l Ranger has shown recent improvement after a long...
Please login or register free to be able to post.
View forum:
l Ranger has shown recent improvement after a long NHL layoff.
Started by
wff0605,
2014/08/17 02:54AM
Latest post: 2014/08/17 02:54AM, Views: 252, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2014/08/17 02:54AM, Views: 252, Posts: 1
wff0605
MONTREAL -- Notepads, T-shirts, swim caps and pens rained down on the Olympic Park Pool deck as children called for signed mementoes from newly-minted Olympians. nfl jerseys china . Sundays final day of trials topped up the Canadian Olympic swim team to 31 athletes -- 13 men and 18 women -- bound for London this summer. The swimmers will be led by Victorias Ryan Cochrane, a double medal threat in long-distance freestyle, elder statesman Brent Hayden of Mission, B.C., and the tireless Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont. The swim teams goal for London is three medals and getting swimmers in 13 to 15 finals, according to Swimming Canada chief executive officer and national team coach Pierre Lafontaine. "The Olympic Games are a different ball game than anything else, but I think its reasonable," Lafontaine said. Cochrane won Canadas lone swimming medal in 2008 with a bronze in the 1,500 metres. Hayden was a silver medallist in the 100 freestyle at last years world championship. Wilkinson, 24, leads a deep womens contingent with some promising young talent. She won three of her four races at trials to qualify in the 100 backstroke, 200-metre individual medley and 100 freestyle. Wilkinson will be a key piece of the womens relay teams. She swam a marathon of 11 races in Beijing and finished seventh in the 200-metre I.M. Canadian swimmers reached 10 finals in Beijing. "Four years ago, it was a young team and we talked about it being a building year," Cochrane said. "There was way less expectations on us as a national team. This time around its still a young team, but I think you can expect great things. "Its not go there and get the experience. A lot of these kids have raced internationally many times, so I think that will really help them when they get to the Games." High-performance swimming in Canada hit its nadir at the 2004 Summer Games, as the swim team produced zero medals and swam in just three finals in Athens. That was the first time since 1964 Canada got shut out in the pool. Its been a slow climb back to Olympic respectability, but Lafontaine has even bigger plans for the countrys swimmers. "By 2020, we want to be consistently among the G8 nations," Lafontaine said. "That means we need to be five or six medals and 18 to 22 finals consistently. Were setting that stage." Its been 20 years since Mark Tewksbury, the 2012 chef de mission, won Canadas Olympic swimming gold, taking the 100-metre backstroke at the Barcelona Games. The Olympic swim competition runs from July 28 to Aug. 4. Cochrane is a possibility for Canadas first medal of the Games as he swims the 400-metre freestyle on the first day of competition. "Now that Im a leader on the team, I can really carry that on my shoulders a bit," Cochrane said. "Im just happy everyones expectations matched my own." Hayden won the mens 50-metre freestyle Sunday, but the 100 is his bread-and-butter event. "My stroke is feeling really on," Hayden said. "Last season was a real focus on training and not so much racing. "This next time until the Olympics is going to be focused more on racing. Im definitely going to be more race-ready by the end of the season." A maximum of two swimmers per event at trials could qualify and that was if both met an Olympic qualifying time. Just one swimmer earned a berth in each mens event with the exception of the 100-freestyle. Competition for spots was much tighter among the women. Among the surprises at trials, 18-year-old Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., qualified in two breaststroke events. She beat world record holder Annamay Pierse and world bronze medallist Martha McCabe in the 200 metres. Yet another fast womens final Sunday produced a Canadian record by backstroker Sinead Russell of Burlington, Ont., and brought Hilary Caldwell of London, Ont., on board the team. Russell, 18, lowered her own Canadian record in the 200 backstroke by over half a second to two minutes 8.04 seconds. Caldwell was quick enough as runner-up to book a ticket to London. "I knew I was ready for a best time," Russell said. "I didnt know exactly what I wanted to do. I was hoping for a little faster, but Ill take it for now." Andrew Ford of Guelph, Ont., was also among the final additions to the swim team Sunday. He qualified by winning the mens 200 I.M. Cochrane cruised to a win in the mens 1,500 more than seven seconds faster than the runner-up. "We came into this meet thinking of the 400 and really wanted to post a time that brought me encouragement in my swimming at this point in time of the season," Cochrane said. "The 1,500 was more of a working event. Without a full taper, its much harder to swim fast. I knew that coming in." The six days of trials were designed to mirror an Olympic environment. The sheer intensity of that environment makes favourites crumble and the unheralded become heroes. Pierse and two-time Olympic breaststroker