Tkachuk said. You dream about scoring in the NHL for a long time

From the general feeling in the British and Irish isles, the task awaiting Warren Gatland in New Zealand is a thankless one.Their first tour match is just seven days after the Aviva Premiership and PRO12 finals, the players will have reached breaking point and then come the worlds best side who havent lost at home since 2009. As Wales coach, Gatland has faced the All Blacks 10 times and lost on each occasion.It is rugbys version of Mission Impossible; the expected 20,000-strong army of Lions fans may as well save their time and watch from the comforts of living rooms and pubs.But if anyone can pull off the most unlikely of victories against the All Blacks, it is Gatland. One of their own, he knows the opposition inside out, he thinks like them, has their very DNA in his own rugby bones and every sinew of his being must be strained to breaking point if the Lions are to beat Steve Hansens side.Amid the rolling, undulating hills of New Zealands north island lies the Gatland household on the banks of the Waikato River where his wife Trudi lives. Brought up on Hamiltons Laurence Street by his parents Kaye and Dave, he went to school 10 minutes drive away at Hamilton Boys High School and captained their first-team in both cricket and rugby.An abrasive hooker, he made a record 140 appearance for Waikato and would have won full All Blacks Test honours but for the presence of Sean Fitzpatrick.His coaching career is a joint love affair between Waikato and the British and Irish isles.His first gig was at Taupiri in 1989 on the eastern bank of the Waikato river and later that year he headed to Ireland to take charge of Galwegians in a player/coach capacity. Following five years there his stock rose. After a short spell as assistant coach back in New Zealand with Thames Valley in 1996, Connacht then came calling later that year and in 1998 he replaced Brian Ashton as Ireland coach.He left Ireland in 2001 and then came the move to London Wasps in 2002 -- complete with three Premiership titles and a Heineken Cup. He then headed back to the familiar surroundings of Waikato and the Chiefs but in 2007 got the call from Wales and two Grand Slams, a further championship and a World Cup semifinal followed.This rooting in home union rugby has brought home the importance of the Lions to Gatland. In 1993 he was part of the Waikato side that thrashed the Lions 38-10, an appearance he marked with a try, at Hamiltons Rugby Park.Sixteen years on and he was part of Ian McGeechans backroom staff for their tour of South Africa. McGeechan, who was on his seventh and final Lions tour as a player and then coach, was impressed by Gatlands respect for the jersey. He understood why these quadrennial jaunts against one of the big three, where a bunch of players were charged with forging lifelong unity in a matter of hours, were no rugby anachronism.I remember when I was head coach in South Africa in 2009 and he [Gatland] was an assistant coach, and I asked him to speak to the team before one of the early provincial games, McGeechan wrote in his column for the Telegraph. He said no. He said he had not earned the right to do that at that stage. It showed great respect.Four years on, in 2013, and Gatland masterminded the Lions first series win since 1997 with a 2-1 triumph over Australia. He attempted to bring back much of the traditional touring aspects of the Lions with an emphasis on off-field bonding and also showed he is not one to shy away from making controversial calls when he dropped Brian ODriscoll for the third Test.Though his decision was vindicated with a 41-13 triumph, the vitriolic backlash from ex-players and armchair pundits shocked Gatland. At one stage he thought he could do without reprising the role in 2017 but the lure of the Lions proved too much, as did the temptation of gate-crashing his motherlands party.With the role confirmed, now comes the task of moulding his backroom staff. It wont be a case of jobs for his chums; in 2013 he chose then England coach Andy Farrell over his long-time Wasps and Wales ally Shaun Edwards. Its about the bigger picture so expect him to pluck a name from left-field and he may look to tempt Scotland coach Vern Cotter, who interviewed for the top Lions role, to join the brains trust.Then comes the task of assembling the squad. A total of 51 players ran out for Sir Clive Woodward on the Lions ill-fated 2005 tour but Gatland is likely to favour a smaller group like his class of 2013. His choice of captain will be fascinating. He could stick with 2013 Lions and Wales captain Sam Warburton