if they keep controlling the puck

LAS VEGAS, Nev. Nivaldo Rodriguez Jersey . - Connor Powers has a bit of Happy Gilmore in him as he winds up to attack a golf ball with his driver, though he doesnt shoot the kind of low scores Adam Sandlers character did in the movie.Kind of hard to make a lot of birdies when half the time you have no idea where the ball is going.I lose a bunch of balls off the tee, Powers said. Accuracy is not the main goal for me when I pick up a club.What is the goal for the former minor league baseball player is hitting the ball a long way, a very long way. He can pound it over 400 yards, and sometimes the balls even stay in the fairway by the time theyre done rolling.On Tuesday, he could earn a cool $250,000 if he can be the biggest of the big hitters in the winner-take-all RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship.Its pretty sweet that theres an opportunity to make money doing this, said Powers, a former Mississippi State first baseman who washed out in the minors after hitting 20 homers in three seasons in the San Diego Padres system. But if it was just 500 bucks Id still be doing it. Its just so much fun to be out there and compete, especially after ending my baseball career. Thats really what it is about for me.Powers and seven others who qualified last month in Mesquite, Nevada, will go head-to-head in the championship final at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. Six balls each, with the winners advancing to the next round until only one long driver is still standing.The 26-year-old Powers qualified for the finals by hitting a drive 402 yards, though that wasnt enough to make him the favourite among the eight players left. That would probably be Joe Miller, the 2010 world champion and 2013 runner-up from London who competes on the Long Drivers European Tour and has a streak of 13 straight wins.Or it could be Jamie Sadlowski, the 2008 and 2009 world champion from Canada who weighs just 165 pounds but had the longest qualifying drive of 409 yards in Mesquite.They are all different sizes and ages and have different backgrounds, said Art Sellinger, the former two-time world champion who runs Long Drivers of America. The one thing they do have in common is theyre focused on how fast they can swing a golf club and how square they can get at impact.Powers barely played golf at all before stumbling onto the long driving scene, though several of the finalists are scratch handicap players or better. Powers took up long driving at the urging of former Mississippi State teammate Jeff Flagg, who is also in the finals.Powers plays more now and is a 15-handicap, no better than most weekend golfers. But his ball striking skills — at least with the driver — are world class.I still think you have to be a legitimate striker of the ball, said Sellinger, a pioneer of the long driving ranks. Whenever Im trying to educate amateurs I tell them theyre ball strikers. I didnt say they know how to shoot 65 for a living.For Powers, its a lot like stepping up to the plate in baseball, complete with Golf Channel televising it live.Its basically home run derby in golf, he said. And Ive always loved home run derby in baseball. Jimmy Wynn Jersey .40 metres at the Drake Relays. Drouin, from Corunna, Ont., bested his own record of 2.38 metres set in Aug. Custom Astros T-shirts .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/custom-larry-dierker-jersey-large-956y.html .D. Martinezs ninth-inning sacrifice fly scored Torii Hunter with the winning run and the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Sunday.TORONTO – The silver doors to the Maple Leafs dressing room remained closed for more than 15 minutes after this particularly embarrassing loss. Inside, head coach, Randy Carlyle, blasted his team for their effort in a Saturday night home game and players met amongst themselves afterwards to discuss all that went wrong in a beating by a familiar foe. “I don’t think he was happy,” said Nazem Kadri of Carlyle after a 4-1 defeat to the Bruins. “He shouldn’t be. Neither are we. It’s not like we’re sitting in there laughing and joking around. No one likes to get beat like that, especially in our own building.” “We all know that wasn’t near good enough and [Carlyle] affirmed that,” Cody Franson added. “He didn’t tell us anything that we didn’t know. He has every right to be mad. That’s on us in here, not on him.” It was the third time in five games at the ACC that the Leafs have been beaten in such devastating fashion – also losing handily to the Penguins and Red Wings in the very early weeks this season. It was also a very familiar script opposite Boston, minus one very large cast member. The Bruins, however, didn’t need Zdeno Chara to teach what’s become a familiar lesson. Instead, it was more of the same schooling that’s come to define the rivalry for the past half-dozen years. The Leafs have now lost 18 of the past 27 regular season meetings with Boston, beating the familiar drums for compete level after this particularly dispiriting performance. Carlyle called himself angry and frustrated afterwards, almost appearing exasperated with the familiar troubles – ones that plagued his team last season, especially down the stretch. “It’s pretty simple,” said Stephane Robidas, “the compete level’s got to go way higher.” “We can always push for more of that and we’ll demand that,” Carlyle said, “but I think a lot of that has to come from within.” A juggernaut since the second lockout and the President’s Trophy winner last season, the Bruins limped into Toronto. They’d lost five of their first nine games, were getting unusually poor results in goal – Tuukka Rask with an un-Vezina-like .880 save percentage – and were, most notably, without their captain. All of which made them, at least on appearance, in a vulnerable (relatively speaking) state. But they schooled the Leafs in pretty standard fashion, winning battles not only in possession, faceoffs, and goaltending, but in general competitiveness all over the