German_Force » We had more expectations

>The Lions and Bears showed their coaches the door. Bruce Arians of the Cardinals found it himself. And Vance Joseph of the Broncos remained gainfully employed despite enduring the sort of season that doesn’t go down well in Denver.What is traditionally the NFL’s biggest day for firings Vontaze Burfict Jersey , “Black Monday,” started with a flurry when Detroit canned Jim Caldwell and Chicago did the same to John Fox, both before noon.“Today is the tough part of our results-oriented business,” said Fox, whose team went 14-34 and finished last in all three of his seasons in Chicago.He and Caldwell, who went 36-28 in four seasons but didn’t win a playoff game, joined Jack Del Rio of the Raiders and Chuck Pagano of the Colts, whose owners didn’t even wait until the calendar turned, choosing to sack them after their games Sunday.But that was it.Arians, who has been dealing with health problems, including a bout with kidney cancer, announced he was leaving Arizona, though that was widely expected.In a teary news conference, the 65-year-old Arians called his stay in Arizona, which included 49 victories over five seasons “a great ride.” Sporting his trademark cap and toying with his grey goatee Ezekiel Elliott Jersey Womens , Arians said an eye opener came over the summer when his wife told him his son, Jake, was soon to turn 40.“It hit me like a ton of bricks, that I missed all that time,” Arians said. “That’s the culture. I probably wouldn’t change anything.”Joseph, a rookie head coach who oversaw a 5-11 season that included an eight-game losing streak, was on the hot seat. But his boss, John Elway, slept on it and decided to keep Joseph and not begin a search for the team’s fourth coach in five years.“We believe in Vance as our head coach,” Elway tweeted . “Together, we’ll put in the work to improve in all areas and win in 2018.”The Marvin Lewis situation in Cincinnati 鈥?well, it’s complicated. Lewis completed his 15th season with the Bengals, and conventional wisdom held that he might not be asked to return. He met with owner Mike Brown on Monday, but no conclusions were reached. Lewis said the decision was more complicated than management simply asking him back, and that the owner and the front office need to be on the same page.The five vacancies (six counting the Giants Authentic Starlin Castro Jersey , who fired Bob McAdoo earlier in December) naturally triggered a flurry of speculation about which assistant coaches might be moving on to take over the teams.Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks confirmed that the Colts, Lions and Giants had asked him to interview. Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia were, as usual, on a number of lists, and Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was considered one of New York’s top candidates.Maybe most intriguing was the prospect of Jon Gruden leaving the broadcasting booth and returning to the Raiders. ESPN reported that Raiders owner Mark Davis was trying to lure Gruden back to the sideline with an offer that could include an ownership stake.In Houston, Texans general manager Rick Smith said he would leave the team for at least a year while his wife, Tiffany, fights breast cancer. There had been speculation that coach Bill O’Brien might lose his job, though it appeared O’Brien would stay on. Smith dismissed the notion that he and O’Brien don’t get along, saying they have a great working relationship.“We continue to do that and that’s another reason why this is a decision that I can make,” Smith said.
MIAMI — The Carolina Hurricanes officially were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday. The Florida Panthers are still alive, but they have taken several body blows of late.

On Monday night, the Panthers (39-30-8) will host the Hurricanes (35-33-11) at the BB&T Center. The game means virtually nothing in the standings for Carolina, but it will be crucially important for the Panthers.

This will be the first Panthers home game since returning from a disastrous 1-2-1 road trip in which the last three games ended in defeat, one of them in overtime. A slow start this season — the Panthers ranked 28th in the league in points as of Jan. 30 — has left Florida with little margin for error as it tries to chase down the final wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Florida is seven points behind New Jersey (42-28-9) for the final wild-card spot.

“Two points are what matter the most for us in the race we’re in Seahawks Michael Dickson Jersey ,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner told the media. “We’ve had too many lapses in our game. Our starts haven’t been good. The No. 1 thing is we have to commit to have more maturity in our game. We have to manage the game better.”

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are likely just now coming to grips with the fact that they have missed the playoffs for the ninth straight year, the longest such active streak in the NHL.

The Hurricanes entered this season with much hope. Scott Darling was brought in from the Chicago Blackhawks to be their No. 1 goalie, but he has been outplayed by veteran mainstay Cam Ward, who will be a free agent after this season.

Similarly, winger Justin Williams, 36, was brought in from the Washington Capitals, where he had 24 goals last season. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, he has not been a difference-maker, scoring just 15 goals, perhaps showing his age.

As Carolina’s ends the fourth season with general manager Ron Francis and coach Bill Peters in charge, the Hurricanes are left to try to play spoilers while ownership ponders the future direction of their management team.

“It’s been a grind for quite a while here,” Peters told the media following playoff elimination. “We had more expectations — higher and realistic expectations.”

On the other side on Monday night will be the Panthers, who a couple of weeks ago were listed as having a 75-percent playoff probability. Now they are down to just 14 percent per hockeyreference.com.

The Panthers have just five games left Youth Ronald Jones II Jersey , and they pretty much have to win them all. The good news for Florida is that four of them are at home. But the bad news is that three of them are against league heavyweights — the Nashville Predators and home and home against the Boston Bruins.

Florida will rely heavily on its two All-Star centers, Alexsander Barkov, who has 26 goals and leads the team with 75 points; and Vincent Trocheck, who leads the team with 30 goals and has 71 points. Barkov was an All-Star this year. Trocheck made the team last year but is having another great season.

Two other Panthers forwards have impressive scoring totals: Jonathan Huberdeau has 25 goals and 67 points; and Evgenii Dadonov has 26 goals and 60 points.

Florida’s defense contributes mightily to the attack, especially Aaron Ekblad (16 goals, 35 points), Keith Yandle (eight goals, 55 points) and Mike Matheson (10 goals, 26 points).

Carolina is led by Sebastian Aho, who has a team-high 28 goals and 64 points.

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