4-3 win at home against the Red

NEW YORK -- Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers are the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy. The the NHL awards the trophy annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." It essentially serves as the leagues MVP award. Crosby scored 36 goals and led the league in assists (6 Cool

and points (104) to capture his second career Art Ross Trophy and lead the Penguins to their second consecutive division title. He registered points in 60 of the 80 games he played in (75 per cent), including 30 multi-point performances, and never went more than two consecutive games without registering a point. Crosby also reached the 100-point milestone for the fifth time hit 700 career points in his 497th game, the fastest among active players and sixth-fastest in NHL history. The 26-year-old Cole Harbour, N.S., native is a Hart Trophy finalist for the fourth time after winning the award in 2006-07 and finishing as a runner-up in 2009-10 and 2012-13. Getzlaf scored a career-high 31 goals and ranked second in the League with 87 points to lead the Ducks to the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history. He posted a 14-game point streak from Nov. 15-Dec. 15 (six goals, 11 assists). Getzlaf also set a career high with seven game-winning goals and recorded a plus-28 defensive rating. The 28-year-old Regina native is a Hart Trophy finalist for the first time. Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points to help the Flyers bounce back from a 3-9-0 start to the season. After being held pointless in his first five games and not scoring a goal until his 16th, Giroux totalled 28 goals and 51 assists in his final 67 games of the season. He also compiled a career-long, nine-game point streak Dec. 11-30, (six goals, 11 assists) and recorded his 100th NHL goal Dec. 19. The 26-year-old Hearst, Ont., native is a Hart Trophy finalist for the first time. The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The winner will be announced June 24 during the 2014 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. 11:44ET 01-05-14 Custom Chicago White Sox Nike Jerseys . "It was a little weird looking over and seeing all the green uniforms," he said of his first game against the Boston Celtics. Custom Houston Astros Nike Jerseys .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/ . This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Nike Jerseys . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. Custom Cleveland Indians Nike Jerseys .com) - The disappointing Ottawa Senators hope to record consecutive wins for the first time since early November, as they visit the Boston Bruins on Friday for the opener of a home-and-home series.There are just 17 days left in the Major League season, yet nine of the 15 teams in the American League are still alive for possible postseason berths. Of those nine, Boston and Detroit are the only ones that appear to be locks, with the division leads they have in the East and the Central. At this moment, the two coldest teams in the A.L. are holding the two Wild Card slots. Texas holds the first sitting two games up on Tampa Bay. Then you have four teams bunched within two and a half games of the Rays and that second Wild Card position. Texas has dropped four series in a row though, and opens a criticial three-game set at home on Friday night against an Oakland As team that they trail by three and a half games in the West. The Yanks for all their injuries, are just one game back of the Rays heading into a gigantic series at Fenway Park in Boston against the East-leading Red Sox. Its the final series between these two teams this season. Cleveland is just one-and-a-half back of the Rays as they continue their four-game set against the lowly White Sox at Chicago. Kansas City and Baltimore are in a more precarious position, tied two-and-a-half games back of Tampa Bay. The Royals are at Detroit for three this week, while the Orioles are visiting the Blue Jays. The Rays have dropped 13 of their last 18, but after a dramatic 4-3 win at home against the Red Sox Thursday night, they have a chance to build some momentum and breathing room with a three-game set at Minnesota this weekend. Still, its not beyond the realm of possibility that both Texas and Tampa might let those Wild Card spots slip away, or have them taken away. The team to watch is Cleveland. Yes, their ace right hander Justin Masterson is still recovering from a strained left oblique muscle, and there is no definitive word on when he is going to return. Having said that, Cleveland is already 7-4 in September and has the most inviting schedule of any of the teams still in the race. 13 of their remaining 16 games are against teams with sub-.500 records including six against the White Sox. The "Tribe" has already gone 12-2 this season against Chicago. The only contender Cleveland plays is Kansas City in a three-game road set next week. The Royals schedule isnt nearly as kind. In addition to Cleveland, they have three with Detroit and three with Texas. They also close out the season with seven straight on the road, albeit against Seattle and the White Sox. Baltimore has the most ddifficult schedule down the stretch.dddddddddddd All 16 of its games are against the East, including six against Boston and four with Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays could figure in here as well since they have six left against the Os. The Yankees schedule at least gives them a chance, if they dont get wiped out in Boston this weekend or stumble at home in the final week against the Rays. They have a three-game set at Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays next week and then follow that up with a three-game home set against the San Francisco Giants. The Yanks close out the campaign on the road with a soft touch four games at Houston. Bottom line, if Texas and Tammpa Bay continue to falter, my picks to get in are the Yankees and Cleveland. The Yanks have yet another major injury concern though. Brett Gardner, their table-setting, speedy leadoff hitter strained an oblique muscle on a checked swing Thursday night in Baltimore. If hes out any length of time, the Yanks offence could start to sputter. If Cleveland can somehow get in and get by the sudden-death Wild Card match-up, they would face Boston in the ALDS, which would pit Terry Francona, the former Red Sox manager who led them to two World Series victories, going up against his old pitching coach and the man who replaced him, former Jays skipper John Farrell. What a series that would be! Remember back in 1992, when Dave Winfield encouraged Jays fans to be more boisterous, and the "Winfield wants Noise" mantra was born? Well something similar happened in Cleveland this week. Michael Bourn was quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer as asking for more fan support, period. Said Bourn, "wed like to be supported a little bit more, if we could." Who could blame him for the impassioned plea? Cleveland is coming off a 5-4 homestand and had the two smallest September crowds ever at Progressive Field - 9,794 and 9,962. Their largest crowd of the homestand was just 21,453. On the season, Cleveland has only drawn 1,426,120 or 19,536 per game. Thats pretty sad for a team that could be going to the Playoffs. Only Houston and Tampa Bay have drawn less, and the Rays are further disgraced by having the lowest attendance of all in the Majors. On Thursday night at Tropicana Field with a top notch match-up with the Red Sox and so much at stake, the Rays only drew 20,360. Its no wonder there are rumblings of relocating the Rays, maybe even to Montreal. But thats a story for another day. ' ' '