or go for Englands Dylan Hartley; the latter moulded in Gatlands image, an abrasive New Zealand-born hooker.Gatlands gameplan will also be fascinating. His direct approach with Wales, one focused on forcing space through physicality, is likely to be tweaked to counter the All Blacks threats. Winning the collision area and coping with the New Zealand counter-attack will be top of his list. Then will come the task of drawing together the most effective 15 possible from Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland.The Lions have already been written off. But this canny Kiwi thrives off winning and baring his teeth as the underdog. Mission Impossible? With Gatland at the helm its more improbable. He will have plenty of tricks up his sleeve and judging by how difficult a task it is to win on New Zealand soil, theyll need them. Chris Lindstrom Youth Jersey . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Calvin Ridley Jersey . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Steve-Bartkowski-Jersey/ . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. 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CALGARY, Alberta -- Sean Monahans overtime goal brought a sense of relief to the Calgary Flames locker room.Monahan scored 2:26 into overtime, giving Calgary its first win of the season, 4-3 over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.The 22-year-old made a nifty move and beat Robin Lehner over his shoulder for his first of the season after being set up alone in front by Johnny Gaudreau.Everybody needed that goal, and when I say everybody, probably the fans, the coaches and Mony himself, said Glen Gulutzan, who earned his first victory as Calgarys coach.After dropping back-to-back games in Edmonton and then losing in overtime in Vancouver on Saturday, the Flames had pressure building on a team expected to take a giant step forward in 2016-17.When you win, it brings confidence, Monahan said. As a group, its home ice and the way that we battled back and found a way to win is big for our team.Matthew Tkachuk got his first NHL goal, and Michael Frolik and Micheal Ferland also scored for Calgary.Zemgus Girgensons, Ryan OReilly and Marcus Foligno scored for Buffalo.Calgary trailed 2-1 entering the third period but tied it at 1:10. Folignos turnover in his own corner was taken by Ferland, who darted straight to the net and lifted a backhand into the top corner.Foligno made up for his error on his next shift, with a nifty inside-out move to sidestep Deryk Engelland and then flicking a high shot past Chad Johnson on the glove side.The Flames got it back to even once more at 4:52 on Tkachuks goal. The 18-year-old snapped a shot from off the wing that beat Lehner over his shoulder on the short side.Obviously unbelievable, Tkachuk said. You dream about scoring in the NHL for a long time. Now that Ive got the first one out of the way, hopefully we can just keep rolling as a team.Tied 1-1 after thhe first period, OReilly put the Sabres into the lead on a power play and via some misfortune for Calgary defenseman Dougie Hamilton.ddddddddddddReillys slap shot from the top of the circle was kicked out by the right pad of Johnson but the puck hit Hamilton in his chest and bounced into the net.I dont think theres many positives to take at all, OReilly said. Our compete level, our execution was just embarrassing. Thats not the way we want to be. We want to be a consistent team. We have to be a lot better.OReillys goal came shortly after a stretch of nearly 18 minutes in which the Sabres never generated a shot. However, Calgary could not solve Lehner during that stretch, which involved a couple squandered power plays including a 5 on 3.Johnson made 18 saves for the victory. Lehner had 30 stops in the loss.Calgary tied the game 1-1 at 16:12 of the first period.In their first stretch of sustained pressure, the Flames eventually capitalized with Frolik digging out a loose puck lying by the pad of Lehner and sliding in his third goal.Buffalo opened the scoring at 7:25, taking advantage of a mishandling of the puck by Calgary defenseman TJ Brodie. Tyler Ennis was the beneficiary of the turnover and he zipped a pass in front where Girgenson deflected it into the top corner.Game notes Gaudreau was blanked again and has been held to just one assist in four games. ... Veteran defensemen Dennis Wideman and Nicklas Grossmann were scratches for the Flames as rookie Brett Kulak got in the line-up again. Wideman and Grossmann have a combined 1,350 games in their NHL career.UP NEXTSabres: Play Thursday night at Vancouver.Flames: Host the Hurricanes on Thursday night. ' ' '