Clan-Members » Stevensons mandatory challenger by virtue of his

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Edmonton Oilers host the Anaheim Ducks Saturday. Theyll also host the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.Host is the key word here. The Oilers are playing their first season at the new Rogers Place, but its been anything but home sweet home. At 8-4-2, Edmonton has the best road record in the NHL, but has won just one of its last six home games.Maybe the Oilers can find a way to paint a Ducks logo at center ice before Saturdays puck drop and ask to wear their road white jerseys at home.I dont have an explanation for that, Oilers coach Todd McLellan said about the huge drop-off between his teams road and home performances. Our road record is better than our home record. No explanation for it. Its something that were looking to work on and improve. There is no rhyme or reason for it. Theres nothing we can find statistically or in the play that we can put our fingers on.Thats not entirely true. There is a statistical anomaly. The Oilers power play, despite the presence of NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid (34 points in 25 games), only has a 10.5 percent success rate at home, third worst in the league. Its at 26.8 percent on the road, third best in the league.On Thursday in Winnipeg, Edmonton got three man-advantage goals, including two from center Mark Letestu, who was promoted from the fourth line to the power play.I had success last year doing it here, did it in Pittsburgh, played with good players before, said Letestu. And I know I am out there for a reason and not just defer to guys who might be more skilled than myself.As for McDavid, who is now building a cushion atop the NHL scoring race, McLellan has run out of superlatives.Hes a tremendous player, said the Oilers coach. I dont know what to say about him anymore. You guys ask me every day and Im kind of running out of comments. You just have to watch him play.The Ducks (12-8-4) arrive in the Alberta capital on a three-game winning streak, despite scoring just eight times over those games. Theyve only given up four goals during the streak -- and they know that to be successful, they cant be one of the more exciting teams in the NHL to watch.Thats what were trying to sell, that were not really an offensive juggernaut by any means, said Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle. Were just trying to buckle down and have our group win games 2-1, 1-0, thats going to be enough to win. If we can do that over the course of the next 55-60 games, then hopefully going into the playoffs and, being a playoff team, we dont have to change our style much.Were getting better at playing as a group night in and night out, said Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf, who has just two goals but 17 assists in 21 games played this season. Our guys are doing a great job surrounding our net and not giving a whole lot up.The Ducks defeated the Oilers 4-1 in Anaheim on Nov. 15. It was one of the few blemishes on the Oilers road ledger.Jay Bell Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Danny Bautista Jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/608l-domingo-leyba-jersey-diamondbacks.html . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Arizona Diamondbacks Pro Shop . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Merrill Kelly Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct.Light heavyweight contender Eleider Storm Alvarez and former super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute will square off in an all-Quebec battle on Feb. 24 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, promoter Yvon Michel said.However, Alvarez (20-0, 10 KOs) first has to win a tune-up fight Saturday night, when he takes on Polish southpaw Norbert Noras Dabrowski (19-5-1, 7 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder at the Montreal Casino.Michel told ESPN that Alvarez-Bute will be a scheduled 12-round fight contracted at the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds. Bute, who held a super middleweight world title from 2007 to 2012 and made nine successful defenses, has only fought as a true light heavyweight once, a lopsided decision loss to Montreal rival and former world champion Jean Pascal in 2014, in one of the biggest fights in Canadian history.The Alvarez-Bute pairing comes out of the blue because Alvarez is the mandatory challenger for light heavyweight world champion (and Montreal rival) Adonis Stevenson (28-1, 23 KOs), and the fight is overdue. Stevenson has not made a mandatory defense since his sixth-round knockout of Tony Bellew in November 2013.The mandatory fight will wait a bit longer, Michel said, in favor of Alvarez-Bute.The fight will be very popular here [in Quebec], Michel said. Its an easy sell and an excellent and intriguing fight.Michel pointed out that Alvarez would remain Stevensons mandatory challenger as long as he wins.Alvarez needs to stay active and make money while waiting for the mandatory fight, Michel said.Michel ssaid if Alvarez comes through Saturday and against Bute, the mandatory fight with Stevenson -- long viewed as reluctant to face a top opponent -- would likely take place in April.dddddddddddd That would give Alvarez only about eight or nine weeks between fights, but Michel said he was confident the tight schedule would work out.Alvarez is a well-trained, hungry fighter, Michel said.Alvarez became Stevensons mandatory challenger by virtue of his disputed majority decision win against Isaac Chilemba 13 months ago at the Videotron Centre. Alvarez has fought once since, pounding out a lopsided 10-round decision against Robert Berridge on July 29.The 39-year-old Stevenson fought just once this year, scoring a fourth-round knockout of Thomas Williams in the main event of the July 29 card.Bute (32-3-1, 25 KOs), 36, Quebecs most popular boxer, will be fighting for the first time since he was awarded a controversial draw against super middleweight world titleholder Badou Jack -- whom virtually everybody saw as the clear winner -- on April 30, at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. After the fight, Butes urine sample tested positive for the banned substance ostarine (also called enobosarm), which is supposed to increase stamina and recovery ability.Bute reached a settlement of his case with the Washington D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission on Nov. 25. He was give a suspension of time served and fined $50,000. ' ' '