(Sports Network) - Given how tight the NHL standings are, there is a good chance many of the leagues playoff spots wont be claimed until the final games of the season. The NHL-leading Canucks are certainly an exception to that scenario. Needing just a point to clinch its third straight Northwest Division title, Vancouver aims for a seventh straight victory this evening, when it hosts the lowly Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena. The Canucks became the first team in the NHL to reach the 100-point mark this season, reaching 101 points with Mondays home victory over Minnesota. Vancouver is eight points ahead of Philadelphia for the NHL lead and is 11 in front of Detroit for the Western Conferences top seed. Vancouver also owns a 20-point edge over second-place Calgary in the Northwest Division with 11 games to play and is four points further up on third-place Minnesota, meaning Vancouver needs just a point tonight to secure its third straight playoff berth. The Canucks will try to continue their success against the Avalanche tonight after taking four of the five meetings so far this season. Colorado did post an overtime win the last time the clubs met on Jan. 18 in Denver. Vancouver has taken eight of 10 and nine out of 12 overall in the series and the Avs have dropped two straight and four of their last five in British Columbia. Colorado has not fared well against anybody recently, as the Avs are seeded 14th out of 15 teams in the West and enter tonight having dropped eight straight and 18 of their last 19 contests. Vancouver kicked off its three-game homestand by beating the Wild, 4-2, on Monday. The victory improved the Canucks home record to 24-7-5 this season. Ryan Kesler scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 33 saves to help the Canucks take Mondays game against Minnesota. Daniel Sedin and Raffi Torres each had a goal for the Canucks. We got the three goals and we knew they were going to push, said Luongo. Theyre a desperate club over there and we were able to weather the storm. Vancouver, which has reached 100 points in each of the past three seasons, can post their second-longest winning streak of the season with a victory tonight. The Canucks won eight in a row from Dec. 23-Jan. 7. Vancouver could be without defenseman Sami Salo tonight. He is day-to-day with a left arm injury after getting hit by a shot versus the Wild. The Avalanche were on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision in their last test, losing on the road this past Saturday in Nashville. Martin Erat and Joel Ward each had a goal and an assist in the Predators victory at Bridgestone Arena. Daniel Winnik and Ryan OReilly each lit the lamp for the Avs, who last won on Feb. 22 in St. Louis. Peter Budaj yielded three goals on 28 shots in the losing effort. This evenings tilt marks the second stop on a four-game road trip for Colorado, which has lost five straight away from the Mile High City. The Avs are just 12-17-4 as the guest this season. Brandon Spikes Youth Jersey . "During the race I tried not to think about Wouter," De Clercq said. "But now that Ive won it I want to dedicate this win to Wouter Weylandt and his family." Weylandt died in the third stage of the race on Monday after a heavy crash. Jim Kelly Womens Jersey . The teams president and chief executive officer announced Tuesday the CFL club had an overall operating profit of $726,930 last year wiped out mainly because of delays in building the new $200-million Investors Group Field. http://www.billsstoreonline.com/Black-34-Thurman-Thomas-Womens-Jersey/ . The White Sox announced the diagnosis following an exam in Seattle. The only treatment is rest and Peavy will be shut down for that entire stretch. "Its just unfortunate that something crazy like comes about," Peavy said after Chicago beat Seattle 7-5 in 16 innings. E. J. Manuel Jersey . Major League Baseball medical director Dr. Gary Green presented ideas to executives, physicians and trainers at the winter meetings this week. Among the prototypes being studied is headgear made of Kevlar, the high-impact material used by the military and law enforcement and NFL players for body armour. Preston Brown Womens Jersey . Italian Premier Mario Montis refusal to provide financial support for Romes bid Tuesday ended the Eternal Citys hopes of bringing the Olympics back to the capital for the first time since 1960. Monti said it would be an irresponsible use of taxpayers money to fund the $12.I have to admit, the holiday season was good to me. For the first time in a long time, I was able to completely shut myself off from the soccer world and relax with family and friends. This relaxed state of mind also provided me with a chance to catch up on some long-overdue reading. One topic that repeatedly came up was the effect that the recreational mentality has on youth soccer in North America. The recreational mentality believes that soccer is nothing more than a recreational sport; a means for kids to get some exercise, to run around with their friends, work up a sweat and tire out so that mum and dad can have some quiet time at home. The recreational mentality believes that unqualified, untrained volunteer parent coaches are all that is needed to teach kids how to play soccer. I mean, how hard can it be to teach a kid to run around and kick a ball? Unfortunately, the recreational mentality does not exist solely at the house league level, where kids play soccer just for fun. It can (and often does) exist in players who play competitive, or rep soccer. Because these players win games against their peers - usually through advanced physical development rather than advanced technical ability - players, parents and coaches alike mistakenly believe this makes them elite athletes - the best of the best. In reality, they are simply the best of a bad bunch. Their win-loss-draw records, as well as their position in the latest power rankings, consume these elite coaches, players and parents. Unfortunately, these are nothing more than artificial means for these individuals to determine success, because they have no idea what real success in player development looks like. Talk to anyone who has earned a living by teaching young players the game of soccer in Canada, and the general consensus is that we, as a nation, sink to the lowest common denominator. We do just enough to get by - glorified babysitting, in many cases - because we allow those who have never reached the professional or international levels of the game to dictate the terms under which we develop young players. By doing so, we bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator. In the last year, I have witnessed 15 and 16-year-old players - both male and female - competing at the highest levels of youth soccer across Canada. Most of these players were unable to kick a ball properly with both feet. This is the equivalent of 15 or 16-year-old AAA hockey players not being able to skate backwards. We would never stand for it in hockey, so why do we allow it too happen in soccer? The answer is very simple.dddddddddddd We allow it to happen because we do not want to make the difficult decisions that need to be made in order to create a truly exceptional youth development system. Why wont we make those difficult decisions? We do not want to upset the recreational masses that make up the vast majority of registrants in Canadian soccer. Why dont we want to upset them? Their registration dollars contribute nearly 40% of the CSAs annual budget, and a significant portion of every provincial associations annual revenue stream. Creating a truly professional development environment at the youth level requires that the CSA (or the provincial governing bodies, as an extension of the CSA) mandate standards for youth soccer with respect to coaching, training and competition. Doing so - while it would absolutely be the right thing to do - would have a polarizing effect on many youth clubs and academies. Those that were unable or unwilling to meet the mandated standards would be hesitant to remain members of their provincial associations and, by extension, the CSA. This would result in a massive drop-off in registered players in Canada, which would bring a corresponding drop in revenue for both the provincial associations and the CSA. Non-compliant organizations would simply decide to go rogue, by not registering their players with their governing bodies. This is already happening in many parts of the country. Disgruntled by a perceived lack of return for their registration dollars year after year, many youth soccer clubs (many of whom who feel their primary objective is to deliver recreational soccer as cheaply as possible) have balked at registering their players with their provincial associations. One such group of clubs has over 15,000 players, all playing recreational soccer outside the system - and not sending a penny in registration money to their governing bodies. When you start adding up the numbers, you can see why the governing bodies have a problem on their hands. The solution? Perhaps it is time to consider two separate development streams in Canadian soccer - recreational (which would encompass the vast majority of registrants who play the game) and high performance (which would focus on providing a professional development environment for the small percentage of players and coaches who take the game seriously.) My next blog will explore this idea further, as well as how a new financial model could be put in place to achieve success in both streams. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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