(CCA) - One of the finest front-end players in curling history has passed away. Karl Mecklenburg . Neil Harrison, a two-time world champion with skip Ed Werenich (1983 as the lead, 1990 as the alternate), died early Monday at the age of 64. In his prime, he was one of the games best leads, and was a trailblazer for front-enders who specialized in the positions. He earned six Brier Purple Hearts, representing Ontario, and was elected to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1991. "Hell be greatly missed, obviously," said fellow Hall-of-Famer Russ Howard, who played against Harrison for many years in Ontario, and played two seasons with him in the late 1990s. "I truly believe he was the first of the guys in the modern era of curling to say that he was going to perfect his position. It used to be that your lead was your worst curler, where you put your weak link. But he was so good - he made a positive difference on every team he played for." Howard said Harrison, who also won 10 Canadian firefighters curling championships and was the captain of the victorious Team North America team at the 2011 WFG Continental Cup in Camrose, Alta., caught on to some of the nuances of curling, most of which are now commonplace, long before his peers "We got to a final for $40,000, and I was throwing my draws heavy all week. I had a draw to the four-foot for the win against Kerry Burtnyk," recalled Howard. "I let the rock go, and Im screaming, whoa, whoa, right off. But Neil has his head down and hes pounding it as hard as he can. Well, the thing ends up right on the button. We come off the ice to have a beer, and I say to Neil, Why were you sweeping that? I slid out heavy, and I was heavy all week, but he told me that I slid heavy, but there was no rotation on the rock, so he knew it was going to die. That was Neil; he was ahead of his time in recognizing that sort of thing." Harrison was equally in demand off the ice, said Howard with a laugh. "Nobody could hold court like Neil Harrison," he said. "He was one of those guys who everybody wanted to sit down and have a beer with." T.J. Ward . In a statement released by the Scottish Football Association on Friday, Scotland manager Gordon Strachan says Miller made the decision to prolong his club career and added that "it has been a pleasure to have a player with his experience and ability in the squad. Emmanuel Sanders .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nearly three months after their home opener, the Anaheim Ducks still havent lost a game in regulation at Honda Center. Although Jonas Hiller believes theres no secret to how the Ducks keep rolling at home, not even the powerful Boston Bruins could figure out how to end this remarkable streak by the overall NHL leaders. Mathieu Perreault scored two goals, Hiller made 30 saves in his 12th consecutive victory and the Ducks beat Boston 5-2 Tuesday night for their 14th win in 15 games. Perreault, Corey Perry and Nick Bonino scored power-play goals for the Ducks, who improved to 18-0-2 in Anaheim during the NHLs fifth-longest home points streak to open a season in the last 41 years. The Ducks started awfully slow, managing just two shots in the first 19 minutes while Boston controlled play, but still ended up with yet another comfortable win after a three-goal second period. "Weve proven to ourselves by now that even if were down or havent played our best game, we still find a way to win," said Hiller, who hasnt lost since Dec. 3. "Every night somebody is making a contribution." Andrew Cogliano scored short-handed and Teemu Selanne added two assists in Anaheims eighth consecutive home win, matching its 8-0 streak to open the season. The Ducks opened a nine-point lead over San Jose atop the Pacific Division by scoring a season-high three power-play goals after a long struggle with the man advantage. Hiller, who will represent Switzerland at his second Olympics next month, did much of the rest of the work in his 21st victory. Anaheim already was one of the NHLs most potent teams with an inept power play, but captain Ryan Getzlaf was confident it would improve. "We had been worrying too much about what we had to do instead of just going out and doing it," Getzlaf said. "Were getting good chances out of it, and we know if we play good hockey, we have a chance to win every night." Daniel Paille and Dougie Hamilton scored for the Bruins, who played without forward Milan Lucic for the first time this season due to an illness. Tuukka Rask stopped 15 shots, but the Atlantic Division leaders couldnt oovercome their special-teams woes in the opener of a three-game California road trip. Tom Jackson. "I actually thought we played a great game, but you look at the scoreboard and its 5-2," Rask said. "They didnt have many chances, but they put them in the net." After a scoreless first period, Anaheim went ahead when Perreault converted a one-timer from Selanne for his eighth goal on a power play. The 43-year-old Selanne, who hadnt scored a point since Dec. 20, was selected to his record-tying sixth Olympic team with Finland earlier in the day. Perry then batted home a loose puck just 10 seconds into the Ducks second power play for his 24th goal of the season. Anaheims power play scored on its third consecutive attempt, including Perrys overtime winner against Vancouver on Sunday night, after a 1-for-34 skid. Daniel Winnik and Cogliano generated another goal on pure hustle late in the period, with Winnik chasing down a puck and feeding it to Cogliano for his second short-handed goal of the season. "We have nobody but ourselves to blame on those," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I thought we didnt do a very good job there on the PK tonight. It set us back, but we battled right to the end, and I wish we would have had a better chance of tying that game up." Paille ended Hillers shutout bid in the final seconds of the period, getting his fourth goal in five games on a pass from Justin Florek, who scored his first NHL point on the assist. Hamilton then trimmed the Ducks lead to one goal in the third period with his first goal since Nov. 2 on a high shot through heavy traffic in front of Hiller. But after Brad Marchand short-circuited a late Boston power play with an interference penalty, Getzlaf got the puck below the goal line and found Bonino for his third goal in four games. Perreault then beat Rask again with 2:31 to play. NOTES: Before the game, Anaheim put D Bryan Allen on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled D Nolan Yonkman from the AHL. ... Anaheim also scratched F Dustin Penner, who has an upper-body injury. ... The 23-year-old Florek, a Northern Michigan product, made his NHL debut Saturday. ' ' '
