MILWAUKEE - The decision has apparently become a little easier for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft. Eden Hazard Chelsea Jersey . New team co-owner Marc Lasry indicated Monday that it is down to either Dukes Jabari Parker or Kansas Andrew Wiggins when the Bucks make the second overall selection in the draft Thursday night. Foot surgery for centre prospect Joel Embiid last week seems to have knocked Wiggins teammate with the Jayhawks out of the Bucks plans. With new ownership taking over a franchise that had a league-worst 15-67 record, Milwaukee is looking for immediate help. "I think its hard to take Embiid," Lasry said Monday at a joint breakfast meeting of the regions Rotary Club and the Milwaukee Press Club. "I think hes a phenomenal individual, but with the injury and not knowing how severe or long it will take to recover, I think for us today were going to want somebody whos going to help us on Day One." New York investment firm executives Lasry and Wesley Edens bought the Bucks this spring for $550 million from former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl. According to Lasry, Edens watched Wiggins work out recently. If they need a reference on Parker, the Bucks can just go across town to talk with new Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski, who worked with Parker when he was a Blue Devils assistant. "A lot is going to be dependent on what Cleveland does," Lasry said. "But I would tell you right now its probably either going to be ... one of the other." This will be a pivotal pick for a franchise in transition. Lasry envisions building a championship-contending team within five years. At the same time, the new ownership group could also be seeking public financing to help build a new arena to replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center, though its unclear yet how much funding they might seek. The new owners have estimated that it could take $350-$400 million for a new arena. Lasry and Edens have committed $100 million, and Kohl has committed another $100 million. Lasry said Monday he hoped to find other people to help come up with the difference and would welcome public support. New potential minority investors in the Bucks could also be announced by July 15. Lasry said he hoped to add local partners. Lasry spoke of building a foundation of young players over the next two or three seasons that would help attract free agents. Among the more promising current young Bucks are guards Brandon Knight (17.9 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (6.8 points), and power forward John Henson (11.1 points, 7.1 rebounds). "Nobodys coming to Milwaukee if the team does what it did last year," said Lasry, who added that the payroll would increase. Lasry also said that the team would soon announce the hiring of a chief financial officer, and would be hiring a team president. Mark Schwarzer Jersey . The incident occurred with 14 seconds left in the second period of Vancouvers 4-1 loss to San Jose on Thursday. Hertl was chasing the puck as it exited the Sharks zone. Fernando Torres Chelsea Jersey . "I surprise myself on some of these shots I make," Utahs reserve guard said. The Jazz breathed a collective sigh of relief when Burks put together a string of circus shots after the rest of the team had gone cold.Philadelphia has the leagues most productive duo, Fleurys strong season continues and Colorados senior citizens are leading the team; lots of lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullens Statistically Speaking. HEROES Giroux & Voracek – Philadelphias dynamic duo each had four points (Claude Giroux with two goals, two assists; Voracek with four assists) in a 7-4 win at Toronto Saturday, then Voracek added two more goals and Giroux an assist in Sundays 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg. Among common linemates, Voracek and Giroux, the first and third-leading scorers in the league, are at the top of the class. TOP PAIRS DUO TEAM TOTAL G TOTAL PTS EV CORSI% Jakob Voracek-Claude Giroux Philadelphia 24 84 57.2% Tyler Seguin-Jamie Benn Dallas 35 72 53.9% Phil Kessel-James van Riemsdyk Toronto 31 65 42.7% Vladimir Tarasenko-Jaden Schwartz St. Louis 31 64 52.2% Tyler Johnson-Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay 23 64 57.6% Steven Stamkos-Ryan Callahan Tampa Bay 30 63 58.3% Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist Pittsburgh 21 62 55.0% Patrick Kane-Kris Versteeg Chicago 25 61 54.9% Nicklas Backstrom-Alex Ovechkin Washington 25 61 56.2% Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry Anaheim 26 59 49.2% Marc-Andre Fleury – Turned aside 45 of 46 shots in a 3-1 win over Florida Saturday, continuing his career-best season, posting a .933 save percentage (his previous best was .921 in 2007-2008) with a league-leading six shutouts. Colorados seniors – Jaromie Iginla and Alex Tanguay each had three points in Saturdays 5-1 win at Buffalo. Iginla now has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) in the past dozen games and Tanguay has been even more productive, with 13 points (5 G, 8 A) in his past dozen games. Tanguay and Iginla have moved into the top two spots on the Colorado scoring chart, with a relatively-modest 22 and 21 points, respectively. These are the top scoring forwards, aged 35 or older, this season: LEADING 35-AND-OVER SCORERS PLAYER TEAM POS GP G A PTS Joe Thornton San Jose C 34 8 21 29 Patrick Marleau San Jose LW 34 7 20 27 Pavel Datsyuk Detroit C 23 13 11 24 Martin St. Louis N.Y. Rangers RW 31 10 13 23 Alex Tanguay Colorado LW 30 11 11 22 Marian Hossa Chicago RW 34 6 15 21 Jarome Iginla Colorado RW 32 