TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays had to send Canadian third baseman Brett Lawrie south of the border to move their team forward.Lawrie, from Langley, B.C., was traded from Toronto to the Oakland Athletics on Friday for all-star third baseman Josh Donaldson. Shortstop Franklin Barreto as well as pitchers Sean Nolin and Kendall Graveman were also sent to Oakland as part of the deal.Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said it was very difficult to trade the 24-year-old Lawrie, who hit .247 with nine doubles, 12 home runs and 38 runs batted in through 70 games last season. He hit .265 with 61 doubles, 43 home runs and 157 RBIs over four years with Toronto.You get attached to these guys, said Anthopoulos. Obviously, Bretts been here a while and hes still so young and you love the way he plays, the energy he brings. I talked to him on the phone and it was a hard conversation. Rightfully so, he was a Toronto Blue Jay through and through. Tough to see him go.We would have loved to have kept him. We tried. But I dont think this deal was getting done without Brett.Athletics GM Billy Beane confirmed in a separate conference call that the deal would not have proceeded without the inclusion of Lawrie and all three prospects.We wouldnt have done the deal unless it addressed now and the future and they were able to do that. This deal in our minds addresses a little bit of everything, said Beane. It got pretty serious the last 48 hours. They were reluctant to give up all four players and we werent going to do it without those four players in the deal.The 28-year-old Donaldson finished eighth in AL MVP voting this year after hitting .255 for Oakland with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs. A right-handed hitter, Donaldson had a .342 on-base percentage while finishing sixth in the American League with 76 walks. He has a career batting average of .268 with 63 home runs and 228 RBIs and a .347 on-base percentage in 405 games.Anthopoulos also pointed to Donaldsons intangibles and how he would mesh with the rest of the Blue Jays batting order as factors in the deal.Hes a very good defensive player. Gamer, hard-nosed, durable, if you look at his games played the last two years. An intense guy, wants to win, said Anthopoulos. A guy that can hit in the middle of our order. Hes going to fit well with (Edwin) Encarnacion and (Jose) Bautista.I dont know how (manager) John Gibbons will set the lineup up, but I expect those guys to be somewhere in the middle. Hell just kind of solidify things in the middle of our order.Lawrie struggled with injuries throughout his time in Toronto, including breaking his hand this past season when he was hit by a pitch. He also ended the 2014 season on the Blue Jays 60-day disabled list with an oblique strain. Anthopoulos was quick to point out that many of Lawries injuries were accidental and that they played no role in Torontos decision to trade him.Put the obliques aside, but some of the injuries have been freak. Getting hit in the hand, those are some freak injuries. Guys throw and you break your hand, said Anthopoulos. No, (the injuries) didnt come into play. We really liked Donaldson. We wanted to get him. Those were the players that they needed, those were the players that they wanted.Ultimately, as much as you dont want to part with those guys, youre going to have to give up some pretty good players to get a guy like Donaldson.Nolin, 24, spent most of the 2014 season with triple-A Buffalo where he posted a 4-6 record with a 3.50 earned-run average in 17 starts. The left-hander appeared in one game for Toronto in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons, posting a 0-1 record and a 27.00 ERA.Graveman had a 14-6 record and a 1.83 ERA in 27 starts with four of the Blue Jays minor league affiliates, working his way up from single-A to Buffalo. The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five relief appearances for Toronto last season.The 18-year-old Barreto hit .311 last season for the single-A Vancouver Canadians with 23 doubles, six home runs and 61 RBIs in 73 games. In his two minor league seasons Barreto has hit .296 with 10 home runs and 61 RBIs.One of the hardest things about our game, saying goodbye to a great person, amazing teammate and friend! You will be missed! @blawrie13, said Bautisa from his verified Twitter account in a message that was retweeted by Lawrie.In contrast, we also get to welcome a new member to our squad!! Come on @BringerOfRain20 lets get those leg kicks going!! added Bautista in a second tweet, referring to Donaldsons Twitter account.Anthopoulos applauded Lawries professionalism in taking the news of being traded.He was surprised, but he was outstanding and he understood. Sad to see him go, said Anthopoulos. I told him that the organization, everyone really appreciated the way he plays, everything he did while he was here. I think he really wanted to be part of this.Brett was all about the Toronto Blue Jays and doing whatever he could to help us.___With files from The Associated PressFollow @jchidleyhill on Twitter .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. . Schaub will start for an injured Case Keenum and try to help the Texans end a 12-game skid. Schaubs last action in Houston came when he took over late in a game against Oakland on Nov. 17 as Keenum was struggling.
