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{allcanada} St. Louis (38-17-7) at Calgary (28-23-11)

2012-02-26T12:08:00.001-08:00

St. Louis (38-17-7) at Calgary (28-23-11)

TV: TSN, FSMW

Puck Drop: 9:00 pm EST Mon Feb 27, 2012

The St. Louis Blues turned around their season once coach Ken Hitchcock took over in early November, and they're now in the hunt for their first Central Division title in 12 years.

The Calgary Flames simply are hoping to get back into the Western Conference playoff picture.

St. Louis can pull into a tie for the division lead with a win Monday night as it continues a six-game road trip at Calgary, which has lost three straight.

The Blues were 6-7-0 when Davis Payne was fired in favor of Hitchcock on Nov. 6, and the change in philosophies seemed to rejuvenate the team.

St. Louis (38-17-7) hasn't won a division title since 1999-2000, though it can tie Detroit with 19 games to play by beating the Flames.

The Blues have won eight of 11 after beating Winnipeg 3-2 in a shootout Saturday - their third game in four days.

"This is a very difficult travel situation, so I'm very happy with it," Hitchcock said. "(The Jets) are sitting here waiting for us, and we still come in and collect points. It's two points … any points you get on the road are really gratifying. You put them in the bank and move forward."

Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves and improved to 3-1-0 with a 1.45 goals-against average over his last four starts.

The Blues allowed a season-high 41 shots while putting a season-low 16 of their own on net, but Halak's play and goals from David Backes and David Perron - along with Perron's shootout winner - were enough.

"We stole one," said T.J. Oshie, who had two assists. "If it wasn't for Jaro, it could have been 6-2. We took advantage of a very hot goalie and we were able to steal one."

Calgary, meanwhile, has let its last three games slip away.

The Flames (28-23-11) are 11th in the conference after blowing a 3-0, second-period lead in a 5-4 shootout loss to Philadelphia on Saturday.

Calgary, which has been outshot in its last 10 games, scored first in a 6-1 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday and netted the first two goals in a 4-3 shootout loss to Phoenix on Thursday.

"It's no secret, we're having a tough time right now playing with the lead," captain Jarome Iginla said. "The good part is we're getting it and we're having real solid first periods. But it slowly slips away from us."

Alex Tanguay, who scored on a penalty shot and added an assist Saturday, knows the Flames need to figure out how to hold leads if they're to qualify for the postseason.

"We keep finding ways to shoot ourselves in the foot," Tanguay said. "We (were) lucky to get a point."

The Blues have won two of three meetings this season, though Calgary won 3-1 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Oct. 28.

The Flames have outscored St. Louis 8-2 in winning the last three contests in Calgary, with Miikka Kiprusoff boasting a 0.67 GAA while winning each of them. He's 9-2-1 with a 1.49 GAA in 12 home starts versus the Blues since arriving in Calgary, making 28 saves to beat Brian Elliott in October.

Elliott made 24 stops in a 2-0 win over the Flames on Nov. 25. It's unclear whether he or Halak will start Monday.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
St. Louis	62	38	17	7	83	2nd, Central	158	125	12-13-3 Road
Calgary	62	28	23	11	67	3rd, Northwest	150	170	16-9-4 Home

Injuries

Alex Steen C, Matt D'Agostini RW, Jamie Langenbrunner RW

David Moss RW, Lee Stempniak RW, Blair Jones C, Mikael Backlund C, Chris Butler D

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{allcanada} Jones takes bronze at Scotties

2012-02-26T12:07:00.003-08:00

RED DEER, Alta. -- Manitoba's Jennifer Jones won the bronze medal at the Canadian women's curling championship with an 8-6 win over Quebec's Marie-France Larouche.

A bronze medal game was added to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts format last year.

Jones, a four-time national champion, lost 6-5 in an extra end in Saturday's semifinal to Alberta's Heather Nedohin.

Alberta and B.C.'s Kelly Scott meet later in the championship game.

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{allcanada} Duncan, Thompson reach podium

2012-02-26T12:07:00.001-08:00

BISCHOFSWIESEN, Germany -- Dave Duncan of London, Ont., and Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., extended Canada's medal streak on the ski cross World Cup circuit Sunday.

Duncan finished second in a men's event while Thompson was third in the women's competition. The Canadian team has earned medals in all eight World Cup races held this season, registering 16 podium finishes over that span.

"It's a good team," said Canadian team coach Eric Archer. "Any given day somebody goes out and someone else decides to step it up.

"We've got three races left and if we can keep a two-podium average, I think that's a pretty good season."

Filip Flisar of Slovenia captured the men's race ahead of Duncan. France's Jean Frederic Chapuis finished third.

Competitors battled through snowy conditions, which Duncan said impacted the race.

"It was not an easy day," he said. "Mother Nature wasn't too kind to us over the weekend and today was no different.

"You definitely had to put that in the back of your mind and just go for it and make your peace with what's out there and go."

The bad weather made it tough to pass on the course, Duncan added.

"My starts were basically the only thing that kept me alive today," Duncan said. "Filip Flisar had a start that was equal to mine and when we went into the first turn he had position ... there wasn't really many opportunities to get by Filip and I knew the guys were on my tail so it was still put it down as hard as you can but be safe because the course was demanding

"You had to be cautiously aggressive."

Katrin Mueller of Switzerland captured the gold medal in the women's race, her first World Cup victory. Ophelie David of France was second for the second straight race.

Thompson was content with her third-place finish, especially considering she moved into second in the overall standings.

"I've love to stay in the (overall) race," she said. "But I'm just taking it race to race and trying to keep my skiing at the same point and hoping I can hold on to it."

Thompson said she got a solid start in the final, standing second behind Mueller. But a miscue on jump allowed David to get by into second spot.

"Then I said, 'Just hold on to it,"' Thompson said. "I'm happy being back on the podium but it would be nice to be on top."

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{allcanada} Bishop excited for new opportunity in Ottawa

2012-02-26T12:05:00.003-08:00

As expected, the St. Louis Blues have traded goaltender Ben Bishop, sending the native St. Louisan to the Ottawa Senators in exchange a 2013 second-round pick.

The Senators, in need of a netminder after the strange hand injury recently suffered by starter Craig Anderson, are expected to sign the 6-foot-7 Bishop to a one-year, one-way contract, according to reports, largely because of the stipulations that would kick in for Bishop had he not played in at least 30 minutes of 17 NHL games this season.

The Blues were faced with the same situation, as Bishop would have become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at season's end and felt they couldn't allow Bishop, 25, to walk for nothing after getting noticed around the NHL for his stellar play with the team's AHL affiliate in Peoria.

"I've kind of had in my head the last month that it was going to happen," Bishop said Sunday morning. "I'm excited now that it's over and I can go back to focusing just on playing hockey. I've heard a bunch of good things about (Ottawa) and they've got a great young team coming up. So I'm excited to be part of the organization."

Bishop was 24-14-0 in 38 games with the Rivermen, compiling a 2.26 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and six shutouts. He was a late selection to the AHL All-Star Game and stopped 10 of 11 shots in the game. He stopped all four shootout attempts in helping the Western Conference to an 8-7 victory, earning the game's MVP award that helped open more eyes around the League.

Bishop was locked in a battle in training camp with Brian Elliott for the backup job behind Jaroslav Halak. But Blues general manager Doug Armstrong chose the more experienced Elliott after Halak struggled in camp. The decision has been greatly rewarding for the Blues, who have a pair of legitimate No. 1's now even though it was disappointing for Bishop to go back to the AHL. Both Halak and Elliott are among the NHL leaders in a number of goaltending categories.

"Yeah, I mean obviously my dream ever since I was a kid and especially after I got drafted was to win a Stanley Cup in St. Louis," said Bishop, who was born in Denver but has lived in St. Louis the majority of his life. "I've always wanted to do that. I've always wanted to be in St. Louis, my heart has always been and probably will be in St. Louis. But it's part of the business and you've got to go where the opportunities are.

"Ottawa is a great opportunity for me now and I'm excited for it. Not many people get a chance to play in their hometown and I've already had that chance. Obviously (it would have been a) dream come true, but that's not the reality. The reality is get in the NHL and play. I think that's more important than being in your hometown."

Bishop, a third-round pick for the Blues in 2005, has played in only 13 NHL games in his career, going 4-5-1 with a 2.83 GAA and an .896 save-percentage. He will give the Senators insurance in goal, as Ottawa is in the thick of a playoff race in the Eastern Conference, sitting in seventh place with 72 points. They have been going with 37-year-old backup Alex Auld and recently recalled 20-year-old prospect Robin Lehner as a backup.

"I think they're right there in the playoff push so it would be fun to get up there and help them out," Bishop said of the Senators. "I'm not quite sure how long Craig Anderson is out, but anything I can do to help the team, I'm excited to get up there, meet the guys and get going.

"I do not know much about Ottawa. I've never been there. I heard it's a great city, a great hockey town, a rich tradition."

Bishop could head to free agency and pick his own team this summer but seems willing to take a one-year deal now, especially since he knows would be on a one-way contract next season. But if he were somehow to play at least 30 minutes in 17 of the Senators' games this season, he would revert back to a restricted free agent.

"I wanted to get to the NHL obviously as fast as I could," Bishop said. "Obviously if there's a team out there that wants you, I don't really see the difference in them wanting me July 1 or right now. The fact that Ottawa wants you right now is exciting, so I don't think it was necessary to wait until July 1. If they're willing to grab me now, it's pretty exciting to have a team now that wants you.

"It would nice to get something done, but I think we'll have to wait and see. That's not my focus ... it's just getting up there and playing well."

The trade to the Senators reunites Bishop with Ottawa goaltending coach Rick Wamsley, who coached Bishop and helped develop him in Peoria.

"That'll be exciting to get back with him, working with a coach that you've worked with before," Bishop said. "He's obviously helped me get to where I am today. He's helped me big time when it comes to being a pro. It'll be a lot of fun to work with him again and I'm excited to see him."

Bishop has no ill regards towards the Blues or the organization but is ready to move onto new challenges.

