ekansekans's blog: "df"

TORONTO - Marlies training camp began with a thud for Nazem Kadri. Matt Ryan Red Jersey . Among the most hyped Leaf prospects, but still short on serious production, Kadri kicked off his third season in the American Hockey League with underwhelming results, notably a lacking physical fitness. "His body fat today is probably in the bottom three to five guys in our whole camp and thats unacceptable," said Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins. "Thats the easiest part of coming into camp is eating correctly and training correctly. "Theres just no coming off if youre an athlete," Eakins continued. "Its no different than the normal person. You make your choice. You can either go sit on the couch, put your feet up and have a bag of potato chips or you can go on the couch and put your feet up and grab some carrots and some apples." The seventh overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Kadri boasted of an offseason spent training under the direction of famed fitness guru and former NHL player Gary Roberts, noting a discernable shift in both training and eating habits. But after the opening days of camp, the stinging results rung louder than the talk. "It definitely maybe couldve been a little better," said Kadri of the disappointing body fat results, "but its definitely not bad. I think the way Im carrying myself out on the ice, I feel stronger, I think my wind is way better than it was last year [and] I think that body fat did drop down from last year too." An admittedly "picky eater" Kadri spoke of adjustments to his diet in concert with Roberts, adding unfavourable foods such as squash, quinoa rice and spinach. "There was a huge adjustment," he said. "Thats why I did drop [the body fat] a little bit. Maybe I couldve dropped it a little more, but for the most part Im happy with where I am, Im happy with how I feel on the ice, Im happy with my conditioning and my endurance. My lower-body feels strong and I honestly I just cant wait to translate that to a game-form." In addition to the off-ice testing, Kadri also underwent a series of on-ice tests designed to measure physical fitness, producing "average" results in general, lagging far behind heat-mates Jerry DAmigo and Nicolas Deschamps, both superior skaters to that of Kadri. Eakins stressed that the 21-year-old was not unlike many young players in regards to his questionable eating habits, but with such lofty expectations – including a self-proclaimed readiness for the NHL – the results were an obvious misfire. "It takes time," said Eakins calmly. "It takes time. Youll see guys, theyre young, theyre still kind of in the junk-food mode and theyll eat wherever they can. And then theres other guys as they mature they understand the importance of their nutrition and the fuel that theyre putting in their machines - which is their bodies - and they get it. And that will come.  "And its not just Nazem Kadri. Its almost every one of our young players. You come out of junior and when you get on that bus, youre grabbing Snicker bars and whatever and your mom and dad arent looking over your shoulder any more. But if youre going to be a professional athlete youre a professional athlete. Youre no different than those Canadian Olympic members, any of those people. You have to look after what youre putting in your body. And its like I tell them all the time, You can put the high-octane gas in your car and it will go great. Now if you go urinate in your tank your car is not going very far. So its the same with your body, you put good fuel in youre going to go further, you put junk in, youre done." Kadri produced a solid if unspectacular season a year ago, totaling 40 points in 48 regular season games, before adding 10 points in 11 playoff games. Expectations have been sky-high for the London native since his draft year in 2009, but the necessary dominance and finely crafted professionalism required to succeed at the NHL level has not been evident enough in the AHL on a consistent basis. "Im still a young guy," he concluded. "Im slowly learning how to be a pro and what types of food to put into my body, but its not like youre all going to get it in a couple months, youre going to start to figure it out, youll gradually get the hang of it as you go." Julio Jones Pink Jersey .C. -- Those Busch brothers cant seem to avoid the spotlight at Darlington Raceway. Roddy White Limited Jersey . -- Kevin Harvick took the lead by dodging a caution caused by race leader Kurt Busch, then pulled away on a restart with 17 laps to go and won the Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. http://www.falconsfansroom.com/roddy-white-jerseys . TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported via Twitter on Monday that while the 40-year-old winger enjoyed his stint with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, he plans on testing free agency. Julio Jones Falcons Jersey . 1 and 2003 French Open champion. Djokovic and Ferrero last played five years ago and are 1-1 in matchups. Fridays draw also seeded Djokovic to meet 2010 finalist Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals then possibly six-time champion Roger Federer. Michael Turner White Jersey . The result was their biggest win over the Dallas Mavericks in 15 years. David West and George Hill each scored 15 points to help the Pacers beat the Mavericks 103-83 on Friday night.Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Chris Duhon scored 15 points - including two clutch free throws down the stretch - and doled out eight assists, as the Knicks snapped a season-high six-game losing streak with a 93-89 victory over the Bobcats. Wilson Chandler had 19 points and seven rebounds for New York, which won its first game since a 114-90 victory over Sacramento on December 13. Al Harrington had 16 points in the win and Quentin Richardson 11. David Lee chipped in 13 points and a game-best 16 boards. Gerald Wallace logged 21 points and Boris Diaw 20 for Charlotte, which has dropped two straight games. D.J. Augustin offered 15 points and Emeka Okafor 13 and 15 rebounds. Raymond Felton ended with 12 points, eight boards and eight helpers in defeat. With 56 seconds left, two free throws from Chandler put the Knicks ahead 89-87. Jared Jeffries then blocked Feltons layup down the other end and New York got the ball back and called a timeout with 38.2 ticks showing on the clock. Off the inbounds pass, Duhon drove the lane and offered a layup. The shot didnt fall but Duhon grabbed the rebound and put up another shot, which also didnt go in. He grabbed the board and was fouled, though, before hitting both shots for a 91-87 Knicks lead with 25.5 seconds remaining. Still down by four moments later, Adam Morrison missed a three-pointer, and after Felton grabbed the rebound, Augustins three was no good and time ran out beefore Okafor could connect on a moot tip-in, as the Knicks prevailed over their former coach, Larry Brown. Matt Ryan Black Jersey. The Knicks led 36-25 after the first quarter and were up 56-48 at the intermission. A three from Richardson and jumpers by Harrington and Chandler gave the Knicks a 67-54 lead with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter. Charlotte outscored New York 14-7 the rest of the third quarter and trailed just 74-68 heading into the final 12 minutes. Wallace had seven points over the stretch and Okafor had five. Augustins jumper and Diaws three-pointer cut it to 80-75. Richardson answered with a layup, but Diaw drained a three-ball and it was a four-point game with about 6 1/2 minutes left. Following a timeout, a free throw each from Felton and Okafor, followed by a three from Felton, gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game, 83-82, with a shade over four minutes remaining. The Knicks regained the lead but a Diaw three tied things at 87 with 1:46 left. Game Notes The Knicks went 14-of-16 at the free throw line. The Bobcats were 13-of-19 at the stripe..New York, 5-11 on the road, had lost the last three games away from Madison Square Garden..Charlotte is 8-12 at home this season..New York handed the Bobcats a 101-98 loss in the Big Apple on November 5 this season and is unbeaten in the last four matchups. Charlotte had won five of the seven all-time meetings as the host. ' ' '