Für die Damen » oints in 29 games since Dec. 11.

In the past week or so, there has been a 20-round shootout on one night, and eight-round and nine-round shootouts on another night. The Florida Panthers alone have had four shootouts (including their 20-round outing against the Capitals) in the last six games, with three of them reaching extra innings - Luongo has made 29 saves on 35 attempts in those games. The amount of shootouts of late has once again sparked debate over the game-deciding practice - whether you like it or not. The one thing that has been consistent in the debate is that fans want an end to the game, period. It’s amazing to think that it wasnt long ago that ties were still a part of the equation. Regardless of what you think of the shootout, it still has to be better than the old 1-1 tie that left not only fans, but players feeling empty for not having a conclusion to the game, good or bad. Now Im on record, of not loving the shootout. I believe the game is so high paced, and so high skilled, that there has to be a way to extend the four-on-four play, or to play a three-on-three format. I believe with either option, you will see more games end in OT and, as a last resort, have the shootout until you get to the conclusion. I know and realize there are bigger entities to deal with in this debate. The most obvious concern, as far as NHLPA would be concerned, is extra strain being put on players to play more minutes in a night, in addition to building schedules, travel after games and many more details that have to be considered. It’s obviously tougher than just saying ‘lets add five more minutes to overtime,’ but I still would like to see a longer frame. I have to preface my comments with saying, that I am 0-2 in shootouts in my career, and both reached extra shooters. So people may think my argument comes from a negative bias, but if you know me, you know it’s not coming from a place of disgruntlement. Instead, my quarrel with the display is more from a hockey fans perspective, that the pace of the game as well as the skill level is at an all-time high right now, and that some of the overtimes I have witnessed this year have been outstanding and left fans literally dying for the clock to continue - even if were for a few more precious minutes of three-on-three. An extra frame with fewer players would allow even more ice for the best players in the world to showcase their talents. And maybe that is to come, but we will have to wait and see. The following are a couple things I have noticed about shootouts in my experience both as a player and as a goalie coach in the NHL. Due to the shootout being a relatively sudden addition (brought into the NHL in 2005/06 season) the adjustment was huge for the goalies. It all began with the fact that none of them had grown up playing with it. All goalies worked on breakaways in practice and faced a few rare penalty shots in their careers, but suddenly precious points were on the line and a main focus had to be shifted to stopping these previously uncommon shots. Facing a shooter in the shootout is extremely different for a goaltender than facing a breakaway. The pace in a game where someone is in alone, though still fast, is changed by shooter’s knowledge of an impending back checker. That defender, in essence, will force the shooter to be very quick with his decision-making and his play, so you may deal with one straight on move, or a couple if you’re dealing with an elite scorer, but everything was done at a real fast rate and, usually, straight on. Now, enter the shootout, a completely different animal. There is no back checker and players are free to go outside the Zambonied lanes, allowing them change their angle or point of attack. Shooters could also speed up and slow down at any rate to try and throw goaltenders off their typical depth in net. Finally, the highly skilled players would really get to shine with some ridiculous moves. I can vividly remember in my playing days when we used to do breakaways or shootouts in practice for fun. On those days, when a guy made an unreal move to torch me or my goalie partner and leave you looking real silly, I’d yell at him, “do it in a game.” The point being, both of us knew full well he couldnt pull those moves off with the presence of the pressure from a back checker. Enter the addition of the shootout, and suddenly, players were free to pull off those moves with a full point on the line. This meant veteran goaltenders who had treated shootouts in practice as a novelty for their entire career, were thrown into a situation where the shots were for real. Being that it really wasnt part of their toolbox or repertoire as an NHL goalie, it became a huge challenge for guys. Some goaltenders really struggled with it early on, because they treated it like a breakaway, while players were smart enough to catch onto their pace and slowed things down to make a play. Some shooters tried to further level the playing field by adding spin-o-ramas, and all sorts of other real neat plays. I soon noticed that some of the younger goaltenders in the league were having more success against shooters because they were familiar and practiced with it at lower ranks. This meant they felt comfortable with it by the time they made the jump to the NHL. The second thing I noticed and experienced is how big the mental challenge was. There is always pressure in goaltending, but the shootout added a different type. There was lots of time to think and try and process information instead of reacting. In any sport, I’m sure you have heard a coach say, the player needs to just relax and play, and not over think the game. Coaches preach let his instincts take over,” and though all those statements are clichés, all are true. Therefore, when it came for the shootout, and goaltenders had the opportunity to get an extra point for their team - regardless of how your game went - you have a chance to be the hero with a win, or the goat with a loss. In today’s game, with pre-scouting, video, and guys tendencies out in the open, goaltenders have the added pressure of processing information as they hear a player’s name being called. Goaltenders start to think of their opposition’s moves, what theyre capable of, and they start to play in their head, ‘if I can just stop this one, they will get one for me at the other end.’ Yet with thinking of all the different scenarios that can happen, you can overthink and overanalyze, and before long you have beat yourself before the shot is taken. Now the guys who are really good at shootouts and have mastered how to go through the process of it, allow themselves to react at what’s being thrown at them, and this is what makes them special, for sure. But make no mistake, this was something that was a work in progress for every goalie since the shootout was implemented less than a decade ago, and it still continues to be as shooters add more creativity to their efforts. Regardless of what your opinion on the shootout is, whether you love it, or loathe it, you should know that the goalies have taken a while to adjust to it and the challenges that have come with it. Look no further than at Roberto Luongo, who is having a ton of success and has really began to enjoy the process at 35 years old. He worked hard at getting better at it on the fly, which is very tough to do, and it seems to be paying off for him and the Panthers for the time being. Yeezy Schuhe Großhandel . -- Ricky Romeros comeback bid hit another road bump Tuesday in an ugly 18-4 Jays loss to a Detroit Tigers split squad. Yeezy Schuhe Deutschland . Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours. Federer faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for his Swiss opponent. http://www.yeezyschuhe.de/yeezy-schuhe-deutschland.html ." The game can be seen live on TSN starting with Monday Night Countdown at 6:30 p.m et/3:30 p.m. pt. The Patriots, who had a bye in Week 10, will look to continue the offensive success they had a week earlier when New England scored 55 points and racked up 610 yards of total offense in a 55-31 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeezy Boost 700 Sale Bestellen . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team. Adidas Schuhe Nmd Fake . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. TORONTO -- Kevin Pillar had a chat with slugger Jose Bautista as they practised their swings shortly before the Toronto Blue Jays took on the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. Bautista offered some words of encouragement for the backup outfielder and told him to be aggressive at the plate. It proved to be sage advice. Pillar hit a one-out flare to right field off Casey Fien that drove in pinch-runner Erik Kratz with the winning run to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 walkoff victory at Rogers Centre. "It was a slider off the plate and I was just able to nestle it in somewhere," Pillar said. "And it feels good." Earlier in the inning, Pillar made a miscue in left field by diving for Kurt Suzukis sinking liner. He couldnt come up with the ball and it rolled by him, allowing the Twins to move within a run. Eduardo Escobar followed with a blooper off closer Casey Janssen that landed just inside the left-field line and brought Suzuki home with the tying run. "Baseball is a weird game," Pillar said. "You get a chance to make up for a mistake that you made maybe in the previous inning or early in the game. I was fortunate enough to make that happen." Edwin Encarnacion had staked Toronto (39-26) to an early lead with a three-run homer in the first inning off Minnesota starter Ricky Nolasco. Jose Reyes added a solo homer in the fifth inning for the Blue Jays, who lead the major leagues with 91 home runs. With the win, the Blue Jays remained 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Baltimore in the American League East division standings. The Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-0 Monday. It was Torontos 16th victory in its last 20 games. "Weve been playing good baseball but you still need to win some of those games like that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "For the longest time, everything has been going our way. Tonight things didnt go our way but we still managed to come out and pull out a nice win." Minnesota (29-33) scored a pair of quick runs off Toronto starter R.A. Dickey before many fans had taken their seats on a glorious spring evening. Danny Santana hit his first career leadoff home run and Brian&nnbsp;Dozier followed with a rainbow shot just inside the foul pole in left field.dddddddddddd Dickey settled down after that, retiring 11 straight batters at one point before Josh Willinghams triple in the sixth inning. The Twins loaded the bases but Dustin McGowan came on and got Trevor Plouffe to ground into a double play to end the threat. Janssen (1-0), who blew his second save of the season, gave up three hits in the ninth inning. With the crowd deflated after the Twins tied the game, Minnesota pitcher Matt Guerrier (0-1) walked Dioner Navarro to open the bottom of the ninth. Kratz came in to pinch-run, moved to second on a Reyes single and then scored with room to spare. "You walk the leadoff guy, you give yourself pretty much a mess and anything can happen after that," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Pillar, who entered the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement for Melky Cabrera, said his defensive miscue was on his mind when he came to the plate. Thinking about his chat with Bautista, Pillar swung and missed the first two times before making contact. "Its a huge roller-coaster of emotions right there," he said. "I guess thats baseball. Theres a lot of ups and downs. You have to find a way to get back centred and deal with the task at hand." Notes: Encarnacion leads the Blue Jays with 20 homers this season. Reyes now has four homers this year. Dozier has 13 home runs while Santana has gone deep twice. ... Dickey allowed five hits, two earned runs, two walks and had three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. ... Nolasco allowed seven hits, four earned runs and a pair of walks. He had six strikeouts. ... Morales signed a one-year, prorated contract Sunday. The Cuban slugger hit .277 with 23 homers and 80 RBIs with Seattle last season. ... The Twins have hit four leadoff home runs this season. ... Toronto southpaw J.A. Happ is scheduled to start Tuesday night against right-hander Kevin Correia. ... The teams will wrap up the series Wednesday with an early afternoon game. ... Bautista has reached base safely in 62 of 65 games this season. ... Announced attendance was 19,428. The game took two hours 53 minutes to play. ' ' '