-round pick in 2012. Adams and Kearse will go back

The challenges of playing hockey in a Canadian market are well documented: higher taxes, over abundant media coverage, lack of anonymity, an unrelenting and vicious winter, way too much Rush in rotation on FM radio. What makes Canada such a great place to be a hockey fan makes it a difficult environment to play in. Canada is indisputably the centre of the hockey universe, and at that universes core is Toronto. The Greater Toronto Hockey League is over a hundred years old and the largest minor hockey league in the world. Despite their futility, the Leafs could sell out Rogers Centre for home games charging $1000 and first-born children for upper deck seats. The Marlies are flourishing in the AHL. Next years World Junior Hockey Championships (co-hosted with Montreal) are sure to be the most successfully attended and celebrated ever. And yet, as a player, what would entice you to ply your trade in the Big Smoke?The crowds at the ACC for Leafs game are an embarrassment to hockeys most important market. The stories of the suits in the expensive seats, absent for starts of periods and reticent to loosen their ties even as Brian Burke undid his, are well known. The arena is eerily quiet compared to its contemporaries, a conservative and reserved audience in a sport and city renowned for its maniacal fandom. And this is not indicative of Toronto crowds, as we witnessed during the Raptors playoff appearance this year, rowdy afternoons at Jays games at Rogers Centre, and the masses that turned out this year and last in Maple Leaf/Raptors Square. But those involved fans (who make up the vast majority of Leafs Nation) enthusiasms are negatively tempered by the lower bowls reservations, reservations bred by alternately flawed and complacent approaches to building a competitive team and the absence of a winning presence. As a player who is passionate about his vocation, why would you want to commit to an environment that doesnt match that passion, especially when the home ice advantage can be such an important component of the game?Often in pieces that claim players like Thornton are interested in playing for the Leafs, the prospect of coming "home" is cited as a key factor. The very notion of "home" is a flawed premise in this lazy argument. Even if you call "home" somewhere in Southern Ontario, as a hockey player you probably havent lived there since you were 16. Thornton has lived in San Jose for nearly a decade, is a naturalized US citizen, has a wife, a mortgage, perhaps a few pets, maybe a café he really likes to go to, a favourite pizza place, a butcher who cuts his ribeyes to just the perfect thickness. But the Toronto Sun is going to tell him where his home is.For many players, one might suspect that playing at home in front of an overbearing hockey dad, mum and her new husband, and sycophantic high school acquaintances just a few blocks from where that girl broke your heart is the very definition of hell. And is working in your hometown really all that enticing? How many of you work in your hometowns? Hardly any. Youve all moved to Toronto.Thornton is from St. Thomas, Ontario, which would place his NHL "hometown" in Detroit or Buffalo as much as in Toronto, and yet those markets media dont seem to be making the "coming home" argument. Torontos hockey media is the most intense in all of professional sports. Maybe Montreals is equal, but half of the vitriol and conjecture there is in French, and only a fraction of NHLers understand it. (Reasonably, even those of us who are bilingual dont really understand it.) In Toronto, there is endless speculation, much of it even based in fact. Each flaw, each mistake (on and off the ice) is dissected and disseminated ad nauseum. Trade rumours are fabricated on a daily basis, the ubiquitous "NHL executive" noted as an unimpeachable source. The discussion of hockey in Toronto has become an insufferable wall of noise for an uninvested observer, so imagine if the discourse directly affected your family, your income, and your life.It seems a lot to ask of a player to endure such amplified attention, especially given the fact the Leafs have not been a competitive team since 2004. And that is final circle of the NHLs Hell: irrelevance. Toronto is still recovering from the John Ferguson Jr. era. They have some formidable pieces in Kessel, Morgan Reilly, and Jonathan Bernier; a young skilled forward, puck moving defenseman, and promising goaltender around which to build. They have a top-ten pick in the coming draft, some interesting if not spectacular prospects (Stuart Percy, Matt Finn), and some movable pieces (Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner). Brendan Shanahan emanates stability and hubris. But theyre still saddled with bad contracts (Dion Phaneuf, David Clarkson), a suspect coaching philosophy, and a lack of depth. And to