http://www.cheapnhlkingsjerseysauthenti ... ehr-jersey. Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination.PHILADELPHIA -- As soon as warmups began, the familiar boos for Sidney Crosby reverberated through the arena. Flyers fans had long perfected that chorus against Philadelphias top antagonist. The sound grew louder after the final horn -- this time directed at the home team, the one buried in last place in the NHL. Crosby, Jussi Jokinen and Chris Kunitz scored goals, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Thursday night. The Penguins were the latest team to stomp the cellar-dwelling Flyers. Off to their worst start after eight games, the Flyers are 1-7 and mired in last place, with only a miserable two points. Consider, the Flyers have had more head coaches (2) than wins (1) this season. "Weve got to start believing in each other, believing in ourselves, and going out and play hockey like we can," coach Craig Berube said. Clearly, the coaching switch from Peter Laviolette, fired after an 0-3 start, to Berube isnt working. Evgeni Malkin added an empty-net goal in the final seconds, and Marc-Andre Fleury made an early lead stand with 24 saves. Fleury is 6-0 and has more wins than all but one team in the East. "He looks strong the whole season. He looked strong in the game," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. All the Penguins looked strong against the Flyers. The Penguins outplayed them from the opening faceoff, and nearly doubled the Flyers in shots through two periods. Crosby, who has 29 career goals against the Flyers, has a career-best, seven-game point streak to start the season. Unlike their cross-state rivals, the Penguins (6-1) are riding high atop the East. "Its nice to get rewarded early on, and to build some confidence and momentum," Crosby said. Wayne Simmonds had the lone goal for the Flyers, who have yet to score more than two in a game this season. The Penguins grabbed control for good in the second period, taking shot after point-blank shot at Steve Mason. At one point, the Penguins camped out in the Philadelphia zone and held a 20-8 shots advantage. Sprawled on the ice, Mason made two straight fantastic saves against Matt Kiskanen and Deryk Engelland. Again, the Flyers couldnt generate offence. Matt Read made a sweet steal at the blue line and took off on a breakaway but then whiffed from the circle. He slammed his stick against the boards on his shift change.dddddddddddd The Flyers later failed on three attempts to clear the puck, and Jokinen pounced, scoring his fourth goal of the season for the 1-0 lead. Jokinen scored on Pittsburghs 22nd shot. The punchless Flyers didnt attempt their first shot of the second until 10 1-2 minutes in. "When youre only scoring one goal a game, its tough to win hockey games," Mason said. Kunitz punched in a rebound with 7:45 left for a 2-0 lead. Yet, as badly as they were outplayed, the Flyers hung tight. Simmonds screened Fleury and redirected Claude Girouxs shot with 2 seconds left to make it 2-1 and end Philadelphias 0 for 18 power-play skid. Giroux has had a miserable season and hasnt scored a goal. As captain, Giroux has taken the public stand that the Flyers can still turn around the season. "Tonight is going to be a game to bring the fans back on our side and show them were a good team and can win games," he said after the morning skate. So much for that. "Obviously, thats how I felt," Giroux said. "I think if we would have won that game, it would have been a big turning point. But it didnt happen." Crosbys tip-in with 2:32 left for his sixth goal of the season sealed the win. Giroux hooked Malkin only 1:01 into the game, and the Flyers were whistled for two penalties in the opening 6 minutes. Simmonds misfired on an open net, and Jakub Voracek got cute on an open look and failed on a backhander when he could have flicked in the puck. The Penguins won 12 of 20 faceoffs in the first, and dominated the rest of the way. About the only reason for Flyers fans to cheer came in the second intermission when the public address announcer said an assist had been taken away from Crosby. He entered with an NHL-high 12 points (five goals, seven assists). Crosby, though, got the point back. "You really just focus on your work ethic and making sure youre committed to doing what you need to do every night," Crosby said. "Sometimes, it doesnt work out that way, especially early on. But we found a way to win games for different reasons." NOTES: Flyers D Kimmo Timonen sustained a lower-body injury late in the second and didnt return. ... The Penguins have scored at least three goals in every game this season. ' ' '
