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.
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.
NHLI via Getty ImagesSharks
This postseason was another megadose of negative reinforcement for a talented team that keeps coming up short in the playoffs. San Jose has to look at making some changes to its roster. Its two top players are Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. Marleau has one year left on his deal at $6.3 million, and Thornton has two remaining years on a contract which pays him $7.2 million a season. The Sharks haven’t been able to win a Stanley Cup with Marleau and Thornton, but they’ll be hard to move given their high salaries.
It could be that the Sharks don’t have enough players on their roster who have a real hatred for losing, and that comes back to bite them in the postseason. The only way a team wins the Stanley Cup is if it has an abundance of players who hate to lose.
San Jose had the most points (117) of any team in the regular season, so the Sharks are still going to be a quality team next season, one that must be considered a top contender to win it all, past playoff failures aside.
Blackhawks
Behind young stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Chicago made it to the Western Conference finals. There certainly can be seen a parallel between Toews and Patrick Kane, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins. Toews and Kane don’t just possess tremendous talent, they are both such competitive players.
So many of the Blackhawks came into their own last season, and took their games to another level. Chicago has balance and depth. Its blueline is solid, and still young. The most notable unrestricted free agent the Blackhawks would like to sign is Martin Havlat, an offensively talented, but frequently injured winger. The Blackhawks are likely going to find the price of re-signing goalie Nikolai Khabibulin too steep so if they part ways with the veteran they’ll gain some salary cap space. Plus, they have Cristobal Huet signed for three more seasons.
Canucks
How serious a contender Vancouver becomes will be predicated on it re-signing the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel. They are a package deal, you don’t get one without the other. They will not play apart on different teams.
The Canucks will again have a solid defense, and they have Roberto Luongo in goal. Even though Luongo was disappointing in the playoffs, he still one of the best at what he does, and next season he will be playing for a new contract.
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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 | NHL All-Stars Take a look at the players who competed in Team Chara's 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson. more photos |
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.