ice. It was clear on this night who wanted the puck more and it was not the home team. “It was like they had the puck and we struggled to get it back,” Carlyle said. The Bruins struck before five minutes had elapsed in the opening frame; Carl Soderberg won a rebound share and beat Jonathan Bernier on the power play. Late in the second, in a play that symbolizes all that differentiates the two teams, it was the perpetually overlooked David Krejci blowing past Phil Kessel in the neutral zone, his second effort just enough for the two-goal cushion. Boston poured it on some more in the third, scoring once shorthanded on Gregory Campbell’s theft of Dion Phaneuf behind the net and then again, when Dougie Hamilton raced past the Leafs five-pack and slipped one past Bernier. Starting 6-1 last fall – under fragile circumstances – Toronto has lost three of its last four games and five of eight overall so far. Turnovers. Lost puck battles. Little pushback. Long, weary stints in the defensive zone. These were familiar troubles for the Leafs and ones they pledged to fix, or at least improve upon, this season. So far, its been inconsistent at best. What’s quickly become clear is just how much work Carlyle has in front of him to push, prod and demand something more. He couldn’t find the answers en route to disaster a year ago – can he find them in hurried fashion this time around? Five Points 1. Home Ice The 24 home wins the Leafs amassed last season were fourth-most in the Eastern Conference, but it’s been a different story early this fall. Four losses in five games at the ACC by a combined score of 19-10. Blowouts include a 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh, a 4-1 whooping by Detroit and this most recent 4-1 dismantling by Boston. “There’s really no explanation,” Kadri said. “I think we’re two different teams on the road and at home for some reason. Don Wilson Jersey. ” 2. No Kessel, No Wins The Leafs were carried (offensively) by Phil Kessel and the top line last season, something they hoped to rectify this fall with a more balanced and notably deeper attack. But it’s been more or less the same struggle under similar circumstance so far this fall. Kessel, who has just three goals in 27 career games against Boston, failed to score Saturday and as a result, his team failed to win. The Leafs are 0-4-1 this season when Kessel fails to find the score-sheet, 3-0-0 when he does. 3. Power-play Reset? Steve Spott, who runs Toronto’s man-advantage, wanted the team’s two units to reset following an empty 0-16 stretch that preceded Saturday’s game. “We have to reset,” Spott said following practice Friday. “It’s a matter of going back to basics and getting pucks to the net and simplifying it. I think,sometimes, when you have this much skill, they can try to get a little bit too cute or a little bit too fancy sometimes. It’s resetting. We’ve talked about using that word and getting more pucks and bodies to the net and hopefully having a little bit of puck-luck.” Toronto fired six shots on net against the Bruins, but ultimately came up empty all three times. They’ve now gone 19 consecutive power plays without scoring a goal. 4. Trends Carlyle couldn’t suppress a chuckle and, perhaps, a little dig on the analytics movement when asked about the tepid early production of the team’s second line. “The analytics say,” Carlyle said, pausing for comedic effect, “they say that their puck-possession time is good and this is good and that’s good, but they haven’t scored any goals or provided enough offence so what does that say?” Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Winnik have indeed been the Leafs best possession line so far, but have produced only three goals combined at even-strength. Trends suggest that won’t continue if they keep controlling the puck, which is precisely what Carlyle went on to observe. “What you do is you look at the quality of the opportunities and you know if they continue to have and get chances, they’re going to score,” he said. “If they continue to possess the puck and do the things that they’re doing, we know that their opportunities will result in some form of offence from them. And that’s what we’re looking for. Obviously, we don’t want to be considered a one-line offensive hockey club.” 5. New Everything Everything is still quite new for Richard Panik, who the Leafs plucked off of waivers from Tampa on the second day of the season. There’s the new city, a new organization, a whole set of new teammates and maybe, most challenging for the 23-year-old, an entirely new system to understand. “Everything is new, so I’ve got to get used to it,” Panik said. His life outside the rink also remains unsettled. Panik, drafted and developed by the Lightning, is stuck living at a downtown Toronto hotel along with his girlfriend for at least two more weeks. It’s been confining some for the Slovakian, who likes to cook. “I’m on the road all the time right now,” he said with a laugh. On the ice, it’s gone slightly better of late. Panik was barely noticeable in his earliest Leaf moments, but has come on a touch recently. He scored his first goal with the club in defeat on Saturday. “You feel comfortable on the ice [when] you get more minutes,” said Panik. “You start feeling the puck, play with the puck more and create some offensive chances.” Stats-Pack 0-4-1 – Record this season when Phil Kessel fails to score. 9-15-3 – Record against Boston over the past five-plus seasons. 1-4-0 – Record at home this season. 3 – Even-strength goals for the line of Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Winnik. 0-19 – Power-play over the past five games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3 Season: 16.1% PK: 3-4 Season: 84.4% Quote of the Night “It’s not like we’re sitting in there laughing and joking around. No one likes to get beat like that, especially in our own building.” -Nazem Kadri, on the mood in the dressing room following the 4-1 loss to Boston. Up Next The Leafs host the Sabres on Tuesday night. ' ' '