only mystery greater than Woods in the English weather. T | Forum
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Apr 3 '19
LONDON, Ont. Air Max 90 Clearance . - Petri Kontiola doesnt remember his last NHL game. "Its been a long time since I played last time," he says. Long, indeed. Picked with the 196th overall selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004, Kontiola hadnt suited up in any NHL game of any kind in more than six years – Mar. 2nd, 2008. He had an assist that night – his 12th career game – in a 4-1 win over the Canucks. It could stand as the final point he ever registers as an NHL player. Or not. Now clocked in at 29 years of age, wiser and more mature, the Finnish forward is giving it one final shot to make it back to the league. "Its probably his last chance to try and make it," Leo Komarov, his teammate both internationally and now here in Toronto, said. Wedged in the depths of a Blackhawks organization that was soon to pop Kontiola left North America for the Kontinental Hockey League after the 2008-09 season. He hadnt played a game with the NHL club that year - Chicago was led by an emerging Jonathan Toews – and toiled instead between AHL stops in Rockford and Iowa. It appeared his NHL dreams were over. He took his career to the steel town of Magnitogorsk for two seasons before landing in Chelyabinsk, just north of the Russian border with Kazakhstan. Kontiola played there for the next three campaigns, leading the team with 37 points in 53 games last season. But after a sneaky bronze-medal run with the Finnish Olympic team in February, his thoughts began to drift back to the league he had left in such disappointing fashion. "I was just like a young kid at that time," he says. "Now maybe five years later Im more ready." Gambling that that was indeed the case, Kontiola put up more than half a million of his own money to get out of his contract with Chelyabinsk. Toronto signed him for one year at $1.5 million, offering him one last chance to re-imagine his NHL dream. And so hes back now giving it another go. "I think Im at that age that its either now or never," Kontiola said of the decision to return. "Thats why." Hell be in tough to make the team. Given the glut of forwards at training camp theres not a whole lot of room for error. Kontiola is the only waiver-exempt forward competing for an NHL job in Toronto, but a trip to the Marlies is unlikely if he fails to crack the Leafs lineup. "Hes shown that when he plays with good players he can find people the puck," said head coach, Randy Carlyle. "The question will be the pace of the game; can he perform at a higher level? Exhibition games are going to be harder than the scrimmages that we were participating in." Kontiola, who can play both wing and centre, doesnt appear the fleetest of foot and that, it appears, will be the biggest question of him in the days ahead. Can he continue to create offensively at NHL speeds? Carlyle wouldnt say that Kontiola needed to win a job in an offensive capacity, but with six players essentially competing for four spots on the second and third lines he will have to make some kind of offensive impression during the exhibition schedule. "I think he needs to be an NHL quality player," Carlyle said, noting a high hockey IQ. Roommates at the Sochi Olympics and teammates through a number of World Championships, including Belarus in 2014, Komarov invited Kontiola to live with him upon his arrival to the city a couple weeks back. He had similar help from the former Leafs tag-team of Mikhail Grabovski and Nik Kulemin when he first landed here in 2013. "Im showing him the city and how to drive to the MCC and stuff like that," Komarov said with a smirk. A Leaf draft pick in 2006, Komarov made a similar leap to North America in the lockout-shortened campaign, but unlike Kontiola had never played in the NHL at any point. He excelled in 42 games and after a brief return to Moscow Dynamo last season, returned to the Leafs. Hes intent on making sure his countryman undergoes a quick adjustment, also hopeful of having a familiar face around. "He likes to get the puck and make plays," Komarov said, opposing Kontiola in the KHL last season. "I hope hes gonna make the team and have a good season." Kontiola admitted to a few nerves ahead of his exhibition debut from London on Monday. Long-legged with an almost choppy stride, he teamed mostly with Carter Ashton and Tyler Biggs, killed a few penalties, set up on the power-play, but managed little offensively. His chase for the NHL though is underway. "Last time I was here it didnt go that well," he said. "I wanted to try it again." Wholesale Air Max 90 . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers. Air Max 90 Uk Cheap .