Grüße und Vorstellung » At the very end of what was then

SUNRISE, Fla. Nate Solder Jersey . – At the very end of what was then an unprecedented late-season collapse, Randy Carlyle, the recently named Maple Leafs head coach, stood in front of a lectern and determined what he believed was wrong with a hockey team that had spiraled out of a playoff position in now infamous fashion. "Whats wrong with the team?" he said, repeating the question. What was wrong, he continued, was the consistency level of the group, the work ethic, the competitiveness, the inability to win one-on-one battles, a one-and-done rush attack that was not conducive to success (and needed more cycling and offensive zone time), and lastly, a defensive game "that we feel needs the most attention paid to it." "We feel that this group can score goals," he said, "but the defending of our net has been an issue." Fast-forward exactly two years to the day and Carlyles Leafs look very much the same. Rarely have they resembled the feisty, physical group he imagined, still an inconsistent, high-risk, defensively-challenged product most nights. Its been equal parts frustrating and befuddling for the Sudbury native, who has managed to find reason for optimism on only the rarest of occasions this season. There were close-matched games against Boston, a December loss to the Kings and a rousing swing through the challenging California triangle, but more often than not it was inconsistency – from shift to shift, period to period, game to game. It was a house of cards he feared was doomed to collapse and eventually did. Carlyle saw the omen in October when his team won 10 games on the strength of terrific goaltending, a scorching Phil Kessel and superior special teams. "We didnt want to get too excited and we didnt want to get too hard on individuals because winning is what its all about," he said before the 11th loss in 13 games on Thursday night. "A wins a win, youre not going to critique it." But still he worried even as his team picked up 11 victories in 14 games before the Olympics – mostly on the strength of Kessel and Jonathan Bernier. Carlyle and his coaching staff even designated a weeks worth of practice during the extended break in February to tighten up defensive-zone coverage. But the message didnt stick and the troubles continued. Team defence remained at the heart of this teams troubles all year – cushioned last season with a superb penalty kill. Carlyle was supposed to help change that. He was the man charged with bringing order and structure to a team that favoured Ron Wilsons high-risk, high-reward brand. But even with elite-level goaltending from Bernier – something Wilson only had for 30 or so games of James Reimers initial rise to the NHL – Carlyles team has actually been worse at goal prevention this season than Wilson in his final full season behind the bench – 2.99 goals per game in 2010-11 versus 3.09 in 2013-14. In question for Nonis and new team president Brendan Shanahan is how much of those troubles lie at the feet of Carlyle – his system, player usage and preferred style of play – and how much are tied to a flawed roster, one ill fit to play his bruising, aggressive style. Preferring a nastier edge to his teams, Carlyle wants them to grind, cycle pucks down low and be an enduring physical presence in the offensive zone. Amongst the worst possession teams in the NHL, it happened only sparingly with these Leafs. "We try to every night and then we just stray away from it," Tyler Bozak told the Leaf Report. "I dont know why it happens. I think we try and get too fancy a lot of the nights. When you look at San Jose – when we went into their building they dumped in every single puck the whole night, no matter which player it was. I think we start trying to make plays in the neutral zone and at the blue-line and kind of get away from what wins games some nights and thats what hurts us." Why they stray from that system is part of the riddle thats mystified Carlyle. "The systems in place and you have to execute the system," Tim Gleason told the Leaf Report, noticeably frustrated with the Leafs lacklustre team defence. "Hes the boss. Weve got to do what were told and weve got to do a better job of executing [the system] at the end of the day. "Its our defensive zone that needs work in my mind," he continued. "As a group of five we have to do a better job of shutting things down and we have such a good offence that thatll take care of itself. If we just put more focus on our defensive zone play, sticking to the system, doing what were told and executing I think well be better at the end of the day." That execution was spotty from day one – they gave up 37 shots to Montreal in the opener, a sign of things to come. And despite constant drum-beating and daily direction, Carlyle could not affect change and remains befuddled as to why. The 57-year-old admitted to feeling "helpless" when the losses piled high in recent weeks, soon to be disillusioned and embarrassed when the Leafs were finally eliminated from postseason contention earlier this week. "Youre always questioning," he said. "Theres lot of questions that youre going to ask yourself." At probably his lowest point in Tampa on Tuesday – "numb" was among the emotions he described as feeling – Carlyle seemed to shoulder some responsibility for what transpired this season, unable to enforce his imprint in Toronto. He was embarrassed for it, believing the roster had more than the little it ultimately accomplished, a better hockey club for that