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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Carter Ashton has been suspended 20 games for violating the NHLs performance-enhancing substance policy. The suspension is accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment, per an NHL release. Ashton will forfeit $169,185 during the suspension. The 23-year-old Ashton released a statement regarding the suspension, claiming he suffered an asthmatic spasm in late August during summer training and was given an inhaler by another player. Ashton kept the inhaler and used it a second time early in training camp after another asthma attack. Unfortunately, I incorrectly assumed that there were no problems associated with the use of this inhaler and I used it without checking to see whether its contents were permissible under the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, Ashton said in his statement. I now recognize that I ingested Clenbuterol, a prohibited substance, through the inhaler. However, at no time was I seeking to gain an athletic advantage or to knowingly violate the terms of the program. I used the inhaler in response to exercise-induced asthma, a condition that my doctor with the Toronto Maple Leafs has since diagnosed and he has prescribed me with an inhaler. Ashton has been held pointless in three games with the Maple Leafs this season, spending the majority of the season to-date in the Leafs press box. As a professional hockey player, I recognize that I am responsible for what I put into my body, and I will not appeal my suspension. While I am extremely disappointed that I have let my teammates, our fans and the Maple Leafs organization down, I will work very hard during my suspension to stay in game shape so that I can help out the team when I am able to return.” Team President Brendan Shanahan released a statement Thursday, backing the Leagues decision. He added that no further comments would be made out of respect for Ashton and the process involved. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2012 NHL trade deadline, Ashton has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Maple Leafs, registering three assists in 50 games. He was originally selected in the first round (29th overall) by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Cheap Kyle Anderson Jersey . The Islanders own the fifth pick in the 2014 draft but had until June 1 to decide whether to keep it or defer to 2015. The selection was packaged in the teams deal for Thomas Vanek on October 27, 2013. Cheap Mike Conley Jersey . Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced Thursday in a statement that he is resigning in order to "expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. http://www.cheapgrizzliesjerseys.com/. You can watch coverage on TSN, TSN2 and CTV beginning today at 3pm et/Noon pt. The championships will feature approximately 250 of Canadas best figure skaters in senior, junior and novice as they vie for spots on the national team, international assignments and will act as the final step in the 2014 Olympic qualification process. Cheap NBA Jerseys . -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will be out three to six weeks with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand. Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys . -- Colin Kaepernick insists he just happened to pull on a pair of socks with dollar bill prints all over them Wednesday morning -- before he learned he had struck a new fortune with the San Francisco 49ers.MONTREAL -- The throng of 46,121 at Olympic Stadium were rooting more for the defunct Montreal Expos, but they stood and cheered the Toronto Blue Jays just the same. Pinch hitter Ricardo Nanita singled with two out in the ninth to lift the Blue Jays to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on a Friday night that was part exhibition baseball, part tribute to former Expos and Mets catcher Gary Carter and part appeal to the world to bring baseball back to Montreal. It was the first game at the Big O since the Expos farewell game on Sept. 24, 2004, before they moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals. The teams will play again on Saturday afternoon, when the Expos 1994 team will be feted. Carters widow Sandy and daughter Kimmy were on hand with his ex-teammates Tim Raines, Steve Rogers and Warren Cromartie for a pre-game tribute to perhaps the most popular player in Expos history. He also played for and won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets. "The city always embraced Gary, and us as a family" Sandy Carter said afterwards. "I really felt that tonight. We made it our home and felt privileged to be here for 11 years." Carter died of brain cancer at age 57 in 2012. The City of Montreal named a street after him outside the Expos original home, Jarry Park. "He was a great teammate, a great player, a great competitor," said Raines, a roving outfield instructor for the Blue Jays. "Him and Andre Dawson taught me the meaning of playing the game. "If I didnt listen to him, Andre Dawson would slap me upside the head." Many other former players and management personnel were on hand to see the Blue Jays come back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the seventh and win it in the ninth. Fans chanted Lets Go Expos throughout most of the game, but all were on their feet for the final inning trying to will the Blue Jays to victory. Munenori Kawasaki opened the ninth with a double and scored from third as Nanita singled up the middle. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the final two innings for the win. Mets third baseman David Wright, a rookie in 2004, called it a fun night. "It brought back a bunch of memories for me," said Wright. "My first road trip in the big leagues was to Montreal, my first home run was in Montreal, so it was nice today to reminisce as bit. "Its nice for us to be able to come up here and break up spring training a bit, because it gets a little boring down there (in Floridda).dddddddddddd To come up to a great city with an obviously hungry fan base -- its kind of like a dress rehearsal for us. Youve got the big crowd, you get a little more excited than at a normal spring training game. "Its good practice for Monday (the Mets season opener against the Nationals)." The Mets scored two in the fourth off Jays starter Mark Buehrle on Chris Youngs two-run double. Toronto got one back in the fourth on Jose Bautistas home run, but Ruben Tejada doubled and scored on Daniel Murphys two-bagger off Casey Janssen in the fifth. Former Blue Jays prospect Travis dArnaud led off the seventh with a home run, but Edwin Encarnacion tied it with a two-run single in the seventh off Gonzalez Germen. Encarnacion was tagged out in a rundown after the runners scored. Cromartie leads a movement called the Montreal Baseball Project that is working to get a team back in Montreal, even though estimates are that it would cost more than $1 billion for a team and a new ballpark. The Expos, who became Canadas first major league team in 1969, moved to Washington to become the Nationals in 2004 after a decade of fire sales of top players, dwindling attendance and timid ownership. Cromartie and others are trying to revive baseball interest. They called on Montreal fans to turn out in large numbers to the pre-season games to show that the city will support baseball. "If people think there are no fans here -- you see tonight, the support is here," said Raines. "I think it would be good," said Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, a native of Langley, B.C. "If the fans show up -- that would be the telling tale. You need that support. But it would be good for Canada." The Mets are old Expos rivals, but the crowd was behind the Jays from the start. There was a big ovation for a diving defensive play by Lawrie in the third and another an inning later for Bautistas homer. But in the stands, there were periodic chants of Lets Go Expos, just like in the old days. The Blue Jays open the season on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, so the trip north from Florid