Ive ever conducted as a head coach, and it was good effort and it

Posted in IYH Forums by lavender123456 at 01:13, Jun 11 2014

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks raised Pavel Bures No. 10 to the rafters before honouring the franchises first superstar the best way they could -- with a rocket-fast start. Vancouver blitzed Toronto early and Roberto Luongo made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season Saturday as the Canucks defeated the Maple Leafs 4-0. After a 20-minute ceremony to retire Bures jersey, the Canucks came out flying, leading 1-0 on the scoreboard and 11-0 on the shot clock before the game was nine minutes old. "It was a great performance from the first minute to the last," said Luongo, who was sporting the Canucks Superman shirt for player of the game. "I dont even know why Im wearing this ... a ton of guys deserve it more than me in this locker-room tonight. We really kept the puck in their zone and cycled and created some chances and were in there pretty much the whole game." Known as the "Russian Rocket" for his lightning-quick speed, Bure would have been happy with the Canucks tempo early as Daniel Sedin opened the scoring for Vancouver after a frenetic opening few minutes that saw Toronto goalie James Reimer make a number of big saves. "We werent quite sure what was going to happen after the ceremony," said Luongo. "We were sitting there a long time but it was a great start for us." Zack Kassian, Chris Higgins and Dan Hamhuis also scored for the Canucks (10-5-1), who rebounded from a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday with one of their best efforts of the season. "I know our guys werent happy how we played against Detroit," said Vancouver head coach John Tortorella. "We just wanted to simplify our game, play quick and just get to our forecheck. "No matter how long the ceremony was -- and it was a fantastic ceremony -- guys were focused on playing the game." Henrik Sedin, who along with his brother signed a four-year contract extension worth US$28 million on Friday, picked up an assist on Daniels goal to extend his point streak to 11 games (three goals, 10 assists). Reimer kept the Maple Leafs (10-5-0) in it most of the night, making 43 saves for a Toronto team that was outshot for the 13th time this season and had its three-game winning streak snapped. "It was a terrible game for us," said Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle. "Probably the worst game we have played this year." Leading 1-0 after a raucous first period, Vancouver made it 3-0 with goals in quick succession early in the second. Kassian made it 2-0 by firing a shot past Reimer that deflected in off Toronto defenceman Cody Franson at 2:07 on a play that might have cost the Maple Leafs more than a goal against. Gritty forward Dave Bolland suffered a laceration to his left leg on a hit by Kassian earlier in the sequence and had to be helped to the locker-room. He left Rogers Arena on a stretcher and was scheduled to have surgery later Saturday. Carlyle said Bollands situation was similar to the Achilles tendon injury that felled Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson for a large chunk of last season. "I dont know the severity or which tendon," said Carlyle. "But he did suffer a cut into that area." Not surprisingly, Kassian said there was no intent on his part to injure Bolland on the play. "I went in their hard to finish my hit, I dont know what happened but it was a clean hit," said Kassian. "I know it was clean." Higgins then ripped a shot past Reimer on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 3-0 at 5:05 after rookie Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly misplayed the puck at the Vancouver blue-line. After Toronto killed off a two-minute two-man advantage, Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk was stoned by Luongo on a backhand chance on a power play late in the period that would have given his team life after 40 minutes. Toronto was shorthanded three times in the first nine minutes of the third period, but Reimer kept his team alive before Hamhuis rounded out the scoring at 14:48. With his team buzzing early in the first, Luongo had to stay sharp at the other end. "I was getting antsy, sitting out there for 20, 25 minutes (for the Bure ceremony) and the first 10 minutes of the game not getting any shots," he said. "I had a lot of built up energy." Reimer was strong early with four big stops just over four minutes in, including a miraculous desperation pad save on Alexandre Burrows that could be an early-season candidate for save of the year. Vancouver finally got one past the Toronto goalie at 5:55 on the power play. The Canucks came into the game tied for 28th in the NHL with the man advantage but connected when Ryan Keslers touch pass found Henrik Sedin in front. The Canucks captain rifled a shot that deflected in off Daniel Sedin for Vancouvers fifth power-play goal this season. Toronto got its first shot of the night at 8:17, but Phil Kessels effort from the slot was gobbled up by Luongo on what would be a long night for the Maple Leafs. "It wasnt our sharpest game and they are a really good team over there," said Reimer. "They took advantage of the fact we werent the best team." Notes: Bure scored 254 goals and 224 assists in 428 games with Vancouver over seven seasons. ... Luongos other shutout this season came against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 17. ... Daniel Sedins goal in the first period was just the Canucks second power-play goal at home this season. ... Saturdays game marked the return of Mason Raymond to Vancouver. The Maple Leafs forward, who spent seven seasons with the Canucks, was not offered a contract in the off-season and made the Toronto roster on a tryout. So far in 2013-14, the 28-year-old has five goals and six assists. ... Former Canucks tough guy Gino Odjick got a big ovation during Bures ceremony. Also on hand was Pat Quinn, who was Bures first coach with Vancouver. cheap jerseys . On Wednesday, the two teams will get together in Dallas to play the game that was postponed due to a scary incident involving Stars forward Rich Peverley. wholesale jerseys . Weve seen many great minor league baseball gimmicks over the years, but this one may take the cake or take the pizza if youre a Ninja Turtles fan. More details about the promotion will be unveiled today on a local radio station, but from the looks of those jersey mock-ups, this promotion will be totally radical, dude! The Ninja Turtles are no strangers to baseball. http://www.salecheapnflwholesalejerseys.com/. Sources tell TSNs Luke Wileman the team signed Canadian international Issey Nakajima-Farran on Thursday. cheap jerseys from china . The Pittsburgh Pirates starter also knows, however, that hes running out of time this season to prove it. cheap nfl jerseys . The New York Rangers seethed at what they didnt. Steve Oleksy, Jason Chimera and Mikhail Grabovski scored second-period goals in the Capitals 4-1 win over the Rangers.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Hes a big, raw Denver Broncos quarterback with throwing issues who worked with UCLA offensive co-ordinator Noel Mazzone on his own time to fix flaws. Sound familiar? While Tim Tebows messy mechanics needed tons of work, Brock Osweiler needs more tweaks than anything, and he worked this off-season with Mazzone, who was his offensive co-ordinator at Arizona State and also served as Tebows throwing coach. The Broncos second-round draft pick took the field at Dove Valley for the first time Friday, participating in the teams three-day rookie minicamp. Although his right elbow at times dropped below his shoulder and winged out a bit, the 6-foot-8 quarterback showed hes making plenty of progress in capitalizing on his superior size. Some of his throws were so quick, it looked like he was flicking the ball to his receivers. "This is my first practice with this new throwing motion. I felt very comfortable with it," Osweiler said. "I felt more consistent with my accuracy. Where I was trying to put the ball, for the most part the ball ended up there. So I was very happy with it; now Ive just got to keep building upon that." At times he reverted to his old habits, and quarterbacks coach Adam Gase let him know it. Coach John Fox said Osweilers work with Mazzone is paying off. "I think when we went there to Arizona State for a private workout, you could tell that hed worked on his delivery," Fox said. "It used to be a little bit lower. Guys tweak stuff, whether its golfers with golf swings or you know players with motions and whatnot. Its not radical. He needs to use his height advantage a little bit better with that higher delivery. He was an accurate passer. I think he became more accurate." Osweilers old throwing motion at times negated his height advantage over pass-rushers. "I would say the main thing would be getting my elbow raised up. A lot of times in college, my elbow would drop below my shoulder, and when you do that, you lose velocity, you lose accuracy, youre less consistent with your throws," Osweiler said. "So, we basically made a huge point to bring that elbow up to a more traditional throwing motion and get it above my shoulder." The question facing Osweiler, who threw for 4,036 yards and 26 TDs last season, is whether he can iron things out enough over the next two months to push free agent Caleb Hanie for the No. 2 job behind Peyton Manning this summer. That, and why did he pick jersey No. 6, which was Jaay Cutlers old number before his messy divorce with the Broncos three years ago? "Theres absolutely no significance," Osweiler insisted.dddddddddddd "Basically, I was told that I couldnt have 17," which belongs to receiver Andre Caldwell, "So, I basically just ... picked a number." Only then did he realize it used to be Cutlers. "But, whatever," Osweiler shrugged. "Its a number and hopefully Ill do some good things with it." Osweiler said it was nice to get this "freshmen orientation" at the rookie minicamp before having to mix it up with veterans. "Its awesome. You think your head might be spinning, and then you look to the receiver next to you, and his heads probably spinning even faster," Osweiler said. "Were all on one ship, were going down this river together." Osweiler was joined by 29 other greenhorns at practice Friday, not counting Fox, who had never run a rookie minicamp as a head coach. "With the way the rules were, I had always combined our rookies and veterans together," Fox said. "So, that not being permitted, this is actually the first rookie camp Ive ever conducted as a head coach, and it was good effort and it went very well." Although Fox prefers to work out rookies and veterans together, hes just glad to have these opportunities after last years lockout wiped out the team-building workouts leading up to training camp. "I think it limited us as a staff -- offence, defence and kicking game -- on the number of things you install just because your time frame for that installation was less a year ago," Fox said. "Shoot, when we reported last year, I had to have name tags on their helmets just so I knew who they were. "I think getting to know guys really helps because you know what buttons to push and you know their personalities. This will give us more time to get to know the players." NOTES: Fox was among a Broncos contingent travelling to San Diego for Junior Seaus memorial service at Qualcomm Stadium. "Its a tragedy losing a guy of that magnitude both as a person and as a player," said Fox, who coached the Chargers secondary from 1992-93. The tragedy also hit home for third-round draft pick Ronnie Hillman, who grew up in La Habra, Calif., and attended San Diego State. "I was driving through Oceanside when I heard" about Seaus suicide last week, said Hillman, who went straight to Seaus restaurant to pay his respects. ' ' '