long witth Minnesota Wild defenceman

[lw789]

TORONTO -- Almost three weeks after its last league outing, Toronto FC returns to action Friday night against the New York Red Bulls as the MLS season resumes with a vengeance following a World Cup break. After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Manager Ryan Nelsen gave his players eight days off following the 1-0 win over visiting San Jose on June 7. They have been training ever since, albeit with sessions pushed forward a little bit to allow players to watch the World Cup in the afternoon. There are different allegiances, although the team is rooting for both Brazil and the U.S. given the presence of TFC goalie Julio Cesar and midfielder Michael Bradley at the tournament. Canadian international Jonathan Osorio is pulling for Colombia, where his parents came from. The U.S.-Ghana game pitted the 12 Americans on the Toronto roster against Ghana-born forward Dominic Oduro. Massage therapist and acupuncturist Marcelo Casal is cheering for Uruguay. The public relations department is still mourning the exit of Italy. While his players enjoyed time off, albeit with a prescribed gym regimen, Nelsen and his coaches were at work planning training sessions. "We might have worked around a nice glass of red," said Nelsen, whose business holdings include a winery back home in New Zealand. Nelsen is expecting a hard contest Friday against the Red Bulls (4-5-6) who are one point behind fourth-place Toronto in the East despite having played four more games. Toronto defeated New York 2-0 when they met in May at BMO Field, with Jermain Defoe scoring early and Luke Moore scoring late. "I think that game was a big game for us," said Nelsen. "We had a few guys out (injured) and wed just come back from the West Coast after 120 minutes (in an Amway Canadian Championship game in Vancouver) and it was a really, really good performance. "New York will have a lot of motivation, in all honesty, to put one back on us. Its at their home field. Ive got a real sense that everybodys desperate to play a game after the break. "Its nice to have a break but everybody wants to get back on the field. I can sense this games going to be a really good one, a good tough one. Im looking forward to it." The host Red Bulls will also be well rested. Star striker Thierry Henry, fresh from a stint as a BBC World Cup analyst, and Colombian defender Jamison Olave have not played since May 27 at Sporting Kansas City, skipping artificial turf games June 8 in New England and June 14 against the New York Cosmos (in U.S. Open Cup play). The Red Bulls Australian star Tim Cahill is slated to be back from the World Cup and could make an appearance Friday night. Cahill did not see action in the Socceroos 3-0 loss to Spain on Monday but scored two goals earlier at the tournament including a highlight-reel volley against the Dutch. "Were expecting them to play," Nelsen said of Cahill and Henry. While hes a Kiwi, Nelsen was raving about Cahills strike against the Dutch while saying it had not got the publicity it deserved. "For me, if a Brazilian did that, or an Argentinian, or a big-country-type player did that, theyd be raving about that for years to come. ... It was of such quality that I didnt think they gave him the credit he really deserved for an over-the-shoulder left-foot volley." "But thats Timmy," he added. "Timmys been scoring those type of goals his whole career. Thats why New York is so lucky to have him." Toronto has two injury concerns in winger Daniel Lovitz (concussion) and Brazilian striker Gilberto (hip flexor). . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. . Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/ca ... ersey/.The Ottawa Senators winger was relegated to a corner seat in the locker-room to allow Daniel Alfredsson to return to his regular stall one last time. . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. .com) - Mike Miller scored a season-high 21 points in a rare start and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 95-91 win over the Brooklyn Nets.COPENHAGEN - Brent Sutter was speaking to Paul Holmgren over the summer when the topic of Scott Laughton came up and the Philadelphia Flyers general manager noted that the prospect reminded him a bit of Mike Richards. After Thursday, the two players have one more thing in common: both have served as captain of Canadas national junior team. Richards led Canada to gold in the 2005 event when Sutter was also coach. "He wasnt necessarily the best player on the team, but he was the glue of the team," Sutter recalled. Laughton, like Richards a first-round pick of the Flyers, was named captain of this years world junior squad on Friday. Sutter, now back for a third tour of duty behind the bench at the world juniors, informed Laughton of his decision before practice and then announced it to the team at the end of the workout. "Leadership with him comes naturally," said Sutter. "Hes a well-respected player inside our dressing room. He has a lot of charisma to him. He demands respect. He comes to play every night and he plays the right way." Holmgrens Richards comparison stuck with Sutter and has become clearer the more hes been around Laughton. And thats music to the 19-year-olds ears. "Ive looked up to Mike Richards for a while now," said Laughton, who plays for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. "Hes with the same agent as me and ever since my junior draft year Ive been looking up to him and watching him and hes my favourite player so its a pretty big honour to be [compared] to him." Often times Canadas captain will be a player with previous world junior experience, but there are just three returnees this time around. Jonathan Drouin, an 18-year-old, is the only forward back and was named an alternate captain along witth Minnesota Wild defenceman Mathew Dumba.dddddddddddd The other two returning players are defenceman Griffin Reinhart, who will miss the first three games due to a suspension, and goalie Jake Paterson, who is competing with Zach Fucale for the starting job. With that in mind, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Laughton had a pretty good idea of how hed fit in this year. "Im an older guy with pro experience so I knew I was going to be a leader on this team whether I did get a letter or not," he said. "Im a pretty vocal guy so Im going to continue to do that and also keep the room light and joke around a bit and things like that. Whenever a guy needs me to be there Im going to stick up for my teammates. Thats the biggest thing." Its clear why Laughton was an easy choice for Sutter. The Oakville, Ont. native can do it all. He filled a shutdown role while helping Canada win titles at the under-17 and under-18 levels, but is also dangerous in the offensive end. When he left for Canadas camp a week ago, he was seventh in OHL scoring with 24 goals and 50 points in 29 games. And, of course, hes also got some professional experience. Laughton got a taste of the NHL last season playing five games for the Flyers and then six more for the teams American Hockey League affiliate. "That really benefitted me and was huge for me just in terms of my confidence," he said. Laughton stuck with the Flyers out of training camp this fall, but was sent down early in the campaign without playing a game. "Its definitely disappointing and it always weighs in the back of your mind," Laughton admitted. "Coming back to junior, I tried to use it as motivation and tried to play my heart out and be a leader back in Oshawa and I think Ive done that." ' ' '