year prison sentences and €3.4 million fines each if found guilty of sports corruption.

The judge ruled there was insufficient evidence of that crime. However, former Zaragoza president, Agapito Iglesias, and ex-club financial director, Javier Porquera, have each been handed 15-month prison sentences for falsifying private documents.

According to the judge, both fraudulently justified taking out €1.73m from Real Zaragoza's accounts to pay special bonuses to their players for avoiding relegation.

Coached by Aguirre at the time, Real Zaragoza avoided relegation by beating Levante 2-1 in the final round of the 2010-11 season, a result that demoted Deportivo La Coruna. Zaragoza, via their players, were accused of paying €965,000 to Levante's players to lose.

That money was allegedly then justified as bonuses given to the Zaragoza players and their payrolls altered to that effect.

Aguirre denied any wrongdoing, but Japan's national team fired him as coach in 2015 for his ties to the investigation.

A lower court shelved the case but it was reopened last year after an appeal by prosecutors in Valencia, where the match was played. This was the first court case regarding a match-fixing investigation into a top-flight game in Spain.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to slash the power of its chief executive officer Wasim Khan who has been working additionally as the head of the cricket committee. He resigned from the role as the head of the committee in order to help revamp it, making it a thoroughly independent body. He, however, retains the freedom to sit in the committee as an ex-officio with a right to participate in discussions, but without the power to take decisions and vote.

This change at the helm of the cricket committee is a third such instance within 13 months. Earlier, only three meetings and eight months into the formation of the original committee, its head at time, Mohsin Khan, had to resign after developing differences with the PCB over statements made on public platforms, which had put the board in an awkward position. Wasim had replaced him with his first order of business a review of the last three years following the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup. Before taking up the role of head coach and chief selector, Misbah-ul-Haq had also quit as a member of the commitee.

"Our main business is cricket for which we have a structure and we are taking steps for improvement," PCB chairman Ehsan Mani said in Lahore. "We got disruption in our cricket committee and we are revamping it starting with Wasim stepping down as its head so that it should be an independent committee. He will be present in the meeting to coordinate with the PCB and the members but I want independent advice after critically assessing the affairs. They are cricketers and who else understand the game more than them.

"I want honest feedback without any other interest. They can challenge the chief selectors, team management, selectors and other cricket support teams in PCB to give us a critical feedback for the betterment. What are the steps that need to be taken after a thorough independent assessment. The scope is wide; they can challenge the selector, coaches, team management and this will go down across to the entire cricketing structure from top to bottom. The proposal, however, is only recommendatory, and onus will be on me to accept or reject. I don't think I will reject without any rationale."

The PCB has also launched a movement to restructure the model of national academies and re-educate the local coaches. The state of pitches in the country for domestic cricket has been a major topic of debate for over a decade as it is considered a major hindrance in the development of players who are capable of adapting themselves in countries like Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Mani informed that the PCB is engaging Andy Atkinson, the ICC pitch consultant, to train PCB's curators.

Wasim hinted at a significant structural overhaul after an ongoing assessment by former England Cricket Board (ECB) Performance Director David Parsons is completed. Mudassar Nazar, the head of cricket academies confirmed that he will not seek an extension after his contract ends next year in May. The remainder of his term is merely a formality as he is set to go on annual leave, with the PCB expected to look for a replacement in the interim. The importance of the NCA as a pathway for the progress of players is not lost on both Mani and Wasim, and with that in mind head of coaching at NCA, Ali Zia, has also been forced to resign last week.

"I have serious doubts on the capacity of our coaches and we need to upgrade them," said Mani. "Our boys do have passion for cricket, they have ability but until or unless their teachers aren't good then we can not have our boys excel in the field. So expect a lot of changes in academies and the structure. Me and Wasim both had concerns and we have been reviewing with the help of David (Parsons). We are forming six centres of excellence working with the six association with one curriculum in place as in PCB's national high performance centre. We need elevate the credibility of our development system and the pathway."

England 284 for 6 (Wyatt 110, Beaumont 107) beat Pakistan 209 (Maroof 69, Cross 4-32) by 75 runs

Danni Wyatt's maiden women's ODI hundred, and a seventh in the format from Tammy Beaumont, set up England for victory in the first match of the series against Pakistan. England consolidated second spot in the ICC Women's Championship, with qualification for the 2021 World Cup already confirmed.

The 75-run margin, while comfortable enough for Heather Knight's side, was the closest chase in nine ODI meetings between the sides. Pakistan, currently lying fifth on the table, still retain hope of automatic progression to the World Cup but face a tough run of fixtures against England and India between them and a top-four spot.

England's total was set up by a dominant 188-run stand between the openers, Wyatt and Beaumont. Pushed back up the order, with Amy Jones taking the gloves and shifting to No. 5, Wyatt cracked an 86-ball hundred to set the innings up perfectly, before Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof finally made the breakthrough.

Beaumont was more circumspect, reaching three figures from 136 balls, and Pakistan did a good job of controlling the scoring after Wyatt's departure, with England adding 96 from the final 16 overs. Knight managed 41 from 44 balls but Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson and Jones all fell cheaply as debutant Rameen Shamim finished with 3 for 61 from her ten overs.

"I'm delighted to have got a hundred and for us to get the win," Wyatt said. "It was a tough challenge early on. The pitch was slow and skiddy so it was really important to play straight.

"Heather's given me licence to play my game at the top of the order and that's what I did. We maybe left a few runs out there and there are definitely a few things to work on for the next game, but Pakistan batted well and it was to nice to start the new era with a good win."

Pakistan's reply began badly, with both openers gone inside the first three overs as senior new-ball pair Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt hit their straps. When Kate Cross claimed the first of her four wickets in the 11th over, Pakistan were 39 for 3 and facing a steep asking rate.

Maroof and Umaima Sohail helped rebuild with a 67-run stand for the fourth wicket, while some late aggression from Aliya Riaz kept Pakistan in contention. Maroof recorded her 13th ODI half-century before being bowled for 69 by Cross, and England's debutant legspinner Sarah Glenn picked up two-for as Pakistan lost their last four wickets for six runs.

The dismissal of Nida Dar lbw earlier in the chase also saw Brunt reach 150 ODI wickets as England, under the guidance of assistant coach Ali Maiden ahead of Lisa Keightley taking charge in the new year, got their tour off to a solid start.