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Man Utd 2-2 Chelsea

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ENGLISH FA CUP

Old Trafford, England

Referee: Howard Webb | Attendance: 75196

* Local time based on your geographic location.

Manchester United

  • Javier Hernández 5′ •
  • Wayne Rooney 11′ •

Chelsea

  • • Eden Hazard 59′
  • • Ramires 68′

Wayne Rooney ended a tortuous week by scoring, but David de Gea proved to be Manchester United’s hero for saving their FA Cup skins after Sir Alex Ferguson’s team threw away a two-goal lead in their quarter-final with Chelsea.

Second-half goals from Eden Hazard and Ramires had pulled the visitors level after Javier Hernandez and Rooney struck early.

It seemed certain Juan Mata would complete a memorable comeback when he stepped inside Jonny Evans in the final minute.

But De Gea, so often the target of criticism, stuck out a leg to keep Mata out and United in the tournament.

The replay will not suit Ferguson, still less so Rafael Benitez given it could potentially force Chelsea into four games in a week or trigger the postponement of a Premier League fixture.

However, both have reason to be thankful, United because their collapse from a position of such immense promise could so easily have been total, Chelsea as at half-time it seemed Benitez was being given another hefty shove towards the Stamford Bridge exit door.

It had all been about Rooney before kick-off, given the intense speculation that followed his omission from the United side that faced Real Madrid on Tuesday.

Yet from the moment he was captured bouncing off the United team bus with a wide smile of greeting for the security staff in attendance, it seemed certain this would be a day of redemption.

Rooney’s name was chanted by the United faithful, not in criticism of Ferguson, but in confirmation of the striker being one of them, part of a United family so carefully pieced together by their manager, who until Nani’s dismissal in midweek truly believed another Treble was on.

Hernandez, someone with just as great a claim on a starting berth and whom did not appear for a single minute against a team held in so much affection in his native Mexico, had already struck in quite spectacular fashion before Rooney found the net.

Lining up a free-kick wide on the United right, level with the penalty area, Rooney aimed for the far corner.

David Luiz and Jonny Evans both jumped but missed it and by the time Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech could react it was too late. The ball flew into the corner and Rooney had his goal.

He did not really mean it but he took the acclaim anyway, raising his arms and turning slightly to acknowledge those in rapturous celebration.

Rooney nearly got a second in first-half stoppage time, as he deliberately sent another free-kick from a similar position on the other side of the pitch fizzing on to the roof of the net.

United’s only other opportunity of that opening period also involved Rooney, but it was far more notable for a ridiculous attempted clearance from Luiz after Cech had saved Rooney’s shot, which forced his goalkeeper into another reaction save.

Amid all this, Chelsea had done quite well.

Frank Lampard came close on a couple of occasions, Mata teased the United defence and rolled an inspired backheel into the path of Victor Moses, only for the former Wigan man to screw his shot so badly wide it actually hit the corner flag, prompting the rather cruel taunt of “Are you Torres in disguise?” from the home support.

The vitriol from the away contingent to their own ‘interim’ boss was even worse when Benitez took Lampard off as part of a double change nine minutes after the re-start.

But Benitez is not quite the no-nothing Chelsea’s disgruntled supporters think and his tactical switch worked a treat as one of the men introduced, Hazard, injected fresh hope into the Blues by curling a superb effort into the far corner beyond De Gea.

The impetus it gave Chelsea was marked, and when Rooney lost possession deep in the visitors’ half, United were caught out with a classic counter-attack that ended with Ramires expertly drilling home.

It was the second time this season the Brazilian had completed a Chelsea comeback from two goals down against United.

On the first occasion, at Stamford Bridge in October, Chelsea then had two men sent off and were beaten by Hernandez.

This time they managed to keep everyone on the pitch and they would have been the ones to claim victory had it not been for De Gea.

  • Manchester United
  • Chelsea
(59′) Eden Hazard
(68′) Ramires
  • Manchester United
  • Chelsea
9(5) Shots (on goal) 15(11)
5 Fouls 12
2 Corner kicks 4
0 Offsides 1
49% Time of Possession 51%
0 Yellow Cards 3
0 Red Cards 0
9 Saves 3

  • Manchester United
  • Chelsea
César Azpilicueta (41′)
David Luiz (55′)
Eden Hazard (75′)

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Neal, Crosby score shootout goals as Penguins top Leafs

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TORONTO — Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are the NHL’s road warriors.

Crosby and James Neal scored shootout goals to give Pittsburgh an exciting 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night for their league-leading 11th road victory.

Neal opened the shootout by beating James Reimer before Crosby sealed the victory by scoring on Pittsburgh’s second attempt after Marc-

Andre Fleury stopped Toronto’s Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri. The Leafs’ Phil Kessel forced overtime with his seventh of the season at 15:40 of the third, thrilling the Air Canada Centre gathering of 19,418.

“I thought we played a really good game,” Crosby said. “I thought we did some really good things.

“It’s a fun building, a fun atmosphere. We didn’t want to let them get back into the game . . . but they pushed hard and kept coming.”

Crosby also scored in regulation for Pittsburgh (17-8-0) in his first appearance at the ACC in over three years. The Penguins’ captain extended his points streak to a season-high seven games (five goals, 10 assists).

Neal, Beau Bennett and Pascal Dupuis had the other goals for Pittsburgh, which led 3-1 after the first period and outshot Toronto 41-26. Special-teams figured prominently in the game as the Penguins were 0-for-4 on the power play while the Leafs finished 2-for-3.

“It was certainly a big factor in the game,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “We get two power-play goals on us rather quickly in this game . . . It’s definitely a big part of where we’re at right now.”

James van Riemsdyk, Cody Franson and Clarke MacArthur also scored for Toronto (15-10-1) while captain Dion Phaneuf added three assists.

“We had a little bit of a slow start, we kind of got caught standing around and watching them a little too much,” Phaneuf said. “We recognized that during the intermission and went after them.

“It was huge to come back and get that point but we definitely would’ve liked to have two.”

The loss was Reimer’s first in seven starts and while he stopped 37 shots, Reimer fought the puck early. Heading into the shootout, Reimer was eager to make good on his chance for redemption.

“There were a couple of goals I didn’t want to have go in,” he said. “When you can get to a shootout and get a point, you kind of have a chance to redeem yourself and that’s when you want to step up and be big for your teammates.

“That wasn’t the case and that’s what I’m most frustrated about. We battled back hard enough as a team and I had a chance to be there for the boys and wasn’t able to do it.”

Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said neither his goaltender nor his two shooters were at ease in the shootout.

“I didn’t think we looked very comfortable going in there on (Fleury) and our goalie didn’t look very comfortable in the shootout either,” he said. “We’re playing good teams and when you play good teams you make mistakes but they made mistakes as well.

“We scored four goals and when you score four goals we think you should win the game. We didn’t do enough on the defensive side of the puck to give ourselves the best chance.”

Crosby, the Penguins’ captain who leads the NHL in scoring with 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists), skated at the ACC for the first time since Jan. 9, 2010. In 11 career visits here, Crosby has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) and extended his points streak versus Toronto to eight games.

The 25-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., has excelled against Toronto, having registered 38 points (19 goals, 19 assists) in 24 career games.

Pittsburgh outshot Toronto 13-5 in the first and wasted little time opening the scoring as Neal registered his 16th of the season just 36 seconds in. Matt Niskanen‘s point shot was partially blocked but the puck dribbled into the slot, where Neal fired a shot past Reimer.

Van Riemsdyk tied it at 7:14 on the power play with his 14th goal but Crosby and Bennett combined to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Crosby registered his 12th goal at 14:31 after Reimer couldn’t control Kris Letang‘s shot, allowing Letang to get the rebound back to Crosby. Bennett scored his second of the season at 15:21.

Franson’s second of the year pulled Toronto to within one on the power play at 10:12 of the second with Crosby off for tripping. Dupuis put Pittsburgh ahead 4-2 at 13:01 with his ninth but MacArthur made it 4-3 a minute later with his seventh.

NOTES — Forward Matt Frattin returned to Toronto’s lineup after missing 12 games with a knee injury . . . Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin drew an assist on Bennett’s goal, giving him points in nine of 11 career visits to the ACC. But Malkin suffered an upper-body injury in the third and didn’t play in overtime . . . Toronto came into Saturday’s game leading the NHL in hits (773) and fighting majors (25) . . . The Penguins return to the ACC to face the Leafs on Thursday night . . . Crosby entered action Saturday averaging 1.63 points per game, the NHL’s best mark since Penguins owner Mario Lemieux (1.77 points per game) in 2000-’01.

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Heat win 17th straight, top 76ers 102-93 (Yahoo! Sports)

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MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and the Miami Heat won again, pulling away late to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-93 on Friday night for their 17th straight victory.

