Neue Mitglieder » easons that a quarterback gets pulled

TORONTO -- Team Europe will lean on 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara, referred to by his coach as a tower, to slow Canada in the World Cup of Hockey finals.When Sidney Crosby and Co. come charging down the ice, Chara will often be standing and skating in their way.Hes a guy who you dont want to play against, Canadian forward Brad Marchand said Monday. Hes mean. Hes big. Hes tough. And, he covers a lot of ice.Marchand would know.He, along with Canadas Patrice Bergeron, play with Chara in Boston.The 39-year-old Chara will not only be the tallest player on the ice Tuesday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. Hell also be the oldest.Marchand, though, insisted the 2009 Norris Trophy winner has not lost a step.Hes still dominant in so many areas.Chara is averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game, ranking among team leaders, and has scored a goal in four World Cup games.Europe coach Ralph Krueger cites leadership as one of Charas biggest assets. He has been Bostons captain for nearly a decade and became the first Slovakian player to win a Stanley Cup in 2011, and the second European to be captain of an NHL champion, following Nicklas Lidstrom in 2008.When Krueger was putting together the team a year ago, he traveled to New York to talk to Chara when the Bruins were playing the Islanders in a preseason game.Getting Chara to buy in, Krueger figured, was a key to the teams success.Several players joined the conversation, Krueger recalled, and a newfound respect began to develop.A tower for more than his physical presence, Krueger said. Its the man inside of that tower that has been so exciting to work with.Chara said the top priority for team-building was having players from eight nations mesh as one.We talked about a lot of things, but nothing can be accomplished, nothing can be done if you dont come together as a team, he said. Its not going to happen if youre not going to have everyone on the same page and playing as a team. Nobody showed any egos and we worked really hard.Instead of just playing for his country, Chara is competing for a pan-European team made up of countries outside of the continents four traditional powers.Hes one of six players from Slovakia, tying the number of Germans on the team. Four players are from Switzerland, three from Denmark and one apiece from Austria, France, Norway and Slovenia.Its been a real pleasure to get to know them and being on the same team, Chara said. So, its been a really good experience.The three-time Olympian sounds like hes having a good time, playing in another best-on-best tournament, even though he acknowledged he doesnt always look like it.It doesnt mean if I dont smile, I dont have fun, he said. A lot of time you might think Im maybe sad, but inside Im happy and smiling. Thats just the way I am and Im not expressing myself. Maybe I should do that because my wife tells me I have a beautiful smile.The often-pesky Marchand said he wont be cracking jokes, or talking trash, to Chara on Tuesday night.Hes way too scary, Marchand said with a grin. Chicago Blackhawks Store .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Blackhawks Jerseys 2020 . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. https://www.cheapblackhawks.com/ . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Blackhawks Jerseys China . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Chicago Blackhawks Shirts . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Redshirt junior Max Browne has been named USCs starting quarterback, coach Clay Helton announced Saturday.The decision gives Browne two weeks to prepare as the starter in anticipation of the Trojans opener against defending national champion Alabama on Sept. 3 in Arlington, Texas.At this point, we feel that it is in the best interest of our football team to lean on the veteran experience that Max Browne has, so we have named him the starter going into our opening game against Alabama, Helton said in a statement. With our experienced offensive line and the weapons at our skill positions, we as a staff are confident that Maxs ability will help guide a very successful offense.It had long been assumed Browne, the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2013, would take over following Cody Kesslers departure, but he received a serious challenge from redshirt freshman Sam Darnold. Following spring practice, Helton said Brownes lead over Darnold wasnt significant enough for him to end the competition at that time. He wanted to see how both quarterbacks progressed through the summer of player-run practices and a couple of weeks of training camp.When practice resumed Aug. 4, Helton reaffirmed Browne had a slight lead, but over the past two weeks he and the rest of the coaching staff remained tight-lipped about where things stood -- both with the media and the two quarterbacks.For casual observers, their play during that time didnt do much to clear things up. There were days when it appeared Darnold, who is the better athlete, was the superior option and others when the edge went to Browne.On Thursday, Helton said he hoped Fridays scrimmage would solidify how he felt about where things stood, and Browne answered with arguably his best performance of training camp. He guided the offense on touchdown drives on his first three possessions, while the unit largely sputtered with Darnold on the field.I was thrilled when Coach Helton gave me the news, Browne said in a statement. It was a moment of realization that hard work and staying the course paid off for me. I feel like I have put in thhe work necessary to earn the starting position and I look forward to leading this team to championships.dddddddddddd Sam is a heck of a player and he pushed me to the final day of camp. We are good friends and I have no doubt he will have a great career at USC.Helton does not plan to use a platoon system.I never want a guy looking over his back all the time, like Oh, this series, if I dont do good, Im out, he said Friday. I just think that puts undue stress on a kid. Theres two reasons that a quarterback gets pulled: One, by injury, or, two, by lack of production over a period of time. Not just one game or a series.Helton did, however, mention red-zone and short-yardage as two situations where Darnold could be used.The performance by Darnold at such a young age in both spring and fall camps has made us very confident as a staff that Sam could enter any game and our offense would not miss a beat, Helton said. Though we will not rotate quarterbacks, we do envision using Sams unique athletic skill set for special situations throughout games this season.Browne, who has graduated and would have been eligible to transfer and play right away elsewhere, signed with the Trojans when Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin was the coach. He enrolled early but was quickly ruled out of the competition involving Kessler and Max Wittek prior to the 2013 season. After Kiffin was fired and Steve Sarkisian replaced him, Browne competed with Kessler in the spring, but the competition did not last into fall camp.Over the past two seasons as Kesslers backup, Brownes opportunities were scarce. Kessler never missed a game to injury and Browne completed 11 of 19 passes for 143 yards without a touchdown or interception in mop-up duty. He was the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year following his senior year at Skyline High in Sammamish, Washington.Darnold, who is from San Clemente, California, said he did not plan to transfer if he didnt win the starting job. ' ' '