jinpan1234
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yotes have a decent 16-13-5 road record
« on: May 14th, 2015, 12:38am » |
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TORONTO - Dan Dawson has seen it all in his 13 seasons in the National Lacrosse League.However, this is uncharted territory for the veteran forward and his Rochester Knighthawks. They became the first team to win three straight Champions Cup titles earlier this year and now theyre ready to begin their pursuit for a fourth straight crown.Our mindset as an organization is every year theres something different, Dawson said in a recent interview. We cannot reinvent what was successful last year. Player movement, rules of the game, situations, they change every year. So the only thing thats stayed constant with us is family and hard work and thats really what we focus on.The Knighthawks retooled their roster after winning the Cup in 2012, acquiring Dawson and his brother Paul in an off-season trade that involved five other players. Rochester, with the Dawsons at the forefront, won again in 2013 and 2014 to create the first indoor lacrosse dynasty since the Toronto Rock of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Even though Toronto won four Champions Cups between 1999 and 2003, the Rock lost to the Philadelphia Wings in the 2001 final to prevent them from winning a third straight title. Dawson says Rochesters prolonged success is thanks to Knighthawks owner and general manager Curt Styres, who puts an emphasis on team cohesion in everything he does.Were pretty blessed that we get to spend a lot of time with each other, with our itineraries, said Dawson. The way Curt likes to structure things, eating as a team, travelling as a team, and that goes a long way. You get to know each other off the field which directly translates into success on the field.Weve been very blessed to have a visionary like Curt, whos allowed us to be successful and we just try to repay him every year with, obviously, a championship.The 2015 NLL season kicks off Friday as the Buffalo Bandits visit the newly relocated New England Black Wolves at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The Black Wolves had been the Philadelphia Wings until September 2014 when the team announced it was moving to Connecticut.Dawson sympathizes with the New England players. A six-time NLL all-star and 2009 league MVP, Dawson had something of a transient lacrosse life until settling in with Rochester.He was drafted by the Columbus Landsharks in 2002, playing two seasons in Ohio until the team moved west and became the Arizona Sting. When that team suspended operations in 2008, Dawson was selected by the Portland Lumberjax in a dispersal draft.Dawson re-entered the dispersal pool a year later when the Sting formally folded, being chosen first overall by the Boston Blazers. Dawsons odyssey continued in 2011 when the Blazers suspended operations, freeing him to join Philadelphia for a season before the trade to the Knighthawks.Its special because you get to put your stamp on what that organization means from Day 1, from the foundation, Dawson said about playing on a relocated team. They have a very young team, but theyve kept a good nucleus together from that Philadelphia organization and I think theyre going to be a very scary team.When youre young and youre new, the only thing you know how to do is work hard and play pure lacrosse and that can be a very scary thing when youre playing against them.Dawsons focus, however, remains on putting in the hours with the Knighthawks to repeat as champions.The expectation, like the other eight teams in the NLL, is to win a championship, said Dawson. Were going to break that down. Thats the end goal that every team sets forward but every week you break it down into that team that youre playing that week.It starts even before that with practice leading up to that game. Its the little battles and the little goals that you have to get before you can get to the main ones.Canadas four NLL teams all begin their season Saturday. The Edmonton Rush visit Buffalo, the Toronto Rock travel to Rochester, and the Calgary Roughnecks host the Vancouver Stealth.Dawson expects a competitive campaign, with all of the NLL teams improving in the off-season.Calgary was one goal away from winning a championship last year and I think on paper theyre the most talented team in the league, said Dawson. You look at what Torontos done in the East and I think with Philadelphia moving to Connecticut, thats going to spark some new blood and some new life in that organization. Vancouver made some outstanding moves in the off-season.You look across the board theres so much parity which makes this league so very special. I think it could be anyone any given night.Notes: The NLL returns to Canadian television this season with 12 regular-season games being aired on TSN, including select post-season games and the Champions Cup final.___Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter. cheap jerseys . - Adam Scott didnt have to look as far down the leaderboard to find players who suddenly are a real threat to win at Bay Hill. wholesale nfl jerseys . In the late match, Alexander Meier scored in the 89th minute to give Eintracht Frankfurt a 2-1 comeback victory over Stuttgart, which fell to its eighth consecutive defeat and is now one place above the danger zone. http://www.cheapjerseysfox.com/. Pelfrey hit a tiebreaking two-run double and limited the Rockies to three solo homers, helping the New York Mets to a 4-3 win over Colorado on Tuesday night. jerseys from china . Kawasaki appeared in 96 games for the Blue Jays last season. He had a .229 batting average with one home run and 24 RBIs. The 32-year-old native of Kagoshima, Japan, also played 25 games for triple-A Buffalo last season. wholesale jerseys . -- The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to terms with former St.(Sports Network) - The Canucks and Coyotes would both be in the playoffs if the season ended today, but neither team has looked much like a postseason club in recent weeks. The struggling teams will try to get back on the right track when they meet tonight at Vancouvers Rogers Arena. The Canucks are holding a comfortable 14-point lead atop the Northwestern Division, but the defending Western Conference champions have posted just two wins over their last seven games (2-3-2). The lull has also dropped Vancouver, which is the second seed in the West, six points behind St. Louis for the top spot in the conference and overall NHL standings. Phoenix, meanwhile, posted an 11-0-1 record in February, but is just 1-4-2 so far in March. The Coyotes are the seventh seed in the West, but they are just one point in front of a group of four teams battling for the eighth seed. Phoenix is also four points behind Dallas for the Pacific Division lead. The Canucks last played on Saturday against visiting Montreal and were handed a 4-1 setback by the Habs. The loss dropped Vancouver to 2-3 on a seven-game homestand and lowered the Canucks home record this season to 20-9-4. Ryan Kesler netted the lone goal for the Canucks, while Roberto Luongo was touched for all four goals on 35 shots in defeat. Canucks captain Henrik Sedin was held without a point for an eighth straight game on Saturday, leaving him one game shy of the longest point drought of his career. Sedins linemate and twin brother, Daniel, has just one assist over that same span. Henrik Sedin believes there is still time for the brothers, and the team as a whole, to get back on the same page before the playoffs. "Weve got 13 more games here and then the important games start," Henrik said after Saturdays loss. "Weve got to re-group during these two days and be fresh for the next practice." Luongo has also struggled between the pipes, allowing 11 goals oon 70 shots over his last three games.dddddddddddd Luongo is expected to get the call over backup Corey Schneider tonight. Meanwhile, after four straight regulation losses to begin March, the Coyotes were at least been able to post a win and two shootout defeats during their recent three-game homestand. Phoenix began the residency last Thursday with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild before ending a five-game slide with a 3-0 win over San Jose on Saturday. The Coyotes were denied consecutive wins, however, when they dropped Mondays 5-4 shootout decision against Nashville, but Phoenix did rally from two goals down in the third period to force overtime. Oliver Ekman-Larsson cut the deficit to 4-3 with 12:49 left in the third period and Raffi Torres netted the equalizer with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. Ekman-Larsson, Torres and Daymond Langkow each posted a goal and an assist for Phoenix and Keith Yandle supplied the other goal. Mike Smith made 31 saves on 35 shots through overtime, but allowed Andrei Kostitsyn to score the only goal of the shootout phase. "We chased the game all night and thats tough," said Phoenix captain Shane Doan. Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal has sat out the last two games with an upper- body injury and is questionable for tonight. The big centerman is fifth on the team this season with 31 points (8 goals, 23 assists). Phoenix is kicking off a four-game road trip tonight and will also visit Calgary, Edmonton and Dallas during the swing. The Coyotes have a decent 16-13-5 road record this season. Tonights tilt is the fourth and final regular-season meeting between the Coyotes and Canucks this season. Vancouver posted a 5-0 rout in Phoenix to begin the season series back on Nov. 25, but the clubs split a pair of shootout decisions in February. The Canucks have won three of the last five encounters in British Columbia. wholesale jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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