PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have insisted during their extensive front office overhaul that the on-ice product doesnt need to change much for the franchise to return to the NHLs elite. Small tweaks, not big ones, are required. Mike Johnstons job is to figure out which ones to make and -- perhaps even more importantly -- how to make them work. The Penguins hired the well-travelled Johnston to replace Dan Bylsma on Wednesday, charging the hockey lifer with creating the right system for stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to thrive in both the regular season and beyond. Considering the talent at his disposal, the 57-year-old Johnston likes his chances. After spending the last six years with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League preaching an uptempo attack, Johnston welcomes the opportunity to work with one of the most explosive offences in the NHL. "The core group is exactly where I want it," Johnston said. Good, because theyre not going anywhere. Instead, its everything around Malkin and Crosby -- who earned his second Hart Trophy as the NHLs Most Valuable Player on Tuesday -- that is changing. Johnstons hiring ends a tumultuous six weeks in which the Penguins were bounced from the Eastern Conference semifinals by the New York Rangers after blowing a 3-1 lead, fired Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero, and brought in longtime Carolina Hurricanes executive Jim Rutherford to clean up the mess. Rutherford settled on Johnston after a lengthy interview process that included an ill-fated run at Willie Desjardins, who opted to take the vacant job in Vancouver. Regardless of the path taken, Rutherford is confident he ended up at the right destination. "I feel very strongly that weve got the right coach," Rutherford said. One whose success will depend on his ability to take Pittsburgh on extended playoff runs. Bylsma won more games than any coach in club history but was fired on June 6 after going just 4-5 in post-season series since leading the Penguins to the 2009 Stanley Cup title. Johnston understands the onus to win on a given night, but stressed the focus will be on preparing Pittsburgh for the challenges of hockey in May and June, not October or November. "The bottom-line expectation for me is that, from training camp through the first part of the season, everything we do is setting the table for the playoffs," Johnston said. "The score is relevant but its not as relevant as the habits that we are going to have to make us successful in the playoffs." Pittsburgh is Johnstons first NHL head coaching job, though he spent two previous stints as an assistant with Vancouver and the Los Angeles Kings. He said he has a bit to learn about the challenges of an 82-game NHL season, which is one of the reasons the Penguins also brought in Rick Tocchet to serve as Johnstons top assistant. Tocchet played 18 years in the NHL, including two seasons in Pittsburgh, where the four-time All-Star helped the Penguins win their second Stanley Cup championship in 1992. The 50-year-old Tocchet also spent more than a season as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-10. While Tocchet said that his old team has underachieved in recent springs, he doesnt see that as a stumbling block. "There are teams that wish they had (Pittsburghs) problems," Tocchet said. "The way Mike is going to coach this team, the way these guys play is high tempo. Its something guys are going to enjoy." Tocchet replaces Todd Reirden and Tony Granato, holdovers from Bylsmas staff who were let go on Wednesday. The Penguins retained goaltending coach Mike Bales and video co-ordinator Andy Saucier. Assistant coach Jacques Martin will also remain with the team in an undetermined capacity. Johnston is hardly a novice when it comes to dealing with pressure or highly skilled players. He was a part of Canadas coaching staff at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the first Games in which NHL players were allowed to compete. It led to nearly a decade as an assistant with Vancouver (1999-2006) and the Kings (2006-08) before he landed in Portland, where he spent six years helping young players navigate the choppy waters of professional life. The seas will be only more tumultuous in one of the NHLs most high-profile jobs. Johnston is OK with the pressure. With the 26-year-old Crosby and the 27-year-old Malkin in the midst of their primes, there are worst places to start. "This group wants to win," he said. "Theyve won the Stanley Cup, and I believe they want to do it again." . New York Red Bulls. TSN primes Vancouver fans for the start of the 2014 season with MLS on TSN: Season Preview Special airing tonight at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt on TSN2 (encore Friday at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt on TSN2). .C. -- LeBron James called comments on an audio recording of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "appalling" and said hes not sure if he would suit up for the remainder of the NBA playoffs if he played for the Clippers.
http://www.fcbarcelonapro.com/Kids-Andre-Gomes-Jersey/. The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. Chris Archer lasted 2 1/3 innings in the no-decision, charged with a run and five hits, and Alex Torres suffered the loss in relief. . Dallas (2-0-1) sits atop the Western Conference with an MLS-best seven points. Castillo opened the scoring in the 71st minute off a Mauro Diaz set piece, and Watson outran defender Tony Lochhead on a long ball and then juked goalkeeper Ian Kennedy for the eventual game-winner in the 78th minute. . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling.NEW YORK -- This one was so easy for the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony only needed to play 28 minutes. That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Jeremy Tyler added a career-high 17 points and fellow reserve J.R. Smith also scored 17 for the Knicks, who lost by 41 the last time the Celtics came to Madison Square Garden but led this one by 35. "Todays game in particular, it was kind of personal, you know what Im saying, the way they beat us the last time we played them," forward Kenyon Martin said. "So we wanted a little get-back." Anthony, who leads the NBA in minutes per game with 39.2, was quick on his feet after the game, easily handling a question about his relationship with Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau (he said he doesnt have one) and one about comments made by his wife, actress La La Anthony, who has a new book out called "The Love Playbook" and said in a TV interview that she "definitely" thinks he will re-sign with the Knicks. "Thats my wife. I support her, I support what she said," Anthony said. "I dont think she said anything wrong. Its a good thing for her to say that. Go get the book though, your wives and girlfriends will enjoy the book." New York evened its record at 3-3 on its eight-game homestand, with games remaining against Cleveland on Thursday and Miami on Saturday. New York is headed in the right direction again since ending a five-game losing streak Friday behind Anthonys 62 points, and is only a half-game out of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot despite its 18-27 record. "Youre going to have ups and downs throughout the season," centre Tyson Chandler said. "The thing is when you have those lulls youve got to be able to bounce back, and weve done that." Jeff Green scored 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Celtics, who have lost three straight and six of seven. Rajon Rondo had seven points and five assists, shooting 3 of 13 in his sixth game of the season after retturning from a torn ACL.dddddddddddd "It was a good old-fashioned butt kicking," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. After finishing up their Super Bowl media day duties, the Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson and Golden Tate, and Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker of Denver were part of the sellout crowd of 19,812. Hopefully their game Sunday will be better than this clunker. Boston jumped to a 12-0 lead in its 114-73 victory here on Dec. 8, when it handed New York its worst home loss in 11 years. But it never really got much better this season for the Celtics, who led the Atlantic Division at 10-12 after that victory but are 5-20 since. "We didnt take anything away tonight," Rondo said. "We pretty much gave them everything they wanted. They took away stuff from us but we didnt take anything away from those guys." The Knicks jumped to a 21-5 lead helped by the Celtics lack of execution (they missed 11 of their first 13 shots) and effort (6-foot-1 Raymond Felton grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket without even having to jump on one possession). New York led 31-15 after one and opened a 45-20 bulge when Chandler threw down an alley-oop pass from Smith midway through the second. The Celtics scored 11 straight to cut it to 14, but the Knicks outscored them 18-6 the remainder of the half to take a 63-37 lead. The Knicks overcame the loss of Iman Shumpert to a sprained right shoulder just over 4 minutes into the game. Martin left with a sprained left ankle in his first game after missing five games with the same injury, though the team said he was available to return. New York also announced at halftime that reserve guard Beno Udrih was unavailable because of illness, but everyone else who was active scored. That included Metta World Peace, who played for the first time in a month after having a procedure on his left knee and made a 3-pointer. Notes: Jerryd Bayless was back for Boston after missing four games with a sprained left big toe. ... Chris Johnson scored 12 points for the Celtics on the day he was signed to a second 10-day contract. ... There was a moment of silence before the game for Hall of Famer Tom Gola, an All-Star with the Knicks in the 1960s who died Sunday. ' ' '