matter than the group that took Boston to Game 7 last spring. His befuddlement continued in a lifeless BB&T Center on Thursday night. In spite of the fact that 30-year-old Drew MacIntyre was making his first NHL start – nearly 13 years after he was drafted – his Leafs showed up with meek energy and little fight, yielding three two-on-ones and eight quality scoring chances, according to Carlyle, in the opening 20 minutes of a 4-2 loss. "The way we played," he said, fighting off disgust, "was somewhat surprising. I thought that wed have a little bit more compassion for the goaltender that was going in the net for his first NHL start ... If thats all we have we shouldnt be thinking too much of ourselves in that situation." They were the words of despondent man with no answers, whose future remains very much in doubt. Custom New York Giants Jerseys . -- With the Memphis Grizzlies struggling to find their offensive rhythm, O. Will Hernandez Jersey .com) - Even-money favorite Liams Map proved a little too tough down the stretch and won Saturdays $100,000 Harlans Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park. http://www.nygiantsproshop.com/authentic-riley-dixon-jersey.html . However, the intensity and physicality that has characterized the postseason so far has caught Gretzky by surprise. "Its a little bit risqué right now," Gretzky told Philadelphia radio station 97.DURHAM, N.C. -- Eastern Michigan isnt undefeated against Duke anymore. The Eagles simply couldnt keep the ninth-ranked Blue Devils off the boards in an 82-59 loss Saturday. This was just the second meeting between the schools -- the Earl Boykins-led Eagles upset Duke in the first round of the 1996 NCAA tournament -- and Eastern Michigans struggles on the glass led to a lopsided loss in the rematch 18 years later. Duke outrebounded the Eagles 47-32 and had 20 offensive rebounds. "Its important -- the shot goes up, we have to rebound the ball," Eastern Michigan coach Rob Murphy said. "I thought we did a great job of showing and forcing them into some contested shots. But we gave up 20 offensive rebounds. "To be successful, ultimately, the way we play, we have to rebound the basketball and we didnt do a great job of that tonight." Mike Talley scored 20 points to lead the Eagles (7-4), while Karrington Ward scored 11 points and Sims finished with 10. Eastern Michigan kept this a game into the second half, but went 6 minutes between field goals during the critical stretch when Duke pulled away. For Duke, Jabari Parker scored 23 points and Andre Dawkins had season highs of 20 points and six 3-pointers. With Rodney Hood fighting an illness that he said caused him to flee the court and throw up, Dawkins was summoned from the bench to make a surprise start moments before the opening tip. And the fifth-year senior who sat out last season sure made the most of it. He finished with his highest point total since scoring 22 and hitting six 3s in a win at Florida State in 2012. "Its a little bit different coming off, not playing for a year, and trying to play at this level," Dawkins said. "So, it took some time, but Im getting there. But its still a process." Rasheed Sulaimon added 13 for Duke (10-2) and came up with the key hustle play during the decisive second-half run that helped them polish off their fourth straight win. Duke shot 40 per cent against Eastern Michigans tough zone defence whiile hitting 10 3-pointers, and wrapped up the pre-ACC home schedule with its 101st straight nonconference win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Jonathan Stewart Jersey. "We knew they played zone, so we were going to get open looks on the offensive end, but we really wanted to focus on stopping them," Dawkins said. "It was a big task to try and stop them but I think we did a pretty good job." The Blue Devils led just 43-35 with 15 minutes left before breaking the game open with a 15-1 run. Quinn Cook and Hood hit 3-pointers roughly 25 seconds apart before Sulaimons key hustle play. He had Eagles guard J.R. Sims trapped near midcourt when Sims tried to spike the ball off Sulaimon and out of bounds -- but the ball instead rolled down the sideline toward the Duke basket. Sulaimon scooped it up, was fouled hard by Sims -- who received a flagrant foul -- on his way to the basket and hit the ensuing two free throws to stretch the lead to 53-35 with 13:12 left. Dawkins 3-pointer roughly 3 minutes later gave the Blue Devils their first 20-point lead at 56-36. Amile Jefferson -- who started the run with a free throw with 14:28 left -- hit a foul shot to push it to 58-36 with 10:25 remaining, and they pulled away from there. Jefferson finished with a career-high 14 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who have had at least one 20-point scorer in every game this season. Its the first time thats happened at Duke since the eventual national champion 2000-01 team did it in its first 17 games. Ten of those 20-point games now belong to Parker, who led or shared the teams scoring lead for the eighth time. He scored 14 of Dukes 37 points in the first half after hitting six of his first 11 shots, including a pair of thunderous alley-oop dunks. That helped make up for an off day for Hood, who averages 18.5 points but finished with eight on 3-of-8 shooting. He also had eight rebounds while playing through his unspecified illness. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he received an IV at halftime. "He wasnt the same guy," Krzyzewski said. 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