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VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Chad Johnson made a sharp cut to free himself from a defender, and then hauled in a pass at the 53-yard line. Yes, the 53. Football is going to be a little different now for the former NFL star. The receiver who once changed his last name to Ochocinco might be hearing a lot of "O Canada" this summer, and he insists hes humbled for that opportunity. Johnson was on the field with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL on Tuesday for the start of their three-day minicamp, and theres a very realistic chance that he will be with them when their season starts for real in June. "Its just football. Its football," Johnson said. "Its not about Montreal. Its about the opportunity to be able to play football again, something I love." Its something he lost two years ago. Johnson last appeared in an NFL game during the 2011 season with New England. He was in training camp with the Miami Dolphins -- his hometown team -- the following summer, but his contract was terminated one day after he was charged with misdemeanour domestic battery. A plea deal was eventually worked out, but after a probation violation Johnson wound up going to jail for a few days anyway after a judge objected to the way he slapped his attorney on the backside in celebration. He hasnt played since. "A horrible mistake," Johnson said. "A dream of mine since I was 4 years old was taken from me, rightfully so, by my wrongdoings and I just want to get back to doing something that I love to do, regardless of where it is. Montreal, flag football, back in the street the way I grew up . I just want to play football." The Alouettes have a history of not judging players by their checkered pasts, as evidenced by how they once gave former Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips a chance on what became a Grey Cup-winning team in Montreal. "Its all business," Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said. "Its real. Hes in great shape. He wants to play and well see how things are." Popp shrugged off the notion that Johnsons presence is a publicity stunt. "None of you would know it was here unless it got tweeted out," Popp said. And Twitter does play quite a role in this story, since Johnson -- one of the worlds most popular athletes when it comes to social media -- used the power of his 3.6 million followers to help get the Alouettes attention. "Power of Twitter," Johnson said, grinning. The Alouettes were working out at Dodgertown, where some schoolkids were playing baseball on a nearby field. When their game ended, about a dozen of them came over to the football field to chant "Oc-ho-cin-co!" repeatedly. Some fans wearing his old Cincinnati Bengals jerseys watched, as did a couple in Patriots colours. "Like a kid again," Johnson said. He showed Tuesday that he can still run routes, and right there is why Montreal is eager to take a closer look. The CFL game is very much passing-friendly, and that can be at least partially attributed to several rule deviations from the NFL game. Teams in the CFL have only three downs to gain 10 yards instead of four. The field is 10 yards longer from goal line to goal line, is about 10 yards wider, and the end zones are 20 yards deep -- twice as long as those used in high school, college and pro play in the U.S. Montreal quarterback Troy Smith, the former Ohio State standout, said most people dont realize how much talent is in the CFL. And he believes Johnson can make an impact. "I know hes going to bring some fun and excitement to the team," Smith said. In short, even though theres 12 players on the field per team instead of 11, theres plenty of room for offences to manoeuvr. And in Canada, receivers cant be blocked or jammed unless theyre within a yard of the line of scrimmage. Of course, if Johnson heads to the CFL, he wont be exactly getting rich. The salary cap in the CFL is $4.4 million per team -- Johnson has had years where hes made about twice that much by himself. The average salary is around $85,000. "I dont even need a check," Johnson said. "Didnt I give it all away for 12 years straight? Think about it. Did I ever care about money when I played throughout my career? Still dont. I want to have fun. I want to enjoy the game. Thats it." . The 29-year-old Mills started three games for Oakland this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.41 earned-run average. He opened the season appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers triple-A affiliate in Nashville, posting a 4-2 record with a 1. . Prado stuck his glove down with Colorados Charlie Blackmon sliding into the bag, and quickly jumped back in pain after applying the tag. Prado held his left wrist as trainers came out of the Diamondbacks dugout to check him. .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. . On the eve of the 2013-14 NBA season, he can finally take a step back and allow his team to do the talking. . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season.MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens are wondering where their power play has gone. What used to be their best weapon has mostly been firing blanks for the last month or so. And while they didnt need it much to sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of NHL playoffs, it could come in awfully handy when they face the Boston Bruins in an Eastern Conference semifinal later this week. The Canadiens went 0-for-23 over the final eight regular season games with the man advantage and scored on only two of 13 chances against the Lightning, although one was Max Paciorettys series-clinching goal with 43 seconds left in Game 4 in Montreal. It has got to where they dont talk about scoring goals so much as building "momentum" off the power play. "We worked on the power play (Monday) and well work on it more," coach Michel Therrien said this week. "We want to create momentum on the power play and were working with that in mind." The Canadiens have spent a lot of time in practice over the past month trying to find answers. Early in the season, they were scoring regularly until opponents started keying on P.K. Subbans big point shot. Since then, the Canadiens have had trouble finding a winning formula. They will need it to keep the bigger, more physical Bruins honest and to match the Boston power play, which went 6-for-16 in a five-game win over the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round. The Bruins used to labour on the power play. They beat Montreal in seven games in a 2011 first round series despite going 0-for-23 with the man advantage. But that was before they picked up slick point man Torey Krug, which allowed them to move towering Zdeno Chara into a much more effective position in front of the opposing teams net. Subban looks to the 2011 Bruins as proof that a team can win even if the power play is struggling. "The year they won the Cup, I dont think that had many power play goals," he said. "The power play is one thing, but I think the most important thing is generating momentum on a power play.dddddddddddd "Youre not always going to score, especially when you play a team with a good penalty kill. But you try to create opportunities and generate momentum and really grind down their forwards and defence." They hope to catch fire against the Bruins. In the first round, there were times they had dazzling puck movement, and other times when they looked like marionettes following a choreographed routine. It may just be taking more time than expected for trade deadline acquisition Thomas Vanek to make his mark on the first power play unit with Pacioretty and centre David Desharnais. Vanek has had a big impact on their even-strength play, and facing Boston may be just what he needs to help the power play get going as well. The Austrian has 30 goals and 62 points in 55 career regular-season games against the Bruins, most while he played for the Buffalo Sabres. Penalty killing is also a concern. The Canadiens were fourth best in the NHL this season with an 85.1-per-cent kill rate, but gave up two goals on only seven chances to Tampa Bay (71.4 per cent). Boston killed 90 per cent of Detroits advantages. The penalty killing units should be bolstered by the return of Travis Moen from a concussion. The left-winger missed the last nine games of the regular season and the first round of playoffs after he was injured in a March 24 game against the Bruins. He has been skating on the fourth line with Daniel Briere and Dale Weise. Rookie Michael Bournival played well in that spot in the first round. "I havent decided on our lineup," said Therrien. "To prepare Travis, Ive got to have him practice with players who might have a chance to play. But hes a guy with experience. Hes a big body and he kills penalties." The Canadiens will face the Bruins for a record 34th time in the post-season. Montreal has won 24 series, but the Bruins have won seven of the last 11, including the last two. ' ' '
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