The situation in the East is simply fantastic for fans of the CFL. All Week 20 games in the East matter as to who is in the playoffs and that’s how you want it to play out. I will be on site at the marque game of the week, Montreal at Hamilton. I am looking forward to seeing Hamilton’s new stadium and the facilities they have for the players and coaches. I can remember when I worked for the Ticats, Jamie Barresi and I shared an office which was fine except for when we had to meet with the players there. The players sat on the floor and watched practice and game film on two TVs we jerry-rigged to play the same video. We had to do this because the room had a weird shape and the guys closest to the exit could not see the big TV. The big TV was actually one I had at my house and had brought in to be able have a bigger screen! I have heard nothing but great things about this new facility that will provide the players with a professional work environment they deserve, looking forward to seeing that. Speaking of Coach Barresi, he is now the head coach of the University of Ottawa, and led them to a 5-3 finish and a first round playoff win over Windsor. He will now come home to Hamilton to take on McMaster this weekend in the second round of the playoffs. I am not sure that this situation has ever happened in the CFL. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats can finish first place, second place, or be eliminated from the playoffs! You don’t often have to prepare your team for all those possibilities within a week. But I think there is a very interesting coaching situation for the Cats, let’s talk about it. Hamilton’s playoff scenario is this: if they beat Montreal by eight points or more they clinch first place; if they win by less than eight points or Toronto loses they earn second place; and if they lose and Toronto wins, they are eliminated from the playoffs. Teams that finish in first place statistically have a greater chance of going to the Grey Cup, so does Hamilton change the game plan to put themselves in first place? I think I would. Let’s say Toronto wins the game Friday and Hamilton is eliminated with a loss, this is the harder scenario. Hamilton starts the game basically down 7-0 to the Als for first place. Do they become more aggressive to make up the point differential and go for first place? Aggressive might be a fake punt or special play on Teams to be able get a few extra offensive scoring possessions. Could it be a more aggressive defensive scheme or pressure package trying to limit Montreal scoring? Third and goal from the two-yard line early in the game, usually you kick the field goal but do you go for it to make up the points to try to get first place? All these things mentioned have a risk that when not executed can hurt your chances of winning the game, which is the ultimate goal for Hamilton because they would be eliminated if Toronto wins. Late in the game this will be employed but early in the game is when it could easily affect the outcome. Certainly late in the game, if Hamilton is up by three, you will see the best of both teams, because Hamilton will actually be trying to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown with the lead. That situation does not happen often. These are the decisions that a head coach must have a good understanding of not only at the end of the year, but at the beginning of the year. In 2009, when I was the offensive coordinator of the Saskatchewan Roughriders we were in the first of a four-game series with an opponent. It was late in the game and we were winning but I called a few more passes and scored a late touchdown. A coach from the other team after the game sought me out on the field and took offence to my offence (funny?) of scoring a touchdown when we could have taken a knee at the end of the game. I looked at him somewhat surprised and said we are playing you four times and there is the very real possibility that we will end up tied at the end of the year and the next playoff tie breaker is points scored. That is why we were scoring points late in the last drive, we don’t know how we will end up, so you assume you will be tied. Points-scored has to be thought of when you play an opponent twice or four times because you could be tied at the end. Playing someone three times, points is not an issue (unless there was a tie) because someone usually finishes 2-1. Back to Hamilton, let’s assume Toronto loses and a loss by Hamilton will not affect their playoff chances, they would have second place locked up no matter what happens in their game. Now you can see the Ticats being aggressive and be ready for anything that can help them score points. No huddle to get more plays, going for it on third down, onside kicks. Mistakes or poor execution of those plays can also hurt your field position which can help Montreal’s opportunity to score, so executing these calls is key. If you have a chance, look up Head Coach Kevin Kelley and the Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, a coach who calls for onside kicks every kickoff and will not punt throughout the season. The guy must be crazy and must lose every game right? A state Championship, a loss in the finals, and a semi-final appearance in three years tells another story. Although some of his data may not correlate with the CFL, he believes on kickoffs the difference in the field position is only about 15 yards if an onside kick is recovered by the receiving team and coach Kelley’s teams recover one out of every three onside kicks which is a turnover, and we know turnovers are one of the most telling stats in winning football games. In the CFL, a failed onside kick would probably be a 30-yard difference in field position which is certainly a reason not to do it every time. Kelley never punts because his philosophy is you have to score more points to win the football game and you cannot score without retaining possession of the football. That is why he will always go for it on fourth down, to keep possession of the ball. So if your team is in a fourth and 3 situation four times in a game and they average 5.5 yards per rush, why not go for it? Kelley believes he will make three out of four conversions and will keep the football. Interesting thoughts and I thought of this philosophy this week to see if the Ticats would employ some of these tactics to get to first place. Either way it will be a great weekend for football, punt or no punt. Vapormax Plus Womens Uk .