Dein erstes Forum » t official.I have one big goal, Pallotta

PHILADELPHIA – Like the rest of his teammates, Carl Gunnarsson was doing what he could to remain positive after yet another loss, the seventh straight for the sinking Leafs, but it wasnt easy. The 27-year-old wants to believe that a turnaround is still possible, that his team can salvage the season, dig out from a deepening slide and claim a second straight playoff berth. But as time ticks down and the results continue to linger in the wrong direction, that belief is tested. "Its a struggle," he said in a near-empty visitors dressing room at Wells Fargo Center. "Ill tell you that. We thought we had something going here tonight." Whatever fight they mustered in a 4-2 loss to the Flyers didt matter by the time the night was through. It was just another empty loss, another opportunity to regain ground for not. "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night," said coach Randy Carlyle afterward, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." Never more evident than at this late stage in the season, the difference between winning and losing remained painfully thin. And for the Leafs it was just enough for defeat. Two power-play goals against, a few too many odd-man rushes, a bad break or two and a key mistake at the wrong time. Claude Giroux was the benefactor of one such mistake that sealed defeat for the visitors. The Flyers captain picked off former teammate James van Riemsdyks neutral ice pass attempt - the puck ricocheted off the skate of Scott Hartnell - and zipped a bullet beyond the glove of Jonathan Bernier. "Right now every big scoring chance they get, I think it feels like its going in," said Bernier afterward. "When its not going your way, thats usually what happens." "I thought we played pretty good," he continued. "A few mistakes that end up being goals. From the last game, obviously, I think we played a lot better." But like their harrowing loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, one that saw them manhandled for half the game by the top team in the West, Fridays defeat in Philly counted all the same. It was just another loss at a critical point in the season. "We worked hard," Carlyle said. "Did we work smart enough in some areas? No." Any chance the Leafs have at resuscitation starts Saturday night in a massive showdown with the Detroit Red Wings. A victory reignites whatever belief and hope still lingers. They may have no hope of catching either the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning, but sitting on near-equal ground with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Washington Capitals - all have 80 points, but with games in hand - a wild card position is still in play. "Obviously, this one, its going to be a tough one to swallow," Bernier said. "But, at the same time, we cant feel sorry for ourselves. [Saturday] is a big game and we all know that." Five Points 1. Carlyles Approach Carlyle has tried to push a few different buttons in midst of his teams recent slide. "Some days, it is a little bit more harsh. Some days, its a pat in the back. Some days its a hug," Carlyle said on Friday morning. "Whatever it is, whatever you feel is necessary. Nobody in life feels like coming to work and being ground into the dirt everyday and thats part of the process. Youve got to pick and choose when to apply pressure and when not to." As to his preferred approach of late, Carlyle said, "Its been more reality of the situation. Just showing and trying to get an understanding that were not that far away. But there are some areas that need to be addressed. Thats as simple as I can put it. Our compete level has to go up. We havent won enough one-on-one battles. Weve given up too many odd-man rushes and breakaways. Weve got to play better on the defensive side of the game." 2. Penalty Kill The Flyers scored twice on the power play, marking the 12th time this season that the Leaf penalty kill has given up two goals in a game this season. Vincent Lecavalier fired a laser for the first of two, a five-on-three goal that was not without some controversy. Jay McClement, taking the draw as Torontos lone forward, was thrown out of the face-off circle, charged with knocking the puck from the hand of linesman Michel Cormier. Dion Phaneuf promptly stepped in and lost the first (and likely last) face-off of his career, Lecavalier blowing the one-timer by Bernier just three seconds later. "Thats not something that you want to happen," McClement said of the face-off incident. "I dont think [Cormier] wanted to do it either. But he explained to me that its black and white when I knocked it out of his hand." Scott Hartnell would add the second power-play marker, redirecting a Kimmo Timonen point shot just beyond the grasp of Bernier. The Toronto penalty kill remains third-worst in the NHL this season. 3. Bollands Comeback Dave Bolland scored for the third time this season in Philadelphia and the first time since his left ankle was sliced by the skate of Zack Kassian on November 2. The 27-year-old hasnt played more than 13 minutes since he returned from the injury and he was kept right in that region against the Flyers. "I just see that in some of the situations, hes struggled with the mobility," Carlyle said of Bolland before the 4-2 loss. "Its not sore, [but] it just doesnt have the strength there. Wre going to try to find a way to get him some more minutes. We know what kind of player he is." 4. The 18-Wheeler Luke Schenn was there in 2012 when the Leafs collapsed and knows all too well how quickly the pressure rises in Toronto. "Lose a couple in a row and everything magnifies that much more," he said. "You lose three in a row and people tend to get on you a little bit. All the fans and the media think that everythings falling apart. Thats just the way it is over there. "Its obviously a tough market to play in when things arent going the way you want them to, but its a great market when things are going well. Theres always adversity in Toronto. Its never going to change. Im sure those guys are going to get through it." Reflecting back to the infamous 18-wheeler skid two years earlier, Schenn couldnt put his finger on just what wrong. "There is no exact reason why. Its probably a combination of different things. Id have to go back and look. Obviously, youre probably getting off to some tough starts in games. Special teams probably werent as good as they need to be. At the end of the day - when I was there - it probably just came down to being outcompeted some nights. Obviously, you lose a couple in a row, confidence isnt always there. Thats just the way it goes. Youve got to find ways to get out of it." 5. Gardiner Offence Just ahead of a clash with the Flyers three weeks ago, Jake Gardiner revealed his disappointment with the offence hed put together to that point. "I dont think my point production has been that great this year,"he said. "Id like to improve on that." The 23-year-old scored a goal the next night in a 4-3 overtime win, rounding up nine points in the past 11 games, including a helper on Bollands seventh goal this season. "Ive tried to jump in the play a lot more and be an offensive threat from the blue line," he explained of his recent surge prior to the game. Gardiner has 26 points on the year. Stats-Pack 1-8-0 – Leafs record in the past nine games. 9 – Points in the last 11 games for Jake Gardiner. 3 – Goals by Dave Bolland in Philadelphia this season. 24:31 – Ice-time for James van Riemsdyk opposite his former team Friday, tied for the team-lead. 15 – Consecutive games without a point for David Clarkson, who has just 10 this season. 8 – Number of times the Leafs have allowed the first goal in the past nine games.4 – Seconds elapsed in the second period before van Riemsdyk scored the first Leafs goal. It was the fastest goal to start a period for the team this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 20.6% (4th) PK: 2-4Season: 78.1% (28th) Quote of the Night "Overall, I didnt think that we had that bad of a night, but we were on the wrong side of the score and thats what counts the most." -Randy Carlyle, following a seventh straight loss in Philadelphia. Up Next The Leafs return home to host to the Red Wings on Saturday night. Cheap J. R. Richard Jersey . Rinne had surgery on his left hip May 9 and recovered in time to start the season. He then had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 24 because of a bacterial infection in his hip. Cheap Astros Jerseys . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. http://www.cheapastrosjerseys.com/?tag=c...y-wynn-jersey.A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. Cheap Jose Cruz Jr. Jersey . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. Cheap Carlos Lee Jersey . Footballs governing body said Tuesday that of the 2,577,662 tickets allocated for this years tournament, 1,041,418 have gone to people in Brazil. The U.ROME - Juventus and Roma are the two clear title favourites after 10 rounds of Serie A.Figuring out which club will finish third and claim the last Champions League spot is a little more difficult.After AC Milans visit to Sampdoria on Saturday, the situation could become a bit clearer.Sampdoria is tied for third with Lazio and has lost just once this season, while Milan is two points further behind after going winless in its last three matches.At the top of the table, Juventus holds a three-point lead over Roma.Juventus, coming off a difficult 3-2 win over Olympiakos in the Champions League, hosts struggling Parma on Sunday while Roma, which lost 2-0 at Bayern Munich midweek, hosts Torino.In other key matches this weekend, its Empoli vs. Lazio; Fiorentina vs. Napoli; and Inter Milan vs. Hellas Verona.Here are some things to know about the Italian league:___FRENCH CONNECTIONMichel Platini was the first. Then came Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, followed by David Trezeguet.Now Paul Pogba is the latest France international to make a big impact at Juventus.Let go by Manchester United two years ago, the 21-year-old