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TORONTO - Gone are the days of the Toronto Maple Leafs standing for truculence and the Brian Burke way. Authentic Jordans Shoes Wholesale . General manager Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle are still old-school hockey guys, but one old-school mentality has gone by the wayside.The Leafs will open the NHL season without a heavyweight fighter after waiving Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren. The rough stuff will now be handled by committee.We have to have a pack mentality that, regardless of whether or not Colton or Frazer are in the lineup, were going to, as a group stick together, Nonis said. This isnt a unique situation. If you look around the league, thats becoming more prevalent.Enforcers have become less prevalent over the past few seasons, but only this fall have a handful of teams known for having them abandoned that path. The Montreal Canadiens let George Parros leave in free agency and the Philadelphia Flyers waived ex-Leafs fighter Jay Rosehill.The Leafs and Flyers were first and third in the league in fights, respectively.Using a fighter against certain teams as a way to intimidate or stand up to intimidation is also a fading strategy. Less than half the teams in the league still have a heavyweight brawler, though Burkes Calgary Flames have three.You just see teams really wanting a guy playing both ends of the ice, Leafs forward Daniel Winnik said. Its not a knock against old-school fighters, its just the way management has gone. They seem to like the middleweight guys a little more.Middleweights, or players who can fight but arent on the ice primarily to do it, are much more popular. The Chicago Blackhawks just signed Daniel Carcillo, the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up Steve Downie for that job, and the Flyers have Zac Rinaldo and others who dont mind dropping the gloves.Weve got some guys that can handle themselves, Philadelphia GM Ron Hextall told reporters recently. There never are any fights in the playoffs. And then in-between, its getting less and less.Carlyle has repeatedly referred to what he wants as team toughness. That doesnt just mean fighting, but it doesnt exclude it, either.Youve got to take the check to make a play, youve got to block a shot, youve got to defend a teammate if you feel hes been taken advantage of, Carlyle said. I think youve got to be hard to play against, and I think you have to compete for your space on the ice.For what its worth, the Leafs brass said not having Orr or McLaren on opening night doesnt mean either or both wont be back. Carlyle said not having them was not a philosophical change by the organization.But with the Leafs and Flyers planning to roll four lines that could play, its hard to find room for enforcers whose ice time is limited. Orr averaged 5:22 a game, McLaren 4:00 and Rosehill 4:56 last season.Obviously the game has changed a little bit in the last five or 10 years and teams are constructed a little bit differently nowadays, Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk said.The way the Leafs are constructed means the fights will fall on David Clarkson, Roman Polak, Carter Ashton and even maybe Winnik and Joffrey Lupul. Clarkson, now the leader with 85 regular-season bouts in his career, had a team-high nine in 2013-14.As a group, we have to take care of each other, theres some that are more capable than others, Nonis said. Theres certain players that thats not in their bag of tricks, but I think as a group we have to find a way to take care of each other and protect each other and I think that whether or not those two players are in the lineup or not, we have the personnel that can do that.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Air Jordan 4 Nz Online . HEROES P.K. Subban – Scored the overtime winner and assisted on Montreal’s earlier goal, both on the power play, in a 2-1 win over Nashville. Wholesale Air Jordan 4 Nz .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. http://www.airjordan4nz.com/ .com) - The collective hearts of Chicago Bulls fans sank on Friday night when Derrick Rose went down with a leg injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers.NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after hoisting his second Slam Dunk trophy, this one hell have to share, Terrence Ross was stunned to hear that the contests format change was not especially well received. "It was one of the best shows ever," said the Raptors guard, disagreeing with the critics. "Its really what people wanted to see. You couldnt see those dunks without three players on the court so it worked out for the best I think." The Slam Dunk Contest - the pride and joy of All-Star Saturday Night - adopted a team concept this year, pitting the three participants from the East against the Wests trio in a two-round showcase. It was, for all intents and purposes, a bust. In the final round, a head-to-head session, the team from the East - consisting of Ross, John Wall and Paul George - defeated the West in a clean sweep. It was an unorthodox victory for Ross, who only threw down one dunk, outside of the initial freestyle round. "Hey, a wins a win," the sophomore said, elated after the competition came to an end, not unlike most in attendance and watching from home. "Im gonna take it either way. Ive never lost a dunk contest at this point so Im happy." The real champion, assuming anyone can really be considered a winner after that performance, was John Wall, who was awarded the fan vote for Dunker of the Night. Wall capped off an anticlimactic evening with the only real jaw-dropping dunk, leaping over Wizards mascot G-Man, taking the ball out of his hands and completing a two-hand reverse jam to seal the Easts victory. Off the top, each team had 90 seconds to work together and complete as many dunks as they could. The team dynamic, allowed the dunkers to collaborate and be creative in their attempts. Ross and the East took advantage, while the West - with Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore - ate up nearly a third of their allotted time before converting a notable slam. To call it organized chaos would be putting it mildly. Mostly, it was a disjointed mess with an occasional highlight, a couple from Ross, who put down a reverse to open the contest. The battle round had promise but lacked any semblance of rhythm or flow, as actual dunks were few and far between. Just as it started to come around, it ended abruptly. Lillard led off the proceedings - competing in his third event of the night - facing Ross, who brought along a friend and colleeague for assistance. Jordan 4 For Sale Nz. With last years trophy in hand, Raptors global ambassador Drake accompanied Ross on the floor to the tune of Started from the Bottom. Ross, wearing a boxing robe as he entered, would miss his first two attempts before eventually taking the ball from Drake, putting it through his legs and throwing it down with the opposite hand. As it turns out, Drake was a late substitution for Ross teammate and original assistant. "At first I knew the dunk I wanted to do and then I was like, DeMar (DeRozan) is going to do it," said the Raptors sophomore. "And then I was like, let me ask Drake because that would be a little better fit with him being the global ambassador, so I said that might work. I had fun with it, he was willing to help in any way he could." In the end, Ross was happy with the format change and embraced the chance to team up rather than go at it alone. "We got to throw off the shot clock, the backboard, bounce it off the ground," he said. "It was fun, everybody loved it." Ross maintained the team concept allows participants to be more creative, giving each of them a greater opportunity to come up and execute something new. For that reason, he believes the format should be here to stay. "It was fun, just coming up with certain things. I was trying to see if we could throw it off the jumbotron and see if we could do something like that but they said that would probably break it." Format changes encapsulated the entire night, certainly not what the league was going for. The Skills Challenge also had participants competing in teams for the first time. DeRozan - who was paired with Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo - more than held his own, sinking the chest pass on his first attempts and nailing the jump shot from the top of the key in two tries. His partner needed three tries to complete the pass and as a result, they were eliminated in the opening round, bested by Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo by 1.7 seconds. That pair would go on to lose to Lillard and Trey Burke by a tenth of a second in the finals. Former Raptor Marco Belinelli, the eventual winner of the Three-Point Contest, would not have made it past the first round if not for a new twist which allowed for one entire rack filled with money balls. He went on to defeat Wizards guard Bradley Beal in a tie-breaking round. 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