DUNEDIN, Florida – Heres what we know when it comes to exactly who will fill out the back of the Blue Jays season-opening starting rotation: We dont know. At the moment, neither do the decision-makers. Dustin McGowan is front-and-centre in this ongoing saga, having thrust himself into the conversation with a dominating three-inning performance against the Phillies on Thursday, just hours after manager John Gibbons appeared to pour cold water on the notion. Heres part of Gibbons conversation with the media from that day: QUESTION: "So it seems like (McGowans) more in the bullpen picture then?" GIBBONS: "Yeah, yeah. Unless he comes out of nowhere and you know." Then, later: QUESTION: "How concerned are you if he went the route and got the innings needed to be a starter, worried about injury with him?" GIBBONS: "Well, me personally, I was concerned about that. Not everybody was, but I was, because thats where hes had his problems. We think hes beyond that kind of stuff. And, I thought he thrived in the bullpen, I thought that was a good role for him. But he had desire to do it, a lot of people had desire to see if he could do it. Myself, personally, I kind of had some reservations." On Saturday, Gibbons clarified his stance, saying hes always left the door open to McGowan beginning the season in the rotation. "Im concerned about his health but I didnt say we had to have him in the bullpen," said Gibbons. "That hadnt been determined yet. Did I officially say he was in the bullpen?" McGowan wants to be a starter. Hes expressed as much on repeated occasions dating back to the end of last season. But the 31-year-old, whose multiple shoulder surgeries have sidetracked a promising career, admits to having his own hesitations. Hes topped out at 47 pitches this spring, the Thursday outing, and plans to throw 65 pitches in a minor league game on Tuesday. "Its going to be tough, I think," said McGowan. "Anytime you increase by 15 to 20 pitches, its more stress and I havent done it in so long Im kind of eager to see how I feel after." As of Saturday morning, McGowan hadnt spoken with Gibbons or pitching coach Pete Walker about whats in store beyond Tuesdays appearance. If McGowan feels good the day after his next start, its believed the plan is to have him throw an 85-pitch outing in a minor league game on Sunday, March 30. "I have to try it to see if I can do it," he said. "I cant just say in my mind, oh I can do it or I cant do it. So well see. "Well have to see after the next one, after 65 how I feel," McGowan continued. "Its possible. It all depends on me." The fact that McGowan is even in the rotation conversation is reflective of a number of things: First, its a testament to the injury-riddled players resolve. McGowan hasnt been a regular starter in the big leagues since 2008. Second, J.A. Happ entered camp with a job in the rotation but three poor outings later (20.25 ERA) and uncertainty about the status of his back has cast a cloud of doubt; Esmil Rogers is better suited to a long relief role; Todd Redmond is a strike thrower who typically struggles after the first time through the oppositions lineup. Third, the failure to sign Ervin Santana, or acquire any major league-caliber pitching help via free agency or trade in the offseason, is forcing the Jays into a less-than-desirable decision. McGowan wont throw a bullpen session before Tuesday in the name of resting up. "Thats one of the things were kind of discussing," he said. "Would it benefit me more to throw one or not to throw one, to have more days in between to rest? I believe well kind of try both at some point to see if I feel better not doing it or if I need a bullpen. Its no big deal though." Regardless of whether hes a starter or a reliever, McGowan is poised to break camp with the Blue Jays for the first time since 2008. Theres still a week to go, though, and McGowans been through enough injuries to know he cant take anything for granted. "Weve still got a little bit to go in spring training so lets not jump ahead here," he said, pretending to knock on wood. Hutchison tosses gem Drew Hutchison pitched seven innings of one-hit, one-walk baseball in a minor league game on Saturday morning. The 23-year-old still hasnt officially secured a job in the starting rotation, although its difficult to believe the impending announcement is anything but a mere formality. "It was good to get stretched out, get 80 pitches and get up-and-down seven times," said Hutchison. "Those were the two most important things out of the outing." Its been a rewarding spring for Hutchison, whose positive results reflect the hard work he put in to rehabbing from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. General manager Alex Anthopoulos pursued pitching help in the offseason, both via trade and free agency, but failed to secure an arm. Hutchison watched from afar, unconcerned about what he couldnt control. "Ive always thought I was a guy that could contribute," said Hutchison. "Regardless of what is being talked about anywhere else, it doesnt change the way I prepare for a season." Janssen on track Casey Janssen, recovering from soreness in the back of his pitching shoulder, threw one inning in a minor league game on Friday. The key is the so-called "bounce back," how a guy feels the morning after his outing. "Good," said Janssen. "Not too bad on the soreness. Those guys were scrappy down there and made me work a little bit. Its good to get a little sore. Its good to get some work in." While Janssen estimated he threw 21 or 22 pitches, the official line given to the media was 17 pitches and 10 strikes. In his one inning, he allowed a hit, walked one and struck out two. "I was kind of more pitching, not necessarily to a Double-A Philly team, it was how I would pitch in the game or knowing in a 2-1 count I might throw an offspeed pitch because thats what I going to have to do in two weeks," said Janssen. "It was just here it is, hit it and see what you can do with it. I was pitching and trying to put sequences together." Janssens shoulder pain was in a different spot – the back of the shoulder where the decelerator muscles are located – than last years post-surgery soreness. The plan is for Janssen to pitch in three spring games before opening day, including two appearances on back to back days. Reyes leaves early Shortstop Jose Reyes left Saturdays 9-4 win over the Tigers before the fourth inning. He experienced tightness in his left hamstring. Asked quickly whether he was concerned, Reyes said he was fine. Camp cuts The Blue Jays reduced their major league camp roster be three on Sunday, optioning OF Kevin Pillar to Triple-A Buffalo and reassigning 1B Dan Johnson and P Aaron Sanchez to minor league camp. Getting buzzed for good cause Todd Redmond will shave his head on March 26, all in the name of a good cause. Hes supporting Cut for Cure, which raises money in the fight against pediatric cancers. "Im going to shave my head to I think a Number One," said Redmond. "Im shooting for a Two just so I can have a little bit of hair on there." The aim is raise $50,000. Former Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones is also involved. For more information, visit Redmonds Twitter page @redneckred34 or click on the this link. Stitched NBA Jerseys . According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the deal will pay Schenn $2.25 million in the first year and $2.75 million in the second year. In 82 games with the Flyers in 2013-14, Schenn scored 20 goals and added 21 assists. Fake NBA Jerseys .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders. https://www.nbachinajerseys.us/. The Canadian defensive tackle suffered the injury on Monday and had tests done on Tuesday. He was a potential starter on the defensive line but head coach Mike OShea said he wasnt even thinking about the ratio when he got the news. Cheap NBA Jerseys Authentic . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. NBA Jerseys Outlet . It will be their 15th head-to-head meeting and fourth in the post-season (Sunday at 2pm et/11am pt on CTV) and for his part, Brady isnt downplaying just how big the game is for him. "Im excited - Its everything you could ask for as an athlete," the New England Patriots quarterback told WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday.The Kings are virtually a one-line team, and that becomes even more important with Anze Kopitar hurt, a Bruins defenceman rising up, an Islanders checker who can score and a lot more to wrap up the weekend in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES That 70s Line – The Kings’ trio continued their torrid