ORLANDO - It is a bright, warm morning in Orlando and Toronto FC are going through an intense match between themselves at training. The smell of freshly cut grass makes you think of those back home chipping away at the ice on their car windows. Young defender Gale Agbossoumonde receives the ball, looks back and sees Steven Caldwell open. He decides not to pass it and instead forces a more difficult pass forward. Minutes later he is handed another opportunity. In his strong Scottish twang, Caldwell screams at his defender for the ball but, once again, he doesnt receive it, instead the ball is given away to the opposing team. It might still be February but Caldwell doesnt let it slide, telling his colleague in no certain terms what he must do next time. In a quick five-second moment, he shows to Agbossoumonde, and the rest of the team, the type of leader he is and the mentality expected inside Toronto FCs camp. Caldwell is as intense as he is driven. Hours after the training game he is preparing for a pre-season match here in Orlando and as he walks out of the dressing room he is focused firmly on the match as if its the most important game of his life. It is hard to believe this is Steven Caldwells first pre-season camp with Toronto FC. Since making his debut last May, the Scot has become club captain and was voted player of the 2013 season. Despite not even playing one full season for the team he also is unquestionably the best centre back the club has ever had. Toronto FC have struggled a great deal throughout their short existence in MLS and one of the main reasons for this has been the genuine lack of talent playing for them at the heart of defence. While the likes of Miguel Aceval, Andrew Boyens, Adrian Cann, Nick Garcia, Tyrone Marshall, Darren ODea and Marco Velez combined to play over 250 games at that position for this team, Caldwell was playing at the highest level in England. "I had some great times at Newcastle and in the Champions League I came on against Inter Milan, played the full 90 against Leverkusen, they were fantastic experiences. We had a good run, we went to San Siro, Nou Camp, Feyenoord was a special night when we scored two late goals to get through," Caldwell tells me. Having played all over the world, the Scot, who signed for Newcastle as a schoolboy, still names St Jamess Park as his favourite all-time stadium: "Fantastic atmosphere, the noise is incredible. I remember against Sunderland, that game sticks out, my first derby, we lost to a Niall Quinn header, but you couldnt hear the person who was five yards next to you, you just had to read his lips." Caldwell was loaned to Leeds in January 2004 to try and help them stay in the Premier League. He failed but remembers his time fondly. "I loved it, it was my first spell of regular football in the Premier League, Eddie Gray was the manager at the time - we had a great group of players, it still perplexes me to this day (getting relegated) - wow we had some team, Mark Viduka, Ian Harte, Alan Smith, stars everywhere really, it was a bitter disappointment for me to not do it for one of the best group of supporters I have ever had." One of the lowest moments of the season for Leeds was a crushing 5-0 loss against Arsenal at Highbury. Caldwell was one of the defenders asked to stop Thierry Henry that day, instead he was given a memory to last a lifetime. "Without even thinking about it, I can say he is the best player I have ever come across. That game he scored four goals and the last one Gary Kelly tripped him up and he still put it in," he laughs as he recreates the goal for me. "He was the best player in the world, for me, then and I was fortunate to say I played against him. What a gentleman he is and it is a real honour to still play against him now." In the summer of 2004, Caldwell joined Mick McCarthy at Sunderland and it was there where he created another special bond. Current Vancouver Whitecaps boss Carl Robinson had played on loan for Sunderland the year previous but would sign permanently the same month as Caldwell. "Mick brought in a special group who could deliver every single week, we were a fantastic group. We had that togetherness, spirit, camaraderie. We won so many games 1-0, in the end we couldnt get beat, we were just rolling along and won the Championship with games to spare. That year means Robbo and I are very close, we spent a lot of time together in that first season. Our careers moved on and we would play each other and have the weekends together with our families, we always hooked up and stayed in touch. We will always have that bond because we have won something together." Robinson cant say enough about what kind of person and player, Caldwell is. He told me this week: "Toronto has a fantastic leader. He is one of the best teammates I ever had, he is a true friend off the field." Both Robinson and Caldwell experienced that feeling of success at Sunderland and are hoping to bring that to their MLS teams this season. Caldwell said coming to work every day knowing your team is at their best and wont let you down is the best feeling in football. He said: "I had it at Sunderland and Burnley, different makeups of teams but one thing that was the same was the spirit of the team and you just wake up and you know what you are going to get." After winning promotion to the Premier League with Sunderland, Caldwell did it again with Burnley, this time via the playoffs when he would lift the trophy at the iconic Wembley Stadium. "We played Reading in the first leg of the playoffs - they were superb with Kevin Doyle and Shane Long, theyd been in the Premier League a couple of years earlier, and they came to Turf Moor and battered us, but we beat them 1-0 with a penalty late, and I am driving home thinking we cannot play any worse than that (in the second leg) so in my mind we had won it already because I knew it couldnt be that bad. We got bombarded again but held out and scored two goals late on to take us to the final, where we felt the momentum was with us." Burnley ended a 33-year drought of top flight football at Wembley that day and the image of captain Caldwell lifting the trophy sits proudly inside their Turf Moor Stadium. It is the end result of a team going from below average to very good in one season and is something the 33-year-old is leaning on this season for Toronto. "It is a similar type of experience, you start (the season) and it grows and you know you have something going and I feel it here again. I am not speaking too quickly and getting ahead of ourselves, I have that feeling here that something is building at this club and it was very similar at Burnley." Caldwell has heard often about the constant comparisons between the Championship and MLS and, as a veteran of so many matches in the second tier of English football, offers a unique perspective on it. "I think MLS has a little bit more talent, a lot of that comes because we are fresher and play a lot less games. The Championship plays far too many games - you have 46 league games, players get tired, in the middle of the season you are exhausted, its crazy. You cannot even play the game you want to play because of fatigue so you just do what you can and hope you have that striker or that one bit of quality to change a game. "Here we have the quality, the facilities, the conditions, the weather, its a bit more enjoyable to play but where we have to catch up in North America is with our mentality. We have to be a little more tough and once that improves, which it is doing, I think you will start to see MLS teams improving and going on to win the CONCACAF Champions League." Much has changed in the offseason for Toronto. Yet, Caldwell is not the missing piece. He was the first piece awaiting others to surround him. Jermain Defoe, Gilberto and Dwayne De Rosario have been brought in for goals. Michael Bradley has been signed to anchor the midfield and Julio Cesar signed to make the crucial saves. One thing they need to secure to create a strong spine through the middle for this team is a centre-back who brings leadership, experience and, above all else, a strong mentality that becomes contagious. It was once the thing Toronto FC lacked the most. Now it is the one thing they know they can rely on. Air Max 90 Canada Mens . LOUIS -- Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks won the matchup of unbeaten teams. Air Max 98 Canada .com) - Virginia is for loving Latrell Scott. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/.ca NHL Power Rankings, ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. Moving up, from 10 to seven this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won seven straight despite a depleted lineup. Air Max2 Light Canada . LOUIS -- The Atlanta Braves used a two-run rally in the ninth to end their road trip with a win. Canada Nike Air Max Tailwind . - Dolphins safety Louis Delmas has been carted off the field with a right knee injury against the Ravens. WINNIPEG -- Ondrej Pavelec couldnt have asked for a better return after a two-game absence. Pavelec made 41 saves as the Winnipeg Jets shut out the Nashville Predators 5-0 on Friday with the help of a four-goal first period. It was Pavelecs first shutout since March 12, 2012, 11th of his career, and came after he was replaced by Al Montoya the past two games. "I didnt play a few days so I felt a little bit nervous," Pavelec said. "I just wanted to help the guys get the win. That was my goal today and so Im happy we get the win." It was only Winnipegs (7-9-2) second win in its last six games, as Montoya backstopped the Jets to a 4-2 victory over Detroit on Monday and then a 4-1 loss in Chicago on Wednesday. Bryan Little, Olli Jokinen and Eric Tangradi scored for Winnipeg in the first 8:23 of the opening period, followed by Devin Setoguchi making it 4-0 at the 16:45 mark of the first period. The first-period barrage was the most goals the Jets have scored in a period since March 1, 2012, when they recorded five against Florida. Fans at the MTS Centre gave the Jets a standing ovation as they left the ice for the first intermission. The Predators, coming off road wins against Colorado and Los Angeles, move to 8-6-2. "I give a lot of credit to Pavelec," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I mean, to me, if we can get through that first period 3-0, I believe we have a chance to come back. Not saying we wouldve, but we have a chance to get back in the hockey game. "I thought the killer goal in that game was the fourth goal." Little added his second goal of the game, and 10th of the season, midway through the third period to make it 5-0. "I think we just kept it simple," said Little, who leads his team with 15 points. "We came out really hard, which was great." Andrew Ladd, playing in his 550th NHL game, and Blake Wheeler each had a pair of assists and Jokinen added an assist to go with his goal. Jokinen wasnt over-excited about the victory. "Its good we scored four goals in the first period, but it was far from a complete game," said a subdued Jokinen. "The last 40 minutes was not the way we should play. We take two points and we can be happy, but theres no reason to plan the parade on Portage Avenue." Tangradis slight redirection of a Dustin Byfuglien point shot sent goalie Carter Hutton to the bench in favour of Marek Mazanec at 8:23 of the first.dddddddddddd Mazanec, called up from Milwaukee of the AHL on Nov. 5 and playing in his first NHL game, turned aside 21 of the 23 shots he faced. Hutton stopped five of the eight shots he faced in 8:23 of work. Nashville is without veteran netminder Pekka Rinne, who was placed on injured reserve Oct. 24 with whats now being reported as an E. coli infection in his hip. When asked about the report, Trotz said he hasnt talked to Rinne about that. "I know that the doctors are still working with him and hes on schedule," said Trotz. That schedule was "when he was supposed to return," which had been about six weeks. Winnipegs scoring began with an unexpected move by Little that earned him his team-leading ninth goal. After picking up a rebound in the slot off a shot by Ladd, Little moved to the face-off circle with his back to Hutton, but then spun around and fired the puck past the netminder at 3:02. Jokinen scored his third of the season with a close wrist shot at 6:47 off a pass by Evander Kane, but he wasnt over-excited about the victory. Byfugliens blast from the point caught a bit of Tangradi as he was screening Hutton. Mazanec entered the game and Setoguchi scored on his teams 11th shot of the night after Jokinen won the faceoff and passed the puck to his teammate in front of the net. "Hes a battler," Trotz said of Mazanec. "Hes a young man who has a lot of talent. Still has to learn to play goal. It was a good night for him to go in for us." Littles second goal couldnt miss as Mazenec was stretching back across the front of the net to follow the rebound off a Ladd shot, but Little fired the puck over his body at 9:53 for the 5-0 gap. Nashville was 0 for 4 on the power play and Winnipeg 0 for 3. The fans gave the Jets another loud standing ovation during the final minute of the game. "A night like tonight well take the 5-0 game, but it wasnt necessarily a clinic, but well take the win," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "Weve had enough heartache for a while, well take one of these." Winnipeg hosts San Jose on Sunday, while Nashville continues its season-long, seven-game road trip with the fifth stop Sunday in New Jersey. ' ' '