A day after general manager Mike Gillis expressed doubt over his own future and that of his bench boss, Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella wouldnt let himself be drawn into the speculation over his job status after the season. "Mike Gillis is my boss and I cant speak for Mike," said Tortorella of his bosss comments on Friday afternoon. "I dont know how to answer to him because I cant speak for him. I dont want to do that. Mike and I are always talking, but to answer that, I just cant. Its not fair to him or me." Sitting six points out of the final wild card in the Western Conference with only five games to play, the Canucks are set to miss the playoffs for just the third time in 13 seasons and the first time since 2008. Still, Tortorella expressed no interest in publicly discussing his teams and, by extension, his own future. "Youre digging at a spot Id rather talk internally about," he said. "Thats probably something we can talk about after the season is over. I have to worry about coaching a hockey team. We have five more games, a team that needs to better and thats my focus." Gillis spoke on Thursday of his teams inability to play up to the style and level of play that theyre accustomed to for much of the season and Tortorella acknowledged his concerns, but maintained that he and Gillis shared a similar vision. "The style of play that were teaching, were on the same page, yes," he explained. "And it was a style of play that we played at the beginning of the year and no one else is responsible for the falter of the team and not staying up with the style of play that needs to be played here than me. I let it go just through our whole situation with the injuries and didnt grab a hold of it quick enough. No one else is responsible." While placing the onus on himself for his teams decline in play, Tortorella shot down the suggestion that he was overworking his star players to the point of injury. The Canucks have lost 282 man games to injury with key contributors including Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa missing significant time. "Its easy to look at numbers and say you played them too much and that is not why theres been a struggle there," said Tortorella. "Youre not going to talk me into that. It just isnt, but I certainly have tried in the second part, as weve tried to get healthy in the second part of the year, tried to stretch it, but a lot of it is determined on depth within your line-up. I dont want to go much further than that because I think Ill be a little bit too critical and I dont want to do that here. Thats an organizational-type situation and an organizational conversation." The Canucks are next in action on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings. . Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks place in the NFC championship game. . A lovely summer day in England with abundant sunshine and minimal wind allowed him to attack Royal Liverpool.
http://www.cheapbrewersjerseysauthentic ... unt-jersey. -- Hal Steinbrenner says Alex Rodriguez is "a great player" and "obviously an asset," but the New York Yankees managing general partner wouldnt discuss the third basemans possible return to the team following a season-long suspension. . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth.CLEVELAND - LeBron James shot miserably. His passes were errant. He didnt look good doing much other than tossing powder in the air.His homecoming was horrendous.I didnt press, James said, dismissing nerves as a factor. I didnt do much.James struggled from the start in his first game with Cleveland in four years, and the New York Knicks ruined the megastars emotional return home with a 95-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.James, who returned to the Cavs and his native Ohio this summer after winning two NBA titles in Miami, finished with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He also committed eight turnovers and never looked comfortable on a night when the entire city — and a star-studded crowd — celebrated his comeback.It was a special night, he said. Im glad it was great, but Im also glad its over.Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and buried a baseline jump shot with James in his face with 25 seconds left to give the Knicks a 92-87 lead.Kyrie Irving scored 22 and Kevin Love added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who have some work to before they can start thinking about winning any titles.Iman Shumpert and Jason Smith had 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who were embarrassed at home on Wednesday by Chicago but then returned the favour on a monumental night for Cleveland.It was pretty incredible, New York forward Amare Stoudemire said, describing the atmosphere. I havent seen anything like that before. The city was on fire. It was great to kind of spoil the excitement — great for us.James was greeted with a thunderous ovation before the game by more than 20,000 fans, who had been counting down the days until the opener since he announced he was coming back home in a touching essay on July 11. There were thousands more packing the streets outside Quicken Loans Arena as an entire region came together to welcome him.This was more than a game for Cleveland. It was a homecoming, an event and a city-wide block party rolled into one.The Knicks wrecked it, giving rookie coach Derek Fisher his first win.Youve got to give them credit, Irving said. They made tough shots.New York, booed at times by the Madison Square Garden crowd a night earlier, built a seven-point lead in the third quarter and was up 86-77 on Anthonys bucket with 3:07 remaining.With James unable to find his shot, Irving kept Cleveland close and his jumper brought the Cavs within 88-85 with 1:43 left. But J.R. Smith hit a jump shot, and after James made a driving layup, Anthony knocked down his baseline jumper with his good friend guarding him to put away the Cavs.ddddddddddddJames started poorly, shooting just 1 of 9 from the field in the first half. He also had a miscommunication with Irving, who broke to the basket just as James was firing him a pass and the ball flew into the first row of seats next to film director and super Knicks fan Spike Lee.I was throwing passes where I thought some of my teammates were, said James, who sat out Clevelands final preseason game and welcomed a new baby girl last week. Those things will come.Clevelands best moments came before the game.Afraid to miss a single moment, the sold-out crowd, which included pop star Justin Bieber, Browns players Johnny Manziel and Joe Haden, and R&B artist Usher, stood as soon as James emerged from the tunnel.As tip-off approached, a new Nike commercial in which James huddles his teammates together and the entire city joins them, was shown on the Qs gargantuan new scoreboard. The crowd reacted throughout the poignant piece and James watched along with crowd from the bench, nodding his head in appreciation when it ended.Hes home, but he didnt come back just to reunite with friends and family. James wants to win a title for this title-starved town, which hasnt celebrated a pro sports championship since 1964.The journey has started. It wont be easy.It was one game, James said, and weve got to learn from it.TIP-INSKnicks: New Yorks bench outscored Clevelands 41-12. ... C Andrea Bargnani remains sidelined with a strained right hamstring. New York was also without starting PG Jose Calderon, who has a strained right calf and is expected to be out at least two weeks. Calderon underwent an MRI in New York.Cavaliers: The Cavs are nearing agreements on contract extensions for centres Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson. Both are in the final seasons of their deals, and the club could have both locked up in coming days. Friday at midnight is the deadline for the team to finalize a deal for Thompson.MELLOW MELOThe Cavaliers have some obvious issues to address, but Anthony is confident James and Co. will be get things fixed.Everybody expects it to automatically work, Anthony said. Its going to take some time. It took time in Miami for him. Hell figure it out. Theyll figure it out. I dont see anything that they wont figure out. UP NEXTKnicks: Hosts Charlotte on Sunday.Cavaliers: Visits Chicago on Friday. ' ' '