Chris Bosh scored 16 points, Ray Allen added 12 and Shane Battier scored 11 for the Heat, who matched the 12th-longest winning streak in NBA history and became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot this season.

Down by nine in the third quarter, the Heat took a 76-75 lead when James beat the buzzer to end the period with a 3-pointer, then took control with what became a 17-4 run over a 5-minute stretch of the fourth.

Thaddeus Young scored 25 points, Dorell Wright added 14 and Spencer Hawes finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, who lost their 12th straight on the road and 13th straight regular-season game against Miami. Jrue Holiday added a game-high 13 assists for Philadelphia.

Still, with 12 minutes to go, this one was far from over.

Philadelphia gave the Heat all they wanted for the first three quarters, taking a quick 18-11 lead, then making its first five attempts from 3-point range in the second quarter, and finally going on a spurt in the third that had Miami facing a 60-51 deficit at one point.

Much as they did in the first 16 of these wins, the Heat – now winners of 13 straight at home, heading into Sunday’s playoff rematch in Miami against Indiana – found a way.

Miami had 10 assists on 12 field goals in the third quarter and took a second-half lead for the first time on a brilliant move by Bosh – who spun to his right, got fouled by Hawes and scored with his left hand anyway, all while being off-balance. His free throw put the Heat up 65-64.

Wright, whose career started in Miami, hit a 3-pointer to put Philadelphia back up 71-67, before the Heat closed the third with a trio of 3-pointers from Mario Chalmers, Battier and then James, whose buzzer-beater came seconds after he was hit in the throat area by Philadelphia’s Damien Wilkins.

James shook off the hit, made the 3, then took a brief look at the Philadelphia bench for emphasis.

He was fired up, and the mood permeated everyone on the Miami side in the fourth, when the Heat pulled away.

Miami had some big moments in the early going, including one possession where James had three offensive rebounds – two off his own misses – before scoring, and another when Chris Andersen blocked shots by Evan Turner in succession to set up a possession where James got an alley-oop dunk.

But Philadelphia didn’t go away, fueled by the second-quarter 3-point barrage, and nine points by Wright in just 4:28 of the third quarter.

The fourth, however, was all Miami, even with James on the bench for the final minutes.

NOTES: Miami clinched a playoff spot with 22 games remaining, five games faster than any other team in Heat history. … It was the 450th Heat home game, including playoffs, since Wade was drafted in 2003. Miami has won 315 of those games, exactly 70 percent. … Hawes was 4 for 5 in the first half, then 0 for 5 in the third quarter. … The 76ers won three road games in a four-day span of November. They’re 3-21 away from home since. … It was Miami’s 105th straight home sellout, the franchise’s second-longest streak. … Wade has at least one steal in 21 straight games, matching the longest such streak of his career. … Battier has made a 3-pointer in 18 straight games. … James became the 70th NBA player with 1,000 3-pointers made.

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Scudamore slams Hammers over Tevez

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Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has hit out at those who caused the third-party ownership scandal involving Carlos Tevez at West Ham.

GettyImages / ChristopherLeeCarlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano when joining West Ham.

Tevez and his fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano arrived at Upton Park in August 2006 while their contracts were partly owned by Media Sport Investment, a company formerly run by Iranian-born businessman Kia Joorabchian.

When both moved to other clubs, the Hammers received only a nominal fee.

In April 2007, an independent commission investigating the move found West Ham – who were kept in the top flight by Tevez’s goals that season – guilty of lying to the Premier League over the third-party involvement and fined them £5.5 million.

The Hammers were also made to pay relegated Sheffield United £18 million, who went down as the Hammers stayed up on the final day of the season thanks to a Tevez winner at Manchester United. Soon afterwards, the Premier League outlawed third-party ownership completely.

“It is quite simple – you are completely undone by an act of bad faith,” Scudamore told Bloomberg in a TV interview.

“If a club, through its executives, chooses to lie straight to your face, there is a great deal of damage that can be done from that.

“Ultimately, the Tevez saga goes down to people not being honest. With any regularity body, if people are not honest there is very little you can do about it and that is why the whole thing unravelled.

“It ranks up there as the number one act of bad faith that any club has ever done towards me during my time here. After that, it was dealt with under our rule book and the rest is history.”