start with a big game against Columbus Sunday. C Jeff Carter and RW Tyler Toffoli both tallied a goal and three assists, while LW Tanner Pearson scored a pair of goals, in the Kings’ 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets. All had strong possession stats, but Pearson was best of the three (18 shot attempts for, 4 against, 81.8%). The line has scored 16 of the Kings’ 21 goals this season. See how they compare with the top three goal-scorers on other teams, none of which comprises a regular line like those in Los Angeles. As a percentage of total team goals (minimum a dozen goals), there isnt a threesome close to Pearson, Carter and Toffoli. TOP-HEAVY TRIO TEAM GOALS TEAM GOALS %/TOTAL Pearson-Carter-Toffoli Los Angeles 16 21 76.2% Nash-Brassard-Kreider N.Y. Rangers 13 21 61.9% Perry-Beleskey-Getzlaf Anaheim 17 29 58.6% Benn-Seguin-Daley Dallas 14 28 50.0% Dougie Hamilton – In Boston’s first game without Zdeno Chara, Hamilton stepped up with a goal and an two assists, while generating 10 shot attempts (4 SOG) in a 4-1 win at Toronto. Frans Nielsen – The Islanders’ checking centre notched a hat trick, with six shots on goal, on a night in which he was matched most often against Dallas’ formidable top line of Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza and Tyler Seguin. ZEROES San Jose Sharks – Even though they had an impressive win in Anaheim Sunday, losing 2-1 on home ice, against Buffalo (!) Saturday can’t be ignored. While LW Patrick Marleau had a top-notch possession game (28 shot attempts for, 7 against, 80.0%), individually he generated one shot attempt (which missed the net) in 20:00 of ice time. Columbus D – The Blue Jackets defence pairing of Fedor Tyutin (4 shot attempts for, 29 against, 12.1%) and David Savard (4 for, 21 against, 16.0%) got dominated, possession-wise, against Los Angeles Sunday. Sean Couturier – The Philadelphia tough assignment centre was stuck in the defensive zone (1 shot attempt for, 15 against, 6.3%) vs. Detroit, getting controlled by the Henrik Zetterberg line (with Justin Abdelkader and either Gustav Nyquist or Pavel Datsyuk). SHORT SHIFTS Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov recorded three assists against Winnipeg Friday and added a goal against Minnesota Saturday…Stars RW Ales Hemsky recorded eight shots on goal and controlled possession (20 shot attempts for, 5 against, 80.0%) Friday at New Jersey…Avalanche D Tyson Barrie had three assists against Vancouver…Avalanche C Matt Duchene added a goal and two assists…Ducks D Sami Vatanen had another goal and an assist against Columbus Friday. All seven of Vatanen’s points have come on the power play…Lightning LW Ondrej Palat had a killer possession game (17 shot attempts for, 1 against, 94.7%) at Winnipeg… Oilers RW Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist against Carolina Friday… Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla scored two goals and an assist against Vancouver Friday. Senators D Erik Karlsson generated a dozen shot attempts (6 SOG) against New Jersey… Devils D Damon Severson scored a goal and an assist, playing 27:31 at Ottawa…In Detroit’s loss to Philadelphia Saturday, the Red Wings’ line of Andrej Nestrasil (17 shot attempts for, 1 against, 94.1%), Tomas Jurco (19 for, 2 against, 90.5%) and Riley Sheahan (22 for, 3 against, 88.0%) dominated territorial play…Flyers LW Michael Raffl had two goals and an assist against Detroit Saturday…Wild LW Jason Zucker scored a pair of goals against Tampa Bay Saturday. Zucker now has four goals in six games while skating on Minnesota’s fourth line…Penguins C Sidney Crosby picked up a goal and two assists in 3-0 win over Nashville Saturday. Jets D Jacob Trouba had a dominant territorial game (33 shot attempts for, 8 against, 80.5%) against Colorado Sunday, generating 10 shot attempts on his own (3 SOG)…Kings C Mike Richards had a good possession game against Columbus (16 for, 3 against, 84.2%)…Sharks RW Tommy Wingels scored a goal, had a fight, generated a dozen shot attempts (10 SOG) leading to strong possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 9 aagainst, 65.dddddddddddd4%) vs. Anaheim Sunday…Avalanche LW Alex Tanguay was buried in his own zone (6 shot attempts for, 24 against, 20.0%) against Winnipeg Sunday, most frequently hemmed in by the Jets line of Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd and Michael Frolik. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Kings C Anze Kopitar left Sunday’s game against Columbus with an upper body injury. In the aftermath of Kopitar’s injury, Jarret Stoll moved up to centre Dustin Brown and Dwight King. With Ryan Callahan and Alex Killorn hurting, Cedric Paquette was called up and inserted into the Tampa Bay lineup, but then RW Brett Connolly left Friday’s game against Winnipeg with a lower-body injury and is considered week to week, leaving Tampa Bay rather thin up front. Call-up Jonathan Marchessault played 12:33 against Minnesota Saturday. Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno was taken off the ice on a stretcher in Los Angeles Sunday. Foligno collided with a linesman. Foligno has been playing, primarily, with Ryan Johansen and Scott Hartnell. Blue Jackets RW Cam Atkinson is day-to-day with an eye injury. Canadiens D Alexei Emelin played 26:06 against the Rangers Saturday, the second-highest regular-season ice time of his career. Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon played 14:49 in Sunday’s overtime loss to Winnipeg, his second-lowest ice time of the season. The Avalanche inserted D Zach Redmond into their lineup over the weekend, taking the place of injured D Ryan Wilson, and he played 20:50 against the Winnipeg Jets – his previous team – Sunday. Blue Jackets D Ryan Murray played 17:55 in his first game of the season, Sunday at Los Angeles. His role should expand quickly as he gets up to game speed. Ducks D Ben Lovejoy reportedly broke his hand in a fight with Sharks RW Joe Pavelski Sunday. Mark Fistric appears to be next in line on the Ducks’ defensive depth chart. FIRSTS Blackhawks G Scott Darling stopped 32 of 33 shots to beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 Sunday. Darling, 25, was a sixth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2007 and the 6-foot-6 goalie climbed his way from the University of Maine through low-level minor leagues, including two full seasons for the Louisiana IceGators and Mississippi RiverKings in the Southern Professional Hockey League. Lightning LW Jonathan Drouin scored his first NHL goal, Friday against the Jets, adding an assist in the 4-2 Lightning win. Sabres C Sam Reinhart notched his first NHL point, an assist on the game-winning goal by Nicolas Deslauriers against San Jose Saturday. Blues RW Dmitrij Jaskin scored the game-winning goal against the Blackhawks Saturday in his first NHL game this season. Jaskin had four points four AHL games before getting the call once Paul Stastny was put on IR. Coyotes C Justin Hodgman, a 26-year-old playing his first NHL game after spending the past three seasons in Europe, scored a power play goal in the third period against the Panthers Saturday. Bruins D Zach Trotman played his first game of the season, called up from AHL Providence in the wake of the Zdeno Chara injury, posting strong possession stats (17 for, 7 against, 70.8%) at Toronto. Capitals LW Liam O’Brien scored the first goal of his NHL career, putting five shots on goal with nice possession numbers (10 shot attempts for, 3 against, 76.9%) in 8:04 of ice time, against Vancouver Sunday. Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere played 12:27 in his NHL debut, against Detroit Saturday. A third-round pick in 2012, Gostisbehere starred for Union College and had two points in three AHL games before getting called up to the Flyers in the aftermath of injuries to Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald. Stars D Jyrki Jokipakka played his first two NHL games on Friday and Saturday. A seventh-round pick of the Stars in 2011, Jokipakka replaced Kevin Connauton in the Dallas lineup. FANTASY FOCUS Keep an eye on what’s happening with Rangers LW Mats Zuccarello, who is playing a career-high 17:37 per game, but has only one assist in seven games and his shot per game is down (from 2.21 to 1.71) from last season. Wild D Jared Spurgeon has five points in six games and is plus-8 and is still available in nearly half of TSN leagues. Canadiens D Alexei Emelin, who had a career-high 17 points last season, has five points in six games this season, playing a career-high 23:19 per game. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '