Counter Strike » -9 from the floor to open the contest

EDMONTON -- Its been eight seasons since the Edmonton Oilers last made the NHL playoffs, so coach Dallas Eakins wasnt talking much about expectations when the players reported for medicals on Thursday. Instead he was focusing on the "process." While he and most of the players were quietly expressing optimism that the team is much improved over last season, Eakins said he wanted the team to "be modest. "We want to have no regrets for the past and no anxieties for the future," he said. "Its what are we doing today and thats it. "Its all about the process. How are we going to get better today? What did I do today to get better and did I gain any respect today? Thats how we want to go after it and everything else looks after itself." At the same time he admitted the club is excited about the off-season changes and the adjustments to his coaching staff. Gone are assistants Steve Smith and Kelly Buchberger, replaced by Craig Ramsay and Keith Acton. The team added some much needed size with the addition of veteran forwards Kevin Westgarth, Teddy Purcell and Benoit Pouliot. All three stand six-foot-three or taller. "Were not going to come in and save the day but I think were going to add some good depth," Purcell said. Equally important, they upgraded a defence that gave up 270 goals last season, the most in the NHL. The team added Mark Fayne from New Jersey, Nikita Nikitin from Columbus and Keith Aulie from Tampa Bay to support returning veterans Jeff Petry, Andrew Ference and Justin Schultz. Expected to battle for spots on the backend will be David Musil, Martin Marincin, who played 44 games in Edmonton last year, Oscar Kiefbom, who had 17 games with the Oilers, and perhaps Darnell Nurse, the teams first-round draft pick two years ago. "Obviously were going to have some battles on defence," Eakins said. "Were upgraded our D with what I call full-time NHL defencemen so there will be some battles going on there." Theres also going to battles down the middle. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be their No. 1 centre but the rest of the spots are up for grabs. "We have two NHL centremen right now (Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon)and I have no idea who the other ones will be," Eakins said. "And there will be a spot or two open on the wing." Goaltending was also an issue last season after Devan Dubnyk couldnt handle the starting job. The Oilers have eight goaltenders in camp, but between them theres only 55 games of NHL experience, 40 of that by Ben Scrivens. Obtained late last season, Scrivens and Viktor Fasth, who had five starts in Anaheim and seven in Edmonton, should shoulder the load in net. "I expect those two to push each other very hard for who will get the minutes," Eakins said. "The great thing about them is they are both very good people, theyre very supportive of each other already. We have two men who are high in character, highly competitive and highly supportive of each other and thats a real encouraging sign for me." Scrivens said he and Fasth have to "make sure our games are in order to give our team the chance to win. Vik and I are going to have people nipping at our heels, no question, and thats going to force us to play better, which is going to help the team." The Oilers hope to benefit from a more seasoned Eakins as well. One of the biggest lessons Eakins said he learned in his first season as an NHL head coach was dealing with the media in a tough NHL city. "I dont want to ever turn into a coach whos just going to give you that, yeah lets work hard today and give 100 per cent," he said. "But I did find out about how people can shorten your message and turn it into something else. "I learned many lessons, but my one lesson about bringing up everything that I learned last year is Im worried how it would be twisted so I learned not to speak so much." Last season Edmonton finished 28th in the 30-team league with a 29-44-9 record. 18:03ET 18-09-14 Cheap Angels Jerseys Authentic .com) - James van Riemsdyk had two goals with one assist to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Cheap Angels Jerseys . -- DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 16 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings snap a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Bulls 99-70 on Monday night. http://www.cheapangelsjerseys.com/. Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Cheap Nolan Ryan Jersey . The 30-year-old Texas native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Duke spent six years in Pittsburgh and also had stints with Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati. Cheap MLB Jerseys . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip.Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. The Wildcats opened the game on a 24-0 run and allowed just three field goals on 37 shots from the Bruins in the first half en route to building a startling 41-7 lead at the break. The seven points were the lowest total in a half in UCLAs storied history and the fewest Kentucky has permitted in a period since 1943. Thats our good game right there, Wildcats head coach John Calipari remarked. Thats as good we go. UCLA finished a miserable 25.4 percent from the field and 1-of-4 from the foul line, committed 15 turnovers and had 13 shots rejected by the Wildcats suffocating defense. If they continue to play at that level defensively, Im a firm believer theyve got a chance to run this thing out. Theyre that good, UCLA head coach Steve Alford said of Kentucky. Aaron Harrison chipped in 15 points and Andrew Harrison dished out eight assists to help Kentucky (12-0) dominate from start-to-finish in its final test before next Saturdays showdown with No. 4 Louisville. Isaac Hamilton had 14 points and Bryce Alford finished with 13 for UCLA (8-4), though neither scored during the Bruins humiliating opening half. UCLAs dubious performance began with the Bruins misfiring on their first 17 attempts with three early turnovers mixed in, while Kentucky conversely started off red-hot to quickly turn this matchup between two of college basketballs all-time great programs into a laugher. The Wildcats went 6-of-9 from the floor to open the contest, including a pair oof Aaron Harrison 3-pointers that had Kentucky up 16-0 just over 3 1/2 minutes in.dddddddddddd After a temporary cold spell from Kentucky, Booker knocked down a pair of treys in front of a transition dunk that extended the lead to 24-0 with still 12:40 left in the first half. They took our confidence out of us right at the beginning of the game and they put it to us from then on, Bryce Alford said. Kevon Looneys layup 12:17 before intermission finally got the Bruins on the board, but UCLA didnt record its second basket for nearly five more minutes as the Wildcats stretched the margin to 28-2. Kentucky ended the half on a 7-0 run to account for the 41-7 spread, with the Wildcats getting 16 fast-break points and swatting eight shots over the initial 20 minutes. The Bruins were more competitive in the second half but continued to lose ground, with Kentuckys lead swelling to 46 points following a 12-2 spurt highlighted by two more Booker threes. The second preceded Dakari Johnsons dunk off an Aaron Harrison feed that had UCLA down by a whopping 66-20 score with 9:15 to play. Game Notes UCLAs previous record for fewest points in a period was 14 ... Kentucky also allowed seven first-half points in a 61-14 rout over Carnegie Tech on Dec. 28, 1943 ... UCLA guard Norman Powell, averaging 17.4 points per game coming in, was held to two on 1-of-13 shooting ... Kentucky has started a season with 12 consecutive double-digit wins for the first time in school history ... The Wildcats had 20 fast-break points to UCLAs none ... Kentuckys eight national titles are second only to the Bruins 11. 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