is rapidly developing into a force in midfield.Pogba scored the first Champions League goal of his career against Olympiakos and also drew the foul that led to Juves opening goal, a free kick from Andrea Pirlo.That came a week after Pogba extended his contract with Juventus through 2018-19, ending speculation that he would transfer to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or back to the English Premier League.Im happy to stay here, Pogba said Wednesday. I want to continue wearing this shirt for a long time and perhaps one day go down in Juves history like Platini and Zidane.Pogba was also the only Serie A player included in the 23-man list of nominees for the FIFA Ballon dOr last week.Pogba is improving. He just needs to become more consistent. Thats his only defect, Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta said. But he has natural talent and hes one of the brightest young players out there. He has a glorious career ahead of him.___ROMAS PSYCHEHaving been humiliated by Bayern Munich in a 7-1 loss at home two weeks ago, Roma resigned itself to mostly defending and limiting the damage in the 2-0 loss to the German power this week.The important thing was to defend well and we did, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. Im proud of my boys. It wasnt a surrender.Still,, Italian media took aim at his decision to rest several key players for the game.ddddddddddddRudi paralyzed: He was afraid of another lesson, read a headline in the Gazzetta dello Sport.On the eve of the first Bayern match, Garcia declared that he was convinced that Roma would win Serie A. And midfield veteran Daniele De Rossi said this was the strongest Roma side hes been a part of.The two losses to Bayern, plus a couple of recent stumbles in Serie A, have altered Romas approach.We knew we couldnt win, midfielder Radja Nainggolan said after the latest Bayern match.Added De Rossi: This was an impossible challenge for us. Sunday night at Olimpico against Torino will be much more important.___GLADIATOR GAMEA proposal from Romas American president James Pallotta to hold a football match inside the Colosseum has been met with opposition from a government official.I have one big goal, Pallotta told CNN recently. I want to get the city to let us play somebody like Barcelona or Bayern Munich or someone like that at the Colosseum.Well do a pay-per-view on it, $25 around the world, Pallotta added. We could get 300 million people wanting to watch that around the world — a game in the Colosseum which theyll never see again.We take that money, which could be billions of dollars, and then set up a foundation in Rome to fix up the antiquities even faster and put the rest towards inner city programs in Rome.Italys culture minister Dario Franceschini did not take well to the ideaIf Romas president wants to contribute to a fundraiser for restoring the capitals monuments there are many possibilities to do so, Franceschini said. But lets not joke around about the Colosseum.___DUTCH DefenceStefan De Vrij has quickly become the defensive anchor of a Lazio side that has won five of its last six matches.Named one of the top defenders in the Netherlands run to the World Cup semifinals, De Vrij joined Lazio from Feyenoord in July.He has played in nine of 10 matches, missing only one game due to suspension.Former Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal reportedly considered taking De Vrij with him to Manchester United but then suggested the defender head to Italy.Lazio was the only club before the World Cup which was really interested in me and I really liked that, De Vrij said when he joined the Roman club.___Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap Buffalo Sabres Gear Wholesale Calgary Flames Jerseys Cheap Adidas Colorado Avalanche Jerseys Montreal Canadiens Outlet Store Wholesale New Jersey Devils Jerseys Adidas Arizona Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Adidas Boston Bruins Jerseys Cheap Adidas Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys Chicago Blackhawks Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys Dallas Stars Shop Free Shipping Cheap Adidas Detroit Red Wings Jerseys Anaheim Ducks Jerseys China Wholesale Edmonton Oilers Jerseys Florida Panthers Shop Free Shipping Wholesale Los Angeles Kings Jerseys Minnesota Wild Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Nashville Predators Jerseys Cheap Adidas New York Islanders Jerseys New York Rangers Winter Classic Jerseys Cheap Adidas Ottawa Senators Jerseys Cheap Adidas Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys Wholesale Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys Cheap Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys St. Louis Blues Winter Classic Jerseys Wholesale Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys Toronto Maple Leafs Outlet Store Vancouver Canucks Outlet Store Cheap Adidas Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Adidas Washington Capitals Jerseys Cheap Adidas Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '