Biete Deuterium » unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Notes: It was care

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings had just finished a mediocre season with a modest victory over a last-place team, hardly a setting where raw emotion was expected.Yet there was coach Mike Zimmer, when asked specifically at his postgame news conference about the improvement made by second-year cornerback Xavier Rhodes, pausing briefly for composure.The gruff, demanding Zimmers voice cracked as he carefully revealed how Rhodes approached him in the locker room with gratitude for his tutelage and guidance.Hes got a chance to be a really good football player, Zimmer said, after Rhodes stifled Chicago wide receiver Alshon Jeffery throughout the win Sunday over the Bears.For all the dissatisfaction Zimmer expressed in his teams performance during his first season as a head coach, that competitive drive keeping him restless as the Vikings wobbled their way to a 7-9 finish, he was clearly moved by the sign of a young player finding his groove at a difficult position.One of the early themes associated with Zimmer and his coaching style, which will ultimately have a significant influence on his success, was his self-described pride in being a fixer.There was a lot to fix when he took over nearly a year ago, particularly with a defence that gave up an NFL-worst average of 30 points per game, and upgrades are needed still in several areas.This group, though, was unquestionably better in 2014. Player after player, in interviews Monday during the annual cubicle clean-out at the team facility, pointed to Zimmer for the progress.Hes brought a completely different tone around here of just being professional, playing aggressive, tough, disciplined football, safety Harrison Smith said.Zimmer had been an assistant coach in the league for 20 years, including 14 as a defensive co-ordinator, before accepting this job. The word was out. There were no secrets. The Vikings knew they were getting an intense, hard-nosed new boss.Thats the type of coach he is, but at the same time hes one of those guys that you immediately fall in love with and you immediately want to run through a brick wall for because he seems to know when he needs to take care of guys and when he needs to push guys, defensive end Brian Robison said.The Vikings finished 11th in the NFL with an average of 21.4 points per game allowed, better than seven of the 12 teams that made the playoffs. They were 14th with an average of 344.7 yards per game given up, better than five playoff teams. They tied for ninth with 41 sacks.Not that were where we want to be, but its trending that way, Smith said.The Vikings struggled in several games to stop the run, so better tackling will be high on the to-do list for 2015. Takeaways will be as well, since the Vikings forced only 19 turnovers to rank tied for 25th in the league.There were late lapses that led to losses, such as the winning touchdown drive by the Bills in Buffalo that featured a fourth-and-20 conversion and the 30-point second-half by the Dolphins at Miami.Adjusting to the assignments of the new scheme took time, too. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn acknowledged not listening as much as he should have to Zimmer.Its all about trust. When they tell me to do this, do that, even though Ive been in the league for a while, I still start to question, Man, why do you want me to do this? Munnerlyn said. Just go out there and do it.For all the mistakes and disappointments, though, there were just as many success stories. Rookie linebacker Anthony Barr had several strong games before hurting his knee. Defensive end Everson Griffen was a force at times in his first season as a starter. Rhodes tied for fourth in the NFL with 18 passes defenced.He was just a big piece of clay, really, that had a ton of ability, Zimmer said.Theres more left to mould in his second year.___Online:AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap Devils Jerseys China . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. Cheap New Jersey Devils Jerseys .C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C. http://www.cheapdevilsjerseys.com/.C. - The housecleaning continues for the B. Wholesale Devils Jerseys . The Flames are in the midst of a six-game slide (0-5-1), their longest losing streak since an 0-6-3 skid from Jan. 11-28, 2010. They havent won since Nov. 3 in Chicago and most recently went winless on a three-game homestand. Cheap Devils Jerseys . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct.CALGARY -- Maxime Talbot finally got his name on the score sheet as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. The 29-year-old scored once and assisted on another as Colorado edged the host Calgary Flames 3-2 on Friday. "Its about time, I waited a lot of games for this," Talbot said. "After this goal, you have 50 pounds off your shoulders." Talbots goal was his first in 16 games as a member of the Avalanche since being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 31 in exchange for forward Steve Downie. The Lemoyne, Que. native scored at 18:00 of the second period to tie the game 1-1. The goal was the result of a mistake along the end boards by Flames goaltender Karri Ramo, whose soft backhand pass intended for T.J. Brodie was intercepted by John Mitchell. Mitchell promptly zipped a pass to Talbot who had an empty net to shoot at. "I just played it to the wrong side. I should have played it to the backhand," Ramo said. "They got momentum and scored three goals, so it was a big game-changing moment there." Later that same shift, Talbot made a terrific play as the Avalanche took the lead for good. He muscled defenceman Chris Butler off the puck with an aggressive forecheck and set up P.A. Parenteau. "Even if you take away the goal and the assist from my game tonight, thats the best Ive felt with the Avs," Talbot said. "I had good legs, I was strong on the forecheck. I may not score every night but being first on pucks is what I should be doing and tonight I was doing it so it feels good and I need to keep building on that." Colorado coach Patrick Roy said he was happy for Talbot, who plays an integral role regardless of whether hes scoring or not. "Im so happy for Max. When you score, you feel such relief," Roy said. "Hes been playing hard. Hes been playing big minutes for us, penalty killing, that line tonight was really good." Rookie Nathan MacKinnon scored his sixth goal to round out the offence for Colorado (20-7-0). Kris Russell and Matt Stajan scored for Calgary (10-14-4), which had won two straight. "Its a disappointing loss," said Flames captain Mark Giordano. "We werent moving like we were in the first and they capitalized on some breakdowns. Weve got to find a wayy not to give up those close goals.dddddddddddd" Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 stops in the Colorado net to improve to 7-0-0 and continue his outstanding year as Semyon Varlamovs back-up. It was his second victory against the Flames, having stopped 30-of-32 stops in a 3-2 win in Denver on Nov. 8. "The guys did everything that they were asked to do tonight and it makes everybodys game so much easier," said Giguere. Talbot also mentioned the importance of the win after an 8-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. "It was really important. We talked about it this morning as a team about learning from the game last night and putting it behind us and thats exactly what we did," Talbot said. "We played well, kept most of it on the outside. I was able to see the pucks really well tonight. I was able to freeze it and not give up too many rebounds and when there was a rebound, guys were battling in front," added Giguere. On the heels of impressive wins over Los Angeles and Phoenix, Flames coach Bob Hartley was disappointed with how the game got away from his club. "Those two goals really set us back on our heels. In the third period, they scored that early goal and then it was tough to play catch-up hockey," Hartley said. In his third consecutive start, Ramo had 22 saves to fall to 4-5-1. Calgary scored the only goal of the first period connecting on the power play at 7:01. With Stempniak providing the screen, Russells slapshot from the blue-line found the corner behind Giguere, who was furious after the play claiming Stempniak had interfered with him. Giguere was so mad about the play he shoved the net over, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Notes: It was career win No 258 for Giguere, tying him with Ken Dryden for 44th on the NHLs all-time list... LW Lane MacDermid made his Flames debut. MacDermid was acquired Nov. 22 from Dallas for a sixth round draft picka Missing for Calgary was C Joe Colborne (flu) and LW Brian McGrattan (lower body)a Not in the line-up for Colorado was D Jan Hejda (knee), who was hurt in the loss to the the Oilersa A perfect 17-0-0 when scoring first, the Avalanche improve to 3-7-0 when surrendering the first goala Calgary led after one for only the fifth time (2-2-1). 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