Canadiens pick up veteran center Jeff Halpern

In a conference full of elite players, the Montreal Canadiens believe they've found a guy who can shut them down—Jeff Halpern(notes), a 34-year-old veteran whom they signed on Tuesday.
Frustrated by a summer of inability to find a job, football jersey
Halpern cut a one-year contract worth $600,000, according to the Montreal Gazette. That's a comedown from the four-year, $2 million accord he finished last season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
In 720 career games with the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings, Halpern has 131 goals. Scoring is not his forte.
"I'm used to playing against the other team's top line," he said.
He's also versatile, able to play center or on the Minnesota Vikings jersey
wing, where coach Jacques Martin likely will give him an opportunity when the Canadiens open camp. In addition, he brings character and leadership qualities as a former Capitals captain and is a right-handed shot. He also has good size at 6-foot, 203 pounds.
Halpern told the Gazette he likes what he sees in the Canadiens.
"It starts with the defense corps," he said. "Some teams are struggling to find Dallas Cowboys jersey
six defenseman but they're solid right down line. I've always had a lot of respect for Scott Gomez(notes) and Brian Gionta(notes) and, if you at what (Michael) Cammalleri and (Tomas) Plekanec achieved last year, you have a good one-two punch."

Wild’s James Sheppard breaks kneecap; season in doubt

Minnesota Wild forward James Sheppard(notes) will miss at least three months—and his season could be in jeopardy—after shattering his left kneecap Saturday near Vail, Colo., the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Sheppard was injured while driving an all-terrain vehicle. Sheppard had nfl jersey
surgery Saturday night.
This was to be a critical camp for Sheppard, 22, a 2006 first-round pick. The Wild re-signed him in the offseason but not before weighing whether to part ways with him. Sheppard had two goals and four assists in 64 games last season, his third in the NHL.
Reports indicated he went to Vail for altitude training. Wild officials were investigating the incident, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Coach Todd Richards told the Star Tribune that he and team officials were "really disappointed in what happened. I met him before he went out. It looked like he was in great shape. It looked like he had done everything physically to get himself ready for this camp, and then something like this happens."
Richard had been training in the Twin Cities before heading west. "He looked great," Richards said. "He was excited to get out on the ice."
It's possible the team could suspend Sheppard when Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
he reports for camp on Sept. 17 since he was injured in an off-ice incident and will fail his physical.
Sheppard was on a "guided tour" with other NHL players when the crash occurred, the Star Tribune reports. He swerved to avoid a truck, lost control of the ATV and hit his knee.
The timing couldn't be much worse for Sheppard, who has been slow to develop. The Wild signed veteran free-agent centers Matt Cullen(notes) and John Madden(notes) in the offseason, and and prospects Cody Almond(notes) and Casey Wellman(notes) are expected to get a chance to challenge for roster spots in Dallas Cowboys jersey
training camp, according to the Associated Press.
Early in the offseason, the Wild considered walking away from Sheppard, 22, after he scored two goals and four assists in 64 games during his third NHL season, according to the Star Tribune. Sheppard has 11 goals and 38 assists in 224 career games.

Oilers’ Taylor Hall looks set to wear No. 4

EDMONTON — It appears the No. 1 pick is going to wear No. 4.
The unofficial word is that Taylor Hall(notes), the nfl jerseys
Edmonton Oilers prized selection from the NHL's 2010 entry draft, will wear No. 4 this season. The number has been on the shelf since Kevin Lowe's last game on Edmonton's blue-line back in the 1997-98 campaign.
Hall wore the No. 4 when he starred with the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL but could not assume ownership of it in the NHL without the OK from Lowe, who is now the Oilers president of hockey operations. The whiz kid once said he would not ask for the number out of respect for his boss.
That same boss said last week at the annual fundraising golf tournament for the Stollery Children's Hospital that millions of television viewers will see Hall don his new jersey before he autographed it for Brian Halina. The president of Chemco Electrical Contractors bid $30,000 on Minnesota Vikings jersey
the jersey at the tournament.
In the interim, Hall wore No. 19 at the Oilers development camp in July, and at a recent rookie showcase in Toronto, he was the the one Oiler prospect who skated without a number on his jersey. He said then that he gets asked "about once a day" as to what number he will wear this season—which is fast approaching.
Hall, and 28 other greenhorns, will report for rookie camp on Friday. The players will undergo fitness testing in Edmonton after which they will depart for Penticton to take part in the Young Stars Tournament. The Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and Indianapolis Colts jersey
Vancouver Canucks are also set to take part in the eight-game tournament.
The Oilers main camp opens on Sept. 17.

