Only for Guild Members » leading scorer in December with nine points

PEORIA, Ariz. Leighton Vander Esch Cowboys Jersey . -- Asked how miserable he was in a 2013 season in Toronto filled with arm pain and hard-hit balls, Josh Johnson chuckled and shook his head. "Miserable might be an understatement," Johnson said Friday. "It was like two innings and all of a sudden eight runs are on the board. I had no idea what was going on. It was crazy." The right-hander was able to crack a smile in part because he has a surgically repaired elbow and a fresh start with the San Diego Padres, a combination he hopes will help him return to the form that included two All-Star selections and a National League-best 2.30 ERA with the Marlins in 2010. "Before he got hurt, to me, he was the most dominating pitcher in the National League and probably in the major leagues," said Joaquin Benoit, another of the Padres off-season pitching acquisitions. "It will be really good if hes healthy. Hes going to be a really big piece for our rotation." Thats the plan for the normally thrifty Padres, who opened spring training Friday with the first workout for pitchers and catchers sporting a new look and a higher payroll. The Padres signed Benoit away from Detroit with a two-year, $15.5 million deal to be their setup man, and inked Johnson to a one-year, $8 million deal after his terrible season with the Blue Jays in hopes he can be an anchor in their rotation. "Physically, mentally hes in a good spot," manager Bud Black said of Johnson. That was not the case last year, or the past few seasons. After going a combined 26-11 with 377 strikeouts for the Marlins in 2009-10, he had his season cut short a year later with shoulder trouble. He went just 8-14 with a 3.81 ERA in 2012 before he was traded to the Blue Jays after the season. The 6-foot-7 Johnson said he struggled with his "extension" in Toronto because of elbow problems. It led to command issues, and getting balls up in the strike zone in hitter-friendly Rogers Centre proved costly. Johnson went 2-8 with a 6.20 ERA and allowed 15 home runs in 16 starts as the Blue Jays were one of the more disappointing teams in baseball. After undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips in his right elbow Oct. 1, the Blue Jays decided not to give him a qualifying offer. Johnson then told his agent he wanted to play for San Diego or San Francisco, so he could be closer to his Las Vegas home. Moving to a pitcher-friendly park wouldnt hurt, either. Knowing hed likely have to accept a one-year deal, he took the Padres offer, taking a pay cut from the four-year, $39 million deal he signed with the Marlins. Now he joins a franchise looking to rebound from consecutive 76-86 seasons, with free agency looming again next off-season. "I want to get to the playoffs. I want to be in that atmosphere, to be throwing in October," said Johnson, who turned 30 last month. "If you go out there and you perform, the moneys going to be there." Johnson, who has thrown off a mound five times since the surgery, threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session with catcher Yasmani Grandal on Friday morning without problems. Black said hell throw again on Sunday and that hes on the same schedule as the rest of the healthy starters. "The short time Ive been around him, I love his mindset, I love his makeup, his mentality, his aggressiveness," catcher Nick Hundley said. "I think his body of work kind of speaks for itself. Hes a multiple-time All-Star. He led the league in ERA. I dont think you luck into those types of things. "Were excited to have him. Now hopefully he stays healthy and he can be out there a lot for us." NOTES: Black said they "probably wont" carry three catchers, signalling its an important camp for Grandal, who is recovering from knee surgery. . Black indicated RHP Casey Kelly is "three weeks, four weeks behind" the rest of the staff as he recovers from elbow reconstruction surgery. . The only player missing was LHP Alex Torres, whos dealing with a visa issue in Venezuela and is expected next week. . A Padres spokesman said theyre close to selling out the opener March 30 against the Dodgers. Michael Gallup Jersey . It was my fifth straight year attending and, as always, there are many interesting matters discussed as it pertains to the use of statistics in sports. Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey .The Hamilton Tiger-Cat defensive back always has the required receipt. But he also walks around with a tangle of metal screws, rods and plates after breaking his neck in 2006 playing high school football in Louisiana. http://www.cowboysrookieproshop.com/Cowboys-Chidobe-Awuzie-Jersey/ .twitter.com/TeZD3KOvlA — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) September 24, 2014 Sorry for the delay, we just got back from lunch at Papa Vons #NBAFastFood pic.A breakout game for the Kings’ top line, continued production from Nick Foligno, lots of lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Kings top line – Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar ignited the comeback against St. Louis, leading to a 6-4 win over the Blues. Carter had a goal and three assists, Gaborik had two goals and an assist, and Kopitar racked up a five-points (1 G, 4 A) game. Even with that game, Carter has all of seven points – one goal – in the past 14 games. Gaborik is on a three-game goal-scoring streak, during which he’s scored five goals; he had four goals in his first 18 games of the season. Kopitar, who is playing almost two minutes less per game this season (a career-low 18:54 per game) had four points (1 G, 3 A) in the previous 13 games before breaking out for his career-best five-point game against St. Louis. Nick Foligno – The Blue Jackets’ winger continued his remarkable start to the season with two goals and an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to Washington. Foligno is the leading scorer among players slated to be unrestricted free agents next summer. On this list, I’ve also included each player’s on-ice shooting percentage, to indicate which players may be primed for regression. TOP-SCORING UFAs PLAYER TEAM POS GP G A PTS ON-ICE SH% Nick Foligno CBJ LW 30 16 14 30 10.8% Mike Ribeiro NSH C 30 9 17 26 10.6% Martin St. Louis NYR RW 29 10 13 23 10.7% Mike Santorelli TOR RW 32 6 16 22 12.8% Antoine Vermette ARI C 31 8 13 21 7.2% Carl Soderberg BOS C 32 6 15 21 9.1% Curtis Glencross CGY LW 33 6 15 21 9.4% Cody Franson TOR D 60 5 15 20 11.7% Jaromir Jagr NJ RW 32 5 15 20 7.4% Blake Comeau PIT RW 30 11 8 19 8.7% Calvin Pickard – Stopped 47 of 48 shots in a 1-0 loss at Pittsburgh. The 2010 second-round pick has been good (.934 SV%) in 11 games with the Avalanche this year and has a .920 save percentage in 13 AHL games this season. ZEROES Matt Duchene – Playing primarily against Sidney Crosby at even strength, the Avalanche centre was held without a shot attempt in 20:31 and had 40.6% possession (13 shot attempts for, 19 against) in a 1-0 overtime loss against Pittsburgh. Daniel Winnik – The reliable Maple Leafs winger did not have a shot attempt and was crushed in possession (3 shot attempts for, 16 against, 15.8%) in a 4-1 loss at Carolina. Martin Brodeur – After being staked to a 3-0 lead at Los Angeles, the Blues goaltender allowed six goals on 37 shots in a 6-4 loss at Los Angeles. Through four games with St. Louis, Brodeur has an .882 save percentage. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh’s superstar was back in the lineup after a few games off with mumps. He played 20:19 in his first game in 10 days. Christian Ehrhoff – Left Thursday’s game against Colorado with an undisclosed injury. If Ehrhoff is out, and with Olli Maatta now dealing with mumps, Brian Dumoulin would figure to get back into the Pittsburgh lineup. Max Pacioretty – The Canadiens left winger was crushed by Ducks D Clayton Stoner and left Thursday’s game. Vincent Lecavalier – Playing in his first game since November 29, the Flyers centre finished with their worst possession stats (7 shot attempts for, 18 against, 28.0%) against Florida. Emerson Etem – Played 12:50 for Ducks at Montreal, his first NHL game since November 20. He had three goals in five AHL games and missed some time with the mumps. Tyson Barrie – Played 16:51 vs. Pitsburgh, his third-lowest total of the season and was crushed (6 shot attempts, 20 against, 23.1%) in terms of puck possession. Nick Holden – The Avalanche blueliner played a season-low 4:26 against Pittsburgh, the third time in the past six games that he’s skated fewer than 10 minutes. Brad Stuart – Returned to Colorado lineup after missing six weeks with a hamstring injury. Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh marked Stuart’s 1000th career game. Robyn Regehr – The veteran Kings defenceman played 6:27 before leaving with an upper-body injury. With Regehr gone early, Drew Douughty played a career-high 34:21. Terrell Owens Cowboys Jersey. