The Toronto Raptors are having one of the best seasons in franchise history - in a year when nobody expected it. Many believed sneaking into the final playoff spot would be a success for the Raptors this season, but even that wasnt guaranteed. But with only 11 games remaining in the regular season, Toronto (40-31) sits in third place in the Eastern Conference, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for tops in the Atlantic Division and a postseason spot all but official. This will be the first time since 2008 that the Raptors will play in the NBAs second season. With all of the good fortunes the Dinos have seen this year, who has been most integral to the teams success? DeMar DeRozan is the face of the franchise and is one of the longest tenured members of the Raptors. The 24-year-old made his first All-Star Game this season and is leading the team in points scoring 22.7 per game. This is DeRozans fifth year in the Association and he signed a four-year deal last season to stay north of the border for the foreseeable future. Will the team only go as far as DeMar will take them? Kyle Lowry has quickly become a fan favourite in only his second season in Raptors colours. The rugged point guard has shown bulldog-like toughness on a nightly basis, playing considerable minutes and being the man the team has looked to when they are in need of a spark. Analysts and fans alike thought the 28-year-old should have been in New Orleans for the All-Star Game. Averaging 17.6 PPG (scoring over 20 points in eight consecutive games) along with 7.7 assists per game makes a good case for that argument. His future is uncertain in Toronto with Lowry hitting the free agent market this summer, but the Raptors are glad to have him for the time being. Is he the one to thank? Then theres Amir Johnson. At only 26, he can be considered a veteran, already playing in his ninth NBA season and is an important part of the Raps front court. He averages 11.1 PPG, 6.9 rebounds per game and is a strong force on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe the key success is coming from the sidelines. Head coach Dwane Casey is in his second year in charge of the Raptors and seems to have finally gotten through to his players. Toronto has gotten much better defensively only allowing 97.6 PPG, good enough for fifth in the NBA. Is the coachs defence-first mindset the reason the Raptors are headed to the post-season? The success could be attributed to General Manager Masai Ujiri. The Nigerian hasnt brought in a lot of highly touted talent since he took the job last off-season. Instead hes used the method of addition by subtraction to improve on the court. First, he shipped the much-maligned Andrea Bargnani off to the New York Knicks followed by sending Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings during the season. Toronto is 34-19 since Gay was traded out west. With the offence no longer going through Gay, the Raptors have been able to score more efficiently. Not to mention the players coming back to Toronto - namely Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez – have helped the Raptors to get where they are today. Do we have to look to the front office for the reason behind the sudden improvement? So, who do you think is the most integral to the Raptors success this season? As always, its Your! Call. Ivan Rodriguez Jersey . Sopoaga hit the upright with his first shot at goal from 15 metres. He then kicked nine goals in succession -- two conversions and seven penalties -- before being replaced in the 62nd minute, three points short of the Highlanders record for most points in a match. 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One dazzling stretch for the Chicago Blackhawks put an end to their tight first-round series against the St. Louis Blues. Duncan Keith had a goal and three assists, and the Blackhawks used a four-goal third period to finish off the Blues with a 5-1 victory in Game 6 on Sunday. "It feels good to contribute in a big game," Keith said, "and I think just the main thing for me is just being able to move on and get a couple days to relax and just regroup and focus on the next round." Chicago won four in a row after a slow start in St. Louis. The defending Stanley Cup champions will play the winner of the Minnesota-Colorado series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Avalanche lead the Wild 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Minnesota on Monday night. Toews, Sharp and Shaw scored in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the third and Keith closed out the scoring as the Blackhawks improved to 14-2 in home playoff games over the past two seasons. Bryan Bickell scored in the first and Corey Crawford made 35 saves, keeping Chicago in a tie game when St. Louis controlled the second period. "They were dominating the first 40 minutes here and we came back with maybe the best period of the year," coach Joel Quenneville said. T.J. Oshie scored for the Blues, who outshot the Blackhawks 36-27. Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves. St. Louis went 0 for 6 in 10 minutes of power-play time over the first two periods, wasting a chance to take the lead. The Blues went 2 for 29 with the man advantage for the series. "I think both the PK and (Crawford) won the game and the series ultimately," Quenneville said. "I think that was the big factor in us getting through." The Blackhawks also struggled on the power play, but they scored when it mattered most. With Jay Bouwmeester in the box for tripping, Keith made a nice stop to keep the puck in the St. Louis zone, and then sent a pass over to Toews. The captain beat Miller over his right shoulder for a 2-1 lead just 44 seconds into the third. It was Toews third game-winning goal of the series. He also scored on a breakaway in overtime of Friday nights 3-2 win. Toews 23rd career post-season goal seemed to take the air out of the Blues, and it got even worse for St. Louis. Sharp got loose for a breakaway, shook off a stick to the face by defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk and slid a shot past Milller.dddddddddddd "The third goal was really a backbreaker for us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That was really the one that hurt. We had been chasing them all series and able to catch up in games, but I thought the third goal really took the wind out of our sails." Sharps first point of the playoffs sent a charge through the towel-waving sellout crowd of 22,144, and there were mocking chants of "Mil-ler! Mil-ler!" as Shaw added his second goal of the series and helped set up Keith for his second. It was an eerily similar playoff exit for St. Louis to a year ago, when the Blues also were eliminated by the defending Stanley Cup champions in six games in the first round. In that 2013 playoff series, St. Louis won the first two games at home against Los Angeles, and then lost four in a row. This year was supposed to be different, especially after the Blues acquired Miller from Buffalo on March 1. But they lost their last six games of the regular season, putting them in a first-round series against rival Chicago. St. Louis rebounded for two 4-3 overtime victories, but the Blackhawks found their stride when the series shifted to Chicago. Crawford had a shutout in Game 3, Patrick Kane scored in overtime in Game 4, and Toews breakaway score in St. Louis put the Blackhawks in position to advance. "It was one play here, one play there," Blues captain David Backes said. "But it was on our stick and we needed to get the job done. We didnt get it done and were going home too early." Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook returned from a three-game suspension. Seabrook was punished by the NHL for his hit on Backes in Game 2. "It was tough. I cant watch hockey," Seabrook said. "Youre hanging on every shot, every save, every play. You want to be out there helping the guys. It was obviously tough to watch it, but they did a great job." Backes exacted a measure of revenge when he delivered a hard hit on Seabrook into the end boards in the second period. But Seabrook added two more assists and had six points for the series. NOFootball – the ultimate team sport, no one player is more important than another. Thats likely the answer youll get if you ask a coach to single out someone whose mere presence in the lineup on any given night can affect his teams fortunes. After all, this is a sport that gave us “next man up” – a term that nicely captures the notion that everyones easily replaced. Thats well and good, but if youre the Edmonton Eskimos the reality is quite a bit different when applied to slotback Adarius Bowman. Now in his seventh CFL campaign, the 6-3, 225lbs Bowman has always tantalized with his sure hands, willingness to impose his will on smaller defensive backs, and battle for the much coveted YAC (yards after catch) yards. In Edmontons opening week win over BC, Bowman led all receivers with nine catches for 105 yards and one touchdown and served notice that Mike Reillys favorite target may not always be Fred Stamps. Bowman was so dominant that Stamps, a four time CFL All-Star with five straight seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards, was largely invisible against the Lions. Thats not necessarily a bad thing for a team that is trying to hit the reset button after a 4-14 season, their worst since the wretched days of the 1960s. Eskimo GM Ed Hervey had a lengthy to do list after 2013. Upgrade (significantly) a porous offensive line, which would in turn limit the amount of time Mike Reilly spent either running for his life, or being helped to his feet by teammates or trainers. A running back who could not only run, but also block would also be nice but having Bowman on the roster more often than not would provide real dividends ... and wins. Bowmans ability has never been in doubt, but his inability to stay healthy has limited his production for a player who can put up big numbers AND help the Esks every time hes in the line-up. The numbers are definitive. In just 26 games since 2011, Edmonton is 15-11 with Bowman in the line-up … and 8–21 without. New head coach Chris Jones has already shown that hes not ‘risk averse on either side of the ball and seemingly has full confidence in Bowmans place in the offence. Were all replaceable, especially so in football, but as the Esks have discovered life with Bowman is a whole letter better than life without him. 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TSN primes Vancouver fans for the start of the 2014 season with MLS on TSN: Season Preview Special airing tonight at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt on TSN2 (encore Friday at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt on TSN2).CLEVELAND -- The weather may have done the Cleveland Indians, and outfielder Michael Brantley in particular, a favour. Wednesday nights game against the Los Angeles Angels was postponed by a steady rain that began during batting practice and escalated into heavy thunderstorms in the early evening. The postponement was announced shortly after the 7:05 p.m. scheduled start. No makeup date was announced. The Indians said Wednesday that Brantley, who leads the team with 11 homers and 46 RBIs while batting .323, has been diagnosed with a concussion and will likely be out of the lineup until Saturday. Cleveland cant afford to be without Brantley, who is second in the majors with eight outfield assists, for very long. He sounded encouraged after participating in some activities Wednesday. "Im getting better every day," Brantley said. "I played catch, hit off a tee and got a good workout in. Its all positive." The concussion was diagnosed when Brantley had tests Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic. He was injured trying to break up a double play sliding into second base Monday. "Michael is doing very well," manager Terry Francona said. "Everything that has been introduced to him, the reaction tests, hes done very well." The team hopes to avoid placing Brantley on the seven-day concussion list. "The doctors, trainers and Michael think that Saturday is realistic," Francona said. "So as opposed to missing seven games, he could maybe miss five games." "I dont want to put a deadline on anything," Brantley said. "My goall is get back out there as fast as possible.dddddddddddd" Brantley was removed from Mondays game and passed an initial concussion test, but was sent to the hospital after experiencing discomfort during his pregame routine Tuesday. The Indians also hope the rainout will cool off the red-hot Mike Trout, who homered twice and had four RBIs in the Angels 9-3 win Tuesday. Francona joked following the game that he would like to see Trout get a day off so the two-time All-Star didnt tire out. Trout is batting .410 with eight homers and 26 RBIs over his last 22 games and has 14 RBIs in his last 13 games against Cleveland. While Trout has been sizzling, designated hitter Raul Ibanez has struggled with a .153 average. Manager Mike Scioscia is sticking with the 42-year-old veteran. "I think Raul hopefully is getting more comfortable in the box. Hes had some good at-bats in this series," Scioscia said. Ibanez is getting playing time because rookie C.J. Cron is also battling a slump and has only played once in the last week. The right-handed hitter is batting .275 this season, but is just 3 for his last 20 with seven strikeouts. Since the teams conclude the series Thursday with a noon start, the decision was made to not play a doubleheader and the game will be made up on a mutual day off. "Its never in anybodys best interest to play a doubleheader," Scioscia said. Both teams will stick with Wednesdays scheduled starters for the series finale. Left-hander C.J. Wilson will pitch for the Angels against right-hander Justin Masterson. ' ' 'TES: Blackhawks F Kris Versteeg was scratched after he played in the first five games. ... Keith, a top candidate for the Norris Trophy awarded to the NHLs top defenceman, tied a playoff career high with four points. ... Miller, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency, on his immediate future: "I dont know. Ive just got to take things as they come right now. I guess Im free to go to my sister-in-laws wedding. Thats about it." ' ' '