After being one of the NHLs also-rans for much of their existence, the Columbus Blue Jackets feel that it may be time to emulate the things successful teams do.The Blue Jackets seek their third consecutive win in San Jose on Thursday night when they meet the Sharks for the second and final time in the regular season.Since entering the league in 2000, Columbus has made the playoffs just twice. But there is optimism this season behind budding stars up front in Alexander Wennberg and on the blueline in Zach Werenski along with a veteran core that includes forwards Nick Foligno and Cam Atkinson, defenseman Seth Jones and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.Following a loss to the Sharks on Oct. 15, Columbus defeated perennial powerhouses Chicago and Dallas before dropping a 3-2 decision in overtime on Tuesday in Los Angeles.Brandon Saad tallied his first goal of the season and Atkinson added a power-play marker. Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots.Foligno, who is tied with Wennberg and Werenski for the team lead with five points, is in his 10th NHL season and fifth with the Blue Jackets. He likes the direction the club is taking after finishing last in the Eastern Conference in 2015-16.We can take a lot of lessons from that game (against Los Angeles) of what type of team we need to be, and how we can be successful doing it. ... Now we got to get ready and, the things we talked about, dont get too high, dont get too low, and weve got a big game against San Jose, Foligno said.One facet in which Columbus has excelled this season is on special teams -- the Blue Jackets have killed off 16 of 17 short-handed situations. San Jose provided the only blemish by scoring in the final minute of a 3-2 win on Oct. 15 in Columbus.Though theyve failed to make the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, the Blue Jackets won in both of their visits to San Jose, totaling 10 goals.After losing three games during an early five-game road trip, the Sharks (4-3-0) opened a three-game homestand with a 2-1 overtime win against Anaheim on Tuesday. Joe Pavelski scored a power-play goal less than 8 minutes into the game, and assisted on Marc-Edouard Vlasics game-winner.It was one of those game where we needed everybody, and everyone showed up and played hard, Pavelski told the Mercury News.Pavelski leads the Sharks with nine points on three goals and six assists, but failed to register a point in San Joses win in Columbus a couple of weeks ago. Given his recent history, that could change. Pavelski has recorded two-goal games in each of his last two home meetings against Columbus.The Sharks Brent Burns is tied with Pavelski for the team lead with nine points -- also on three goals and six assists -- but the defenseman had failed to make the scoresheet in each of his last two contests. He had a season-high eight shots and drew a pair of assists in Columbus a couple of weeks back.While with San Jose, Burns has one assist in six career home games against the Blue Jackets.Joe Thornton, who has five assists but is still looking for his first goal in 2016-17, has failed to light the lamp when facing Columbus in San Jose in four straight games since Jan. 31, 2012. Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Wholesale Nike Air Max From China . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/ . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. Cheap Air Max 270 . Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Discount Nike Air Max Wholesale .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the NCAAs appeal of the Ed OBannon case, leaving in place lower court rulings that found amateurism rules for big-time college sports violated federal antitrust law but prohibited payments to student-athletes.The justices on Monday rejected the appeal in a class-action lawsuit originally filed by OBannon, a former UCLA basketball star, and later joined by other athletes. The court also rejected OBannons appeal that called on the justices to reinstate a plan for schools to pay football and basketball players for the uses of their names, images and likenesses.It means the status quo has been preserved for a while longer, antitrust attorney Robert Boland said.The effect of the high court action is to leave the NCAA vulnerable to more legal challenges that are working their way through the courts, but it also gives the association time to make changes to blunt those possible threats.While we are disappointed with this decision not to review this case, we remain pleased that the 9th Circuit agreed with us that amateurism is an essential component of college sports and that NCAA members should not be forced by the courts to provide benefits untethered to education, including providing any payments beyond the full cost of attendance, NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in a statement.Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, said he was encouraged by the Supreme Courts decision.The NCAA was found guilty of illegal price-fixing in two courts, and the Supreme Court is allowing those rulings to stand, Huma said. This makes clear that the NCAA is not above the law and that college athletes deserve equal protection under the law.In 2014, a U.S. district judge decided that the NCAAs use of names, images and likenesses of college athletes without compensation violated antitrust law. Judge Claudia Wilken ruled schools could -- but were not required to -- pay football and mens basketball players up to $5,000 per year. The money would go into a trust and be available to the athletes after leaving college. Wilken also ruled schools could increase the value of the athletic scholarship to meet the federal cost of attendance figure for each institution.The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned Wilkens ruling on the paymeents of $5,000 but upheld the antitrust violation.ddddddddddddWhile we would have liked the Supreme Courts review, we remain pleased with our trial victory and the 9th Circuits decision upholding the finding that the NCAA violated the antitrust laws and affirming a permanent injunction to remedy that violation, which enables NCAA member schools to offer college athletes significant additional funds toward the cost of attendance, Michael Hausfeld, lead attorney in the OBannon case, said in a statement.The NCAA already has addressed one aspect of Wilkens ruling by increasing the amount of aid schools may provide athletes. In 2015, the NCAA passed legislation allowing schools to increase the value of an athletic scholarship to include each institutions federally regulated cost-of-attendance figures. The cost of attendance includes estimated values for things such as travel between campus and home, clothing and food.Two cases currently in lower courts present potential threats to the NCAAs amateurism model and its desire to restrict compensation to athletes in ways that would be more akin to an employer-employee relationship.A case led by antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler and originally filed by former Clemson football player Martin Jenkins and another claim first filed by former West Virginia player Shawne Alston but now consolidated with other cases challenge the NCAAs right to cap compensation for athletes at the value of a scholarship.I believe Jenkins v. NCAA will be successful in securing important resources for players, Huma said.The Alston case also seeks damages for athletes who played college sports before the scholarship was increased to include cost of attendance.These other cases, though, are nowhere near a resolution, and time is on the NCAAs side.To some degree you could say thats a strategy for the NCAA and in the interests that are in charge of college sports, said Boland, who is director of the masters of sports administration program at Ohio University. That they maintain the status quo despite litigation is both a practical reality but also an opportunity for them to begin to reform in a way thats effective.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '