HEREIN SPAZIERT » out to a 5-0 lead in the first two periods, allowed the

(SportsNetwork.com) - For 30 of the NFLs 32 teams, the focus has already shifted toward next season and that means preparation for the draft is kicking into high gear. Monday marked the beginning of Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Alabama, as NFL officials from all 32 clubs, along with 110 draft-eligible college prospects descended on the Gulf Coast. The Titans and Jaguars coaching staffs will be mentoring the best senior and redshirt junior talent in the country leading up to the 66th annual Senior Bowl on Jan. 24. In a quarterback-light year when only two signal callers have been given first-round grades by most scouts -- Florida States Jameis Winston and Oregons Marcus Mariota -- intriguing Baylor project Bryce Petty is one of the more high-profile prospects on hand and a player sure to receive a lot of attention in the Cotton State. The sturdy, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Petty spent his first three years in Waco, Texas, as a backup to Robert Griffin III as well as Nick Florence before taking over Art Briles dynamic spread offense as a junior in 2013. He finished that season with 4,200 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and only three interceptions, while adding 14 more scores on the ground. The sequel was also solid as Petty, who finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2014, passed for 3,855 yards and 29 touchdowns along with six more on the ground while leading the Bears to a share of the Big 12 title and a berth in the Cotton Bowl, where he threw for a record 550 yards in a 42-41 loss to Big Ten powerhouse Michigan State. Petty has the measureables that NFL teams look for, but hes been pigeonholed as a spread-offense quarterback, who will need plenty of time to learn the intricacies of a traditional NFL system. So, much like Mariota, its build the offense around Pettys skill set or understand hes a two- or three-year project at minimum while learning yours. I just want to prove that I can play in an NFL system, Petty said. That its not about this college system. I can do drops, I can read defenses, go through progressions, pick up NFL offenses, the verbiage, what Im supposed to look at, all that kind of stuff. The positives on Petty, who has been projected by most as a third-round pick, are his size and mobility, along with strong natural leadership skills, something demanded by the position he plays. When Petty feels it, he also can be an efficient passer, with touch, timing and effective ball placement, although it remains to be seen if you can really drive the football downfield consistently, especially against NFL-caliber defensive backs. We like to go fast and we like to go deep (at Baylor), Petty said. That part makes it fun. I think thats why kids love playing for coach Briles and in our system. Being an offensive guy, you love making the big play. The big play is always fun, its always exciting, so being a part of that, being able to jumpstart those explosive plays was always fun. Helping jumpstart those explosive plays is Pettys functional football mobility, which is well above average, making his ability to extend plays outside the pocket exceptional at times on the college level. Of course, keeping your eyes up and looking downfield while an NFL pass rush is bearing down is a different animal. Like most spread-specific QBs, Petty often arrives at the line of scrimmage with a predetermined read in mind and locks in on that particular receiver. The fact he was always in the shotgun at Baylor is also a concern and scouts will be paying close attention to his mechanics and footwork under center. Right now Petty is regarded as a system-dependent QB who excels in quick, one- read situations in which tempo and spacing are key. The hard part is projecting if he can be anything more than that at the next level. That whole system deal is what it is, Petty explained. I was told when I came in (to Baylor), Hey, this is the car youre going to drive and here are the keys. For me, thats what I was told to do and I wanted to excel at that and be the best I could at that system. Regardless of what system I come into in the NFL, Im going to take that same approach. Im going to excel in whatever system that Ill be in. To do that, Petty has been working with noted quarterback guru George Whitfield in an attempt to improve his game and prove hes not a one-trick pony. What Ive always said is theres a billion ways to coach quarterbacks, Petty said. Everybodys got a certain click or a certain way they like to be coached. For George, its so personal. Hes great at what he does because he makes it easy to understand what hes talking about. And its even easier to understand what Petty is trying to accomplish in Mobile ... its time to buck the Baylor system. You dont have to worry about a system guy, Petty said, basically pleading his case to NFL scouts. What you are going to get is a passionate guy thats going to want to absorb anything and everything he can. I feel like I am a top quarterback in this draft and (Im here) to prove it. