VANCOUVER – A day that began dark, gloomy and full of rain finished that same way for the Leafs.
[b]Nike Air Max 97 Billigt[/b] . Not only did they suffer their worst defeat of the year -- shutout for the first time this season as a three-game winning streak came to an end -- they also lost Dave Bolland to a scary injury that will severely hamper the club at centre moving forward. "Terrible game for us," said Randy Carlyle, outwardly peeved at his teams performance in a 4-0 loss to the Canucks on Saturday evening. "Probably the worst game weve played this year." "Thats probably not too far off of an assessment," James van Riemsdyk agreed, the dreadful effort coming exactly one week after the Leafs beat Pittsburgh in arguably their best game of the season. Pounded in more ways than one early, often and throughout a dreary affair at Rogers Arena – they took 11 minor penalties – the Leafs were ultimately outshot 47-21. The third consecutive game theyve yielded more than 40 and the 13th time in 15 games this season where theyve managed fewer than their opponent. "Thats a theme and were not happy about it," said Carlyle with frustration. James Reimer was sharp early and kept the game close throughout, but even he could not withstand the constant barrage of Vancouver shots. The Canucks fired 18 in the first, 12 in the second and another 17 in the third. Reimer made 44 saves, following up a 43-save shutout in Edmonton earlier in the week. "Weve got to find a way to play better for these goalies," David Clarkson said of Reimer and Jonathan Bernier. "Both these two have stood on their head for us and been unbelievable all season." It took eight minutes for the Leafs to land their first shot on goal – the shot clock at that point favouring the Canucks by an 11-0 margin and 1-0 lead. After some pushback late in the opening frame, the Leafs unraveled when Bolland went down on the second shift of middle period. The 27-year-old was cut by the left skate of Zack Kassian deep in the defensive zone, left hobbling on the ice as the Vancouver forward scored his teams second goal. The Canucks would add a third marker just a short while later burying the Leafs for good in the third. It was just three nights earlier, during the second leg of a three-game swing through western Canada, that the Leafs played poorly – outshot 43-22 – and yet managed a 4-2 victory, their third straight despite some underlying flaws. A concerning theme throughout an ultimately successful start, which has seen the club outshot and often outplayed but held up by terrific goaltending, special teams and accurate shooting, Saturdays lopsided defeat was probably overdue. "I dont know if I necessarily buy that," van Riemsdyk said. "Each game is a little bit different. Obviously you dont want to get outshot like that every game. Weve got to find ways to improve upon that." The wound is likely to sting for the next six days. The Leafs dont play again until Friday when they host the New Jersey Devils at the ACC. Five Points 1. Bolland injured It was the left skate of Kassian that forced Bolland from Saturdays action and damaged the Leafs further down the middle. Kassian strode in to finish a check on the Leafs centre deep in the Toronto zone, his left skate rising to slice the left leg of his opponent. Helped off the ice, Bolland eventually departed the arena on a stretcher and was due for immediate surgery to repair the laceration. Acquired from Chicago in the offseason, Bolland had been one of the teams better players to date this season, a jack of all trades for Carlyle. The Mimico, Ontario native had totaled six goals, ten points and was averaging 16-plus minutes per game in his first season in Toronto. "Obviously its a blow for us," said Jay McClement, who replaced Bolland alongside Clarkson and Mason Raymond. "Hes been really good for us in all situations." As noted further below, moving forward without Bolland will be a challenge, a further bit of adversity to a club thats faced a slew of injuries, in addition to a 10-game suspension for Clarkson, and yet managed to win. "Thats what good teams do," said Clarkson. "I think its something you can weather," Reimer added. "Winning in this league is all about competing and competing honestly. If you do those two things anybody can beat anyone. You look at some teams in the playoffs who are clearly not nearly as skilled as other teams and yet they find ways to win, why? Because they outwork them; they do little things right. Its a stupid cliché, but thats the way it is." The Maple Leaf starters combined have already missed 43 games due to injury. They missed 91 all of last season (48 game-campaign). 2. Centre ice issues Increasingly thin at centre, the Leafs move forward without their top two at the position. Sidelined the past four games with a lower-body injury, Tyler Bozak was placed on long-term injured reserve Saturday (lower-body) and wont be eligible to return until Nov. 21. That leaves the club with Nazem Kadri, Jay McClement and Trevor Smith. "I might start stretching," Nonis said with a laugh. Experience at the position within the system is sparse. Signed to a professional tryout last month, the only Marlie with NHL experience is 34-year-old Jerred Smithson (588 games). Smithson spent most of his career with Nashville, playing 35 games with the Panthers last season and 10 more with the Oilers. Playing centre at the University of New Hampshire but never in the NHL, van Riemsdyk manned the position at times in Saturdays loss. "Whatever they need me to do Im more than willing to try," he said. Though a move is highly unlikely, Phil Kessel too spent a brief game or two down the middle under Ron Wilson. 3. Accidental injury The Bolland incident mirrored a similar collision last season between Senators defender Erik Karlsson and then-Penguins forward Matt Cooke. Unlike Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk, Leafs general manager Dave Nonis refused to point a finger at Kassian. "It would be hard for me to imagine how that was on purpose," Nonis said shortly after the game. "I guess its possible, but I dont believe it. I dont think a player would try to do that." His Achilles tendon partly sliced, Karlsson would miss ten weeks for the Senators. "I dont know the degree of severity or which tendon, but he did suffer a cut to that area," said Carlyle, recalling the Karlsson incident. Back in Nov. 2011, the Leafs endured a similar injury to Dion Phaneuf. Weeks into his first season as captain, Phaneuf was cut by the skate of then-Senators forward Peter Regin. He would miss 16 games with a left leg laceration. 