MONTREAL - So close and yet so far. That was how defenceman Josh Gorges felt after the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated from the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 loss in Game 6 to the Rangers in New York on Thursday night. It was a second trip to the Eastern Conference final for Gorges, who was there in 2010 when the Canadiens lost to Philadelphia after upsetting Washington and Pittsburgh in the first two rounds. His disappointment at bowing out again without reaching the Stanley Cup final was evident. "This harder to accept because I can see the window of opportunity closing bit by bit," said the 29-year-old Gorges. "The older you get, the more you realize how difficult it is. We were so close." At the start of the season, it was widely felt the Canadiens would be among the group of teams having to battle for the final playoff spots, but an 11-3-1 spurt down the stretch saw them finish with 100 points, good for fourth in the conference. Then they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of playoffs and upset their biggest rival, the first-place Boston Bruins, in a heated, seven-game conference semifinal before bowing out to the Rangers. More than one player noted when the playoff run was over that the team has a bright future, although coach Michel Therrien didnt want to think about next year so soon after a bitter defeat. "Its really tough talking about the entire season, because I know its like when you get close to achieving a goal, it hurts," he said. "It hurts more when youre close. "There are 29 teams this year that are going to be disappointed, and one team is going to be enjoying their season while winning the Stanley Cup. That is the purpose. But I look at the season and we made some big progress this year. Im proud of this hockey team. We battled hard through the regular season and we battled hard in the playoffs." The players are to have their exit interviews on Saturday and general manager Marc Bergevin will review the season with the media on Monday morning. There are likely to be changes. Bergevins priority will no doubt be signing star defenceman P.K. Subban to what could be a major multi-year contract. The 25-year-old who won the Norris Trophy in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign and who leads the team in ice time is due to become a restricted free agent on July 1. Negotiations may be difficult, with Subban likely to end up among the leagues highest-paid players, even if a rival team doesnt make him an offer. Other potential RFAs are centre Lars Eller, who had a disappointing regular season but was second on the team in playoff scoring, late-season pickup and playoff surprise Dale Weise and forward Ryan White, who didnt see any playoff action. He must also decide whether to try to keep unrestricted free agents Andrei Markov, Brian Gionta, Thomas Vanek, Mike Weaver, Francis Bouillon, Douglas Murray and George Parros. Markov, a mainstay on the defence since 2000, is 35 and, while he is still a skilled and heady playmaker, has become slower on his skates. Its somewhat the same for Gionta, the 35-year-old captain whose points production is on the wane. Vanek has said repeatedly he will test the free agent market and Bergevin will need to decide whether to bid for him. Weaver, another late-season acquisition, is 36 but Bergevin may make the third-pair defenceman an offer because of his solid post-season play. He earned $1.1 million this season. Bouillons history with Therrien goes back to junior hockey, but the stocky defenceman is 38 and may have reached the end of his career. It would be surprising if the painfully slow Murray and little-used enforcer Parros were back. Decisions on defence will be influenced by young blue-liners who may be ready to be full-time NHL players, including Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn, who had 15 goals for the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. Bergevin will also need to sort out his goaltending. When Carey Price was injured in the opening game of the conference final, Therrien turned to third-stringer Dustin Tokarski over back-up Peter Budaj. Tokarski played brilliantly and looks to have taken over the back-up job, but Budaj has a year left on a contract that pays $1.4 million. Players signed long-term include Price, Gorges, Alexei Emelin, David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty. The easy one will be signing a new deal with Therrien, whose two-year contract is up. Bergevin has already hinted that he will keep the 50-year-old coach. --- With files from Canadian Press sports reporter Bill Beacon. Brandon Kintzler Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Steve Cishek Jersey .com) - Maria Sharapova reached her 10th career grand slam final after beating Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets at the Australian Open on Thursday. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-kyle-schwarber-jersey/ . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Jon Lester Jersey . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons. Willson Contreras Jersey .J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them.Lawrence, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Frank Mason III scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to help No. 9 Kansas beat 24th-ranked Oklahoma State 67-57 on Tuesday. Mason was 9-of-11 from the free throw line, where Kansas (14-2, 3-0 Big 12) spent much of the night. The Jayhawks made 32 of their 46 attempts at the charity stripe and only attempted 43 shots from the field. Kansas also got 14 points and six rebounds from Kelly Oubre Jr. The Cowboys (12-4, 2-2) got 21 points from LeBryan Nash and 18 from Phil Forte, the Big 12s two leading scorers. The pair totaled 20 of those points on free throws as Oklahoma State went 22-of-25 from the line. Beyond Nash and Forte, Oklahoma State got little production. The 10 other Cowboys that took the floor combined to shoot 7-of-29. In the second half, Forte was in and out of the game with what appeared to be a leg injury. He attempted just two shots after the break, leaving Nash to shoulder the scoring load. Nash scored 19 points in the second half, including 15 of the teams final 20. He cut the Cowboys deficit to four with four free throws in a 30-second span with 12 minutes to play, but Kansas scored 10 of the next 13 poinnts to restore its comfortable lead.dddddddddddd Jamari Traylors dunk in transition with 42 seconds left extended the Jayhawks lead to its final margin of 10. After a sluggish start, Kansas was awakened by Cliff Alexanders powerful slam over Anthony Allen that resulted in a three-point play. Alexander got a technical foul for taunting, but the Jayhawks made four of their next five shots in a 9-0 run to take a 24-16 lead with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first. The Cowboys used a pair of triples to help cut their deficit back down to one but neither team had much success from the field for the remainder of the half. Both the Jayhawks and Cowboys went into the break making just one of their last 11 shots, and Kansas held a 32-28 lead after one. Game Notes Kansas coach Bill Self is now 14-9 all-time against his alma matter ... The Jayhawks started 3-0 in Big 12 play for the ninth straight season ... Kansas is now 13-0 when allowing fewer than 70 points ... Fortes four-game streak of scoring 20-or-more points ended ... Each team is in action next on Saturday with Kansas traveling to Iowa State and Oklahoma State visiting rival Oklahoma. ' ' '
Springe zu Forum:
Sponsoren
Login
Noch kein Mitglied? Klicke hier um dich zu registrieren.
