VANCOUVER -- While Vancouver Canucks fans demand change, new coach Willie Desjardins is preaching a status-quo approach -- with himself. Cheap Air Max 95 . After spending more than two decades attempting to become an NHL head coach, and with training camp in Whistler, B.C., two weeks away, he is vowing not to change his style behind the bench. "One thing I learned is, youve gotta be who you are," said Desjardins, 57, the new Canucks coach, after taking part in a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon Tuesday. "You cant be somebody youre not. (Otherwise), it just falls apart on you." Desjardins reached the NHL this spring after helping the Texas Stars win the AHL title. He has also spent time in the Canadian university and junior ranks, winning championships at both levels, while also serving a two-season stint as a Dallas Stars assistant. Fans want a significant improvement in the standings after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 last season. Desjardins, who finds it "unbelievable" that his long-held dream of guiding an NHL clubs training camp is about to come true, suggested that chances of a Canucks turnaround are better than many people might think. "You just get to see the quality of people," Desjardins told reporters. "Sometimes, when you get into something, you go: Oh, what I have I gotten into? But thats not the case here." During the luncheon with 400 members of the local business community -- as well as Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden and team GM Jim Benning -- Desjardins shed some light on what fans can expect from the veteran-laden Canucks. In one notable change, contrary to the views of former Vancouver coach John Tortorella, who was fired after one season, Daniel and Henrik Sedin are likely to spend less time killing penalties. "We have to share the workload," said Desjardins. "I dont think were going to make the playoffs with one line being shut down. Theyre good at all aspects of the game. Theyre good at killing penalties and theyre good five-on-five. They can play the power play. I think youre lucky to have players like that. For us, we want to make sure that theyre able to go (and) at the end of the game, theyre still fresh and theyre playing hard. So that may mean managing their minutes a little bit. We want to play with four lines." Henrik and Daniel, both former NHL most valuable players, managed to produce only 50 and 47 points, respectively, last season. Daniel also endured a lengthy goal drought while both battled injuries after seeing their playing time increased. Desjardinss view on the Sedins reflects the desire of the new top brass to have the Canucks rely on their veterans. Key additions include centre Nick Bonino and defenceman Luca Sbisa, who were acquired via trade from Anaheim for Ryan Kesler. Vancouver also added veteran wingers Radim Vrbata and goaltender Ryan Miller, who were signed as free agents. Benning, who replaced former president and GM Mike Gillis, said he, Linden and Desjardins have focused this summer on finding support for the veteran core. "Therell be many challenges for throughout the season, but I think weve tried to do everything that we could at this point to make the team deeper and give them more enthusiasm so they play with more energy," said Benning. The Canucks lack of depth showed last season as the NHL veterans and minor-league callups could not make up sufficiently for declines in offence from the Sedins and others when injuries and poor play took their toll. "We talked about maybe there wasnt the depth that we needed to counter those injuries going into that last stretch of the year," said Benning. "So we tried to add to our depth this summer. Now, we dont have to rush young players, and we can let them develop properly and be ready to come up and play when we call them up to play." During the luncheon, questions focused more on hockey than the clubs business issues. But the Canucks, used to perennial sellouts, are also trying to bolster their bottom line with more on-ice success. Linden told reporters that season ticket sales are "down a few percentage points." But he expects them to pick up as training camp creates more excitement about the team. Nike Air Max 2017 . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. Cheap Air Max Store . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. http://www.airmax2018sale.us/ . - The fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is set to ask a judge to throw out allegations that she lied to a grand jury. SHANGHAI, China -- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton captured his third straight Formula One race with ease on Sunday, leading from start to finish to win the Chinese Grand Prix. Mercedes showed again that its in a different class from its rivals, with Hamiltons teammate Nico Rosberg taking second place -- the third time in four races this season the pair have finished one-two. "This is a team on a roll, thats for sure," Hamilton said. "Im going to be working hard, were going to keep working hard because obviously the others are pushing to catch us." Ferraris Fernando Alonso held off fast-charging Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo to finish third and give his team its first podium finish of the year, with new team principal Marco Mattiacci watching from the garage. Ricciardo was fourth, finishing one place ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel after the four-time defending world champion was asked by his team to allow the faster Ricciardo to pass for the second race in a row. Hamiltons win gave him his first career hat trick following his victories in Malaysia and Bahrain. The Briton may have even had a fourth win this season but was forced to retire in the season-opener in Australia after starting from pole position due to engine trouble. With the win, he inched closer to his teammates lead in the drivers championship with 75 points, just four behind Rosberg. Hamilton, who moved one ahead of Jim Clark for most poles by a British driver with the 34th of his career in Shanghai, was cruising so comfortably at the end of Sundays race that he wasnt even rattled when the checkered flag was mistakenly shown a lap too soon, at the end of lap 55. "That was very strange. I was thinking, Am I seeing things? I looked up, I was coming across the line expecting to do another lap and, all of a sudden, I looked for a split second and I saw the flag," he said. According to F1 regulations, if the checkered flag is shown early, the official end of the race will be the lap before it was shown. On Sunday, that meant the end of lap 54. The only racers this affected were Caterhams Kamui Kobayashi and Marussias Jules Bianchi. Kobayashi had passed the Frenchman on their final lap for 17th place, but their places were reversed in the official results. Hamilton was so far ahead ffor much of the race, his rivals were left to battle for second best. Youth Air Max Sale. . Rosberg, expected to challenge Hamilton in Shanghai after the pairs incredibly tight duel in Bahrain, started fourth on the grid and was forced to play catch-up after a slow start immediately dropped him back to seventh. The German methodically tracked down the two Red Bulls and finally passed Alonso on the back straight of the 43rd lap, the Ferrari unable to match the speed of the Mercedes. Rosberg then set his sights on Hamilton but he was by that point too far ahead, finishing nearly 19 seconds clear of the German. "We have the best car," Rosberg said. "But I was back there, so then catching up was nice with this fast car. Its a good weapon." Vettel started third on the grid and briefly moved to second before beginning to fade as his tires wore out. After Rosberg passed him, he was asked to give way to Ricciardo on the 25th lap -- a repeat of what happened two weeks ago at the Bahrain GP. Instead of acceding, however, Vettel asked his team what tires Ricciardo was using and when told they were both on mediums, the German responded, "Tough luck." At the start of the next lap, though, Vettel did make way and finished a distant 24 seconds behind his teammate. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained afterward that the team had different tire strategies for the drivers, planning a two-stop race for Ricciardo and a three-stop race for Vettel. "As soon as (Vettel) understood that, he immediately let him through," he said. "You could see he simply didnt have the pace to hold him back there. It was pointless." Vettel, who has qualified behind Ricciardo three times to start the season, agreed with the decision given his struggles Sunday. "Im not yet where I want to be with the car, but its an on-going process," he said. "Hopefully at the next few races we will make some more steps in the right direction." Force India had both its drivers finish in the points with Nico Hulkenberg finishing sixth and Sergio Perez taking ninth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was seventh, Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, and Toro Rossos Daniil Kyvat finished in 10th, another impressive showing by the 19-year-old debutant. ' ' '  |
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