experience I was able to do it". The 21-year-old

To listen to the level of discontentment surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, you would have thought the Leafs had fired Randy Carlyle after failing to win a game the entire first half of the season. In fact, the Leafs record on the day they fired Randy Carlyle was 21 wins, 16 losses and three losses in overtime ... good enough to be in position do something Toronto has failed to do in each of the past eight 82-game seasons – make the playoffs. So why was the firing of Carlyle pretty much universally approved by everyone in this city? Where are his defenders, those willing to take issue with a team that fired a coach who had his team in position to do something it hadnt done in a decade? A team that was cosidered the hottest team in hockey just before Christmas? The answer is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have become the only sports franchise in existence where wins and losses are not the most important thing. No, these days in the centre of the hockey universe, its become all about how you play the game. Think about it ... if at the start of the season you had said the Leafs would be 21-16-3 on Jan. 7, in playoff position and ahead of the Boston Bruins, would anyone have said – fire Randy Carlyle? Of course not. But the recent history here – three straight epic collapses by teams whose analytics have trended in the wrong direction -- has everyone paying more attention to the shot clock than the scoreboard. Consider the assertion by the Toronto Suns Steve Simmons in a column this week that the conversation to fire Carlyle heated up among Leaf upper management DURING THEIR WIN STREAK in December, because of the poor habits the team was displaying, which is another way of saying they were getting beat at the puck posession game. Consider also the manner in which Dave Nonis praised the Leafs 3-1 loss to Minnesota last Friday night because of the way his team played, seeming to ignore the fact they had lost the game by two goals. The Leafs have become the equivalent of the grade-school pupil in math class who is told that getting right answer is secondary to showing your work. Because right now in Toronto the results dont matter as much as the process, a belief reflected by the post-game comments of their new coach – Peter Horachek – after a 6-2 loss. Our possession numbers were better, we outshot em. Would Randy Carlyle be fired by this point in an era without analytics? Its an interesting question. It wasnt all that long ago the Leafs were accused of being a team that was blind to the numbers inside the numbers, that Toronto was seen as the home of the analytics abyss. As this weeks decision to fire a coach with a winning record proved, at least that much is not the same old, same old in Leaf Land. Air Vapormax 97 Sale . On Thursday theyll learn even more. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that has followed them around from the moment general manager Masai Ujiri was brought in to put his stamp on the franchise, the Raptors have surpassed all pre-season expectations. Vapormax Shoes Wholesale . The 20-year-old Barkley, whose impressive form this season could earn him a place in Englands World Cup squad, was hurt in Evertons 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup on Jan. http://www.vapormaxaustraliashoes.com/cheap-air-max-tn-australia/womens-shoes.html . CEO Steve Koonin on Tuesday told the Hawks flagship radio station that he made the decision to discipline Ferry but allowed him to keep his job managing the team. He did not say what the punishment was, but noted that he relied on a law firms three-month investigation of Ferry and him describing Deng as someone who has a little African in him. Air Max Plus Tn Australia . It was the start of one nice night for the goalie and the Minnesota Wild. Backstrom made 33 saves in his first win of the season and the Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday in a rematch of their first-round playoff series. Nike Air Max Plus Australia . On the day after Billy Horschel posted his 12th straight round in the 60s, won his second straight tournament against a world-class field and picked up an additional $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion, Watson was kicking back in his seat at a Kansas City Royals game. ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Dominika Cibulkova beat American Christina McHale 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Mexican Open. The top-seeded Slovak, runner-up in the Australian Open in January, won her fourth career title and first since Stanford in 2013. "It was tough match, Im really tired, I had to dig deep physically and mentally", Cibulkova said. "She was very agressive and kept coming back, but its a final and thanks to my experience I was able to do it". The 21-year-old McHale, ranked 70th, reached her first tour title match. Previously, her best results where two semifinals in Quebec, in 2010 and 2011. "Im a little bit sad because I didnt win, but at the same time I know thatt Dominika is a very good player and I fought until the end," McHale said.dddddddddddd "I learned that I have the capacity to go far in tournaments, that Im capable of playing against the best so Im going to keep working every day to get better". McHale is one of six Americans aged under 25 who are between 18 and 70 in the WTA rankings, along with Lauren Davies (64), Alison Riske (46), Madison Keys (38), Jamie Hampton (31) and Sloane Stephens (18), and they represent the next generation of U.S. talent as the Williams sisters come toward the end of their careers. "There are several American going up in the rankings, we are pushing each other to be better", McHale said. ' ' '