EDMONTON -- Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish feels optimistic about his teams future despite a last-place finish in the We

Posted in IYH Forums by jokergreen0220 at 09:21, Jun 23 2017

EDMONTON -- Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish feels optimistic about his teams future despite a last-place finish in the Western Conference standings. MacTavish gave his head coach a vote of confidence Tuesday and said while its hard to determine where the team is in its development stage, he feels most of the "heavy lifting" has been done. "Were closer to the end in my mind than we are to the beginning in terms of the development of this team," MacTavish said Tuesday at a season-ending media availability. Expectations were higher in Edmonton this season but the team struggled from the start and finished with a 29-44-9 record for 67 points, good for a 28th-place finish in the 30-team league. There were a few bright lights for the Oilers. Taylor Hall had a strong year with 80 points in 75 games and fellow forwards Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had productive campaigns. Defensive woes were a constant problem. The Oilers struggled on the blue-line and between the pipes, allowing a league-worst 270 goals. MacTavish has no plans to add anything "middle of the road" to the current defence core and feels the teams younger players can fill those positions. He does plan to target a high-end defenceman in the off-season. "We need a few pieces that can really move this thing along," said MacTavish. The GM added that Eakins -- who completed his first season as an NHL head coach -- has a bright future with the team. "Im convinced this guy is the right coach to lead us into much more successful times ... hes relentless," MacTavish said. Despite the foundation of young, talented offensive players, the Oilers managed only 203 goals. The goaltending situation was unsettled throughout the season as netminder Devan Dubnyk struggled in the starters role. Dubnyk was dealt to Nashville at the trade deadline and the Oilers acquired Ben Scrivens from Los Angeles. Scrivens and fellow mid-season acquisition Viktor Fasth posted decent numbers as Edmonton finished with a 14-13-3 mark over its last 30 games. MacTavish said there is plenty of work ahead and admitted the team did not live up to expectations. But he likes the young core and is confident improvement can be made. "Were building our team around this group," he said. "And you have to have pieces in that locker-room that you view as guys that are going to develop into winners and guys that are going to develop into superstars. "I feel strongly that we have a number of those pieces in there and those are the guys were going to build that team around. I want them to feel the ownership, I want them to feel the loyalty from myself and the coaching staff that we have the confidence in them to drive this team forward." <a href="http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Adrian-Peterson-Elite-Jersey/">Adrian Peterson Youth Jersey</a>. Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. <a href="http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Ryan-Ramczyk-Elite-Jersey/">Ryan Ramczyk Jersey</a>. -- Dee Ford prefers to keep things simple: Play hard and fast, and let others worry about his NFL draft stock. <a href="http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Adrian-Peterson-Elite-Jersey/">http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Adrian-Peterson-Elite-Jersey/</a>. The 49ers announced the deal Tuesday. San Francisco selected Lloyd in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. <a href="http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Marshon-Lattimore-Elite-Jersey/">Marshon Lattimore Saints Jersey</a>. If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. <a href="http://www.thenflsaintsauthenticonline.com/Youth-Marcus-Williams-Elite-Jersey/">Marcus Williams Womens Jersey</a>. Felton pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. He admitted he knowingly had a large-capacity ammunition magazine and a semi-automatic pistol without a license.NEW YORK -- Jamal Crawford was back in the locker room throwing up, a tough way to start a lengthy road trip. A little illness wasnt going to stop the Los Angeles Clippers. Neither is a grueling schedule nor the absence of their All-Star point guard. "For us, theres no excuses," Crawford said. "We have to go on the road and do a job." Blake Griffin scored 32 points, Crawford added 29, and the Clippers opened a seven-game road trip with their fifth straight victory, 109-95 over the New York Knicks on Friday night. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who dominated the second half to hand the Knicks their third consecutive loss. Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 20 rebounds for the Knicks in a disappointing start to an eight-game homestand that matches the longest in franchise history. That doesnt guarantee any success this season, with the Knicks now 7-13 at Madison Square Garden. "It seems that we cant figure it out here on our home court," Anthony said. "But despite these last couple of games, I think weve got a great stretch that can work in our favour if we get some things right, adjust some things and figure it out quickly." One of those adjustments could be to the starting lineup, with coach Mike Woodson said he may have to consider it after starting guards Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert combined for two baskets and five points -- all by Felton -- on 12 shot attempts. Anthony shot only 4 of 23 from the field, but made all 16 free throws in the first 20-20 game by a Knicks player since David Lee on April 2, 2010. J.R. Smith added 24 points off the bench. Its the second seven-game trip of the season for the Clippers, who will fly about 11,275 miles as they give up Staples Center for the Grammy awards. They went 4-3 in December on the first one, and got this one off to a winning start while improving to 10-10 on the road this season. Crawford couldnt even join them for warmups, remaining in the back with stomach sickness. But after needing a stunning rally to erase a 17-point deficit inside the final 5 minutes and beat Dallas 129-127 on Wednesday, the Clippers methodically pulled away from a 50-all halftimme tie in this one and improve to 6-1 this season without the injured Chris Paul.dddddddddddd "Something CP always says when we are on a road trip, Cant win them all without winning the first," Griffin said. "So to get the first one for us is obviously great, to get the win to start the road trip and help our mindsets for the rest of the games." The Knicks led 65-62 with 4 minutes left in the third before helping the Clippers pass them by continuously sending the visitors to the line. Ten of the Clippers final 14 points of the quarter came from the foul line -- one of them when Griffin was fouled throwing down an alley-oop pass from Crawford with 52 seconds left. Los Angeles then blew it open early in the fourth on consecutive jumpers by newly signed Hedo Turkoglu and Crawford, before Crawford nailed a 3-pointer to make it 85-70. Consecutive 3s later in the period by Griffin, Jared Dudley and Crawford, a former Knicks guard, extended it to 96-75 and brought out plenty of boos from the home fans. With the Knicks at home for the rest of the month, Woodson said he considers January the pivotal month of the season. Yet home hasnt been the place to be, with the Knicks absorbing their three worst losses here. And they could play this entire stretch without forwards Amare Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin. Both players sprained their left ankles in Thursdays 117-89 loss at Indiana and are expected to miss about two weeks. The homestand still includes visits from sub-.500 Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Charlotte, the Lakers, Boston and Cleveland, but the Knicks cant assume wins against anyone after falling to 15-25. "The thing that we have to do is just, we have to fix it," centre Tyson Chandler said. "Youve got to attack the problem head on. Theres going to be no pity parties. Just got to take care of it and fix it." The Clippers tied it at 50 going into halftime despite shooting under 33 per cent and going 3 of 18 on 3-pointers. Anthony was 2 of 10, but made all nine free throws for his 14 points. NOTES: The Knicks also had an eight-game homestand in December 1986. The Dallas Mavericks are the only other team with eight straight home games this season. <a href="http://www.wholesalejerseysnflchinacheap.us.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a>　 <a href="http://www.authenticnfljerseyscheap.us.com/">Cheap NFL Jerseys</a>　<a href="http://www.cheapjerseysquality.us.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a>　<a href="http://www.wholesale--jerseys.us.com/">Authentic Jerseys From China</a> <a href="http://www.cheapjerseysline.us.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a> <a href="http://www.cheapjerseyschinese.us.com/">Wholesale NFL Jerseys</a> ' ' '