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings winger played a season-low 8:29 against St. Louis, being sent a message by head coach Darryl Sutter (more on Toffoli in Short Shifts). Dmitrij Jaskin – Played for St. Louis, his first NHL game in nearly six weeks, and scored a goal in a 6-4 loss at Los Angeles. He had 15 points (4 G, 11 A) in 18 AHL games. Melker Karlsson – The 24-year-old undrafted free agent from Sweden picked up a couple assists in the 4-3 win over Edmonton. SHORT SHIFTS Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 29 shots he faced against Colorado, giving him a league-leading six shutouts…Ducks G Frederik Andersen stopped 23 of 24 shots in a 2-1 win at Montreal…Hurricanes G Cam Ward turned aside 25 of 26 Maple Leafs shots in a 4-1 win…Panthers G Roberto Luongo stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 2-1 shootout win at Philadelphia…Flyers G Steve Mason saved 31 of 32 shots in the loss. Hurricanes D Justin Faulk recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over Toronto; it’s been a breakout offensive campaign for Faulk…Hurricanes D Andrej Sekera picked up a goal and an assist as well, giving him four points (1 G, 3 A) in the past four games…Hurricanes C Eric Staal had a pair of assists in Carolina’s win, which fits with expectations I wrote about earlier in the week…Capitals RW Eric Fehr had the overtime winning goal and an assist in a 5-4 win at Columbus; he has seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the past eight games…Panthers RW Scottie Upshall scored a goal, had 10 shot attempts (6 SOG) and 79.2% Corsi in 10:23 of ice time at Philadelphia…Penguins RW Steve Downie (14 for, 3 against, 82.4%) and RW Craig Adams (13 for, 2 against. 86.7%) were both plus-11 in shot attempts against Colorado…Hurricanes C Jay McClement had excellent possession (14 shot attempts for, 3 against, 82.4%) against Toronto. Seriously. Blue Jackets C Boone Jenner had 36.0% possession (9 for, 16 against) and was on for three goals against, none for, in a 5-4 overtime loss to Washington…The Kings line of Tanner Pearson, Trevor Lewis and Tyler Toffoli all had better than 80% possession against St. Louis…Sharks C Joe Thornton had the club’s best possession stats (17 for, 5 against, 77.3%) in a 4-3 win over Edmonton…As Travis Yost pointed out on Twitter, among skaters with at least 400 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Thornton leads the league with 58.8% Corsi. CORSI% LEADERS - MINIMUM 400 MINUTES PLAYER TEAM POS. CORSI% Joe Thornton San Jose C 58.8% Nick Leddy N.Y. Islanders D 58.5% Tomas Hertl San Jose LW 58.4% Patrice Bergeron Boston C 58.4% Anton Stralman Tampa Bay D 58.1% Jonas Brodin Minnesota D 58.1% Marian Hossa Chicago RW 58.0% Duncan Keith Chicago D 57.5% Jake Muzzin Los Angeles D 57.4% Blake Wheeler Winnipeg RW 57.2% FIRSTS Matt Tennyson – The 24-year-old Sharks defenceman registered his first NHL goal, in his eighth career game, during the Sharks’ 4-3 win over Edmonton. Scott Harrington – A second-round pick in 2011, Harrington played his first NHL game for Pittsburgh, skating 13:33 at Colorado. FANTASY FOCUS Five games tonight, five players to consider for your lineup: Evgeni Nabokov – He has an .893 save percentage and is not Tampa Bay’s best option with Ben Bishop out, but the Lightning are facing the Devils and goals have not come easily in New Jersey. Mika Zibanejad – I’m still pumping these tires. He’s the Senators’ leading scorer in December with nine points (5 G, 4 A) in eight games and, aside from last game, has recently been playing more minutes than earlier in the season. Thomas Hickey – As long as Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic are out, there are more minutes available on the Islanders blueline and Hickey is one of the prime beneficiaries. Mathieu Perreault – After a slow start to the year, Perreault has started to pick up the pace, with seven points (2 G, 5 A) in the past seven games. Cody Eakin – He has a modest 11 point in 27 games this year, with one point in the past six, but Eakin has been moved to the Stars’ first power play unit. 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 Denver Nuggets Jerseys Cheap Minnesota Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Oklahoma City Thunder Jerseys Cheap Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys Cheap Utah Jazz Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Clippers Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys Cheap Phoenix Suns Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Dallas Mavericks Jerseys Cheap Houston Rockets Jerseys Cheap Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys Cheap San Antonio Spurs Jerseys Cheap Golden State Warriors Jerseys ' ' '