Each week, I watch the coachs copies of the previous games in preparation for the upcoming telecasts to have an understanding of how each team employs their schemes. One week ago, I took a break from watching one of the games and had a chance to check e-mails and look at whats happening in the world. My twitter feed had conversations that had just talked about a shooting in Ottawa. I left my office and went and turned on the television to see what was happening. At the time, reports talked about three separate shootings areas and it was a very scary sight to see that happening in the capital of the country. I watched my film and took my notes the rest of the day glued to the TV, thinking of things more than football. This will happen often to coaches since we seem to be always in the office watching game films. I can remember being in the office for the Argonauts on September 11, 2001 watching with the rest of the coaching staff as my home country came under attack. A couple of years later, the office changed, the colours changed and I was trying to prepare a game plan while watching and hoping family members were safe in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina plowed through in 2005. Last week reminded me of those difficult times. It lets you know that there is simply more important things than football that happen daily and we should always remember that as players and coaches. After Sept. 11, the CFL had originally decided to play games on the weekend and that was a much discussed topic for the league since all other leagues cancelled games. Our QB Jimmy Kemp spoke to the team a day or two after the events and told his teammates that although he is a team guy, that he would not play the games out of respect for what had happened. It was a difficult decision and Jimmy was and is a stand-up guy; everyone understood where he was coming from. Jimmys decision did not matter as the CFL changed its mind and cancelled games after further thought. I can remember how great Canadians were to the people of the US and did their utmost to help and show respect to the people who were lost on the 11th. I tried to show respect by searching all over Mississauga for a US flag. I finally found a large flag and had it hung up on the backside of our trailers at the Argo facility overlooking the practice fields. I wanted to have the Americans on the team who were in another country to have some connection to home they could see. The hardest part about working in professional sports is that, no matter what is happening, the games and seasons will have to go on eventually. No time was tougher and hit closer to home than when we lost our assistant head coach Richard Harris to a massive heart attack two days before a game in 2011. We had to mourn as well as prepare for a game in little or no time. The games go on and you have to get ready, even though you are in pain and want to take time to console others and help those in need. There was no tougher team meeting than when I had to tell our team the circumstances of Coach Harriss passing the following day. The support from the league and the fans was tremendous and the players honoured Coach Harris by finding a way to defeat the BC Lions after a moving moment of silence before the game in Winnipeg. That is the thing about actually playing the games, it allows us to honour as well as get our mind on things that we are passionate about, if only for a few hours. Last Friday, I believe the CFL was at the forefront of the support for all of Canada as the Redblacks hosted the Montreal Alouettes in Ottawa, the city that had been home to one of the attacks that resulted in the death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Everyone was able to have a moment of silence and pay tribute with the CFL to Cirillo and also Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. As I was preparing to go to the studio, I was watching television coverage of the people who were lined up along the Highway of Heroes to again support Corporal Cirillo. From Ottawa all the way to Hamilton, the great people of Canada came from every town to tribute a fallen soldier who was a complete stranger to most. It was amazing and moving to see people trying to help the families of the fallen in any way possible. Hopefully sports and football can help people in times of struggle to have a release when it is needed. Nathan and Patrice, thank you for your support and your sacrifice and we will do our best to make sure you are not forgotten. I am an American who is very proud of his country, but I can also say that after last week, I am once again reminded of how proud I am to call Canada my home the past 14 years. . Anderson shook off some unusually poor shooting and hit two clutch 3-pointers in overtime that carried the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price.
