Stuart, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury aft | Forum

Its been an eventful 12 months for the Toronto Raptors. Keshawn Martin Patriots Jersey . The team got nailed by injuries to start last season and ended up dropping 19 of their first 23 games. Then another injury actually turned things around. Andrea Bargnani went down with an elbow injury and the Raptors won eight of their next 10. Next came a major in season trade as the Raptors sent much loved point guard Jose Calderon and young big man Ed Davis to Memphis in exchange for Rudy Gay. Gay instantly became the go-to guy in Toronto and the Raptors actually went .500 (18-18) after the trade to finish the season 34-48 and tied for ninth in the East. The in-season changes were nothing compared to what has happened since though. Off-season of change When Tim Leiweke was hired as the new president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment it didnt take long to realize that he was brining sweeping changes with him. For the Raptors it meant saying goodbye to Bryan Colangelo, the man who had led the team for the past seven seasons, the last five of which involved missing the playoffs. The Raptors lured up and coming executive Masai Ujiri away from the Denver Nuggets to take over from Colangelo as GM. Its fitting that the first major move made by Ujiri was to ship Bargnani, whom Colangelo selected first overall in 2006 and failed to build the team around, off to New York. And not only was Ujiri able to move Bargnani and his bloated contract, he actually got something in return. THe Raptors received Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and Quentin Richardson in the deal as well as a 2016 frist round draft pick and two future second round picks. The team waived Camby and Richardson, but Novak gives the Raptors some much needed three-point shooting and the draft picks will be najor assets as the Raptors look to rebuild. The Raptors also amnestied Linas Kleiza while adding Tyler Hansbrough, Austin Daye and D.J. Augustin to the fold for this season. The team certainly isnt ready to be considered a contender just yet, but its a brand new era in Toronto. And with Ujiri at the helm, the future looks bright. The Good The Raptors have turned the page on the Bryan Colangelo-Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors future is in far better hands with Masai Ujiri at the helm and building around Jonas Valanciunas. Toronto actually has a pretty strong starting lineup with Valanciunas flanked by Amir Johnson and Rudy Gay in the frontcourt along with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry in the backcourt. That lineup actually outscored opponents by 85 points in their 343 minutes together last season. Valanciunas especially looks to be a real bright spot for the Raptors and could be in line for a breakout season after dominating in summer league. A full training camp for Rudy Gay should also prove big for the Raptors. He led the team in scoring after joining them in February, averaging 19.5 points to go along with 6.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. The team will look for him to be even better, and far more efficient, in his first full season in Toronto. DeMar DeRozan is another player that could be in line for a breakout year. His offensive game is continuing to develop and he is also improving on the defensive end. The team has the offensive firepower to compete night-in, night-out and could actually be in the running for a lower seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. And more importantly their future growth is in good hands with Ujiri who is widely regarded as a terrific talent evaluator. The Not So Good Dwane Casey emphasizes defence in his coaching, but the team actually struggled to stop opponents last season. Raptors opponents scored 104.7 points per 100 possessions last year, ranking the Raptors 22nd in the league in that category. Their starting five project to be a pretty stout unit, but Valanciunas, Lowry and Johnson all tend to be foul prone and the defensive depth behind them isnt great. Theyll need their starters to stay out of trouble if they want to keep opponent scoring down. Kyle Lowry is also proving to be a fairly injury prone player which could be problematic given the lack of point guard depth behind him. Luckily heavoided a more significant finger injury to his non-shooting hand in a presseason game against Memphis but will still have to wear a splint on the finger for the first six weeks of the season. He has averaged 13.5 games on the sidelines over the last four years though and neither Dwight Buycks, nor DJ Augustin looks capable of handling starters minutes. Another potential stumbling block for the season (not necessarily the long-term though) is the fact that Lowry and Gay are both in the final year of their respective contracts. Ujiri may decide may decide he wants to buld elsewhere and look to move one or both players. Any such move would drop the players out of playoff contention and into the lottery. In the long run that may not actually be a bad thing as the 2014 prospect pool is loaded and