ekansekans's blog: "df"

EDMONTON -- The Calgary Roughnecks not only locked down top spot in the National Lacrosse League on Saturday night, they earned a first-round opponent they have historically dominated in the Edmonton Rush. Shawn Evans had four goals and added an assist as the Roughnecks clinched first place in the NLL and home dates throughout the playoffs with a 9-6 victory over the Rush on Saturday. Jeff Shattler and Nolan Heavenor each had two goals and Dane Dobbie also scored for the Roughnecks (12-4), who closed out the regular season with seven wins in their last eight games. Coming off a disappointing 14-12 loss in Rochester where they also had a chance to clinch first overall, Calgary head coach Dave Pym was happy to see how his team responded in their second chance. "Any time you drop a game in this league it is important to rebound to show that you can still play with confidence," he said. "I thought our guys did a great job of regrouping and focusing on the task at hand. I thought we played our defensive game as well as we have all year. Offensively we kept on battling until we were finally able to capitalize when it mattered most. We got some huge goals." Evans feels home field advantage through the playoffs is a huge deal. "Its huge for our fans and for our city to earn that home playoff berth," he said. "It was a tough loss for us last weekend but we pulled together and won the game as a unit. I think we just tired them out in the fourth and were able to come out with the win." Kyle Rubisch, Aaron Wilson, Tom Johnson, Brett Mydske, Shawn Williams and Ryan Ward replied for the Rush (6-9), who had a two-game winning streak snapped but had already secured a playoff spot on Friday night with a victory over Colorado. "I felt we had a good effort," said Rush head coach Derek Keenan. "At times we played too fast, other times we played too slow, which equals poor execution. Without (injured forward Zack Greer), hes one guy who can break down defences, but weve got other good players too. He was missed and hopefully we get him back next week." The two Alberta-based teams will meet next meet in the first round of the playoffs, a strong scenario for the Roughnecks who have swept their four-game series with Edmonton each of the last two seasons. "Despite whatever record the Rush have, they are a very, very good team," Pym said. "They are going to be a handful in the first round of the playoffs. We are going to have to play better than we did tonight." Some very strong goaltending to start the game from both Calgarys Frankie Scigliano and Edmontons Aaron Bold almost resulted in a scoreless first quarter -- unheard of in the NLL. But with less than a second remaining Rubisch intercepted a pass and fired it the length of the field, catching the Roughnecks gambling with an extra man on the field and an empty net. It was the latest opening goal in league history. Calgary bounced back with a pair of quick power-play goals by Evans early in the second quarter to lead 2-1. Wilson tied the game up for the Rush with just over five minutes to play in the second frame before Dobbie made it 3-2 for Calgary to make for a still rather scant 3-2 score at the half. It took nearly 10 minutes into the third before another goal came in the low-scoring affair as Johnson scored for Edmonton, surprisingly followed mere seconds later by a response from Calgarys Shattler to make it 4-3 Riggers. Calgary went up by two goals on a scoring strike by Heavenor with just over a minute left in the third, but Williams responded with just three seconds left for the Rush to make it 5-4 heading into the final 15 minutes. The Roughnecks got a beautiful goal four minutes into the fourth as Heavenor grabbed a ball in mid-leap and put it past Bold before hitting the ground. However, Edmonton quickly responded on a two-man power play goal by Ward. Calgary started to take over the game midway through the fourth with a pair of power play goals -- Shattlers second of the game, followed by Evans hat-trick goal to make it 8-5. The Roughnecks gave themselves some extra padding with their third goal in just over two minutes when Evans scored his fourth of the game. Edmonton got one back off of the stick of Mydske with three minutes remaining to close out the scoring. Calgary is off until the playoffs, when they will host of the Western semifinal game against Edmonton on May 5. Edmonton still has one regular season contest to play, hosting the Toronto Rock next Saturday. Notes: The lacrosse version of the Battle of Alberta has gone in Calgarys favour since Edmonton joined the NLL. Calgary now has a 20-4 all-time record over the Rush ... The Rush were without leading scorer Zack Greer after taking a cross-check to the head near the end of Fridays victory over the Colorado Mammoth... Calgary G Mike Poulin missed his second game with a lower body injury. Greer has 27 goals in 14 games this season... Edmonton head coach Derek Keenan was ejected from Fridays game in Denver but was allowed to return