TORONTO, Ontario -- An eager group of 25 players broke camp Sunday and got ready to head overseas for final preparations for the world junior hockey championship. But only 22 will still be there when the tournament opens Dec. 26 in Malmo, Sweden. Coach Brent Sutter said the final cuts -- one defenceman and two forwards -- will be decided on many factors, including injuries. "Theyre not easy decisions, but the reality is weve got a couple-or-three guys banged up and were not exactly sure," said Sutter. "Hopefully they can skate when we get over there. "Whether theyll be ready for the first exhibition game, were not sure. All these guys deserve to be able to push to get on the team and theyre going to have a few more days to do so." The team will play three pre-tournament games -- Friday against Finland, Sunday against Sweden and the following day against Switzerland. Sutter hopes to make the cuts after the first exhibition game so he can use the full squad for the last two. The key question is high-scoring winger Jonathan Drouin, who is recovering from a concussion but who expects to resume skating when the team arrives in Sweden on Monday. Another is rushing defenceman Josh Morrissey, who has been nagged by an undisclosed injury for a month but who expects to be able to practise this week. "Theres a long time to Boxing Day and I guess it was nice to have a couple of days here to rest and work with the great staff at Hockey Canada in dealing with that problem," the Prince Albert Raiders rearguard and Winnipeg Jets prospect said. "I think in the next couple of days Ill be ready to go and back to 100 per cent." It may also be a nervy time for three so-called "underage" players in camp, 16-year-old Connor McDavid and the players listed by some as the top two prospects for the 2014 NHL draft -- forward Sam Reinhart and big defenceman Aaron Ekblad. The Canadian team rarely keeps more than one underager, but if there is ever to be three on one team it would be these ones. McDavid, a remarkable playmaker and scorer, is considered a shoo-in to go first overall in the 2015 draft. He and Ekblad are among only three players (along with John Tavares) ever to be granted "exceptional" status to enter the OHL at 15, a year earlier than other players. Reinhart is a scoring centre for the Kootenay Ice who has been captain of Canadian teams at age-group tournaments. And with the world juniors slated for Toronto and Montreal next year, one might think management will want to give them a taste of the tournament in Sweden to help them get ready to shine on home ice. There are 11 players in camp eligible to return for the Toronto-Montreal event. Sutter has said players will make the team on merit regardless of their age, although he also values leadership and experience. He also wants a big team. "Were certainly going to be a younger team, but it doesnt bother me at all because theyre good players," the 51-year-old coach said. "Theyre the best. "But you need to have experience with that, too. Its nice to have those guys who have been in the tournament, understand it, know how it works -- everything thats involved in a tournament of this magnitude." He used all three youngsters liberally in a 3-0 victory over a group of local university players on Saturday. McDavid scored Canadas first goal. "Im not going to think about anything other than making this team," the Erie Otters star said. "I still have a long way to go." Sutter has had McDavid and Reinhart on the same line, as he did during a summer development camp, to build chemistry between them. "Hes an easy player to play with, so smart out there," Reinhart said of McDavid. "He creates so much offensively, hes smart defensively. He makes room for his linemates. Its definitely nice playing with him." Because Reinhart turned 18 in November, he can wear a normal visor instead of the full face cage McDavid and Ekblad are required under international rules to use. The six-foot-four Ekblad will be going to his ancestral homeland. His great-grandfather was Swedish. He likes that the coaching staff doesnt seem to hold his age, 17, against him. "But I still have to prove myself," the Barrie Colt rearguard said. "So does Connor and every guy at this camp. "Everyone has to prove they have some attribute that will help Team Canada win. Thats all that matters. Theyre giving everyone a fair chance. Theres a reason everyone is here." There remains a slim chance the team will get help from the NHL, although Sutter does not expect the Calgary Flames to free up centre Sean Monahan. The Toronto Maple Leafs have until the Dec. 19 NHL roster freeze to decide whether to loan defenceman Morgan Rielly. Either player, both under 20 and therefore eligible for the tournament, would be likely snapped up eagerly by the Canadian squad, even if it means another cut or two from the group in Sweden. "Im not putting any money on the table that were going to get anybody else," said Sutter. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday .com) - A pair of Eastern Conference rivals will meet on Saturday as D. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . The Union looked to have grabbed a big win in the 88th minute when Amobi Okugo finally put the hosts in front. But a terrible giveaway by Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi handed Earnshaw the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, keeping the Union two points back of fifth-place Red Bull New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/. -- Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle. China Shoes Black Friday . