Teague missed again for the Hawks after a brilliant night to seal it

Despite agreeing to terms less than a week before the teams regular season opener, newly signed defenceman Cody Franson feels like hell have no issues being thrust into the starting lineup Oct. Nike Vapormax Goedkoop . 1 in Montreal. “Being able to get the reps back in practice before the season starts and get a couple exhibition games under my belt, I think I should be just fine,” Franson said on TSN 1050 Thursday afternoon. Practicing daily with the Ryerson Rams at Maple Leaf Gardens in addition to his own personal workouts has Franson optimistic he will need only the teams remaining two exhibition contests to get back into game shape. The time spent with Ryerson provided a sort of “silver lining” to the holdout for the 26-year-old, who grew up a Leafs fan and was excited to practice at an arena where some of his childhood heroes played in. Agreeing to a one-year, $2 million contract was something both he and his agent were more comfortable with, as opposed to the tw0-year deal initially proposed by the club. “With the cap situation it was obviously kind of tough for us to get a two-year deal, which is what they wanted and we were a little far apart on numbers. “A one-year term for us was where we were able to be most flexible to make everything work and it just made the most sense to us.” The decision to hold out was one Franson and his agent felt comfortable with, feeling the alternative of an arbitration case would not have been the best course of action at this point in his career. “As good as last season was for myself individually, my ‘arb case just wasnt that great. Me and my agent talked a lot about whether we should file and we came to the conclusion that we would want to try for a one-year (deal) with all the moves theyve been making. “Me and my agent just felt that the ‘arb case that we had in front of us just wasnt strong enough. If we had elected to go to ‘arb then we dont have the option to choose the term.” After enjoying a breakout, lockout shortened 2012-13 season in which he tied his career high with 29 points despite playing 35 fewer games, Franson is confident that with another solid season, the two sides will be in a better position to negotiate a longer term deal. “With the cap crunch, it just seemed like the one year was just going to be the most flexible for us to get something done,” he said. “I wouldve loved to get a longer deal -- I mean I love playing here in Toronto and this is where I want to be -- but given the circumstances with the cap, it just wasnt in the cards this year, and me and my agent felt like the best way to move forward and keep things going in the right direction was to do a one-year deal.” Bouncing back after an up-and-down initial season under Ron Wilson, Franson attributed his success to getting a “second chance” under Randy Carlyle, who immediately paired him with Mark Fraser and from then on the pair “just kind of clicked and developed a good relationship.” Franson said the combination of Carlyle and Fraser allowed him to gain confidence and most importantly, improve the defensive side of his game. “Ive always been criticized for the defensive aspect of my game and thats something Ive really tried to work on kind of and silenced those critics and playing with ‘Frase has helped me do that.” Heading into 2013-14, Franson said hes “very excited” about the new additions Dave Nonis brought in during the off-season and is also impressed with all the young talent the team has had in camp, including 19-year-old Morgan Rielly. But, at the end of the day, he pointed out he was just relieved that he was able to rejoin his teammates and concentrate on the upcoming season. “Im glad its over. It was a long, grueling process and unfortunately it went as long as it did, but Im happy both sides were able to find a common ground. “We were fortunate to get the one year and the price works for the team, so it all worked out.” Nike Epic React Flyknit Dames . "Today was a very great day for me. It was always my dream to be good in GS," Wierather said. "I took quite a long time to get there. It feels awesome to have my first win (in GS)." Wierather leads overall with 595 points from Lara Gut (568), who finished second, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany (535). Vapormax Flyknit 3 Sale . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. http://www.vapormaxsalenederland.com/ . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons.ATLANTA -- The Indiana Pacers have changed who they are, going to a different style in hopes of surviving the opening round of the playoffs. No matter what, they can always count on David West. With the top-seeded Pacers poised for an early summer, West fearlessly led a 16-4 run to end the game, extending the season with a 95-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. "Hes our rock," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Theres no other way to put it." Trailing 3-2 after losing at home for the second time in the best-of-seven series, Indiana was in big trouble when the Hawks pushed out to an 84-79 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining, cheered on by a raucous crowd that barely sat down in the second half. But, for the fourth time in this back-and-forth affair, the road team won. West seemed to make every big play down the stretch, scoring four straight points and forcing a huge turnover to begin the turnaround. He hit two more baskets in the final minute to wrap things up, finishing with 24 points. Game 7 is Saturday in Indianapolis. "When a team is making runs like that, an eight seed trying to knock off a one seed in their building and the place is erupting on every play, we have a guy with the composure to settle everyone down," Vogel said. Paul George also scored 24 points for the Pacers, making four straight free throws to help fend off a team that was trying to become only the sixth No. 8 seed to win a playoff series. The Pacers went with a smaller-than-usual lineup much of the game, hoping to match up better with Atlanta spreading the court and shooting a bunch of 3-pointers. Roy Hibbert remained the starting centre, but played only about 12 minutes for the second game in a row. Ian Mahinmi played nearly twice as long, giving Indiana more mobility in the lane, while C.J. Watson and Chris Copeland also got extensive minutes. It worked. Atlanta bogged down offensively and made only 9-of-35 from beyond the arc. "We tried some different lineups," West said. "Coach rolled the dice." West came up big all over the court, also leading the Pacers with 11 rebounds and six assists, not to mention a couple of steals. "I told the guys, If worse comes to worse, weve got to play park baskeetball," he said. Nike Vapormax Dames Sale. Atlanta, playing perhaps its biggest home playoff game since the 1980s, looked as if it was on the verge of a huge celebration when the defence sagged and Jeff Teague knocked down a jumper with 3:16 to go. But, led by West, the Pacers showed some of the resolve theyve lacked in a late-season swoon. After swishing a pair of free throws, he hustled back to swat the ball away from Atlantas Pero Antic. Making sure Indiana took advantage of the turnover, West calmly made a jumper from the top of the key. Paul Millsap missed at the other end, and George Hill burst into the lane to drop one in. Just like that, the Pacers were back up 85-84 with 1:58 remaining. Antic tied it for the final time, 85-all, on a free throw with 1:24 remaining. But that was it for the Hawks. West hit another jumper to put the Pacers ahead for good. Then, coming off a timeout, Lou Williams drove under the basket and tried to throw an outlet pass to Teague; instead, the ball went right to George. He was immediately fouled, made both free throws, and Teague missed again for the Hawks after a brilliant night to seal it for the Pacers. Teague scored 29 points, nearly pulling out a victory on a night when Atlanta shot just under 36 per cent. "Nobodys going to lay down and just allow their season to be over with," Williams said. "Especially with the type of basketball team that they are. I think they just did a great job of just fighting at that three-minute mark and made the plays that we didnt." The bruising series nearly turned ugly near the end of the first half. Scott doled out an elbow to Hill, and the Pacers guard responded with a shove. The refs jumped in quickly and no punches were thrown. After initially calling a foul on Hill, the officials got together and changed it to Scott. The crowd booed lustily, but it appeared to be the correct call. Replays appeared to show a couple of Indiana players stepping beyond the bench area, but they didnt get involved and Vogel said he didnt expect any discipline from the league for Game 7. Notes: Millsap and Williams were the only other Atlanta players in double figures, both with 16 points. ... Lance Stephenson scored 21 points for the Pacers. ... Millsap had 18 rebounds. ' ' '