"I obviously want to say thank you to (Blues President John Davidson) and Doug Armstrong and (former GM) Larry Pleau for drafting me and bringing me up ... all the coaches I worked with, Andy Murray, Davis Payne and Ken Hitchcock," Bishop said. "(Peoria coach) Jared Bednar has done a great job. Thank you to all of those guys. They're one of the classiest organizations I've seen and I can't say enough good things about them. It's going to be sad to leave, but I'm excited about Ottawa."

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{allcanada} No supplemental discipline imposed on Turris

2012-02-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK -- Following a telephone hearing conducted this afternoon, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has decided that no supplemental discipline is merited for a hit by Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris against Boston Bruins defenseman Joe Corvo in NHL Game No. 919 on Saturday, Feb. 25, in Ottawa.

"Because there was enough head contact on this hit, the Department of Player Safety felt it was necessary to convene a hearing to examine the play further," NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan said. "After reviewing the video extensively as we heard Turris' explanation of how the play developed, we concluded that the head was not targeted intentionally or even recklessly and that the circumstances surrounding the hit contributed significantly to the amount of head contact that resulted.

"We therefore have decided that there will be no supplemental discipline added to the penalty assessed on the play."

The incident occurred at 5:00 of the third period. A minor penalty for boarding was assessed to Turris.

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[SurroundSound] Re: new Mastered for iTunes section

2012-02-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

I read the stuff on these link and consider most of it as bullshit.
It's still compressed crap generally. With the best on offer being CD
quality compressed in a new way.
The most worrying thing is music producers and engineers being led by
the nose by Apple, just because they have cornered the distribution
market.
Non of the criteria being used really relates to what is best for the
music reproduction.
Not only is Apple nose ringing the music industry, but so is the mass
of the population on the planet, those sleepy sheep that can't hear
the difference between a MP3 and a lowly compressed to hell CD, let
alone have any idea about what real lossless music on SACD, DVD-A or
vinyl can sound like.
We are doomed by these lemming to a future of lossless music mass
suicide and the best we can hope for is whatever the lowest common
denominator of the day is, currently MP3.

On Feb 24, 10:13 pm, "Noreltny-gmail" <norel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree! And to make their download products more appealing, include high
> quality artwork and a PDF of the same sort of information normally included
> with a CD booklet, like liner notes. Since you're not limited by the ~ 5" x
> 5" size of the plastic jewel case, use standard letter size as the sheet
> size for the PDF, which will provide space for a lot of interesting
> information about how the album was made, biographies of the artists, etc.
> And the album art should be a high enough quality, so when printed at your
> local color printer (or if you have your own good quality inkjet), you get
> very nice looking prints. Then, paying US $15 for a lossless (CD quality)
> album might be more attractive. For music that is popular with teenagers,
> maybe they should consider selling a downloadable digital copy of
> artist/album posters, which could also be printed at local business who have
> large format color printing services.
>
> Plus, they could start offering higher resolution versions and surround
> versions.
>
> If only we were in charge!!
>
> From: surroundsound@googlegroups.com [mailto:surroundsound@googlegroups.com]
> On Behalf Of Stephen Disney
> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 3:34 PM
> To: surroundsound@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: [SurroundSound] Re: new Mastered for iTunes section
>
> All this trouble CAUSED by Apple... why not just offer an ALAC download
> option... or God forbid, FLAC.
> S
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 7:28 AM, Ray Shackleford <mos...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/02/mastered-for-itunes-how-aud...
> neers-tweak-tunes-for-the-ipod-age.ars
>
> Slightly more info here.
>
> --
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{allcanada} Avril Lavigne In the Running for 'X Factor' Judge Job

2012-02-26T09:04:00.001-08:00

With two judging slots to fill, it seems the folks at "X Factor" might not have to look far to fill one of the spots ... because former L.A. Reid protégé Avril Lavigne is interested in the gig ... TMZ has learned.

According to our sources, Avril had her people reach out to the folks at "X Factor" to let them know she'd like to be considered for the job. Our sources says Avril feels that since she came up in the biz at such a young age, she can mentor the kids on the show the right way.

We're told talks are already happening between the two sides.

Besides her connection to Reid, Avril performed on the finale of season one of "X Factor" with finalist Chris Rene.

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{allcanada} WHL: REINHART BROTHERS LEAD ICE PAST RAIDERS

2012-02-26T08:49:00.001-08:00

When it comes to winning hockey games, the Reinhart brothers play a big role for the Kootenay Ice.

Sam Reinhart scored the winning goal 19 seconds into overtime as Kootenay defeated the host Prince Albert Raiders 5-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.

Older brother Max Reinhart had two goals and two assists for the Ice (34-21-8), who won for the first time in three outings.

The two brothers are one-two in team scoring, with Max leading the way with 70 points in 54 games, while they are both tied for the team lead in goals with 26 apiece.

Erik Benoit chipped in with two goals as well for Kootenay.

Mark McNeill scored once and set up two more for the Raiders (20-37-5) as Josh Morrissey, Antoine Corbin and Anthony Bardaro had a goal apiece.

Nathan Lieuwen made 25 saves for the win while Cole Holowenko turned away 34 shots in defeat.

Kootenay failed to score on three opportunities with the man advantage as Prince Albert went 2 for 5.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Moose Jaw 5, Swift Current 2; Red Deer 4, Saskatoon 3 (SO); Brandon 2, Regina 1 (SO); Seattle 3, Everett 0; Medicine Hat 4, Kelowna 3 (SO); Vancouver 5, Kamloops 3; Victoria 5, Prince George 3; and Tri-City 7, Spokane 3.

At Prince Albert, Sask., Max Reinhart opened the scoring 1:37 into the game to give Kootenay a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders responded with three straight goals for a 3-1 advantage after 20 minutes of play.

Corbin scored at 7:14, Bardaro followed him up 23 seconds later and then Morrissey scored a power-play goal at 8:52.

Benoit scored the only two goals in the second period to tie the game 3-3 heading into the final period.

His first came at 9:23 and then he scored shorthanded at 19:53.

McNeill scored with the man advantage 8:21 into the third period but Max Reinhart scored on a penalty shot at 14:46 to force overtime.

Sam Reinhart scored the winning goal for Kootenay 19 seconds into extra time.

---

Warriors 5 Broncos 2

At Moose Jaw, Sask., Kenton Miller scored two goals and James Henry had a goal and two assists as the Warriors (38-17-7) defeated Swift Current (23-33-8), which are the losers of four straight games.

---

Rebels 4 Blades 3 (SO)

At Saskatoon, Alex Petrovic scored the winner in the shootout and John Persson had two goals and an assist as Red Deer (28-27-6) squeezed past the Blades (36-25-2).

---

Wheat Kings 2 Pats 1 (SO)

At Brandon, Alta., Corbin Boes stopped 23 shots, earning the game's first star, and Mark Stone scored the only goal in the shootout as the Wheat Kings (34-26-4) edged Regina (33-23-7) for their sixth win in seven outings.

---

Thunderbirds 3 Silvertips 0

At Kent, Wash., Calvin Pickard stopped all 29 shots he faced and Brad Deagle picked up the game's first star with two assists as Seattle (21-37-2) halted their three-game losing streak by blanking Everett (16-36-9).

---

Tigers 4 Rockets 3 (SO)

At Medicine Hat, Alta., Hunter Shinkaruk and Curtis Valk each scored in the shootout and Emerson Etem added his league-leading 53rd goal of the season as the Tigers (37-21-5) defeated Kelowna (26-28-9).

---

Giants 5 Blazers 3

At Kamloops, B.C., Marek Tvrdon scored the winning goal with 37 seconds remaining in the third period and Brendan Gallagher added two goals as Vancouver (36-23-4) beat Kamloops (43-15-4) for its first win in four contests.

---

Royals 5 Cougars 3

At Prince George, B.C., Robin Soudek scored two goals and Jared Rathjen made 30 saves as Victoria (19-36-6) handed Prince George (19-39-2) its fourth loss in a row.

---

Americans 7 Chiefs 3

At Spokane, Wash., Patrick Holland and Brendan Shinnimin combined for three goals and eight points as Tri-City (43-15-3) beat the Chiefs (32-22-7) for its fifth straight victory.

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{allcanada} Turris to have disciplinary hearing Sunday

2012-02-26T08:44:00.003-08:00

The Department of Player Safety will hold a disciplinary hearing Sunday with Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris to discuss a boarding penalty called after Turris' hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Joe Corvo during the third period of the Senators-Bruins game, Saturday in Ottawa.

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{allcanada} Report: Blues ship Bishop to Ottawa for pick

2012-02-26T08:44:00.001-08:00

With Craig Anderson sidelined due to a fluke hand injury, the Ottawa Senators have reportedly made a trade with the St. Louis Blues to acquire goalie Ben Bishop for a draft pick, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.

Bishop, a third-round pick in 2005, is third on the Blues' depth chart behind Jaroslav Halak and All-Star Brian Elliott. He lost the backup job to Elliott in October and hasn't had any opportunity to claim it since due to Elliott's dynamite play all season.

Bishop is scheduled to be a restricted free agent following the season if he plays at least 30 minutes in 17 games. Otherwise Bishop will be unrestricted. He has spent the entire season with the Peoria Rivermen in the American Hockey League and has posted a 24-14-4 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in 38 appearances.

Anderson is out indefinitely after suffering a right hand injury. Alex Auld stopped 33 of 37 shots in a 5-3 loss to Boston on Saturday, the Senators first game since Anderson's injury. Robin Lehner was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League to serve as Auld's backup while the Senators search for help in net.

Bishop, who is 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds, played six games with the Blues in 2008-09 and seven last season. He is 4-5-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .896 save percentage in his brief NHL career.

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{allcanada} Read's SO goal caps Flyers' comeback vs. Flames

2012-02-25T22:37:00.001-08:00

CALGARY, Alberta (AP)—Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist, and Matt Read scored the shootout winner as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a three-goal deficit and beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 on Saturday night.

Read ended the game in the fifth round with a shot that beat Miikka Kiprusoff just inside the goal post.

Jakub Voracek, Braydon Coburn and Nicklas Grossman also scored in regulation for Philadelphia (34-20-7), which vaulted over New Jersey into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Mark Giordano, Matt Stajan, Tom Kostopoulos and Alex Tanguay had goals for Calgary (28-23-11), which got 41 saves from Kiprusoff through overtime. The Flames scored at even strength, on a power play, short-handed, and with a penalty shot.

