Gästebuch » the first time, Brown doesnt come into nati

TORONTO - Brandon Kozun went from on the bubble to on the team. Dale Hawerchuk Jersey .Flashing his speed and offensive skills, Kozun took what was likely the final step to shoring up a spot on the Maple Leafs opening-night roster with another strong performance in Torontos pre-season finale.The five-foot-eight, 167-pound winger had a goal and two assists in the Leafs 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night and continued to stand out in a crowded forward group. Coach Randy Carlyle called Kozuns play desperate and meant it in a good way.Hes very noticeable, and we think that hes gotten more comfortable, Carlyle said. Hes making life difficult for the opposition and making life easy for the coaching staff and management to notice him.The 24-year-old Kozun set up Jake Gardiners goal with a drop pass and a pick on a Red Wings defender, fed captain Dion Phaneuf for one of his two goals and scored on a nifty back-hander past ex-Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.Kozun finished the pre-season with five points (two goals, three assists) and very well may have made 26-year-old winger Matt Frattin expendable. Even with a surplus of forwards on one-way contracts, Kozun has played well enough to stick around against the odds.Im coming here with that attitude that Ive got to work as hard as I can, said Kozun, who didnt say if he thought he did enough to make the roster. Those decisions are out of my hand. Just going to try and get better and hopefully I can help the team in any way possible.Phaneuf finished with three points and just missed out on a hat trick on a night Kozun, Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk each scored for the Leafs.Getting a final tune-up before Wednesdays season opener against the Montreal Canadiens, Jonathan Bernier stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced. Bernier said he felt better in his second full exhibition game than in his first.Xavier Oullet had the lone goal for the Red Wings, who experienced travel delays leaving Detroit and getting through Toronto traffic from the airport to the arena. The team arrived at about 6:45 p.m., and the game was delayed by about 15 minutes as a result.One of the Leafs biggest off-season additions, 37-year-old defenceman Stephane Robidas, looked good in making his pre-season debut after working back from a broken leg suffered in last years playoffs. Robidas played on the top pair with Phaneuf, where hes expected to be at the start of the regular season.I felt pretty good, Robidas said. Honestly I didnt know really what to expect. I felt great physically and mentally before the game.Carlyle said it wasnt the plan for Robidas to play 19 minutes 26 seconds in his first game action since April.But hes a hockey player, the Leafs coach said. He has that calming effect. Hes a competitive guy. Hes not a real flashy guy, but he does make real smart play. Hes got a high IQ for the game.Winger Josh Leivo, another surprise candidate to make the 23-man roster, left the ice for medical attention in the second after blocking a shot but returned later in the period.Toronto finished the pre-season 5-2-1.___Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Custom Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . Saltalamacchia has agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal with the Miami Marlins, two people familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday. Teppo Numminen Jersey . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/ . It will be their 15th head-to-head meeting and fourth in the post-season (Sunday at 2pm et/11am pt on CTV) and for his part, Brady isnt downplaying just how big the game is for him. "Im excited - Its everything you could ask for as an athlete," the New England Patriots quarterback told WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday.GREENSBORO, N.C. - Gracie Gold practiced making eye contact with the audience. She did so many spins it drove me nuts.What the reigning U.S. figure skating champion couldnt do for nearly all of December was jump. Shes now had 3 1/2 weeks to work on her triples to try to defend her title when nationals open Thursday.I still feel almost as if Id been training the whole time, Gold said Wednesday.Gold and Ashley Wagner were the only Americans to qualify individually for the Grand Prix Final. Gold had to pull out because of a stress fracture in her left foot, while Wagner went on to win bronze.Wagner will be seeking her third U.S. title, winning two straight before Gold broke through last year. So both know they can thrive on the national stage. This weeks competition is also a chance to show they can put together the kind of program to win a medal at the world championships. No American woman has accomplished that feat since Kimmie Meissner won gold and Sasha Cohen took bronze in 2006.Before last years U.S. Championships, Wagner, now 23, figured the 2014 Games would be her last chance for an Olympic medal. In Sochi, she decided shed progressed so much in six months with coach Rafael Arutyunyan that she wanted to see what they could achieve together in four more years.A win this week to open the cycle before the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Wagner said, would mean starting in the right direction to the Olympic podium.Wagner was seventh in Sochi. Her solid performances were redemption for last years nationals, where she fell twice in her free skate to finish a distant fourth, earning one of the three Olympic spots based on her previous successes.Polina Edmunds was ninth in Sochi at age 15, competing in her first international competition at the senior level.Gold, now 19, was fourth, though well out of the bronze position. She thinks she initially dislocated a bone in her foot during off-ice training this fall — an injury thats common among runners but not figure skaters — which led to the stress fracture. So Gold isnt allowed to run right now, but she can cleanly land a triple luttz-triple toe loop combination. Teemu Selanne Jersey. Gold has needed to limit the number of triple toes she attempts in practice, but otherwise shes been pleasantly surprised at how quickly her jumps came back.Now shell try to land them in competition starting with Thursdays short program at the Greensboro Coliseum, best known for hosting college basketball during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The pairs short program is earlier Thursday, with the competition wide open after two-time defending champs Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir split in the spring.In ice dancing, which opens Friday, Olympic gold medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White are taking a break, leaving Madison Chock and Evan Bates as the favourites.The mens short program follows later Friday. Jeremy Abbott won his fourth U.S. title a year ago at what was supposed to be his last nationals before retirement. Then he rethought those plans, still seeking to match his success at U.S. Championships at a major international event. The 29-year-old Abbotts father, who suffered from Parkinsons disease, died earlier this month.Jason Brown joined Abbott as the two American men on the 2014 Olympic team. Brown, who turned 20 last month, still isnt ready to add a quad, which is all but a prerequisite to win major international medals. For the first time, Brown doesnt come into nationals as an underdog.His frenetic Riverdance long program that went viral after last years U.S. Championships has been replaced by a more sombre piece, a chance to challenge himself in a new way.Max Aaron, the 2013 U.S. champ, is back, while big-jumping 15-year-old Nathan Chen will be competing at his first senior nationals.They could all be chasing Brown, who can find a positive spin for practically anything, including the pressure of his sudden status as the favourite.Dont come in and think I have to be any different than I was the year before, he said of the advice hes received. Just being myself through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, being that genuine same person that I am no matter what success I have. ' ' '