hrowback purple style? A black and gold Drake style? Or something

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. 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. Wholesale Lions Jerseys ." One game is checked off, 15 remain and the next one to get crossed out could come Tuesday night when the defending champion Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. 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Steve Mason, Philadelphia (4) - Mason was brilliant all night long with save after big save on Benoit Pouliot, Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard.For those not familiar with Reddit or AMAs, its an acronym for "Ask Me Anything" and its a great way for an athlete or a celebrity to talk to his or her fans directly and in a community setting. While the hour to ask Terrence a question has come and gone, weve curated some of the highlights both in text and video form for you here on BarDown. Terrence offered proof of life early on via Twitter and the questions came rolling in. Proof that its me http://t.co/7odDVooQIc pic.twitter.com/Me4MPTvueL — Terrence Ross (@T_DotFlight31) March 13, 2014 T-Ross didnt duck any of the tough questions, including pouring in 50, posterizing the Manimal as well as Vinsanitys legacy in Toronto. He even showed a lot of love for the Laker dynasty in picking his "NBA Mount Rushmore". Let the questions begin! 3:10 pm from TheSimonToUrGarfunkl Cabbie also talked to Terrence Ross on FaceTime. Hey T, big fan here! Many players seem to dread getting drafted by the Raptors but end up falling in love with the culture and the city. How has your perception of the city of Toronto and the franchise changed since you were drafted? Was it more than you expected or maybe less than you expected in terms of the city? Toronto is a lot bigger and a lot more diverse than I thought. I didnt know how great our fans would be since I thought Toronto was a hockey city, but the fan support is unreal. 3:16 pm from dspm90 Who do you think is best at setting picks in the NBA, and why is it Amir Johnson? Best at setting picks is Kevin Garnett because he sets illegal screens but he never gets caught. Hell literally hold you and you cant get around him. 3:20pm from macaroniandgainz If you could play a pickup game of 2-on-2 with any NBA player (past or present) who would it be? and, how did it feel to score 51 points in only your second year in the NBA? Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron and me. The 51-pt game felt like a pickup game. It felt like we were just playing for fun with a bunch of pros and we were going bucket for bucket. It was the kind of game that people dont usually get to see, but this time it happened during the season. ...I thought the franchise high was 56 so I didnt think I could get there. If I knew it was 51, maybe I wouldve pushed for it. 3:23 from drthurgood What was the first thing that popped into your head when you were drafted by Toronto? I was happy that I [was] drafted at the eighth pick, and I really to didnt know what to expect. Except I looked good in my bow tie. 3:26 from BJ_Dangle What was going through your mind when you were about to destroy Kenneth Faried? I didnt think it would look as good as it did. I kinda thought I dunked to the side of him but it happened so fast. I didnt know how good it looked until I saw the photo. From my teammates perspective it was pretty cool too. 3:27 from Whatda... Have you ever had a moment of being "star struck" in the NBA? Guarding Kobe. I had to guard him, it was in Toronto, and in my head I was like, "OMG Im guarding Kobe" and as soon as I thought that he put up a 3. It was deep too. 3:28 from Praise_Yeezus What has happened this season that has led to your improvement? Probably the off-season last year and I think the Rudy Gay trade. 3:34 from insurgent29 Were you a Vince Carter fan growing up? Vince Carter is my favourite dunker growing up. He is the sole reason I ever knew about Toronto Raptors as a kid. 3:39pm from Termis Who do you want as a first round matchup in the playoffs? I want Brooklyn, personally. 3:41 from ddaylewis Who talks on D? Who is the most vocal and who calls out the opposing teams plays? Kyle Lowry..dddddddddddd Always. Before every play I ask him: Yo, what they running?. Usually the team comes down the court, Lowry will recognize the play and call out what theyre doing. ... Hes the smartest guy on the team. He makes the biggest impact on the games. 3:43 from TaeyanGdragon Do you play video games such as NBA2k? if not, what is your favorite video game? and if so, how do you feel about how they rate you as a player? I play every video game! I have two XBox 360s, an XBox 1, and a PlayStation 4. For my rating, as long as I can shoot and dunk, thats all you really need in a video game. 3:45 from maffyou Did you prepare dunks for the dunk contest that you were not able to perform? If so, would you be willing to show us? Yes there were two dunks I wanted to do but never got a chance to. Maybe Ill do them in warm ups... 3:48 from DoubleONine Are you as sick of this stupid winter as I am? YES! Im over this winter. I just want the sun to melt all the snow, and I would love if it could just hurry up and be summer, but lots of ball to play before then. 3:48 from jbarmel How does it feel playing on the Raptors organization and representing all of Canada in the NBA? Do you ever travel aroud Canada and get acknolwedged and lots of fan support outside of Toronto or Ontario a lot? Also, Who is the biggest sneaker head on the Raps?! Its an honour because most players just get to play for their city or state, but I get to play for the whole country so its almost like a national team. Ive been to Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. The biggest sneaker head on the Raps is DeMar. He has every Jordan. Literally, every Jordan. 3:49 from FadeAwayJay When was the first time you dunked? Seventh grade. I was 13 in a travel ball game, and ever since then I fell in love with dunking. 3:51 from therealAce What was it like when you checked in for the first time and heard your name announced? The first time I checked in it was unreal. It was like a dream and its surreal being in that position after growing up watching the NBA. 3:52 from blakerose Would you like to see the Raps logo go to a throwback purple style? A black and gold Drake style? Or something else altogether? I wanna go back to the purple on the front and the black on the back. I like the two tone jerseys. 3:58 from davidkones What are some of the songs you listen to before a game to pump yourself up? I listen to School Boy Q. I listen to his whole album. I listen to A$AP Rocky... and Rush for all my Canadian fans. 4:01 from BulbyBlast Hey Terrence, do you think they should retire Vince Carters jersey in Toronto? Honestly, YES! They should retire his jersey simply because he put Toronto on the map. He did a lot for this city and this franchise, so STOP BOOING HIM! 4:09 from gabliva Two questions 1. How much fun is it hanging out with amir? I can only imagine its hours of fun! 2. On a scale of Mugsy Bouges to Vince carter how excited are you to wear the throwback jerseys next year? Amir is like a little kid ... No... Like a big kid! He is always doing something crazy. On the scale... Charles Oakley! 4:18 from dominator39 1) Did you think the team was going to improve after trading Rudy? 2) What is your favourite movie? 3) How is as Jonas Valanciunas outside of the basketball court? 1) Ya, I knew we were gonna play like scrappy, fight til the end type basketball. 2) "He Got Game". 3) Hes very European. Hes quirky. 4:19 from AndySmalls DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF SKATES YET!?!?!? I dont own skates. Ive skated once when I was 14. I did not get the hang of it and never put skates on again after that. Rollerblading I can do no problem though. 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