MILTON – The chatter percolated furiously for months and then finally on an early July day in the summer of 2012, Luke Schenn was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. [url=http://www.baseballbrewersofficial.com/stephen-vogt-jersey-c-22/]St ephen Vogt Jersey[/url] . The fifth overa

MILTON – The chatter percolated furiously for months and then finally on an early July day in the summer of 2012, Luke Schenn was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. Stephen Vogt Jersey . The fifth overall selection in the 2008 draft, Schenns name had bubbled with such intense fervour in trade rumours that then-Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke went so far as to assert that no deal was coming six months before it finally did. "We are not in trade discussions involving Luke Schenn," Burke said wearily before a game against the Buffalo Sabres. "I told Luke thats not a guarantee he wouldnt be traded if something materialized but were not in trade discussions with any team about him right now. We havent offered him to anybody. I dont know where the rumours started, but I told him thats not happening." Like Schenn, Jake Gardiner has heard his name bandied about in trade chatter and figured that one day he might follow his former defence partner out the door of Toronto. He was on tentative footing with the organization or so he figured in light of the incessant discussion of his name in trade talks. "Yeah, there was always thoughts about that – whether Im going to get traded or not," Gardiner told TSN.ca from the teams annual charity golf tournament on Monday. "I just had always heard talk about it." That chatter quieted some last month. With Brendan Shanahan firmly at the helm as the teams new president and change coming in all directions within the organization, the Leafs extended a five-year deal to the recently turned 24-year-old, ending all the speculation while securing the former first-round pick as a piece near the front of the teams future. Having mostly dangled at arms length from the club to that point, the show of faith was unexpected. A restricted free agent, Gardiner expected a shorter deal, perhaps the kind of prove yourself, bridge contract Nazem Kadri had gotten one year earlier. "Just kind of shows they have that faith in me as a player," Gardiner said of the five-year pact, which is worth a total of $20.25 million. That faith had certainly been tested from the point of his arrival in the winter of 2011, be it because of misguided and sometimes poor decision-making or soft defensive play. An undercurrent of impatience at his overall progress seemed to linger as that standout rookie campaign edged further and further into the rearview mirror. He heard his name out there and wondered whether, like Schenn, he would be next to go, whether all the rumours and speculation would finally lead him elsewhere. Another trade deadline came and went this past March and Gardiner remained, but persistence of disconnect between himself and the club simmered (never hotter than March of a year earlier when Gardiner remained a Marlie, much to his and his former agents chagrin). At his season-ending press conference in mid-April, Randy Carlyle spoke to a revealing exit interview with one of his players and while not naming said player explicitly, expressed surprise that a "young defenceman playing a roving style" felt his "leash was short where we believed it was longer" and who he compared himself with in the league, "that was kind of shocking". Gardiner, though, says his relationship with the head coach is fine, nothing more than a hard-edged, old-school type trying to pull out the best from his group. The "leash", he said, was a function of performance, longer with success. "Hes a coach that pushes his players, especially the young guys," Gardiner said of Carlyle, the former spending most of his summer back home in Minnetonka, Minnesota, "He knows we have more to our games and he just wants us to get to that level." "Hopefully I play well," he continued. "Thats pretty much the base of it. If I play well our relationship will be great. Even if I dont hell be pushing me so itll be good either way." Whether Gardiner gets to the level Carlyle expects, the level hes shown capable of hitting and then even exceeding is the looming question. The hopeful signs have been there. The consistency has not. While the team sputtered into another disastrous playoff miss, Gardiner generally excelled down the stretch, looking more like his assertive self while depositing five goals and 14 points in the final 21 games. He also finished as the teams best possession player and leading minute-eater at even-strength. Can he put it all together? The Leafs are gambling that he can. "Both them and I are excited for the next five years." Jonathan Villar Jersey . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Wily Peralta Jersey . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St. http://www.baseballbrewersofficial.com/travis-shaw-jersey-c-17/ . - Kyle Wood and Barclay Goodrow scored second period power-play goals to provide all of the scoring for the North Bay Battalion in a 2-0 victory over the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday.OWINGS MILLS, Md. - In the afterglow of a playoff victory over Pittsburgh last weekend, Ravens coach John Harbaugh proclaimed Joe Flacco to be the best quarterback in football.Given time to reflect on his comment, Harbaugh didnt back down.I said it. I meant it, Harbaugh said after Tuesdays practice.Flaccos numbers in the post-season support Harbaughs lofty assessment.After throwing two touchdown passes in a 30-17 win over the Steelers, Flacco improved to 5-0 in his last five playoff games. He has 13 TDs, no interceptions and a 116.6 quarterback rating during that span. He was Super Bowl MVP two years ago, is 10-4 in the post-season and has more road playoff wins (seven) than any quarterback in NFL history.Flacco has twice as many playoff wins as peers Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger.So, is this guy elite or what?At the end of the day it doesnt really matter what everybody wants to think, Flacco said. It obviously means a lot for a head coach to stand up in front of everybody in the whole world and say those kind of things. Whether it really means anything, I dont know. But it definitely means a lot to me.Harbaugh became Baltimores coach in 2008, the same year the Ravens made Flacco their top draft pick out of Delaware. The two have been to the post-season in six of seven years.Joe has a great arm, is a very good athlete, a big, strong guy in the pocket, can make any throw in any kind of weather, Harbaugh said.Especially in the playoffs.Hes a good quarterback, period, said New England coach Bill Belichick, whose top-seeded Patriots (12-4) host the Ravens (11-6) on Saturday.I have a lot of respect for him, Belichick said. He has a great arm, can throw the ball the length of the field with guys hanging all over him. Hes mobile. Hes athletic enough to extend plays, makes good decisions, uses all his weapons.Flacco and the Ravens beat the Patriots 28-13 in the AFC championship game two years ago to advance to the Super Bowl. Flacco joined Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throww 11 touchdown passes without an interception in a single post-season. Corey Knebel Jersey. Big-time players show up when you need them most, and thats how hes been, Ravens fourth-year receiver Torrey Smith said. Hes as good as anyone, and maybe the best in the playoffs these past few years.Soon after Baltimore beat San Francisco 34-31 in the Super Bowl, Flacco received a contract worth $120.6 million that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history.To this point, its been a worthwhile investment. Although the Ravens went 8-8 and missed the playoffs last year, theyve never had a losing record and are 82-44 (including the post-season) with Flacco as a starter. Oh, and hes started every game since the outset of his rookie year.Flacco has thrown 166 passes in the playoffs since his last interception, in the 2011 AFC title game in New England.Im doing the best I can to put everybody in position to do good things, he said. Put the ball in their hands and let them take over.Flacco is 6-foot-6 but surprisingly agile in the pocket. Against Pittsburgh, he scrambled to his left to elude the rush and threw off his back foot to connect with Smith for an 11-yard touchdown that made it 20-9.His athletic ability is underrated, Smith said. Hes been making plays like that for a long time.In the playoffs, though, something special happens when Flacco is on the field.Hes a franchise quarterback and has had a great career, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said.Brady is among a select few top-shelf quarterbacks considered to be the best in the game by those not named John Harbaugh.The cool thing about it is, Tom was playing for who knows how many years before I got in here, Flacco said. I was in high school watching him win Super Bowls.Flacco is 2-1 in the playoffs against the Patriots, but warns that those games — and this one — arent about Brady vs. Flacco.Its not really me outdueling Tom or him outdueling me, he insisted. Were not playing against each other.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '