sakura

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Utah Jazz Store . — The collision that knocked Aqib Talib out of the AFC championship game reverberated Monday when Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Wes Welker tried to „take out“ the star cornerback. Belichick took the shot at his former wide receiver after viewing video of the second-quarter play in the Denver Broncos 26-16 win on Sunday. Coming from opposite sides, the players ran into each other. No penalty was called. It „was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib, no attempt to get open,“ Belichick said during his opening statement at his season-ending news conference. „Ill let the league handle the discipline on that play. Its not for me to decide, but its one of the worst plays Ive seen. Thats all Im going to say about that.“ NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday, „If there is any discipline for plays in (Sundays) games, it will be determined by Merton Hanks later in the week.“ Hanks is the leagues vice-president of player operations. Welker, who had a cool relationship with Belichick before leaving New England as a free agent last off-season, was not available for comment Monday. But after the game, he said, „it was one of those plays where its kind of a rub play and I was trying to get him to go over the top, and I think he was thinking the same thing and wanted to come underneath and we just kind of collided. … It wasnt a deal where I was trying to hit him or anything like that.“ After Talib left with a knee injury, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning took advantage of having the much shorter Alfonzo Dennard covering receivers Talib normally would handle. The previous season, a thigh injury ended Talibs day in the first quarter of the AFC championship game, a 28-13 loss to Baltimore. Denver coach John Fox said he hadnt seen Belichicks comments but called Welker „a great player, high integrity. I can say that we were not doing anything with intent.“ Asked why he would send the 5-foot-9 Welker, 4 inches shorter, at Talib after sustaining two recent concussions, Fox said, „Thats a good question. I dont have an answer to it.“ But he and several Patriots said pick plays in which one receiver brushes against or hits a defender to free another receiver are becoming more prevalent. „Teams do a lot of that just to give guys separation and to open up the passing game,“ safety Devin McCourty said. Steve Gregory, New Englands other starting safety, said he didnt think Welker would deliberately try to hurt a player. „I dont think anybody plays that way,“ he said, „especially at this level of football with two great football teams in the Broncos and ourselves.“ Besides, Fox said, the Broncos werent the only team to run a pick play. „The umpires in that area. Its a pretty crowded area, so I think offences have tried to exploit that,“ he said. „Were not the only team, by any stretch. In fact, our opponent Sunday did the same thing.“ Welker, coming from the right, used his right arm to make contact with the left arm of Talib, who was running from the left to stay with his receiver. They collided a split-second before Mannings pass went off the hands of receiver Demaryius Thomas a few yards away. Patriots defensive end Andre Carter called it a „nasty“ play. „Wes, was he doing his job? Im sure he was to a certain degree,“ Carter said. „(Do) I think the hit could have been cleaner? Yes.“ But Broncos tight end Julius Thomas was more concerned about preparing to face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Feb. 2 than about Belichicks comments. „The thoughts and feelings of opposing coaches definitely dont bother me,“ he said. „Were worried about whats happening this week.“ Mark Eaton Jersey . The premature end left 26 players still to finish the round in the Asian Tour event. Siddikur, who shot a bogey-free first round to share the lead with five others, eagled the par-5 first hole before bogeying twice and rebounding with six birdies. Wholesale Jazz Jerseys . — The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin.MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens looked to be in trouble when goaltender Carey Price got injured just after helping Canada win gold at the Sochi Olympics. But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. Budaj was sharp when he needed to be as the Canadiens bounced back after blowing a third-period lead to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Max Paciorettys second goal of the game, 3:28 into overtime on Saturday night. „Hes been unbelievable“ U.S. Olympian Pacioretty said of Budaj, who played for Slovakia at the Winter Games. „Hes kept us in all three games hes played and hes made key saves at key moments. „Thats probably the most important thing a goalie can do. Hes one of the hardest working goalies Ive ever seen and its good to see him get rewarded.“ Alex Galchenyuk scored in the first period and P.K. Subban tied the game and forced OT with a power-play goal at 10:52 of the third frame for Montreal (34-21-7), which is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. James van Riemsdyk had two and Phil Kessel also scored for the Leafs (32-22-8), who were coming off an overtime loss to the Islanders in New York in their first post-Olympic action on Thursday night. Budaj, now 4-1-0 against Toronto in his career, made 22 saves for the win after backstopping Montreal to a 6-5 OT decision Thursday in Pittsburgh and a 2-1 OT loss to Detroit on Wednesday. He may face even tougher action if he continues to get the starts as the Canadiens leave Sunday on a four-game West Coast road trip. Price is listed as day to day and may be able to return during the trip. Against the Leafs, Budaj and the Canadiens were on a roller coaster as Montreal went up 2-0, but then saw Toronto roar back to take the lead, only for Subban to tie the game. Along the way were unusual penalties, including two delay of game calls against the Leafs and one against Budaj. Paciorettys game-winner, when he beat Jonathan Bernier with a high shot from close range that gave Andrei Markov his third assist of the night, came after Bernier slid well out of his net and was called for a delay as he smothered the puck with his glove. Toronto had started overtime shorthanded when Kessel was called for flipping the puck over the glass. Leafs captain Dion Paneuf would not pin the loss on the officials. „Im not going to stand here and say the calls were right, wrong or indifferent,“ he said. „If you start complaininng about that, thats an excuse. Joe Ingles Jersey. „We showed a lot to come back. JVR (van Riemsdyk) made an unbelievable individual effort and Phil had a great shot, but our team overall, we fought back. We got a point. Were disappointed we didnt get another one, but we did a lot of good things.“ There were plenty of Leafs fans at Bell Centre, but the atmosphere didnt peak until the third period. It took the Leafs until 14:38 of the first frame to get their first shot on goal, but they held Montreal to a 2-1 first period lead. Galchenyuk put a spin-around shot from the slot past Bernier 12:38 in and Pacioretty scored on a backhander at 14:02. After Joffrey Lupul hit a post, Kessel slipped a pass that van Riemsdyk deflected at the net, only to see it go in off Budaj at 17:34. The third period saw van Riemsdyk get his second goal of the game on a short-handed breakaway at 5:28. Then Tyler Bozak snuck a pass through traffic that sent Kessel in on a breakaway to beat Budaj at 7:43. „Bozak made a spin-around, behind-the-back pass and it went through two skates, a couple of sticks and ends up right on Kessels stick for a breakaway,“ said Pacioretty. „I was right there with Kessel but I didnt see the puck coming until the last second.“ Montreal coach Michel Therrien called a time out to settle his players and it seemed to work as Subban tied the game to force overtime. „We got on our heels after (Torontos) third goal, and we just needed to calm down,“ said Therrien. „I felt the bench was really down and I just wanted to say there was still a lot of hockey to be played.“ The Canadiens and Leafs have split their four meetings this season, with their last regular season game set for March 22 in Toronto. The Leafs return home to face Columbus on Monday night with their top line still hot. In their past seven games, Kessel has six goals and eight assists, while van Riemsdyk has five goals and six assists. The Leafs are 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Five of van Riemsdyks 26 goals this season have come against Montreal. Notes: Montreals Ryan White missed a second game with a flu, while Carey Price (lower body), Brandon Prust (upper body) and Michael Bournival (concussion) are sidelined. Francis Bouillon was scratched. . . The Leafs called up Peter Holland from the AHL and he centred the third line, bumping Nikolai Kulemin to the wing. Dave Bolland remains out with an ankle inury. Colton Orr, Trevor Smith and Paul Ranger didnt dress. ‚ ‚ ‚