Gildenberreich » future Hall of Famer who leads the NHL in numero

The curling landscape shifted dramatically over the last month of the 2013-2014 season. When Kevin Martin and Jennifer Jones won the season-ending Players Championship, many rinks – especially on the mens side – had played their last game together. A legend retired, a skip left his Brier-winning team, old friends reunited and the best stayed together. With this being an Olympic year, many curlers felt it was necessary to join a new squad at seasons end in order to have a better shot at competing in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. With all the changes, which rink do you think is the favourite going into next season and beyond? Lets start from the beginning. Going into the mens world championships in Beijing, China earlier this month, Canadian champion Kevin Koe announced that he was leaving his team to join a new rink next season, comprised of Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert from Martins team as well as Brent Laing from Glenn Howards rink. This group is an interesting one. They definitely have a lot of experience as Kennedy and Hebert won Olympic gold with Martin back in 2010, while Laing captured world titles as Howards second in 2007 and 2012. Laing and Hebert will remain in their familiar positions, but Kennedy will be bumped up to third stones after spending the last 11 years throwing in the two hole. Is Koe the favourite despite a third who has never played the position professionally? As a result of his team finding new homes and – more importantly – a lack of desire to devote four years to an Olympic run, curling legend Kevin Martin retired at seasons end. Martin played 26 seasons, racking up four Briers, one world championship and, of course, Olympic gold in 2010. Pat Simmons, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen will return to the Brier in 2015 as Team Canada after winning the national championship this season with Koe at the helm. With Koe jumping ship, the threesome were able to convince John Morris to join them as their skip. Morris had previously skipped Jim Cotter, Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky to the finals at the 2014 Brier where they lost to Koe. The 35-year-old, who had planned to take a year off from curling unless a good opportunity presented itself, will play a limited schedule due to work commitments next season. Hes a two-time Brier champion (2008, 2009), a world champion (2008) and an Olympic champion (2010). Will Morris be able to keep this team back at the same level? Another veteran skip on the Grand Slam circuit also made news recently. Glenn Howard, 51, will reunite with an old friend next year, as Richard Hart will come out of retirement to play third. The pair were able to capture a Brier and world championship together back in 2007 before Hart decided to leave the game in 2011. Howard is also bringing in Jon Mead to replace Laing at second after he played third for Jeff Stoughtons rink for the past five seasons. Craig Savill will remain the teams lead. After a disappointing year for Howard, will there be a revival of past success with these changes in 2014-2015? Then there is Jeff Stoughton, who had his entire team leave him this season. Mead went to Howard, Mark Nichols left to throw third stones for Brad Gushue (they won Olympic gold in 2006 together) and Reid Carruthers will skip his own squad next year. With Morris taking the Team Canada position, Stoughton had to start from scratch. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the 50-year-olds new rink will be comprised of Rob Fowler at third, Alex Forrest at second and Connor Njegovan at lead. Can Stoughton surprise some people with this new group? One of the few teams that is staying pat is Brad Jacobs Sault Ste. Marie rink. The foursome is coming back for another shot at Olympic glory. Will they continue to roll or will an Olympic hangover set in after reaching the top of the sport at such a young age? As seen above, Gushue will have a new/old look next year. Does he have what it takes to get back to the top of the sport with the move? Then theres a few under-the-radar teams that may surprise some people. Is there a chance Mike McEwen, who finished atop the money standings this season, Jim Cotter, John Epping or Steve Laycock could make some noise on the curling circuit? It should be an interesting season of rock throwing next winter. With all the changes, which rink do you think is the favourite as we prepare for another run at Olympic gold? As always, its Your! Call. Sam Mills Jersey . The Suns termed Fridays surgery by team doctor Thomas Carter a success. No timetable was given for Bledsoes return but the team said in a news release that he "will pursue a possible return to action during the second half" of the season. Custom New Orleans Saints Jerseys . 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No matter how bad things appear to be going for the Flyers, the franchise always believes it can throw money at the problem and resurrect the teams Stanley Cup hopes. But with the way things are going in 2014-15, Philly may have no choice but to admit defeat and enter a long overdue rebuilding phase. The Flyers have tested the outer limits of the NHLs salary cap ceiling, but have little to show for their numerous bad investments. With the club about to enter a road-heavy part of the schedule its entirely possible that Philadelphia will find itself with little to play for by the time early January rolls around. Philadelphia enters Tuesdays game in San Jose having lost four straight and eight of its previous nine outings. The tilt is the second stop on a five-game road trip and part of a stretch that will see the Flyers play 13 out of 17 games as the guest. With a 2-8-1 record away from the City of Brotherly Love, things could easily get worse for the Flyers before they get better. Its still early, but even at this stage of the season its no good to be where Philadelphia is in the standings. The Flyers are already eight points out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and the situation seems even bleaker when you realize how little organizational depth Philadelphia has to combat its myriad issues. The Flyers are basically a one-line team on offense, with little scoring coming from guys not named Claude Giroux or Jakub Voracek. The defense is no better and the cap issues make it difficult for Philadelphia to fix the problems at either end of the ice. Short of firing the head coach Craig Berube, who was hired when Peter Laviolette got the axe three games into last season, the Flyers are running out of ways to shake their sleepwalking team out of its slumber. Previous attempts to rouse the club have fallen short of their intended goal, like when general manager Ron Hextall was overheard ripping his team with a profanity-laden tirade following a listless performance in a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Nov. 19. The GMs explosion seemed to have little effect, however, as the Flyers have fallen in five of six games since Hextall blasted his club. Since screaming and yelling didnt work, the Flyers now seem to be trying to motivate the club with shocking scratches. Defenseman Andrew MacDonald and forward Vincent Lecavalier were the recipients of this treatment, as Berube tries to shake up his team and possibly save his job. MacDonald was scratched before Phillys 5-2 loss against the Rangers on Saturday, and Lecavalier told the Philadelphia Daily News he is out for Tuesdays game against the Sharks. If both Lecavalier and MacDonald watch tonight from the San Jose press box, the Flyers will have $9.5 million in salary, or 13.7 percent of the teams total cap space, sitting as healthy scratches. For Lecavalier, it also will mark the first time hes been made a healthy scratch during a standout career which includes a Rocket Richard Trophy, a Stanley Cup title and several All-Star Game appearances. Being moved to the fourth line this season was enough of an indignity for the 34-year-old, but being told Sunday that his services wouldnt be needed at all was a shocking revelation for Lecavalier. Its very hard to take, Lecavalier said..ddddddddddddIt was a tough night, when youre told something like that. And its not just Lecavalier and MacDonald who arent pulling their weight for Philly -- the club is jam-packed with either overpaid veterans or young guys still trying to prove they belong on an NHL roster. Hextall isnt to blame for the clubs current woes, having only taken over the GM spot from Paul Holmgren in May. Holmgren, with Flyers owner Ed Snider likely prodding him along, kept doubling down on the notion Philadelphia was always a free agent signing away from becoming a Stanley Cup contender. Its now Hextalls job to convince the owner and Holmgren, who was promoted to team president, that getting healthy cap-wise is the best way back to respectability. Philadelphia has some toxic contracts on its books, but there will be contending teams with plenty of cap space who may be willing to rid the Flyers of some of those bad investments. Although the Flyers did turn around and make the playoffs after a terrible start in 2013-14, its going to be difficult to sell the public on this edition of the Orange and Black. Even Mr. Snider isnt liking the odds of this team turning into a winner, especially when the improvement will likely need to come from within the organization. Its not going to be an easy fix if we cant get more production out of our players, Snider recent told the Daily News in a phone interview. You cant be a one-line team and win in this league. BRODEUR A BLUE Martin Brodeur figured if he waited long enough, an injury would lead to him getting back between the pipes for an NHL team. The strategy worked, as the St. Louis Blues signed the free agent goaltender to a one-year contract on Tuesday following an injury to No. 1 netminder Brian Elliott. When the Devils opted to not re-sign Brodeur in the offseason and officially hand the keys over to goaltender Cory Schneider, the aging netminder had a difficult time finding a new home. But Brodeur and his agent were not discouraged by the lack of interest during the initial free agent frenzy and bided their time for a team in need to come calling. Just over five months after free agency began on July 1, Brodeur finally found a partner in the Blues following a brief tryout period. The 42-year-old Brodeur is a future Hall of Famer who leads the NHL in numerous all-time records, including wins (688) and shutouts (124). Also a three-time Stanley Cup winner, the former face of the New Jersey Devils franchise has little to play for other than the love of competition. Hockeys fun, Brodeur said. I just couldnt see myself stopping right now. Im glad I have the opportunity to continue it. With Elliott deemed week-to-week by the club with a lower-body injury, Brodeur will join youngster Jake Allen as St. Louis top goaltending options for now. Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock indicated Brodeur will be more than a glorified backup for Allen, saying if hes here, hes going to play. It will be odd for fans seeing Brodeur in a new uniform after he spent nearly 25 years with the Devils after being drafted by the team way back in 1990. The weirdness of the situation is not lost on the old goaltender. Its going to feel great, its going to definitely be different, said Brodeur said. Not just for me, but for the fans. Ive turned the page, and this is a new beginning that hopefully will come off with something great. ' ' '