Grüße und Vorstellung » 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past

MILTON – The chatter percolated furiously for months and then finally on an early July day in the summer of 2012, Luke Schenn was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. Alexander Mogilny Jersey . The fifth overall selection in the 2008 draft, Schenns name had bubbled with such intense fervour in trade rumours that then-Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke went so far as to assert that no deal was coming six months before it finally did. "We are not in trade discussions involving Luke Schenn," Burke said wearily before a game against the Buffalo Sabres. "I told Luke thats not a guarantee he wouldnt be traded if something materialized but were not in trade discussions with any team about him right now. We havent offered him to anybody. I dont know where the rumours started, but I told him thats not happening." Like Schenn, Jake Gardiner has heard his name bandied about in trade chatter and figured that one day he might follow his former defence partner out the door of Toronto. He was on tentative footing with the organization or so he figured in light of the incessant discussion of his name in trade talks. "Yeah, there was always thoughts about that – whether Im going to get traded or not," Gardiner told TSN.ca from the teams annual charity golf tournament on Monday. "I just had always heard talk about it." That chatter quieted some last month. With Brendan Shanahan firmly at the helm as the teams new president and change coming in all directions within the organization, the Leafs extended a five-year deal to the recently turned 24-year-old, ending all the speculation while securing the former first-round pick as a piece near the front of the teams future. Having mostly dangled at arms length from the club to that point, the show of faith was unexpected. A restricted free agent, Gardiner expected a shorter deal, perhaps the kind of prove yourself, bridge contract Nazem Kadri had gotten one year earlier. "Just kind of shows they have that faith in me as a player," Gardiner said of the five-year pact, which is worth a total of $20.25 million. That faith had certainly been tested from the point of his arrival in the winter of 2011, be it because of misguided and sometimes poor decision-making or soft defensive play. An undercurrent of impatience at his overall progress seemed to linger as that standout rookie campaign edged further and further into the rearview mirror. He heard his name out there and wondered whether, like Schenn, he would be next to go, whether all the rumours and speculation would finally lead him elsewhere. Another trade deadline came and went this past March and Gardiner remained, but persistence of disconnect between himself and the club simmered (never hotter than March of a year earlier when Gardiner remained a Marlie, much to his and his former agents chagrin). At his season-ending press conference in mid-April, Randy Carlyle spoke to a revealing exit interview with one of his players and while not naming said player explicitly, expressed surprise that a "young defenceman playing a roving style" felt his "leash was short where we believed it was longer" and who he compared himself with in the league, "that was kind of shocking". Gardiner, though, says his relationship with the head coach is fine, nothing more than a hard-edged, old-school type trying to pull out the best from his group. The "leash", he said, was a function of performance, longer with success. "Hes a coach that pushes his players, especially the young guys," Gardiner said of Carlyle, the former spending most of his summer back home in Minnetonka, Minnesota, "He knows we have more to our games and he just wants us to get to that level." "Hopefully I play well," he continued. "Thats pretty much the base of it. If I play well our relationship will be great. Even if I dont hell be pushing me so itll be good either way." Whether Gardiner gets to the level Carlyle expects, the level hes shown capable of hitting and then even exceeding is the looming question. The hopeful signs have been there. The consistency has not. While the team sputtered into another disastrous playoff miss, Gardiner generally excelled down the stretch, looking more like his assertive self while depositing five goals and 14 points in the final 21 games. He also finished as the teams best possession player and leading minute-eater at even-strength. Can he put it all together? The Leafs are gambling that he can. "Both them and I are excited for the next five years." Pat Lafontaine Jersey . Two-time Olympic bronze medallists Savchenko and Szolkowy received 79.02 points to finish ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada, who had 77.01 points. Cheap NHL Jerseys . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down. http://www.sabresauthority.com/authentic-alexander-nylander-sabres-jersey/ . Linemates Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night.SAO PAULO - Paolo Lorenzi of Italy reached his first ATP semifinal by upsetting fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 at the Brazil Open on Friday. The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monacos serve to go up 4-3 in the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena. The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South Americas biggest city. Lorenzi, who had 12 aces, made it to the semis for the first time after five quarterfinal losses in his career. "Im very happy to finally breakthrough to the semifinals," Lorenzi said. "Ive had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour." The 43rd-ranked Monaco, a former top 10 in the world, was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-greatest winner in the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro. Robin Lehner Jersey. . Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldnt capitalize on it. "It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult," Lorenzi said. The Italian will play either top-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany or Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, who play their quarterfinal match later Friday. In the other quarterfinal Friday, Federico Delbonis of Argentina easily beat Alberto Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour. He will play either home-crowd favourite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia. The 61st-ranked Delbonis had upset three-time Brazil Open champion Almagro in the second round. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. 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