So we could still be years away from a final decision. Tha

EDMONTON – The mandate is pretty simple when Phil Kessel storms into the kind of zone he currently occupies. “Just give him the puck whenever you can,” said James van Riemsdyk after the latest Leafs win in Edmonton on Tuesday night. “Thats pretty much what everyone tries to do out there because it seems like everything he touches is going in the net.” Kessel scored for the fourth consecutive game, burying a pair against the Oilers while also adding two assists in a 4-0 victory. The 26-year-old has tallied seven goals on 13 shots in the recent four-game span, now tied for second in league scoring with 18 points. “He puts himself in a good position offensively,” van Riemsdyk said, “and hes been able to capitalize on a lot of those chances and create a lot of offence.” It took only 68 seconds for the first puck to find twine at Rexall Place. Joined at the hip by Nazem Kadri for the second straight game, Kessel burst beyond the Oilers defence, taking a soft dish from his 23-year-old teammate before beating the helpless Richard Bachman five-hole. Setting up van Riemsdyk for his sixth of the year early in the second, Kessel tallied his second of the evening a few minutes later. It was arguably the prettiest of his nine markers so far this season. Hovering to the right of Bachman on the goal-line, Kessel quickly snatched the puck off the end-boards and fired it under the bar. “Thats quick hands,” said Randy Carlyle of the effort. “And we all know he has quick hands. If you give him an open net his eyes get a little bit wider Im sure.” Kessels big night capped the second straight win for the Eastern Conference-leading Leafs (9-4-0) and first of a three-game road trip through Western Canada. “Im getting a couple good bounces right now, some good passes,” said Kessel modestly after the four-point night. “Im fortunate right now.” Five Points 1. Shutout James Reimer stopped every one of the 43 shots he faced from the Edmonton attack for his first shutout of the season. The 25-year-old has turned aside 79 of 80 shots in the past two games after a 36-save outing in a win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Improving to 4-0-0 on the season, he now sits second among qualifying goaltenders with a .949 save percentage. “Our whole team did a great job of eliminating second chances when I lost the rebounds out there,” he said after another busy night. 2. Compliments to Kadri Kadri had another fine evening playing with Kessel and van Riemsdyk. Notching the game-winning goal in victory over the Penguins three nights earlier, Kadri had a goal and two assists against the Oilers. “He sees the ice really well and has really good offensive instincts out there,” said van Riemsdyk of Kadri, who played 16-plus minutes and has 12 points this season. Stepping in for the injured Tyler Bozak alongside two of the Leafs top snipers, Kadri has made the most of his opportunity thus far. His shifty, unpredictable attack has proved a seamless fit in a prominent role. “Nazzies a guy that enjoys the spotlight,” Carlyle said prior to the game. “He enjoys talking to [the media]. [But] he backs up what he says. Hes not one of those guys that goes out there and makes statements that hes not prepared to go out and try and back up. Youve got to love that in a player because he wants more. Thats what separates good players from great players is they can continually go and grow into the game and grow into a larger role as they get more mature and more games under their belt.” 3. Change in Direction One subtle adjustment Carlyle has asked Kadri to make relates to the direction he moves on the ice. “Hes a little bit of an east-west player,” said Carlyle on Tuesday morning. “The reason were trying to get him away from that is because in todays NHL its a lot about back-side pressure.” “There [are] times where you can go east-west – we understand that – but we just want him to focus on playing north-south as much as possible. Very talented player, can read the ice well, can make plays, has that scoring knack – hes got a lot of things going for him.” 4. Lupul Plays through Pain Joffrey Lupul wasnt about to let Grandma down. Sidelined for two games with a bone bruise (foot), Lupul returned to the lineup against the Oilers, totaling 16 minutes alongside Jay McClement and Carter Ashton. An Edmonton native, Lupul visited with his grandmother on Monday evening. Rather than fly to Mexico for a family wedding she chose to remain in town for an opportunity to watch Lupul play. “That made me feel like I should probably give it my best effort to play tonight,” the 30-year-old said prior to the game. Lupul practiced on Monday afternoon and skated with the team on Tuesday morning, never quite feeling 100 per cent. He lacked explosion and wasnt able to push off the foot comfortably. “Its painful,” he said, “but just as long as you can get in the skate and have the strength and be able to tolerate [the pain], its something youre able to play through without making it too much worse.” 5. Communication Tuesday marked the 12th time in 13 games that the Leafs have yielded 30 shots or more. Edmonton fired 43 shots at Reimer, including 19 in a third frame dominated by the home side. “One of the things that we have to do a better job of is communicating,” said Cody Franson earlier this week. “Last year, I think thats one of the areas that we were much better at is communicating. Id go back for a puck and Id have somebody telling me what was coming, where I could go with it … This year its kind of quiet.” Stat-Pack 7 – Goals for Phil Kessel in the last four games. 4 – Consecutive games with a goal for Kessel. 7 – Points in the last four games for James van Riemsdyk. 12 – Games this season that the Leafs have allowed 30 shots or more. .949 – Save percentage for James Reimer this season, second among qualifying goaltenders. 39 per cent – Leafs on the draw against the Oilers. 18.4 – Shooting percentage for Kessel after 13 games. 43-26 - Shot advantage for the Oilers on Tuesday night. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-1 PK: 1-1 Quote of the Night “Winning covers all sins. Its hard to criticize a win, but we know in here that we can play better.” - James Reimer on his teams performance this season. Up Next The Leafs visit the surprising Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Nike Zoom Italia . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Scarpe Zoom Scontate . Now he can be had by any team willing to pay his salary. According to a report from ESPN, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shopping the veteran CB and plan on releasing him Wednesday if they cant find a trade partner. http://www.nikezoomscontate.it/ . The Redblacks host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-9) Friday night in their last home game of the year and as of Thursday afternoon, the team was anticipating a ninth consecutive sellout. You can watch all the action on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Nike Zoom Saldi .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Nike Zoom Scontate Italia . -- The road to the Masters got off to a bumpy start Sunday for Tiger Woods when he withdrew from the Honda Classic with what he said was a lower back injury.Its a big week for NCAA college players. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a group of Northwestern college football players, led by quarterback Kain Colter, are employees and have the right to form a union and bargain collectively. The NLRB is a U.S. government agency that deals with labor law. This matters because as a bargaining unit, players as a group can now start to ask for more - a lot more. Think about how baseball was changed when the players unionized and fought for their rights. So this decision will potentially have a major impact on college sports and force the NCAA to change how it does business. For decades, the NCAA has offered scholarships in exchange for athletic services. However, the NLRB says that falls short, and with this ruling, threatens to tear down the very foundation of the NCAA and its billion dollar business model. Control Control Control In concluding that players were entitled to employee status, NLRB director Peter Ohr focused on the level of control that Northwestern exercised over its student athletes. That level of control, he said, moved players from being primarily students to being athletes that have earned the right to unionize. If they were primarily students, they couldnt unionize. In ruling that Northwestern players were athletes first (and students second), he relied on a bunch of factors to demonstrate control over the players that no longer made them primarily students (like others on campus) and effectively turned them into employees. Here are a few of these factors: (a) The NCAA limits athletic activities to 20 hours per week during the season and 8 hours during the offseason. Despite that, Northwestern players dedicated 50 to 60 hours a week on football during training camp, and another 40 to 50 hours a week during the football season. While the workouts that would take players beyond the 20 hour cap were deemed "voluntary", players knew if they didnt show up there would be serious consequences. Some days players had to engage in football related activities from 5:45am to 10:30pm. Devoting so many hours a week to football was a massive consideration for the NLRB. The players basically had a second job: football. (b) Players allege they were steered away from certain courses because they conflicted with football. Colter wanted to go to medical school but was discouraged from taking a pre-med course because it conflicted with his football schedule. He ultimately ended up transferring to psychology. (c) Players have to abide by restrictive social media policies, and cant refuse a friend request on Facebook from a coach. They have to let the coach know the type of car they drive. As well, players are subject to alcohol and drug policies, as well as anti-gambling and anti-hazing policies. A violation of these policies can result in serious sanctions, including suspensions and revocation of scholarships. (d) If a player wants to get a job off campus, he needs permmission.dddddddddddd Hes required to live on campus while a freshman and sophomore. He also cant do interviews without the coachs approval. (e) The player cant profit off his own likeness and image; thats reserved for the university and the NCAA. (f) A player is prohibited from swearing in public, and if a player "embarrasses" the team, he can be suspended for one game. A second offense can result in a 1 year suspension. Players who transfer to another school to play football must sit out a year before they can compete for the new school. (g) During the regular season, the players must wear a suit to home games. (h) Players are required to remain within a six-hour radius of campus prior to football games. These are just some of the factors that Ohr relied on when he concluded that the university was exercising a level of control that converted the students into employees. Also important was that Northwestern was providing compensation in the form of scholarships in return for services that had nothing to do with academics. All The Benchmarks of an Employment Relationship So when it all shakes out, Ohr believed that this case had all the standard benchmarks of an employer/employee relationship, including controlling the employees schedule, the discretion to hire, fire or suspend the employee and evidence of compensation. What Do the Players Want They want to negotiate limits on practice time and medical benefits. Thats their starting point. They will probably also ask for a stipend to reflect cost of attendance. Remember that scholarships cover a lot – living expenses, tuition, room and board and book fees – but not everything. At some point, players may ask to be paid. The NCAA is big business. The media deal for NCAA football is a $7.3 billion/10 year deal, while the March Madness deal is valued at $10.8 billion over 14 years. Northwestern generated $235 million in revenue between 2003 and 2012 off things like ticket sales, television contracts, merchandise sales and licensing agreements. In 2012-2013 alone, the program generated $30.1 million in revenue, while spending about $5 million on scholarships. The university also says that its expenses add up to about $22 million all in for the football program. In theory, the players as employees could also be entitled to disability insurance, workers compensation and maybe even a pension. They could also be taxed on non-scholarship income they receive. Next Steps: Appeal Central As for next steps, the players will hold a vote to form a union, while Northwestern appeals the decision to the next level at the NLRB. If Northwestern is unsuccessful on appeal, they will probably refuse to bargain with the students and take the matter to federal court. So we could still be years away from a final decision. That being said, this was a potentially historic win for the players and a step closer toward sharing in the billion dollar pie that is the NCAA. 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