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Ending a nine-game losing streak? That gave the Milwaukee Bucks veteran forward a reason to smile. Cheap Lightning Jerseys Authentic . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. http://www.cheaplightningjerseys.com/ . Playing in his 19th career final, the second-seeded Tsonga was favourite to win the Open 13 for the third time and to secure an 11th career title, but he struggled with Gulbis attacking approach. Cheap Lightning Jerseys China . Brazilian striker Brandao opened the scoring with a header in the 55th minute before winger Franck Tabanou volleyed home from close range to double the lead in the 61st. Cheap Lightning Jerseys . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta.Scott Cullen looks at an epic night of playoff hockey, with Brad Richards, Ryan Miller, Alexander Steen, Nathan MacKinnon, Paul Stastny and Raffi Torres among those to make a difference in the first games of their respective playoff series. OPENING NIGHT ON BROADWAY Though the score was tied at one into the third period, the first game of the Philadelphia Flyers-New York Rangers series was a dominant performance by the Rangers, who outshot the Flyers 35-16 (53-37 in 5-on-5 shot attempts). The game was broken open when the Rangers scored a pair of power play goals, 47 second apart, on double-minor to Jason Akeson for high-sticking Rangers LW Carl Hagelin. Akeson, 23, was undrafted out of Kitchener in the Ontario Hockey League and has been toiling in the AHL for three seasons, tallying 172 points in 208 games over three seasons, putting up two points in two regular season games against the Flyers. Akeson happened to be only Flyers player with better than 50% Corsi for the game. One of the stories of this series is that it pits three legendary members of the Tampa Bay Lightning against one another. Rangers C Brad Richards was the big scorer on the night with a goal and two assists, while RW Martin St. Louis contributed a pair of assists. By contrast, Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier played 7:42, the lowest total for any skater in the game. The only other game this season in which Lecavalier played under 10 minutes was an early March contest against Washington in which he was ejected as part of a line brawl after playing just 3:22. The territorial domination by the Rangers told the tale of this game, as Flyers first liners Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek didnt register a shot on goal; credit for that ought to go to the Rangers defence pairing of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, who got that matchup assignment. By contrast, Rick Nash led the Rangers with seven shots on goal and was one of four Rangers with better than 70% Corsi during the game. The others were fourth-liners Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett, as well as defenceman Anton Stralman. Stralman doesnt get a lot of pub, but hes ranked among Top 10 defencemen (minimum 500 minutes) in Corsi percentage in each of the past two seasons. Nash, along with linemates Richards and St. Louis, were matched up most often against Philadelphias top line of Giroux, Voracek and Scott Hartnell, along with the defence pairing of Mark Streit and Niklas Grossman. Ray Emery was in net for Flyers, and didnt play poorly, stopping 32 of 36 shots, but could be replaced by Steve Mason in Game Two. The goaltending may change, but thats not the issue that should be most pressing to the Flyers. They need to play with more discipline and control the puck more if theyre going to put some pressure on the Rangers. BLACK AND BLUE In a Triple-OT epic, the Blues and Blackhawks waged war in a brutal, physical game that could have lasting effects in the series. Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews, coming back from a shoulder injury, and Blues D Jay Bouwmeester, who reportedly was suffering from dehydration, both missed time during the game. Alexander Steen scored the winner, 26 seconds into the third overtime period, finishing a nifty short drop pass from Steve Ott, after David Backes beat a confused Blackhawks defence (Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson) to a puck behind the Chicago net. Blackhawks LW Patrick Sharp launced 11 shots, with six on goal, including a breakaway in double overtime that was stopped by Blues G Ryan Miller. Miller got off to a rough start, allowing three goals on seven shots in the first period, but Miller shut the door after that, turning aside 35 shots over the next five-plus periods. Looking for an unsung hero for the Blues in this one? How about C Maxim Lapierre, who had the best possession numbers on the team despite starting the Blues highest percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone. The Blackhawks have tended to use their fourth line -- Brandon