While star teenager Cyle Larin is expected to play a starring role at Thursdays MLS SuperDraft, other Canadians are working hard to get their name called at the podium. Canadian midfielder Jaineil Hoilett and defenders Skylar Thomas and Nikola Paunic are attending the MLS Combine in Florida. Defender Jordan Murrell, a native of Markham, Ont., who played alongside Thomas at Syracuse University, is not at the Combine but has drawn attention.The 19-year-old Larin, who left UConn after two years to sign a Generation Adidas contract, could go No. 1 to expansion Orlando City SC on Thursday at the Philadelphia draft.Larin, a native of Brampton, Ont., has already won three caps for the Canadian senior side. Hes currently in Jamaica with the national under-20 team at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.Montreal picks third overall while Toronto FC has the sixth, ninth and 11th overall picks Thursday. Vancouver will select 13th.Right now pretty much everything is unknown, Thomas said of what lies ahead this week.Right now Im not too sure where I go, but wherever I go I know Ill be happy there, he added. Im ready.Thomas and Paunic, both 21, havent been too far apart at the Combine, which runs through Tuesday. They are rooming together and played 45 minutes next to each other in a Combine game Sunday that saw Thomas score. Its a stressful time for the young players. Not only have most been out of action since the end of their college season, but they find themselves playing on makeshift teams before a high-powered audience of coaches and scouts.Bad weather didnt help matters Sunday.Paunic said he has tried to follow the advice of former South Florida teammate Ben Sweat, who was taken in the first round last year after the Combine.Just go down there, have some fun, play some soccer. Thats it, said Paunic, recalling Sweats words. The 22-year-old Hoilett, the younger brother of Queens Park Rangers midfielder Junior Hoilett, was a late addition to the Combine. He got the invitation while at home in Brampton, Ont., on Friday, one day after most players arrived in Fort Lauderdale.The six-foot-four Thomas, a native of Pickering, Ont., started 56 career games for Syracuse and scored eight goals. A former midfielder, Thomas uses his size to good effect in the air with three goals off set pieces this year — two with his feet and one with his head. Thomas, Murrell and goalkeeper Alex Bono, who is expected to go in the first round, anchored a stingy Syracuse defence that led the Atlantic Coast Conference in fewest goals allowed (12), goals-against average (0.55) and shutouts (12).Bono, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, was called up by the U.S. national team for its January camp.The Orange finished 10th in the rankings with a 16-4-1 record before losing to Georgetown in extra time in the NCAA tournament round of 16.It was a great experience, Thomas said of his senior year. We played well together as a team. We knew it was our last year for some of us ... there was a bit more urgency than there was in previous years.Thomas and Murrell — who formed the Orange back three with Tyler Hilliard last season — go back before Syracuse, playing together on the Canadian under-18 team.The six-foot-three Paunic, who has played for Canada at the under-20 level, started 40 games in two seasons for a South Florida squad assembled from around the world. The 2014 Bulls drew on talent from Canada, the Bahamas, Botswana, Brazil, England, Ghana, Isle of Man, Serbia, South Africa, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S., Uruguay, and Venezuela.I dont think theres a (NCAA) team more diverse than us ... Ive got buddies in South Africa and Ghana and everywhere, said Paunic, whose roots are Serbian. Its great.South Florida (10-7-3) lost to Tulsa 6-5 on penalty kicks in the American Athletic Conference Championship game. The Bulls had upset Larin and UConn 2-0 on penalty kicks in the tournament semifinal.Prior to South Florida, Paunic spent two years at the University of Toronto, captained the Toronto FC academy side and played for the Serbian White Eagles in the Canadian Soccer League. Like Thomas, he raves about his college experience on and off the pitch. Paunic, a former winger, is also complimentary about his time at U of T under coach Anthony Capotosto and at the TFC academy, where he captained the team under coach Danny Dichio.I just thought that the move to the States for my last two years of college would be the right decision and it looks like I made the right choice, he said. Hoilett, who qualifies for the draft as a youth international, saw action Sunday after arriving Saturday at the Combine.It was a bit of rush, got all the paperwork sorted out and getting the flight, he said.Hoilett has spent the last few months staying with his brother and training with QPR. In recent years he has played for a variety of teams in Germany.I loved it there. he said. After I learned the language, it was very easy to adjust. All the people are friendly.There have been other opportunities in Germany, where he says the rules on import player arent as stiff as in England. He wanted to see about options elsewhere — including back home. Hoilett has already trained at Toronto FC and played for its affiliate in Wilmington, N.C. Despite the late invite, the Combine was too good an opportunity to pass up.I had to take the opportunity, he said.So far so good. Hoilett said while his fitness is not perfect, he was happy with his first Combine outing.———Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter. Jaylen Hoard Jersey . Both the top-seeded Djokovic and sixth-seeded Fish took relatively easy paths, with the Serb winning when opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the second set with a sore arm and Fish dominating Janko Tipsarevic in two quick sets. Brandon Roy Jersey . 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Mario Hezonja Jersey . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season.WINNIPEG - Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach Mike OShea knows exactly what the Toronto Argonauts and quarterback Ricky Ray can do to an opponent and Ray isnt all the Bombers have to worry about when they meet Thursday. "Theyve got a lot of weapons," said OShea, Torontos former special teams co-ordinator until he got the top coaching job in Winnipeg. Catch all the action on TSN and TSN 1050 starting at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt, with pre- and post-game coverage available on TSN 1050 and TSN 1290. "It just so happens that the ball always travels through Ricky first. But, obviously, Im quite familiar with all the guys they have and what they can do offensively." The Bombers play the Argos in the CFL opener at Investors Group Field. It kicks off an expanded season with the addition of the Ottawa Redblacks to the CFL East this year and the return of the Bombers to the CFL West. The Bombers made a lot of changes between seasons and likely arent finished. The Argos have also made changes, although on offence coach Scott Milanovich says theyre ready to go. "I expect us not to miss a beat offensively," he said after the Argos landed Wednesday. "Our expectations are pretty high, weve got a lot of players returning," agreed Ray. "Youve still got to do it on game day." But he also said with little pre-season experience, he expects to make a few mistakes. The Toronto defence sounds more like a work in progress under the guidance of former Bomber head coach Tim Burke, now back in a more familiar role as defensive co-ordinator. "Well have a good defence, I think its going to take us some time," Burke said. The Bombers have their own holes to fill. The depth chart for Thursdays game includes six players at middle linebacker, where they lost Henoc Muamba to the NFL. On Wednesday, they added Canadian offensive lineman Gord Hinse, who played in Edmonton last season, although he immediately went on the six-game injured list. Starting well is important to OShea. "Wed like to come out there and be as physical as we can and set a standard, set up a minimum standard for us and keep building from there," said OShea. "Were going our there to win and set a pace for the season." If the Bombers want to see how rookie starting quarterback Drew Willy performs under pressure,, they couldnt ask for a better opponent.dddddddddddd Ray has thrown 3,780 completed passes for 251 touchdowns and three Grey Cups over 11 seasons in the league with Edmonton and Toronto. "Sometimes I cant believe Im going into my 12th year," he said Wednesday. Willy has completed just 101 for nine touchdowns and has only four starts in his prior two seasons as a backup in Regina. The Bombers are staking a lot on Willy as they try to appease fans turned off by recent struggles, while the Argos want to get back to the Grey Cup after stumbling in last years East final. Willy says keeping Ray off the field as much as possible is going to be a key for the Bombers Thursday. "We definitely need to be efficient," he said of the offence. "We need to make sure our drives take some time." Oh, and scoring touchdowns rather than field goals would also be good, he noted. One thing Willy brings to the table is durability. He says he has only missed two games due to injury in his career, a hand injury in practice that cost him two games when he was in his sophomore career at the University of Buffalo. The Argos brought rookie running back and Winnipeg native Anthony Coombs along. He sits third on their depth chart behind imports Curtis Steele and Jeremiah Johnson. "This time its for keeps so Im exited to be out there," said Coombs, who also saw action in their exhibition game in Winnipeg. Veteran Winnipeg offensive lineman Glenn January couldnt promise a win but he did promise a lot of effort come Thursday night "I think were going to be a passionate team and were going to be a well-prepared team," he said. "If we go out there and we do stumble and dont get the win, its not the end of the world. Its an 18-game season." The Argonauts finished 11-7 in the regular season last year but then fell to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final. Hamilton went to the Grey Cup but lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home in Regina. "Right now were an average football team. We have a potential to be more than that," said Milanovich. After a 3-15 season that cost Burke his job, the Bombers were a long way from average last year. The Argos beat the Bombers all three times last season and also beat them in their first pre-season game this year, 24-22. ' ' '