NEWS » to face the Bulls on Saturday, then return home

With the Montreal Canadiens still not knowing when the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs will begin, Michel Therrien decided to simulate a game day for his team on Monday. Under Armour Basketball Shoes Online . "Its almost a week since we last played and this is part of our preparation for the next round," Therrien told the media. The players participated in a simulated morning skate at 10:30am, their usual practice time on game day, and then headed to the Bell Centre at 5pm with their families to take part in some activities the team has planned for them, followed by a scrimmage with members of the Hamilton Bulldogs. "Its good for us to feel the speed of the game again and to get our timing back,” PK Subban said following practice. “Its tough when youve been off for a few days to keep your timing, so it will be good to get in a scrimmage.” It will be a closed door event with the public and the media not allowed to attend. The Canadiens have the day off on Tuesday and should know by Wednesday the schedule for Round 2. Under Armour Cheap Online . -- Challenged for the first time under Major League Baseballs expanded replay system, umpires got it right. Ua Hovr Online . "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline. http://www.outletunderarmourstore.com/cheap-ua-micro-g-online.html . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014.TORONTO -- In the span of a minute Friday, Terrence Ross scored on an alley-oop, a three-pointer and a massive running dunk, taking off from near the top of the key. The 22-year-old started his second game in place of the departed Rudy Gay, and made the most of it, scoring 24 points -- including a key three in the dying minutes -- to lift the revamped Toronto Raptors to a 108-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. "The main thing is staying focused so I can play at this level, Im really trying to just know my job, know my role and just make sure we have the chemistry going and keep winning," Ross said afterward. DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 27 points for Toronto (8-13) on what was a good night to be a Raptors swingman. "Talk about bouncy athletes," said Sixers coach Brett Brown. "You go with Ross and DeRozan, you take the athleticism plus they can come off screens and shoot like they do. Theyre hard guards, theyre really difficult people to defend. Those two guys had fantastic games throughout." Amir Johnson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 12 points to go with 13 boards, and Kyle Lowry doled out a season-high 11 assists and added six points. Tony Wroten topped the Sixers (7-17) with 23 points. Evan Turner had 21 points, while Thaddeus Young finished with 18. The game marked the first action for Raptors newcomers Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons since they were acquired in Mondays trade that sent Gay, plus Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento. Vasquez scored 12 points, while Patterson had five points and five boards and showed flashes of nice interior defence. "Theyre learning the system, learning to play with each other," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Learning where guys want the ball is huge. I thought they were a little tight playing tonight for the first time which is understandable, but I like what I saw. I think theyre going to mix in quite well." The Raptors almost coughed up an early 15-point lead several times during the game against their Atlantic Division rivals, but took an 83-76 lead into the fourth quarter in front of a crowd of 17,133 at Air Canada Centre. Johnson and Vasquez drained consecutive three-pointers to put Toronto up by 14 with just over seven minutes to go and the Raptors looked poised for an easy victory. But the Sixers battled back and a three by Turner with 2:10 to go pulled them within 100-96. A couple of nice passes on the Raptors next possession found Ross open in the corner, and he drained a three to give Toronto some breathing room, the basket pulling him to within two points of his career high. "That stopped the flow a little bit," Casey said. "His big three in the corner was huge.&quoot; Casey said the challenge for Ross is to maintain a high level of play -- easier said than done for a young player. Ua Commit Shoes Online. . "Hes got to stay hungry, stay driven, stay consistent," the coach said. "Hes a talented young man but hes fighting consistency." DeRozan is doing his part to help Ross. "Youve seen it, Terrence definitely works hard," DeRozan said. "Every time we practise against each other in practice, I always go at him just to try to give him a lesson, give him the extra confidence when hes out there on the court." Lowry, meanwhile, played amid rumours he wasnt long for Toronto, with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets believed to be the frontrunners to acquire the Raptors starting point guard. Lowry spoke candidly about the rumours after Friday mornings shootaround. "You see it every day, you see it whenever they update it and everyone talks about it," Lowry told reporters. "We joke about it a little bit, we make it more of a lighter type thing, dont make it a heavy hearted thing, make it a joke. "Hey, man, you still here? Make it a little bit lighter on the players in that situation." Lowry, whos in the final year of a contract that will pay him about US$6.2 million this year, admitted the speculation weighed on him. "Nobody can say it doesnt but at the same time, you have to know that this is a business, you have to know the situation that youre in, the situation that youre going to be in," he said. "You cant let it affect you too much because you still have to go out there and do a job and try to win for the team that youre playing for." Starting in place of the departed Gay, Ross scored 12 first-quarter points including a three that put the Raptors up by 11 less than three minutes into the game. Toronto closed out the quarter up 36-21. The three new Raptors started the second and the chemistry clearly wasnt there, as the Sixers opened the quarter with a 10-0 run. A pair of Wroten free throws pulled the visitors even with three-and-a-half minutes left in the half. The Raptors made just six field goals in the quarter, but held on to lead 56-48 at halftime. The Sixers chipped away at Torontos lead and pulled to within 76-74 with 1:35 to go. But Lowry grabbed a rebound and found a sprinting DeRozan with a court-long pass for a layup. The play seemed to inject some life into a sagging home team. On the Raptors final possession, Lowry grabbed his own rebound for a nice tip shot at the buzzer that gave Toronto an 83-76 lead heading into the fourth. NOTES: Chuck Hayes, also acquired from Sacramento in the trade, didnt dress as he was required to undergo baseline cardiac testing. . .The Raptors are in Chicago to face the Bulls on Saturday, then return home to host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday. ' ' '