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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Los Angeles Angels pitcher Mark Mulder tore his left Achilles tendon Saturday, cutting short his comeback and possibly bringing his career to an end. Mulder last pitched in the majors in 2008 for St. Louis. The 36-year-old left-hander was hoping to make the Angels rotation after being invited in January to spring training, but team spokesman Eric Kay said Mulder felt a pop during agility drills. Mulder will wait for the swelling to go down before surgery is scheduled. He then faces a six- to eight-month recovery, meaning his career could be over. "I can handle this," Mulder wrote on Twitter. "But seeing my son in tears when he saw me in a boot and crutches and I told him I wasnt going to pitch. That was tough." Mulder won 103 games over nine major league seasons with Oakland and St. Louis, including a 21-win season in 2001. He struggled with arm injuries and had surgery over his final two campaigns with the Cardinals, throwing his most recent major league pitch on July 9, 2008. Mulder had been working as a television analyst and was trying to make a comeback after retooling his delivery. He sounded optimistic that he would make the team when pitchers and catchers reported on Friday. "Ive worked hard and what Im doing right now is good," Mulder said. "I know its working and Im excited for the opportunity." Now, a career that was derailed by two shoulder operations could be finished for good after this injury. It was cruel and somewhat fitting for a pitcher who dominated early in his career but was sidelined for much of the latter part. Mulders best season was his second in 2001, when he went 21-8 with a 3.45 ERA while anchoring a dominant rotation with Barry Zito and Tim Hudson. He followed that up by winning 19, 15 and 17 games for Oakland the next three years and then going 16-8 for St. Louis in 2005. But his career got derailed after that. He made just 26 starts and won six games from 2006-08, posting a 7.73 ERA during that time. JMon Moore Packers Jersey .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town. Jimmy Graham Packers Jersey . Amaro broke the NCAA all-time record for receiving yards in a season for a tight end with 1,352 during his junior campaign, eclipsing the mark of 1,329 set by Rices James Casey in 2008. http://www.officialpackersteamgears.com/oren-burks-jersey/. At 11:06 of the first period, Neal struck Marchand with his knee when Marchand was down on the ice. Marchand remained in the game. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand. Custom Packers Jerseys . They named Mark Washington as their defensive co-ordinator on Thursday and appear to be closing in on an offensive co-ordinator. Marquez Valdes-Scantling Packers Jersey . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open.The below table contains a group of five first-line centres in the National Hockey League, with their Corsi% On (percentage of 5-on-5 shot attempts with the player in question on the ice) and Corsi% Off (percentage of 5-on-5 shot attempts with the player in question off of the ice). I’ve omitted names in an effort to temporarily mitigate bias. First-Line Centres Centre (2014-15) Corsi% On Corsi% Off Player A 55.3% 46.6% Player B 53.8% 50.7% Player C 58.5% 48.9% Player D 56.0% 47.7% Player E 53.4% 48.7% I think we can comfortably agree that these five players share two things in common: one, their respective teams are in control when they’re on the ice, and two, there is depreciable performance when they come off of the ice. It’s important to note, though, that the Corsi% Off for each of these centres isn’t terrible – it’s actually at or around what we would expect for a weighted performance of lines two, three, and four based on prior work done at HockeyGraphs The point isn’t that these players are likely great at their craft. It’s that these players likely play on teams with at least fairly competent depth, perhaps enough to compete for a playoff spot. Let’s work this exercise one more time. We’ll focus on the same five centres but, this time, grab their Corsi% On and Corsi% Off for the years 2011-2014. First-Line Centres - On and Off Ice Corsi% Centre (2011-14) Corsi% On Corsi% Off Player A 57.7% 49.0% Player B 50.2% 47.9% Player C 54.7% 47.7% Player D 56.5% 50.6% Player E 47.2% 44.3% for Player A through Player D, we see more of the same – a range from very good to elite possession numbers via Corsi% On, and mostly average possession numbers based on line expectations via Corsi% Off. Player E, however, is substantially different. He was getting caved in by the opposition, and his team was just appalling with him on the bench. Players A through D, in order: Henrik Sedin, Nicklas Backstrom, Sidney Crosby, and Joe Thornton. As you might have expected. Player E? Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Though there’s been a lot of handwringing about another possible disappointing season in Edmonton, I think there’s something to be said about measurable improvement. I know Oilers fans – and probably the front office and coaching staff, too – dream of this team making a magical jump from draft lottery quality to legitimate playoff contender overnight. Unfortunately, progress ofteen takes time.dddddddddddd That’s especially true if you’re trying to build a team that can hang its hat on puck possession, and not riding the wave of variance to a fluky post-season berth. And make no mistake, Edmonton has improved at 5-on-5. Part of it is because Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and his linemates seem to be finally taking the next step, entering their playing primes as a group. Part of it is because Edmonton has done an excellent job at repairing some galaxy-sized holes in the lineup away from the top-line, enough that this team is no longer pulling dreadful 44% control with their top players off of the ice. Let’s touch on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first. We know he’s still towing positive RelativeCorsi% from the numbers above. Additionally, he – with assistance from Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, certainly – is on the verge of hitting a Corsi% he’s only seen a couple of times previously in his career. The graph to the left is a 15-game rolling average, which will let us capture his recent 2014-2015 uptick. While Nugent-Hopkins and the Edmonton top-line are starting to decisively control play, it’s not exactly uncharted territory – we have seen stretches, albeit brief ones, of that top-line clicking in the past. What’s made Edmonton respectable, again, is that the second, third, and fourth line are starting to pull their weight a bit, something that’s been as elusive as winning within the Oilers organization for years now. We can use the same 15-game Corsi% rolling average for the Oilers over all of the games Nugent-Hopkins has played, but specifically exclude all of the shifts in which Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice. How does Edmonton look now compared to years past? Just like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers second, third, and fourth-lines have seen brief stints of respectability before. But, compare the first graph to the second graph, and you’ll notice that this team’s never really had both groups going at the same time. When Nugent-Hopkins was struggling early in his career, the rest of the Oilers group was doing OK. When Nugent-Hopkins had a great run during the lockout-shortened year, the rest of the Oilers lines couldn’t get out of their own way. Can Edmonton sustain this sort of success? Right now, the team sits at 48.5% Score-Adjusted Fenwick% through sixteen games – ranking 21st in the NHL. It’s only a start, but let’s remember the Edmonton teams of past, and their league-wide ranking by Score-Adjusted Fenwick%: 28th, 26th, 30th, 29th, 26th, 29th, and 28th. Improvement is a relative term. Edmonton’s doing it. In the event that they can fix the goaltending that’s really been the source of their pain for most of this season, the Oilers could be a team trending up in the standings. Cheap Barcelona Jerseys Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys Authentic Cheap Bayern Munich Jerseys Cheap Dortmund Jerseys Cheap USA Jerseys Cheap USWNT Jerseys France Soccer Jerseys Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Cheap Belgium Soccer Jerseys Brazil Jerseys From China Germany Jerseys From China Authentic Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Portugal Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Spain Jerseys Cheap France Football Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mexico Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Colombia Jerseys Cheap Belgium Football Jerseys Wholesale Argentina Jerseys Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys China cheap uswnt jersey authentic Authentic AC Milan Jerseys Discount Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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