The Flames dropped to 11th in the Western Conference, one point behind Dallas, Los Angeles and Colorado at the postseason cutoff.

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{allcanada} Montreal (24-28-10) at Florida (28-20-12)

2012-02-25T22:09:00.001-08:00

Montreal (24-28-10) at Florida (28-20-12)

TV: RDS, FSFL

Puck Drop: 5:00 pm EST Sun Feb 26, 2012

As recently as two weeks ago, the Montreal Canadiens looked poised to make a late-season playoff push. They've since dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens look to avoid a sixth loss in seven games Sunday when they visit the Florida Panthers, who have already started to reap the benefits from a recent trade.

Montreal (24-28-10) won four in a row Feb. 5-11 but has been outscored 21-11 while going 1-4-1 since then to drop into the East's cellar. The Canadiens dropped their third straight Friday, falling 4-1 at Washington while going 0 for 4 on the power play for the second straight game. Two of those power plays were cut short after Montreal got called for a penalty of its own.

"We have to work on being more disciplined. We had a few chances where we could have taken advantage of our power plays but instead we took penalties of our own. It always seemed to happen at the toughest times," coach Randy Cunneyworth told the team's official website.

"I'd also like to see us being a little more consistently physical out there. We should be finishing more of our checks. I'd like us to be harder on our opponents."

The Canadiens haven't been very hard on the Panthers (28-20-12) this season, losing both meetings. They could be in for another loss Sunday if Florida proves to be back on track.

The Panthers snapped an 0-3-1 skid and reclaimed the Southeast Division lead with Saturday's 3-2 shootout win at Carolina. Florida overcame a two-goal deficit, ultimately tying the game on newly-acquired Wojtek Wolski's tally with less than two minutes remaining.

The Panthers obtained Wolski earlier Saturday from the New York Rangers in exchange for minor league defenseman Mike Vernace and a third-round pick in next season's draft.

"I was trying to feel (Wolski) into the game there," coach Kevin Dineen said. "He's a valuable asset. He has a skill set we were looking for right now, and obviously it paid off for us. There's no better way to introduce yourself to your teammates than to go out and score a big goal."

It was also the first goal of the season for Wolski, who had been limited to nine games for the Rangers after missing more than two months due to a sports hernia.

Jose Theodore made 26 saves in Saturday's win, improving to 2-2-1 with a 1.56 goals-against average in five starts since returning from a knee injury Feb. 12.

Theodore, who spent the first eight-plus seasons of his career with the Canadiens, is 2-2-1 with a 4.62 GAA - his highest against any opponent - versus his former team.

Montreal is expected to give a start to backup Peter Budaj, who is 0-3-1 with a 3.71 GAA over his last four road games. He's surrendered two goals in each of his two career starts versus the Panthers, losing both - including a 2-1 home loss Oct. 24.

"I always prepare myself well, physically and mentally so I'm ready whenever the coaches tell you to go in," Budaj said. "Now I'm just looking forward to (Sunday)."

It's unknown if Florida will have John Madden or Marcel Goc available. Both centers have been sidelined for at least a week with lower-body injuries.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
Montreal	62	24	28	10	58	5th, Northeast	161	171	13-14-2 Road
Florida	60	28	20	12	68	1st, Southeast	149	167	14-8-8 Home

Injuries

Andrei Markov D, Hunter Bishop LW, Brendon Nash D, Brian Gionta RW, Mike Blunden RW, Travis Moen LW

Dmitry Kulikov D, Scottie Upshall RW, Marco Sturm LW, Jason Garrison D, Matt Bradley RW

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{allcanada} NY Islanders (26-27-8) at Ottawa (32-23-8)

2012-02-25T22:08:00.001-08:00

NY Islanders (26-27-8) at Ottawa (32-23-8)

TV: MSG+, RSNE

Puck Drop: 5:00 pm EST Sun Feb 26, 2012

The New York Islanders were embarrassed at home by the Ottawa Senators earlier this week. They're hoping to come out with a more inspired effort as they kick off a crucial four-game road swing.

New York tries to inch closer to getting back in the Eastern Conference playoff picture and avenge one of its most lopsided defeats of the season Sunday against Ottawa.

The Islanders (26-27-8) surrendered two goals in the opening 95 seconds Monday en route to their ninth shutout loss of the season, 6-0 to the Senators (32-23-8). New York, however, has gone 4-2-2 over its last eight visits to Scotiabank Place.

"We've had success in Ottawa," defenseman Travis Hamonic told the Islanders' official website. "We didn't come out the way we wanted to last time we played Ottawa, but we are going to be ready."

The Senators must be ready for a quick turnaround, playing this late afternoon affair less than 24 hours after their four-game winning streak ended in a 5-3 home loss to Boston. With No. 1 goalie Craig Anderson (right hand injury) out indefinitely, Alex Auld turned away 33 of 37 shots in his first action in more than two weeks.

"I felt good, but it wasn't enough. I think it's a good step. I think obviously I can just worry about myself and the way I play and the way I prepare," said Auld, who dropped to 2-3-2 with a 3.86 goals-against average in eight starts this season.

"I felt good in the game and it was nice to see a lot of shots, it's probably the most I've had all year, but you also play to win and you want to win games against teams you're chasing."

Captain Daniel Alfredsson scored twice, Jason Spezza had three assists and Erik Karlsson notched a goal and two assists and Jason Spezza assisted on all three goals for the Senators, who are seventh in the East but only five points behind the Bruins for the Northeast Division lead and the second seed.

Spezza has seven goals and 12 assists over an eight-game point streak while Karlsson has six goals and nine assists in his last six contests. The duo combined for four goals and two assists Monday.

The Islanders lost 2-1 at Buffalo on Tuesday but got back on track at home Friday, beating the conference-leading Rangers 4-3 in a shootout. P.A. Parenteau scored twice while Matt Moulson, John Tavares and Andrew MacDonald combined for a goal and five assists.

"We have a good feeling and a lot of confidence," captain Mark Streit said. "We had a rough beginning of the week with those two losses. It was great and really important to bounce back … I think this is the biggest road trip of the year with a lot of key games. We have to do it now, every game."

The Islanders open their trip eight points behind Winnipeg for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

New York goalie Evgeni Nabokov returned from a four-game absence due to the flu to make 33 saves in Friday's win. He's 5-1-0 with two shutouts and a 0.98 GAA over his last six road starts.

Nabokov is also 3-0-0 with a shutout and a 0.97 GAA in his last three meetings with the Senators, including a 2-1 overtime win Feb. 3 at Ottawa.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
New York	61	26	27	8	60	5th, Atlantic	144	179	12-13-3 Road
Ottawa	63	32	23	8	72	2nd, Northeast	193	190	16-12-3 Home

Injuries

Mark Katic D, Rick DiPietro G, Mike Mottau D, Dylan Reese D

Jesse Winchester C, Peter Regin C, Craig Anderson G

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{allcanada} QMJHL: MOOSEHEADS EARN VICTORY OVER CATARACTES

2012-02-25T21:31:00.002-08:00

With a playoff position already clinched, the Halifax Mooseheads' next goal should be securing home-ice advantage.

Andrew Ryan scored the winning goal early in the third period as the Mooseheads defeated the visiting Shawinigan Cataractes 3-2 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The victory was the 22nd of the year for the Mooseheads at the Halifax Metro Centre, which is the second most home wins for any team in the league.

Their .742 winning-percentage is also second in the league, behind only the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Martin Frk had a goal and an assist for the Mooseheads (34-19-6), Jonathan Drouin scored once and Nathan MacKinnon chipped in with two assists.

Maximilien Le Sieur and Kirill Kabanov each had a goal for the Cataractes (40-13-7), who had their winning streak halted at three games.

Zachary Fucale made 32 saves for his 27th win of the year, and the game's first star, while Gabriel Girard turned away 23 shots in a losing effort.

Halifax failed to score on four opportunities with the man advantage as Shawinigan went 1 for 4.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL, it was: Rimouski 7, Baie-Comeau 4; Acadie-Bathurst 4, Cape Breton 3; Saint John 3, Moncton 2 (SO); Rouyn-Noranda 4, Drummondville 2; and Val-d'Or 7, P.E.I. 3.

At Halifax, N.S., Frk opened the scoring at 8:36 of the first period to give the Mooseheads an early lead, but Le Sieur responded for the Cataractes at 10:46 to make it a 1-1 game after 20 minutes of play.

Drouin scored the only goal of the second period at 7:44 to regain a one-goal lead for Halifax heading into the final period.

Ryan doubled his squad's lead at 5:44, with what stood to be the game winner, before Kabonov added a late power-play goal for Shawinigan.

---

Oceanic 7 Drakkar 4

At Rimouski, Que., the line of Alexandre Mallet, Peter Trainor and Alex Belzile combined for two goals and nine points as Rimouski (37-23-1) defeated Baie-Comeau (27-27-5), who have now lost three of their past four games.

---

Titan 4 Screaming Eagles 3

At Bathurst, N.B., Sebastien Trudeau had a goal and an assist and Robert Steeves made 17 saves as the Titan (28-27-5) snapped their four-game losing skid with a win over Cape Breton (21-35-3).

---

Sea Dogs 3 Wildcats 2 (SO)

At Moncton, N.B., Wildcats (27-25-6) goaltender Roman Will stopped 50-of-52 shots in regulation and overtime but Jonathan Huberdeau beat him in the shootout to secure a 13th straight victory for Saint John (43-14-2).

---

Huskies 4 Voltiguers 2

At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Sven Andrighetto scored twice and Mathieu Brisebois chipped in a goal and an assist as the Huskies (20-34-6) doubled up Drummondville (24-27-8).

---

Foreurs 7 Rocket 3

At Val-d'Or, Que., Michael Beaudry set up five goals and Mathieu Guertin scored twice as the Foreurs (25-30-5) handed P.E.I. (17-39-4) their eighth straight loss.

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{allcanada} OHL: YAKUPOV SCORES TWICE AS STING DEFEAT STORM

2012-02-25T21:31:00.001-08:00

Nail Yakupov doesn't like to settle with single point outings.

Yakupov scored two goals, including the game winner with three seconds remaining in regulation time, and set up one more as the Sarnia Sting defeated the visiting Guelph Storm 5-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action.

The 18-year-old right-winger has now registered 20 multi-point outings this season in only 37 games played.

Ryan Spooner had a goal and two assists for the Sting (31-21-7), who have won three of their last four games, while Reid Boucher and Ludvig Rensfeldt scored a goal and an assist each.

Francis Menard and Jason Dickinson each had a goal and an assist for the Storm (24-28-5) as Cody McNaughton and Zack Mitchell scored single goals.

JP Anderson made 29 saves for the win while Garret Sparks turned away 30 shots in defeat.

Sarnia went 2 for 5 on the power play as Guelph went 2 for 3.

Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Kingston Erie; Belleville 3, London 2; Plymouth 4, Sudbury 1; Oshawa 3, Saginaw 2 (SO); Mississauga 2, Barrie 1; and Owen Sound 7, Kitchener 1.

At Sarnia, Ont., Mitchell opened the scoring 1:46 into the game and Menard added another at 7:24 to give Guelph a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Boucher put the Sting on the board with a power-play goal 1:01 into the second period but McNaughton restored a two-goal advantage for the Storm with a goal at 14:55, by way of the man advantage.

Sarnia opened the third period with three straight goals to take their first lead of the night.

Spooner scored on the power play at 5:17, Rensfeldt followed him up with a goal at 8:13 and then Yakupov added his first of the game 41 seconds later.

Dickinson tied the game 4-4 with a power-play goal at 10:38, however Yakupov scored the winner, and his second of the game at 19:57.

---

Frontenacs 4 Otters 3

At Erie, Pa., Nathan Cull scored twice, including the game winner, as Kingston (19-34-6) picked up its first win in three outings by defeating the Otters (9-44-5).

---

Bulls 3 Knights 2

At Belleville, Ont., Joseph Cramarossa scored once and set up the game winner while Malcolm Subban made 28 saves as the Bulls (29-28-1) edged London (43-14-1).

---

Whalers 4 Wolves 1

At Plymouth, Mich., Scott Wedgewood stopped 42 shots, earning the game's first star, and Stefan Noesen scored his fourth goal in two games as the Whalers (39-17-3) beat Sudbury (31-22-5).

---

Generals 3 Spirit 2 (SO)

At Saginaw, Mich., Scott Laughton scored once in regulation time and the only goal in the shootout while Kevin Bailie made 47 saves as Oshawa (27-27-6) halted its three-game losing streak by beating the Spirit (27-24-8).

---

Majors 2 Colts 1

At Barrie, Ont., Brandon Maxwell made 38 saves and Jamie Wise scored the winner on the power play as Mississauga (27-25-7) snapped the Colts (34-21-4) five-game winning streak.

---

Attack 7 Rangers 1

At Owen Sound, Ont., Mike Halmo scored once and set up two more goals and Gemel Smith chipped in with three assists as the Attack (30-23-7) crushed Kitchener (38-18-2), who lost for the first time in three outings.

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{allcanada} TRUCHON, KULISEK EARN PODIUM FINISHES IN WORLD CUP EVENT

2012-02-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

QUEBEC -- Canadians Antoine Truchon and Matts Kulisek claimed podium finishes in a men's World Cup snowboard big air event Saturday night.

Truchon, 21, from Sainte-Adele, Que., earned his first World Cup title with 176.75 points. Finland's Petja Piiroinen was second with 172.25 points while Kulisek, 26, of St-Sauveur, Que., finished third with 170.75 points.

Truchon captured his first World Cup win in only his third start. But in his previous two appearances he failed to reach the final.

"Winning my first World Cup on home soil feels pretty good," said Truchon. "I'm really happy about that. I really couldn't expect more from this.

"In the other World Cups before, there was always something wrong. This time I just took all my past bad experiences and tried my best."

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{allcanada} MOLSON: GM GAUTHIER REMAINS IN CHARGE WITH CANADIENS

2012-02-25T21:28:00.001-08:00

If the Montreal Canadiens pull the trigger on a deadline day trade, general manager Pierre Gauthier will be the one doing it.

Despite reports to the contrary, team owner and president Geoff Molson has not assumed the role of general manager and will not be making player moves.

"Rumours of Pierre Gauthier's firing are false," Molson posted on his verified twitter account Saturday night.

Reports surfaced in local media outlets and Twitter on Saturday that Gauthier - who took over the GM post from Bob Gainey two years ago - was no longer general manager and Molson was calling the shots as de facto GM.

"Not true," said Molson when contacted by TSN on Saturday night.

Molson reiterated the fact that no changes have been made in the Canadiens' power structure. "No," Molson replied flatly when asked if the hockey decision making process and protocol with Montreal was any different now than at the beginning of the season.

Responding to the follow-up question confirming that there has been no change in power structure, Molson answered in the same manner.

"None," he told TSN.

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{allcanada} Capitals send Leafs to 4th straight loss, 4-2

2012-02-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

TORONTO (AP)—Alexander Semin and Jeff Halpern scored, and Alex Ovechkin picked up a pair of assists to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Marcus Johansson and Keith Aucoin also scored for the Capitals, who carried a 4-0 lead into the final period. Michael Neuvirth had 28 saves for Washington.

Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly scored third-period goals as Toronto lost its fourth straight overall and fourth in a row on home ice—earning plenty of boos from the Air Canada Centre crowd.

James Reimer stopped 32 shots for the Maple Leafs.

The Leafs fell flat in their final outing before the trade deadline, even getting pinned in their own zone for a minute-long stretch during the second period. With Monday's trade deadline looming and the Leafs in a 1-7-1 slide, tension is high in Toronto.

The players have responded to trade questions by saying they need to focus on doing their job in games—but it hasn't translated into success.

Johansson opened the scoring just 32 seconds in with a wraparound that took Reimer by surprise. Semin made it 2-0 just over 3 minutes later by stripping defenseman Luke Schenn of the puck and beating Reimer through the legs.

Reimer made a few strong saves early in the second period—denying Matt Hendricks and Jason Chimera on odd-man rushes—to keep the Leafs in it. Reimer also turned away a couple chances just before Halpern extended the lead to 3-0 with 8:29 to go in the second.

Aucoin picked up his first goal of the season on a tic-tac-toe passing play with Johansson and Ovechkin with 4:57 to go in the middle session.

Toronto tried to mount an unlikely comeback in the third—Armstrong picked up his first goal in a year and Connolly banked a shot in from behind the net— but Neuvirth buckled down and secured the victory.

Notes: Mike Komisarek and Joey Crabb sat out for Toronto … Matt Frattin had plenty of jump after being called up from the Toronto of the AHL … The Caps continue to scratch veterans: 37-year-old defenseman Roman Hamrlik missed a third straight game, while 39-year-old forward Mike Knuble sat out for the fifth time this month … Ovechkin has 42 points (23-19) in 26 career games against Toronto.

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{allcanada} Bergeron scores 2 as Bruins top Senators 5-3

2012-02-25T19:57:00.001-08:00

OTTAWA (AP)—Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist to lead the Boston Bruins past the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Saturday night.

David Krejci, Carter Camper and Brad Marchand had the other goals for Boston (37-20-3), which moved five points ahead of the Senators in the Northeast Division with three games in hand.

Tim Thomas stopped 27 shots to extend his unbeaten streak at Scotiabank Place to nine games.

Daniel Alfredsson led the way for Ottawa (32-23-8) with two goals, while Erik Karlsson had the other as the Senators snapped a four-game win streak.

Alex Auld faced 37 shots in place of Craig Anderson, who is out indefinitely after cutting his hand Wednesday.

Karlsson opened the scoring at 1:10 of the first with his 14th goal of the season. But Boston countered with Bergeron's first of the game at 3:36 before Marchand put the Bruins up 2-1 with 3:47 to go with his 22nd goal of the season.

Camper made it 3-1 for Boston with his first goal of the season at 3:57 of the second before Krejci put Boston ahead 4-1 on the power play at 10:24 of the third.

Ottawa made it interesting on Alfredsson's two goals in less than 2 minutes. He scored with 3:45 remaining before registering his 22nd of the season with 2:08 to go. Jason Spezza picked up his 600th career point on Alfredsson's first goal.

But Bergeron rounded out the scoring on an empty-netter with 19 seconds left.

NOTES: The Senators were without Anderson, Cs Peter Regin (shoulder, out for season) and Jesse Winchester (concussion, indefinite). D Brian Lee and C Zenon Konopka were healthy scratches. … The Bruins were without C Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome, indefinite), RW Nathan Horton (concussion, indefinite), C Rich Peverley (knee, four-to-six weeks) and LW Shawn Thornton (sick, day-to-day). D Andrew Bodnarchuk was a healthy scratch.

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[SurroundSound] new sacddecoder for foobar

2012-02-25T19:25:00.001-08:00

I downloaded and installed the latest version of sacd decoder 0.4.8.
Didn't realize that things have changed since 0.4.5. Now there is an
asio dsd decoder that needs to be registered. Here is the trouble: I
somehow managed to register it and tried to configure it in foobar's
settings. And at first a small configuration window opened to map tha
channels, but since then I can't get it back....
I am interested to try if there is a way that it can work somehow...
Can someone post step by step the correct way of registering asio dsd
dlls and where to put them. I know there is a readme file, but it is
incomplete. Or I am an idiot.
Thanks

{allcanada} Ailing Celine Dion cancels this week's Las Vegas shows

2012-02-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

Singer and Las Vegas stage performer Celine Dion is taking a break this week from her Caesars Palace shows.

Performances scheduled through Wednesday have been canceled.

According to her official site:

Celine is battling a virus that has caused inflammation of her vocal chords. (sic) She is currently receiving treatment for this condition, and has been instructed to rest. ... Celine is very upset about disappointing her fans, and wants to apologize for inconveniencing them.

The singer added her own statement to the announcement:

"I feel terrible about not being able to do these shows. I feel so bad for the fans. I don't like to let people down....it's the thing that bothers me more than anything. I really hope everyone understands how sorry I am."

Shows are expected to resume March 3, according to Dion's site.

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{allcanada} Vancouver (40-16-6) at Dallas (32-26-4)

2012-02-25T18:08:00.001-08:00

Vancouver (40-16-6) at Dallas (32-26-4)

TV: RSNP, FSSW

Puck Drop: 3:00 pm EST Sun Feb 26, 2012

While the Vancouver Canucks are battling for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars are seeking one of the final playoff berths.

