Innere » and never look back again

LONDON, Ont. – They were three years old at the time, sitting in the dressing room of a West Toronto rink, about to learn to skate. They wore matching jerseys that day, the same one with the little hockey player on the front. That was all it took for the two to become friends, friends who are one step closer to a shared dream of playing in the National Hockey League. Best buddies and teammates for the better part of the seventeen years that followed that first chance encounter, Connor Brown and Matt Finn have seen their paths converge once more – their two junior teams recently collided in the OHL playoffs. They are both prospects of the same organization, both picks of the same draft, both likely to become teammates as professionals with the Marlies and maybe one day, the Maple Leafs. Its a pretty cool story, says Brown, the elder of the two, but still the younger looking with short red hair. We dream about it, Finn continues, but it takes a while for a dream like that to develop into something tangible, something real. It was something they could only imagine all those years ago, all the hours spent playing street hockey and mini-sticks with an Etobicoke squad of friends that also included Flyers first rounder Scott Laughton. Finn calls it one in a million that he and Brown would be drafted to the same team. Youre a kid and youre optimistic, you think that you both have a chance to get to the next level, Brown says. I couldnt predict that were both going to be in this organization, though. Finn was picked in the second round of the 2012 draft, 31st overall by the Leafs. He was joined a few rounds later by Brown, his name called with the 156th overall selection. He called me right away, Brown says of Finn. He was pretty excited about the whole thing. We both were ecstatic. I saw him go to the Leafs [and] I was like Oh wow, thatd be awesome. They had been teammates for a span of 10 years or so they figure, right up until minor midget. He was tiny, Finn says of Brown, whom he guessed was barely 5-foot and 120 pounds, but still a force. You could see how smart he was with the puck and his playmaking ability and patience and how competitive he was, but he got overlooked because everyone just thought he was small – he was getting pushed off the puck – he cant play. But everyone grows, everyone is going to get bigger and once he did that, you could really see that part of his game come back full circle. Brown has been the constant underdog, overlooked time and again for one reason or another. Listed at 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds back then, he was picked in the 13th round of the 2010 OHL priority draft – 251st overall. A lot of people always try to doubt Connor Brown, says Leafs assistant general manager and former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds GM, Kyle Dubas. It became harder to doubt or even ignore Brown this past season. The 20-year-old captain of the Erie Otters led the OHL in scoring, pried away the Red Tilson trophy as the leagues MVP and guided his team to 52 wins and a berth in the Western Conference Finals (they would fall to Finn and the Guelph Storm in five games). He has since sprouted up to 5-foot-11, continuing to add heft and strength to a listed frame of 170 pounds. He definitely just blew expectations out of the water, Finn says, labeling Brown as a very sneaky offensive talent. I dont think anybody would pinpoint him as a guy to do it, but thats been Brownie the whole way. Nobodys ever chosen him to do anything; hes always been small, hes always been kind of an underdog and hes done a great job. Finn was more the sure thing to get to this point. In that same 2010 OHL priority draft, he was gone early, off the board with the 12th overall selection, nearly 240 picks before Brown. He, too, was the captain of his OHL team, steering Guelph to the leagues best record, an OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup last season. Listed at an even 6-foot and nearly 200 pounds, Finn tallied 61 points in 66 games, second amongst all OHL defenders in scoring. The Leafs were surprised to find him there for the taking in the second round of that 2012 draft, hopeful of his future as a capable two-way defender. We were not on the strong side of that too often in the Sault, playing against Matt and playing against the Storm, Dubas says. Hes proven himself over his time in the OHL to be a really strong prospect and its exciting to be on the same side as him versus having him torch us in the Sault with the Storm. Brown and Finn still live five minutes apart from each other in Etobicoke and remain the closest of friends. Their families, too, continue to be tight to this day. And after a four-year hiatus, they are likely to become teammates once more in the AHL, one step closer to reaching their shared goal of playing in the NHL – together. To be able to play with each other at a pro level as opposed to being three-year-olds on a backyard rink is pretty cool, Finn says. Pretty cool, indeed. Fake Baseball Jerseys . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Fake NFL Jerseys . Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. http://www.fakejersey.com/fake-basketball-jerseys/. Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States made lighter work of her day as she beat 2009 champion and Swiss wild card Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3. Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No. Fake Jerseys Outlet . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals. Fake Hockey Jerseys . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap.TORONTO - First things first: Episode 3 of The Baseball Podcast is up for your listening pleasure. Toronto Star baseball columnist and TSN contributor Richard Griffin joins me for a half-hour of talk on manager John Gibbons strategy when it comes to his starting pitching and struggling bullpen, whether Brett Lawrie will see increased action at second base and Jose Bautistas great start to the season. Give it a listen here. GIBBONS LIKES HIS OFFENCE The Blue Jays entered Thursdays action with 166 runs scored in 34 games. Thats an average of almost 4.9 runs per game, good for fourth in the majors. Manager John Gibbons is in his seventh season, over two tenures skipping the Blue Jays. He believes this is the strongest offence hes had. "I would think this is probably the top," said Gibbons. "My last go around here we were really strong in the pitching department. We had some good offences but I dont think it equaled what we have here now. You need that in the American League. You need to be able to slug it out." Toronto boasts the league leader in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and walks. Hes Jose Bautista. Bautista and Colby Rasmus, with nine home runs each, are amongst the league leaders. Melky Cabreras 48 hits are the most in the sport this season. As a team, the Blue Jays rank second in home runs (44); second in slugging percentage (.432) and third in on-base plus slugging percentage (.761). ENCARNACION DISCUSSES FRANCISCO General manager Alex Anthopoulos has credited Edwin Encarnacion with helping to lure Juan Francisco to the Blue Jays. "Ive known Juan from a long time ago, he was playing with me in Cincinnati," said Encarnacion. "When he was young, I was older in here and hes one of my best friends. He had a couple of more (options) to go so I called him and asked him to come here because they can give him the opportunity to play here at this level.dddddddddddd" Francisco, 26, hit 18 home runs last season while playing with the Braves and Brewers but was cut by Milwaukee late in spring training. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays on April 2 and began the year at Triple-A Buffalo. His contract was selected on April 20 to replace Adam Lind, who went on the disabled list with a back injury. Aside from the opportunity the Blue Jays could afford him, Encarnacion was pressed Francisco to come to Toronto out of fear he would sign with another American League East team. The division, specifically the ballparks in the division, are friendly to power-hitting left-handed bats. "Thats why I dont want him to go to another team, like Tampa or another team," said Encarnacion. SANTOS STARTING FROM SCRATCH Sergio Santos pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Wednesdays 10-0 win over the Phillies. Thanks to the big lead it was a pressure-free inning. After two-straight outings featuring blown saves and three on the season, Santos is in the process of rebuilding his confidence. "It was nice to execute on the things that I wanted to do as far as locating my fastball, moving it in and out," said Santos. "It was nice. Its a nice first step, hopefully in the right direction." His stuff is good. Santos has struck out 18 hitters in 10 1/3 innings. The problem is hes walked nine and of the 12 hits hes allowed, three have been home runs. Santos expects more of himself. "Hopefully I can build off what happened (Wednesday) night and never look back again," he said. LAWRIE UPDATE Brett Lawrie took part in batting practice and fielded ground balls before Thursdays game. He left the fourth inning of Monday nights game in Philadelphia with lingering tightness in his right hamstring. Fridays game against the Angels may be more hopeful than reality. Lawries more likely to return on the weekend. ' ' '