TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs resume their post-Olympic NHL schedule next Thursday when they visit the New York Islanders but whether injured forward Dave Bolland is in the lineup remains uncertain. Bollands agent Anton Thun says the Mimico, Ont., native still needs one more doctors visit to get final clearance to return to game action. While the rest of his teammates headed for vacation destinations during the Olympic break, Bolland spent his time skating with his former junior team, the London Knights. "I was inside, you can tell by my tan," Bolland joked Thursday. "I was mostly inside the rink doing my rehab and trying to get back in that game mode. "Its close. Getting there. Im on my way upward." Bolland, who has been out since Nov. 2 recovering from a skate cut to his left ankle, travelled with the team on their final pre-Olympic road trip to Florida and Tampa Bay. At the time, coach Randy Carlyle said there was a 50 per cent chance Bolland could play but following Thursdays first post-Olympic-break practice, the forward was still dealing with pain. "Youre always going to feel the pain," said Bolland, who still participated in a full practice, including a 10-minute bag skate. "I know coming off the ice every day youre feeling pain and its always aching and bugging you. Its never going to be fine. I know every day I come off the ice, Im always in the trainers room getting ice." Dion Phaneuf knows what Bolland is going through, having dealt with his own skate cut during the 2010-11 season. Phaneuf had his MCL severed by a skate during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers and missed nearly a month. "Any time you come back from any injury, you want to test it in a game because games are a lot different than practice," Phaneuf said. "You can ask any guy that comes back from anything . . . game speed is different than in practice. It takes you a little while to get back to feeling 100 per cent but Im sure hes going to come back . . . I just know when we get him back its a big boost for our team." When Bolland does return, Carlyle said he would be eased into the lineup, likely sparing him from penalty-killing duties. However, the addition of Bolland gives Carlyle added depth. "Any time you can add of that calibre, it does change the makeup of your lineup," said the coach. "We think that Bolland and Mason Raymond and whoever we decide to put there (gives) us a 2A and a 2B type of offensive numbers. Thats what were really looking for." Prior to the injury, Bolland was on pace for his best season with six goals and 10 points in 15 games. But after missing 45 games, he doesnt expect to pick up where he left off. "My expectations will be a little bit lower and things wont be as high but I know gradually, the first two or three games, Ill be back in the mix." 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Drew Bledsoe Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Brian Vickers is eager to get back on the racetrack and prove to everyone he still has what it takes to win Sprint Cup races following emergency open heart surgery last month.Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, Vickers said Tuesday during NASCARs annual media week. I am still kicking.Vickers will miss the first two Cup races as part of his recovery process, but has been given a clean bill of health to begin racing March 8 at Las Vegas. He will drive the No. 55 Aarons Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.Vickers said doctors told him that three months will be more than enough time for his chest to heal after they were forced to crack open his sternum on Dec. 15 to repair a hole in his heart for a second time.I feel great, said Vickers, a three-time Sprint Cup Series winner who had nine top-10 finishes last season and finished 22nd in the final standings.The December setback was the third major health scare for Vickers since 2010.Five years ago he underwent a pair of procedures — one to close a hole in his heart and another to insert a stent into a vein in his left leg. He missed 25 races during the 2010 season. He would miss an additional five races in 2013 after being placed on blood thinners to treat a blood clot in his right calf.Vickers said the latest procedure was the most traumatic and the toughest to recover from, calling it painful and extreme. He briefly contemplated retiring from racing.I have had to deal with a lot of these emotions and thoughts several times now, Vickers said. Could I ever race again and, if I could, would I want to? ... There was times where I was like, somebody is trying to tell me something.But Vickers said he is driven to win a Sprint Cup championship, and doesnt want tto look back later in life in regret passing up a chance to reach that goal.ddddddddddddVickers took over as a full-time driver for Michael Waltrip Racing last year after sharing a seat with Mark Martin in 2012 and most of 2013. His only win in 58 races with MWR came at New Hampshire in 2013.Vickers toughness has resonated with the man who writes his checks.Not a lot of people have gone through what that young man has gone through, Waltrip said. His determination and his desire to be a champion in the Sprint Cup series is something that motivates our whole team.Vickers latest heart issue came in December when he became ill on the way to a photo shoot. He wound up at Carolinas Medical Center where doctors rushed him into surgery to repair the hole in his heart after his body rejected his artificial patch that was initially used in 2010.At the time, the 31-year-old Vickers was told he may never race again.It was a pretty traumatic event going through that, Vickers said. It was the worst of all the medical procedures I have had to face.Through it all, Vickers hasnt lost his sense of humour.He sat on stage Tuesday joking with teammate Clint Bowyer about how doctors replaced his heart with that of a lion.Yeah, its way stronger, Bowyer cracked.Waltrip will fill in for Vickers at the Daytona 500, while Brett Moffitt will race the second week at Atlanta.After that, its all Vickers.He said he has been training feverishly to get healthy. He swam two miles in the pool over the weekend.Hes primarily focused on strengthening his chest.There was a lot of uncertainty going into the surgery, Vickers said. Unfortunately I have had to hear that youll never go racing again too many times in my life. But Ive been able to get past that. ' ' '