The Premier League has also gone to UEFA to try to ensure that such moves cannot happen in the rest of Europe, but Scudamore is pleased they have been stopped on his own doorstep.

“When you consider what certain Football Associations get fined for racist abuse in Europe, £5.5 million is a huge fine,” he added.

“Our rules say that, if you break them, then a commission hears the case and decides. We are glad English football has stopped these transactions happening.”

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Maple Leafs hold on to beat Senators in high-scoring affair

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TORONTO — Halfway through the truncated NHL season and Toronto coach Randy Carlyle sees a mixed bag as well as 15 wins in 24 games.

There was good and bad Wednesday night that saw the Leafs ride an ugly knockout and early lead to win the latest instalment of the Battle of Ontario by holding on to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in NHL action.

“Some nights I do, some nights I don’t,” Carlyle said when asked whether he liked his team’s direction. “It’s frustrating for us at times to not be able to do some of the things that we’ve done so well in other parts of the game. And then it leaves us for extended periods of time.”

The Mojo abandoned the Leafs in the third period Wednesday night when the Senators outshot them 18-4 and outscored them 3-2.

Tyler Bozak, Jay McClement, James van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto before a crowd of 19,412 at the Air Canada Centre.

Mika Zibanejad, Zack Smith, Daniel Alfredsson and Colin Greening replied for Ottawa, which fell behind 3-0 before fighting back in the third to make it 3-2 early and 5-4 late. The Sens outshot the Leafs 43-28.

The Leafs had difficulties burying the visitors and found themselves under the cosh late in the game after Sens captain Alfredsson made it 5-3. Greening then stuffed in the puck to make it 5-4 at 18:03 with Sens goalie Ben Bishop on the bench.

“We won the hockey game and got two points,” said Carlyle. “Is it a masterpiece? You be the judge.”

The good news for Carlyle?

“I don’t think we’ve had everyone going on one given night, to prove to us or to prove to themselves how good we can be. We’ve had too many interruptions, I would say.”

Before the goals, came the fights.

It took just 26 seconds before mayhem erupted with six-foot-five Toronto tough guy Frazer McLaren taking on six-foot-three Dave Dziurzynski at a faceoff. McLaren ended the fight violently and decisively when he caught the Sens forward flush with a right to the chin, toppling him face down. Dziurzynski was slow getting up and eventually needed help from two teammates to skate off the ice.

Had it been the UFC, McLaren would have won knockout of the night bonus.

Sadly, Dziurzynski may or may not remember the three seconds he officially logged in his 10th career NHL game. He did not return, with the Sens citing a concussion.

“That’s what McLaren does and it was definitely good for Dziurzynski to step up but I don’t know if that was the best tradeoff,” said Smith. “He’s a big guy but it’s just unfortunate he put himself in that situation.

Smith said he had checked on his teammate after the game and “he looked fine.”

“Those are big tough men fighting,” said Carlyle. “You see that, you just wish the trainer get there quicker.”

Said McLaren: “I hope he’s OK.”

McLaren, noting the Leafs had a flat start last time out, said he asked Dziurzynski to fight.

“I was just trying to get us going early. I asked him (to fight) and he actually said no, so I thought we weren’t going to go and then he ended up dropping his stuff there when the puck dropped,” he said. “He’s a big guy and he actually gave me a few good ones early there.

“It was just a lucky punch. It happens some times.”

McLaren, who seemed mortified at what happened, wore the scars of battle himself. He needed eight stitches to repair a cut on his chin opened during the fight. And he took another four for a gash on the cheek carved open by a stick later in the game.

As usual, Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “The Hockey Song” was played midway through the third period. It made for a sad interlude this time, given news during the game that the Canadian music icon had passed away at 77.

“Stompin’ Tom, you’ll be missed. Thanks for all the memories and the greatest hockey song ever,” PA announcer Andy Frost said during the song.

The game marked the halfway point of the truncated season for both Toronto (15-9-0) and Ottawa (12-8-4).

“To me it’s all irrelevant right now,” Carlye said when asked about the milestone.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” he added. “We’re going to meet some real good hockey clubs here and it’s going to start (Thursday) night in Boston.”

Wracked by injuries, the Senators have relied on some stingy defence. They came into the game ranked second only to Chicago in goals against, giving up just 1.83 a game.

Ottawa has been good at home (9-1-2) and poor on the road (3-7-2). The Leafs, conversely have profited more away (9-4-0) than at home (6-5-0).

