WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike OShea may not know exactly what to expect from the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday but he says there are a lot of reasons, including quarterback Henry Burris, not to look at them as just an expansion team.
Drazen Petrovic Jersey . "Theyre going to be well coached," he said of the Redblacks, who play their inaugural regular-season game Thursday at Investors Group Field. "Their GM didnt hire guys that dont have CFL experience. These are all guys that are very well-versed in the CFL game. Theyre going to be well-prepared "The expansion draft saw them get a lot of good players. Theyve got a quarterback that passed for 50,000 (yards) and ran for five (thousand). He was right up there for MVP of the league last year. I dont look at them as an expansion team." He says he expects them to come out flying. He says the Bombers will only be guessing at what the Redblacks will bring but that same uncertainty applies to all teams up to a point at the start of a season. Veteran Winnipeg defensive back Johnny Sears seconds OSheas assessment of Burris, who took Hamilton to the Grey Cup final last year. "Theyve got Henry Burris so you now they have a chance to win no matter who else theyve got on the team, so thats a challenge in itself," said Sears, who will be competing against former teammate Jovon Johnson in Ottawas secondary. Burris, 39, shows no signs of slowing down. After 14 seasons in the CFL with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Hamilton, he has completed 3,672 passes for 51,526 yards and 324 touchdowns. Hes rushed for another 5,033 yards and 55 touchdowns. He earned two Grey Cup rings with the Stampeders, one in 1998 as a backup and another in 2008 as the starter. The Bombers were also looking at Burris in the off-season but he picked the expansion Redblacks, who bring the nations capital back to the CFL for the first time since 2005. The Ottawa Renegades, the short-lived replacement for the Ottawa Rough Riders, folded after just four seasons due to mounting losses. Not that Winnipeg is unhappy with their final choice at quarterback, former Saskatchewan Roughriders backup Drew Willy. The Bombers surprised many by dominating the Toronto Argonauts 45-21 last week with strong games from both their offence and defence. Willy threw four touchdown passes in that win but says as far as preparing for Ottawa, he agrees they will have to wait and see Thursday. "You kind of look at the (defensive) co-ordinators past and where the head coach has been and try to get some tendencies here and there but they could come out with something entirely different so really youve got to play what your eyes see," he said. He said theyve prepared well for that with the unorthodox defence they had to compete against in Bomber training camp.
Drazen Petrovic Nets Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value.
Custom Brooklyn Nets Jersey . Garcia had eight birdies overall to go with a lone bogey on the fourth to move to an 18-under total of 198 at the Asian Tour event. "I was able to hit some really nice shots and then was able to roll two or three really good putts in and it was nice to be able to finish birdie, birdie on this difficult finishing stretch," Garcia said.PITTSBURGH -- The Philadelphia Flyers used dominating special teams to sweep a weekend home-and-home series against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Wayne Simmonds had two power-play goals in the first period, Matt Read had a short-handed tally and Philadelphia killed off all four Pittsburgh power plays in a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. It was the second victory in as many days for the surging Flyers against their cross-state rivals. Philadelphia had a power-play goal, a short-handed goal and was a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in a 4-0 win against the Penguins at home on Saturday. "The power play was good again, the penalty kill was good again," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Lots of shots, lots of chances. We played a pretty solid game." Philadelphia improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven. Including playoffs, the Flyers are 10-2-1 all-time at Consol Energy Center (8-1-1 in the regular season). "I know the boys in this locker room love playing against them," said Philadelphia goalie Steve Mason, who allowed three goals on 48 shots during the weekend sweep. "Whether were in their head or not, we dont really care. We get amped up to play against them." Defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen and recent call-up Jayson Megna scored for the injury-riddled Penguins, who lost two straight in regulation for the first time since dropping three in a row from Nov. 6-13. During the final seconds, the Penguins Sidney Crosby hit the post with a backhand off a pass from Evgeni Malkin while skating down the right wing. "(The post) is all I gave him, though," Mason deadpanned. "Its part of the equipment." Pittsburgh still holds a commanding lead in the Metropolitan Division, but remained three points behind the Boston Bruins in the race for the Eastern Conferences top seed. The Penguins fell to 18-2 in March home games over the past three seasons. They were 10-0 at home last March. "The last two seasons, March has been too easy for us," Niskanen said. "We go through with just a breeze, and I think we go into the playoffs overconfident. Right now, were in a little bit of a bump in the road and were going to have to fight for it." Simmonds assisted on Brayden Schenns goal 2:06 into the game and then scored twice in a 6:54 span to give the Flyers a three-goal lead 14 minutes in. Reads goal was his third goal of the weekend for Philadelphia, which entered Sunday holding down the eighth and final spot in the conference standings. Making starts on consecutive days for only the second time this season, Marc-Andre Fleury made a lunging glove save on the first shot he faced Sunday, fromm Simmonds.
Brook Lopez Nets Jersey. But he couldnt control the puck in his glove and it fluttered to Schenn in the slot, who slid it in past a diving Penguins defenceman Robert Bortuzzo for his 17th of the season. Claude Giroux assisted on Simmonds 20th and 21st goals, the first of which was with 13:13 left in the first when he deflected a Kimmo Timonen shot from the point. Simmonds made it 3-0 when he corralled a rebound while uncovered and beat Fleury to end his afternoon after just 13:41. "The way we started the game," Timonen said, "it was perfect." Under siege by a Philadelphia attack that Pittsburgh had issues dealing with, Fleury allowed seven goals on 55 shots in less than four periods covering 24 hours against the Flyers. Rookie Jeff Zatkoff replaced him. Without their top two goal-scoring wingers -- Chris Kunitz (lower body) and James Neal (concussion) -- for the second consecutive game, the Penguins were held to fewer than four goals for the eighth consecutive game. That hadnt happened to them since early in the 2011-12 season. A pair of defencemen pulled Pittsburgh within a goal with slap shots from the point that found their way through traffic and past Mason. Orpik was credited with his second of the season with 2:27 left in the first, and Niskanen tallied his 10th at 5:50 of the second. But Read had a short-handed goal for the second straight day, finishing a 2-on-1 break himself with a wrist shot for his 19th of the season. Megna tapped in a nice pass from Brian Gibbons to cut the Penguins deficit to 4-3 with 3:41 left in the second, but Pittsburgh failed to score on 11 third-period shots. Pittsburgh has the NHLs No. 1 power play and No. 2 penalty kill but lost the special teams battle 5-0 over the weekend against the Flyers. "We play Pittsburgh a ton of games a year, and our power play has been successful against them since Ive been there," Simmonds said. "I think we kind of know where theyre going to come from. "I dont want to say we try to pick them apart, but we know where theyre going to come from and we try to change our point of attack. And it seems to be working." Notes: The Penguins announced after the game that D Kris Letang was cleared to practice and will practice with the team Monday. Letang has not played since suffering a stroke Jan. 29. ... Penguins F Beau Bennett was cleared for full practice after missing the past 43 games with a wrist/hand injury. ... Penguins D Simon Despres was a healthy scratch. ... Giroux has five assists in the past three games. ... Crosby, who had 74 points over his first 45 career games against Philadelphia, was scoreless in the home-and-home series.
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