VANCOUVER -- Buck Pierce prepared for his retirement from the CFL by getting into the restaurant business while he was still playing. But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. "(Football) is my passion. Ive always been a student of the game and looked up to coaches. "Obviously, (the passion doesnt end) just because you stop playing. That competitive fire will never burn out." Pierce split last season between the Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, throwing for 1,176 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Over nine seasons with Winnipeg and B.C., he completed 1,200 passes for 15,289 yards, 76 TDs and 63 interceptions. "I feel pretty good about (retiring) actually," he said. "I feel that, over the last nine years, its been a great career for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. The teammates, the organizations were the part that were great experiences for me. Its a hard day also, in a way, for me because its what Ive known. Its what Ive been about for the most part of my life. "So its a big day in both ways. But Im also excited about the next phase of my life and moving on." Pierce, a 32-year-old Hutchinson, Kan., native who played collegiately at New Mexico State, originally signed with the Lions in 2005. He was a key member of the club as both a backup and starter through five seasons before playing 3 1/2 seasons with the Blue Bombers. He returned to B.C. last September in a trade that brought wide receiver Akeem Foster to Winnipeg. "Buck was a fearless competitor who never hesitated to put his body on the line for our organization," Lions general manager Wally Buono said in a news release. Pierces career was marred by multiple injuries as he chose to take a hit instead of sliding or running out of bounds before getting tackled. But he said the rewards were worth the punishment. "I wouldnt change anything I played the game the way that I felt this game should be played, and I felt that I represented myself extremely well on and off the field," he said. "Theres always going to be critics, and people are going to say what theyre going to say, but at the end of the day, I represented myself and my family and this league in a positive way." He won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2006 and led the Bombers to the 2011 championship game, where they lost 34-23 to B.C. "Obviously, winning the Grey Cup in 06 was a big point in my life," he said. "Theres lots of memories. You dont necessarily remember all of the big wins and stuff like that. But when you play almost a decade, you have lots of teammates and you see lots of teammates be traded and all these things, so you have lots of memories that stick with you. "Obviously, when I helped the Bombers get to a Grey Cup in Vancouver, that was a big part, and I felt very good about what we accomplished that year." His final CFL campaign, when he was relegated to third-string status with the Blue Bombers before being dealt, was "extremely difficult." "But its all about what he you take away from situations and what you learn," he said. "I was fortunate enough to get traded to B.C., where it all started, and I had some great games at the end of the year. Im privileged and excited to be retiring as a Lion." Pierce had "extremely minor" arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder following the season and would have needed to get another contract from the Lions. But neither his health nor contract issues affected the decision to retire. "I didnt know what was going to happen (after) last year," he said. "I wanted it to be my decision. It wasnt money. It wasnt about injuries. It wasnt about anything else. It was about where I was at my point in my career and moving forward and taking that next step -- and about taking advantage of some of the opportunities that I have out there." Noting he had reached a state of contentment, Pierce expressed gratitude to fans, teammates and his two clubs alike. "The CFL and Canada have been great to me," he said. "Ive been fortunate to have amazing teammates, great mentors all throughout my career, and have played in great cities in the league -- and became a part of the culture here in Canada." He and his wife Lori, who is from Winnipeg, live in the Manitoba capital and plan to reside there until the future opportunities take them somewhere else. "Winnipegs the place that I call home right now," said Pierce. After announcing Pierces retirement, the Lions also announced the signings of quarterbacks John Beck and Jarrett Lee. Pending any early cuts following a mini-camp, the Lions are slated to have five quarterbacks at training camp in June in Kamloops, B.C. In addition to starter Travis Lulay, whose recovery from off-season shoulder surgery is considered ahead of schedule, the Lions have holdover QBs Joey Elliott, the apparent No. 2 at this point, and second-year pro Chris Hart. Discount Air Max . His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Fake Air Max 270 . Sam, who joined the Cowboys in early September, has spent the entire season on the practice roster. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-95.html. Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. Fake Air Max 2019 . Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 per cent of his to 47 per cent for Kukushkin. Cheap Air Max 95 China . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken.The Bruins gain an edge while the Ducks ride a rookie goaltender to even up their series. Notes on Carl Soderberg, Loui Eriksson, P.K. Subban, Ryan Getzlaf, John Gibson and more. BRUINS BACK IN CONTROL The Boston Bruins leaned on their supporting cast in Game Five, and it paid off, with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, giving the Bruins a 3-2 lead in the series. Carl Soderberg paced the Bruins, with a goal and two assists and while that was Soderbergs first goal of the postseason (to go with five assists), hes been a possession stalwart for the Bruins, on for 59.9 of the 5-on-5 shot attempts in the playoffs. Right there with Soderberg has been Loui Eriksson, who had a goal and an assist in Game Five, and has been rocking a 60% Corsi percentage in the postseason. 5-on-5 shot attempts. D Johnny Boychuk was tops on the Bruins, at 75.0%. While were covering Bruins players that were acquired from Dallas as part of the Tyler Seguin deal, might as well point out that Reilly Smith scored a goal and leads the NHL with a 61.9% Corsi percentage in the playoffs, and recent call-up Matt Fraser -- the OT hero of Game Four -- picked up an assist on Erikssons goal. There may be long-term regrets over what Seguin may accomplish in Dallas but, on this night, the Bruins reaped some nice rewards from the pieces they received in that trade. Smith was part of the Bruins most dominant line of the night, with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, all three on for at least 71.4% of the Interesting to note that, while RW Jarome Iginla scored a power play goal, the Bruins number one line continues to struggle. Iginla, Milan Lucic and David Krejci were the bottom three on the Bruins possession chart in Game Five. That happens to the best of them, though, because P.K. Subban was at the bottom of Montreals, on for 10 5-on-5 shot attempts for and 21 against (32.3%). Even so, Subban had a total of 14 shot attempts during the game (six on net, two missed, six blocked) and did score a power play goal late in the third period. Of course, the sideshow story that stands out from the game is that Subban, skating in front of the Bruins bench to retrieve the puck, was squirted with water by Bruins RW Shawn Thornton. For a guy that didnt hesitate to complain about Subban ducking his attempted late hit earlier in the series, thats mighty irresponsible. Subban was fine, but players on the ice -- especially in live action -- shouldnt have to deal with interference in any manner coming from the bench. One Canadiens player that might want a do-over on Game Five is C Tomas Plekanec. His possession stats (37.5%) were among the worst on the club and he took three minor penalties, that last two of which resulted in power play goals for the Bruins.dddddddddddd While the possession numbers were close throughout the game and shot totals ended up favouring Montreal 31-30, the Bruins really had the game under control. Once they opened up a 3-0 lead 1:36 into the second period, the Canadiens were left to chase. Now, that puts Montreal in a must-win situation at home in Game Six. They certainly could; theyve played well enough to do it, but the Habs have also let the Bruins off the hook and are facing elimination because of it. ROAD WINNERS The Anaheim Ducks scored two goals in a 2:43 span late in the first period and made it stand up for the final 41:15, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 2-0, tie even the series at two games apiece. Anaheims big guns, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry each had two points, with Perry assisting on both goals, and Getzlaf scoring the second. With Matt Beleskey injured in Game Three, Devante Smith-Pelly joined the line and scored the games first goal. Getzlaf now has 13 points, two behind the playoff leader, the Kings Anze Kopitar. Ducks G Frederik Andersen left Game Three with a lower-body injury, which prompted the Ducks to start rookie John Gibson in Game Four and Gibson responded with a 28-save shutout. 20-year-old Gibson has the pedigree to be a top-tier goaltender. In 51 (regular season plus playoff) games in the AHL this year, he has a .924 save percentage, and stopped 79 of 83 shots (.954 SV%) in three games with the Ducks in the regular season. Gibson didnt have it easy, as the Ducks went into a shell after the first period and were outshot 19-3 the rest of the way, registering zero shots on goal in the second period. This led to some ridiculous possession stats. For the Kings, C Jarret Stoll was on the ice for Jakob Silfverberg, Saku Koivu and Andrew Cogliano -- were on for fewer than 20% of the shot attempts. The Kings also pulled G Jonathan Quick after the first period, turning to rookie Martin Jones. The home team has yet to win in this series and the Ducks have thrown a wildcard into the proceedings. If Gibson continues to run hot, that could be enough to tilt the balance. Of course, evening out the possession game would ease some of the pressure on Gibson and thats still possible -- the Ducks were keeping pace with the Kings in that regard through the first three games. From the Kings perspective, they now have to figure out how they are going to get Gibson off his game and start burying the chances that they get. In any case, theres lots left to be decided here. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