The game marked the return of Sens wingers Milan Michalek (knee) and Mark Stone (broken finger), who was making his NHL regular-season debut.

Toronto led 2-0 after the first period, despite being outshot 14-10. But the Leafs were more dangerous and James Reimer was up to the task when Ottawa threatened.

MacLaren’s fighting major was Toronto’s 23rd of the season. The Leafs came into the game one fighting major short of league-leading Columbus.

Less than five minutes later, Toronto’s Colton Orr upped the ante as he engaged Ottawa’s Chris Neil in what was mostly a wrestling match. The major brought Orr — whose 108 penalty minutes against Ottawa are the most against any NHL club on his blotter — within 19 of 1,000 NHL penalty minutes.

They stuck to hockey after that in what was a wide-open if sloppy game.

Bozak scored his sixth of the season at 6:24, handcuffing Bishop by sweeping in a shot off Ottawa backchecker Peter Regin‘s leg following a scuffed pass from Kessel.

Less than minute later, McClement made it 2-0 with his fourth of the season when a flubbed Nikolai Kulemin pass still found him in the slot and he snapped a shot past Bishop.

Reimer — who has won six straight and is 9-3 on the season — looked sharp at the other end and found a way to rob Smith from a sprawling position when the Senator found himself on the doorstep of the Toronto crease with the puck.

Later in the period, Reimer stopped a Sens’ short-handed 2-on-1 rush.

Van Riemsdyk added to the lead at 1:20 of the second after Bozak outworked a Senator behind the net, allowing Kessel to send it out in front where the big Leaf drove it home for his 13th of the season.

But Ottawa quickly replied on a delayed penalty with Zibanejad banging home a rebound from in-close at 2:48 for his fifth goal, cutting the lead to 3-1. The Senators looked better in the second period.

Smith made it interesting, cutting the deficit to 3-2 at 1:40 of the third period. Left alone in front of the net, he poked in a rebound of Chris Phillips‘ shot from the point for his first of the season.

Kessel restored a two-goal lead at 3:42, with a low wrist shot from the faceoff circle on the power play for his sixth of the season. After being shut out in the first 11 home games this season, he has now scored back to back.

Kadri made it 5-2 when Bishop failed to control Kadri’s shot at 10:18. It was the Leafs sniper’ 10th of the season and fifth in three games.

Unmarked, Alfredsson had time to measure his shot and beat Reimer for his fifth of the season at 12:08 to ignite another mini-comeback.

The loss was the fourth straight for Ottawa.

“At the end of the night I thought we were very competitive here on the road and we have to continue to push ourselves to continue to be better,” said Ottawa coach Paul MacLean.

Toronto has now won three in a row.

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Senators’ Spezza about a month away from return

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Ottawa Senators forward Jason Spezza is making progress as he recovers from back surgery.

But according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the 29-year-old is still closer to a month away from returning.

Spezza rode a stationary bike at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night and told Dreger that he has medical clearance to advance his workout routine a tad more.

Spezza, who had a herniated disc repaired on Feb. 1, had set a goal of returning by the end of the regular season in late April.

He appeared in Ottawa’s first five games but experienced escalating back pain that became unbearable on Jan. 27 against Pittsburgh.

Spezza had the surgery five days later.

Last season, Spezza scored 34 goals and 50 assists in 80 games and played in the NHL All-Star Game.

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Ailing knee sidelines Anthony against Pistons

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Updated: March 6, 2013, 7:23 PM ET

ESPNNewYork.com

Knicks Overcome Carmelo Injury, 22-Point Deficit

Despite Carmelo Anthony exiting in the second quarter with a knee injury, the Knicks erase a 22-point deficit to win in Cleveland for the first time since 2006.

Knicks Overcome Carmelo Injury, 22-Point Deficit

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony will sit out Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons because of a right knee injury.

Anthony had been listed as questionable because of a sore knee that he aggravated in the first half of the Knicks’ win against Cleveland on Monday. His status for Thursday’s game against Oklahoma City is unknown.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson elected to start Kurt Thomas at power forward in place of Anthony. Anthony said on Monday that his knee had been bothering him in recent days, and an MRI taken recently revealed no structural damage.

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“Today I just woke up, and you know how some days you really don’t feel right,” he said after the Knicks’ win over Cleveland. “I came out here and I tried to warm up and I thought it was going to loosen up before the game, but some of the things that I was doing, I felt like I was dragging it.”

Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald said Tuesday in an interview with radio station WFAN that he did not believe the injury was “serious,” even though Anthony has been bothered by the knee for two or three weeks.

At Wednesday morning’s shootaround, Woodson told reporters that Anthony has a buildup of fluid in his knee.

“We’re going to try to be smart about it and we’re not going to rush him along if we don’t think it’s appropriate,” Grunwald told WFAN.

In an interview Tuesday on “The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM, Woodson called Anthony’s injury “alarming” and admitted that he left the star forward in Monday’s game after Anthony requested to come out because of knee soreness. Woodson called the decision “stubborn.”

“Melo was hurt,” Woodson said. “For him to ask me to come out of the game before he actually took that spill made me realize that something wasn’t right. He’s never ever, ever, even hinted about coming out of the game [before Monday]. I play him too much in that regard. Melo’s a trooper — he’s a warrior, he’s a tough kid.”

Woodson was asked during the interview why he chose to leave Anthony in the game after he requested to come out.

“I should have [taken him out],” Woodson said. “Stubborn coach — I just didn’t.”

Anthony is the NBA’s second leading scorer, averaging 28.2 points per game.

Wednesday’s game will be Anthony’s eighth missed game of the season. The Knicks are 3-4 without him in the lineup.

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Torre: MLB examining expanded replay for 2014 (Yahoo! Sports)

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GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Major League Baseball intends to expand the use of instant replay for the 2014 season and will be studying over the course of this year which calls to review and how to do it.

Joe Torre, an MLB executive vice president, said Tuesday that league officials plan to visit Miami during the World Baseball Classic and various spring training sites to examine camera angles and other factors that will help them develop a plan.

”We’re going to increase replay next year. We just don’t know how we’re going to go about it yet,” Torre said before managing the U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic in an exhibition against the Chicago White Sox.

”I know we’re using a number of venues to see what make sense,” Torre said, ”and it’s really making sense with the rhythm of the game as a priority.”

Commissioner Bud Selig has said he wants to add video reviews for trapped balls and fair-or-foul calls, but league officials also are considering whether it makes sense to review close plays on basepaths – forceouts and tags, for example – and other controversial calls.

Torre said technology could help dictate how widely instant replay is expanded.

During tests last year at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, MLB experimented with the Hawk-Eye animation system that is used to judge line calls in tennis, and the TrackMan radar software used by the PGA Tour for swing and ball flight analysis.

League executives also will be considering ways to implement wider review, such as giving the managers the option of challenging a call. A similar arrangement is used in the NFL, where coaches can throw a red challenge flag and have referees review whatever video is available.

”I don’t think it would be a pure challenge system,” Torre said. ”We’ve stayed away from that being part of the game. The manager already makes so many decisions, and to drop another rock or two in his pocket, I think it’s a little bit much.”

Torre said the league is mainly ”looking at is some of the obvious stuff you can see right away,” but that it’s a balancing act to make sure replay doesn’t interrupt the flow of the game.

He also referred to a play in the NFL to illustrate the drawbacks of replay.

During a game in Pittsburgh, the Steelers quarterback lost control of the ball and officials allowed the play to continue, because it wasn’t clear whether it was a pass or fumble. The Chiefs recovered the ball and scored a touchdown, and then were penalized for excessive celebration.

The play was ruled an incomplete pass, giving the ball back to Pittsburgh.

”Now Pittsburgh, instead of being fourth (down) and having to punt, they have a first down because of a celebration of a touchdown that never happened,” Torre said. ”So it’s not ideal. Just because you have replay, you’re not going to get the piece of cake that you want.”

One type of call that Torre said is not up for review is balls and strikes, though not so much because of limits on technology or questions about such a system’s accuracy.

”I think balls and strikes, you have to have something to yell about,” he said with a smile. ”I don’t want to take the yelling out of the thing. That’s part of the color.”

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Capitals optimistic as they become more accustomed to Oates’ system

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WASHINGTON – With three coaches in the past two seasons, the Washington Capitals‘ only measure of consistency has been change.

First came what right-winger Troy Brouwer called the “lackadaisical” tenure of Bruce Boudreau, followed by the strict reign of Dale Hunter.

But amid the adjustments that came with yet another coach and system this season, the Capitals were quick to embrace Adam Oates‘ philosophy.

“It’s the premise of allowing players to do what they’re here to do,” Brouwer said. “It gives the offensive players the chance to be offensive. It gives the defensive players a chance to display their defensive abilities. Everyone’s got a defined role on the team now, and that’s why we’re playing good hockey.”