http://www.custompackersjersey.com/cust ... 1712r.html. But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game. . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China. . A Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling published Friday said that FIFAs disputes panel and the Court of Arbitration for Sport correctly imposed the sanction for Nantes enticing Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai club Al Nasr in January 2012.BATHURST, N.B. - Nikolaj Ehlers reached the 40-goal mark by scoring three times as the Halifax Mooseheads blanked the host Acadie-Bathurst Titan 6-0 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Goaltender Zachary Fucale only had to make 18 saves for the shutout while Ehlers tacked on an assist for a four-point outing. Austyn Hardie scored once and set up two more for the Mooseheads (40-18-3), who extended their win streak to five games, and Andrew Ryan and Philippe Gadoury had the others. Titan (18-37-6) defenceman Alexandre Gosselin was caught on the ice for all six goals against. Miguel Sullivan stopped 34-of-40 shots for Acadie-Bathurst, which fell to 1-8-1 in its last 10 contests. --- ISLANDERS 5 WILDCATS 4 MONCTON, N.B. -- Bradley Kennedy scored twice as Charlottetown snapped a four-game slide by edging the Wildcats. Spenser Cobbold scored once and assisted on two others for the Islanders (19-36-6) while Troy Vance and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist. Stephan Seegar, Mark Simpson, Vladimir Tkachev and Christopher Caissy supplied the scoring for Moncton (30-29-3), which dropped its fourth straight game. Mason MacDonald made 34 saves for Charlottetown as Jason Rioux turned away 19-of-24 shots for the Wildcats. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 4 SEA DOGS 3 SAINT JOHN, N.B. --Jeremy Beaudry scored twice, including the winner 4:09 into overtime, as Cape Breton picked up its sixth win in its last seven outings by slipping past the Sea Dogs. Julien Pelletier and Clark Bishop also scored for the Screaming Eagles (33-24-4), who blew a 3-0 third-period lead before salvaging the two points. Jason Cameron, Matthew Highmore and Nicolas Hebert scored in a 4:17 span for Saint John (18-37-5) to force extra time. Cape Bretons Alex Bureau made 22 saves. Sebastien Auger kicked out 34-of-38 shots for the Sea Dogs. --- TIGRES 7 SAGUENEENS 1 CHICOUTIMI, Que. -- Jean-Francois Plante scored twice and Brandon Whitney made 36 saves as Victoriaville crushed the Sagueneens. Lukas Pozgay, Carl-Antoine Delisle, Angelo Miceli, Anthony Beaulieu and Philippe Hudon also scored for the Tigres (31-23-7). Nikita Liamkin scored the lone goal for Chicoutimi (26-34-1). Julio Billia started in net for Chicoutimi and gave up six goals on 29 shots before giving way to Mathieu Duquette, who stopped 1-of-2 shhots in eight minutes of relief.dddddddddddd --- DRAKKAR 4 PHOENIX 1 BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- The Drakkar used a three-goal third period to slip past Sherbrooke. Jeremy Gregoire, Denis Gorbunov and Valentin Zykov scored in the third for Baie-Comeau (43-15-4) and Maxim St-Cyr opened the scoring in the second. Daniel Audette scored the lone goal for the Phoenix (16-38-7), who sit three points out of the final playoff position. Simon Lemieux made 24 saves for the Drakkar while Sherbrookes Francis Desrosiers turned aside 40-of-44 shots in a losing cause. --- ARMADA 3 VOLTIGEURS 1 DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. -- Christopher Clapperton scored twice as Blainville-Boisbriand snapped a four-game skid by downing the Voltigeurs. Marc-Olivier Roy also scored for the Armada (38-14-9) and Etienne Marcoux stopped 29 shots for the victory. Ryan Culkin scored the lone goal for Drummondville (37-21-4). Louis-Philip Guindon turned aside 13-of-15 for the Voltigeurs. --- FOREURS 5 OLYMPIQUES 0 GATINEAU, Que. -- Anthony Mantha had two goals and an assist and Antoine Bibeau stopped 32 shots as Val-dOr shutout the Olympiques. Louick Marcotte scored once for the Foreurs (40-19-2) and assisted on goals by Anthony Richard and Samuel Henley. Martin Reway and Emile Poirier led Gatineau (37-20-4) in shots on net with four each. Robert Steeves stopped 32-of-37 shots for the Olympiques. --- OCEANIC 3 HUSKIES 1 RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Michael Joly had a pair of goals as the Oceanic extended their win streak to 10 games by beating Rouyn-Noranda. Frederik Gauthier also scored for Rimouski (39-15-7) and now has five goals in his last four outings. Oceanic netminder Philippe Desrosiers made 20 saves for the win. Jason Fuchs scored the lone goal for the Huskies (33-23-5) and Guillaume Decelles stopped 20-of-22 shots in a losing cause. --- CATARACTES 2 REMPARTS 1 (SO) SHAWINIGAN, Que. -- Giovanni Fiore scored once in regulation and the lone goal of the shootout as the Cataractes downed Quebec. Marvin Cupper turned away 40-of-41 shots through 65 minutes and all three shooters in the shootout for Shawinigan (16-36-8). Mikhail Grigorenko scored for the Remparts (35-16-9) while Francois Brassard made 30 saves in a losing cause. The Cataractes went 0 for 3 on the power play while Quebec scored once on three chances. ' ' 'tthias supplied the goals for the Canucks, who won for the eighth time in their last 10 games (8-1-1) on a night the team honored Pat Quinn. Quinn, an original member of the franchise, died on Sunday at the age of 71. He played two seasons in Vancouver during his nine-year NHL career, then later served as head coach and general manager, racking up a 141-111-28 record and taking the club to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Quinn took home the Jack Adams Trophy as the leagues top coach that year. That was a game we wanted to win. We had a good start ... Lots of guys have played hard, and thats all you can ask for, admitted Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins. The Canucks arent scheduled to play at home again until Dec. 13 and stand a solid chance at getting their road trip off to a good start. They have won 13 of their past 16 versus the Blue Jackets overall and six of their last nine trips to Columbus. Not only has Vancouver had a ton of success in this series overall, but Columbus comes in having lost four in a row and 13 of its last 15 games overall. The Blue Jackets struggles continued with Tuesdays 4-2 loss to the visiting Winnipeg Jets, who scored just nine seconds into the game and the took over with a two-goal second period. Defenseman Jordan Leopold scored a power-play goal in the first frame, while Ryan Johansen also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky came up with 28 saves. Defenseman James Wisniewski played in his 500th NHL game and recorded his 250th point with an assist on Johansens goal. I really thought the group was ready after what we worked on, said Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards. That first goal really set us back. Richards may be counting down the days until forward Brandon Dubinsky can rejoin the club and that may not be too far off. Dubinsky has yet to play this season due to abdominal surgery, but has returned to practice. It was great to have him out on the ice, Richards told his clubs website on Thursday. Its a step in the right direction. (It) didnt look like the speed or anything like that, like he was out of place -- but you could tell that he hadnt been out there in a while. The more reps you get, the more opportunities he gets to skate with us, the better. Dubinsky will not play tonight nor on Saturday against Nashville, but a return to action next week remains a possibility. The 28-year-old had 16 goals and 50 points in 76 games last season. . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division. . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season.
http://www.custombravesjersey.com/.FIFA says it is relaxing the rule which forced match officials to leave its international list at the end of the year they turned 45. . Stevenson scored the first three goals of the game in the first period for Regina (35-22-6), which has won eight of its last 10 games. Patrick DAmico added two for the Pats, Braden Christoffer had a single and Morgan Klimchuk chipped in a goal and four assists. . As they are wont to do, the Spurs made things real easy. The Spurs signed Parker to a multi-year contract extension on Friday, ensuring that the six-time All-Star point guard will be in the fold whether Duncan and Ginobili are able to continue their careers or not.The Chicago Blackhawks werent ready to give up on their dreams of winning consecutive Stanley Cup titles the last time out. The defending champions hope to stay alive for a second straight time tonight when they visit the Los Angeles Kings for Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. The Blackhawks are attempting to return to the Cup Finals after falling behind three games to one in this postseason battle against Los Angeles. The Kings, who lost in five games to Chicago in last springs conference finals, couldnt close out the Hawks in their first attempt on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4 double-overtime decision in the Windy City. Chicago, which is trying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Detroit in 1997 and 98, improved to 8-1 as the host in these playoffs with the Game 5 triumph, but it will have to win its first road game of the series to keep on playing. The Kings won Game 3 at the Staples Center by a 4-3 score