watch the Kings, Blackhawks, and Rangers this spring is to know the Leafs are far removed from that level of hockey.So if you were an unrestricted free agent, or a player on the trading block with some say in his future, why would you come to Toronto? Consider Thornton: Youre in your mid-30s, never won a Cup, live in the perfection of Northern California, in a market that sustains you but doesnt invade you, and youd chose to move to Toronto, with its high taxes, magnified attention, and with as much of a chance of winning a Cup in the next five years as Quebec City? Toronto is a world-class city, cultured and cosmopolitan, a great place to live and make a life. The Joe Thorntons of the world should want to play home games at the ACC. The challenges of the market need to be offset by a tradition of winning and the only way for Toronto to do that is to build a stable and competitive franchise through hoarding draft picks and young controllable players, and eschewing the temptation of quick expensive fixes like Clarkson, or Thornton. The best thing for a successful NHL would be a dominant Toronto Maple Leafs team. Given the teams last decade, however, it seems like that wont happen until Hell freezes over. Fortunately for Toronto, most of it freezes over every January, so the wait may not be that long. Curt Schilling Jersey .C., won gold in the womens 200-metre backstroke, and Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys .C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C. http://www.diamondbackssale.com/. This weeks Raptors Report puts a bow on Gays brief, 10-month tenure in Toronto and ponders how his absence will affect the teams offence. Are they a better team without him? In addition to acquiring some valuable cap flexibility, what impact will the four incoming players have this season and beyond? Click here for the Dec. Zack Greinke Jersey . -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized. Randy Johnson Jersey .com) - DAngelo Harrison posted 21 points to guide No. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart will miss at least the first six weeks of the season while he recovers from an ankle injury. Coach Ron Rivera said after practice Tuesday that Stewart was placed on the physically unable to perform list. The team also put guard Edmund Kugbila, its fourth-round draft pick, on injured reserve with a knee injury and waived injured defensive tackle Frank Kearse and wide receiver Joe Adams, Carolinas fourth-round pick in 2012. Adams and Kearse will go back on injured reserve if they clear waivers. NFL rules stipulate Stewart cant practice or play for six weeks. Since the Panthers have a bye in week four, Stewart is eligible to play Oct. 20 against the St. Louis Rams, which would be Week 7 on the NFL calendar but would be Carolinas sixth game of the season. "Im just taking it day by day and trying to be there for my teammates and bring as much positive energy as I can," Stewart said. "We have a long season ahead of us and I plan to be back in week six." Rivera is "very optimistic" Stewart could make it back for St. Louis game. "Some real good things have happened but they arent going to happen soon enough," Rivera said, adding doctors now believe the right ankle will take longer to heal. Rivera classified the injury as a sprain. Stewart hasnt practiced since off-season surgery on both ankles. The decision likely means more playing time for DeAngelo Williams, the franchises all-time leading rusher, and opens a roster spot for young running backs in Tauren Poole and Armond Smith.dddddddddddd Carolina also drafted Kenjon Barner from Oregon in the sixth round and hes expected to contribute as a scat back. Stewart is coming off a disappointing season a year ago, rushing for 336 yards and one touchdown, both career lows. He missed seven games in all, including the final five with a sprained ankle. "I can spend all of my energy being disappointed or I can spend all of my energy getting ready for week six," Stewart said. Stewart said the decision came after he met Tuesday with Dr. James Anderson, the teams physician. Now the Panthers are awaiting word on fullback Mike Tolbert, who has yet to play in the preseason because of a hamstring injury. His status for the season opener against Seattle remains in question. Rivera said despite the injuries to Stewart and Tolbert the team has no plans to bring in any running backs. "We feel good about young guys that we have," Rivera said. "Theyll see a dose of action in this last preseason game and well see what theyre capable of." The Panthers drafted Kugbila with the 108th overall pick, but hes rarely practiced because of knee and hamstring issues. But Rivera isnt writing him off as a draft-day bust. "We really have to look at the long term in terms of getting him ready to go in the future," Rivera said. 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