LONDON, Ont. – They were three years old at the time, sitting in the dressing room of a West Toronto rink, about to learn to skate. They wore matching jerseys that day, the same one with the little hockey player on the front. That was all it took for the two to become friends, friends who are one step closer to a shared dream of playing in the National Hockey League. Best buddies and teammates for the better part of the seventeen years that followed that first chance encounter, Connor Brown and Matt Finn have seen their paths converge once more – their two junior teams recently collided in the OHL playoffs. They are both prospects of the same organization, both picks of the same draft, both likely to become teammates as professionals with the Marlies and maybe one day, the Maple Leafs. "Its a pretty cool story," says Brown, the elder of the two, but still the younger looking with short red hair. "We dream about it," Finn continues, "but it takes a while for a dream like that to develop into something tangible, something real." It was something they could only imagine all those years ago, all the hours spent playing street hockey and mini-sticks with an Etobicoke squad of friends that also included Flyers first rounder Scott Laughton. Finn calls it "one in a million" that he and Brown would be drafted to the same team. "Youre a kid and youre optimistic, you think that you both have a chance to get to the next level," Brown says. "I couldnt predict that were both going to be in this organization, though." Finn was picked in the second round of the 2012 draft, 31st overall by the Leafs. He was joined a few rounds later by Brown, his name called with the 156th overall selection. "He called me right away," Brown says of Finn. "He was pretty excited about the whole thing. We both were ecstatic. I saw him go to the Leafs [and] I was like Oh wow, thatd be awesome." They had been teammates for a span of 10 years or so they figure, right up until minor midget. "He was tiny," Finn says of Brown, whom he guessed was "barely" 5-foot and 120 pounds, but still a force. "You could see how smart he was with the puck and his playmaking ability and patience and how competitive he was, but he got overlooked because everyone just thought he was small – he was getting pushed off the puck – he cant play. But everyone grows, everyone is going to get bigger and once he did that, you could really see that part of his game come back full circle." Brown has been the constant underdog, overlooked time and again for one reason or another. Listed at 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds back then, he was picked in the 13th round of the 2010 OHL priority draft – 251st overall. "A lot of people always try to doubt Connor Brown," says Leafs assistant general manager and former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds GM, Kyle Dubas. It became harder to doubt or even ignore Brown this past season. The 20-year-old captain of the Erie Otters led the OHL in scoring, pried away the Red Tilson trophy as the leagues MVP and guided his team to 52 wins and a berth in the Western Conference Finals (they would fall to Finn and the Guelph Storm in five games). He has since sprouted up to 5-foot-11, continuing to add heft and strength to a listed frame of 170 pounds. "He definitely just blew expectations out of the water," Finn says, labeling Brown as a "very sneaky" offensive talent. "I dont think anybody would pinpoint him as a guy to do it, but thats been Brownie the whole way. Nobodys ever chosen him to do anything; hes always been small, hes always been kind of an underdog and hes done a great job." Finn was more the sure thing to get to this point. In that same 2010 OHL priority draft, he was gone early, off the board with the 12th overall selection, nearly 240 picks before Brown. He, too, was the captain of his OHL team, steering Guelph to the leagues best record, an OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup last season. Listed at an even 6-foot and nearly 200 pounds, Finn tallied 61 points in 66 games, second amongst all OHL defenders in scoring. The Leafs were surprised to find him there for the taking in the second round of that 2012 draft, hopeful of his future as a capable two-way defender. "We were not on the strong side of that too often in the Sault, playing against Matt and playing against the Storm," Dubas says. "Hes proven himself over his time in the OHL to be a really strong prospect and its exciting to be on the same side as him versus having him torch us in the Sault with the Storm." Brown and Finn still live five minutes apart from each other in Etobicoke and remain the closest of friends. Their families, too, continue to be tight to this day. And after a four-year hiatus, they are likely to become teammates once more in the AHL, one step closer to reaching their shared goal of playing in the NHL – together. "To be able to play with each other at a pro level as opposed to being three-year-olds on a backyard rink is pretty cool," Finn says. Pretty cool, indeed. Will Barton Jersey .com) - Al Horford collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks held off a furious rally to beat the Detroit Pistons 106-103 on Friday night in a game between two of the NBAs hottest teams. Gary Harris Jersey . Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed on Sunday that his starting goalie has a head injury and the team will take it day by day. http://www.nuggetsproshop.com/Customized-Nuggets-Jersey/. Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Doug Martin broke the news that hes cleared for full activity moving forward. Paul Millsap Nuggets Jersey . PAUL, Minn – The clock lingered for what seemed like an interminable two minutes and 51 seconds before Mark Fraser finally escaped to the bench during a wildly one-sided first period of an eventual loss to Boston. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey .Y. - Lou Williams scored 21 points and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 81-76 on Monday night in the Knicks preseason home opener.OKLAHOMA CITY - Tony Parker is dinged up again, and his status is unclear heading into the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. The San Antonio Spurs All-Star point guard did not play in the second half or overtime of the Western Conference finals-clinching win over Oklahoma City on Saturday because of a sore left ankle. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesnt know what shape Parker will be in for Game 1 on Thursday in San Antonio. "I have no idea," Popovich said Saturday night. "I dont know what the deal is." Popovich said Parker sprained the ankle in Game 4 and aggravated it in Game 5. Popovich considered starting Manu Ginobili at point guard in Game 6 against the Thunder because Parker was having trouble during pregame. At halftime, Popovich made the decision to hold him out. "He came to me about eight minutes on the clock (before the second half) and said he couldnt go," Popovich said. "He couldnt cut. He was limping on it. He couldnt cut sideways or forward really." Popovich said he thought playing Parker in the second half would have hurt the team in the long term. "I didnt want him to be a hero because he was 50 per cent or less, we thought," Popovich said. "Thats probably bad for the team if you think about it. It was a tough decision to try to figure out whether to play him, and if you lose the game and it affects him for Monday night, then youre going to feel like you made an unwise choice." Parker has been plagued by injuries this year. He averaged 16.7 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 50 per cent from the field during the regular season, but he missed 22 games. He strained his left hamstring in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals aagainst Portland and did not return.dddddddddddd The Spurs won that game easily to clinch the series. Once again, his teammates bought him some rest. Had the Spurs lost Game 6, they would have faced an elimination game at home Monday against the Thunder. "We didnt know how much Tony was hurt in his ankle," forward Boris Diaw said. "But we didnt want to go to Game 7, and we didnt know if he would be ready to play if we did or if he would be 100 per cent, so we tried to get it over with tonight." Still, the Spurs have proven all season they can win without key players, posting the NBAs best record despite a series of injuries. "We have to continue to play basketball regardless of who is on the floor and our reserves did a great job - Cory (Joseph), Patty (Mills) - they stepped in and continued to run the offence and push the pace and playing good defence on their guards as well," guard Danny Green said. Joseph started the second half of Game 6 against Oklahoma City and helped engineer a 37-point third quarter. "Cory was very good," Ginobili said. "I mean, its hard to play when you dont have many opportunities to play in close games and stuff. But he did very well in Game 3 and 4 here. He always brings the juice, aggressiveness, competitiveness. He attacks the rim well. I think he made a few key plays." The Spurs said they excel without their stars because they are about a system, rather than individuals. "We have been doing what we did the whole year, which is passing the ball to each other, getting some movement, getting pace and getting into a good rhythm," Diaw said. "Always trying to set up a good shot for a teammate." ' ' '