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Jan 11 '18
TORONTO -- This isnt a situation the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to find themselves in. Klay Thompson USA Jersey . Two centres are out indefinitely: Tyler Bozak with a hamstring injury and Dave Bolland after undergoing surgery to repair a severed tendon in his ankle. That has meant making adjustments, most notably regular left-winger James van Riemsdyks move to centre, and increased pressure on Nazem Kadri and Jay McClement. "Obviously theres going to be more responsibility," Kadri said. "Thats pretty much the reason why Reemer (van Riemsdyk) is moving to the middle is because were kind of running out in that position. But I think everyones pretty prepared and the coaching staffs done a good job preparing us." Having plenty of time to prepare is the biggest positive right now for the Leafs. With six days between the end of their Western Conference road trip and Fridays game against the New Jersey Devils, coach Randy Carlyle has ample opportunity to help his players adjust to the new reality caused by injuries. "We believe that repetition is going to re-enforce some of the staples which we believe we have to play to and how we have to play," Carlyle said Wednesday. "We look at our team to play a tighter brand of hockey and to continue to show some growth. We think our growth has stalled with our team, and we dont think that weve played to the template that weve created and some of the things that were struggling with are things that we have to overcome." Picking up the level of play is something Carlyle has stressed for a while, even when the Leafs (10-5-0, 20 points) were in first place in the Atlantic Division. But its something else to have to overcome losing two centres this early in the season. Bozak has been out since injuring his hamstring Oct. 25 at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Losing him put more onus on Kadri, but then Bolland suffering a severed tendon Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks put Toronto in quite the quagmire. Naturally, buzz about the Leafs making calls around the NHL about forwards picked up. "We are going to look at and explore all of the options that are available to us, but theres nobody in the league looking to give you a handout, I guarantee you," Carlyle said. The option the Leafs went for was signing veteran centre Jerred Smithson to a one-year contract. Smithson, 34, spent last season with the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers and was on a tryout with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Smithson is expected to fill in on the fourth line, while van Riemsdyk is being counted on to centre the first line. Van Riemsdyk has played centre before, though that was during his two seasons at the University of New Hampshire from 2007 to 2009. Van Riemsdyk said Monday moving to the middle doesnt change his approach too much, but it is an adjustment. "When youre used to playing a certain position, you kind of just naturally know where to go and maybe you have to think about it a little bit more," he said. "Its a lot about timing, centre, just being in the right spot at the right time so youre not losing your speed and all that stuff. I think its a timing thing and you get that through repetition and some experience there." And repetition is what hes getting. On Monday van Riemsdyk didnt sound quite sure whether hed actually be making the move to centre or was just practising there, but Wednesday he was back between Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. It was one of many chances the 24-year-old will have to get used to centre before games against the Devils and Boston Bruins. "Obviously you want a guy to get some practice time in," Carlyle said. "We try to work on things that hes going to be faced with in the game against Jersey. Down low is one of the coverages its going to have to be something thats ingrained in his mind here over the next three or four days. Theres no time like practice." Wednesdays practice was over an hour long. Even if thats not the norm the rest of the week, van Riemsdyk will get some help from teammates off the ice about his adjustment. "All the centremen all the time we get together and kind of review what has to happen, whether its in the D-zone or neutral zone or whatever it may be," Kadri said. "Also faceoffs is another big thing with that. Usually the centremans responsible for calling out the plays off the draw. Really its just being prepared and getting prepared to execute a game plan." Van Riemsdyk said he feels "OK" about his faceoff game, but after taking just 10 draws so far this season itll become a bigger area of concern. To take some pressure off van Riemsdyk, Carlyle could lean even more heavily on McClement and Kadri in the faceoff circle. This kind of hole requires more than just one player to step up, and Carlyle is asking his players to consider the situation from a team aspect. "Were all going to help each other out," Kadri said. "We got four other guys, five other guys to help us out. Really weve just got to stick together as a team and fight through some adversity." Notes -- In conjunction with singing Smithson, the Leafs assigned centre Trevor Smith to the Marlies. ... Defenceman Mark Fraser (knee) took part in a full practice Wednesday and is expected to be available to the Leafs for Fridays game against New Jersey. Its uncertain if Fraser will play, as Carlyle said decisions must be made with eight options on the blue-line. Anthony Davis USA Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Russell Westbrook Team USA Jersey . -- Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will sideline the pitcher for the season.Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Blake Griffin scored a game-high 39 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers past the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-111, on Friday. Jamal Crawford had 22 points and five assists off the bench, JJ Redick supplied 15 points and Chris Paul scored 12 points with 10 assists for the Clippers, who were coming off a 93-90 win over Oklahoma City on Thursday. Jamal and Blake made some unbelievable shots down the stretch, said Paul. We know we can score. Our defense has to be our backbone. DeAndre Jordan finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Jordan Hill paced the Lakers with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, Kobe Bryant had 21 points and seven assists and Jeremy Lin contributed 17 points and nine assists in the teams third straight loss to start the season. Our effort was great, Lakers head coach Byron Scott said. In the second half, we made a couple of boneheaded mistakes. Both teams were playing aggressive. Crawford scored five straight points to pull the Clippers within two and consecutive dunks from Jordan tied the game at 97-97 with 7:55 to play. After the Clippers went ahead on Crawfords free throw, Griffin dished a pass to Crawford, who hit a three from the right side for a 112-109 score with 1:37 remaining. Bryant responded with a fadeaway jumper from a severe angle. Pauls jumper was blocked by Hill, but Griffin jumped on Bryants air ball aand knocked down two free throws after getting fouled at the other end with 21. Deron Williams USA Jersey. 3 to play. Redicks four free throws sealed the win. The Clippers used an 11-1 burst in the first to take an 11-4 lead just over three minutes in. Their lead swelled to 15 points and they finished the frame with a 31-22 advantage on 12-of-21 shooting (57.1 percent). Bryant capped an 11-point swing with a 3-pointer to get the Lakers within 45-42 with under five minutes to play in the first half. Griffin, however drained a shot from beyond the arc with 8.5 seconds remaining and the Clippers took a 62-56 lead into the break. The Lakers charged out of halftime to take a 74-67 edge. Lins running jumper sparked an 18-5 outburst that featured eight points from Hill. Griffin took matters into his own hands by supplying 11 straight Clippers points to trim the deficit to 79-78. Robert Sacre responded with a slam and two free throws and Hills layup restored the Lakers lead to seven points. Crawfords triple right before the buzzer pulled the Clippers within 90-86 heading into the final stanza. Game Notes The Lakers shot 51.2 percent from the floor (42-of-82), while the Clippers made 47.9 percent of their shots (34-of-71) ... The Clippers have won four straight and eight of the last nine meetings with the Lakers ... 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