Wasnt Good Enough For The Los Angeles Kings Optiuni

[Dogcat250]

(SportsNetwork.com) - While returning to the playoffs for the first time in five years was a big step forward last season for the Minnesota Wild, a loss in the conference finals wasnt good enough for the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings and Wild both look to take a step forward on Thursday night as they open their 2013-14 campaign in Minnesota. You can watch the game on TSN2 and TSN Mobile TV at 8pm et/5pm pt. Los Angeles entered the lockout-shortened campaign off its first ever Stanley Cup championship and stretched its string of postseason appearances to four straight after a second-place finish in the Pacific Division. That did put the Kings on the road to begin the playoffs and they knocked off the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks in six and seven games, respectively, before falling to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals. The Kings bowed out with a double-overtime loss in Game 5. "Quite honest, our regular season last year was a better season than the team that won the Stanley Cup. So it means our young guys are getting better. Our nucleus is getting better," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter told Lakingsinsider.com. Not surprisingly, Los Angeles returns a bulk of its roster from last season. It is led up front by leading scorer from a season ago Anze Kopitar (42) as well as leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter, who had 26 goals in 48 games. Justin Williams, Mike Richards and captain Dustin Brown are also key forwards who return, though Brown was slowed in the preseason by a hamstring injury suffered on the first day of training camp. He is expected to play tonight, but could see a reduced role until he gets into game shape. The Kings have a solid defensive grouping led by Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov and are expected to have Willie Mitchell available after he missed all of last season due to a knee injury. However, blueliners Jake Muzzin (sprained knee) and Robyn Regehr (elbow surgery) are questionable. Former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick is a big strength to the Kings defense and went 18-13-4 with a 2.45 goals against average and .902 save percentage. He posted a 1.86 GAA, .934 save percentage and three shutouts in last seasons playoffs. Quick should get the start tonight for the Kings, who play six of their first eight on the road. That includes Thursdays tough test at the Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild have never lost a home opener. They have won 11 straight since a tie in their first ever home opener in the building on Oct. 11, 2000. The Wild showed a lot of improvement a season ago after breaking the bank to sign forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter to massive deals, earning the eighth seed in the postseason for their first playoff berth since 2008. Minnesota did lose in five games to Chicago in the opening round, held to a pair of goals or less in all four losses. The Wild had just four players reach double-digit figures in goals last year, led by Parises 18. Minnesota was tied for 22nd with 2.46 goals per game, negating a solid defense that finished in a tie for 15th with 2.60 goals allowed per game. The club shook things up by trading the physical Cal Clutterbuck and a draft pick to the New York Islanders for 21-year-old Swiss Nino Niederreiter, the fifth overall pick of the 2010 draft. "I think the biggest thing for us is we want to get better offensively," said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. "Thats been well documented. Weve talked about it an awful lot, but our bread and butter still has to be that we have to be a great defensive team. That challenge for us is to build on that offensive part without taking away from the defensive part." The Wild also added a pair of veterans, signing forward Matt Cooke and defenseman Keith Ballard. Minnesota plays four of its first five at home and returns Niklas Backstrom in net for his eighth season. The 35-year-old was 24-15-3 with a 2.48 GAA and .909 save percentage in 42 games a season ago, but was unable to play versus Chicago in the postseason after suffering an injury during warmups prior to Game 1. The Wild won two of three over the Kings a season ago, with both victories coming in Minnesota. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Retro Australia .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants. Air Jordan 1 Retro Australia . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent. http://www.wholesaleairjordan1australia.com/. -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Air Jordan 1 Retro Cheap . New York then missed its next six shots and scored only two points the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Clippers defence and the Knicks general ineptitude both played a role in the unsurprising finish to a meeting of two teams headed in opposite directions. Air Jordan 1 Australia . Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane wanted to stay in Chicago and the Blackhawks wanted to keep the high-scoring forwards in the only NHL uniform they have ever known.NEW YORK -- Max Scherzer did most everything on the mound this season -- led the majors in wins, started the All-Star game, helped put his team in the playoffs. Now, the newly minted AL Cy Young Award winner said he will "wait and see" whether hes returning to the Detroit Tigers next year. Scherzer went 21-3 and was an easy pick Wednesday as the American Leagues top pitcher, drawing 28 of 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL Cy Young Award for the second time in three seasons, coming within one vote of a unanimous selection. Scherzer -- like Kershaw -- can become a free agent after the 2014 season, and the Tigers are trying to figure out if they can afford him along with all their other stars such as Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Justin Verlander. Thats prompted talk they might trade Scherzer before opening day. "I love it here in Detroit," Scherzer said on a conference call. "Who wouldnt want to be a part of this?" "The business side will take care of itself," he said. "It really depends on what Detroit wants to do." Scherzer and agent Scott Boras said theyre open to talking to the Tigers about an extension. Scherzer lost only three times this season and was the lone 20-game winner in baseball. He ranked second in the majors with 240 strikeouts and was fifth in the AL with a 2.90 ERA. The 29-year-old righty smiled and raised both arms Wednesday when the Cy Young results were announced. "Its unbelievable. It just vindicates everything Ive done," Scherzer said, acknowledging all the run support he received from Detroits powerful lineup probably helped his candidacy. "Ive been working so hard all these years to get better and better," he added. "I think I took a big step forward in 2013." Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers was second, marking the highest finish by a Japanese-born pitcher in Cy Young voting. Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners came in third. "It was an honour to be a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award," Darvish said in a statement. "Both Max Scherzer and Hisashi Iwakuma had tremendous seasons. Max is a very deserving winner." Texas is the only AL team thats never won a Cy Young Award. Before Darvish and Iwakuma, the highest Cy Young finishes for Japanese pitchers had been fourth place, by Hideo Nomo in the NL in 1995 and 1996, and by Daisuke Matsuzaka in the AL in 2008. "It is such an honour to be one of the finalists for the best awaard as a pitcher," Iwakuma said in a statement before the voting totals were released.dddddddddddd. "I had never thought I would become a finalist here in the U.S., so this is very special to me and is a big surprise." Scherzer won his first 13 decisions of the season and made the All-Star team for the first time. He helped pitch the Tigers to their third straight AL Central title, joined in a deep rotation by Verlander, the 2011 AL Cy Young Award winner, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister. Scherzer went 16-7 last year, then added a curveball to an impressive repertoire that already included a hard fastball, slider and changeup. He beat Oakland as a starter and in relief during the AL division series, then went 0-1 in two starts against Boston in the AL championship series -- he was pulled both times with the Tigers ahead. Scherzer is distinctive for more than just his record. His eyes are different colours, with the right blue and left brown. Hes also unusual for another reason: Hes made 174 regular-season and post-season starts for Detroit and Arizona, yet has never pitched a complete game. Scherzer threw eight innings on seven occasions this year, and sometimes was taken out with a big lead. His big strikeout totals tend to run up his pitch counts, and he said he wants to be more efficient in the future. And maybe even pitch a complete game. "It is definitely something I want to achieve," he said. "To throw a complete game, you have to have the right context of the game." Darvish led the majors with 277 strikeouts and went 13-9 with a 2.83 ERA. Iwakuma was 14-6 with a 2.66 ERA and 185 strikeouts for the Mariners. Sanchez was fourth and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox was fifth. They each got a first-place vote. Kershaw won his second prize as the National Leagues best pitcher after posting a 1.83 ERA -- lowest in the majors in 13 years. "This is such a cool thing. I cant even explain what it means to me," he said in an interview on MLB Network. "It really is a huge honour." The 25-year-old lefty with a big-breaking curve drew 29 of 30 first-place votes. Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals was picked first on one ballot and finished second. Kershaw went 16-9 and topped the NL with 232 strikeouts. He also won the Cy Young Award in 2011 and finished second last year to knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Darvish gets a $200,000 bonus and a $1 million raise to $11 million next season. Wainwright gets a $100,000 bonus and Sale gets $60,000 for finishing fifth. The AL and NL Most Valuable Player awards will be presented Thursday. ' ' '