to the bench for Saturdays tilt... NLL commissioner George Daniel was in attendance for the game. Wholesale Jerseys .ca MLB Power Rankings, ahead of the Washington Nationals and the falling St. Wholesale Jerseys From China . An organization that is not shy about giving rock-star treatment to the Ryder Cup, the PGA of America said Tuesday it would reveal the next U. http://pavansukhdev.org/wholesalejerseys.html . -- The long wait is over for the Shawinigan Cataractes.LONDON -- Describing the role as "torture" at times, victorious Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal ruled out the possibility of staying on for the 2014 competition at Gleneagles. The Spaniard returned to Europe on Monday night, cradling the gleaming golden trophy and still reveling in Europes stirring rally over the United States at Medinah on Sunday. Spains King Juan Carlos and tennis star Rafael Nadal were among those who sent Olazabal messages of congratulations after the 14 1/2-13 1/2 win that kept the cup in European hands. But after seven matches as a player -- during which he teamed up so effectively with the late Seve Ballesteros -- and now another as a winning captain, he has come to the end of his 25-year Ryder Cup career. "I can assure you it will be a no, period," Olazabal said Tuesday, when asked if he would stay on. "Its a lot of work ... it takes a lot out of you for a stretch of time. It is difficult. In a way, its torture. "On top of that, there are a lot of players who should have the opportunity to be in my spot. The Ryder Cup is only played once every two years and there are a big number of players that have the chance to be in my position. I wont do it again." Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley, two of Olazabals four assistants in Medinah, are early favourites to take over. A decision will be made in January by the European Tours tournament committee, headed by Thomas Bjorn, another of Olazabals assistants. "I think these two (Clarke and McGinley) deserve a chance but I think Thomas deserves a chance and also Paul Lawrie," Olazabal said. "Once those guys do it, we have Lee (Westwood), Padraig (Harrington). "We have at least eight or nine guys that have the chance and there only a certain number of Ryder Cups. It would be hard to name just one or two." And what about Ian Poulter? The Englishman won a match-high four points in Medinah, including one in Saturdays fourballs that Olazabal considers the most important of them all. The win brought Europe within 10-6 and gave the team crucial momentum heading into Sunday. Poulter now has the best winning record of any European who has played more than two Ryder Cups and his passion for the event has seen him described as the "modern-day Seve.&quuot; "He will be a wonderful captain for sure," Olazabal said.dddddddddddd. "But he will need another 12 players just like him." Olazabal, who has been surviving on "two or three hours" of sleep a night, will return to Spain and start answering some of the 100-plus messages left on his phone following his flight back from the U.S. "The phone has been really hot -- out of all the messages, there is one that stunned me a bit," he said. "The King of Spain just rang me a few minutes ago. He was pretty much like me, over the moon. That was a nice one. "But there have been sports guys like Nadal and others from Spain. Everyone from all over the world." The memory of Ballesteros inspired the team in Sundays dramatic singles, which Europe won 8 1/2-3 1/2 to engineer Europes biggest turnaround in the events history, matching that of the U.S at Brookline in 1999. Honouring the memory of Ballesteros was a motivating factor behind Europes recovery. But Olazabals influence was also crucial. "Jose Maria has lived for this game all his life and more than anything this competition," said Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, who flanked Olazabal at a news conference at Heathrow airport, with the Ryder Cup placed in front of them. "He made it clear to us this thing here is very, very special. "Everyone looked at each other and understood the importance of this cup in this mans life. At some stage during the week, you looked at this guys eyes, and they were just how they were when he played. Every time he went out with Seve into the storm, everybody saw these two men were very special and how big a deal this cup was." Colsaerts was one of four players in their 20s in Europes team, along with Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari. With the likes of Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell still having plenty of Ryder Cups left in them and young players such as Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark and Matteo Manassero of Italy considered stars of the future, Europe looks well stocked. "You dont know what the future will bring -- who would have thought we would have players like Rory or Nicolas seven years ago?" Olazabal said. "Thats the beauty of the European Tour. It always produces great players." ' ' '