These teams will get well acquainted with four meetings over the next five weeks, beginning with Sunday's matchup in Dallas.

Vancouver (40-16-6) has won six straight over Dallas (32-26-4) heading into the season series opener. The Sedin brothers have combined for 23 points in that span, and Henrik has amassed 19 during a 10-game streak against the Stars while Daniel has 14 in an eight-game run.

The clubs also play three times in March, and more matchups could come in the first round of the playoffs considering they're at opposite ends of the West playoff picture. Vancouver is in a tight chase with Detroit for the top spot and Dallas is part of a close race for eighth place.

The Canucks are 12-1-3 in their last 16, including 3-1-0 to start this six-game trip. The Stars, meanwhile, are seeking their first four-game win streak since Oct. 29-Nov. 8.

Kari Lehtonen is 1-5-0 with a 4.16 goals-against average in six career starts against Vancouver but has played well lately. He's allowed one goal over his last two starts and won both, making 28 saves in Friday's 4-1 home victory over Minnesota.

"We've been talking about that for a month now, wanting to get some wins put together and now we're finally doing it," said Lehtonen, 3-1-1 with a 1.59 GAA in his past five games. "It's just an interesting time of the year, with every game so important and we're having fun, so hopefully, we can keep it going."

The Stars will play again without All-Star winger Jamie Benn, who has missed the last five games with a leg injury. Loui Eriksson has five points in that span to pass Benn for the team lead with 53.

"It's always good to have everyone going and I thought every line has been playing really well the last couple of games here, so we just have to keep going," Eriksson said after scoring his 20th goal Friday.

Vancouver no doubt welcomed Saturday as an off day after grueling wins the previous two nights. After ending Detroit's NHL-record 23-game home win streak with a 4-3 shootout victory Thursday, the Canucks were outshot 31-16 in Friday's 2-1 road victory over a New Jersey team which had won nine of 11.

"This was five games in seven nights, and it was not easy to say the least," coach Alain Vigneault said. "We have nothing left in the tank, and we left it all on the ice."

Vancouver continues to own one of the league's best power plays at 21.6 percent, although the unit is 4 for 37 over the last 15 games. The Canucks are 9 for 22 in the six-game streak over the Stars.

Vigneault used Roberto Luongo in goal Thursday and Cory Schneider on Friday.

Luongo has won his last eight starts versus the Stars and is 13-4-2 with a 2.00 GAA lifetime against them. Schneider is 2-1-0 with a 1.35 GAA in three starts versus Dallas.

Luongo is 8-1-3 in his last 12 overall with eight of those games going to shootouts - he's won five. Schneider has won a career-high seven consecutive starts, including six on the road.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
Vancouver	62	40	16	6	86	1st, Northwest	201	151	22-10-2 Road
Dallas	62	32	26	4	68	3rd, Pacific	162	169	17-12-2 Home

Injuries

Steve Pinizzotto RW, Aaron Volpatti LW, Andrew Ebbett C, Keith Ballard D

Brenden Morrow LW, Jake Dowell C

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{allcanada} Raonic downs Becker 6-4, 6-4 in Memphis semifinal

2012-02-25T18:00:00.001-08:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Canadian Milos Raonic needed only 75 minutes to beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and reach his second final in as many weeks.

Raonic won at San Jose last week and is 15-1 in match play this year. Ranked 35th in the world, the ATP World Tour's first multiple winner this season will try to win his third title Sunday against Austrian Jurgen Melzer, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 winner over No. 3 seed Radek Stepanek.

"It's a big thing, especially after the way I've been playing," said Raonic, who lost a three-set final here last year to Andy Roddick on a diving shot on match point.

"I think I'm a much better player, and I've matured a lot so I've given myself the opportunity a lot better. I felt last year I was more so squeezing through the matches and just riding the confidence from San Jose. … This year I feel like I've been coming out of the matches the better player. And also I have improved. I'm a better player than I was a year ago."

Results bear that out.

The big-serving Raonic has won nine straight matches in straight sets with 66 aces here in Memphis. He has held serve in 40 of his 41 games at the event and was so dominant and efficient that Becker scored only five points off Raonic's serve in each set. Raonic won 29 of his 31 points off his first serve.

On the women's side, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden are set to play Saturday night in the Memphis International final.

Becker, playing in his first semifinal since Bangkok in October 2010, had not dropped a set here after being sidelined for six months last year because of an injured left elbow. He felt Raonic's strength in the eighth game of the second set when the Canadian held serve with a 139 mph ace that hit Becker in the back.

"It just happens when you move toward the T," Becker said. "He serves so fast it's tough to react."

Raonic said he always apologizes when his serves hit someone in the crowd or a ball boy.

"When I hit my opponent, I say sorry. But I'm not as sorry," Raonic said.

Each held serve through the first eight games. Then Raonic broke when the German was serving at 15-30 and hit his two-handed backhand into the net on consecutive points. Raonic served out with a pair of aces to take the first set.

The Canadian started the second set by breaking Becker in Game 1. Becker double-faulted down love-15 and didn't score a point off his serve before hitting a forehand wide.

Becker at least held off Raonic's match point by challenging what appeared to be a 127 mph ace for the win. Replay showed the ball landed just past the end line, but Becker's return on the next serve bounced short of the net.

"Very tough because the odds are he doesn't miss very much from the back," Becker said. "He has always one or two service games from my side where he doesn't miss. He moves quite well for his size, so it's tough to actually get him off balance as well. If you don't play aggressive, he gets his chances and he used them today too."

Melzer ousted top seed John Isner in straight sets to reach the semifinals. With his win over Stepanek, Melzer reached his fourth final in the United States and first since 2007 when he lost in Las Vegas to Lleyton Hewitt.

"Well, it's obviously very satisfying," Melzer said.

"I've played a great tournament so far, and reaching that final is something special. I haven't played a final since 2010. It was a tough match today. I mean he's obviously a tricky player. He knows what to do on the court, very offensive at times, just takes back a little bit the speed of his stroke. I had to stay focused. I had to play my game."

Melzer helped Austria advance past Russia in the first round of the Davis Cup two weeks ago and came to Memphis early. He broke his toe when he got caught in a hotel bedspread Feb. 16. Melzer has been icing the toe after each match, and he said the injury only bothers him now when he sprints and stops.

"But the good thing is most of my sliding I do on hard court I do with my left foot so it doesn't … affect my game," Melzer said.

He improved to 8-3 this year and came to Memphis 38th in the world after back troubles knocked him down after he reached his career-best No. 8 ranking last spring. He opened this year with consecutive first-round losses in Brisbane and the Australian Open before qualifying in Zagreb and reaching the quarterfinals.

Melzer remains undefeated against Stepanek, though this was their first match that went three sets. Melzer broke Stepanek in the seventh game of the first set when the Czech double-faulted at deuce and when Melzer had the advantage, putting the Austrian up 4-3. Melzer then served out for the first set.

"When you lose a match like that you know you have your chances," said Stepanek, who only decided to play in Memphis on Tuesday after being ill. "I gave him a Christmas gift in the first set. You know it was a very poor service game of mine."

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{allcanada} TFC draw Orlando City

2012-02-25T17:57:00.001-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Torsten Frings scored in the 63rd minute while goalkeeper Stefan Frei made two big late saves as Toronto FC came back twice for a 2-2 draw with USL club Orlando City at the Disney Pro Soccer Classic pre-season tournament Saturday night.

Frings jumped on a ball in a scramble in front of the Orlando goal and slipped a shot past goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo as TFC earned a point in its opening match of the eight-team tournament.

Defender Migeul Aceval scored in the first half for Toronto.

John Rooney, brother of Manchester United Star Wayne Rooney, scored on a penalty in the 17th minute and Kevin Molino gave Orlando City a second lead in the 54th.

It was only Toronto's second exhibition game since training camp opened, after a 5-1 win over the University of South Florida. A lack of cohesion was evident, particularly on defence, as the Toronto side faced a charged-up Orlando, where there is a movement to get an MLS franchise.

A crowd of about 2,000 pounded drums and cheered on the purple-clad locals, who had the better scoring chances in the second half.

TFC lost to Orlando in the third-place game at the tournament last year.

Orlando was awarded a penalty in the 17th minute when defender Geovanny Caicedo tripped forward Maxwell Griffin in the area. Rooney made no mistake with his low blast.

TFC tied it six minutes later when Aceval's free kick ticked off the last man on the Orlando wall and went in.

Charlie Campbell looked well offside as he took a ball over the middle and got it to Molino on the right side for a 2-1 Orlando lead.

Dennis Chin was in alone in the 71st minute, but Frei made the perfect slide to grab the ball away from the Orlando striker. More sloppy defence forced Frei make another sliding save on Chin only seven minutes later.

Toronto striker Danny Koevermans was replaced for what the team said was a precaution early in the first half by Nick Soolsma.

Orlando City was the champion of the second-tier USL last season.

Toronto will play Swedish club BK Hacken on Tuesday and closes round-robin play Thursday against Dallas, its first MLS opponent of the tournament. The final and consolation games are March 3.

Toronto midfielder Julian de Guzman left camp Saturday to join the Canadian national team in Cyprus for a friendly against Armenia on Wednesday.

The Vancouver Whitecaps look for their second win Sunday afternoon against the Houston Dynamo while the expansion Montreal Impact seeks its first win against Sporting Kansas City. Vancouver opened with a 3-0 win over Montreal on Friday while Houston and Kansas City tied 0-0.

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{allcanada} CANUCKS PLACE BALLARD ON LONG-TERM IR TO CLEAR UP CAP SPACE

2012-02-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks have taken a step to clear some salary-cap room before Monday's NHL trade deadline.

The Canucks placed defenceman Keith Ballard on long-term injured reserve as he deals with a neck injury and concussion symptoms. A team spokesman confirmed the move Saturday, adding coach Alain Vigneault had also verified it.

According to Capgeek.com, a website that tracks teams' spending in relation to the salary cap, the move gives the Canucks US$4.6 million to spend on a trade-deadline acquisition.