and pushed their series lead to 3-1 with a 5-2 decision Monday night in the City of Angels. All told, Los Angeles is 5-3 as the host this postseason and is 19-7 in home playoff games since the start of the 2012 playoffs, when the Kings won their only Stanley Cup title. If the Blackhawks win Friday the clubs will meet Sunday evening in Chicago for a decisive Game 7. Michal Handzus, a former L.A. King, provided the OT heroics for Chicago on Wednesday, scoring at 2:04 of the second overtime to send the series back to the Staples Center. Brandon Saad held the puck along the right wing below the circles and dished ahead to Handzus, who controlled the disc for a second before lifting a backhander under the crossbar to end the contest. "Two guys went on him and I got open,"Handzus said of his linemate Saad. "I was surprised I got open like that but he waited and waited and gave me a great pass." For Handzus, it was his first career postseason overtime score, and just his second playoff game-winner after recording the only goal in a 1-0 Flyers victory against Ottawa in the 2003 second round. Saad ended up with a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who wasted a pair of early two-goal leads and fell behind by a goal before rallying to extend the series. "We dont want the season to end now. Were having too much fun playing," Saad admitted. Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya and Ben Smith also scored, while Patrick Kane notched a career playoff-high four helpers for Chicago. Kane became the first Blackhawk to assist on four goals in one playoff game since Steve Larmer did so on April 30, 1990 in a Norris Division final-clinching 8-2 rout of the St. Louis Blues . Kane hasnt scored a goal since getting the OT winner and series clincher in Game 6 of Chicagos second-round series against Minnesota, but the reigning Conn Smythe winner has posted five assists over the last two games..dddddddddddd Corey Crawford looked shaky at times, but emerged with the win thanks to 40 saves. On Thursdays off day, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews talked about keeping the pressure on Los Angeles from the start of tonights battle. "Were going to work on getting our first win on the road against this team," said Toews. "We want to stay with the mentality, that were putting all the pressure on them. Its going to be tough for them to close it out and win that fourth game against us. We showed how resilient of a group we are last night. Were going to do it again." Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll and Tanner Pearson lit the lamp for L.A. Pearsons tally extended his point streak to six games, matching the Kings postseason record for a rookie along with Warren Rychel (1993) and Daryl Evans (1982). L.A. has the comfort of home ice on Friday to try and reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in the last three seasons, but the club knows the fourth win of a series can be extremely hard to come by. "If anyone thinks that its easy ... its not easy," Kings forward Justin Williams said of closing out an opponent in the third round. "Attaining your ultimate goal is never easy and were going to do our best to get it done." Jonathan Quick took the loss despite stopping 40 pucks. Kane had a hand in all three Blackhawk scores in the opening 20 minutes on Wednesday before notching the secondary assist on Handzus winner. However, after going up by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening period, the Blackhawks found themselves down 4-3 heading into the final stanza of regulation, but Smith scored early in the third to even things. Saad fired a low shot from the left wing that was kicked aside by Quick, but Smith beat his checker and potted the rebound for a 4-4 game just 77 seconds into the third period. The Blackhawks had a prime chance to win in regulation when Stoll committed a tripping infraction with 3:11 on the clock. Quick made two acrobatic stops, one from Kane and the rebound on Bryan Bickell early in the advantage and added two more before its completion. Acting on adrenaline and instinct, the first overtime featured a dozen quality chances split between the clubs. Los Angeles claimed a 10-8 shot edge in a briskly-paced fourth period. "Overtime, Ive seen a lot of games, been involved in a lot of those," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "That might have been the greatest overtime Ive seen." The Blackhawks have come back from down 3-1 to win a series only once in their history, but it was last spring against Detroit, which won three of the first four games against Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals before losing the final three tilts. The Blackhawks also needed to win Game 7 in overtime to down the Red Wings. ' ' '
