The puck bounced off the cross bar and fell into the crease

With less than two weeks remaining in the NHL regular season, its that time of the year when our attention turns to wholl win the major NHL awards. Nike Free 3.0 V4 Laufschuhe Lila Grau. The voting for most of the awards is done by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, although NHL GMs vote on the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) and the NHL Broadcasters Association select the Adams Award for Coach of the Year. Its a highly unusual season, obviously. Because of the lockout, its 48 games long, not the traditional 82. And theres been no interlocking play between the Eastern and Western Conferences. So that certainly complicates some of the decision-making process. While there are still games to be played, and what happens over the next dozen days could still impact who wins the awards, TSN sought to get a head start on the annual awards debate with an NHL Coaches Poll. TSN contacted NHL head coaches and asked them to pick one winner and one runner-up in each of six award categories. There were only two requirements: Choose only players in their own conference -- those theyve actually seen this season -- and do not pick anyone on their own team. A total of 25 coaches -- 13 in the West and 12 in the East -- participated in the survey. So without further ado, heres the rundown of how voting went in each of the two Conferences: Eastern Conference The big question was whether Sidney Crosby, who hasnt played since March 30th and may not play until the playoffs, missed too many games to win the Hart Trophy as MVP. Well, Eastern Conference coaches dont seem to be too concerned he will have missed 12 of 48 games. The majority of Eastern coaches who responded had Crosby atop their hart ballot. New York Islander John Tavares was the only other player to get multiple first-place votes and finished second to Crosby, with Washingtons Alexander Ovechkin getting enough second place votes to be No. 3, just behind Tavares. The most closely-contested Eastern Conference voting battle was for Rookie of the Year. Montreals Brendan Gallagher narrowly edged Floridas Jonathan Huberdeau for top Calder consideration in what amounted to an incredibly tight two-man race. As for the Vezina, many of the coaches acknowledged that Ottawas Craig Anderson was well on his way to being a slam dunk in this category but his injury derailed that. You may be surprised to learn Montreals Carey Price, whos had a horrendous three-game stretch in the last week, topped the survey, which was conducted after he was lit up by Toronto on Saturday but before he was torched by Philadelphia on Monday night. Bostons Tuukka Rask and New York Ranger Henrik Lundquist were second and third behind Price. Montreals P.K. Subban was the clear No. 1 choice as the Eastern Conferences top defenceman, ahead of both Bostons Zdeno Chara and Pittsburghs Kris Letang. And it was no contest in Selke Trophy balloting for top defensive forward - Bostons Patrice Bergeron won in a landslide with no other player getting any appreciable level of support. Montreal coach Michel Therrien was chosen No. 1 by his Eastern Conference peers, ahead of both Ottawas Paul MacLean and Torontos Randy Carlyle at Nos. 2 and 3. Western Conference The overwhelming choice for Hart Trophy MVP consideration in the Western Conference was Chicago Blackhawk captain Jonathan Toews. The only other player the Western Conference coaches had remotely close to Toews was Anaheim centre Ryan Getzlaf, with Chicagos Patrick Kane and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky getting mentioned but nowhere close to the top two guys. Toews also topped Selke Trophy consideration as the best defensive forward in the West, ahead of Detroits Pavel Datsyuk and L.A.s Anze Kopitar. Bobrovsky was the runaway leader for the Vezina as top goalie although San Joses Antti Niemi finished a strong No. 2. One quirk in the voting was that both Chicago goalies - Corey Crawford and Ray Emery got mentions. The Western Conference Calder battle for top rookie was closely contested, with Chicago forward Brandon Saad just edging Minnesota defenceman Jonas Brodin. Three other defencemen -- Justin Schultz of Edmonton, Jake Muzzin of Los Angeles and Brenden Dillon of Dallas -- also received some consideration. As for top defenceman, the Western Norris nod went to Minnesotas Ryan Suter with only Anaheims Francois Beauchemin within shouting distance, though Chicagos Duncan Keith and L.A.s Drew Doughty had some multiple mentions. The Adams voting for top coach in the West was primarily a two-man race with Chicagos Joel Quenneville coming out on top, ahead of Anaheims Bruce Boudreau. Columbuss Todd Richards was a distant third. Now, keep in mind a couple of things. One, there are still games to be played and future performances may yet impact voting. Two, while the coaches insight is welcome, they actually have no input in actual NHL award voting. In any case, let the debates begin. Nike Free run 3.0 Herren. -- Steven Lenhart scored two goals, including the tying score in second-half stoppage time as the San Jose Earthquakes rallied for a 3-3 draw with FC Dallas on Saturday night. Nike Free Shop Schweiz. Rodney Stuckey scored 25 points and Greg Monroe added 18 points for the Pistons, who have not beaten Chicago since Dec. 23, 2008. The Bulls rallied from a 13-point deficit to tie the score 78-all with 9:27 remaining on Butlers dunk after a steal. http://www.nikefreeschweiz.ch/nike-free-3-0-amphibious-sv-95/. Wades 36 miserable hours of migraine headaches had passed, his head was clear and his game, well, hed prove his game was back in championship form. nike Free Online Schweiz. Wilson, a native of Monroe, Mich., played in 110 CFL games with the Alouettes and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Wilson also spent time with the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. Nike