The request to put Ballard on long-term injured reserve had to be approved by the league. Ballard, a 29-year-old American, has remained in Vancouver during the team's six-game road trip, which still has two games remaining in Dallas on Sunday and Phoenix on Tuesday.

He has missed nine games and last played Feb. 7 in Nashville. He experienced a sore neck while playing and Vigneault indicated Ballard's concussion symptoms became more bothersome later.

Sitting first overall before Saturday's games with a 40-16-0-6 mark, the Canucks have few immediate needs at the deadline. However, Ballard's injury gives them the option of going after a high-priced player.

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{allcanada} ALBERTA BEATS QUEBEC, ON TO TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS SEMIFINAL

2012-02-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

RED DEER, Alta. -- Alberta's Heather Nedohin is into the semifinal at the Canadian women's curling championship.

The team from the host province will face Manitoba's Jennifer Jones tonight in the semifinal, with the winner meeting B.C.'s Kelly Scott in Sunday's championship game.

Alberta beat Quebec's Marie-France Larouche 7-4 in a playoff between the third and fourth seeds in the tournament.

Scott already punched her ticket to Sunday's final.

She defeated Jones 7-5 in a playoff between the top two seeds Friday.

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{allcanada} THAMES AND SNIDER TO BATTLE FOR JAYS' STARTING JOB IN LEFT

2012-02-25T15:49:00.001-08:00

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- There's no confusing Eric Thames and Travis Snider.

The two players set to battle for the Toronto Blue Jays' starting left-fielder job have completely different styles.

Thames is a physical specimen who's quick with a smile and full of pep. Snider has a stockier build and is a calm, casual type whose monotone vibe is at the other end of the excitement spectrum.

Thames was a nice surprise last season while Snider regressed with a campaign he'd like to forget. Thames posted solid offensive numbers but looked rather lost in the field while Snider had decent defensive range but couldn't get on track at the plate.

Both are ready to step up and prove that they deserve the everyday job.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos said several factors will be examined but quality at-bats and defensive prowess will be key.

"The fact that Eric ended the year as the everyday left-fielder, that's going to count for something as well," Anthopoulos said Saturday at the team's spring training complex. "But nobody is going to be handed the job."

Snider struggled out of the gate last April, had injury issues and spent a good chunk of the year in the minors. However, the Blue Jays still believe he has tremendous potential and aren't prepared to give up on him just yet.

Thames, meanwhile, took advantage when he was called up last season. He hit 12 homers and drove in 37 runs in 95 games -- decent numbers for his first taste of the big leagues.

The 25-year-old Santa Clara, Calif., native still has plenty to prove.

"Nothing's guaranteed, nothing is set in stone -- ever," Thames said. "It doesn't matter if you're worth $100 million or the league minimum. So this year I have to bang with the stick and I have to go nutty in the outfield.

"I have to make all the catches and impress these coaches and show them that I am worthy of an opening day roster spot."

Snider, who just turned 24, made his big-league debut as a 20-year-old in 2008. Like Thames, he called the competition with his teammate a "great thing."

"It's the mindset that got us all to where we are today," Snider said. "So I think it's a very natural and welcome feeling when you come into this atmosphere."

Both players felt they learned a lot last season, when the Blue Jays finished fourth in the American League East with an 81-81 record.

"Really believing in your craft is the most important (thing)," Thames said. "Playing up here, we've got studs and the brighter lights and the bigger crowds. The camera is always on you, they see everything. I wasn't used to that."

He changed his mental approach after analyzing tape of his swing and defensive play in the off-season.

"I was like, 'You know what, now is the time to start believing in who I am,"' Thames said. "Start having that conviction and that drive to say, 'OK, this is who I am and I'm a force to be reckoned with.' That's been the biggest difference for me. It's all mental."

Snider had three homers and 30 RBIs in 49 games last season. The Kirkland, Wash., native is confident he'll have a bounceback year.

"There's always going to be challenges, there's always going to be adversity in baseball and in life," he said. "The way you deal with those challenges, the way you overcome those challenges is ultimately what makes you the player that you are."

Anthopoulos said he isn't too concerned with their numbers in pre-season games. The main priority is getting some good cuts in at the plate.

"For those guys, swings are important," he said. "Quality at-bats, how hard they're hitting the ball."

The other outfield positions appear to be set with Colby Rasmus in centre and slugger Jose Bautista in right field. Who joins them in left field may not be decided until the team heads north.

"I look forward to coming here each day and busting my backside with my teammates to get better," Snider said.

Thames is also ready to go the extra mile.

"I have nothing to lose," he said. "I'll give everything I have and make the front office tear this jersey off my back."

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{allcanada} Perron helps Blues top Jets 3-2

2012-02-25T15:46:00.001-08:00

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP)—David Perron scored the winning goal in the shootout to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

Perron moved in on Chris Mason in the fourth round and roofed a backhander, ruining the Jets' rally from a two-goal deficit.

Perron and David Backes scored in regulation for St. Louis, which led 2-0 after the opening period despite getting outshot 16-6. Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves to pick up the win.

Blake Wheeler had two goals for Winnipeg, which hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Mason made 14 stops.

Backes opened the scoring at 7:43 with his 18th goal of the year, converting a perfect pass from T.J. Oshie.

Oshie set up the second goal with just 46 seconds left in the period, sending a cross-ice pass to a streaking Perron, who beat Mason for his 12th of the season.

The Jets cut the Blues' lead in half when Wheeler scored his 12th of the year at 4:49 of the second, firing a rebound past Halak.

Wheeler tied it with just over four minutes left in the middle period, knocking in the puck following a goal-mouth scramble.

Neither team had a shot on goal in overtime.

St. Louis heads to Calgary on Monday night for a game with the Flames.

NOTES: Jets F Antti Miettinen, placed on waivers on Friday, was in the lineup Saturday afternoon on a line with Nik Antropov and Tim Stapleton. Miettinen agreed to waive his no-movement clause after being approached by management. … Winnipeg-born forward Alexander Steen, the son of former Jets great Thomas Steen, did not play for the Blues. He's been out since just after Christmas with a concussion. But he was in the press box Saturday afternoon. Steen's dad is now a Winnipeg city official.

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{allcanada} LEAFS RECALL FORWARD FRATTIN, LOSE BOYCE TO WAIVERS

2012-02-25T15:45:00.001-08:00

TORONTO -- The lineup shuffling has begun for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The team recalled forward Matt Frattin prior to Saturday's game against the Washington Capitals and lost Darryl Boyce to a waiver claim by Columbus.

Frattin has nine goals in his past 12 games with the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies and joins a Leafs team that has struggled to score while going 1-6-1 since Feb. 7.

Boyce had spent his entire pro career with the Maple Leafs organization. In 17 NHL games this season, the 27-year-old winger had one goal and two points.

He joins a Columbus team that is in the middle of some major changes of its own, having dealt away Antoine Vermette and Jeff Carter earlier this week.

Also Saturday, the Maple Leafs assigned forward Jay Rosehill to the Marlies.

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{allcanada} OILERS ACTIVATE NUGENT-HOPKINS FROM INJURED RESERVE

2012-02-25T15:44:00.001-08:00

Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - The Edmonton Oilers activated rookie forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from injured reserve on Saturday.

The 18-year-old had been sidelined since February 6 with a sprained shoulder in only his second game back following recovery from a left shoulder injury suffered on January 2 at Chicago.

Despite his extended absences, Nugent-Hopkins, the first player taken in last year's draft, has totaled 13 goals and 35 points in 40 games.

To make room on the roster, the Oilers assigned forward Anton Lander to Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League.

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{allcanada} Nedohin advances to semifinal

2012-02-25T15:41:00.001-08:00

RED DEER, Alta. -- Quick-thinking by lead Laine Peters helped Alberta get into the semifinal of the Canadian women's curling championship Saturday.

On skip Heather Nedohin's last shot of the game, which was a draw to put up a guard, Jessica Mair fell while she and Peters were sweeping.

Peters used her broom and body to push Mair away from the rock so the second wouldn't burn it.

With Alberta up 6-4 at that point, a burned rock would have been pulled from play. Quebec skip Marie-France Larouche would have had a better opportunity to score two with the hammer and send the game into an extra end.

As it was, Larouche wasn't able to execute a difficult shot for the deuce. Alberta won 7-4. The host province was to meet Manitoba's Jennifer Jones in the later semifinal.

"There was a little bit of drama in that game," Nedohin said. "Ironically we've been working on this new sweeping technique and we've had lots of falls.

"Heads up for Laine to give her the boot. Two minutes for checking and we'll take it."

The Alberta team has worked with Marcel Rocque on their sweeping technique. Rocque was a teammate of Nedohin's husband David on Randy Ferbey's team when they won four Canadian men's championship.

"Marcel says there were several times he had to kick David out of the way for falling," Nedohin said. "You're pushing the limits all the time."

The semifinal winner meets B.C.'s Kelly Scott in Sunday's championship game. Scott, a two-time champion, punched her ticket to the final with a 7-5 win over Jones in a playoff between the top two seeds Friday.

Alberta had a slow start to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a 2-3 to open the preliminary round. But the Edmonton team won five of their last six to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot.

Both Alberta and Quebec finished 7-4 and the playoff between the third and fourth seeds featured the loudest and most animated skips in the field.

Draw weight was the downfall of Larouche's foursome Saturday. They were heavy several times, allowing Alberta to score two points in the third, fifth and ninth ends.

"I think maybe it was the stress because we were always a little bit too fast," said Larouche, a finalist the last time the Scotties was held in Red Deer in 2004.

Quebec was a slow starter throughout the tournament and it cost them Saturday.

"We have to be more ready maybe at the beginning of the game," Larouche said. "It's very disappointing because we know we are able to beat this team. But we didn't play our best game today, so that's why we lost."

Larouche will play for the bronze medal Sunday morning against the semifinal loser.

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{allcanada} Tafel earns first World Cup win

2012-02-25T15:40:00.003-08:00

BISCHOFSWIESEN, Germany -- Canada's Tristan Tafel secured his first career ski cross World Cup podium Saturday with a dramatic victory.

Teammate Chris Del Bosco stayed in the hunt for the Crystal Globe as the overall winner with a third-place finish.

The 21-year-old Tafel, who survived a wild semifinal that involved a competitor missing a gate, led from start to finish in the final ahead of John Teller of the United States.

