Metaphysik » Monday. Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov took a tripping

PINEHURST, N.C. -- The number on the scorecard was the same as Thursday but Graham DeLaet definitely felt as if he played much better at the U.S. Open on Friday than a day earlier. The Canadian, who used 75 strokes to get around Pinehurst No. 2, took 14 of those on just two holes, recording a triple and a double bogey. He also added a penalty shot on a morning that simply didnt go his way. Even with all that adventure and some visits to the newly added native areas, he walked off the course feeling not too badly about his play. "Im not even really disappointed because I felt I was in total control of my game all day," he said. "Three balls in that natural rough and twice I couldnt get a club on it and I made a triple and a double and the other time I went to move some debris next to my ball and my ball moved and that cost me a stroke. Other than that I played well all day." Thats the U.S. Open. So hard to make birdies, so easy to make doubles. DeLaet started his day on the right note, making his first birdie of the competition on the third hole. He cancelled that out with a bogey at six, when his approach shot came up short of the putting surface and he wasnt able to get up and down. On the eighth, however, disaster struck. DeLaets tee shot sailed left and ended up in a troubled lie against some wiregrass. His second to the green also went left and ended up in another almost impossible lie. He hacked it out and the ball ended up behind a tree, so he took an unplayable then chipped it over the green. He lobbed his next shot to 20 feet and, of course, dropped the putt for a triple. Two holes later, another errant drive led to a double as he scrambled around the green, and a hole after that, he incurred the penalty. "I guess its a little disappointing," said DeLaet. "Coming in, I didnt expect to miss the cut. But at the same time I feel like I played well and a lot better than my score but thats the U.S. Open and Im packing." This was DeLaets first time teeing it up in the American championship and the learning curve is steep. Its also the third straight major in which hes failed to make it to the weekend, something thats frustrating for 32-year-old. "I feel like my game should be suited for tough golf courses," he stated, "but my record hasnt shown that quite yet. "Theres a lot more to [the Majors] than golfing your ball. There are all the outside distractions and the mental pressure and everything that goes along with a major championship. Now Ive got my feet wet in all four and Im looking forward to the next one." DeLaet is planning to play the next two events on the PGA Tour as well as the RBC Canada Cup, a special outing in Halifax as part of the new Web.com Tour event there. Hell then take two weeks off before playing a long stretch of what could be eight tournaments in nine weeks, including the RBC Canadian Open. The schedule will be busy, DeLaet said, but it isnt as if hes moving pianos. "Im playing professional golf and going to a lot of cool places," he said. "Overseas, Montreal . . . you cant really complain." Wholesale Football Jerseys Throwback . 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. Sale Football Jerseys Throwback . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. http://www.cheapfootballthrowback.com/ . Gordon reportedly failed another drug test and is facing a one-year ban. Gordon led the NFL in yards receiving last season despite being suspended two games for violating the leagues substance-abuse policy. Stitched Football Jerseys Throwback . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Discount Football Jerseys Throwback . Bring on Freddy Garcia. The well-travelled 36-year-old right-hander earned his second NL victory since 2007, and his first since he joined the Atlanta Braves last month, pitching six innings to help beat Miami 6-1 Thursday.LONDON, Ont. -- The London Knights elimination from their third straight Memorial Cup stung because it was their earliest exit of the three. The host team of the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup was a true contender among the four teams in it. With seven Knights forwards who helped the Knights win the last two Ontario Hockey League championships and with a team that scored over 300 goals this season, London was a threat to win the Cup on their third try in as many years. But the hosts were eliminated by the Guelph Storm in a 7-2 loss Wednesday. The Knights went 0-3 through the preliminary round and needed a win against their OHL rival to get into a tiebreaker game. "We thought for sure wed have a better chance of winning it this year," Knights forward Josh Anderson said. "We didnt have the bounces we wanted. Its too bad it had to end this way. "We wanted to have the Memorial Cup championship. I thought our organization really deserved one after the hard work weve been putting through these past three years. Looking at it now, Im glad I got the opportunity to come here and play for the London Knights." The Knights lost the 2012 final 2-1 in overtime to the host Shawinigan Cataractes. They fell in last years semifinal to the Portland Winterhawks in Saskatoon. The Storm were the first team since the Windsor Spitfires in 2010 to go 3-0 through the preliminary round. The OHL champions had already secured a berth in Sundays championship game after their second win. "It gives us confidence to know we can beat every team in the tournament," Storm forward Scott Kosmachuk said. The Val-dOr Foreurs, 2-1, and the Edmonton Oil Kings, 1-2, meet in Fridays semifinal in a clash of the Quebec and Western league champions. The winner faces the Storm for the Cup. Kosmachuk is a Winnipeg Jets prospect and led Guelph with a hat trick. Detroit Red Wings draft pick Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice. Marc Stevens and Dallas Stars prospect Jason Dickinson added a goal apiece for an explosive offence thats churned out 18 goals in three games in the tournament. The Storms Justin Nichols held off London when they pressed late in the first period and midway through the second. He made 45 saves for the win. Anderson, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, and Brett Welychka replied for the Knights. London mustered just four goals in three games. Two were scored by defencemen. The Knights were stopped on two penalty shots in the tournament and they scored once on 12 power-play chances. London outshot the Foreurs 51-28 in the first game of the tournament, but lost 1-0.dddddddddddd "Its a bad time to get cold for offence and for scoring goals," Knights forward Max Domi said. London goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 14-of-17 shots and was replaced by Jake Patterson early in the second when he inadvertently kicked the puck into his own net. Patterson allowed four goals on 21 shots. Guelph also ousted London from this years OHL playoffs on Apr. 11. The Knights had five weeks without a game, which may explain their lack of touch around the net. "Its not easy being off for that long and coming back and playing at the high level these guys have been playing through the whole thing and winning championships," Knights forward Bo Horvat said. "Weve been practising the whole time, but theres no excuses." Londons goaltending felt unsettled as well. Because of an eight-game playoff suspension in March, Stolarzs hiatus prior to the Cup was even longer. In his first game in seven weeks, he made 27 saves in the loss to Val-dOr. But the Philadelphia Flyers prospect was replaced by Patterson both Wednesday and after two periods of Sundays 5-2 loss to Edmonton. Wednesdays round-robin finale featured a pair of frightening knee-on-knee collisions, although the players in each case escaped major injury. Storm assistant captain Zack Mitchell was tossed at 6:56 of the first period for kneeing London defenceman Dakota Mermis. The CHL suspended his Storm teammate Chadd Bauman for the rest of the tournament Wednesday for the same hit on Val-dOr defenceman Guillaume Gelinas on Monday. Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov took a tripping minor in a second-collision with Bertuzzi, who limped off the ice. But both Mermis and Bertuzzi stayed in Wednesdays game, whereas Gelinas was unable to play the following night against Edmonton. Londons frustration boiled over in the final minutes and Stevens scored Guelphs fourth power-play goal of the game on a two-man advantage at 17:14. The Windsor Spitfires of 2010 went 4-0 en route to the Cup that year. But the Spitfires opened the 2009 tournament with a pair of losses and ran the table to claim the trophy. For that reason, Guelph wanted London gone so the Knights couldnt come back to haunt them Sunday. "This team is a team that once they get this city and this building behind them, they can really do some damage," Guelph captain Matt Finn said. "We didnt want to let them back in because theyre a dangerous team. "We wanted to be the team that was 3-0 and knock London out of this tournament." ' ' '