Info-Box » o play on Sunday," he asked. "Im preparing every

TORONTO – High above the ice, while practice took place on Thursday afternoon in Toronto, stood Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis. He watched his team work through various drills, hash out lingering points of confusion and prepare for the latest biggest game of the year - a Friday clash with the Philadelphia Flyers. Nonis can do nothing, however, to affect the fortunes of his skidding team at this very late stage in the season, one tumbling precariously close to another late-season collapse. "Eight games left," said Phil Kessel, shortly before departure to Philadelphia. "Weve got to win some games and get in the playoffs here." "This is desperation time," Nazem Kadri added. "Were playing for our lives, so weve got to go start acting like it." It was exactly two years ago that the 18-wheeler of 2012 officially crashed for good. Losing for a stunning 19th time in 24 games against the Carolina Hurricanes on a late March night, the Leafs were eliminated from the postseason, the culmination of an epic unraveling that would cost Ron Wilson his job. Can they avoid a similar and yet perhaps more stinging fate this time around? The thought would have been almost unthinkable only two weeks earlier, but with six straight losses - all in regulation - and not a single point gained, the Leafs are indeed facing that reality. With a blink or two of the eye, theyve been passed by seven teams, now trailing the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets for the final two wild card positions, and are in danger of fumbling away a second-straight trip to the postseason. Aspirations of capturing second spot in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage in the first round have been replaced by simply making it outright. The shift has been stunning. "I know right now it seems like were at a low point, but we will come through it," said captain Dion Phaneuf, speaking after a near 90-minute practice in Toronto, his performance and subsequent absence afterward a point of much consternation just a couple days earlier. "Im not going to stand here and say that weve played well. We havent. We havent won games, but theres been stretches that weve done some good things, we just havent found a way to win a game and were going to have to do that Friday." The pressure to do so has never been higher. At some point, the pit of despair becomes just too deep to dig out of, the snowball too large to stop from rolling. That was the case for the club in 2012. Four straight early February losses rapidly morphed into nine of 10, a souring fan-base and the sudden dismissal of Wilson. Things would get no better in the early days of Carlyles tenure with 10 more losses in the next 14 games, including the aforementioned knockout blow on March 27. "Theres pressure in any situation like this," said Kessel, "[but] weve just got to bounce back. If we can get a couple wins here, it would be positive for our group. Weve just got to keep going then." Fear of it all slipping away has seemingly seeped in. Head coach Randy Carlyle observed "tenseness" in the early stages of Tuesdays loss to St. Louis, pushing his club to be more assertive against Philadelphia, currently third in the Metropolitan Division - three points ahead of Toronto. "If youre going to stand there and youre in a street fight and youre not going to move, youre going to allow somebody to swing away, youre going to get hit," said Carlyle. "But if you move and try to avoid the hit and do what you do youre not going to get hit as many times, simple as that." Starts have become the most obvious foe to success during the two-week slide, early and often deep deficits too much to overcome. "So we have to move ourselves," said Carlyle. "We have to move our feet, we have to continue to move the puck effectively, we have to skate … Those are the things that we have to correct and we have to correct it for [Friday] night." "Were starting the games terrible," Kessel said. "Were getting down a couple goals. Theyre out-playing us the first half of the game and then all of a sudden we wake up and we come [back] and its just too late." The same could be said of their playoff fortunes. A collapse under these circumstances might pale in comparison to 2012, given their comfortable state with just weeks to go - they were up three points on the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning as recently as two weeks ago, now trailing both by a wide margin - and the heightened expectations of a club seemingly on the rise. Its a sting they wont want to experience again. "It snowballed on us," Phaneuf said after that season-sealing loss to Carolina two years ago. "We lost a lot of tight games and we just could not recover or find a way out of it as a group." Will they this time around time around? The answer will come soon enough. Chris McCullough Jersey . -- The Val-dOr Foreurs made it to the Memorial Cup semifinal thanks to their workhorse goaltender and their ability to hang around like a bad cold. Trevor Ariza Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – Its been almost seven years since the Blue Jays last won a series at Tropicana Field. http://www.cheapwizardsjerseyssale.com/kids-wes-unseld-wizards-jersey/ .C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday. Dwight Howard Jersey . The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach. Markieff Morris Jersey . The attacking midfielder arrives on a free transfer from Spains Malaga. The 28-year-old joins Scottish striker Kenny Miller and Argentine midfielder Matias Laba as designated players on the Whitecaps roster.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Rob Gronkowski is making steady progress from his forearm and back operations. Now he just has to get back into football condition. The star tight end isnt saying if he expects to play in New Englands opener Sunday at Buffalo, but hes noticeably skinnier after cutting back on his usual workouts while recovering. "Im just rehabbing everything," Gronkowski said Wednesday. "I want to have my whole body strong and just have got to keep on grinding and keep on working on all aspects in order to get back." Gronkowski had back surgery June 18, about a month after the fourth operation on the left forearm he broke last Nov. 18 against the Indianapolis Colts. He had surgery, missed five games, then returned for the regular-season finale. But he rebroke the forearm on Jan. 13 in the AFC divisional round when the Patriots beat the Houston Texans 41-28. Hes had three forearm surgeries since then, and said he hasnt had any setbacks. On Wednesday, he participated on a limited basis in practice. "Do I expect to play on Sunday," he asked. "Im preparing every single day to the max of my ability, preparing every day to (do) the best I can. And when my numbers called, thats when Ill play. "I cant tell you when that will be." He still isnt at full strength. "Its not just the forearm and back, obviously," he said. "When youre taking off a little like that, youve got to get conditioned again. Youve got to get stronger throughout your whole body, your legs, your upper body, your arms. So thats all in play, too. You just cant jump out there just because your arms ready." Being sidelined "was difficult," Gronkowski said. "That doesnt matter anymore. Its irrelevant now. The only thing relevant is moving forward every day." He practiced in full pads on Monday for the first time since his back surgery. How did he look a couple of days later? "Another couple days," coach Bill Belichick said. "Were trying to keep stringing them together, trying to keep heading in the right direction, just trying to keep taking it day by day." There may be no rush to get Gronkowski back since the Patriots first two games are against AFC East opponents who theey should beat, the Bills and the New York Jets.dddddddddddd Their third game is on Sept. 22 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Gronkowski had back surgery, it was reported that the recovery period for a player to return to a game was about 12 weeks. Sundays opener is just two days before that. "It doesnt matter what that says," Gronkowski said. "It just matters how your body feels, how the rehab programs going and how youre progressing every day. So you just look forward to every day." Quarterback Tom Brady had experience playing without Gronkowski last season. "For his first couple of years of his career, he didnt miss anything and then he missed some games last year," Brady said, "Then we kind of went into, OK, this is what were doing without Gronk. And thats the situation weve been in all spring and summer. "Its like he hasnt even been a part of the team. I mean, hes been a part of the team, doing what he needs to do to get ready, but in terms of what our offence was doing, the other guys have to step in and do the job that were asking them to do." Those guys are free-agent rookie Zach Sudfeld, and veterans Michael Hoomanawanui and Matthew Mulligan. Sudfeld spent six years at Nevada, including one as a redshirt freshman and two with a medical redshirt. Gronkowskis surgeries, the arrest of Aaron Hernandez on a murder charge and his own strong preseason gave Sudfeld his chance at tight end. "Hes been teaching me a lot," Sudfeld said. Gronkowski found that amusing. "Oh, man, hes older than me (by 27 days)," Gronkowski said with a laugh. "Hes a hard worker and a good player, so Im looking forward to get out there with him and the rest of the team. Its just going to be a lot of fun." Whenever that is. ---- NOTES: The Patriots made two practice squad moves, adding offensive lineman Josh Kline and releasing linebacker Jeff Tarpinian. ... A knee injury kept offensive lineman Will Svitek out of practice Wednesday. Besides Gronkowski, the other players limited in practice were wide receivers Danny Amendola (groin) and Aaron Dobson (hamstring), safeties Nate Ebner (ankle) and Duron Harmon (hamstring) and running back Brandon Bolden (knee). 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