"I'm still in shock," said Tafel, who turns 22 on Sunday. "I was really happy with my starts but in the final I just kept thinking, 'I'm going to get some contact at this turn or this jump,' and it never happened. As I turned the corner going into the finish I was like, 'Holy cow, I'm in the lead and I might just win my first World Cup."'

Tafel is in his first full year on the ski cross World Cup circuit after capturing the Nor-Am Cup title last season. His previous best World Cup finish was ninth in Italy in December.

The Canmore, Alta., native spent 15 years in alpine racing before switching to ski cross after watching the sport in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

He didn't expect success to come this quickly.

"I didn't even think about it as a final," Tafel said on a conference call of his final run. "I just looked at it as my first run. I have been taking it one run at a time and seeing what I can do with where I am when I'm racing.

"I was surprised when I came across the finish line and couldn't believe it."

Del Bosco, from Montreal, had to fight to secure his third podium of the season.

"It was a pretty good battle out there. The course was pretty chewed up," said Del Bosco, the X Games gold medallist and reigning ski cross world champion. "With all those guys going out I knew I just had to have a smart race."

Brady Leman of Calgary still leads the ski cross World Cup standings with 343 points, while Switzerland's Alex Fiva is second (332) and Del Bosco is third (314).

Tafel is 12th in the overall standings.

Andrea Limbacher of Austria claimed her first World Cup victory in the women's event. She finished ahead of Ophelie David of France in the final to move to fourth in the overall standings.

David, who was making her comeback from injury after missing several races, moved to second. David is 49 points behind Sanna Luedi, who is injured and did not compete.

Alizee Baron of France was third.

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{allcanada} Silver splash

2012-02-25T15:40:00.001-08:00

LONDON -- Canada's Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel captured a silver medal in the three-metre synchronized event at a diving World Cup on Saturday.

Heymans, from St-Lambert, Que., and Abel, from Laval, Que., scored 321.90 points at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, the new diving venue built for the London Olympics.

He Zi and Wi Minxia of China claimed the gold with 345.30 points, while Italy's Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape won bronze with 317.40.

Canada ends the competition with three medals. On Wednesday, Roseline Filion of Laval and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal earned the silver on women's 10-metre synchro while Alexandre Despatie of Laval added a bronze on men's three-metre.

Eric Sehn of Edmonton will compete in a dive-off Sunday on men's 10-metre tower in hopes of secure a second spot for Canada in the event at the Summer Games.

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{allcanada} Anthopoulos: Blue Jays 'in a great place'

2012-02-25T15:39:00.001-08:00

DUNEDIN, Fla. - The first day of full-squad workouts brought the Toronto Blue Jays front office out in full force Saturday, and one of the messages that Alex Anthopoulos delivered to his players was that there's nothing wrong with having "any expectations" for the upcoming season.

The GM, entering his third campaign on the job, addressed the club during an orientation session prior to taking the field at the Bobby Mattick complex in the morning, and later came off during a 28-minute discussion with media as someone seeking to raise the bar.

Whether it was a high from the Florida sun's welcoming kiss after a few days in Toronto's winter muck, training camp's inherent optimism, or a legitimate trust in the group he's assembled, Anthopoulos brushed aside the criticism from some corners that he didn't do enough to strengthen his roster to deliver a rosy forecast in his first public comments of the spring.

"This is probably the best I've felt about the talent we have in the organization top to bottom, I just feel we're really starting to solidify," he said. "We did a lot of work drafting and developing and so on, that's going to continue, but at the same time, the big-league roster just continues to get better and better and there's more talent there. I just think the organization is in a great place."

The true barometer of that, of course, won't come for a long time yet, and the cruel realities of the 162-game season can crush good spring vibes pretty quickly.

But while Anthopoulos admits the Blue Jays need some things "to break right and we do need help" for improvement on last year's 81-81 finish to occur, he also feels that "we don't need everybody to have career years."

"We just need everybody to be solid and to play to the ability that they have," he continued, "and I think we're going to be a great team."

In particular, Anthopoulos thinks the expected bounce backs from the likes of Brandon Morrow and the dramatically trimmed-down Brett Cecil, the promise of Henderson Alvarez and the potential of what a renewed Dustin McGowan is showing can all reinvigorate a rotation that struggled to eat inning in 2011.

That, plus full seasons from Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus and Kelly Johnson lengthening the lineup and a rebuilt bullpen offer reason to think this edition of the Blue Jays is capable of more than the last one.

"We didn't really have too many guys have career years," Anthopoulos said. "Jose Bautista, you could say two career years back-to-back. I don't know. Is that the norm? He doesn't even need to be as good as he was. Even a (Ricky) Romero, obviously he had a great year, but other than that, I don't think anyone performed as well as they can. So there's upside to all the players."

While he's certainly going out on a Jimmy Rollins-like limb and predicting a division title for his team, it was by Anthopoulos's standards a raising of expectations.

He sees some potential in his club, now it's up to the players to deliver on it.

Notes: The Blue Jays may have their first casualty of the spring. Reliever Carlos Villanueva went through drills but then felt a cold sensation in his right hand, perhaps from a lack of circulation, and was to be examined further by local medical staff. Such a feeling "usually indicates some circulation issues," said manager John Farrell, "so before commenting any further on it we have to get a full workup for him." … Anthopoulos and assistant GMs Tony LaCava and Jay Sartori were all keen observers as Kyle Drabek threw his bullpen session. … Edwin Encarnacion did some defensive work at first base and left field, the latter a position where he'll get some work at this spring in the hopes he can play there in a pinch.

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{allcanada} RIDERS, PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT TEAM FOR STADIUM FACELIFT

2012-02-25T15:37:00.001-08:00

REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders and the province are teaming up to give Mosaic Stadium a facelift in time for the 2013 Grey Cup.

The CFL team will spend $14 million to improve the facility as part of a Grey Cup legacy project the Riders unveiled Friday. The provincial government will also provide a $6.2-million loan.

The plan is to turn the stadium into a bowl and boost its seating capacity to 33,000. An 18 metre-high LED screen will be also be added.

Club chairman Roger Brandvold says while the goal remains to build a new stadium, the improvements to Mosaic were needed with Regina hosting the 2013 Grey Cup.

"This is a very ambitious and much needed plan for Mosaic Stadium over the next few years," Brandvold said Friday in a statement. "Replacing Mosaic Stadium still remains our top priority, but certain upgrades needed to be made to get us through the next few years and especially the 2013 Grey Cup."

The project's first phase will see the addition of 7,000 temporary seats as well as corporate boxes to the north and south end zones. The first phase will also include new concession and washroom facilities to create a bowl-like atmosphere and boost the seating capacity to 33,000.

The second phase will add another level of bleachers to increase overall capacity to almost 50,000 for the Grey Cup game.

Following the Grey Cup, only the second tier of temporary seats will be removed to maintain the bowl-like configuration for up to 33,000 fans.

"While each phase of this plan is a temporary solution, its legacy will make an impact throughout Saskatchewan for decades to come," said team president Jim Hopson. "When the new stadium is ready, and the stands are no longer needed, each section can be dismantled and donated to amateur sports programs across our province."

Construction of a new stadium is scheduled to begin in 2013 with completion expected in 2016.

Mosaic stadium is owned and operated by the city of Regina.

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{allcanada} ESKIMOS RELEASE 10-YEAR VETERAN OL FIACCONI

2012-02-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Eskimos released veteran centre Aaron Fiacconi on Friday.

The 10-year veteran spent the past five seasons with Edmonton. His 2011 campaign was cut short by a rotator cuff injury but Fiacconi, 32, still received the David Boone Memorial Award for his outstanding work in the community.

Eskimos general manager Eric Tillman said with Gorde Hinse and Kyle Koch also on the roster, the team has a dearth of talent at the centre position.

"That said it's never easy to say goodbye to a class act like Aaron," Tillman said in a statement. "Fortunately, he's recovered from his surgery and at age 32, we strongly believe Aaron can help a club in need of a seasoned vet, especially one who will bring strong leadership qualities to a locker room."

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RE: [SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

2012-02-25T11:39:00.001-08:00

I think it depends on what you expect. The surround/multichannel effect
could be a performance where you are in the audience or with the musicians
up on stage.

So if you think the best vantage point is in front of the music, you will
probably prefer that type of surround and not like the surround sound of
music all around you when your vantage point is on the stage.

It seems a lot of the stuff out there are a mix of the 2 - the lead vocals
and main instruments are in front of you and some instruments and background
vocals are in the rear. It may also seem strange when sound from instruments
shift around when you expect them to stay primarily in the same position
during a song.

Another type of surround, which I like the most, is the immersion surround.
This is most effective with genres like electronic and prog-rock. My
favorite of this is Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. This is a bit like
musical theater (come to think of it - Firesign Theatre performances would
also be perfect for this type of immersion surround).

So when someone says they don't like surround because it's gimmicky or
whatever, it might be because they expect everything to sound like they have
the perfect seat in front of a stage performance. If that's the case, then I
might understand why they wouldn't be huge fans of multichannel or surround.
For a smaller investment in hardware, they get the stage performance without
some sounds that they might think are just a distraction. Personally, I
don't mind the multichannel or surround performance that make it sound like
the performance is in front of me or I'm up on stage. I don't like it as
much when the performance is a mix of the two.

I also really like the immersion surrounds, especially when they are done as
well as DSOTHM.

Just my 2 cents...

-----Original Message-----
From: surroundsound@googlegroups.com [mailto:surroundsound@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of pj-mckay
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 3:31 AM
To: SurroundSound
Subject: [SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

The problem is pretty simple to explain and you highlight it without
realising you said it. Take DAC; You and many audiophiles care about it
and might specify a spec/brand. Most folk dont care so long as they choose
to play music and music arrives at their ears. Purists might care a lot;
most folk don't and that shouldn't be seen as anything bad. Purists might
listen for some almost undefinable detail whilst others want to dance,
laugh, enjoy, and simply not give two hoots about it.