4. Reimers fight Under siege all night, Reimer managed to keep his team alive until the final hammer from Dan Hamhuis late in the third period. His efforts were most impressive during a furious Vancouver start. Having already turned down Mike Santorelli and Christopher Higgins on an odd-man rush, Reimer made the best save of the Leafs season. Moving left to right as the play developed, the 25-year-old extended his right leg out, his right skate keeping an Alex Burrows shot from crossing the goal-line. "He had four feet to shoot at," said Reimer with some degree of pride. "Luckily he put it back and it got my skate. Youve got to do that as a goaltender; youve got to compete, youve got to battle and youve got to try and stop the puck. Nine times out of ten youre not going to make that save, but today was the tenth one." Making his first career start in the month of November (odd, but true), Reimer dropped his first decision of the season, now 4-1-0 on the year. He holds a .942 save percentage, good for third overall at the position. 5. Kessel Scrap It was nearly four years ago that Phil Kessel last fought in the NHL. Kessel scrapped for the second time in his NHL career against the Canucks, trading attempted punches with Alex Burrows in the opening period. The 26-year-old fought Kris Russell in Columbus on Dec. 3, 2009. Stat-Pack 47 – Shots for the Canucks, the most the Leafs have allowed all season. 54-27 – Shot attempt advantage for the Canucks at even-strength on Saturday. 36.8 – Average shots against the Leafs this season. 75- Minor penalties for the Leafs this season, most in the league. They took 11 on Saturday. -10.7 – Shot differential between the Leafs and their opponents this season. 1st – NHL game for James Reimer in the month of November. 87.1 – Leaf penalty kill this season, good for fourth-best overall. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4 PK: 8-9 Quote of the Night "Terrible game for us. Probably the worst game weve played this year." -Randy Carlyle on his teams performance against Vancouver. Up Next The Leafs wait six days before finally hosting the Devils on Friday.
[b]Nike Air Max 95 Herr Rea[/b] .C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla.
[b]Nike Air Max 95 Billigt[/b] . Jim Leyland, in his eighth playoffs, has never had a starting rotation he trusts as much as the grouping of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As expected, Denver Broncos slot receiver Wes Welker was officially ruled out of this weekends game at Houston. Hes also expected to be held out of the Broncos regular-season finale at Oakland on Dec. 29 as a precaution against a third head injury this month, which would end his season. The Broncos (11-3) are hoping to gain home-field advantage in the playoffs and a first-round bye that would give Welker more than a months rest. He hasnt played since leaving the Broncos Dec. 8 game against Tennessee shortly before halftime with his second concussion in a three-week span. He was cleared Thursday to resume light workouts. Welker has a career-high 10 touchdown catches on 73 receptions for 778 yards in his first season in Denver after six years as Tom Bradys favourite target in New England. Bubba Caldwell started in his place last week against San Diego with Eric Decker moving over to the slot. Caldwell caught six passes for 59 yards and two TDs, his first multi-score game of his six-year NFL career. But the Broncos, who are averaging 38.2 points a game, also had their lowest output of the season in a 27-20 loss to the Chargers. Also ruled out against the Texans (2-12) was rookie cornerback Kayvon Webster, who had surgery Monday to repair two fractures in his right thumb. "Everything is good," coach John Fox said. "He missed this week just because he is recovering from an actual surgery. You dont want to risk any kind of infection. Players health and safety first. But I think next week there is more of an opportunity in a cast that he could be able to play." Websteer first told the Broncos medical staff of his injury after tackling Chargers running back Ryan Mathews following a 1-yard catch on the fourth play of the third quarter, but Webster revealed Friday that he actually injured his thumb covering a punt in the first half and played through the swelling and pain before letting anyone know he was hurt.
[b]Nike Air Max 270 Dam Rea[/b]. . Even then, he never came out. After the game, X-rays revealed two breaks and the following day he needed an operation in which seven pins and five screws were inserted. He was told hell be in a cast for four weeks, he said. Webster said hes been doing field work on his own and intends to return to practice Wednesday and not miss any more games. Also, defensive end Derek Wolfe will miss his fourth straight game as he continues his recovery after suffering what the team called seizure-like symptoms on the bus ride to the airport Nov. 29. The Broncos signed former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jeremy Mincey this week to shore up their defensive front and help hold the edges that were exposed in their loss to San Diego in which the Chargers ran for more than 100 yards on first down. Mincey was released by the Jaguars Friday after a falling out with the front office that gave him a four-year, $20 million contract last year when he was coming off an eight-sack season. The Broncos feel that Mincey will be rejuvenated by his second chance in Denver, where he was greeted by familiar faces in defensive co-ordinator Jack Del Rio, his former head coach whom he thrived under in Jacksonville, and former Jaguars run-stuffer Terrance Knighton. ' ' '
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