Oates borrowed the structure of this system from New Jersey, where he spent the past two seasons as an assistant. It’s still a work in progress, but based on the Devils’ trip to the Stanley Cup final and their own success in some stretches, the Capitals believe in this style of hockey and that they’re on track to playing it correctly.

“It’s a system that obviously worked for teams that went to the Stanley Cup with not as much skill,” centre Mike Ribeiro said. “It’s a thing of buying into it and doing it often and doing it for a full 60 minutes.”

The 8-11-1 Capitals have struggled at times to execute Oates’ system for a full 60 minutes. It’s predicated on aggressive forechecking and the principle that offence comes from playing responsible defence and capitalizing on neutral zone turnovers.

Without a training camp or exhibition games, the Capitals experienced growing pains as the losses piled up. A 2-8-1 start prompted leaders to call a players-only meeting and general manager George McPhee to cite a barrage of penalties.

“You’re going to question certain things no matter who you are,” Devils left-winger Patrik Elias said. “Not everybody goes into it right away. But more and more guys will eventually, and once you do you’re going to have success.”

Even when success was rare this season, Capitals players bought in. But it wasn’t easy to feel like Oates’ system was second nature.

“If it was easy we would’ve had a much different start,” defenceman Karl Alzner said. “It’s been difficult, and we’ve made a lot of mistakes. Especially toward the beginning of the season, it was one or two mistakes that we did make [that] were reasons why we didn’t win games.”

All along Oates maintained faith in the process, telling his players after an early overtime defeat: “I’ll take 10 losses in a row if you play like that because it will turn one time and then we won’t lose.”

As captain Alex Ovechkin struggled to pick up his responsibilities at right wing and defensive zone blunders led to goals against, it would have been easy to fall into old patterns.

While some players weren’t happy playing Hunter’s ultra-defensive style, the Capitals learned what it took to win together and came one victory away from the Eastern Conference final last season.

“Everybody took responsibility,” centre and alternate captain Nicklas Backstrom said. “That’s something you’ve got to do over and over again.”

Accountability was the buzz word of Boudreau’s final two months in Washington, and it has returned, though without the eye rolls of a player-friendly coach trying to crack the whip. Oates built almost-immediate trust with Ovechkin, and the rest of team seemed to find instant respect for the Hall of Famer.

“He wants things done right,” assistant Tim Hunter said. “He doesn’t like lack of effort or stupidity. You do it right, you put the right time in, you try to do it right and you’ll go a long way with Adam.”

That’s what the Capitals are hoping for as they try to climb into playoff contention and why they’re optimistic after a recent 6-3 stretch. While citing progress, Oates estimated his team is about 70 per cent toward full execution of the system.

“It’s just not clockwork yet,” said the Toronto native. “Guys are still making decisions from habits from before, from whatever team they were on or whatever system it was. It’s still not automatic all the time.”

The final 30 per cent, Oates said, is about minimizing the mistakes. With 28 games left, that’s exactly what the Capitals are setting out to do, while making the system less about thought and more about instinct.

“I don’t think the guys are thinking about the system anymore,” Ribeiro said. “Now it’s a matter of being consistent and doing it.”

— Stephen Whyno covers the Capitals for the Washington Times.

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Chandler Stephenson leads Pats to 4-3 shootout win over Wheat Kings

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REGINA – Chandler Stephenson scored once in regulation then buried the shootout winner to give the Regina Pats a 4-3 comeback victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League on Sunday night.

Morgan Klimchuk had a goal and an assist and Carson Samoridny had a goal for Regina (24-35-7). Kyle Burroughs added two assists.

Jayce Hawryluk had a goal and an assist for Brandon (22-39-6) while Eric Roy and Jason Swyripa had one goal each. Tim McGauley helped out with two assists.

At the midway point of the third the Wheat Kings were up 3-1.

Brandon then let Regina third-liner Carson Samoridny bang in a rebound then gave up a power-play goal to Stephenson with less than five minutes remaining in the period to tie the game up.

Stephenson scored the only shootout goal for the win.

Brandon was 2 for 5 on the power play while Pats scored once on six attempts.

This is the first time in 13 years the Wheat Kings failed to make the playoffs. The Pats also failed to secure a post-season spot.

Teagan Sacher made 28 saves for the win. Corbin Boes stopped 24.

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