Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty ImagesStaal, meanwhile, struggled throughout the regular season, but has turned it on during the playoffs. He’s contributed offensively, but more importantly he’s played an excellent shut down game in the defensive zone.
“You always approach the playoffs with a lot of confidence,” said Penguins head coach Michel Therrien. “And the confidence that we had is the way that we've been finishing the year the last two months I thought we played some great hockey.
“Not only offensively, but defensively, as well. There was no doubt that we were approaching every single game with a lot of confidence. But to be quite honest, when we start the playoffs, we're not thinking about the Stanley Cup finals. Our main focus was on the first round, and that was our philosophy with that young group.”
The trade deadline additions of Hossa, Pascal Dupuis and Hal Gill have paid extreme dividends for the Penguins.
Hossa ranks second on the team in scoring with 19 points, Dupuis has registered six points and a plus-7 rating, and Gill’s shutdown style has been brilliant thus far.
“We were missing some pieces of the puzzle,” Therrien said. “It was crucial for us. And all those three guys that we brought in, they really buy in right away to the team concept.”
With Game 1 set for Saturday, expect a lot of excitement at both ends of the rink. The Penguins are facing a dangerous opponent in the Red Wings and they’re going to need everyone to be a dynamo on the ice.
The scorers will need to score, the defensemen will need to black out the opposition, Fleury must to be on top of his game, and the grinders will have to get in Detroit’s head right from the get-go.
The Penguins have an extremely well-rounded squad, one the Red Wings have yet to face all year — and that gives Pittsburgh a huge advantage.
Granted, the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks had excellent seasons, but the Penguins’ roster isn’t something the Wings have seen. Pittsburgh’s youth and speed will bust through Detroit’s tight-knit blueline, and their gritty agitators will get in Chris Osgood’s grill. The goals scorers are among the most potent in the entire NHL and they’ll cause a havoc on the Red Wings’ system.
Therrien has utilized his assets quite well and while they may be young, they’re not going to use that as an excuse.
“We don't have much [Stanley Cup] experience,” Therrien said. “But we compensate with a lot of things. We compensate with passion. We play a mature game for a young team. When you put those two together, then this is a team who wants to learn. And they're ready to learn and they are making those sacrifices to learn.”
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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Hyping the Stanley Cup May 20: Mad Dog goes on an NHL rant and picks the Red Wings to beat the Penguins in seven games. |
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.