dge against Memphis and played a competitive first half. The Grizzlies were coming off a 99-86 loss at Toronto on

TORONTO, Ontario -- Every other year, Griffin and Sam Reinhart skated on the same teams in minor hockey. Now the brothers from West Vancouver hope to be teammates for Canada at the world junior championship. Griffin, a 19-year-old defenceman for the Edmonton Oil Kings who was drafted fourth overall in 2012 by the New York Islanders, is a lock to make the squad even though he will be suspended for the first three preliminary round games due to a suspension incurred at last years world juniors in Ufa, Russia. Sam, who is in contention to be picked first overall in the 2014 NHL draft, is battling for a spot on the 22-man squad. Canada will be looking to end a four-year gold medal drought at the world juniors that begin Dec. 26 in Malmo, Sweden. "Its exciting -- it goes back to minor hockey," said 18-year-old Sam Reinhart, a centre for the Kootenay Ice. "Its nice to get back with him. "The last couple of years Ive had to play against him and I dont like that very much." They were on the ice together for some drills Friday as Canada opened a three-day camp on the international-size rink at the Mastercard Centre. As expected, Jonathan Drouin was not on the ice. The high-scoring Halifax Mooseheads forward is recovering from a concussion suffered in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game last week. The 18-year-old is expected to recover in time for the tournament. The third overall pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning at the NHL draft in June was examined by team doctors on Thursday night. Coach Brent Sutter expects Drouin to be ready to skate and described his condition as "status quo." He said it would not hinder the teams preparations for the tournament. Griffin, Sam and 21-year-old Max Reinhart, a Calgary Flames prospect, are the sons of former NHL defenceman Paul Reinhart. All three started out as defencemen, but Sam and Max both ended up as centres. Griffin, a towering rearguard at six-foot-four 212 pounds, and the six-foot-one Sam are looking to become the third brother duo to play for Canada at the world juniors, after Randy and Mike Moeller in 1982 and Freddie and Dougie Hamilton in 2012. "Its always more fun playing with Sam than against him, so if hes able to make it as well it would be awesome for me," said Griffin. The brothers embody two issues on the squad -- Griffins suspension and Sam being among three "underage" players in camp along with Erie Otters 16-year-old phenom Connor McDavid and Barrie Colts defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who is one of Sam Reinharts main competitors for the No. 1 draft position. Griffin was slapped with a four-game ban for a slash during Canadas semifinal loss to the United States in Ufa. He served one game after that, and is suspended for the next four IIHF sanctioned events he enters. He will miss the first three group stage games in Malmo against Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia but will return for a Dec. 31 showdown with the Americans. "Ive definitely seen the schedule," he said. "I cant play the first three, but coming back to play the States on the 31st -- thats a huge rivalry. Everyone in Canada gets hyped up for those games." That Canada included him among the 25 camp invitees showed they value Reinharts package of size, skill and leadership enough that missing three games doesnt faze them. They are games Canada should win, and Sutter will still have six solid rearguards in the lineups. Reinhart will also be able to mesh with his teammates while playing in pre-tournament exhibition games next week against Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. But he appreciates the confidence the Hockey Canada management showed in him. "Itll be hard watching," he said. "Everyone wants to play. "Ive sat out before in the WHL with injuries, so Ill kind of take it like that. I know there was a chance they wouldnt take me because of the three games. Ill try to prove to them they made the right decision and try to be a leader on and off the ice when I return." They also had him paired with Matt Dumba, who was loaned to Canada for the tournament by the Minnesota Wild. Dumba is expected to be an anchor on Canadas defence, and they could end up as the teams top pairing. Sam Reinhart found himself once again on a line with McDavid, with Kerby Rychel of the Guelph Storm on left wing. Reinhart and McDavid, the runaway favourite to go first overall in the 2015 draft, have played together before, including at the world junior teams summer camp in Montreal and Lake Placid, N.Y. Reinhart moves over to right wing for the occasion. "I had a chance to play with (McDavid) and the hype is not wrong by any means," he said. "Hes a special player. Its easy to play with him." Like with most national teams, there are more centres than spots to put them in, so a few have moved to the wings. "Ive already made the transition to right wing," Sam Reinhart said. "Down the middle theres so much depth on our team. Ill play on the penalty kill, the power play, whatever they want me to do. Ill be ready." Drouins absence left Frederik Gauthier of the Rimouski Oceanic and Josh Anderson of London Knights -- the only player on the roster listed as a right winger with his team -- without a third man for their line, although the units Sutter and his staff used on the first day of camp are likely to change. If he is healthy, Drouin will likely play on whatever is the top offensive line. Anthony Mantha of the Val dor Foreurs, the QMJHL scoring leader, is a left-winger who found himself on the right side of London centre Bo Horvat and natural left winger Charles Hudon of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Centre Curtis Lazar of the Edmonton Oil Kings was on right wing with centre Nic Petan of the Portland Winterhawks and Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers. And centre Felix Girard of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar played right wing with Scott Laughton of the Oshawa Generals at centre and Portlands Taylor Leier on the left side. During practice, the players were introduced to four former world juniors stars who were named honorary captains for the 2015 and 2017 tournaments to be shared by Toronto and Montreal. They are former Leafs Wendel Clark and Gary Roberts, former goalie Marc Denis and Montreal Canadiens player development man Martin Lapointe. The team has an exhibition game Saturday afternoon against local university players and a practice Sunday morning before leaving for Sweden. Nicklas Backstrom Jersey . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. Dale Hunter Jersey . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox. http://www.officialcapitalspro.com/Jakub-vrana-capitals-jersey/ . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Rod Langway Jersey . Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. T. J. Oshie Jersey . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic.PHILADELPHIA -- Moments after the final horn sounded, the Twitter feed @didthesixerswin posted an update. For the 20th straight game, 140 characters werent needed, just two letters: No. In a city painfully familiar with sports futility, the Philadelphia 76ers have added another sorry chapter, this one for the record book. Mike Conley scored 19 points and Zach Randolph had 14 to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 103-77 win Saturday night, sending the 76ers to a franchise-tying 20th straight loss. The Sixers, who scored a season low in points, can set the team mark with a loss Monday night at Indiana. The Sixers also lost 20 straight games from Jan. 9, 1973-Feb. 11, 1973, in a 9-73 season. The NBA record for consecutive losses in a season is 26 set by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. "We have to come out swinging," coach Brett Brown said. "Weve got to compete." Theyve absorbed their share of blows, and more may be coming: Over the next six games, the Sixers (15-51) play only one team with a losing record, the Knicks on Friday, and they are on a six-game winning streak. Michael Carter-Williams led the Sixers with 23 points and Thaddeus Young had 20. "This is not slit-your-wrist time. This is not even close to that," Brown said. "This is about building a program and understanding the short-term pain for a lot of long-term gain. Thats my vision. Thats how I approach it." As the NBA season tipped off, the over-under in Las Vegas for total wins for the 76ers this year was 16.5, the lowest of any team in the league. They stunned the league with a 3-0 start, including an opening-night win over the Miami Heat, and won four straight road games from Dec. 29-Jan. 4. Outside of those spurts, the Sixers have played down to their preseason projection as one of the NBAs worst. "Any win we have right now would be considered an upset," Brown said. "Thats the way its played out at this stage." The Sixers last won on Jan. 29 on former guard Evan Turners buzzer-beater at Boston. Theyve lost a team-record 16 straight home games, last winning at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 15. "I try to ignore the comments about us losing however many straigght," Carter-Williams said.dddddddddddd The 53-year-old Brown was part of three NBA title teams with San Antonio as an assistant and won another with the Spurs when he served in the basketball operations department in 1998-99. Brown is used to a winning program at San Antonio, so hes not familiar with starting from the bottom. But the Sixers realize its not an overnight process and gave him a four-year contract to turn things around. "Ive been asked by so many people, Why would you take the job and screw up your coaching percentage?" he said. "As if I care about that. I knew what I was getting in to." The free-falling Sixers are gaining fast on Milwaukee (13-53) for the worst record in the NBA. Unlike Friday nights loss against Indiana when they never led, the Sixers held an early edge against Memphis and played a competitive first half. The Grizzlies were coming off a 99-86 loss at Toronto on Friday and needed some time to warm up in Philly. Once they got going, they became just the latest team to stomp the Sixers. "Its scary because theyre looking to get a win and theyre going to do whatever it takes to get one," Conley said. Conley did his part to avert an upset, scoring nine points during Memphis 15-6 run to open the second half that stretched the lead to 18. He kept the lead rolling with a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup off a turnover for a 67-46 lead. The Grizzlies, winners of 12 of 16, had 13 players score and their 29-point lead in the fourth was their largest of the season. Even a bit of an off night was enough for Memphis to cruise: The Grizzlies made only 4 of 15 3-pointers, were outrebounded, and had 22 turnovers. Marc Gasol scored 11 points, Ed Davis had 11 rebounds, and the Grizzlies had 27 assists on 38 baskets. "Its a good rhythm, but its not where we want to be yet," Gasol said. "Its always on the good side. Its always better than losing, thats just for sure." Just ask the Sixers. NOTES: The 76ers sent F Arnett Moultrie, the 27th overall pick in the 2012 draft, to the D-League. He played only 12 games this season. "Hes a young player, hes a first-round draft pick, he needs to play," Brown said. ' ' '