LIVERPOOL, England -- Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been voted player of the year by his fellow professionals in English football, capping a season in which
his scoring prowess helped erase memories of previous bans for racism and
biting.
Steven Adams Thunder Jersey . The 27-year-old Uruguay international became the first South American to collect the
Professional Footballers Association accolade on Sunday, having led Liverpools
unexpected Premier League title challenge with 30 goals. "The Premier League is
full of really great players and so it is a great honour when these players
recognize your work on the pitch," Suarez said. "I always try my best for the
team and it is nice to get awards but really this is for my teammates and the
staff at Liverpool because without their help I wouldnt have this prize." But it
was a bittersweet day for Suarez, who flew to London from Liverpool after
failing to score as the leaders title charge was halted by a 2-0 loss to
Chelsea. Suarez missed the first five matches of the season while completing his
10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. He was previously
suspended for eight games for racially abusing Manchester United defender
Patrice Evra. After Liverpool fans backed Suarez as his reputation was
repeatedly damaged, they could have turned against him for pushing to join
Arsenal last year. But he was quickly forgiven, and even critics have started to
warm to one of footballs most gifted players after a year free of misdemeanours.
"He is a brilliant talent," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. "I think the
supporters have seen him mature over the course of the last season. I think he
was in a real low moment after that game (against Chelsea last year) but he has
gone away and probably looked in the mirror and reflected on himself because he
is not that type of guy and it probably just spilled over. "He is a really
intelligent man who fits the values of this club, which is all about humility,
class and he has all of that." Suarez had a marred reputation even before
joining Liverpool in 2011 from Ajax where he was branded the "Cannibal of Ajax"
after a biting incident. He was also vilified for being sent off in a 2010 World
Cup quarterfinal for a cynical handball on the goal line against Ghana. For the
last year, though, he has regained the admiration of his rivals by ensuring he
is no longer a magnet for controversy. Suarez was also named alongside strike
partner Daniel Sturridge and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in the PFAs
Premier League team of the year. Chelsea winger Eden Hazard was also voted into
the team, as well as being named PFA young player of the year at the age of 23.
------ PFA Premier League team of the year: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Luke Shaw
(Southampton), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Seamus
Coleman (Everton), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Steven
Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Daniel
Sturridge (Liverpool).
J.R. Smith Cavaliers Jersey . The England international raised his middle finger toward Manchester City supporters during
Saturdays game at Etihad Stadium, which Arsenal lost 6-3. The incident was not
seen by match officials at the time but the FA charged Wilshere retrospectively
after a study of video footage.
Authentic Harrison Barnes Mavericks Jersey . Van Slyke drove in a career-high four runs with two homers off struggling
left-hander Tony Cingrani, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away to a 6-2
victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, a rare comfortable win in
their pitching-dominated series.Nash continues to hold the hot hand, a hat trick
for Tyler Johnson, van Riemsdyk leads Leafs to a road win, lineup news and more
in Scott Cullens Statistically Speaking. HEROES Rick Nash - The Rangers winger
scored two goals and added an assist in a 4-2 win against Washington. He has 22
points (11 G, 11 A) in the past 18 games, and is riding a career-best 19.1%
shooting percentage on his way to a career-high 0.69 goals per game and 1.13
points per game. The percentages have led Nash to an incredibly efficent scoring
rate this season. Among players with at least 300 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time:
POINTS PER 60 MINUTES PLAYER TEAM POS PTS/60 Rick Nash N.Y. Rangers LW 3.70
Tyler Johnson Tampa Bay C 3.51 Tyler Seguin Dallas RW 3.40 Jakub Voracek
Philadelphia RW 3.27 Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay RW 3.22 Tyler Johnson - Tampa
Bays second-year pivot tallied a hat trick in a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh; he has
eight points (5 G, 3 A) during a five-game point streak. Johnsons linemates,
Ondrej Palat (3 A) and Nikita Kucherov (1 G, 2 A) both had three points in
Lightning win. James van Riemsyk - The Maple Leafs left winger, who played with
Nazem Kadri and Mike Santorelli, had a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win at
Dallas, and has 15 points (6 G, 9 A) in the past 13 games. Maple Leafs RW Phil
Kessel also recorded a pair of assists giving him 15 points (6 G, 9 A) in the
past 13 games. As Travis Yost pointed out, though, not everything was
sunshine-and-lollipops with Torontos top line, so shuffling the personnel is an
understandable approach. ZEROES Sven Andrighetto - The Habs rookie didnt play
much against the Islanders, 4:55 at even strength, but despite starting all of
his shifts in the offensive zone, Andrighetto was on the ice for zero shot
attempts for and 10 against. Rasmus Ristolainen - Fed to the proverbial wolves
against Detroits top line, the second-year Sabres defenceman was on for three
shot attempts for and 30 against (9.1%) in a 6-3 loss at Detroit. Goalies:
Oilers - Same old story. Ben Scrivens allowed two goals on three shots, then
Viktor Fasth surrendered three goals on 19 shots. Oilers still have the leagues
worst save percentage. Darcy Kuemper - Minnesotas goaltender allowed four goals
on 29 shots in a 5-2 loss to Philadelphia. In his past seven games, he has an
.861 save percentage, which is going to start putting pressure on the Wild to
find a workable solution between the pipes. Jake Allen - The Blues goalie hasnt
been able to take hold of the number one job with Brian Elliott hurt, and gave
up five goals on 31 shots in two periods against Colorado. Thats a lot of shots
for the Blues to give up, but Allen has an .879 save percentage in seven games
this month and thats going to present more opportunities for Martin Brodeur.
