With the Montreal Canadiens still not knowing when the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs will begin, Michel Therrien decided to simulate a game day for his team on Monday. "Its almost a week since we last played and this is part of our preparation for the next round," Therrien told the media. The players participated in a simulated morning skate at 10:30am, their usual practice time on game day, and then headed to the Bell Centre at 5pm with their families to take part in some activities the team has planned for them, followed by a scrimmage with members of the Hamilton Bulldogs. "Its good for us to feel the speed of the game again and to get our timing back,” PK Subban said following practice. “Its tough when youve been off for a few days to keep your timing, so it will be good to get in a scrimmage.” It will be a closed door event with the public and the media not allowed to attend. The Canadiens have the day off on Tuesday and should know by Wednesday the schedule for Round 2. .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. .com) - World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and four-time Australian Open titlist Roger Federer were among Mondays fourth-round winners at Melbourne Park.
http://www.cheapwestvirginiajerseys.com ... ege-jersey. -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. . Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 per cent of his to 47 per cent for Kukushkin.On Wednesday, Wild forward Matt Cooke had a disciplinary hearing with the NHL after his knee-on-knee hit on Avalanche defenceman Tyson Barrie. As a result of the hit, Colorado has lost its top offensive defenseman for 4 to 6 weeks with an MCL injury. The CBA sets out the procedure for supplementary discipline. Its found at Article 18 of the CBA and is called "Supplementary Discipline For On-Ice Conduct". Article 18.2 of the CBA provides a list of the factors the league will consider when determining supplementary discipline. They are as follows: (a) The type of conduct involved: conduct outside of NHL rules; excessive force in contact otherwise permitted by NHL rules; and careless or accidental conduct. Players are responsible for the consequences of their actions. (b) Injury to the opposing Player(s) involved in the incident. (c) The status of the offender and, specifically, whether the Player has a history of being subject to Supplementary Discipline for On-Ice Conduct. Players who repeatedly violate League Playing Rules will be more severely punished for each new violation. (d) The situation of the game in which the incident occurred: late in the game, lopsided score, prior events in the game. (e) Such other factors as may be appropriate in the circumstances. So the league will look at all these factors when determining the length of Cookes suspension. One factor that will be the focus will be Article 18.2(c) – Cookes history of violating league rules. To say the least, Cooke has quite the NHL rap sheet. Since 2009, hes been suspended a total of 25 games for hits on Scott Walker, Artem Anisimov, Fedor Tyutin and Ryan McDonagh. Hes also injured other guys with reckless hits, like Sam Gagner, Valeri Niichushkin, Adam McQuaid, Alex Ovechkin, Steve Montador, Evander Kane, Keith Yandle, Erik Karlsson and Rick DiPietro.dddddddddddd And of course he ended Marc Savards career. By the way, the bolded language at 18.(c) is not my doing; the NHL CBA has it bolded so you know its important. The talk about being a repeat offender doesnt apply to the length of the suspension. A repeat offender refers to someone that commits a violation of the league rules within 18 months of another violation. A player that was a repeat offender could get a tougher punishment. Under the old 2005 CBA, repeat offenders were treated more harshly as far as length of a suspension goes. However, the new CBA has some changes in it, including doing away with the repeat offender consideration when assessing length of a suspension (its still around when dealing with suspension compensation – see Article 18.5). Presumably, the NHLPA and NHL were in agreement that the "repeat offender" provision did not capture players who spaced out their transgressions by more than 18 months but were still a threat to player health and safety. On that basis, they agreed to amend the CBA. You have to wonder if this change should be dedicated to Raffi Torres and Matt Cooke as they were likely part of the inspiration for the amendment. As far as length of Cookes suspension, its tough to know since past suspensions have not always been predictable. That being said, given Cookes history of violence, a suspension of at least 15 games would not be a surprise. Frankly, it could easily be more given the reckless and dangerous manner in which he plays the game. Indeed, he may get a high suspension given that Cooke Fatigue has undoubtedly set in. ' ' '