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Los Angeles Kings focus on knowing what needs to be done
abercrombie ukHe wasn't invoking the wisdom of hockey greats such as the legendary Gordie Howe or even Wayne Gretzky, a star with some serious Kings cred in his background.Kings Coach Darryl Sutter thought about the topic of playing with a lead, reached into his own coaching/playing past and landed in the Midwest — more precisely, in Chicago. "What was Michael Jordan's famous line? Structure gets me to the fourth quarter and then I take over," Sutter said on Monday in El Segundo.The third period would work just fine too.For the second time in three days, the Kings will attempt to close out the Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference finals, this time as the visiting team. Ahead 3-1 in the series, they will attempt to extend their playoff road winning streak to eight in Game 5 on Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz.If the Kings prevail, they would be the first team to go undefeated on the road on their way to the Stanley Cup finals under the current playoff format, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.The Coyotes were boosted in Game 4 by the return of center Martin Hanzal, coming off his one-game suspension, and veteran defenseman Adrian Aucoin, who is questionable for Game 5 (undisclosed injury). He did not skate Monday.Phoenix, though, has grown accustomed to constant adversity, on and off the ice."I don't understand how we tend to push it to the limit," said Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who scored twice in Game 4. "If it's playing in a game when you've got the lead, you give up the lead, have to win it in overtime."…That's the way our group is. We joke we need to change our slogan: 'It's hockey the hard way.' We've made it the hard way at every turn. Hopefully, next year it's hockey the easy way."
abercrombie outletGame 4 was hardly a clunker. Give the Coyotes credit for preventing the window of opportunity from snapping shut, winning, 2-0. The Kings may not have been lacking the structure and overall discipline Sutter was talking about, but there was something missing in terms of the finer points of the game."We've got to win this next game," said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. "We gave them hope last night. We let them back into the series, making it 3-1. So this next game is huge. If they win that one, then we're coming back [to L.A.], and they win one more, they push it to a Game 7."We've got to play our best game. I think our last couple games we really slacked off, haven't played our best hockey as a team. Going into the next one in their barn, we've got to be at our best or things are going to change in the series."The power play would be a good starting point. They were 0 for 6 with the man advantage in Game 4. That hadn't been as big an issue because of the Kings' secondary scoring."You look at everything the Kings have done, it's great," Doan said. "That [Dwight] King/[Jarret] Stoll/[Trevor] Lewis line has arguably been the best line of the series. The level is so intense. There's so little room, you have to have other guys step up."Whether it was the power-play woes or the larger picture, Sutter was recommending his own brand of temporary amnesia as the Kings headed back on the road."Try and win the next game," Sutter said. "Could be in Tucson or in Toledo or in Los Angeles. To me, it has no bearing on anything. It's always now and today and tomorrow, not last week or next week.
abercrombie and fitch clearance"That's the best part about being in the playoffs. It is always about your next game, not about something that happened 30 years ago or two days ago, right? That's the best part." Former West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, 59, died of an apparent heart attack Monday, the school said on its website. Stewart reportedly had the heart attack while playing golf. The West Virginia fan base wasn't always happy with Stewart, who coached three seasons and resigned last summer amid a hot mess that resulted in coach-in-waiting Dana Holgersen taking over. As someone who covered Stewart, these things come to mind: 1) Stewart was loaded with pride and bubbled over with respect for others; 2) He arguably put the biggest win on the board in school history when the Mountaineers wiped out Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, quieting national critics of Big East football; 3) The way he, his staff, players and fans treated everyone from UConn after the death of UConn cornerback Jasper Howard in 2009 shortly before the teams met in Morgantown. One of the last things Howard said he wanted after what would be his final game — a win over Louisville — was a win over West Virginia. The Huskies lost 28-24 in the final moments but gave an inspiring performance, and Stewart was there after the game saying as much. Lastly, and most important, Bill Stewart represented class. RIP, Bill.?Tuesday is Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal between the Heat and Pacers in Miami. League MVP LeBron James put up NBA 2K12 numbers (40 points, 18 rebounds, nine assists) Sunday to help Miami even the series at two games apiece. Doubling down tyonight, Bron, Bron?
abercrombie and fitch outletThis series is as testy as it is entertaining. ESPN caught shots of a confrontation before Game 4 between reserves Juwan Howard of the Heat and Lance Stephenson of the Pacers stemming from a beef they began in March. James and Indiana's Danny Granger have been going at it since Game 2. Heat guard Dwyane Wade and his coach, Erik Spoelstra, went off on each other during Game 3 in which Miami was drilled by 19 points. ... The other Florida team in the NBA, the Orlando Magic, fired Stan Van Gundy. Rumored forever, it finally came to be. ?With the chatter of one or two schools leaving the ACC, people start again wondering about UConn. Here's the thing: When it comes to college football playoff talk, only four conferences seem to matter (Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12). The ACC, like the Big East, is being excluded, so far. Interestingly enough, so will the middle of the pack teams in the Big Four. ... Eric Mangini, a favorite son of Hartford, particularly its South End, will hold his 11th fundamentals skills camp June 2 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bulkeley High School. Go toThis thing has gotten bigger every year. Mangini gives some hands-on training and always gets big-time help. Last year, Jets coach Rex Ryan was in the house.
abercrombie and fitch ukRight-hander Mike Leake hit his first career homer - part of three solo shots in a row by the Cincinnati Reds - and allowed only two hits over eight innings Monday night for a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.Drew Stubbs hit two of the career-high four homers allowed by Atlanta starter Mike Minor (2-4). All the runs scored on solo homers at one of the majors' most hitter-friendly ballparks.Leake (1-5) finally got his first victory in eight starts this season, doing a little bit of everything. He struck out a season-high six and retired 14 in a row after Juan Francisco homered in the first inning.Jose Arredondo walked two batters with two outs in the ninth. Sean Marshall retired Jason Heyward on a fly ball for his eighth save, completing the two-hitter.Reds manager Dusty Baker did not use reliever Aroldis Chapman, who pitched in four of the previous five games. Chapman saved Sunday's 5-2 victory over the Yankees and Baker said Monday the hard-throwing lefty will get more chances to close when he's rested.Minor had a strange outing. He went six innings and yielded five hits, four of them homers.The Reds were coming off a successful stay in New York that included three wins in five games against the Mets and Yankees. Back home, they got the best of another homer-filled game at Great American Ball Park.Leake gave up a homer deep into the Braves' bullpen by Francisco in the second inning. The Reds gave up on the third baseman during spring training and traded him to the Braves for reliever J.J. Hoover.The Braves got only one other runner as far as second base against Leake, who threw 98 pitches and walked one.
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