Corey Crawford - In his second game since returning from injury, the Blackhawks
goalie was pulled after allowing three goals on 13 shots, in 15:30, against
Winnipeg. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Semyon Varlamov - Returned to the Colorado net for
the first time in 19 days and recorded a 26-save shutout against St. Louis.
Patrik Elias, Martin Havlat - The New Jersey wingers remain out while awaiting
results from mumps testing; the Devils activated Mike Cammalleri and promoted
Tim Sestito from the AHL to fill the lineup void. Tom Wilson - The Capitals made
their second-year winger a healthy scratch in a 4-2 loss at the Rangers. Wilson
had no goals, four assists and four shots on goal in the past eight games.
Brandon Gorrmley - Playing his first game in more than a month, the Coyotes
defenceman contributed a goal and an assist in Arizonas 5-1 win at Edmonton.
Kevin Love USA Jersey. Jeff Zatkoff - With Thomas Greiss out and Marc-Andre Fleury yanked after allowing three goals on 10
shots against Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh turned to last years backup goaltender who
has been very good (.926 SV%) in 16 AHL games this season. SHORT SHIFTS Bruins C
Patrice Bergeron had three assists in a 5-3 win against Nashville; he has 10
points (1 G, 9 A) in the past nine games…Bruins RW Loui Eriksson scored a pair
of goals in the win over Nashville, and now has eight points (6 G, 2 A) in the
past eight games…Bruins LW Brad Marchand also buried a couple of goals against
Nashville and has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past nine games…Capitals D John
Carlson had a pair of assists in a 4-2 loss at the Rangers, and has 14 points (2
G, 12 A) in the past 13 games…Rangers C Derick Brassard had two assists in a 4-2
win vs. Washington, giving him nine points (2 G, 7 A) in his past eight
games…Rangers RW Mats Zuccarello recorded two assists against Washington and has
eight points (2 G, 6 A) in the past seven games. Penguins C Evgeni Malkin had a
pair of assists in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay, and has 23 points (9 G, 14 A) in the
past 19 games…Coyotes C Sam Gagner delivered four points (2 G, 2 A) in Arizonas
5-1 win over Edmonton; Gagner had three points in his previous 11 games…Since
starting his time in Winnipeg with three assists in 19 games, C Mathieu Perrault
has 14 points (8 G, 6 A) in 15 games after scoring a pair of goals in a 5-1 win
at Chicago… Sabres C Brian Flynn had a couple of assists in a 6-3 loss at
Detroit; he has five points (1 G, 4 A) in his past five games, after five points
in his first 21 games of the season. Detroits top line - Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik
Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader - all had possession better than 90% against
Buffalo, with Datsyuk (23 shot attempts for, 2 against, 92.0%) leading the
way…Capitals rookies Evgeni Kuznetsov (9 shot attempts for, 1 against, 90.0%)
and Andre Burakovsky (14 for, 2 against, 87.5%) had strong possession numbers in
a 4-2 loss at the Rangers. Canadiens G Carey Price stopped 37 of 38 Islanders
shots in a 3-1 win. Since the start of last season, Prices .926 save percentage
ranks as best among goaltenders that have played at least 50 games… Maple Leafs
G Jonathan Bernier stopped all 43 shots he faced in a 4-0 win at Dallas, a nice
bounce-back performance after allowing seven goals against Philadelphia
Saturday…Sabres G Michal Neuvirth surrendered six goals on 39 shots in a 6-3
loss at Detroit. FIRSTS Joel Armia - The 16th overall pick by the Sabres in 2011
made his NHL debut - playing with Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons, which is
effectively Buffalos top line - at Detroit. Armia had 16 points (7 G, 9 A) and
was plus-4 in 21 games at Rochester of the AHL. Brendan Woods - A fifth-round
pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012, the 6-foot-3 winger made his NHL debut
in a 2-1 shootout win at New Jersey. Woods had 13 points (6 G, 7 A) and was
plus-1 in 29 AHL games. Dominik Uher - As the Penguins deal with a growing list
of injuries, they summoned their 2011 fifth-round pick to make his NHL debut and
he played 7:17 at Tampa Bay. Uher had nine points (4 G, 5 A) with a plus-6
rating in 29 AHL games before getting promoted. With that, the NHL takes a break
for Christmas, and Statistically Speaking will too. All the best to you and
yours as you celebrate the holidays. Much of the data included comes from
www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and
www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at
[email protected] Wholesale Jerseys China ' ' '
