Gästebuch » exectations with the addition of Kesler

BEIJING -- Canadas Kevin Koe was in a four-way tie for third place at the world mens curling championship after splitting his games Sunday at Capital Indoor Stadium. Koe dropped a 9-6 decision to Japans Yusuke Morozumi in the early draw before improving to 2-1 with a 9-6 victory over Chinas Rui Liu. "Obviously its a long week, but you dont want to get yourself behind the eight-ball early, so obviously it was important to get some stuff figured out," said Canadian third Pat Simmons. "It was a good, gutsy win for us, for sure." The Calgary-based rink opened the tournament Saturday with a 6-3 win over Denmark. Norways Thomas Ulsrud and Germanys John Jahr led at 3-0 after five draws. Canada was tied with Japan, Switzerland and Sweden at 2-1. China picked up a steal of one in the fourth end when Koes open takeout attempt overcurled. Canada pulled even at 3-3 with a deuce in the fifth and stole three points in the sixth end when Lius draw was wide. Koe added a deuce in the eighth end and one more point in the 10th for the victory. "Thats big," Koe said. "I mean, you dont want to get 1-2 this early in the week. It (would) be a long week, for sure." Teams are still adjusting to the ice conditions in the warm, humid Chinese capital. There have been some uncharacteristic misses over the first weekend of competition, such as Koes mistake in the fourth end against China. "I didnt think I threw it too bad in the fourth," said Koe. "Sometimes you throw it and you think you know what itll do and it still doesnt do that. So thats frustrating. Were used to a little more out of ourselves, so we just have to realize that its tough for both teams and we have to stick with it." The Canadian icemaking tandem of Hans Wuthrich and Greg Ewasko have had some challenges -- including a contaminated water supply -- in their effort to create top-flight conditions. "You just have to accept that theres going to be some nuances on each sheet," Simmons said. "If you can get control of the game and make the other team play those hard shots, then its obviously a big advantage. "We were able to do that and make him shoot against a few of our rocks the one end (the seventh) and we were lucky enough to get the steal. Yeah, well take it." The Czech Republic, Russia, China and the United States were 1-2 while Denmark and Scotland remained winless at 0-3. The Canadians will play Russia and the Czechs on Monday. Koe won gold in his only previous appearance at the world championship, taking top spot at the 2010 tournament in Cortina DAmpezzo, Italy. Canada has won gold three of the last four world championships. Jeff Stoughton was victorious in 2011 in Regina and Glenn Howard won at Basel, Switzerland in 2012. Adidas NMD Pharrell Williams Human Race Yellow . Louis Cardinals. He was 48. The commissioners office said Bell died in his home state of Ohio. 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The running back told The Tennessean he was having surgery in Pensacola, Fla.The Vancouver Canucks unloaded an unhappy veteran centre, acquiring three assets in return as new GM Jim Benning starts off his tenure with a major trade. Numbers Game examines the Anaheim Ducks acquiring Ryan Kesler. The Ducks Get: C Ryan Kesler and a third-round pick in 2015. Kesler, 29, has been a very good two-way centre for most of the past seven seasons, scoring at least 20 goals in all six full seasons while missing 31 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 season. He scored 25 goals last season while playing a career-high 21:49 per game, and while Kesler didnt match the outstanding possession numbers he had from 2009 through 2012, he still had positive possession numbers despite facing high quality opposition and starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone, qualities that put him with a sound group of two-way forwards. Holding a no-trade clause, Kesler had control over the situation and that limited Vancouvers options. In Anaheim, Kesler slides into the second-line spot, behind Ryan Getzlaf, and Keslers presence may even free-up Getzlaf a little bit more -- as Getzlaf typically faces a high calibre of opposition with more defensive zone starts. If Kesler takes some of that responsibility, it may allow Getzlaf to get more favourable offensive matchups. While Kesler is a pretty effective shooter, 9.9% or above every year since 2006-2007, his on-ice shooting percentage (which includes the shooting of all others on the ice with him at 5on-5) was his lowest in that span last season, when he played primarily with Chris Higgins on left wing and then a rotating cast of right wingers. The positive of that is that, statistically, hes likely to have better luck next year, in terms of other players shooting percentage, so there may be room for a boost in Keslers production. The Ducks have a variety of young wingers that will be bucking for playing time and a couple of Patrick Maroon, Jakob Silfverberg, Kyle Palmieri, Matt Beleskey, Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly should have a shot to play on Keslers wings. Anticipating some boost in Keslers production operates on the assumption that he will be getting first-unit power play time because Bonino held that spot with the Ducks last season. For as much as Keslers reputation is built on being a two-way player who can check the oppositions best forwards, hes also been a productive triggerman on the Vancouver power play, ranking among the leaders in power play goals per minute of 5-on-4 play over the past five seasons. Kesler, in addition to being a valuable two-way forward, also comes at a reasonable cost for a veteran player. He has two years remaining on his contract, with a $5-million cap hit. If he plays well over the next couple seasons, there may be a decent chance to get him extended or re-signed, considering that Kesler virtually hand-picked his trade destination. The third-round pick offers about a 30% of chance of netting an NHLer, with maybe a six or seven percent chance of yielding a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender. The Canucks Get: C Nick Bonino, D Luca Sbisa, a first-round and third-round pick.. Bonino is a 26-year-old centre coming off a careerr year, in the first full season that hes played in the NHL.dddddddddddd Boninos 22 goals and 49 points were solid showings, tied for 75th and 72nd, respectively and he scored 20 points on the power play. Bonino has not typically faced tough opposition and has always started more shifts in the offensive zone, yet his possession numbers havent been very good. He was just below break-even last season for the Ducks, but was productive, in part, because he had a high on-ice shooting percentage, which makes Bonino something of a mirror image of Kesler, more likely to see his production fall. Hes not as good, but there was no chance the Ducks were getting a better centre in exchange for a player with a no-trade clause that wanted to be moved out of town. That said, Bonino is an okay option as a second or third-line centre for the Canucks. An inexpensive option for a rebuilding team, signed for three more years at a total cost of $5.7-million, a very reasonable $1.9-million cap hit. Sbisa, 24, was well on his way to a signficant role before he was bypassed on the Ducks depth chart this season. In the previous two years, he had played all but nine games and was up to a career-high 19:50 average time on ice per game last season. The first-round pick of the Flyers in 2008 appeared to be making progress, but then he sprained his ankle in training camp, and later tore tendon in his hand. Those two injuries cost him 41 games and the Ducks had new defencemen -- Ben Lovejoy, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen -- pull ahead of Sbisa on the depth chart. So, while Sbisa hasnt really established that he can handle a big role, its not unreasonable for the Canucks to put him on their third pairing next year to see if he can get back on track. Sbisa is under contract for one more season, at a cap hit of $2.175-million, after which he will be a restricted free agent. The 24th pick in the draft has typically yielded an NHL player 70% of the time, with a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender 25% of the time. The third-round pick was subsequently moved to the New York Rangers, to acquire veteran winger Derek Dorsett. Dorsett is a 27-year-old who is a willing scrapper, but has also played some tough minutes in a checking role over the past three seasons, with a lot of defensive zone starts. Dorsett is in the final year of a deal that brings a cap hit of $1.633-million. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Will the Canucks be just as good without Ryan Kesler? Not likely. Does this move put them in a decent position going forward, in terms of having assets that they can use to re-shape the team? For sure. Big changes have begun in Vancouver and the first steps may be back before they are in position to move ahead. For the Ducks, theyve raised exectations with the addition of Kesler. They lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champs and, justifiably, made a move to improve their odds next season by getting a player that they tried to acquire before the trade deadline last season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '