Spiele » Maze of Slovenia, the Olympic champion in GS, he

DENVER - Jarome Iginla felt a little more youthful on his 37th birthday even as he became the old man of the Colorado Avalanche. Hes energized by the challenge of not only trying to keep up with the likes of speedy forward Nathan MacKinnon, who is half Iginlas age, but also of helping this rising squad take another step in its growth. "I dont want to be arrogant, but I still believe I can be very good," said Iginla, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday by signing a three-year, $16 million deal with Colorado. "And this is a dynamic group. I think they work hard and theyre committed, and theyre just going to keep getting better and better." The Avs are coming off a season in which they tied a franchise record with 52 wins in Patrick Roys first year behind the bench and returned to the post-season for the first time since 2009-10. Among their top priorities in the off-season? Adding some grizzled veterans to the squad. First, the team picked up veteran forward Daniel Briere from Montreal for right wing P.A. Parenteau and a fifth-round pick in next years draft. Then, Colorado acquired defenceman Brad Stuart from the San Jose Sharks for a second-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-rounder in 2017. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after losing fan favourite Paul Stastny in free agency — he signed a four-year, $28 million deal with division rival St. Louis — the Avs worked out a deal with Iginla. It wasnt a laborious task, especially given the friendship between Iginla and Avalanche Hall of Famer turned executive Joe Sakic. The two have been tight since their days with Team Canada and when Sakic made his pitch, Iginla intently listened. Then again, one of Iginlas kids is named Joe at least in part because of Sakic. "(Sakic) is a winner so it definitely had something to do with this," Iginla said. Iginla has played in 1,310 regular season games with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Boston. He had 30 goals in 78 games for the Bruins last season. "Jaromes track record speaks for itself," Sakic said. "He is one of the top goal scorers of all time, as well as a great leader. His addition will bolster our offence." As for being the elder statesman of the team, Iginla just laughed. "I feel good," said Iginla, whos earned two Olympic gold medals with Canada. "As far as my game dropping off, I dont think it will. ... I dont come here expecting to do less." He joins a team that captured a surprise Central Division crown. The turnaround of the Avalanche led to quite a few post-season awards, too, with Roy taking home coach of the year, MacKinnon being named the top rookie and Ryan OReilly capturing the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play. Semyon Varlamov also was a finalist for outstanding goaltender, which went to Tuukka Rask of Boston. Sakic was hoping to return the nucleus for another run, but wasnt about to break the bank to make that happen. Sakic said two weeks ago the team had a salary structure in place, setting the financial bar in deals with Varlamov, Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog. These days, Sakic is attempting to work out a long-term deal with OReilly, a restricted free agent who led the team with a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14. In the meantime, Sakic orchestrated a deal to add the 34-year-old Stuart in order to bring more tenacity to the Avalanches blue line. He was third on the Sharks in blocked shots (114) and hits (122) last season. Stuart may be called upon to mentor defenceman Nick Holden, who signed a three-year extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Briere is another scorer who could help offset the loss of Stastny. Iginla likes the additions of Stuart and Briere. "Its kind of neat to join a new team, but also having other guys in the same boat and get to come in together," Iginla said. "Thats pretty cool." One of the enduring images in Avalanche history is Sakic passing the Stanley Cup over to Ray Bourque for him to hoist after their win in 2001. See Landeskog doing the same for Iginla one day? "Thats a hope," Iginla said. "These guys, theyre driven. I think there are lots of good things already happening." ___ AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage contributed. Cheap Air Max 97 Purple China .Connor Graham, Alex Lintuniemi and Sam Studnicka also scored for Ottawa (11-8-2). Liam Herbst made 21 saves for the win.Brendan Lemieux had both of Barries (10-10-2) goals. Air Max 97 Cheap Mens . CSKA received the heavier punishment of playing its next European home game behind closed doors, after its supporters displayed racist and far-right symbols in the Czech Republic during a 2-1 loss to Viktoria Plzen on Dec. http://www.cheapairmax97fromchina.com/ . Chris Heisey connected for his first grand slam and Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in a career high-tying four runs as Cincinnati took advantage of Tampa Bays depleted pitching staff for a 12-4 victory on Sunday. Cheap Air Max 97 All Black China .A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. Cheap Air Max 97 All White China . -- Marty Havlat scored three goals for the first time in nearly nine years, and the San Jose Sharks prevented Colorado from clinching the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Avalanche on Friday night.ARE, Sweden -- Olympic silver medallist Anna Fenninger won a World Cup giant slalom race Thursday, and closed the gap on overall leader Maria Hoefl-Riesch. The Austrian, who also won the Olympic super-G in Sochi, won the race despite finishing seventh in the first run. Her combined time of 2 minutes, 26.39 seconds was 0.21 faster than surprise runner-up Anemone Marmottan of France. Lara Gut of Switzerland and Eva-Maria Brem of Austria tied for third, trailing Fenninger by 0.39. Hoefl-Riesch placed 21st in what is typically her weakest discipline and earned only 10 World Cup race points. Fenningers 100 points brought her within 67 of the 2011 overall champion from Germany with six races remaining this season. Congratulating Fenninger in a post on her Twitter account, Hoefl-Riesch wrote: "Now you are the favourite for the big crystal globe." In her past four races, Fenninger has collected two Olympics medals, finished second in a World Cup downhill and now taken her sixth career World Cup win. The 24-year-old Austrians second GS victory this season lifted her to secondd behind Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden in the season-long discipline standings.dddddddddddd. Lindell-Vikarby placed sixth in front of her home crowd, 0.82 behind, and has a 54-point lead over Fenninger. Are hosts another giant slalom on Friday, after Thursdays race was a replacement for one cancelled last month in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Tina Maze of Slovenia, the Olympic champion in GS, held a clear first-leg lead Thursday but had a strangely cautious second run to fall to fifth place. Marmottan and Brem both recorded their first career podium finishes in the World Cup. Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States placed 15th, 2.16 behind Fenninger. The Olympic champion in slalom will get a chance to race her favourite event on Saturday. The season concludes next week with the World Cup finals races in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, where weather has been a major factor. Hoefl-Riesch clinched her 2011 title by only three points from Lindsey Vonn when the final GS race was cancelled, and last year none of the mens and womens downhill and super-G races were completed. ' ' '