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ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Connor McDavid shrugged off the latest sign of progress in his return from a broken bone in his right hand.The junior hockey star has been cleared for contact and has started practising with the rest of his Canadian world junior teammates. That came as no surprise to McDavid, who expected to be at this point in his recovery all along.Its kind of been the plan for a while now, McDavid said. The last checkup was a couple Tuesdays ago, and thats kind of been the plan from Day One was to start contact on this date. Just kind of following the plan.The plan has McDavid on track to be healthy and ready to go when Canada opens the tournament Dec. 26 in Montreal against Slovakia. But shedding the yellow no-contact jersey and getting through a full practice was an important step toward that goal.McDavid did that Monday at Meridian Centre on the first day of Canadas main training camp. Like McDavid, coach Benoit Groulx knew it was coming, and he knew what to look for in the 17-year-olds progress.How did they feel? Do they look confident on the ice when they skate, do they have poise with the puck, do they seem to have chemistry out there? Groulx said. When you look at Connor today, I thought he had all that, and it is good to see that.McDavid reported no problems with his hand, as expected. The Erie Otters star and projected No. 1 pick in next years NHL draft was able to take full slap shots last week.On Nov. 11, McDavid broke the fifth metacarpal in his right hand when it struck the top of the boards during a fight with Bryson Cianfrone of the Mississauga Steelheads. A specialist he saw the next day in Toronto estimated McDavid would miss five to six weeks.The five-week mark is Tuesday, and McDavid still has a few more practices he can go through before worrying about playing in a game. Canada has three international exhibitions: Friday against Russia in Toronto, Sunday against Sweden in Ottawa and Dec. 23 against Switzerland in Montreal.McDavid said hes still hoping to get into one or two of those exhibition games. The only hindrance to that at this point is getting timing back on the ice.Ive been almost bag-skating for three weeks. My legs feel great, the legs arent too much of an issue at all, McDavid said. Obviously still getting the hands back is coming along, getting a little better. The only thing thats going to come is timing. The only way to do that is through competition and through contact and all that. Thats going to take a little time to get back.McDavid appeared to fit in seamlessly in Canadas camp lineup Monday, skating between Nic Petan and Robby Fabbri on the second line. Sam Reinhart centred the veteran first line between Max Domi and Anthony Duclair.Groulx liked the chemistry McDavid and Fabbri showed over the summer. Its natural, as McDavid said the two have been playing with or against each other since they were seven or eight years old.Weve known each other a long time, McDavid said. Ive seen him play so many times you get a sense of where hes going to be at, some stuff hes going to do.It was to be expected that teammates would hold back a little from McDavid in his first full practice, though the Newmarket, Ont., native said they dont have to. Groulx didnt see players letting up.At first, I think when they see him, they want to make sure that they dont hit him on his glove, Groulx said. You know its there, so theyve got to be careful. But overall I think guys went pretty hard today.McDavid, who wore a full cage and a white No. 17 jersey, has a few days to test his hand and get into game shape. Groulx said he didnt know if McDavid would play Friday against Russia at Air Canada Centre.Were not there yet, Groulx said. Our focus is to prepare our team, go through our systems, lines, see how it works during practices. We will see how it plays out. We are not building our lineup for Friday yet.One thing Canada found out Monday was that Bo Horvat definitely wont be in its lineup at any point. The Vancouver Canucks announced Horvat would be remaining in the NHL.Bo Horvat has proven he can contribute to the success of the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks GM Jim Benning said. He is a solid two-way player, strong in the faceoff circle and displays a maturity beyond his years. Were very pleased with Bos play and look forward to watching him develop as an NHL player.Horvats absence, and the decreased likelihood that the Ottawa Senators will release Curtis Lazar because of a couple of injuries at forward, is good news for Frederik Gauthier. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect figures to be Canadas fourth-line centre, though his spot would have been in jeopardy if Horvat or Lazar joined the team.Notes — Groulx said the team received booster shots to protect against the mumps virus, which has spread around the NHL. At least 14 players have been diagnosed with the mumps so far, including Sidney Crosby. ... Forward Michael Dal Colle and defenceman Joe Hicketts each practised Monday. Dal Colle missed Sundays exhibition game because he was a little banged up, Groulx said, and Hicketts was taken out for precautionary reasons after taking a hit from behind into the boards.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Cody Zeller Jersey . After a tight first half, the Croatians took command in Reykjavik after Skulason was dismissed for a professional foul in the 51st minute, but couldnt find a way past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed defence. Eduardo had a weak shot cleared away from near the goalline after barely a minute for Croatia, whose substitute Ivica Olic forced a fine reaction save from Halldorsson in the 55th. Glen Rice Jersey . -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://www.hornetsteamproshop.com/Cheap-...Hornets-Jersey/. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Muggsy Bogues Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Larry Johnson Jersey . Josh Mazzola drove in five runs to lead the Goldeyes (20-12) past the Capitales 11-5 Friday night at Le Stade Municipal in Quebec City.BOSTON - An anonymous Raptors player stepped into the elevator descending from the third floor following a Saturday afternoon practice at Air Canada Centre and with the mental and physical grind of a long season beginning to weigh on him he let out a long sigh. "I just want the playoffs to start," he said in a moment of refreshing truthfulness. Hes not alone. He cant be. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel that has led to darkness so many times before for the bulk of this Toronto roster. On Wednesday they moved one step closer. "That was a character test for us," Dwane Casey said after his teams bounce-back 99-90 win in Boston. "I think this team has a lot of character. I get upset with them but theyre mine, just like youre kids. They compete hard and they make mistakes but its not from a lack of fight or togetherness." It was their first victory in Beantown since 2008, the last season in which they qualified for the playoffs. Now, theyre on the cusp of returning to the postseason, and theyre in the drivers seat. The Raptors are just one win, or Knicks loss, away from clinching their first postseason berth in six years and can do so as early as Wednesday evening if the Kings defeat New York in Sacramento, a game Kyle Lowry says he wont watch but admits hell have to keep an eye on. "I said that before the game, I said look, we can take care of our business tonight," Lowry told the assembled media after the win. "We cant count on anyone else but we can take care of our part. I aint going to lie; I think tonight everybodys rooting for that Western Conference team over there." Going into the game, the Raptors were in danger of dropping their second straight and five of their last seven, following Tuesdays botched comeback attempt in Cleveland. Even after getting off to a better start - scoring 31 points in the opening 12 minutes after totaling 33 in their last two first quarters - they looked like a team going through the motions at points in the middle of the game, exchanging the lead with a lackluster Celtics club. Then the sense of urgency kicked in. Lowry scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Raptors closed out a win they needed to have. "[Casey] challenged us," Lowry said. "He challenged us big time and I think we responded tonight." With a little help from the Bobcats, who defeated the surging Nets in overtime, the Raptors have a two-game cushion sitting stop the Atlantic Division, also moving into a virtual tie with the Bulls for the Easts third seed. Although theyre anxious, theres still work to be done and each game, regardless of opponent, is increasingly meaningful with playoff seeding at stake and things to shore up over the seasons final three weeks. "We cant afford to look ahead," Casey cautioned. "Weve got to take care of business. Weve got to continue to get better and improve and shape up some areas that we have thats leaking a little bit." Only five of the Raptors 15 players have appeared in a postseason game over the last three years. Only three on the roster have logged time in more than 20 playoff contests. The teams starters have a combined 24 games of playoff experience, all from Lowry and Amir Johnson, who havent been to the dance in five years. "Its tough just because guys havent been there before," Cassey told TSN.dddddddddddda. "Playoff runs are tough. Theres a mental toughness, a physical toughness you have to have. Fight through injuries, little nicks and bangs that we have. You cant feel sorry for yourself because its a marathon. Youve got to be able to do that. This is the first time for some of our guys so its a new frontier for them." Many of them are heading into unchartered waters. Its only natural to fixate on the final destination but theyve come too far to lose focus now. "I think its kind of human nature," said Landry Fields, who started eight playoff games for the Knicks in his first two NBA season. "We see the playoffs and theres a pretty high probability that well get in but at the end of the day you cant really focus on that. These last few games are important, not just for us growing and building and getting momentum for the playoffs but also seeding. Seeding is huge in the playoffs and I think as long as we keep that as a focal point rather than thinking these games are just filler games until we get into the playoffs than theyll become more meaningful for us." "Were going to finish it off strong," echoed DeMar DeRozan, who scored 20 on Wednesday and will be making his playoff debut next month. "Weve worked too hard to just to get complacent with where were at. Weve still got a long ways to go and everybody in this locker room loves the game too much to sit back and say, were going to wait until the playoffs." Big night for the sophomores Both Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas stepped up in Wednesdays win. Ross led Toronto with 24 points, hitting five of his nine attempts from three-point range, while Valanciunas registered his team-leading 20th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds. "I thought Jonas had one of his better nights, not only scoring but he rebounded," Casey said. "[Ross] kept us afloat. He knocked down some shots. We needed it." Struggling second unit The Raptors second unit - still without injured forward Patrick Patterson - mustered only seven points, all from Greivis Vasquez, who made just three of his 10 shots. Meanwhile, the Celtics bench scored 51, led by Jared Sullingers 26, 19 of which came in the fourth. "Again, point production from our bench has been an issue," Casey said. "Thats something we have to rectify. Thats just putting too many minutes on our starters." Toronto bench has now been outscored by a total of 129 points in 11 games without Patterson, who was cleared for contact earlier this week. Although theres no timetable for the return of Patterson - out with an elbow injury - the team hopes to have him back later this week. The stat The Raptors snapped an 11-game losing streak in Boston, the fourth time theyve snapped a skid of eight road losses or more against an opponent this season. Earlier this year, Toronto ended a 10-game slide to the Lakers in Los Angeles, also snapping a nine-game skid against the Nuggets in Denver and an eight-game losing streak versus the Bucks in Milwaukee. The quote "We cant worry about those other teams," Lowry said. "We control our own destiny. When you start worrying about other teams is when you lose focus and I think tonight we did a good job of focusing in on our team and not worrying about nothing else." ' ' '