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.HOYLAKE, England -- Even when hes not the favourite, Tiger Woods is still the show at the British Open. Woods earned that attention by piling up majors at a faster rate than anyone in history, and the attention is just as great now because his recent past includes back surgery and his immediate future is more uncertain than ever. ESPN plans to show his entire round online Thursday. Not to be overlooked at golfs oldest championship, however, is a new generation of stars. Rickie Fowler and Harris English will be playing ahead of him. Two groups behind will be Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama. They are among 25 players who share a bond that speaks to the state of golf. Woods has never won a major during their professional careers. Yes, they saw his dominance on TV. They just never experienced it. They were not around for the decade when Woods won majors with regularity, sometimes by a record score, sometimes by a record margin. They missed the days that were so Tiger-centric a player couldnt get through an interview without being asked something about Woods. "Tiger ruined a lot of guys lives," Charles Howell III, a longtime friend of Woods who lived through those times, said earlier in the year. "He caused a lot of people some sleepless Sunday nights. But he also motivated an entire generation behind him." Howells point was that while the next generation might have been in awe of Woods, being outside the arena allowed them to study him without getting scarred. They learned from the way he worked. They were more prepared than the generation before them. The talk at this British Open is that it is more open than ever. But then, thats been the case since Woods won his last major six years ago. Since that 2008 U.S. Open, 19 players have won majors, and no one has won more than two. In the 24 majors leading up to his last major, Woods won six, Phil Mickelson won three and no one else won more than one. "Looking at the different amount of winners in the last five years at the major championships, were seeing so many players win," Henrik Stenson said Wednesday. Its so competitive. At some point there might have been 20 guys battling out for it. And now it feels like anyone in the field can win if they have a great week. So its definitely tighter." Stenson, No. 2 in the world and among the favourites this week, will be playing alongside Woods for the opening two days. "Hes just one of the guys I need to beat if I want to do well tthis week," Stenson said. Air Max 90 Uk Online. "But its a good start if you know you can beat him." Woods is playing his first major of the year because of March 31 back surgery. Returning to Royal Liverpool was always the target -- he won his third claret jug on these links in 2006 when it was brown and fast, not green and slower as it is this year. Woods came back sooner than he expected, missing the cut at Congressional three weeks ago in what had the feeling of a 36-hole rehab assignment. He feels healthy. He feels strong. And he still commands a presence. That much was clear when Woods played only two holes Wednesday as spectators scrambled for a view. He brings energy and excitement to a golf tournament. Does he bring intimidation? The Open is his next opportunity to see if he can regain the mystique that a younger generation has yet to experience. Matt Kuchar, who played a practice round with Woods on Sunday, doesnt think it will take much. Hes not sure Woods ever lost it. "The kids today grew up idolizing him," Kuchar said. "He gets back on form again, I dont think that intimidation factor is gone at all. These are the kids that grew up watching him and wanting to be him." Kuchar said it can be intimidating to play alongside, although Patrick Reed sure wasnt flustered having Woods in the group ahead of him at Doral, and Spieth didnt looked rattled when he shot 63 at Torrey Pines (the North Course) with Woods in his group. Is there a difference between watching dominance on TV and seeing it in person? "Youre saying a different intimidation for the guys who are now just coming up and just watched it on TV as opposed to my generation that were actually losing by 10 to it?" Kuchar said with a laugh. "Im not sure. If I was to go shoot baskets with Michael Jordan right now, I would be pretty intimidated. So its probably similar. The guys that played against him and got scored 40 on probably have a similar feeling to me in the awe that surrounds a guy like that." It all unfolds on Thursday, where the only mystery greater than Woods in the English weather. The final day of practice featured sunshine and rain. Hoylake when its green is there to be attacked -- its the only course on the Open rotation with four par 5s. The greens are not severe. The fairways are relatively flat, which makes them more fair. All eyes will be on Woods, and theres nothing unusual about that. The difference is that no one is sure what they will see. ' ' '
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