Thumbs up to what is now, and, at this rate, will surely be at the end of the season, an interesting and completely wide-open Hart Trophy debate. The NHL reaches the exact mid-point of its schedule on this night of January 10th, and you are hereby invited to cast your vote for the most valuable player….so far. The leading point-getter is Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers, currently a non-playoff team. The leading goal-scorer is Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars, currently a non-playoff team. You want to vote for Sidney Crosby? Thats a debate all its own. A goalie? Same thing, but if youre okay with a goalie, youve got Nashvilles Pekka Rinne or Montreals Carey Price. Defenceman? Nashvilles terrific first half brings Shea Weber to mind. Does Tampa Bays terrific first half bring Steven Stamkos to mind? Perhaps, but you might want to be mentioning Tyler Johnson instead. I give you now the choice that is most easily supported and least likely to bring howls of What? Really?--that is Anaheim Ducks centre Ryan Getzlaf. Seventh in the scoring race, captain of the team that has been at or near the top of the standings much of the way, and especially valuable during the 14 games played without Corey Perry on his right side. -- To Brendan Shanahan, heres a thumbs up, that, until yesterday, was a thumbs down. Im not suggesting that Shanahans meeting with Maple Leaf players and his message to fans via various media interviews contributed directly to the Leafs 17-shot, four-goal first-period explosion against Columbus, but Im not prepared to call it coincidental either. Not until three days after coach Randy Carlyle was fired was Shanahan seen or heard from. He might prefer the background to centre stage, but hes the team president and it is his team. Since being hired last April, he has retained and fired Carlyle, fired and replaced a staff of assistant coaches, and fired and replaced two of general manager Dave Nonis assistants while also adding a player personnel director, never mind whatever input he has had on player moves. Shanahan needs to be out front because hes the only one who can be under the Leafs awkward corporate setup. His boss, MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke, is waiting to be replaced or to leave when his contract expires in June, and is virtually persona non grata when it comes to representing the organization. The owners dont speak to such mundane matters as hockey results because theyre too busy with more important things and with battling each other in those other businesses. Nonis owns the title of general manager and does the work of a general manager, which means he does briefings, but when sermons need to be delivered, its Shanahan who must step forward. Air Max 720 Homme Pas Cher . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell. Air Max 270 Homme Soldes . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. http://www.maxnikepascher.fr/grossiste-a...-270-homme.html. The Canadian Football Leagues all-time passing leader said he has not made a final decision, but he will discuss his future with Montreal Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall on the weekend. Air Max 720 Soldes .com) - Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will sit out Thursdays game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with left knee soreness. Destockage Nike Air Max 97 .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season.SAN DIEGO -- Jordan Spieth turned out to be the star attraction Friday playing with Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines. Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. Cink drilled a 3-wood from 280 yards onto the green at the par-5 ninth on the tougher South Course for a two-putt birdie and a 71. Woods rarely gets upstaged at Torrey Pines, where his eight professional wins include the 2008 U.S. Open. But in his first competition in six weeks, Woods hardly looked the part as the defending champion. He did not make birdie on any of the par 5s for the second straight day, and a three-putt bogey on the par-5 ninth hole on the North gave him a 71. He was nine shots behind. Phil Mickelsons ailing back wasnt much better and he withdrew Friday night because of muscle pain. Mickelson shot a 1-over 73 on the South Course in the second round, leaving him eight strokes behind Spieth. Mickelson said after the round that he feared getting into bad habits by altering his swing to keep his back from hurting. This is hometown tournament and he said he wanted to keep playing. His management company released a statement late Friday evening that Mickelson had decided to withdraw. Mickelson said he would talk to doctors to figure out the best course of action. Hes scheduled to defend his title next week in the Phoenix Open. Ottawas Brad Fritsch shot 70 to jump into a tie for 11th place. It was the first time Spieth has played with Woods in a tournament -- they played a practice round together at the Presidents Cup last fall -- and the Texan felt and played as if it was any other round on the PGA Tour. Then again, the first time he played with Mickelson, Spieth closed with a 62 at the TPC Boston last year, a round that led Mickelson to call Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples and lobby for Spieth to be picked for the team. In both cases, Spieth was more interested with the score than the audience. "Any time you can shoot a lower score than a 66 or 65 and you can really get it deep and be in a zone and not worry about what your score is ... thats special," Spieth said. "Thats proving that I can play my best golf when it matters on a PGA Tour venue. Each time you can do that, you get more and more confident that you can do it more often." As for playing with Woods? He only shrugged. Spieth grew up watching, idolizing and being amazed by Woods. But this was only a Friday. "They were both rounds that I needed to move up the leaderboard," he said about playing with Woods this week and Mickelson last year. &quoot;They werent in the last couple groups on Sunday, so they werent to win.dddddddddddd They were to get myself up and in a position." Spieth was at 10-under 134 and will be in the last group Saturday with Cink and Nicolas Colsaerts, who shot 67 on the South and was two shots behind. "Im looking forward to playing with Jordan. Ive never seen him hit a ball, so that will be fun," Cink said. "Its always exciting to see the young guys play. Im playing really well. Im really excited about golf right now and the way Im playing. Im having some fun out there and seeing a lot of good things." The final two rounds will be on the South, which is about 600 yards longer and on Friday played more than 4 1/2 shots harder. Spieth didnt hit the ball better than his opening-round 71 on the South. His putter made the difference. He rolled in a bending 18-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole and his confidence grew up there. He avoided a three-putt on the 17th by making a 15-footer for par, and he really took off down the stretch. He holed another sidehill birdie putt on the par-3 sixth from about 20 feet, and he made a 15-footer for his final birdie on the eighth hole. The rest of his birdie putts were inside 4 feet. "The kids got talent," Woods said. "He hits it a long way, phenomenal putter. He made a boat load of putts today from the 10- to 20-foot range, and on poa greens, thats not easy to do. He was pouring them in there. He had speed to them, too. Thats what you have to do to putt on poa. "He putted with a lot of confidence." That wasnt the case for Woods, whose only birdies came on his opening hole and on his sixth hole, a flip wedge to 4 feet. He didnt feel like he was off by much, but thats all it took. The course is set up in such a way that the thickest grass is just off the fairway. "I wouldnt say its rusty," Woods said. "I was just a fraction off, and at this level and on golf courses like this, if youre just a fraction off it doesnt take much, especially as tight as the North Course is. I had so many balls that landed in the fairway that went in the rough. Now I cant be aggressive, Ive got to play conservative into some of these flags. When you should be able to fire at some of these flags, I just couldnt." The cut was at even-par 144, and 83 players advanced. There will be another cut to top 70 and ties after the third round. Woods wasnt ruling himself out just yet. He remembered the time he made the cut by two shots in 1999, and then had a 62-65 weekend to win by two shots. But that was before the South Course was lengthened. No had better than 67 the first two days this week on the South. ' ' '