the Raptors are probabyl targeting 2016 for when they truly want to compete. What To Expect As long as the Raptors dont blow things up and trade Lowry, Gay or any other starter for future assets, this will be a team that is in the hunt for the playoffs. They should be flirting with the .500 mark all season long and if they get there it should be enough for a low playoff seed in the top-heavy Eastern Conference. They would soundly thumped in the first round by any of the top teams most likely, but for a fan base dying to get back into the playoffs, that might be enough for now. Of course, if Ujiri does decide to do some wheeling and dealing, the team would fall out of the playoff hunt and into the hunt for a high pick next year. Either way, there is reason for optimism in Toronto. Clay Harbor Patriots Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Geneo Grissom Patriots Jersey .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. http:///...-bruschi-jersey.aspx . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed.WINNIPEG -- After a frantic first period Blake Wheeler might have been forgotten if not for what he did in the third. Wheeler scored two goals, including the winner, as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Friday in a game that featured a seven-goal first period. Wheeler ended a scramble in front of the Minnesota net when he poked the puck under a prone Niklas Backstrom with 9:20 remaining in the third period for his 14th goal of the season, giving the Jets a 5-4 lead. It was the ninth goal in December for Wheeler, who started the season with just five goals in his first 28 games. "I think confidence plays into it," he said of his recent success. "When the puck starts going in the net you find yourself getting into the scoring areas a little bit more. The puck seems to bounce your way a little bit more." Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen, Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom added goals for Winnipeg. Dany Heatley, Justin Fontaine, Stephane Veilleux and Mikko Koivu were the goal scorers for Minnesota. The Jets (17-18-5), who were coming off a humbling loss in Edmonton on Monday, finally managed to beat the Wild after losing each of the first three meetings between the teams. It was a fourth straight loss for the Wild (20-14-5), who have now dropped six of their last eight games. Neither team seemed interested in playing defence after the three-day Christmas break. The Jets led 4-3 after a first period that saw seven goals scored in the first 7:04, and featured three lead changes. "We dont have the luxury of finding reasons for things not being OK," said Wild coach Mike Yeo, who said the first period was clearly a by-product of the extended break. "Were in a position where we have to make things right." Minnesota struck first when Heatley scored on a wide-open net after a pass from Jason Pominville 2:13 into the game. But the Jets grabbed the lead before the game was six minutes old thanks to a short-handed goal by Kane and a one-timer in the low slot byy Jokinen. Brandon Bolden Patriots Jersey. "When they scored we responded, which was good to see," Kane said. It only took another 67 seconds for the Wild to go ahead 3-2, on goals by Fontaine and Veilleux. That ended Ondrej Pavelecs outing. The Jets starting goalie smashed his stick en route to the dressing room after allowing three goals on six shots, giving way to backup Al Montoya. Jets coach Claude Noel said the quick hook had more to do with his teams sluggish play in its own zone than anything. "I think our team needed a jolt," he said. Jets captain Andrew Ladd echoed the coach, saying that the team felt sympathy for the lack of support they provided for their goalkeeper. "I thought Monty did a great job once he got in there," Ladd said. "The first three goals, there was nothing Pav couldve done about them, so it was more about trying to get some momentum for our group on the bench." After nearly eight scoreless minutes, the Jets once again claimed the lead on late-period goals from Wheeler and Byfuglien. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom allowed four goals on 11 first-period shots, and finished with 32 saves on 37 total shots. The lone goal in the second period came on a Wild power play, as a perfect passing sequence ended with an easy goal for Koivu to tie the game at 4-4. That was the only blemish for Montoya, who stopped the other 22 shots he faced. Enstrom added an empty-net goal from 175 feet with four seconds remaining. The Wild won each of the three previous meetings by one goal, including a shootout victory on Nov. 23. Both clubs return to action on Sunday, with the Jets travelling to Denver while the Wild head home to face the New York Islanders. Notes: Zach Parise, dealing with a lower-body injury, missed a second straight game for the Wild. ... The Jets were without defencemen Zach Bogosian (flu) and Mark Stuart, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury after taking the morning skate. ... The teams have one remaining meeting, in Winnipeg on April 7. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '