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.
DENVER - Joe Sacco envisions a fast and feisty team taking the ice, one that attacks and stays aggressive.
Perhaps a version of himself when he was a forward in the league.
Sacco, who spent 13 years in the NHL, was introduced as the new coach of the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, a day after the club fired Tony Granato and shook up its front office.
Flanked by newly appointed general manager Greg Sherman on his left and assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre to his right, Sacco talked about carving out a revamped identity for a team that's coming off its worst finish since moving to Denver in 1995.
"We want to be a team that plays with a lot of energy. We want to play on our toes, we don't want to play on our heels,'' Sacco said. "We want to be a team that attacks, we want to be a team that doesn't sit back.''
Most of all, Sacco wants this team to return to glory, when the Avalanche were perennially challenging for a Stanley Cup crown.
Sherman shares that vision.
"We all want the Avalanche to return to the standards that made this franchise so successful,'' he said. "There will be no shortcuts to return to those standards.''
Sacco, 40, was promoted from the Avalanche's American Hockey League affiliate, where he coached the Lake Erie Monsters the last two seasons.
He should be quite familiar with this roster, considering he coached players like T.J. Galiardi, Ray Macias and Derek Peltier at Lake Erie.
"I certainly think it will help,'' Sacco said.
He inherits an Avalanche squad that missed the playoffs for a second time in three seasons as it stumbled to a last-place finish in the Western Conference. The team is strapped by salary cap issues and has both of its goalies, Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft, unsigned for next season.
"I can't worry about that right now,'' Sacco said. "That will all take care of itself.''
The same can be said of captain Joe Sakic as the Avalanche wait to see if he returns for a 21st season. Sacco would love nothing more than to coach Sakic.
"But that's going to be his decision,'' Sacco said.
And the Avalanche aren't in any hurry to rush him along.
"Joe has earned (the right) to take his time and make his decision as to what his future holds,'' Sherman said.
A former NHL forward, Sacco appeared in 738 games over a 13-year career that included stints with Toronto, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Washington and Philadelphia.
The native of Medford, Mass., was also part of the United States hockey team that finished fourth at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France.
The hiring of Sacco caps off a whirlwind few weeks in which the Avalanche flirted with hiring Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy to be their coach - only to have him turn them down - and made sweeping changes to the organization, firing Granato and five others.
The team also announced a new management structure Wednesday, promoting Sherman to general manager. He takes over for Francois Giguere, who was let go in April.
In Giguere's absence, president Pierre Lacroix stepped in and ran the team. Lacroix wasn't present Thursday as he recovers from complications following knee-replacement surgery.
With Lacroix's newly assembled management group intact, they made their first decision: hiring Sacco.
"He truly deserves this challenge,'' said Sherman, whose team has the third pick in the NHL draft later this month.
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Lefebvre accompanied Sacco to the Avalanche after serving as an assistant at Lake Erie. He thinks Sacco's style will resonate with the players.
"Joe's a demanding coach but also understanding,'' said Lefebvre, a member of the Avalanche's Stanley Cup winning squad in 1996. "He likes to let the players know what their roles are on the team.''
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.
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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.