7 14 21 Mark Streit Philadelphia D 33 4 17 21 Jaromir Jagr New Jersey RW 34 5 15 20 Chris Kunitz Pittsburgh LW 24 9 11 20 ZEROES Andy Greene – The Devils blueliner was buried in the defensive zone against Tampa Bay Friday, finishing with 13.8% possession (4 shot attempts for, 25 against), paired mostly with Jon Merrill and matched frequently against Tampa Bay’s top line of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Callahan. Mark Fayne – The Edmonton defenceman played more than 23 minutes against Dallas Sunday, but was thumped in possession (5 shot attempts for, 34 against, 12.8%). Fayne has had a somewhat difficult transition to Edmonton, going from a 55% Corsi performer in New Jersey last year to 49% with the Oilers this year. Goalies: Ilya Bryzgalov – The Ducks goaltender allowed six goals on 31 shots at Ottawa Friday. Jonathan Bernier – Toronto’s number one between the pipes surrendered seven goals on 41 shots against Philadelphia Saturday. Darcy Kuemper – Minnesota’s puck-stopper gave up three goals on 14 shots in Saturday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Nashville. Pekka Rinne – Quite possibly the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy, the Predators goalie allowed five goals on 27 shots in 6-5 win at Minnesota Saturday. Kari Lehtonen – Dallas’ starter was yanked from the cage after allowing four goals on 19 shots against Edmonton Sunday. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW James Neal – Nashville’s top-line right winger missed Saturday’s win over Minnesota due to illness, though it’s reportedly not the mumps. Craig Smith replaced Neal on the top line and had a goal and an assist while playing a season-high 18:44. Jimmy Howard – Detroit’s starting goaltender suffered a lower-body injury Friday against the Islanders. With Jonas Gustavsson already out, Petr Mrazek will start in Howard’s absence and Thomas McCollum was recalled to fill the backup role. Mikael Granlund – The Minnesota Wild pivot missed Saturday’s game against Nashville due to illness. Charlie Coyle moved up to play with Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek, and registered a pair of assists in a season-high 19:43. Matt Cooke – Minnesota’s veteran checking winger returned to action Saturday against Nashville, playing his first game since being sidelined by a lower-body injury in late October. Brad Richards – The veteran Blackhawks centre missed Sunday’s game against Toronto with an upper-body injury. For a bit of a twist, the Blackhawks put Patrick Sharp at centre with Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg, and Sharp responded with three assists. Derick Brassard – Returned to action for both of the Rangers’ games against Carolina on the weekend, after missing a week with the mumps. Jonathan Drouin – The Tampa Bay rookie has seen his ice time increasing, playing a season-high 21:15 at New Jersey Friday, skating most frequently on the top line with Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan. Ondrej Palat – Returned to the Lightning lineup Friday after missing 10 days with a lower-body injury. Radko Gudas – Tampa Bay’s bruising blueliner returned to the lineup Friday after missing eight days with a lower-body injury. Grant Clitsome – On the depleted Winnipeg blueline, Played 24:43 against Boston Friday, then 20:19 against Philadelphia Sunday. Considering that Clitsome averaged 19:47 per game last season, and is at 15:09 per game this season, he’s a logical candidate to take on a bigger role while the Jets’ defence is overrun by injuries. Chris Kunitz – Returned to the Penguins’ lineup Saturday after missing three weeks with a broken foot. Patrick Bordeleau – The Colorado tough guy, recovered from a back injury, got into the Avs lineup for the first time this season during Saturday’s win at Buffalo. Rasmus Ristolainen – The second-year Sabres defenceman played a career-high 27:01 Saturday against Colorado, then followed up by playing 26:46 at Boston Sunday. Ristolainen has also contrributed three points (2 G, 1 A) in the past four games. Marco van Ginkel Jersey. . Tyler Myers – The main reason Ristolainen saw the increased workload is that Myers suffered a lower-body injury and was forced to leave early Saturday. Mark Barberio – The Lightning blueliner skated in a career-high 22:29, in his 63rd career game, at the Islanders Saturday, due to Jason Garrison leaving early with an undisclosed injury. Jannik Hansen – The Canucks winger collapsed on the bench during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win vs. Calgary, though appears to be fine since the incident. Brian Gionta – The Sabres captain left Sunday’s game against Boston early after a questionable hit from Bruins D Matt Bartkowski. Anton Lander – The perennial Oilers prospect was promoted again and had a team-leading six shots on goal in 16:39 against Dallas, then was sent right back to Oklahoma City of the AHL, where he has 27 points (8 G, 19 A) in 26 games this season. SHORT SHIFTS Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf scored both of Anaheim’s goals in a 6-2 loss at Ottawa Friday, giving him 18 points (6 G, 12 A) in the past 11 games…Senators RW Bobby Ryan registered a pair of assists, giving him eight points (2 G, 6 A) in the past seven games…Senators C Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist against Anaheim Friday, and now has seven points (3 G, 4 A) in the past five games…Senators C Mika Zibanejad registered a goal and an assist against the Ducks and has 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in the past nine games…Penguins RW Steve Downie had two assists and 17 PIM in 5:56 of ice time