Bewerbung » hard on a daily basis and we do have good options

BOSTON -- Boston coach Claude Julien said the Bruins had more in their tank and they showed it Saturday night. The Bruins got their power play going and got under the Canadiens skin as they won 4-2 to push Montreal to the edge of a playoff precipice. Boston was crisp from the get-go and scored power-play goals 32 seconds apart early in the second period to build an insurmountable 3-0 lead. "I dont think you can look at tonight and say all of a sudden we found our game." said Julien. "I think we were better tonight but theres another game to win and, Im being honest here, its not going to be easy." Game 6 of the second-round playoff series is Monday in Montreal with the Canadiens needing a win to remain alive -- undoubtedly regretting the Game 4 overtime loss at the Bell Centre that rejuvenated the Bruins. Montreal, which outshot Boston 31-30, has trailed Boston three games to two five times before and come back to win three of those series. After a five-year post-season drought with the man advantage against the Habs, Boston broke the power-play hoodoo through back-to-back strikes by Reilly Smith and Jarome Iginla. Tomas Plekanec was in the penalty box for both goals. "I thought we were intent when we started the game but their power play gave them a lot of momentum and confidence," said Montreal coach Michel Therrien. Boston was 0-for-10 in the series on the power play and amazingly had not scored in 39 tries with the man advantage against Montreal in the post-season since Game 2 of their 2009 Conference quarter-final. "Our power play was due," Julien said by way of understatement. After the first period, the talk was of the need for more intensity, winning more battles and making stronger plays on the power play. It worked and Boston had the rare luxury of playing with a lead. The Bruins led for 46 minutes 40 seconds Saturday, some four times the 11:39 they were ahead during the first four games of the series. The Canadiens have held the lead for 106:11 of the series. Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson also scored for the Bruins, who got a strong physical game from Milan Lucic. The hulking winger cruised the ice like a shark, looking for someone to take a piece out of. A late P.K. Subban goal made the score closer than the game actually was. Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal. Goalie Carey Price said the Habs are up for the elimination challenge. "You back any animal into a corner, its going to be desperate," he said calmly. "I think were going to be a desperate hockey club coming into next game and I think were excited for the challenge." Game 7, if needed, would be next Wednesday in Boston. The Canadiens will need to take a deep breath before the puck drops at the Bell Centre with their season on the line. "Frustration or not, weve got to make sure we play with some more composure," said a tight-lipped Therrien. Subban complained after the game of being sprayed with water twice from the Boston bench late in the game. After raising the issue in his post-game scrum, he tried to downplayed the antics but it clearly bothered him. "It hit me in the visor. I couldnt even see the last minute and a half out there," he said. "So I was pretty upset about that ... Im sure if that was me that did it, it would be a different story. Id probably be on the news for the next three days." Therrien, who looked like he had sucked a lemon prior to taking the podium, had little to say about hockeys version of Watergate. "Yeah, we saw that," he said when asked about the water spraying. "I dont want to comment on that," he added when pressed on the matter. Julien said he didnt see it and wouldnt condone it. After two games that features a total of five penalties, the referees remembered to bring their whistles with them Saturday and called 11 penalties. Montreal was 2-for-5 on the night with the man-advantage but was 0-for-3 in the first period. "I strongly believe that if we would have gotten a goal on one of those first power plays, it could have been the difference in the game," said Subban. Therrien, meanwhile, said his team had to be better five-on-five. The line of Soderberg, Eriksson and Matt Fraser finished with two goals and three assist and was plus-six. The Bruins third line has now scored three of Bostons last five goals with Fraser accounting for the overtime winner last Thursday in Montreal. Soderberg was awarded the Bruins jacket, a hand-me-down from Boston legend Johnny Bucyk, as the teams player of the game. The capacity crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden had plenty to cheer about. Boston looked focused and physical, outhitting Montreal 39-29. Plus the Bruins managed to plug up Montreals shooting lanes. "It was one of those games where were just on the wrong side of the puck all night," said Canadiens captain Brian Gionta. Smith hit the post before either team registered a shot. The Bruins went ahead at 13:20 of the first period after Eriksson beat the lumbering Douglas Murray to the puck behind the net and sent it straight back to Soderberg, who banged the puck in off Prices pad for his first career playoff goal. It came on Bostons sixth shot of the night. It was a good omen for the Bruins, given the team scoring first won the first four games of the series and the Bruins were 5-0 in the playoffs -- and 41-6-2 during the regular season -- with the first goal. Then came the power play breakthrough as the Bruins dominated the second period. After some good puck movement had the Canadiens running around, a Dougie Hamilton shot from the point deflected in off Smiths foot. Then, after a Bruins faceoff win, a nifty Torey Krug pass from the wall found Iginla all alone and he snapped a shot past Price. Boston was bossing the game and the Habs began to lose some of their composure. But Plekanec made up for some of that time in the penalty box when he snapped a shot from the faceoff dot that went through a Boston defencemans legs before rattling in off Gallagher at 14:39 on the power play to cut the lead to 3-1. The five-foot-nine Gallagher got thumped in the corner seconds before on the play, but picked himself up and got in front of the goal to be in position to tip the puck in. The goal ended Tuukka Rasks shutout streak of 122 minutes six seconds. The Bruins kept up the pressure in the third, coming at the Canadiens. Boston calmly blunted Montreal attacks and then moved the puck up ice with speed and purpose. Erikssons goal, with 5:48 remaining, came on a three-on-two complete with some slick passing. Price denied Fraser but was powerless to stop Eriksson, who skated around him until he had a clear shot at an empty net. With Matt Bartkowski off for holding and Price on the bench, Subban scored from the point to make it 4-2 with 2:29 remaining. Therrien brought back Brandon Prust, who had sat out the last two games. Making way was veteran Daniel Briere who had played under 10 minutes each of the last three contests. Kevin De Bruyne Jersey .com) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mat Latos had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right elbow last week, the teams official site reported Wednesday. Thorgan Hazard Jersey . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Youri-Tielemans-Belgium-Jersey/ . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey . -- Ben Bishop had a milestone game against one of the NHLs greatest goalies. Nacer Chadli Belgium Jersey .The team had a meeting prior to facing Russia at the world junior hockey championship and got the effort theyve been looking for by defeating the Russians 4-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.DUNEDIN, Florida – On Tuesday afternoon, TSN.ca sat down with Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker for an exclusive 1-on-1 at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Last season, thanks to injuries and ineffectiveness, Torontos starting rotation posted a 4.81 ERA, second-worst in all of baseball. If the Jays are going to compete in the ultra-tough American League East, the staff will have to drastically improve that number. This discussion focuses on the makeup of the rotation, early favourites to earn a spot and whether Walker truly believes this club has enough major league-ready, quality arms to be playing meaningful games in August and September. To listen to the interview, click here. TSN.ca: Pete, weve got a lot to get to here so Im going to fire some bullets here and hope you dont dodge them. Here we go: Drew Hutchison, first and foremost, very, very impressive on Saturday in Sarasota with a fastball clocked in the mid-90s. Could you foresee him on the starting staff when we break camp on March 30, March 31? WALKER: You know, its definitely early in camp but watching him work, watching him go about his business and the way hes carrying himself right now and the way the ball is coming out of his hand, the command, the poise, the power, its a pretty good group of pitches there. Right now, hes just doing everything he needs to do to set himself apart from some of the other guys. Again, its his first outing. You dont want to put too much stock in it but the evidence points to him being on top of his game right now, feeling great coming back from the Tommy John surgery and, again, you cant say enough about the first impression in camp for Drew. The way its going for him, if he continues to pitch this way and continues to throw the ball the way hes throwing, hes certainly a strong candidate for that rotation. TSN.ca: Were looking at whats a pretty obvious top three here right now. R.A. (Dickey) is going to get the opening day start. Brandon Morrow will slot in behind and Mark Buehrle will slot in behind. Then there is that much, much larger grouping of which Hutchison is one, that includes J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers, Todd Redmond, Kyle Drabek and the list goes on and on and on. In terms of how youre assessing the back end the rotation right now, is there one spot available or are there two spots available? WALKER: Were looking at it as one. Certainly, J.A. hasnt gotten off to a great start for him right now. We would love him to be in that rotation. Certainly, hes a guy whos pitched in the big leagues and had some success. We like where his slot is right now. Obviously, the last outing didnt go very well for him. We want to make sure hes feeling as good as he needs to be physically and were going to get him out there many more times this spring. Hes a guy we want in that rotation, theres no question about it but with that being said, theres a competition down here and the guys coming in that are performing well, obviously you dont want to put too much stock in spring training, but the guys that come in ready to go, its hard to deny the way theyre throwing the ball and if they continue to throw the ball that way on a positive note, they could definitely see themselves being mentioned in that fourth and fifth slot. TSN.ca: The business side at this time of year can be just as involved in decision-making as the performance side and Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond are two guys who contributed to your starting rotation, really in a pinch, late last season and did reasonably well. Both are out of options, which for the uninitiated means they could not be sent to the minors without going through waivers and you run the risk of losing them. How much of a factor do options play in the ultimate decision-making process here? WALKER: Its a fine line. I mean, obviously, from a player development standpoint you want to make sure the guys who are young are ready to come up here and obviously, you dont want to lose good arms through the waiver process with guys that have had success in the big leagues like Redmond and Rogers. Those guys did a great job for us last year. Were looking forward to them being part of the staff but again, youve got to watch these younger guys, Hutchison, Stroman and watch the way they throw the ball this spring. If those are the guys that are going to give us the best chance to win in April, then you have to strongly consider it. You certainly, over the course of a long season, dont want to lose quality arms, thats for sure because at some point, youre going to need those guys. Rogers is potentially a number four or five starter in the big leagues, going out there every fifth day with the stuff that he throws out there. Certainly at times last year, he looked like it. Redmonds the same. I mean, he did a fantastic job for us late in the season. You cant just overlook those guys; they did do a nice job for us, they are candidates, viable candidates to fill those positions and guys were very confident in. But it is hard to deny that you see a guy like Hutchison and Stroman and see how poised they are and see how theyre doing over the course of spring training and the way they carry themselves that they act and look like big leaguers, theres no doubt about it. Itll be interesting to watch the rest of the spring because theres a lot of pitching left for these guys and certainly guys will have the ability to step up or take a step back. TSN.ca: Have there been any changes in the way that you guys want to approach hitters this season? WALKER: From a pitching philosophy standpoint? TSN.ca: Yes. WALKER: No doubt. Obviously last year didnt go well for a number of reasons. You always look back on the season and you find reasons why. You look to evaluate certain areas and you look to make adjustments I guess as a player, as a coach, its a constant changing so to speak so were always looking to improve. I think, this year, the one thing we do want to implement more is the off-speed pitch, you know, the changeup. We had guys with great stuff that got hurt sometimes because they didnt change speeds well enough, you know disrupt hitters timing. I think, this year, were looking to do that a little bit more. I think its very important from a pitching perspective, in those advanced meetings on the opposing side that they recognize we have good off-speed stuff as well as the power, just to disrupt their timing so thats something were definitely looking into. Aside from that, strike one more consistently and minimizing the walks.dddddddddddd. Our walks were too high last year. We want to attack the zone, again it was a philosophy last year it just didnt really follow through but were definitely emphasizing it more this spring, changing speeds and really going after the hitters early on. TSN.ca: I dont know if it shows much on TV but when you walk around and you look at Brandon Morrow, you definitely notice a different body type. Hes put on some muscle and he shared with us that he tipped the scales at 219 pounds. This time last year, he was 189 pounds on his way to 203 by opening day. Is he healthy? How is he feeling? How confident are you that he can be the guy to give you 180-200 innings and win you 15-18 games because looking at the rotation, that seems to be awfully important? WALKER: His track record isnt great, you cant deny that but he definitely came into camp ready to go. He looks strong, he feels strong, the balls coming out of his hand great. He said he feels great so we are counting on him to be a workhorse for us. We need him to be a workhorse for this staff and be a leader out there and take the ball every fifth day. Obviously, if that doesnt happen, thats going to be a big blow to this staff. We need him to be out there. I think he recognizes that and, like I said, hes come to camp in great shape. Hes stronger. To me, he looks more durable and, like I said, the ball is coming out nice for this time of the spring. Were counting on him heavily. He knows it and I feel like hes ready for the challenge. TSN.ca: Whats your relationship like with R.A. Dickey because, as a conventional pitcher, you were one of about 99 per cent of the pitchers all-time who were fastball and you work through your repertoire. Hes a knuckleballer and youve had him now for a year. How do you help him? What kind of tips do you give him? What does he ask of you because its obviously not a pitch youre familiar with? WALKER: Ive certainly learned a lot about the pitch, thats for sure, and the mechanics of the pitch. There are some traditional things that he does with his delivery that we look at, no question about it but Ive learned over the course of our side sessions and the terminology that hes used in the past, Ive learned certain things that were looking for in his delivery when they break down to let him know. He watches video. He prepares as well as anybody in the game, from a pitching standpoint, to recognize hitters weaknesses and what their strengths are. Its one of those things, over the course of the year, we learned a lot about each other. He is a determined worker. I know last year didnt go the way he expected or we expected initially. I do believe the WBC and the issues early on physically affected him. This year, he is more focused than I remember last year, thats for sure. His mind is in the right place, hes very determined and hes setting a great example for the younger guys. To me, he looks like hes on a mission to have a very successful season right from the get-go. The ball is coming out of his hand great right now, the movement on the ball, the velocity on the ball is better than last spring. Hes in a good place and, again, we need him to not only take the ball every fifth day but be a leader on this team and show the younger guys how its supposed to be done. TSN.ca: Two more for you, one is a look back and one is a look ahead. How long did you dwell on last season once you were able to get home and get away for a little bit? With some sober second thought, out of the heat of the battle, how did you assess what went on and some of the reasons why? WALKER: It was obviously a very difficult season for everybody involved. There were some sleepless nights. I felt like, at the end of the season, Id thrown 162 games and thats the way it should be as a pitching coach. You take it to heart. It definitely bothered me but going into the offseason, it was like starting with a clean slate, wanting to come into spring training with a fresh outlook and we certainly have. The guys are coming in, like I said were healthy, we need to be healthy, we need to stay healthy so were staying on top of those things. Were also coming in with a different frame of mind. I want these guys to believe in their stuff and take charge of their game. Last year, there were times when I think we just expected that we were going to do well and we were all guilty of it. But this year, I think theres a different look in these guys faces, the pitchers especially and I know theres been a couple of tough games these past two games but overall, the starters and the guys competing for spots are very focused and I like the way theyre going about their business and Im very pleased with where they are. TSN.ca: Pete, looking ahead, youll know this as much as anybody else, there is some concern amongst a large portion of the fan base up in Toronto that general manager Alex Anthopoulos did not add to the pitch staff externally this offseason, via free agency or via trade. So the question is, youve mentioned Hutchison, you did use Stromans name in an answer, Aaron Sanchez as well, how close are we to seeing Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and some of those guys not just come up and make their big league debuts but potentially contribute every fifth day to a successful team? WALKER: I think theyre real close, especially Drew Hutchison and Marcus Stroman. Whether that had something to do with Alexs decision or not this offseason, I know he was working very hard on a daily basis and we do have good options here. Obviously youre seeing it play out right in front of your eyes right here during spring training and I think you will for the rest of spring training. We certainly, in our pitchers meeting before spring training started, I definitely emphasized with these guys that we have enough in this room. I look at R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle and the other pitchers in that room and with that bullpen and with the young guys coming up, we certainly have enough pitching to be competitive and to win a lot of games and put us in a position for potential postseason play. But they have to believe it. I know, based on last year, the fan base and the media, its questionable in their minds but I know in that room, those guys are healthy, theyre determined, maybe they have a little chip on their shoulders but theyre definitely looking forward to the season and I definitely feel good about the group that we have. TSN.ca: We wish you guys well, Pete, thanks so much. WALKER: Thank you. ' ' '