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Cheap Shoes Black Friday . Dr. James Andrews is to operate next week on the 24-year-old pitcher, who made the AL All-Star team last year. Moore will be the first Rays pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery since Jason Isringhausen in June 2009.On Wednesday night, the man who put the Toronto Raptors on the map returns to the Air Canada Centre for what could be the final time. Vincent Lamar Carter is no longer the lean, athletic dynamo who dazzled Raptors fans with eye-popping dunks that posterized even the leagues best defenders. Carter is also no longer the petulant man-child who fans feel gave up on his team and his city and forced a move away from the franchise that he legitimized. At almost 37, Vince Carter is an NBA veteran, perhaps not grizzled, but a far cry from the two sides of the one man that Toronto Raptors fans remember with both fondness and disdain. In Torontos case, the latter greatly outweighs the former. Carter first returned to Toronto after his acrimonious exit as a member of the then-New Jersey Nets in April, 2005. To say that the reception he received was unwelcome would be kind. Few things stir up anger in sports fans like being jilted by a player they once idolized. The torrent of abuse directed Carters way didnt seem to faze him as he ended up dropping 39 on his former mates in a Nets win. When Carters Dallas Mavericks take on the Raptors on Wednesday night, Carter is likely to once again be met by vociferous boos as he always has been since the first time he came back to the ACC as a member of the enemy, but, of course, with each subsequent visit, the jeers have gotten quieter. The anger that once consumed Raptors fans just isnt there anymore for the most part. When Vince Carter is booed again tonight, it will be more out of habit than anything else. Much like the case with his cousin, the now-retired Tracy McGrady, the booing is just what you do. All of this, then, begs the question: Should time heal all wounds? In what might be the last time Toronto Raptors fans see Vince Carter at the Air Canada Centre, is it time for Raptors fans to let the good outweigh the bad and welcome the prodigal son back into the fold? Lets not kid ourselves. The break-up was bad and Carter had more than a big hand in it. On the morning of the biggest game in franchise history - Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals with the Philadelphia 76ers - Carter decided to fly to Raleigh to collect his degree from the University of North Carolina. Its anybodys guess as to why he chose to go then and not in the summer, but unrelatedly or not, Carter missed the game-winning shot that evening with only two seconds left on the clock. And then there was the meddling with the front office. Obviously, most franchises try to jibe with their best players wishes, but many felt Carter overstepped his bounds. The impetus to bring in a broken-down Hakeem Olajuwon and offer him a pricey extension appeared to come from Carter. It was a spectacular failure. Carter was constantly in managements ear and attemptingg to mold the club in ways that he wanted.dddddddddddd Outside of a brief stint in the Orlando Magic front office as vice-president, Julius Erving had no managerial experience, yet this was the man who Carter championed to almost the point of insistence for the Raptors general manager job in 2004. When the team went with Rob Babcock, Carter took this as an affront. When the situation became untenable that season, Babcocks hands were tied to the point that all he could fetch from the Nets in exchange for Carter were bench pieces Eric Williams and Aaron Williams, a past-his-prime Alonzo Mourning - who never played a game for the team and was almost immediately released, but not before receiving a $9 million buyout package – and a pair of first-round draft picks. The cruelest blow, though, came the month after he was traded when he sat down with legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson, then working as an analyst for TNT, and told him that he had begun to coast in his last years in Toronto. "I was just fortunate enough to have the talent," Carter said. "You know, you get spoiled when youre able to do a lot of things and you see that, and you really dont have to work at it. But now, I think with all the injuries and the things that have gone on, I have to work a little harder and Im a little hungrier. Thats why getting the opportunity to have a fresh start with New Jersey has made me want to attack the basket for a lot of reasons." To hear your franchise player admit to dogging it is beyond the pale and probably reason enough alone for the idea of some sort of reconciliation to be out of the question. Recently, though, Carter has claimed that he never wanted to leave the Raptors and told as much to Babcock, but was informed that a deal had already been agreed upon with the Nets. Former Raptors coach Sam Mitchell corroborated Carters account, but considering this information became public almost 10 years after the fact, it came across as little more than damage control for what is seemingly an irreparable image in this city. Still, as the spectre of Carters exit still casts a shadow over what he did as a Raptor, is it time that the two arent mutually exclusive? It was Carter who led the team to its first ever playoff spot. It was Carter who led the team to its first ever series win. It was Carter who got the Raptors onto national American television broadcasts and into the larger basketball consciousness as something other than just that team that plays in Canada. To say nothing of the fact that Carter remains the franchise leader in points per game and second in total points. Is it time Raptors fans let Carters legacy outshine the acrimony of his exit? Or is the exit his legacy with the Toronto Raptors? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '