TORONTO – Randy Carlyle felt helpless. He tried scores of video, tried highlight reels, tried countless meetings, tried whatever he could think up to alter the manner in which his seemingly unheard message was presented, anything to jolt a win from his team during the organizations longest losing streak (regulation) in more than 25 years. But it didnt work for more than two weeks, challenged all season for that matter. A narrow victory over Calgary Tuesday night wasnt exactly the Mona Lisa he imagined, but it did breathe the slightest gasp of life into the Maple Leafs sputtering playoff hopes. With just five games to go and ground to gain on Detroit and Columbus – both with games in hand – those hopes remain faint, but could become a little more real with a victory over Boston on Thursday night – however unlikely given both teams recent performance. The most crushing of foes for the Leafs in recent years – see: Game 7 – the Bruins have surged to the top of the NHL after a month of March that featured 15 wins in 17 games and just a single loss in regulation. "When you play teams of that caliber, you have to be on the top of your game," Carlyle said, sounding almost envious of the template created by GM Peter Chiarielli and head coach Claude Julien. "Theres a hockey club thats playing very well. If theres one thing that you can look to Boston is they dont really change. They do what they do and they do it as good as anybody in the league. Theyre a top team. They dont change their template." His team hasnt approached anything close to that level of consistency all year, an unpredictable Jekyll and Hyde bunch from October on. Four entirely different stretches have effectively defined whats been a rollercoaster season in Toronto. The Leafs started with 10 wins in their first 14 games, spiraled with 21 losses in the next 32, rebounded with victories in 15 of 22 before spinning out with eight straight losses in regulation ahead of Tuesdays 3-2 win over the Flames. Rarely did they function as imagined – major defensive deficiencies masked – winning games on the shoulders of a scorching top line and No. 1 goaltender, Jonathan Bernier, who thrived under a heavy workload. Of late, those two prime elements have cooled (or been hurt) and the club has otherwise found all kinds of ways to lose, fatalistic errors and bouts of "freeze mode" as Carlyle described it, often defining close defeats. "Even [Tuesday] night we stopped for awhile, but we got through it," he said of a game that saw Calgary rally late in the proceedings. "Those are the tough things and those are the things that make you shake your head and bang your head against the wall why are we doing that?" Carlyle has been shaking his head all season, unable to jive the current group with his imagined template. As they do now, the Leafs looked all but dead in early January, only to reel off 11 wins in 14 games before the Olympic break, propped up mostly by Phil Kessels dominance and Berniers nightly theatrics. Similar lightning in a bottle is now required – along with a dip from fellow wild card contenders – only now time is not on their side. And even five straight wins alone might not be enough to recover from another late season collapse. Yet another biggest game of the year stands front and centre, this against a Boston hockey club that lost in regulation Wednesday for the first time in more than a month, a 2-1 third period lead erased by the pesky Red Wings. Detroit pulled four points in front of Toronto (with a game still in hand) with the victory, leaving Columbus as the most likely target. "I think we all elevate our game against them," Jake Gardiner said of the Bruins, whom the Leafs defeated on Jan. 14. "It seems like were always prepared to play them." And theyll have to be. Their near-dead playoff fates are on the line. Rene Robert Jersey . -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Alexander Kerfoot Jersey . Speaking with TSN 1050 following Brendan Shanahans introductory press conference, the Leafs GM also addressed the clubs perceived leadership issues and the type of working relationship that can be expected within Torontos front office. http://www.authenticavalanchepro.com/Joe...alanche-jersey/. Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury. Philipp Grubauer Jersey . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. Carl Soderberg Jersey . Louis Blues and back into top spot of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings. The Sharks had been ranked No.INDIANAPOLIS -- Of the three quarterbacks projected to be picked at the top of the NFL draft this year, Blake Bortles is considered to be the most raw. This, he freely admits. "I have no problem with that. I need coaching. I need help. I think everybody in the game does," Bortles said. He is also determined to make up the difference, fueled by the belief he can become the best prospect at this heralded and critical position. "Im going to do everything that I can here to make sure that when I leave theres other people saying that besides me," Bortles said Friday at the NFLs annual scouting combine. Bortles was measured at an ideal 6-foot-5 and 232 pounds. He has a strong arm and decent athleticism for his size. He didnt face consistently top-tier competition at Central Florida, but he has shown steady improvement and shined at the Fiesta Bowl in his last college game before deciding to skip his senior season. "To give you a complete evaluation at this point, I dont think Im ready to do that, but I can tell you weve watched enough that were very intrigued by him, the traits he has: big, tall, timing, accuracy, decision making," Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley said. "Those are the things we take a close look at." With Houston at No. 1, Jacksonville at No. 3, Cleveland at No. 4, Oakland at No. 5, and Minnesota at No. 8, teams all seeking a long-term solution at quarterback, there is almost no way Bortles, Texas A&Ms Johnny Manziel or Louisvilles Teddy Bridgewater will still be available after that. Bridgewater, who wasnt available to reporters on Friday, declared early for the draft like the two others. But he is the most polished. "You can put the tape in and watch him do things and say, yeah, that translates to the next level," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "Hes not as much a wild card as Manziel, and I think hes more developed in his reads and throws than Bortles. So thats why I say I think hes the most ready to play." Bortles will throw in front of the teams and their evaluators Sunday when the quarterbacks test their skills at Lucas Oil Stadium. It is a seemingly simple decision now seen as risky by some prospects under advisement from agents to limit their participation to pro day workouts on their own campuses. Bortles stood aat a podium Friday with poise, polish and plenty of confidence, not brash but sure sounding ready for whatever the NFL will bring.dddddddddddd He revealed Brett Favre as his childhood favourite and said he sees Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck as contemporary examples of the type of quarterback he can develop into. He even boldly mentioned Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. "By no means am I those guys," he said, adding: "I 100 per cent believe that eventually I can do what those guys do." Bortles also emphasized his character during the mini-sales pitch he made to the media, undoubtedly similar to what hes sharing with the teams themselves during screening interviews throughout the weekend. "I wont embarrass an organization off the field by making maybe bad decisions or anything like that," Bortles said. "I wont embarrass my familys name, and will be a trustworthy guy and a trustworthy player." Perhaps that was a subtle shot at Manziel, the biggest headliner of this class. Manziel was all business in his news conference Friday, but he wont soon escape the tales of off-the-field shenanigans and questions of character that have followed him from Texas A&M. In many ways, Bortles is the opposite of Manziel, starting with the skill sets. "He is a big guy. He is athletic. He is a competitive guy," said Houston coach Bill OBrien, whose Penn State team was beaten by Bortles and Central Florida last year. "It has been fun to watch him play on tape. It will be good to work him out here." Derek Carr of Fresno State, Jimmy Garappolo of Eastern Illinois, and A.J. McCarron of Alabama comprise the consensus next tier of 2014 quarterback prospects. McCarron, of course, has what none of the others do: two national championships. In the hyper-saturated world of professional football analysis, somehow those titles have managed to become a potential weakness for McCarron, who had the benefit of maybe the most talented roster in the country around him. "Everybody says I played behind NFL talent at Alabama. Well, usually thats whats in the NFL: NFL talent. So I dont know how that can be a knock, really," he said, embracing the old chip-on-the-shoulder mentality. "Ive been disrespected my whole college career, because I won." 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