The Toronto Maple Leafs "stumbled on" Connor Brown a few years ago and are
pleased with their discovery.
NBA Jerseys China . The Erie Otters captain
was named the Ontario Hockey Leagues most outstanding player for 2013-14 on
Tuesday. Brown led the league in scoring and set a franchise record with 45
goals and 83 assists in 68 games. Chosen near the bottom of both his OHL and NHL
drafts, the 20-year-old Toronto forward has played himself into a strong pro
prospect. He was the 251st pick out of 301 players four years ago in the OHL
draft. The Leafs chose him in the sixth round, 156th overall, in 2012. His buddy
Matt Finn, captain of the Guelph Storm and a fellow Leafs prospect, recently
said "With Connor, its always been about proving people wrong." But Brown says
his motivation is more about the pursuit of his dream than spite. "I definitely
dont think much has come easy, being late picks in both drafts," he acknowledged
during a conference call. "Its just more incentive to work hard. "I think I
wanted to work hard not to prove people wrong, but I know I needed to work
harder to have a shot at signing an NHL contract and having a shot at making the
NHL one day." Brown has signed a three-year, entry level contract with the
Leafs. He caught their eye in 2011 when scouts went to Erie, Pa., to evaluate
Leafs prospect Sondre Olden. "Each time we went down to watch this Maple Leaf
pick, wed stumble on Connor Brown," Leafs director of player Jim Hughes said.
"Erie was having a difficult year and the scores, the deficits, never changed
Connors desire, never changed his moods during the course of the game. "He was
always focused and it didnt matter if he was winning 5-1 or losing 5-1, his
personality never changed. He always played for the love of the game. He always
played with passion. We obviously have big plans for Connor moving forward."
Brown led Erie to the best season in its 18-year history with 52 wins and 106
points. The Otters lost this years Western Conference final to Guelph in five
games. Brown had eight goals and 10 assists in 14 playoff games. The
five-foot-11 170-pound right-winger is currently practising with Torontos
American Hockey League team -- the Marlies -- at the MasterCard Centre. He
intends to spend most of the summer there building strength and working on his
skating skills with former Canadian pairs figure skater Barb Underhill. Hughes
says Brown needs time to develop "man-strength." "Come September, I think my
game and my physical state, I think Ill be ready to play with better and
stronger players," Brown said. Brown is the first Otter to win the OHL scoring
title and the second to earn the Red Tilson Trophy as league MVP after
Brad Boyes in both 2001 and 2002. The trophy is named in honour of Albert (Red)
Tilson, who was a former Oshawa General killed in action during the Second World
War. Brown led the league in power-play points with 54 and carried a plus-minus
of plus-44 through the regular season. In a poll of Western Conference coaches,
he was voted the best in a shootout, second in penalty killing and third in the
smartest player category. "Whoever is preparing to play hockey anywhere, will
not outwork Connor Brown and his will to prepare," Otters general manager Sherry
Bassin said. "Whatever work ethic is necessary, whatever that measurement is,
hell do more." Media members vote on the award and Brown was the clear winner
with 321 points tabulated from 80 ballots. Oshawa Generals centre Scott Laughton
was the runner-up with 120 points and top NHL draft prospect Sam Bennett of the
Kingston Frontenacs was third with 68. Previous winners include New York
Islanders forward John Tavares (Oshawa, 2007), Nashville Predators defenceman
Ryan Ellis (Windsor, 2011) and Florida Panthers defenceman Brian Campbell
(Ottawa, 1999). Vincent Trochek, the centre who won the award last year with the
Plymouth Whalers, split this past season between the Panthers and their AHL team
in San Antonio, Texas. Brown is the OHLs candidate for the Canadian Hockey
Leagues player of the year. Hell be up against Sam Reinhart of the Western
Hockey Leagues Kootenay Ice and Anthony Mantha of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey
Leagues Val-dOr Foreurs. The winner will be announced May 24 during the
MasterCard Memorial Cup in London, Ont.
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Jerseys . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their
first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the
four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to
teammates at the team complex.
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24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career
starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on
Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday.CHARLOTTE, N.C. --
Michael Jordan anticipates the Charlotte Hornets will make another big splash
this off-season. Jordan said Monday with three draft picks and more than $13
million to spend in free agency the Hornets are in position to make a "big
difference" in upgrading their roster. "I think we made a difference last year
with Big Al (Jefferson) and some of the acquisitions -- and I dont anticipate
this year being any different," Jordan said. Behind Jefferson, who was recently
named third-team All-NBA, Charlotte made the playoffs for the first time since
2010 -- the year Jordan took over as majority owner. Jordan is hoping Jeffersons
success will convince other big-name free agents to come to Charlotte. "I always
thought Charlotte was a great destination," Jordan said. "Big Al has proven that
you can come here and make a big difference. Hopefully we can look at that and
attract some other superstars." Jordan spoke Monday following a presentation at
Hornets Nest Elementary school in which he, along with Lowes and Fox
SportsSouth, donated $250,000 to Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. The event marked
the organizations first community service initiative since the changing its name
from Bobcats to Hornets last month. The Hornets have the ninth, 24th and 45h
picks in this months draft. If forward Josh McRoberts decides not to opt out of
contract the Hornets will have all five starters from last season under contract
-- and still have at least $13 million to spend under the NBA salary cap. If
McRoberts opts out the team could have closer to $17 million free under the cap.
"This year we have a lot of flexibility and Ive been speaking to that over the
last three or four years -- flexibility is very important and we are going to
use every resource to try to bettter the team," Jordan said.
Buy Cheap
Jerseys. Charlotte finished last season 43-39 and earned the
seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, Jefferson injured his
foot in the first game of the NBA playoffs and Charlotte was swept by the Miami
Heat. Still, it was a big step in the right direction for a franchise that went
28-120 over the two previous seasons, by far the worst record in the NBA during
that span. Jordan said he was "very proud" of what his team accomplished under
first-year coach Steve Clifford. "The guys came out and took the initiative from
coach and he was able to bond (them) and put together a good effort from the
team," Jordan said. Jordan said Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $41 million
contract last July 4 -- the largest ever given out by the franchise -- was
better than advertised. But he said what was even more surprising is how quickly
his new teammates adjusted to playing with a dominant low post presence.
"Everybody surrounded him and we got better," Jordan said. "McRoberts was a huge
part of that. So I think we got better as the year went along." Jordan said
Jefferson, who was the only player in the Eastern Conference to average 20
points and 10 rebounds per game last season, deserved to be an All-Star. Jordan
wouldnt say specifically what position the team might look to upgrade this
off-season, instead saying he wants to find players who truly want to play in
Charlotte. Another key, he said, is developing a core of young players including
Kemba Walker, Jeffery Taylor, Michael-Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller. "We have a
bunch of young talent that we still are trying to nourish into some better
basketball players," Jordan said. "So summer is when we have to make our big
leap."
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