Its not yet Week 12 and this years six playoff teams are already all but determined thanks to the dreadful first halves of both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos (and you could argue the playoff seeds were clinched long before now). What remains are the battles for home field advantage throughout the playoffs, still very much up for grabs in both the West and East Division. First place in the West should be hotly contested down the stretch between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders – with the BC Lions hanging around and hoping to strike as well – while in the East everything is still up for grabs. The Toronto Argonauts currently hold first in the division with a 6-4 mark through 10 games, followed closely by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 5-5 and the 4-6 Montreal Alouettes. Will it stay that way the rest of the season? The Argos hope to preserve the lead in the East, or at the very least stay within striking distance of it, until Ricky Ray returns from a shoulder injury in five weeks and they make their final push for the top spot. With impressive sophomore Zach Collaros filling in, that scenario seems entirely possible. Collaros has thrown for more than 1,200 yards and seven TDs in eight appearances (three starts) this season but theres no question the Double Blue are at their best when Ray is under centre. Prior to his injury, the 33-year-old veteran was playing like a bona fide Most Outstanding Player candidate and if he returns playing at that same high level, will give Toronto a solid chance at a first-round playoff bye. The next two games will be a test for the Argos as they visit both the Roughriders and Stampeders, but it gets a little easier than that with three of their final six against the Eskimos and Blue Bombers. Working against Torontos favour however, both the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes have looked like different teams after their early season struggles. Hamilton started the year at 1-4 before fighting back to .500 with a modest win streak against the Blue Bombers and Eskimos. But its been their last two performances, a series split with the Lions, that has teams more convinced the Black and Gold are to be taken seriously as contenders in the second half. With Henry Burris under centre the Ticats offence has always been one of the leagues best; what was encouraging for fans in Hamilton was the dominant play of the teams defence, routinely their weakness, in the Week 11 win over the Lions. The Alouettes meanwhile, have been a better team under GM and interim head coach Jim Popp. Montreal started the season 2-3 under now fired head coach Dan Hawkins, and while theyve only just matched that record in five games with Popp, signs of improvement – and the team looking like their old selves – are starting to show. Not having Anthony Calvillo for at least the next eight games hurts however. (Calvillo, still recovering from a concussion suffered in mid-August, was placed on the nine-game injury list last week.) That said, rookie Tanner Marsh, despite his ugly stat line through three appearances and two starts, has given the team a chance to win since taking over behind centre (they are 2-1 in games the xx has finished). The Ticats toughest games remaining on their schedule are dates with the Stampeders while Montreal still has the Lions and Roughriders on their schedule. The division winner will almost certainly be determined in the whopping six head to heads the three teams encounter down the stretch. The Argos face the Ticats twice more and the Alouettes once while Hamilton and Montreal still have all three of their meetings left to play, including a Touchdown Atlantic matchup two weeks from now. The Rouge asks: Who will finish the regular season in first place in the East Division? Youve heard what weve had to say, now its your turn. As always, its Your! Call. replica jerseys china . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. wholesale jerseys china .com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South. https://www.chinajerseysreplica.us/ . Messis 75th-minute goal answered some of the criticism the clubs all-time leading scorer had received for his lacklustre performances in the teams recent losses in the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey final. cheap china jerseys . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. cheap jerseys from china . Jones took a beating, the worst one of his record reign, in a bout against Alexander Gustafsson that knocked the light heavyweight champion on the canvas for the first time in his career and put his belt in jeopardy.EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers returned to the ice Wednesday after 12 days off for the Olympic break, several of them with red faces either from sun tanning or the hard bike riding that was part of the mini training camp/conditioning session they were put through. "It feels a lot shorter than it was," said veteran defenceman Andrew Ference, who spent part of the break with his family in Canmore, Alta., visiting former Olympians Thomas Grandi and Sara Renner. "But its a really good chance to get rid of all the little aches and pains." Ference said it has to be remembered that with back-to-back condensed seasons - last year because of the lockout - players need the break both mentally and physically. "The last calendar year I think I played 110 or 120 games, so its a much welcomed break." It was a break that came with the Oilers suddenly having found their game in the midst of another disastrous, non-playoff season. They went into the Olympic break having won five of their previous seven games - one of the losses was in overtime - and outscoring their opponents 18-12. Their previous 10 games before the break - the statistic the NHL keeps - showed them at 5-3-2, a record that put them in the middle of the pack, unlike the 29th place they are in with their overall record of 20-33-7. "It is tough from that aspect," forward Jordan Eberle said of the untimely break. "Some of the GMs around the league have been complaining, some of the teams were going well and then you get this break. Its almost like a new season starting. "But, for me personally, I feel you get re-energized, with a little more jump and a little more excitement to play, like you didd in camp.dddddddddddd I feel really energized and ready to play." Like many of the players, Eberle took a vacation away from the game, away from Edmonton and away from winter. But not away from working out. "Yeah I went away but I definitely worked out," he added. "I knew today was going to be a tough day. It was just a bit of a skate but most of the stuff was in the gym and it was tough." Ference said the players were put through a tough physical that included a hard bike ride but said everybody looked fine. "Nobody was puking." Veteran Ryan Smyth said it would have been nice to be playing in the Olympics again, but he appreciated the great family time he had in Mexico. And as a player turning 38 on Friday, he said "any time you get some rest for the body to recuperate, it will really help." While players made sure they stayed physically active and in shape, they were able to mentally turn off the game and enjoy some rare family time. "Your mind is a little off on vacation so you give yourself a break there," said Eberle, second on the Oilers scoring with 45 points. "But as far as your body you have to make sure youre still able to come back and play 22 games. So everyone took their mind away from the game, which is a good thing. "I went on vacation somewhere hot and your mind is so out of it that you think, wow, I have to come back and play hockey? But as soon as you get to Edmonton, see the snow on the ground, it changes pretty quickly. I got on the ice, felt pretty excited to get back. Its almost like a new season here." The Oilers resume play Feb. 27 at home against the Minnesota Wild. 20:11ET 19-02-14 ' ' '