Mariners at Oakland Athletics: Sept. 8, 2010 game thread

And there goes the lead, as Luke French played with fire all night and finally got burned in the sixth as the A's scored twice to go ahead 4-3. French almost got out of it, too, with reliever Jamie Wright replacing him with two on and one out.
Wright walked the bases full after that, but then football jersey
got a double-play grounder by the speedy Cliff Pennington. Josh Wilson took the flip to second for one out, but then a hard takeout slide by runner Steve Tolleson caused the shortstop to drop the ball.
The tying run scored from third on the play. Coco Crisp, who has Minnesota Vikings jersey
wrecked the M's this series, then singled through the right side to give Oakland the lead.
Oh yeah, Gio Gonzalez was pitching like a Geo Prism early on. Now, he's looking like a Caddy -- not the golf version either.

A's 4, Mariners 3: Offense goes AWOL after second inning

Two innings in, and the Mariners seemed to be rolling on offense once again. They scored seven runs last night, you'll remember, then had a 3-0 lead tonight on home runs by Russell Branyan and Matt Tuiasosopo before the second inning was even done.
But that was it.
Seattle had two hits the rest of the way, one of nfl jersey
them a Chone Figgins double that bounced off the third baseman's glove. A's starter Gio Gonzalez, on the ropes early, was allowed off them and rallied to throw seven strong innings on 117 pitches.
The Mariners nearly held on to the lead, but a key sixth inning double-play ball by the speedy Cliff Pennington wasn't turned and that was the game-changer.
Mariners shortstop Josh Wilson took the Figgins relay at second for one out. But Wilson then dropped the ball as he tried to exchange it to his throwing hand.
"If i could have gotten it out of Minnesota Vikings jersey
my glove and made a good throw, I think we'd have had him,'' Wilson said afterwards.
But baserunner Steve Tolleson made a hard slide that, while not making contact with Wilson, still distracted him a tad. Wilson was also ever-conscious of how fast Pennington runs up the line.
"He was coming in pretty quick, he was on me,'' Wilson said of Tolleson. "I think I tried to be too fast, too quick.''
The tying run scored when Pennington made it to Dallas Cowboys jersey
first base.
Coco Crisp then grounded a ball just past Figgins and into right field for the go-ahead and decisive run.

Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln to employees: "We're doing everything we can to win on the field"

Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln rarely speaks outside of press conferences and when he does, people tend to pay close attention since he is the top-ranking team official outside of Japan-based owner Hiroshi Yamauchi. Nearly two weeks ago, on Aug. 27, Lincoln sent out an nfl throwback jerseys
e-mail to team employees.
Some context: the e-mail was sent out four days after I interviewed Mariners president Chuck Armstrong and general manager Jack Zduriencik about their handling of the Josh Lueke trade. At the time, both were made aware we were planning on running a story about Lueke's court case and their actions before and since the deal. That story did appear last Thursday, six days after Lincoln's e-mail went out to team employees.
Top team officials, including Armstrong Minnesota Vikings jersey
and Zduriencik, have not spoken in public to reporters since our story came out last week. Many of you have asked me what Lincoln thinks about how things have gone this season, and I can honestly tell you that I do not know for certain.
But this e-mail, obtained by us this week, does offer a glimpse at what he's telling his own employees about his feelings. It was written, let's remember, less than three weeks after manager Don Wakamatsu and three coaches were fired. The title of Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
the e-mail is "Media Attacks" but the content of it goes deeper than complaining about the media and offers, I think, insight into how he views the team and where it's at.
Here is the e-mail in full:

Tuesday’s American League Capsules

BOSTON(AP) —Evan Longoria(notes) hit one of five Tampa Bay home runs and David Price(notes) pitched the Rays past the Boston Red Sox 14-5 on Tuesday night to gain a game in the AL East race.
The Rays snapped a three-game skid and cut New York’s division lead to 1 1/2 games.
Price (17-6) gave up two runs before retiring a batter but allowed just two more hits, both by Victor Martinez(notes). Boston’s 2-0 lead held up until Ben Zobrist’s(notes) two-run homer in the third off Daisuke Matsuzaka
The Rays added two homers in the fifth, a two-run shot by football jerseys
Jason Bartlett(notes) and a three-run drive by Longoria, then got back-to-back homers in the sixth from Dan Johnson(notes) and B.J. Upton(notes). Boston had not allowed a homer in its previous six games.
Carl Crawford(notes) went 4 for 4 in just five innings, including doubles in his first three at-bats. He has 12 hits in his last 19 at-bats.
Tampa Bay fell one homer short of its club record and set a season high for runs.
Orioles 6, Yankees 2=
NEW YORK (AP) - Jake Arrieta(notes) pitched efficiently into the seventh inning, Adam Jones(notes) had a two-run single in a three-run first and Baltimore denied nemesis CC Sabathia(notes) his 20th victory by beating New York.
Buoyed by five early runs, Arrieta earned his second win in Dallas Cowboys jersey
10 starts, helping Baltimore clinch its second straight series win against the top two teams in the AL East. The Orioles took two of three games from Tampa Bay last weekend. Winners of four in a row, they can complete their first three-game sweep in the Bronx in 24 years on Wednesday.
Last-place Baltimore is 21-13 under Buck Showalter, who managed the Yankees from 1992-95.
Sabathia (19-6), who had won six consecutive starts, came in 4-0 this season and 13-1 overall against the Orioles, but the big lefty was off his form from the start in the Yankees’ third straight loss.
He gave up four hits, three runs and a walk before getting an out, then allowed a long two-run homer to Nolan Reimold(notes) in the third. The loss ended Sabathia’s streak of 21 starts at Yankee Stadium without a defeat. He had been 16-0 since early July 2009.
Arrieta (5-6) gave up two runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Twins 10, Royals 3=
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jim Thome(notes) hit another towering homer, Delmon Young(notes) drove in four runs and Minnesota beat Kansas City to take its largest AL Central lead in 10 days.
Francisco Liriano(notes) (13-7) raised his second-half record to 7-0 in 10 starts, giving up seven hits and two runs in seven easy innings. J.J. Hardy(notes) had three RBIs for the Twins, who scored six times in the third against Brian Bannister(notes) (7-12) and moved 4 1/2 games ahead of Chicago in the division race.
The Twins have won five straight, 10 of their last 12 and 33 of 45.
Thome has four home runs in his last three games. He hit his 22nd of the season, estimated at 452 feet. It tied him with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for eighth place on the career list with 586.
Tigers 9, White Sox 1=
DETROIT (AP) - Justin Verlander(notes) allowed five hits over seven innings and Detroit ended Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.
Three players - White Sox starter Freddy Garcia(notes) (back), Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera(notes) (shoulder) and White Sox designated hitter Manny Ramirez(notes) (hand) - left the game with injuries, while Chicago’s Gordon Beckham(notes) (hand) was a late scratch from the lineup.
The White Sox were trying to win the first eight games of Indianapolis Colts jersey
a road trip for the first time since 1951, but they fell behind in the first inning and never caught up.
Verlander (15-8) allowed one run and walked one while striking out seven.
The Tigers broke the game open after Garcia (11-6) left with a stiff lower back. He allowed two runs in two innings.
Blue Jays 8, Rangers 5=
TORONTO (AP) - Vernon Wells(notes) hit two home runs, Adam Lind(notes) and John Buck(notes) also connected and Toronto beat Texas for its seventh consecutive victory over the Rangers.
Vladimir Guerrero(notes) had a two-run shot for Texas, which has lost five straight and nine of 12. Still, the Rangers have a seven-game lead in the AL West over Oakland.
The Blue Jays lead the majors with 215 home runs this season. Toronto has gone deep in nine straight games, hitting 20 homers during that span.
The crowd of 10,518 was Toronto’s second-smallest of the season.
Shaun Marcum(notes) (12-7) allowed three runs in seven innings to match his career high for wins. Kevin Gregg(notes) got two outs for his 31st save.
Texas right-hander Scott Feldman(notes) (6-10) was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game to pitch in place of injured lefty Cliff Lee(notes) (back). Feldman, who had been sidelined with a sore right knee, started for the first time since July 24 and lost his fourth straight decision.
Mariners 7, Athletics 5=
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Doug Fister(notes) won for the second time in nearly four months, Adam Moore(notes) homered and Seattle broke out of a long scoring slump to beat Oakland.
Fister (5-11) scattered five hits over five innings and pitched out of several jams while leading the Mariners to their first win at the Coliseum since opening day. Seattle had lost six straight in Oakland since then.
Kurt Suzuki(notes) drove in two runs for the Athletics, who missed a chance to gain ground on first-place Texas. Oakland scored three times in the ninth, but David Aardsma(notes) got one out for his 29th save in 34 tries.
Seattle scored five runs in the second off Dallas Braden(notes) (9-11).
Indians 6, Angels 1=
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Travis Hafner(notes) hit a go-ahead homer that was upheld by video replay and No. 9 batter Lou Marson(notes) broke the game open later in the sixth inning with his first career grand slam, leading Cleveland to a victory over fast-fading Los Angeles.
The Angels lost for the 11th time in 15 games, keeping the three-time defending AL West champions 9 1/2 games behind division-leading Texas with 23 remaining.
Torii Hunter(notes) homered for the Angels, who have lost Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
five straight home games for the first time since 2006 - the last time they missed the playoffs.
Justin Masterson(notes) (6-12) allowed a run and six hits over seven innings.