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. Jeff Hornacek Jersey . 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. Bob Hansen Jersey . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". Ben Poquette Jersey . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. https://www.cheapjazzonline.com/668e-al-jefferson-jersey-jazz.html . Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina.Eugene, OR (Sports Network) - It looks like Oregons prolific offense can still motor at full speed even without the guidance of Chip Kelly, as the No. 3 Ducks racked up a school record 772 total yards in a 66-3 trouncing of the Nicholls State Colonels in their 2013 opener at Autzen Stadium on Saturday. Coming off a 12-1 season -- which ended with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl over Kansas State -- and a change in leadership on the sideline, Oregon (1-0) cruised to victory in record-breaking fashion in its opening game thanks to a combined five first half touchdowns by Marcus Mariota and DeAnthony Thomas. The duo spearheaded a rushing attack for Oregon that netted an astonishing 500 yards, with each running for two scores and Mariota accumulating 113 yards and Thomas garnering 128 on 18 carries. Mariota also threw for a touchdown and 234 yards on an efficient 12-of-21. Mark Helfrich was the offensive coordinator for Kelly during his successful four-year tenure in Eugene, and took over the head coaching reigns after Kelly left to take the open vacancy with the Philadelphia Eagles. "It was great," said Helfrich about his first game as Oregons head coach. "Its a tremendous sense of confidence being around our guys and our staff. It was just a great team win." Nicholls State (0-1) trailed for good 1 1/2 minutes into the game and lost starting quarterback Beaux Hebert in the first quarter after he took a blow to the head. Kalen Henderson completed 21-of-40 throws for 214 yards in relief. The Oregon offense got to work quickly, scoring 24 unanswered points in the first quarter while commanding a 235-56 advantage in total yards. In between four and 22-yard touchdown runs from Thoomas, Mariota hooked up with Bralon Addison for a 27-yard score and Alejandro Maldonado added a 29-yard field goal off a Hebert fumble to cap the scoring in the opening frame. Jarrell Brantley Jersey. "Theres no question. We knew that theyd present us problems," said Colonels coach Charlie Stubbs. "Its hard to simulate Oregons offense in practice. They were so fast. Also, if you make a mistake, they have such skilled athletes and will make you pay." The only blemish in the quarter for the Ducks was when defensive back Terrance Mitchell was ejected after targeting the head of a defenseless Hebert. Hebert was injured on the play, but the result of the penalty set up Andrew Dolan for a 35-yard field goal early in the second period. Dolan, though, missed a 49-yard try as time expired in the first half, by which time the Ducks were in full control of a 38-3 lead. Mariota had a lot to do with it, as the speedy quarterback rushed for 12 and 46 yard touchdowns, respectively, after Nicholls State got its first points of the game. Byron Marshall also crossed the century mark in rushing for Oregon, with his 49-yard third quarter touchdown run highlighting an eight-carry, 124-yard performance. Colt Lyerla and Jeff Lockie each added rushing scores in the fourth before Jake Rodriguez capped the scoring with a 23-yard TD pass. Game Notes For the first time in school history, three Oregon players eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in a single game ... The Ducks had possession for just 19:45, compared to Nicholls States 40:15 ... It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools ... Marcus Washington recorded a game-high 11 receptions for 92 yards in the setback for the Colonels. ' ' '