Unser Garten Forum » RK IN THE ROAD: Its a pivotal year fo

CHICAGO - All those talented forwards are back. Same for Duncan Keith and the bulk of Chicagos solid defence. There is even a group of intriguing prospects waiting in the wings.The Blackhawks are one confident bunch of the eve of a new NHL season.We feel were deep in a lot of areas, coach Joel Quenneville said. Our guys are at a relatively young age and they should be getting better in their individual games and collectively we should be looking to be better than we were.And they have been really good for years.Led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and again in 2013. They made it all the way to the Western Conference final a year ago, where they dropped a classic seven-game series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings.The price of that success reached a new level in July, when Toews and Kane each finalized an $84 million, eight-year contract extension that kicks in for the 2015-16 season. The twin deals could force general manager Stan Bowman to make some difficult decisions down the road, adding to the pressure on the current group of Blackhawks for this year.Bowman still has to make at least one more move to pare about $2 million from this years payroll before the Oct. 9 season opener at Dallas.Even with the sticky salary-cap situation, the Blackhawks did manage to sign veteran Brad Richards to a $2 million, one-year contract over the summer. The team is hoping Richards can centre the second line a€” a longtime issue for Chicago a€” and the combination of Richards, Kane and Brandon Saad looked good in the preseason.Here are other things to watch this year for the Blackhawks:THAT THIRD LINE: The top two lines should be among the best in the league, but its the third line that really could separate the Blackhawks from the rest of the NHL. Bryan Bickell was noticeably lighter when he showed up to training camp this year. The bruising winger is hoping for a better start than last season, when he had just one assist in his first seven games and finished with 11 goals and four assists for the year. Kris Versteeg also looked sharp in the preseason, and pesky centre Andrew Shaw set career highs with 20 goals and 19 assists last season. Versteeg prepared himself for this year to get back on track where hes a top forward, Quenneville said. Hes been good for us.THAT POWER PLAY: Chicago converted 19.5 per cent of its power-play opportunities last season, an improvement from 16.7 per cent for the shortened 2012-13 campaign and good enough for 10th in the NHL. New assistant coach Kevin Dineen, who played with Quenneville on the Hartford Whalers and was hired to replace Jamie Kompon in July, is expected to play a prominent role in this years power play. Richards also could help the efficiency of the unit, where any increase in scoring for the already potent Blackhawks could pay huge dividends.FORK IN THE ROAD: Its a pivotal year for defenceman Nick Leddy, who begins the season with 258 regular-season games and another 54 post-season appearances a€” at just 23 years old. Leddy is one of the fastest skating defencemen on the team, but hes also an occasional visitor to Quennevilles doghouse. He was benched for a playoff game last season against Minnesota. The Kings winning goal in Game 7 in June went off Leddys upper body and then past goaltender Corey Crawford. Leddy could blossom into one of the teams top defencemen, or the Blackhawks could decide to trade him away for salary-cap space.BOSS HOSS: Marian Hossa shows no signs of slowing down heading into his 17th NHL season. The rugged winger had 30 goals and 30 assists in 72 games last season, in addition to his terrific defence. But Hossa missed a couple weeks in March with an upper-body injury and turns 36 in January. Any significant injury for the forward could hurt the Blackhawks in the competitive Central Division.ANTTI MATTERS: Backup goaltender Antti Raanta is heading into his first full NHL season. He made his debut last November and went 13-5 with a 2.71 goals-against average in 25 games, including 22 starts. Raanta played sparingly in the last part of the season, and Crawford figures to get the lions share of the action once again. How Quenneville divides the time in goal will provide an indication of how he feels about the 25-year-old Raantas development.___AP freelancer Matt Carlson contributed to this report.___Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Buccaneers Jerseys China Cheap . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Buccaneers Jerseys Authentic China . As TSN reported Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport is under intense pressure from the federal government to focus drug testing on athletes who compete in international events representing Canada. Since funding for the tests has been frozen and the cost of testing can eclipse $1,000 per test, university athletes in a number of sports are being tested less often. http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseysauthent...mel-dean-jersey. - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Warren Sapp Jersey . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. Mike Edwards Jersey . His second visit, not so much. Roark (7-5) allowed four runs on 10 hits and one walk over six innings in a 7-2 setback in front of several friends and family members, as the Cubs snapped his personal streak of four consecutive victories on Friday.BALTIMORE - The New York Yankees will attempt to end the first half on a high note tonight, as they attempt to earn a series win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. You can catch all the action on TSN beginning at 8pm et/5pm pt. Chase Whitley will get the call for the Yankees trying to improve upon his 4-2 record and 4.94 ERA. Whitley earned a win out of the bullpen on July 9 against the Indians with two scoreless innings, but in his previous three outings, all starts, he gave up a total of 17 runs over 10 1/3 innings of work. The rookie is 3-1 in seven road starts with a 4.86 ERA. The Orioles will respond with Kevin Gausman, whos 3-2 with a solid 3.51 ERA through six starts this season. Gausman only lasted 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Red Sox on July 6, but while he worked his pitch count high he was still effective, allowing only four hits and an earned run while striking out seven. After Baltimore claimed the first game in the series on Friday, New York evened tthings up on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 triumph behind its impressive rookie hurler.dddddddddddd Shane Greene (2-0) was dominant in his second-career start. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out nine, lowering his ERA to 1.32 in the process. "We were really excited about him in spring training and what he could possibly do for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We felt he could help us at some point this year, and the time is now." The Yankees got the scoring started in the third inning with an RBI double off the bat of Mark Teixeira. They added two more in the seventh with RBI hits by Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury. Chris Tillman (7-5) pitched 6 2/3 solid innings in the loss, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. The Orioles colle