Allgemeines » thought in hockey, and Im mighty tired

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos will be without Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib for their Sunday night showdown with the Oakland Raiders.Talib was sent for a cortisone injection in his lower back Friday and coach Gary Kubiak said he was optimistic that will help Talib return to the field soon.Talib missed Denvers 27-19 victory over San Diego last week when his back stiffened during the teams walkthrough the day before the game. He missed practice all of this week and traveled to California on Thursday for a second opinion on his back, which began bothering him two weeks ago.Bradley Roby started in his place last week and earned the AFCs defensive player of the week honors after making seven tackles, two pass breakups and a pick-6 of Philip Rivers.Roby said Sunday nights game, which pits two 6-2 teams and marks a revival of the rivalry that had faded in recent years -- along with the Raiders fortunes -- marks another opportunity for me to go out and show what I can do and help this team win.Hell team with Chris Harris Jr. to cover Michael Crabtree and, if he plays, Amari Cooper, who have accounted for 99 catches, 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns. Cooper is questionable with a back injury.We just need the young guys to continue to step up, Harris said. They dont have to do too much, just play their role. We still like our matchups, me and Robe and Doss or Kayvon, whoever plays, and so we feel like we can still cover them.Kayvon Webster (hamstring) returned to practice Friday and is questionable for the game. He got hurt after just a handful of snaps last week, and Lorenzo Doss stepped into the slot and had two big pass breakups, including a deflection on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 2:40 remaining.Weve seen Doss, hes been around the ball forever, Harris said. I dont even worry about Doss because hes like a ball magnet. Hes just got those natural instincts that you cant coach.This is a perfect game for him to get a lot of picks. He could have had two last week, and then just think about it: nobody would be talking about being nervous that Talibs out because the dude just had two picks last week.The equalizer to losing Talib this weekend, Harris suggested, is having pass rusher DeMarcus Ware back from a broken arm to pressure Raiders QB Derek Carr.Having D-Ware back, that kind of takes away any of the losses, having that pressure right there, Harris said. As long as we get a lot of pressure on this dude, thats what its about.Ware returned last week after a six-week absence, but said he was only about 70 percent. This week, he proclaimed himself 100 percent.The moves that I did were more speed-type moves, just bending, ripping, going around the corner, trying to get to the quarterback and not using that arm when it came to power moves, Ware said. Now, I can.The secondary digging so deep into its depth is of little concern to star pass rusher Von Miller.Im not worried about any of those guys, Miller insisted. Weve got the best secondary in the National Football League ... Its still the No Fly Zone.The Broncos also are expecting to get back inside linebacker Brandon Marshall from a pulled left hamstring that sidelined him last week.Its doing a lot better, Marshall said. Im feeling good. Im excited to be out there with my brothers again.Also back is defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who suffered a broken rib when he was plowed over by San Diego running back Melvin Gordon during Robys interception return for a touchdown.Phillips will likely coach from the booth rather than the sideline for just the second time as a coordinator. The other time came in Houston after he had his gall bladder and a kidney removed.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Custom Canucks T-shirts . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Canucks Jerseys China . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. http://www.customcanucksjersey.com/ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Cheap Canucks Jerseys . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Cheap Custom Canucks Jersey .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. The hockey world is a tight community. Yet, its also a business. And with big money comes intense pressure to deliver. General managers, coaches and players are paid to win, and thus they come and go. They understand the realities of their jobs.But the firing of Gerard Gallant by the Florida Panthers?on Sunday night hit a collective nerve. Even tough hockey decisions normally meet a threshold of fairness, but it doesnt feel like this one did.The response I got to Gallants firing from team executives and coaches around the league was a universal shaking of the head. A coach who was nominated for the Jack Adams Award last season is gone just 22 games into the 2016-17 campaign -- while his team is over .500 and has battled key injuries since the get-go.The fact that photos surfaced of Gallant having to hail his own cab in Raleigh, North Carolina, after being told he was fired -- well, that just adds to the level of outrage for many.I suspect that Gallant knew he was on the clock from the moment former GM Dale Tallon was promoted to president of hockey operations last spring. Gallant had been Tallons coach. And now Tallon had been punted from the day-to-day hockey decision-making.You cant fire a coach right after he has been nominated for coach of the year, can you? But the Panthers canned Gallant. For no justifiable reason.Some of this has to do with a clash between the Panthers analytics group and old-school guys such as Tallon and Galllant.dddddddddddd And Im not here to fan the flames of that debate. I think you need to keep an open mind to both analytics and how best to use that information, within the context of understanding what makes a player useful just from knowing the game. Theres room for both schools of thought in hockey, and Im mighty tired of people trying to make you pick a side.The silver lining for Gallant is that he has two more years on his contract past this season. He has time to make his next coaching gig a good one. And he will get another opportunity, to be sure. Hes too good a coach not to get another look soon. As my colleagues Craig Custance and Joe McDonald suggested, perhaps Las Vegas GM George McPhee will consider Gallant as a candidate to be the first coach of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.What will be fascinating in Florida is how people assess credit/blame for the Panthers performance moving forward. Florida still has a great core, one that Tallon built and Gallant molded, players who love their former coach. If and when the Panthers achieve sustained success, will the narrative be about the new regime bringing the program to the next level or that the Tallon-Gallant partnership gave this team its true kick-start?There will be probably room for both. But what is clear is that Gallant deserved better. ' ' '