TORONTO -- Jermain Defoe appears to be set to return from injury when Toronto FC visits Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Defoe, who has missed the previous two games with a groin strain, is the teams leading scorer with 11 goals in 15 games. "We may have Jermain back, but again we dont want to push him too much," said coach Ryan Nelsen. "(Defoes) status is that its looking positive, its looking really good, so yeah he might be available." When asked, the striker would not confirm his status for Saturdays match. If he does return, itll be welcome news for the Reds, who are struggling with . Defender Doneil Henry was among those who did not participate in training Thursday due to illness. Defoe missed the teams 2-0 win in Montreal and 3-2 win in Columbus this month due to the injury, which was initially believed to be a sports hernia. He also missed the MLS All-Star game last week. It was announced on Aug. 4 that Defoe had suffered a groin strain, which was expected to keep him out of the lineup for two to three weeks. Saturday would be Day 12 since the announcement. The 31-year-old also missed Torontos 2-1 loss at home to Sporting KC (11-6-6) on July 26 serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Toronto (9-7-5) will be without defender Mark Bloom (MCL strain) and captain Steven Caldwell (quad) for Saturdays game, which concludes a stretch of four consecutive road games. Nelsen said the defenders could be available when Toronto return home for a match with the Chicago Fire next Saturday. Nate Schmidt Jersey . Perhaps as important, shes sending a message to 17-year-old gold medal favourite Sara Takanashi of Japan. Iraschko-Stolz relegated Takanashi, who has 10 World Cup victories this season, to second place in two of three training jumps Saturday. Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys . 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Bell Medias 12-year partnership with the Ottawa Senators includes five major components: - English-language regional television broadcast rights for TSN – a minimum of 52 regular season and pre-season games - French-language regional television broadcast rights for RDS – a minimum of 40 regular season and pre-season games - English-language broadcast rights for TSN Radio 1200 – all games - French-language radio broadcast rights – all games - Telecommunications and retail sponsorship and activation rights "We recognized early on that our regional broadcast rights coming up for renewal was a very important asset," said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Oscar Lindberg Jersey . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. Brad Hunt Jersey . Austin Watson, Scott Ford, Filip Forsberg and Mark Van Guilder had the other goals for the Admirals (30-21-12). Scott Darling made 30 saves for his 10th win of the season.TORONTO – Jonathan Bernier values his sleep a lot more these days. Not only is Bernier facing a mighty barrage of shots once more in his second season as the Leafs No. 1, but as a new dad, hes prone to the typical restless nights of most young parents. What’s he more familiar with though is that busy workload as Toronto’s top dog in goal. No starter in the league faced more shots on a nightly basis than the 26-year-old last year – 34 per game at even-strength – and after all too brief respite, he’s facing a whole bunch more again this fall. The Leafs have won six straight and 10 of 12 on the strength of their goaltending and an absolutely scorching offence, but they’ve surrendered an average of 37 shots in the past nine games, reverting all too recently to a formula that led to disaster last spring. “We’re still very much a work in progress,” head coach, Randy Carlyle urged. “It’s a game of mistakes and we’ve got to cut down on some of the mistakes that we’ve been making as of late.” Long the backup to Jonathan Quick in L.A.’s stingy system, Bernier has gotten used to the drastically different challenge of a heavy workload in Toronto. His routines have changed, if not dramatically then slightly to accommodate the requirements of starting just about every night under such strain. The purpose of practice, for example, has changed. Bernier no longer relies upon bucket after bucket of pucks to stay sharp. Instead it’s more about management, of his body and the details of his game. On Wednesday morning, hours after he faced 42 shots in a 6-2 win over Anaheim, Bernier took to the ice at the team’s practice facility 10 minutes or so before the 11:45 a.m. session got underway. He wanted to work on a couple different things, namely stick shots and belly shots. And rather than linger after the practice, as he would’ve as the backup, Bernier exited just a few short minutes after its conclusion, requiring the extra rest more than the extra shots. “I still go out there and want to work on details,” he said. “[But] when you play a lot you don’t need to practice as much obviously, you get your reps in the game. It’s just to stay sharp on little details.” Additionally, Bernier has opted out of most morning skates, preferring to save the added wear on his body. It’s all part of the adjustment he’s made to playing regularly in the league. Bernier started more games as a Leaf last year than he did in the entirety of his three full seasons as the Kings backup. Perhaps most importantly, he faced more shots a year ago (1,787) than he did in all those L.A. years combined. He’s on pace for 58 starts this year and an even greater number of shots than last season. “I think the most important thing for me is rest. I like to have a two and a half hour nap [on game-days], especially maybe with the baby now I really take advantage of it,” Bernier says with a wide grin. “But that’s something to me that when I feel good I feel rested I feel sharrp.dddddddddddd.” His baby boy, Tyler, has altered that equation slightly too. “It changes your life I guess,” said Bernier. “It takes a little while to get adjusted but right now I feel I’ve gotten into a routine a little bit.” The numbers reflect that. Bernier endured some “early season woes” as Carlyle described them recently, but he’s been locked in since the end of November, compiling a mighty .936 save percentage in his last seven starts. He’s done this just as the workload has picked up. Scoring more than four goals per game has helped mask some deficiencies for the Leafs in recent weeks, including familiar possession troubles that have led to some busy nights for Bernier and tandem partner, James Reimer. Jonathan Bernier Shots Faced Year Starts Shots Against 2010-11 22 652 2011-12 13 383 2013 12 306 2013-14 49 1787 2014-15 22 695 That’s what led Carlyle to observe that his team was “slipping” following the game Tuesday against the Ducks, trending away from the structured game that’s shown itself here and there in the past month. After the Leafs were blown out by Nashville in mid-November the club had a look at the stingiest shot suppression teams in the league, saw Minnesota leading the pack and made it a goal to hit their mark – 25 shots or less – nightly. They came close in three games thereafter, holding Tampa, Detroit and Pittsburgh under 30, but have since reverted to the troubling form of last season in many instances. At a team meeting before practice Wednesday the group talked again about pushing the shots against back under 25. They’ve held opponents under 30 just nine times in 31 games and are yielding 34 shots per game, fourth-most in the league. “I don’t think the last two games we’ve been very solid,” Bernier said, “but at the same time when you score that many goals you can allow yourself to make a few more mistakes.” A restricted free agent next summer, Bernier’s contract will be among the many of intrigue for the Leafs. Hes quickly made the case of his capability as a quality starter, but just how good he is and can be is still being determined. The short-term results are encouraging though. Only Carey Price, Tuukka Rask, Semyon Varlamov and Sergei Bobrovsky have a higher save percentage than him since the start of last season – the latter two falling off some this year. And Bernier trails only Varlamov and Rask with a 62 per cent quality start percentage in that same short span*. Being a starter and busy one at that appears to suit the Quebec native just fine. *(Courtesy of the Hockey Abstract’s Rob Vollman, a goaltender qualifies for a quality start when he stops at least the league average number of shots or plays as well as a “replacement level” goalie while yielding two goals or less.) 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