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.
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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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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 ImagesTORONTO - You can’t really blame Doug Risebrough. He tried. Several times. Unfortunately, he came up empty.
The Minnesota Wild general manager and his management staff have gone back and forth with agent Ron Salcer in hopes of signing star winger Marian Gaborik to a long-term contract extension.
The Wild pitched a number of offers Gaborik’s way, but they were all tossed back. The 26-year-old appears set on either leaving the club via free agency next summer. He wants to explore his options.
Risebrough is willing to pay more than $8 million per year on a seven- to 10-year contract, but the market says Gaborik could earn more via free agency, and that’s something the Wild isn’t able to compete with.
In fact, various reports suggest Gaborik could earn more than $9.5 million on a new deal if he hits the open market July 1, 2009.
Risebrough and Salcer have stopped talking. It’s been just over two weeks since the two last discussed a new contract. They both confirmed over the weekend that talks have hit a brick wall.
As it stands, the Wild is trying to trade Gaborik, or at the very least get a better idea of his value.
The Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers are all reportedly interested in Gaborik.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Risebrough has already spoken with Habs GM Bob Gainey and Kings GM Dean Lombardi.
The paper also reports the Wild offered Gaborik to an unidentified team over the weekend, but the deal was rejected.
Any club interested in acquiring Gaborik will surely want to speak with Salcer before agreeing to a trade. They’ll want some kind of assurance that Gaborik would be interested in signing a long-term deal with their team if they are to pay a king’s ransom.
The Wild is supposedly interested in Montreal sniper Chris Higgins and top defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh, who was drafted 12th overall in 2007. From the Kings, Minnesota might request Dustin Brown or Alexander Frolov be packaged in a multi-player trade.
There are a number of options available to Risebrough and the Wild, as there will definitely be more teams calling in the coming weeks.
With the Wild already entertaining offers and having discussions with other teams, it looks like they’ll want this matter resolved, one way or another, in the near future.
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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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.
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.
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