Mike Brown, who missed a medal in Beijing by .09 seconds, were shattered they didnt make the cut for London. Both swimmers were in tears following their events. Even Cochrane felt the strain. "The emotional toll of the whole week, coming to this point six days later is just astronomical," Cochrane said. "As much as I thought I prepared for it, it really is a drain. The ups and downs can really get you. Ill be prepared for that more at the Olympics." The Paralympic swim team trials were held in conjunction with trials. That team will be finalized and announced at a later date. wholesale jerseys . The 451-foot shot -- third longest in Safeco Field history -- jump-started the moribund Mariners offence as they went on to a 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night. Cheap Jerseys From China . The pair replace Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom, who wore the letters last year. Andrew Ladd remains the captain of the Jets. http://www.wholesalejerseysfamily.co... . The Rangers moved a step closer to the top spot in the division on Friday, as Elvis Andrus homered and drove in two, helping Texas to a 4-1 win. Adrian Beltre also hit a home run and Michael Young added an RBI for the Rangers, who have won two straight. [url=http://www.discountray-bansunglasses.com/]cheap ray ban sunglasses aviator . Cespedes played for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and is projected to be ready for the majors. Cespedes says six teams are interested in signing him, including the Marlins, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs and White Sox. nfl jerseys china . Scott Cullen looks at how the Devils pulled together in the absence of top line scorer Ilya Kovalchuk.TORONTO -- Randy Carlyle has been in Morgan Riellys situation before. During his playing days as a defenceman, Carlyle was made a healthy scratch and didnt like the excuse he was given. "They said, Oh maybe its better that you look at the game from a different perspective. I dont think Im going to use that one," the Toronto Maple Leafs coach said. "I think the best message when you make a decision is you tell the player that you feel the other guys are ahead of him, and thats the truth. Or else you wouldnt make that decision." Rielly could be a healthy scratch Friday night against the New Jersey Devils with defenceman Mark Fraser poised to return after missing 13 games with a left knee injury. The 19-year-old rookie was paired up with John-Michael Liles during Thursdays practice, suggesting hell be out of the lineup. "Im not too worried about it at all," Rielly said. "Its great that (Fraser is) back and healthy. I think its going to help our team a lot." Rielly wasnt hurting the Leafs terribly, though he has been on the ice for 14 goals against this season. Thats second-worst behind only veteran Cody Franson, who has been on for 17. Even though Carlyle didnt necessarily agree with the notion that Rielly was going through some growing pains, he could be due for some tough love. "Hes made some mistakes as every member of our hockey club has," Carlyle said. "I dont like to say that the young player, especially a player thats cutting his teeth in the NHL, is experiencing anything other than life in the NHL. We have veteran people that are making the same amount of mistakes or the same type of mistakes and they dont gett the same recognition maybe because they get a pass. cheap nfl jerseys. . "What wed like to do is make sure that Morgan understands, as every player has to understand, that in certain situations those mistakes are not ones that were going to tolerate." Rielly acknowledged some deficiencies in his game but brushed them off. "Im not really too concerned about it," he said. "That happens to everybody. But I just got to keep playing well. Im not sure if theres one area of my game that has really been bad or anything like that. Just going to keep working hard here and just keep trying to play a good, team game." The Leafs elected to keep Rielly beyond the nine-game limit that would have allowed them to not burn a year of his entry-level contract. He has now played in 13 of Torontos 15 games and has five assists and a minus-3 rating. Rielly has averaged 17 minutes 49 seconds of ice time. "Hes been put in a situation where hes had to play very well and I think hes done a good job with it," Franson said. "Hes playing against the top two lines all night and hes playing pretty decent-sized minutes. When a 19-year-old kid can come in and play those minutes against those lines and do it like he has, its impressive." But its probably not impressive enough to keep him in the lineup every night if Fraser stays healthy. Captain Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson are locks to remain the lineup, while Paul Ranger has shown recent improvement after a long NHL layoff. Fransons offensive abilities keep him in, which makes it a decision between Rielly and Jake Gardiner for who sits out. For now, Rielly appears to be the odd man out. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '
Please login or register free to be able to post.
- Links allowed: yes
- Allow HTML: no
- Allow BB code yes
- Allow youTube.com: yes
- Allow code: yes
- Links visible: no
- Quick reply: yes
- Post preview: yes