Black- and Whitelist » when he won the Stanley

Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray is entering his 12th year in the CFL and his third with the Argos. Hes coming off a season where he was injured twice, missing eight games, but still put up some eye-popping numbers. Ray passed for just under 2,900 yards, completing 77 per cent of his passes. He threw 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, finishing with a mind-numbing QB rating of 126.4. Ray sat down on Saturday for a chat with Mike Hogan, the play-by-play voice of the Argos on TSN 1050. MH: Whats different about camp this year? RR: The same basic philosophies are still there that coach (Scott Milanovich) carries on about how we practice, our tempo and what he expects from us, but there is a new feeling. We have a new defensive staff, a lot of new guys on defence. Offensively, were returning a lot of guys and coaches so it feels pretty similar. MH: On your side of the football, its good that you have the continuity that you do (Chad Kackert, Dontrelle Inman and Joe Eppele are the only 2013 starters not back this year). Can you put into words how important that is at this stage? RR: It just makes things so much easier. Thinking back to the first year here, there was so much to learn, trying to get used to a new system and trying to get used to all the guys around you. Last year and this year, weve all played together and have a lot of game experience together and were still running the same stuff out there, so youre not trying to get used to everything and you can go out there and try and improve on things from the previous year. MH: Whats your relationship like with Coach Milanovich in the off-season? Do you keep in contact continually trying to tweak things, or do you go home to Northern California and just ignore football for a couple of months? RR: I pretty much go home and get away from football. Hell call me every now and then and tell me whats going on, say if they have any new ideas and really just see how the off-season is going, but its only a couple of times a year. Other than that, I try to get back and relax and just get refreshed for the new year. MH: Your first two seasons in Toronto saw very different results. The first year couldnt have gone any better, winning the 100th Grey Cup. Last year, everything was going fine when you were on the field, but you had to deal with a couple of injuries. When you look back at last season, just how frustrating was it? RR: It was, just missing so much time and having to watch and rehab and do all that. It was fun to watch the guys play, to go out west and have that four-game winning streak, but not so much fun because youre sitting there watching and cant be out there playing. It was a weird year. We wrapped up first place and were just waiting around to see who we were going to play and had such high expectations and just werent able to get it done in the playoffs. MH: After the Argos were beaten badly in the 2010 Eastern Final by Montreal, some of them took it very hard, thought about it a lot in the off-season and used it as motivation. Did you think about losing last years Eastern Final often? RR: You think about it a lot, especially when you feel like you had a great opportunity to win the game. Sometimes when you get beaten pretty badly, its easier to swallow those than the ones that are close games where you had an opportunity to keep moving on. Its funny because were getting ready to play Hamilton in our next game (Thursday at Varsity Stadium), putting that film back on and then watching it (laughs) brings back a lot of not-so-good memories. So ya, that keeps you motivated. When you think about it, you try and work harder and you think about the next time you do get an opportunity like that to try and seize it. MH: There are still four running backs competing for the starting job. (Steve Slaton and Jeremiah Johnson are the new imports, up against returnee RB Curtis Steele. Also in the mix is University of Manitoba rookie Anthony Coombs) All of them seem to add something different to the mix. How would you assess the group? RR: Its been pretty fun watching them in camp. Curtis has a pretty good feel for what were trying to do out there. He gives a ton of effort on every play. The new guys are both very gifted athletes. Thats the position that we expect the most out of, with pass protection, running and catching out of the backfield and weve got three guys that can do it very well. Then you put Coombs in there and watching him, especially in one-on-one drills, he runs routes almost like a receiver, so hes going to be a good weapon for us. MH: Grey Cup or bust? RR: Thats what it is every year (smiles). Thats the expectation that (General Manager) Jim Barker and Coach Milanovich have put on us. Theyve built a great foundation here and we feel like we should be able to go out and win every year and have a chance to get to the Grey Cup. Stitched Nike MLB Jerseys .com) - The top spot in the AFC South will be on the line when Houston native Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts shoot for their fourth straight win when they take on the Texans at NRG Stadium. Nike MLB Jerseys For Sale . Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. MLB Jerseys From China . The game got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Jets as Oliver Ekman-Larsson found a wide open net from the slot and opened the scoring for the Coyotes a lead in the first period, but Olli Jokinen answered back just over half a minute later. MLB Jerseys 2020 Online . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner.Tonight, the Dallas Stars will be raising No. 9 to the rafters in honor of Mike Modano. The festivities begin this afternoon at 4:30 with an arrival event and “Green Carpet” ceremony in true Stars fashion and the ceremony itself begins at 6:00. The Stars have also released a book with limited quantities entitled "Nine: A Salute to Mike Modano" with 1,000 special edition copies personally autographed by Modano that have already sold out. We reached out to several of Modanos colleagues from his playing career to discuss their experiences with him. Bill Guerin, two-time Stanley Cup winner, four-time NHL All-Star and U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist: “Ive known Mike for a long time. We played in the World Juniors when we were 18 and were teammates in three Olympics and two World Cups. It was Mike in the middle, Keith Tkachuk on the left and myself on the right. Mike is the greatest American to ever play the game. He is an amazing hockey player and an even better person. We first met when I was playing in Springfield and he was playing in St. Albert and I couldnt believe the skill level of a player that age could be that high. He was better than everyone else, but so humble. It was amazing that he could be so great and also so grounded. Mike IS the Dallas Stars, so its fitting that they are retiring his number” Craig Button, TSN Scout and former Dallas Stars Director of Scouting (1992-98) and Director of Player Personnel (1998-2000): “Watching Modano raise the Stanley Cup over his head, the exhilaration and the emotion that you could feel was phenomenal. At that time, he was only the fourth first overall pick (since the universal draft began in 1970) to win the Cup with the franchise that had drafted him. Only Guy Lafleur (1971), Denis Potvin (1973) and Mario Lemieux (1984) were those who had donee it to that point.dddddddddddd Ironically Lemieux and Modano faced off in 1991 when it was going to happen for the third time. There is an expectation that when you are selected first overall that you can change the fortunes of a franchise. Mike did that and his moment when he raised the cup I think embodied a lot of satisfaction in being able to do it.” Mark Janko, Dallas Stars Director of Hockey Administration and Director of Public Relations from 2005 to 2008. “The thing that people dont understand is how generous he is with his time with people. Hes been pulled in so many different directions over the years. We asked him to go to hospitals, kids carnivals, so many different things and he always stayed longer than he was required. He would stay for an hour when he was asked to stay for 10 minutes. He was the perfect athlete to sell the game to Dallas. The fans love him and he still lives in Dallas to this day. He wanted to sell the game in Dallas and did whatever he could to do it. People need to know how sensitive he is. He cares so much about others and about winning. He had tears in his eyes during his last game in Dallas, when he won the Stanley Cup and when he retired as a member of the Dallas Stars. He has such a tender heart, but also a warriors spirit. He cared so passionately and deeply about the type of person and teammate that he was. He came back from injuries faster than expected because he worked so hard to do it. He had God-given ability and worked effortlessly to perfect it.” Theres no shortage of great sentiment when it comes to Modano and theres no doubt about whether tears will be shed tonight during this incredible honour. These reflections about Modano are great, but none of them compare to the greatness of his hairdo and babyface on the day of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. ' ' '