DHL » areer games against the Leafs

SOCHI, Russia – Not much has changed for Phil Kessel, other than the fact that hes stealing the Olympic hockey stage. "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil." An endlessly static personality, Kessel continued his 2014 domination on Sunday afternoon, racking up a hat trick in the Americans final preliminary round game against Slovenia, a thorough 5-1 victory at Shayba Arena. Currently the hottest player on the planet, the 26-year-old has already strung together four goals and seven points in three games on the Olympic stage. He entered Russian airspace in an absolute zone for the Toronto Maple Leafs, ringing up 11 goals and 27 points in the final 15 games (11 wins) before the Olympic break. In fact, no NHL player has more points since January 1 than the reluctant Madison, Wisconsin-born star. Kessel is the epitome of the never-high, never-low sports cliché, quiet and introverted in times both good and bad. Rooming during these Olympics with his Toronto linemate van Riemsdyk, Kessel has been consuming the Friday Night Lights TV series on his iPad during off-time from the rink. "We havent really had much dialogue in the room except when he wants to chirp me now and again," said van Riemsdyk with a laugh. "Its been fun though." American teammate Ryan Suter grew up in the same Wisconsin hometown as Kessel and said not much has changed. "Quiet," said Suter, whose father Bob coached Kessel as a kid. "The same as he is now. Doesnt talk much. Goal scorer. He was always scoring goals." But perhaps never like this. During his first test on the Olympic stage four years ago, Kessel had just a goal and an assist in six games. But from that point he has noticeably evolved into a more complete player and person. "Just more mature," Suter said. "I think hes more comfortable with himself. I think in 2010 he was kind of a little hesitant to talk or to try things and now hes comfortable with where he is and hes making a lot of good plays." "Obviously its a great honour to play for your country and its always exciting," said Kessel. "Im happy to be here." Silver medalists in Vancouver, Team USAs chances for gold in Sochi only rise higher with Kessel locked into this kind of zone. They wrapped up Group A with the win over Slovenia after beating the Russians in a shootout just a day earlier. Kessel played a large part in that, scoring his second hat trick in February (he had one for the Leafs on Feb. 1). The second of his three markers was a watch, rewind and watch again type of goal, the kind only a sniper with his natural gifts could score. Joe Pavelski, the third member of a highly productive third line trio for the Americans, was driving just right of the Slovenian goal when he flipped a pass from almost behind the net to his scorching linemate, charging hard left. Employing the hand-eye coordination of a baseball player, Kessel batted the puck – mid-air – behind helpless keeper Luka Gracnar. "Just get him the puck," said van Riemsdyk. "Thats pretty much it, get him the puck and let him do his thing." "Hes always been a good player," added Suter. "Hes always been a goal scorer. Hes always been quick, explosive. Hes doing all the things that he should do. He has all the tools. Hes putting them together." Brooklyn Nets Shirts . They showered him with "MVP! MVP!" chants. In many ways, it seemed like hed never been gone. Brooklyn Nets Gear . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. https://www.cheapnetsonline.com/.com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town. Nets Jerseys 2020 . The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. Custom Brooklyn Nets Jerseys . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Mike Babcock wasnt on the ice at Michigan Stadium himself, so seven minutes into the Winter Classic the Detroit Red Wings coach asked star Pavel Datsyuk how he thought things were going. "He said, Well, were being too careful with the puck, " Babcock recalled. "But he said, we got to be because youre scared to turn it over theres so much snow." Snow built up amid frigid temperatures throughout the game, which the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately won 3-2 in a shootout to jump ahead of the Red Wings in the standings. The conditions didnt make for the prettiest fundamental game, but the spectacle of having a capacity crowd of 105,491 at this venue set such a picturesque scene that it overshadowed those shortcomings. "I dont know if you would call it a gem from a pace standpoint," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "The weather definitely changed the way it was presented with the snow coming down, and it brought back a lot of memories from a childhood of playing outside." Even after watching Tyler Bozak score the shootout winner against his Red Wings, Babcock was beaming and talking about how glad he was to participate in an event that set the NHL attendance record and might have been enough to make the Guinness Book of World Records. It didnt even bother him that the snow slowed the puck and the players down. "I thought that was a big part of the atmosphere in todays game to make it even more special," Babcock said. "To me, today was a home run for hockey." It was -11 C when the puck dropped at 1:31 p.m., and snow fell steadily throughout the game, which featured goals from James van Riemsdyk and Bozak for Toronto and Daniel Alfredsson and Justin Abdelkader for Detroit. Coaches remarked that the snow had the biggest impact on power plays, based on how long they came after the crew was able to shovel the ice. "The NHL did a good job keeping the ice as clean as possible," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, whose shot was deflected in by Bozak to give Toronto the lead in the third period. "Its an experience. Its an outdoor game, in the middle of winter youre going to have snow." That was commissioner Gary Bettmans message afterward, as well. This is the first of six outdoor games in the NHL this season, and inevitably the weather makes an impact. In this case, Bettman was satisfied with how "ice guru" Dan Craig and others handled the conditions to make this game playable. "Were playing outdoors and thats what you get when you play outdoors. When you get the elements, you get the elements," Bettman said. "You could tell as the logo started getting more covered when we needed to shovel. It actually looked like synchronized swimming, so to speak. They did a great job. Listen, whatever the conditions were, it was the same for both teams." The conditions led to some sloppy play, especially a slow start as players had to feel out the conditions. The Leafs beat the Red Wings in a shootout Dec. 21 at Air Canada Centre, but this was uglier because of the snow. "You lose the puck every once in a while because you get stuck in the snow, or you cant find it," Red Wings defenceman Brendan Smith said. "The game was a lot simpler because you had to make smart decisions." Some smart deccisions came from the Leafs top line of van Riemsdyk, Bozak and Phil Kessel, which produced both goals in regulation.dddddddddddd After the game, Kessel and van Riemsdyk were named to the U.S. Olympic team, along with Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, who made 24 saves in a losing effort but bounced back from his five-goal outing Monday in Nashville. "I dont know if it was a low point for him, but Howies better than that," Babcock said. "So for him to respond today, he didnt have a lot of work, but he had some tough plays. And the way the puck was bouncing, it was hard anyways for a goaltender." It was hard on Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier, too, but he was up to the task in making 41 saves through regulation and overtime. Thats a record for an NHL outdoor game, surpassing the Calgary Flames Miikka Kiprusoffs 39 in the 2011 Heritage Classic. Bernier said the visibility was bad in the first period, and then the wind became the problem in the second when the teams changed ends. In the shootout, he figured he had an edge because players couldnt stick-handle as well. "I tried to play the odds with the ice advantage, probably, as a goalie," said Bernier, who stopped Alfredsson and Tomas Tatar in the shootout. "I tried to take away the angles and be more aggressive a little bit and hopefully they go for the deke and miss the puck." Datsyuk didnt miss, but neither did Joffrey Lupul or Bozak, and so the Leafs moved one point ahead of Detroit in the Eastern Conference wild-card and Atlantic Division standings. Babcock was so pleased with his teams effort, specifically how much they held on to the puck, that he addressed players after the loss, something he rarely, if ever, does. "The conditions made it so some of the skill in the game was eliminated, but I still thought the players competed hard," Babcock said. "It was a good game for our team. So all in all it was a good day." Given the enormity of the proceedings, it was a good day all around. But it was naturally better for the Leafs because they got the victory. "Its a tight conference for us," Bozak said. "We havent been playing our greatest lately, so it was huge two points for our team. So I think that was the main thing. We had to take it as a regular game. Obviously there were some distractions, but we needed these two points back, and were happy we got them." NOTES -- Alfredssons goal was his 34th in 82 career games against the Leafs. The previous 33, along with 38 of 39 assists versus Toronto, came when he was captain of the Ottawa Senators. According to Elias Sports, the 34 goals are the most any active player has scored against the Leafs. ... After making John-Michael Liles a healthy scratch, the Leafs traded him to the Hurricanes in exchange for fellow defenceman Tim Gleason. Carolina also got prospect Dennis Robertson in the deal. ... Defenceman Mark Fraser and forward Frazer McLaren were the other healthy scratches for Toronto. ... Alfredsson returned to the Red Wings lineup after missing Mondays game at Nashville because of back spasms. He replaced Darren Helm. ... Canadian broadcaster CBC had technical difficulties for part of the third period. The outage was filled by an American broadcaster until the problem was fixed before overtime. ' ' '