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It was going better than expected for the Calgary Flames, but the loss of their captain as well as one of their top forwards has thrown a dash of cold water on the team. Captain and No. 1 defenceman Mark Giordano is out for six to eight weeks with a broken ankle. He took a shot off the right ankle in the second period of a road game Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 21. The Flames revealed the severity of his injury Tuesday. "Its brutal," Giordano said. "You dont want to miss any time, but if you have to youre hoping its something not as significant as that time frame." Another shot broke a bone in the foot of winger Lee Stempniak last week in Dallas. His status is week to week. The lower right legs of both Flames were encased in plastic walking casts Tuesday. "I feel like the team is playing well and to not be a part of it is tough," Stempniak said. "The swelling is going down so hopefully its not too long." Just above .500 and without a loss in regulation at home so far this season, the rebuilding Flames (5-4-2) were giving their fans reasons for optimism. An unexpected bonus has been the performance of 19-year-old forward Sean Monahan, who is among the leagues rookie scoring leaders with six goals and four assists in 11 games. But for a team without stars and a squad that requires maximum effort to win, the Flames will have to drain their tanks for victories, particularly if Stempniak is out long term. Giordano and Stempniak were tied for third in points on the team with nine each behind Monahan with 10 and Jiri Hudler with 13. Its likely Giordano wont return to the lineup before his predecessor as Flames captain, Jarome Iginla, returns to Scotiabank Saddledome on Dec. 10 as a member of the Boston Bruins. With defenceman Chris Breen day to day with an abdominal strain, the Flames had just six healthy defenceman Tuesday. Head coach Bob Hartley didnt seem to be in a hurry to summon reinforcements from Abbotsford, B.C. Calgary hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday and the Detroit Red Wings on Friday before departing on a four-game road trip. "Im very comfortable," Hartley said. "Were not in back-to-back situations. We feel that its important for our young players to play in the American League. "If wed had a back-to-back and Abbotsford far away from us wed probably call up someone, but in this situation right now, we feel very comfortable." Giordano says an initial scan of his ankle after the Kings game didnt reveal a fracture. He tried to skate the next day in Phoenix prior to facing the Coyotes, but pain forced him off the ice. A subsequent scan revealed the injury. "One guy coming in and out of the lineup isnt going to change the way we play," Giordano said. "Guys have done a great job. Id like to be around the guys as much as possible. Obviously being hurt youre not in it as much as when youre playing. "You almost feel its a letdown for the team, but theres nothing I can do about it now." Calgary is 1-2 since Giordano was sidelined. Stempniak continued to play last Thursday in Dallas after a shot from teammate Dennis Wideman deflected hard off his skate boot. "Its one of those things when its not bad and your (foot) is in your skate and it feels all right and then it gets a little bit worse once you take your skate off," Stempniak explained. The Flames were successful in their one game without both Giordano and Stempniak. Calgary held Alex Ovechkin to zero points and defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 last Saturday. Defencemen Wideman and Kris Russell were both plus-five in the game. "Every player - you ask Derek Smith, you ask Shane OBrien, you ask anyone on this team - if they want extra responsibility, the answer is pretty simple and very easy and its yes," Hartley said. "Its up to you when you get that chance to really make the best of it. "If one guy picks up a five per cent, another guy picks up a 10 per cent and 15 per cent, we might compensate and we have to find a way. No one feels sorry for us. We cant shut down." Authentic Custom Jerseys . Neither made it that far in 2013. Not even close. Federer lost his second match at the All England Club. Nadal exited in the first round, a year after bowing out in the second. Custom Jerseys Nike . The 23-year-old Neustaedter will move at the end of the season when his contract with Moenchengladbach expires. He signed a four-year deal with Schalke. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/. These days, just about anyone can get a taste of the friendship that has blossomed between All-Star Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City Thunder teammate James Harden, most famous in the past two weeks or so for the elbow to the head he took from the Los Angeles Lakers Metta World Peace. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . -- The defending Canadian womens curling champions squandered an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the standings Tuesday at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Custom Jerseys China .com) - Will Conant booted a 39-yard field goal as time expired and Air Force played spoiler with a 27-24 win over 21st- ranked Colorado State on Friday.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. ' ' '