purpose yards last season, McCaffrey shattered the 27-yea

Loui Eriksson didnt try to gloss over how much the?Vancouver Canucks, the team he chose by his own free will to join, have struggled over the past couple of seasons.I think theyve been through a tough stretch, Eriksson said. Last year, they had some injuries. It was tough to get something going.And yet, he still signed in Vancouver. Of course, a six-year, $36 million deal helped the cause -- but the appeal of playing with with the Sedins during the final stages of their outstanding NHL career was a factor too.He spoke with Daniel Sedin before signing and left those conversations with a good feeling about the Canucks and Vancouver itself.Its a great city to play, he said. It was an easy decision to come to.The Canucks are in a slow transition. They never quite gutted the teams that vied for Stanley Cups, so they never bottomed out. That decision cost them a crack at some of the premium talent their Pacific Division rivals grabbed at the top of the draft.Vancouver does have nice, young players like Jake Virtanen, Bo Horvat and Thatcher Demko, but not enough that you feel confident about the pending transfer of the baton from Daniel and his brother?Henrik Sedin?to the next generation.Vancouver, for now, seems like a team stuck in transition.Best new facesThe Canucks may not have been in the position to dive aggressively into free agency, but Loui Eriksson is a wonderful fit with the Sedins, as he showed in the World Championships and the World Cup.One Swedish teammate called him a third Sedin brother at one point. If Eriksson ends up playing with the Sedins, that will be one of the best lines in hockey.All three like to play the game the same way and while speed is the hot trend in hockey, this trio will effectively slow the game down so they can play it at their own pace.All three can make effective short passes in tight spaces and Eriksson is so good without the puck that it will make life even easier on the Sedins.Its the rest of the lineup that is a concern, but the addition of Eriksson makes for a natural fit.We play the game the same way, Eriksson said.Biggest unknownsIf were confident that the fit with Eriksson and the Sedins is a good one, the biggest unknown becomes the rest of the lineup. Virtanen had 13 points in 55 games during his rookie season as a 19-year-old. The Canucks are going to need him to be a successful part of a second line if they want to make progress this season.Looking at the rest of the forwards, its hard to figure out where the additional scoring is going to come from. Last season, the Canucks averaged 2.27 goals per game -- a total that was better only than the New Jersey Devils. The lowest Western Conference playoff team last season, the?Minnesota Wild,?averaged 2.60 goals per game, which barely got them into?the playoffs.If the Canucks need to get to that point, where is the improvement going to come from?Sure thingsThe Sedins. If the Canucks arent going to be particularly good the next couple years, its a shame that this is how they will be exiting the NHL. They deserve better.You realize that when you get older, youre down to your last few years, said Daniel Sedin. Who knows how many more games youre going to play?At age 35, Daniel Sedin scored 28 goals last season, a total that was his highest since 2012. Henrik Sedin averaged 0.74 points per game, a number that should rise following the Eriksson addition. The numbers may be declining as the Sedins start to age, but its a sure thing that there will be many nights when they are the best players on the ice.Its just too bad that its going to happen on a team that likely isnt headed anywhere of note.PredictionThe Canucks were lumped in with the Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers last season and all three of those teams improved while Vancouver is treading water. If the Oilers make the strides that everyone expects, it will be Vancouver that replaces Edmonton in the Pacific cellar. y-3 Store Canada . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. NMD Cheap Canada . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.nmdshoescanada.com/ .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. NMD_R1 Shoes Canada . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Adidas Prophere Canada . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Winning the Pacific-12 Conference is nothing new for the Stanford football team. After all, the Cardinal has won three of the past four Pac-12 titles under David Shaw, entering his sixth season.But getting the preseason nod as the favorite? Thats a first for this regime.Amid those expectations, No. 8 Stanford opens its season against Kansas State on Friday night at Stanford Stadium.This is hardly a slam-dunk opening victory, but it does figure to be the easiest game of a brutal first half of the season for the Cardinal, which returns Heisman runner-up running back Christian McCaffrey but is breaking in only its third starting quarterback since 2009.Redshirt junior Ryan Burns won the job in camp, following in the footsteps of Andrew Luck and Kevin Hogan. But Burns, who has thrown one collegiate pass, isnt a lock to keep the job. Sophomore Keller Chryst competed well enough in camp to get a look, too.Keller Chryst will play as well, Shaw said. Were going to play both guys and try to win a game. There hasnt been a huge separation between the two. Both guys have played extremely well. Ryan has been enough ahead to get the nod.Kansas State, which was 6-7 last year in an injury-riddled campaign, welcomes back quarterback Jesse Ertz, who suffered a torn ACL on the teams first snap last season. Ertz, who should be active in the run game, beat out Joe Hubener and Alex Delton in fall camp to reclaim his starting job.One day youd say this guy lit it up and the next day it was somebody else, said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, who has 193 wins with the Wildcats, the most of any FBS coach at his current school.It was very competitive, and Jesse pulled himself away probably in the last four days of being able to have greateer consistency on the practice field.dddddddddddd.The Friday night will be a good spotlight for McCaffrey in advance of a full holiday weekend of great college football matchups. McCaffrey had 20-plus touches in every game last season except the season-opening loss to Northwestern (17). Hell get all the work he can handle this week with speedy sophomore backup Bryce Love out with an undisclosed injury.Love is likely to return after the bye week for Stanfords trip to Southern Cal.With 3,864 all-purpose yards last season, McCaffrey shattered the 27-year-old NCAA single-season record of 3,250, set by Oklahoma State legend Barry Sanders. McCaffrey had 2,019 rushing yards, 645 receiving yards, and he picked up the rest of his yardage on kick and punt returns.Hes the best player in the country and well continue to challenge him, Shaw said. We know he can handle it.Stanfords bread-and-butter is its power running game, but the offense has ample speed in McCaffrey and receivers Michael Rector, Trent Irwin and Francis Owusu.Kansas States defense allowed 452.2 yards and 31.5 points per game last season, when young players gained experience as injury fill-ins. A veteran coming back is senior safety Dante Barnett, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the 2015 opener.This is the first meeting between Stanford and Kansas State.After this, the Cardinal plays No. 20 USC, at No. 16 UCLA, at No. 14 Washington, Washington State and at No. 10 Notre Dame. It wont be easy for Stanford to replicate its 12-2 record of a season ago. We have a chance to be good, Shaw said. How good, you never know. ' ' '