Bollig, Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith -- for defensive zone face-offs, but their usage was really tilted in this game, taking one of their 18 faceoffs in the offensive zone. This was a serious hockey game, hard-hitting and whichever team ended up losing in triple overtime would have every right to be disappointed. Considering the Blues were such a banged-up team late in the season, and didnt have RW T.J. Oshie and C Patrik Berglund for Game One, that Gaame One win has to bring some measure of relief, for now, because it starts up again Saturday afternoon.dddddddddddd ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY Trailing 4-2 into the third period, the Colorado Avalanche mounted a rally, as Paul Stastny scored with 14 seconds left in regulation to tie, before Stastny scored again 7:27 into overtime to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in the series. Both the tying and winning goals were set up by Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon, who had three assists for the game. Since December 29, MacKinnon finished the regular season with 42 points in his last 45 games and hes been a crucial part of Colorados offence. While he spent more time with PA Parenteau and Ryan OReilly in Game One, but joined Stastny later in the third period as the Avs were pressing to tie the game. MacKinon also paced the Avalanche forwards in puck possession stats. With Colorado having little faith in their fourth line of Patrick Bordeleau, Paul Carey and Brad Malone -- the trio combined for just over nine minutes of ice time (three minutes per) -- so Colorados top forwards played a lot. Stastny (2 G, 1 A), OReilly (1 G, 1 A) and captain Gabriel Landeskog each played more than 25 minutes. If Colorado doesnt trust their fourth line, the workload could get heavy on those top forwards if the series goes long. Avalanche LW Jamie McGinn, with a goal and an assist, and D Tyson Barrie, with two assists, were other Avs with multi-point efforts. Though he didnt get on the scoresheet, Wild RW Jason Pominville sent 10 shots towards the Colorado net, with six making it through to Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 29 of 33 shots he faced; not great, but better than Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped 26 of 31. Game One did nothing to disprove the notion that the Avalanche are vulnerable, but the Avalanche have defied statistical odds this season and did it once again in Game One of the series. Their goaltender pulled with three minutes remaining, with the win probability for the Wild nearing 98%, the Avalanche needed D Erik Johnson to sweep away a long Wild shot that was trickling towards the empty cage with a minute and a half left, and that allowed the Avalanche to mount their last charge for the tying goal. SHARK NIGHT The San Jose Sharks raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first two periods, allowed the Kings to make it remotely interesting in the third, before walking away with a 6-3 win in Game One. While the Sharks had the better of play in the first period, it wasnt until they scored a pair of goals in the final minute of the period to take a 3-0 lead, that they really pushed the Kings on their heels. Four Sharks had multi-point games. RW Brent Burns scored in the empty net to finish with a goal and an assist; LW Tomas Hertl, in his third game since December 19, had a goal and an assist; C James Sheppard, despite having a rough night in the possession game, added a couple of assists; D Marc-Edouard Vlasic had a goal and an assist as well, the first time since November, 2011 that he had at least a goal and an assist in the same game. LW Raffi Torres, who played only five games during the regular season, played 8:42 for the Sharks, the lowest for all San Jose skaters, yet he scored a goal and led the Sharks with seven hits. Torres wasnt the games big hitter, though. That was Kings C Anze Kopitar, who had nine hits, all while registering six shots on goal and owning the best possession stats for the Kings, with a 66.7% Corsi%. Keep an eye on the Sharks usage. They enlisted the line of Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns to do the heavy lifting, taking one of 16 face-offs in the offensive zone. They spent most of their night matched against Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Dwight King, while the Sharks put Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Matt Nieto up against Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and Justin Williams. Though the Kings mounted something of a rally in the third period, after pulling starting goaltender Jonathan Quick in favour of backup Martin Jones, scoring three times in the first 14 minutes of the period, they couldnt complete the miracle comeback and the Sharks ended up with what was a relatively easy win. Given the quality of these two teams, there shouldnt be too many easy wins in the series. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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