against Florida Saturday…Penguins LW Nick Spaling had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Florida, giving him six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past six games…Canadiens C Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Ottawa; he has six points (4 G, 2 A) in the past three games and, moving to centre, has pushed David Desharnais to left wing…Canadiens LW Max Pacioretty recorded two assists against Ottawa, giving him seven points (1 G, 6 A) in the past five games…Kings C Anze Kopitar had three assists in Saturday’s 4-2 win vs. Arizona and has nine points (1 G, 8 A) in the past three games…Flyers C Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist in Philadelphia’s 7-4 win at Toronto, giving him nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past nine games…Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom had two goals and an assist in Saturday’s 4-0 win at New Jersey; he has nine points (5 G, 4 A) in the past six games. Stars C Tyler Seguin recorded two goals and an assist with 11 shot attempts (9 SOG) in Sunday’s 6-5 shootout win at Edmonton; he has 20 points (13 G, 7 A) in the past 14 games…Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists in Chicago’s 4-0 win over Toronto and now has 26 points (12 G, 14 A) in the past 18 games…Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier tallied a pair of goals in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg. Lecavalier had zero goals (and two assists) in his previous 14 games… Predators D Roman Josi had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 6-5 overtime win at Minnesota; Josi has 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in the past 16 games…After two assists against Minnesota, Predators D Shea Weber has 14 points (2 G, 12 A) in those same 16 games…Wild RW Jason Pominville had a pair of assists in Saturday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Nashville, and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past ten games…Wild LW Zach Parise had two goals and an assist against Nashville, giving him 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in the past 10 games…Wild D Ryan Suter had a pair of assists vs. Nashville and has 10 assists in the past eight games. Stars C Cody Eakin (20 shot attempts for, 5 against) and D Jamie Oleksiak (17 shot attempts for, 4 against) both had at least 80% possession against Calgary Friday…Senators RW Alex Chiasson had a stellar possession game (21 shot attempts for, 4 against, 84.0%), with only 14.3% offensive zone starts, against Montreal Saturday…Islanders C Frans Nielsen delivered a strong possession game (12 shot attempts for, 1 against, 92.3%) against Tampa Bay Saturday…In a little over seven minutes of even-strength ice time against the Rangers Saturday, Hurricanes LW Zach Boychuk was crushed (1 shot attempt for, 12 against, 7.7%) in possession terms…In Sunday’s 4-3 win over Buffalo, the Bruins had five forwards – Chris Kelly, Carl Soderberg, Patrice Bergeron, Reilly Smith and Brad Marchand – finish with at least 80% of the even-strength shot attempts. Jets G Michael Hutchinson stopped 30 of 31 shots for a 2-1 win over Boston Friday, lifting his save percentage to a league-leading .940…Avalanche G Calvin Pickard turned back 62 of 64 shots in weekend wins over Buffalo and Detroit, raising his save percentage to .939…Lightning G Andrei Vasilevsky had 45 saves on 47 shots in Saturday’s 3-1 loss at the Islanders…Capitals G Braden Holtby had a 21-save shutout at New Jersey Saturday. He has a .927 save percentage in December (after .907 and .913 in the first two months of the season)…Blackhawks G Antti Raanta stopped all 31 shots he faced in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Toronto. FIRSTS Derrick Pouliot – Pittsburgh’s highly-touted rookie blueliner, the eighth overall pick in 2012, scored his first NHL goal, on his first NHL shot, against Florida Saturday. With Christian Ehrhoff and Paul Martin hurt, Pouliot finally has an opportunity to show his stuff. Keith Kinkaid – New Jersey’s backup goalie stopped 26 of 28 shots against Tampa Bay Friday for the first win of his career. Johan Larsson – The Buffalo left winger scored his first career goal, in his 34th game, during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Colorado. Tim Schaller – Buffalo’s rookie centre scored his first NHL goal, in his third NHL game, in Sunday’s 4-3 loss at Boston. Rob Zepp – Philadelphia’s 33-year-old goaltender made his NHL debut and allowed three goals on 28 shots, good enough to secure the win in a 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg. A fourth-round pick in 1999 (Atlanta) and 2001 (Carolina), Zepp has been bouncing around in places where reaching the NHL is more than a little unexpected. Zepp spent the previous seven seasons playing in Germany, two more in Finland and logged a total of seven AHL games (and 115 ECHL games) prior to this season. FANTASY FOCUS With a half dozen games on tap tonight, here are some players to consider for your lineup: Mike Fisher – After taking a few games to get rid of the rust as he recovered from his summer Achilles injury, Fisher has six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past seven games. Nick Spaling –Spaling has six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past six games, though the return of Chris Kunitz does bump Spaling off Sidney Crosby’s wing, and thats kind of a big deal. Mike Hoffman – The Senators’ leading goal-scorer, with 10, is skating on a productive line with Mika Zibanejad (recommend him too) and Bobby Ryan. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