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. Wholesale Vapormax Womens .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. http://www.vapormaxwholesaleuk.com/whole...t-cheap-uk.html. Or how his team has defended Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games. Wholesale Vapormax Mens . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. Cheap Vapormax Mens Black .4 seconds left and dribbled up court, weaving through Pitts defence.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After hitting goal posts all night, Brad Boyes and the Florida Panthers at last got a friendly bounce in the shootout. Boyes game-winning goal hit the left post before going off goaltender Jhonas Enroth and into the goal to give Florida a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. "Finally luck shifted a bit," Boyes said with a grin. Boyes also scored in regulation, while Tim Thomas made 23 saves and was perfect in the shootout for Florida, which won on the road for the first time since Dec. 19. The winner meant extra for Boyes against his former teammate Enroth. "Being here and going against him in practice a lot, he was showing me glove," Boyes said. "He was kinda waving it to me like he was onto me and he knows where I go. I have trouble with guys that I played with so it was nice to get it on him. I like that one." The Panthers carried much of the play, outshooting Buffalo 35-24, but the sound of puck on metal was on a loop. Tomas Fleischmann hit the goal post twice in the third period, and Drew Shore also put one off the pipe in the frame. "It wouldve been nice if a few posts counted as a goal," said defenceman Brian Campbell. "If you hit eight posts, maybe you get a goal or something." Jamie McBain scored for Buffalo, whose new general manager Tim Murray got a closeup view of the tough rebuilding job ahead of him and special adviser Craig Patrick, introduced earlier Thursday by team President Pat LaFontaine. The Sabres squandered a 1-0 lead and wasted a strong performance from Enroth, who was named to the Swedish Olympic team on Tuesday. "I wanted to go out there and show everybody that I earned it," Enroth said. Enroth is 1-9-3 this season, but the Sabres have scored just 17 goals in his starts and been shut out thrice. He couldnt explain the lack of goal support. "Im running out of answers on those questions," Enroth said. The loss ended a five-game home win streak for Buffalo, who is still 6-0-2 in its last eight at First Niagara Center. Florida started the game well, with eight shots on Enroth in the first 4:35 of play. Thomas then stopped a one-timer from Brayden McNabb about five minutes into the game. Buffalo had the games first power play after an interference call against Ed Jovanovski, and Thomas made a sprawling save on Jamie McBain to keep the game scoreless. "They got some great chances, some great looks," said Florida head coach Peter Horachek. "Timmy was rock solid, he kept us in the game." After play was whistled dead because of a scrum in Floridas crease, John Scott tossed the puck in the net and received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Enroth saved a shot by Alexander Barkov on tthe ensuing power play and made 13 saves in the period as Buffalo was outshot by five.dddddddddddd Buffalo broke through in the second period when McBain streaked into the slot to collect Steve Otts pass and fired low past Thomas right pad at the 5:13 mark. Brian Flynn had a breakaway moments later but Thomas smothered the shot to keep the deficit 1-0. Buffalo had trouble finding momentum despite the lead and killing off an abbreviated 5-on-3 penalty. "Usually when you kill a big penalty kill, you get some momentum, but I don t know," Enroth said. "Its tough to win with this team." Florida nearly equalized at the start of the third period, as Fleischmann had the puck in front of Enroth and used a deft move to get the goalie moving but backhanded the puck off the post. The Panthers finally beat Enroth at the 8:16 mark, after a weak clearance attempt by Alexander Sulzer. Enroth was slow to get up and Tom Gilbert took a slap shot that Boyes, an ex-Sabre, deflected into the goal. Florida had another Boyes goal disallowed when play was blown dead due to an injury to defenceman Dmitry Kulikov in the Panthers zone. Kulikov was bleeding after being struck in the face with a high stick. "Ultimately, Boyes goal in the period should have counted or there should have been a four-minute penalty, one or the other," Horachek said. "But thats the way it goes. " Thomas made a sliding stop on Brian Flynn in overtime. Jonathan Huberdeau appeared to put the Panthers in front during the shootout, but was ruled to have pushed Enroths pad across the line. Campbell played in his 800th career NHL game. His first 391 came with Buffalo, which drafted him in the 6th round of the 1997 NHL Draft. "You want to have longevity in this game and it all started here so its nice to be back here," Campbell said. The 34-year-old defenceman said its weird to see the Sabres with a new general manager, but is hopeful for the teams fan base. "Hopefully Pat LaFontaine can steer them in the right direction," Campbell said. "Im sure he will. Hopefully its good things ahead for the fans. They deserve it. Its been tough sledding. I know we were good in 05 and 06 and got her going but the Bills have struggled a little bit, too. They deserve a lot more for all the support they give." The Sabres next play in Washington on Sunday, while Florida travels to New Jersey for a Saturday night game. NOTES: It was Buffalos first game since Jan. 4. A blizzard caused the postponement of Tuesdays game against Carolina. ... Floridas scratches were C Scott Gomez, D Mike Mottau and C Shawn Matthias. ... Tyler Myers sat out the first game of a three-game suspension for a hit to the head of Dainius Zubrus. ' ' '