ekansekans's blog: "df"

Some quick thoughts from the NHL on TSN panel on Wednesday night. Its never fun to lose in overtime in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final but the New Jersey Devils can take some positives from the loss. They started very slow and didnt look good at all. But as the game wore on they started to get much more physical, they started to generate a few things off of turnovers. Yes, the second period was dreadful until they finally started to generate something late. But, there were enough big hits along the way that they didnt get physically run out of the building the way a lot of people thought they could be by the Kings. Everybody is going to point to the second period when it took the Devils until late in the period to even get a shot on goal as a reason for their undoing in Game 1. But, for a team that didnt generate a lot offensively, they had their chances to score.  In the first period, Travis Zajac had a point blank chance on the power play that could have gone in. David Clarkson also had a wide open net in the first but couldnt get that puck in. In the third everybody saw Zach Parise put the one in with his glove, but before that Quick made a great play to take a loose puck in the crease away and deny him. And finally, Mark Fayne had a wide open chance and should have buried what could have been the game-winning goal but didnt get it in. So for a team that didnt really generate a lot offensively they had some pretty good scoring chances. I think when the Devils break down the game tonight there is going to be a ton that they hate about it but there is going to be an awful lot that they like about it too. And one thing we know about the Devils is they are a resilient group.  They lost the first game in overtime to Philadelphia and then reeled off four straight wins to beat the Flyers. They were down 2-1 and then 3-2 in the series against Florida and had to go to double-overtime in Game 7 just to get out of the first round. They were also down 2-1 against the New York Rangers. This team knows what its like to be in a hole and to claw their way out. I dont think by any stretch that the Devils are demoralized or broken up or crushed by this loss. Im sure they are disappointed but they have lots to work with going forward. Lidstrom one of the best ever Theres a tendency for people in the wake of the news that Nick Lidstrom is retiring to say that he is the greatest defenceman of all-time. Certainly Lidstrom is one of the greatest of all-time but Bobby Orr is in a class all by himself at number one. Doug Harvey, most people would agree is also up there near the top. I only saw harvey play at the tail end of his career for the St. Louis Blues. But Scotty Bowman coached Harvey and also coached Lidstrom and he says their are many similarities between the two. People always said Doug Harvey made the game look so easy he could play it in a rocking chair and the same sort of thing could be said about Lidstrom. Harvey was a more physical player while Lidstrom was maybe more naturallygifted offensively. Eddie Shore I never actually saw play which makes it so hard to compare. But when you start putting Lidstrom alongside Ray Bourque or Denis Potvin or Larry Robinson or any of those great guys he is as good or better than any of them. Lidstrom is a certain hall of famer and right in the mix for being one of the greatest of all-time. Robert Griffin III Jersey . The 2007 champion, who is returning to F1 after a three-year absence, steered his former Renault car around the Catalunya Circuit in 1 minute, 22.030 seconds in the fastest time of both sets of preseason tests in Barcelona. Authentic RG3 Jersey . Benzema scored the 13th-minute opener and Ronaldo added a penalty in the 70th after Jordi Amat had handled the ball in the box to keep Madrid eight points behind Spanish league leader Barcelona after five rounds. "Rayo has a great team with quality players and they made it very tough for us," said Madrid defender Pepe. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/new.html . UFC president Dana White confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that Jones, the current light-heavyweight champion, and Sonnen, the former middleweight who is now returning to the light-heavyweight class, will each coach a team of prospective fighters on the MMA reality show before facing each other for the title.American Missy Franklin added an Olympic record and a second gold to her medal haul at the London 2012 Olympic Games on Wednesday evening. The 17-year-old swam the opening leg of the womens 4x200-metre relay, setting up teammates Dana Vollmer , Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt to claim gold. Their final time of seven minutes, 42.92 seconds lowered the Olympic record by 1.39 seconds. "I just tried to get to the wall as fast as I could," Franklin said. The medal was her third of the Games; she won gold in the womens 100m backstroke on Monday and contributed to Team USAs third-place finish in Saturdays 4x100m freestyle relay. Franklin is the first female American swimmer to have qualified for seven Olympic events. Wednesdays gold also marked Vollmer and Schmitts second win of Londons Games. Australia finished second, while France was third. Canadas young 4x200-metre freestyle relay team fell just short of the podium, finishing fourth in 7:50.65. Competing with an average age of under-20, the four Olympic rookies -- Barbara Jardin , Samantha Cheverton , Amanda Reason and Brittany MacLean -- swam to Canadas best-ever Olympic finish in the event. "Third place would have been really great but at the same time we weree fourth at the Olympics," said Jardin, who swam Canadas opening leg.dddddddddddd The team finished seventh-place swim at the World Championships last year. "We definitely took a step up, there," Jardin added. "I think were all really happy with the time." The Americans and Australians battled it out for much of the race, trading positions at almost every turn. "I knew it was going to be close," said Allison Schmitt, who swam the anchor leg for the United States. "I was just trying to swim my own race and save legs on that first 50m... and bring it home strong for the U.S." She pulled away at the last, winning gold by almost two seconds. The medal marked the eighth swimming gold for the United States.   "I knew Allison was going to pull off something amazing and the rest of us had to be at least even with everyone else," Vollmer said. "Knowing that, I fought as hard as I could that last 50m to either get ahead or at least stay even with the field so every person diving in would have the best chance they could." Australias team of Bronte Barratt , Melanie Schlanger , Kylie Palmer and Alicia Coutts posted a time of 7:44.41 for silver.   ' ' '