TORONTO – As the Toronto Raptors get set to host the red-hot Atlanta Hawks at the Air Canada Centre on Friday, coach Dwane Casey smiled when asked if the game will be a good measuring stick for his team. “Tomorrow night’s game isn’t going to make or break our season,” said Casey following practice on Thursday. No, he’s right it won’t. But it will give the Raptors a good sense of where they match up at this time against a surprising powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. “It’s a big game because they are one of the best teams in the league right now,” noted the Raptors head coach. “We are not going to judge who we are and what we are not, by one game.” What the 26-12 Raptors are right now is a team that is struggling with just two wins in their last seven games and a team that has not been strong on the defensive end, having allowed 100 or more points in six of their last eight. Toronto finds itself four-and-a-half games back of Atlanta for top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks meantime have won 10 straight and are 31-8 sitting in top spot in the East. They enter play on Thursday seventh in the league in points per game (103.1) and second in the Association in assists per game (25.6) and points allowed (96.7.) The Hawks have five players who are averaging double digits in points per game, led by point guard Jeff Teague (17.5 PPG) and centre Al Horford – “one of the top centers in the league,” said Casey – who in his eighth season in the league is averaging 14.8 PPG and 6.6 RPG. “No, I don’t envy anybody,” said Casey. “[The Hawks] play the game the right way. I don’t envy them because our job here is to play that way. Not out of envy, but out of necessity. “ “One thing they do is shoot the ball extremely well at every position,” said Casey. “They come off the bench with shooters. And their commitment to defence. They play a team defence. They don’t have a team of stoppers. They play the way we want to play, as a team concept.” With DeMar DeRozan back, fresh off playing 29 minutes and scoring 20 points against Philadelphia on Wednesday, including eight points in the fourth quarter, the Raptors expect to give the Hawks all they can handle. But will they – can they – pick up the defensive intensity for the entire game? “We are getting there,” said DeRozan. “Especially with me back, we are definitely going to get there. You got to give Atlanta credit, they are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. It is going to be a good test for us.” The Raptors have beaten the Hawks twice already, but this is a different Atlanta team “One thing we caught them early before they got hot,” said Casey of the Raptors season-opening 109-102 win and in the 126-115 win November 26, the final game of a six-game winning streak. “We were playing better defensively at the time and clicking better offensively. We’ll see where we are [on Friday.]” “They are kind of like us in the sense where they really don’t have a superstar player,” said DeRozan. “All their guys just play together and play hard.” “Their consistent effort on every possession,” is what impresses Casey the most right now. “They are all pulling together, they are playing as a team right now, Casey explained. Everything they are doing is clicking. If we have a chance [on Friday], we got to be the hardest working team on the floor. Casey sees similiarities between the two clubs. “We both are shooters that have to play defence - that’s kind of the personality of both teams,” noted Casey. “We are similar from that standpoint. They’ve done it at a high level for longer than we have.” “I think our biggest test is becoming a team for a whole 48 minutes,” said James Johnson. “It’s all about us at this point. There is no bigger test right now for the Raptors than the NBA’s hottest team. Air Max 270 React Pas Cher Site . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. Air Max 270 React Doré Pas Cher .ca! There is plenty of blame to be shared as a result of the most recent NHL player (Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik) to be evacuated from the ice on a stretcher following an ugly incident Saturday night in Boston. http://www.airmax270reactpascher.fr/fausse-air-max-270-react-just-do-it.html . -- What Anthony Jennings lacked in experience, LSU more than compensated for with a talented supporting cast in the Outback Bowl. Air Max 270 React Pas Cher Livraison Rapide . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Air Max 270 React Noir Et Blanc Pas Cher . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout.PHILADELPHIA – One year ago at the NHL draft in Newark, the Maple Leafs picked Frederik Gauthier with their first selection, a hulking centre with likely third-line potential and a low offensive ceiling. They swung for a much higher fence with the eighth overall pick on Friday night, landing the "electrifying" William Nylander from Sweden. A speedy, highlight-reel winger, he is the son of longtime NHL centre Michael Nylander and the first European Toronto has drafted in the first round since Jiri Tlusty in 2006. Nylander is also the first draft pick of the Brendan Shanahan era and an injection of homegrown game-breaking ability, long-starved within the Leaf organization. "Hes got high, high-end skill," gushed general manager Dave Nonis, shortly after the pick was made. And that fills a need within the prospect ranks of the organization, considerably deprived over the years. Though hopeful that the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Connor Brown and Andreas Johnson may eventually make an impact of sorts with the big club, the Leafs simply did not boast a game-breaker with Nylanders ceiling beyond the NHL club (and have not historically). They havent landed many at all from the draft. Vincent Damphousse, picked sixth overall in 1986, was the last homegrown player to register at least 80 points in a season as a Leaf. Toronto has, additionally, sent only two homegrown players to the All-Star game in the past 20 years, neither of whom was a forward (Tomas Kaberle and Felix Potvin). Dealing first round picks – as they did five times from 2003-2011 – certainly didnt help the matter. Nylander may or may not make it, but he, at the very least, represents the kind of high upside, homegrown talent the organization has mostly lacked, especially up front – Nazem Kadri, who scored 20 goals as a 23-year-old last season, was a recent exception. Nonis wouldnt go as far as to say that adding skill was a priority, but labeled it "an area of weakness". "He might be the most skilled player in the draft," said the Leafs GM of Nylander. Nonis saw that skill firsthand at the Under-18 tournament in Finland this past April. Nylander, playing for Sweden, led all players with 16 points in seveen games, notching six goals along the way.dddddddddddd As a teenager, he spent part of last season in Swedens top league, totaling a goal and seven points in 22 games – notable given his age and size (5-foot-11, 169 pounds). "He has NHL speed, NHL hands, an NHL shot right now," Nonis said. "Its whether or not the rest of his game can catch up." Unwilling to pay Dale Tallons price for the first overall pick and rights to draft Aaron Ekblad, Nonis said he actually considered moving down if one of two players – Nylander among them – wasnt there to be had with the eighth pick. Nylander grew up around the NHL, his father totaling 920 NHL games for seven different teams. That kept the younger Nylander in North America until the age of 14 when he moved to Sweden, eventually playing alongside his 40-year-old dad last year (with Rogle in the second-tier league). "I like to score goals and make plays," Nylander said, projecting an aura of confidence and cool, noticeably unfazed by all that surrounded him. A free agent and thus able to come to North America next year if he and the organization so choose, Nylander will audition for the Leafs in the fall. "Hell definitely have a chance to make our team," Nonis said. "[But] I really dont care how skilled you are, its very difficult to make the NHL as an 18-year-old. I think itd be a long shot for him to do that, but hes going to be given that opportunity and if hes good enough to stick and play and contribute then we would keep him. If not, well decide at that point whether its best to keep him over in North America or to have him go back to Sweden to play in the Elite League." Nylander boasts a "VERY high ceiling" according to Mark Seidel, chief scout for North American Central Scouting, but has been trailed by attitude questions, something Nonis brushed aside as outward confidence. Like most draftees, the new Leaf prospect will have to get bigger and stronger before he is likely to make the leap to the NHL, additionally requiring some acclimation to the North American ice surface. "It may take him a month to acclimate, it might take him over a year – I dont know that," said Nonis. "But the skill-set is very high end." ' ' '