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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. Barclay Plager Jersey . -- Theres something about playing on Orlandos floor lately that seems to bring out the best in the Dallas Mavericks. Oskar Sundqvist Jersey . Earnshaw, 31, most recently spent time on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv from Welsh club Cardiff City, which plays in Englands second-tier League Championship. Earnshaw began his career with Cardiff Citys youth program and turned professional in 1998. http://www.wholesalebluesjerseys.com/?ta...wmeester-jersey. Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday. Vladimir Sobotka Jersey . Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games. Tony Twist Jersey .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The New York Rangers have momentum, a unified locker room and Henrik Lundqvist. The Pittsburgh Penguins have two of the worlds best players and a coach who could be needing a win to keep his job. No pressure or anything, just a Game 7 that could alter the long-term future of one of the NHLs most stable franchises and boost the immediate prospects of an emotionally charged group rallying around one of the games most respected veterans. Looking overmatched and overwhelmed while falling behind 3-1 to the Penguins four games into the Eastern Conference semifinals, its the Rangers who head to Game 7 on Tuesday night looking like the team ready to move on. Martin St. Louis, just days removed from the death of his mother, scored the first of New Yorks three goals in Game 6 to provide the jolt that carried the Rangers all the way back from the brink. The way St. Louis figures it, he is simply repaying the guys in a dressing room hes still learning after arriving in New York after a trade with Tampa Bay in February. "I think when something like that happens to one person to see the support you get from everybody else, it really makes it real," he said. "Theres not phoniness about the family feeling you want to create." Its a feeling that ebbs and flows in Pittsburgh. Dominant and disruptive to start the series, the Penguins have spent the last six periods giving New York every reason to believe it can rally from a 3-1 deficit for the first time in franchise history. Centre Sidney Crosby has just one goal in 12 games. The power play — which tied with Washington for the leagues best in the regular season — has converted just one of its past 19 chances. And now coach Dan Bylsma finds himself 60 minutes away from either taking the Penguins back to the conference finals for the third time in six years or possibly looking for work. Not that Bylsma is ready to talk about the big picture yet. The task at hand is worrisome enough. "These are the ones you dream about playing," Bylsma said. "This is one were going to remember." The memories havent been kind to the Penguins in deciding games on home ice. Pittsburgh is just 2-6 at home in Game 7s in franchise history, including losses to Montreal in 2010 annd Tampa Bay three years ago.dddddddddddd. The Penguins played the entire series against the Lightning without Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, who sat out with injuries. Both have been healthy this time around, skating alongside each other in the hopes theyll provide offence. Only Malkin, who has six goals in 13 games, has delivered. Though Crosby ended a 13-game playoff goal drought in Game 3, he spent as much time in Game 6 jawing with the Rangers and getting water squirted on him by Lundqvist as he did trying to become the magnetic force that can sometimes change the course of a game with his will. Crosby insists he is healthy even while averaging just .75 points per game during the post-season, well below his career playoff average of 1.28. The leagues leading scorer received a pep talk from Penguins co-owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux in the aftermath of Game 6. Having a quick chat is nothing new for Crosby and his mentor. "He definitely has a pretty good understanding of dealing with the pressure," Crosby said. So does Lundqvist. The goaltender thrives when the pressure is its highest. He was New Yorks best player early in the series, the main reason 3-2, 2-0 and 3-0 losses didnt look worse. When it looked as if the Rangers were out of it after falling behind 3-1, he responded by stopping 67 of the next 69 shots he faced and is 9-2 with a 1.35 goals-against average with the Rangers facing elimination. The three-time All-Star is 4-1 in Game 7s. "He takes his game up to another level," New York coach Alain Vigneault said. "But this Game 7 against this team, its going to have to be a team level. Its going to have to be everybody taking their game to another level." The same can be said in the Penguins dressing room, which could have a very different look. If the team built to become a dynasty after winning it all in 2009 falls short of the Stanley Cup finals for the fifth straight season. The Penguins won that title in Game 7 on the road against Detroit, the defending champions. To take the next step back they have to find that magic at home. "We worked hard all year to get home ice in the playoffs," Crosby said. "To get to this point weve got to look at this like an opportunity and make the most of it." 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