Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins told media on Wednesday that the team had no intentions of trading struggling forward Nail Yakupov. "All of whats out there is 100 per cent untrue," the first-year coach told reporters outside of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where the Oilers - last in the Western Conference - play the Lightning on Thursday night. Eakins felt it necessary to personally inform the second-year player that rumours he might be hearing about his impending move from the Alberta capital hold no weight. “Nail Yakupov is not being shopped," said Eakins. "Hes not going anywhere and I wanted him to hear that from me and look me in my eyes and let him know that, hey, were attached at the hip. Were going to make him a better player and its okay to struggle.” In 14 games this season, Yakupov, the first-overall pick in the 2012 draft, has just one goal, after posting 17 in last years shortened season. In Tuesdays overtime win against the Florida Panthers, the Russian played a scant three minutes in the thrid period and overtime. Still, Eakins looks to past players who had high expections thrust upon them and didnt live up to them early on. “Guys like Joe Thornton, the kid, here, [Steven] Stamkos," said Eakins, whose Oilers are 4-10-2. "Those guys struggled early in their careers and boy, they turned out to be pretty good players. Hes 20-years old and were not just going to give up on a guy because hes going through a rough stretch." After Thursday nights game in Tampa Bay, the Oilers head to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the equally flagging Flyers. . The same cant be said of last Saturdays 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium against a very weakened New York Red Bulls side and one which had three stalwarts in Henry, Cahill and Olave back home in Harrison, NJ. . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season.
http://www.cheapsteelersjerseysonline.c ... sey-online. A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. . It took five games, but the Celtics finally helped Stevens earn his first NBA victory. "Im going to celebrate for a whole 12 minutes, and then Im going to start watching Orlando and trying to figure them out," the first-year Celtics coach said after Boston beat the Utah Jazz, one of the leagues other winless teams, 97-87 on Wednesday night. . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. Ancelotti says "Gareth had some problems at the beginning (of the season) but when he found good physical condition he scored a lot of goals, he had a good impact on the team.FIFA mens world rankings (last months position in parentheses) : The Top 20 RANK TEAM POINTS LAST MONTH 1 Germany 1687 1 (-) 2 Argentina 1490 2 (-) 3 Belgium 1457 3 (-) 4 Colombia 1412 4 (-) 5 Brazil 1354 5 (-) 6 Netherlands 1301 6 (-) 7 Portugal 1221 7 (-) 8 Uruguay 1176 8 (-) 9 Switzerland 1135 9 (-) 10 Spain 1132 10 (-) 11 France 1127 11 (-) 12 Romania 1086 12 (-) 13 Italy 1085 13 (-) 14 England 1030 14 (-) 15 Costa Rica 1014 15 (-) 16 Chhile 991 16 (-) 17 Croatia 977 17 (-) 18 Czech Republic 923 19 (+1) 19 Slovakia 920 20 (+1) 20 Algeria 917 21 (+1) Canada is 115th in the May rankings Womens Rankings (last updated Mar.dddddddddddd 27) The Top 10 RANK TEAM POINTS LAST MONTH 1 Germany 2168 1 (-) 2 USA 2158 2 (-) 3 France 2103 3 (-) 4 Japan 2066 4 (-) 5 Sweden 2008 5 (-) 6 England 2001 6 (-) 7 Brazil 1984 7 (+1) T8 Canada 1969 T8 (+1) T8 North Korea 1969 T8 (-1) 10 Australia 1968 10 (-) ' ' '
