Is the end of the road approaching for Canadas greatest basketball player? According to veteran basketball columnist Peter Vecsey, Lakers guard Steve Nash is close to retirement. The former New York Post columnist and NBA TV analyst tweeted out the following statement early Tuesday morning: "Im hearing Nashs pain is forcing him 2 seriously consider calling it a career. Hed still get $ this yr & next & LAd get cap relief next." The 39-year-old Nash is sidelined indefinitely with a back injury and has been limited to just six games so far in the 2013-14 NBA season, averaging just 22.5 minutes-per-game. Lakers head coach Mike DAntoni spoke out last week about rumours of Nashs retirement, trying to temper the situation to the Los Angeles Times. "Theres always going to be a debate but were not going to debate it, talk about it," DAntoni told the Times last Tuesday. "Hes going to try to get ready, hes going to try to play and were going to try to win. Its really simple for us. Its not real difficult." Still, Nashs time in Los Angeles has not been up to the lofty standards he set during his MVP years with the Phoenix Suns, as the Victoria Native appeared in just 50 games for the Lakers in 2012-13 posting a 12.7 points-per-game average (his second-lowest total since 1999-2000) and 6.7 assists per game (his lowest total over that span). Nash has three years remaining on his contract including the current NBA season, worth a total of just over $28.3 million. Winning back-to-back MVP Awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Nash has put together a Hall of Fame-worthy career. He is a veteran of 18 NBA seasons with the Lakers, Suns and Dallas Mavericks and has been selected to 8 NBA All-Star Games, averaging 14.3 PPG, 8.5 APG with a career free throw percentage of 90.4 per cent. Jimmie Ward 49ers Jersey .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Fred Warner 49ers Jersey . - Regan Smith had the checkered flag in sight at Daytona a year ago and a freight train of cars in his rearview mirror. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Weston-Richburg-49ers-Jersey/ .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks take aim at their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday when they host the Calgary Flames in a battle at the United Center. Jimmy Garoppolo Jersey . A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. Cassius Marsh 49ers Jersey . Gough finished in fourth, 0.433 seconds behind American Erin Hamlin, who took the bronze medal at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rzhanaya Polyana.PHILADELPHIA – Restructuring the Toronto defence was primary in the objectives of Maple Leafs management as they strode into the busiest stage of a lengthy offseason. And on the final day of draft weekend, they took the first step toward doing just that. Carl Gunnarsson, selected with the 194th overall pick at the draft in Columbus seven years earlier, was dealt to St. Louis on Saturday morning for thick Czech defenceman and longtime Blue, Roman Polak. He is the first addition to a roster that promised to change following another late season meltdown. Adjustment to a mismatched and ineffective back-end was a must for the Leafs, who finished near the league basement defensively last season – yielding more shots against than any other club. Polak, while not an upgrade to the steady, but increasingly over-taxed Gunnarsson, does offer a different kind of presence to the Toronto defence, something brawnier and edgier for head coach Randy Carlyle, if not quite better. Gunnarsson, it was ultimately deemed, could be replaced on the top pairing with something similar internally. "We like our defence individually," general manager Dave Nonis said after the final round of the draft was completed on Saturday afternoon, "[but] we didnt necessarily like how they fit together last year. We wanted to move some pieces and change the look, rebuild it a little bit. I wouldnt say its a major overhaul by doing something like this, but it does give us a different element and its a player we didnt really have." Maybe more significant is how the trade promises to open up further opportunity for the clubs two top guns on defence: Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner. By removing Gunnarsson – who teamed with Dion Phaneuf on left side of the top pair – and adding the right-handed Polak, the Leafs opened up room for Rielly and Gardiner to become more prominent members of the defence. Rielly should move from a place on the bottom pair to something more substantial in the top-four. Gardiner, who led the team in even-strength ice-time, might be the one to replace Gunnarsson on the top pair. "Those guys are going to have to take steps forward," Nonis said of the promising duo. "It might be a lot to ask for Morgan a little bit in his second year, but he made some pretty big strides last year and we would expect that hell take some more next [year]. And I think Jake is a good possibility [of doing the same] as well." Left-handed shots, Rielly and Gardiner were both forced to play the right side often last season – nearly the entire season for the rookie – due to the rarity of right-handed defenders on the Toronto defence (Gardiner, specifically, struggled with the change and eventually had to move back to the left). The addition of the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Poolak will ease that glut and allow more options for Carlyle.dddddddddddd The Blues, who ranked third in the league defensively a year ago, employed Polak in shutdown capacities as well as on their second-ranked penalty kill. He was known in St. Louis as a fierce, physical competitor willing to play through injury. The 28-year-old, who has two years remaining on a five-year contract ($2.75 million cap hit), led the Blues defence in hits and finished second in blocked shots. "Hes a tough guy to play against," Nonis said of Polak, picked in the sixth round of 2004 Draft. "If you look at the minutes he plays he often plays against teams top players. He is very physical, hes very strong. I think theres a perception that because hes so big hes not mobile, I dont think thats true at all. We think that one of his strengths is his skating ability. Hes going to provide a little bit of edge." The fifth overall pick in 2012, Rielly had a fine first season in Toronto, demonstrating improvement with each passing month. He finished with 27 points in nearly 18 minutes of nightly work, emerging as one of the Leafs top possession players in 73 games. It remains to be seen whether he can climb another rung as a sophomore next season though the organization is certainly hopeful based on all that they saw a year ago. "We are hoping that he improves next year," said Nonis. "He may not. He might go through a year where hes not quite ready to go up the lineup, but were comfortable that hes going to get there and hes going to be an impact player and were going to give him an opportunity to do that." Gardiner, meanwhile, finished a rollercoaster third season on a high. He was easily the teams best defenceman down the stretch of another alarming late season collapse, totaling five goals and 14 points in the final 21 games. "Jakes going to have times where [the media] sitting below me in the press-box will hear me smacking on the wall, but the fact is hes got God-given ability that you just cant teach," Nonis said of the 23-year-old. "I think hes getting the other part of his game under control. The last half of the season the turnovers and some of the mistakes he was making earlier were decreasing … He did come a long way." Nonis expects the Leafs to be active at the outset of free agency on July 1st. He was inclined to add another defenceman to the mix, while stating his acceptance to the status quo if furthers upgrades were unavailable. Gunnarsson had mixed feelings after a five-year stay in Toronto. He received word of the trade shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and was "kind of shocked". "I didnt expect it," he told TSN.ca, still piecing together the emotions of his first trade in the NHL. "Sucks leaving Toronto…its been great." 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