Free 3.0 V3.Y. -- Amare Stoudemire will go into next season with $45 million left on his contract and no guarantee of a starting job. STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Lindy Ruff was left wishing for selfishness from his talented Canadian forwards Sunday at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. Too much passing and not enough getting the puck on net in regulation were the root causes of a 3-2 shootout loss to Switzerland. Canadas inability to score more than one goal in eight rounds of a shootout will be the talk of the game, but it was a secondary issue. Canada passed the puck around for 34 seconds with an extra attacker and never got a shot away during a delayed penalty early in the second period. Switzerland intercepted a pass to kill the play. That was a snapshot of Canadas loss. "Were passing to open people and the puck isnt going to the net enough," Ruff said. "We had a couple of wide-open looks that we could have shot and didnt shoot. Thats a bit of the mentality that weve got to get away from." Switzerlands win was just the second in 28 world championship game against Canada, following a 4-1 victory in 2010. The Canadians mustered just three shots on Martin Gerber in the first period and 21 during regulation. The former NHL goaltender stopped Canadas Matt Duchene for the win after Reto Suri scored his second of the shootout on Canadas Mike Smith. Duchene was the only Canadian to beat Gerber in the shootout and the Colorado Avalanche forward scored on the first of three attempts. Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers was stopped twice. Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers forwards Claude Giroux and Matt Read were also denied by 38-year-old Gerber, who won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Denis Hollenstein and New York Islanders prospect Nino Niederreiter scored in regulation for the Swiss. Winnipeg Jets forward Andrew Ladd and Read were Canadas goalscorers. Smith was thrown into the deep end in his first world championship game for Canada. The Phoenix Coyotes goalie made 26 saves and stopped six of eight in extra shots. "He gave us an opportunity to win it," Ruff said. "You cant criticize that. We had our opportunities and didnt take advantage of it. "Youd probably pick some of the talent we had shooting to win you the game and it didnt go our way." Canada earned four points out of a possible six from their two games in two days to start the tournament. They opened with a 3-1 win over Denmark and face Norway on Tuesday. The strength of this Canadian team is the international experience and pedigree of the forwards. Ruff coached Canada to a silver medal in 2009, but there hasnt been a podium since. Canadian teams have lost three straight quarter-finals at the world championships. The Swiss upset the host Swedes to start the tournament and have five points behind leader Norway with six in the Stockholm pool. The Norwegians edged Denmark 3-2 and Belarus edged Slovenia 4-3 Sunday. Ilya Kovalchuk had aa hat trick in Russias 4-1 win over Germany and the United States beat Latvia by the same score in Helsinki. Nike Free 3.0 V2 Laufschuhe Weiß Schwarz Russia and the Americans top the Helsinki pool with six points each. The top four teams in each group of eight countries gets into the quarter-final round. Sean Simpson of Brampton, Ont., took over as Switzerlands head coach when fellow-Canadian Ralph Krueger headed to the NHL and the Oilers. "Its my job now to win for Switzerland, but its very special to not only to win against Canada, but every time you play against Canada," Simpson said. The coach believes his teams schedule of Sweden, Canada and the Czech Republic in their first three games is advantageous. He says the Swiss tend to up their game for the heavweights, but can struggle under the pressure to win against lower-ranked teams. Also, the rosters of the Swedes, Canadians and Czechs are laden with NHL players who arrived in Stockholm just before the tournament due to the lateness of the lockout-shortened season. "Those teams are going to get nothing but better, Sweden, Canada and Im sure the Czechs will too because theyve only been together for two days," Simpson said. "When I first got the schedule I thought it was good for us because we play the big guys first. And then the lockout came." The Canadians trailed by a goal after the first period and scored twice to lead for a second game in row. They didnt protect that lead against the Swiss, who drew even on a bizarre play at 13:14 of the third. Niederreiter was awarded the goal after a review. The puck bounced off the cross bar and fell into the crease in front of Smith. A protracted scrum ensued over the Canadian goaltender on his back. The puck eventually slid under him. "We had a mad scramble in front," Smith said. "I just tried to seal the bottom and somehow it got kicked out from under me." Canada had three practices as a team before their first game. Testing and trying out systems and generating team cohesion while trying to win games at the same time is a tall order. "Youre trying to learn on the go for sure which makes it a little tougher, but weve all played similar game plans," Ladd said. "I think the big thing is getting used to the big ice and how some of the teams play over here. "Our starts have been slow and weve gotten better over the course of both games, which is good to see, but wed probably like to create a little more offensively and thats simplifying a bit instead of making the pretty play." Notes: Ruff moved Jordan Staal onto a line with his brother and captain Eric and Wayne Simmonds on Sunday. The Staal brothers were on the last Canadian team to win a world title in 2007 . . . Swiss captain Mathias Seger, 35, is playing in his 15th world championship, which ties the record held by Finlands Petteri Nummelin. ' ' '

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