Plus... Most in this group are still hung up on physical media and the
formats. It's already on the way out but most here don't listen to such
heresy. SACD, DVD-A didn't catch on because of costs, format clutter, and
poor consumer implementation. DVD-A was always destined to failure as you
can't plop it in a drive and press play. SAC-D was much better for a
consumer in that respect but even then it takes an effort to autoswitch to 6
channel mode OR set the device to output what you want. I'll bet most folk
either haven't touched their player setting or have done it wrong.. maybe
even me!

Memory cards and disk files are the future, and probably media
streaming/download sites once the former are more accepted. Why would I
want to play an ISO of 1 album when my entire music collection sits
on a NAS in flac, multichannel flac, DTS, MP3 etc ??? NONE. Copy a
dozen to an SD card and play in the car... this is a 'no brainer' to
me. And everyone can drag'n'drop to a memory card; even your granny I'll
bet.

My opinion: I've almost given up on multichannel music to be honest as few
sound as good as I would like. I sit and hear voices in the rear which I
know were on stage and it just sounds wrong and false. I
love my home theatre and the sound effects.... manys a time we've
jumped and looked behind to see what was there - nought!

Audio wise; I'm almost at the point of admitting I prefer the sound of 5
channel stereo to fill the room. I'm wondering if multichannel music would
be better with one plane, a speaker in each corner (top and bottom) plus
centre and rely on echo/delay to simulate the reverb/ echo of a proper hall.
Maybe one ot the real engineers in this forum could give their views. From
my very limited understanding of early quadraphonics it appears the tracks
were essentially matrix mixes and maybe they were more ahead of their time
than we thought. Maybe they're better than modern attempts... I'm willing
to listen to some quad mixes and compare to modern formats again. Something
decent, bright, and not sounding like its from a fidty year old tape though.
So long as its file based mind :-)

It would be good to get some short feedback from the quad enthusiasts as to
whether original 4 channel quad holds up against newer formats,
presentations. Maybe they're over engineered now???

On Feb 24, 6:05 pm, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've yet to meet anyone who has heard of SACD, SHM-SACD, DVD-A, DTS
> CDs, but a couple have heard of Quad despite never having actually
> heard it. I get nearly the same stare when I talk about higher than CD
quality music.
> Apparently consumer outreach is not one of the strong points for
> introducing new audio products! I don't even know a single soul who
> knows what a DAC is. I consider myself usually to be on the bleeding
> edge of tech, but on this one I am apparently light years ahead of the
> average consumer. Very sad as even cheap AVRs these days with an ok
> speaker set would allow for a noticeable improvement over MP3s and AAC
files to be sure.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD
> > is, and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > I get blank stares and a slight glassing over of the eyes whenever I
> > bring it up to non-audio enthusiasts.
>
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:14 AM, scolumbo <sacolu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Although I bought a couple of DVD-A's last year (KC and Anathema
> >> come to mind), and SACD continues to hang on, primarily from
> >> over-priced SHM-SACD's, it is hard to argue that the general
> >> population views both formats as flops. Certainly the major labels
> >> have made that conclusion.
>
> >> Laserdiscs and betamax continued to hang on long after they were
> >> essentially dead as a mass consumer product. I think that's where
> >> we are in the life cycle of DVD-A's and SACD's. Disappointing yes,
> >> but that doesn't mean DVD-A's and SACD's are gone and forgotten by
> >> a few of us. Unfortunately, too few for the record labels to care
about.
>
> >> Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD
> >> is, and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> >> On Feb 24, 2:55 am, ROBERT COOGAN <bobcoo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> > I had laserdiscs and minidisc - sold all my laserdiscs and player
> >> > a
> >> couple
> >> > of years ago as I needed the cash.
>
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Tab Cursor
> >> > Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM
> >> > To: SurroundSound
> >> > Subject: [SurroundSound] Is your surround format a flop?
>
> >> > Just saw this one on Home Theater:
>
> >> >http://www.hometheater.com/content/flops-fourteen-formats-and-technol.
> >> ..
>
> >> > I think the author should have consulted our group before
> >> > publishing this one. Around here these formats aren't gone and
> >> > forgotten. Or are they?
>
> >> > What do you think?
>
> >> > Still listening to any of these? I know I am.
>
> >> > --
> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> >> > Google
> >> Groups
> >> > "SurroundSound" group.
> >> > To post to this group, send email to
> >> > SurroundSound@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group,
> >> > send email to SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> > For more options, visit this group athttp://
> >> groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >>Groups "SurroundSound" group.
> >> To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> >>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >>SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> For more options, visit this group at
> >>http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > --
> > August
> > Bleed, Inc.
> > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
>
> --
> August
> Bleed, Inc.
> Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog-
> Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

--
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To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com To
unsubscribe from this group, send email to
SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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[SurroundSound] Flow Machines in High Res (no surround sorry)

2012-02-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Just got this announcement in the mail. Great band if you like electronic music. Quite good with a message. It is available as a high res download and you can pay what you like. Encourage all of you to check these guys out. They are really quite good! No surround but they would sound great that way. Maybe we can encourage them!

Flow Machines new album 'Hi-Res' is released today as a 'Pay What You Want' download from www.flowmachines.com.

--
August
Bleed, Inc.
Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog

Re: [SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

2012-02-25T10:21:00.001-08:00

I remember when cassettes and then CDs came on the market when I was a kid. It seemed virtually overnight the record stores in my hometown were full of cassettes rather than LPs. A few years later this same thing happened with CDs. The cassettes soon (a few years) were replaced by CDs. Again, small numbers of vinyl sold alongside but not a very popular format in the 80s. My point is each change in format was accompanied by a decided push from the recording industry to basically limit consumer choice to the format of the day. It is why the cassette succeeded. It is why the CD succeeded. It is why SACD and DVD-A did not--they were not summarily shoved down the consumers' collective throats as the only format to buy. SACD's probably came closest as they had a hybrid layer--had every CD been released that way from that point on we would all be listening to SACDs right now. Doesn't really matter about surround. That could have been pushed similarly with the CD layers. They weren't. That is the reason they failed. Plus anytime you ask consumers to buy a new format they need to see value in it and see that there is support behind it. We have all seen formats fall by the wayside and I think from this point on further formats will be a hard sell for consumers unless they immediately see music from current artist immediately released on the format. I think consumers have been burned so many times it's going to take a really unique approach if another format is to take over the CD or MP3/AAC anytime soon.

On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 9:09 AM, Britre <britre123@gmail.com> wrote:

My take on this is pretty much the same. I do not enjoy the new
Surround mixes as you all know because I have for years had those
results from initially my Quadraphonic decoders, and after 1987 my
Dolby Pro Decoder which by the way isa monophonic rear channel and
stereo front with matrixing of the two front channels that creates a
less separate stereo image but a more involved phantom image with
things popping from space and time.

In quadraphonics as well as Surround you do need some sort of mixing
of all channels which is where SQ and QS performed very well with the
lack of channel separation inherent in the format. When logic steering
was introduced some of the older matrixed recording were unlistenable
due to pumping and breathing. Same with the Dolby encoded Tomita CD's
mid 80's. CD-4 was great when done right but the noise of the carrier
and vinyl was a stake in the heart for anyone trying to seriously
listen to the audio. But.... Once you hear Elvis live in Quad you will
never ever listen to it any other way. This also goes for WYWH quad,
it is so unique nothing compares. To me at least, if the quad is too
pure there is no enjoyment or feeling. Going back to Elvis, the
intention of that mix was to feel like you were on stage with him and
things in the rear and front are stage placement and not as if you
were in the front row center. I do not know about the stereo version
of this as quite honestly I never listened to it. Some other CD-4
quads were also mixed with this vision in mind. Others were haphazard
and meant to wooo the listener in the showroom like the ping pong ball
demo. Sabbath Paronoid was one of these as well as the clocks on Dark
Side which of course was a demo record in itself. Some were just to
get product out like S&G BOTW and BS&T Greatest hits. Very poor mixes
missing much information.

It is true what was said before and a clear analogy is the car
industry. Most people want to get in a car turn the key and drive.
Perhaps not even have to turn a key thats too much work! If
manufactures could eliminate the key, shifter and gas pedal those cars
would sell 75% higher than others. I.E. the general population is lazy
and does not want to do any of the work to achieve. Car enthusiests do
all sorts of things and have all sorts of add ons to make their cars
perform. They actually let a car get to operating temprature before
driving and enjoy a manual transmission and hitting the pedal to the
metal! So what is easier, drag and drop or 15 minutes of setup and a
small amount of knowledge to get awesome results?

Since our little hear the difference test I have been doing
experiments to see what really can be achieved digitally in stereo
format. It is really amazing how much detail you can get through
tinkering with different sampling rates and equipment. I am amazed at
what vinyl can achieve as you go forward and do the work. I was also
amazed to find just how many recordings after 1979 were mastered on 16
bit DAT and the clear difference between analog tape and DAT
esspecially drums and high impact insturments. If digital could catch
up and we still had professionals who cared we could have some pretty
life like music coming out of studios. Unfortunately laziness is more
common than achievement and that is our world. The WYWH and Aqualung
surround mixes are pure laziness and unwillingness to devote the time
and work to a good product. Instead we get overpriced garbage that
comes from thieves who should be ashamed. At least the theives of the
past gave us quality garbage without the stank!

On Feb 25, 3:30 am, pj-mckay <johnmc...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> The problem is pretty simple to explain and you highlight it without
> realising you said it. Take DAC; You and many audiophiles care about
> it and might specify a spec/brand. Most folk dont care so long as
> they choose to play music and music arrives at their ears. Purists
> might care a lot; most folk don't and that shouldn't be seen as
> anything bad. Purists might listen for some almost undefinable detail
> whilst others want to dance, laugh, enjoy, and simply not give two
> hoots about it.
>
> Plus... Most in this group are still hung up on physical media and
> the formats. It's already on the way out but most here don't listen
> to such heresy. SACD, DVD-A didn't catch on because of costs, format
> clutter, and poor consumer implementation. DVD-A was always destined
> to failure as you can't plop it in a drive and press play. SAC-D was
> much better for a consumer in that respect but even then it takes an
> effort to autoswitch to 6 channel mode OR set the device to output
> what you want. I'll bet most folk either haven't touched their player
> setting or have done it wrong.. maybe even me!
>
> Memory cards and disk files are the future, and probably media
> streaming/download sites once the former are more accepted. Why would
> I want to play an ISO of 1 album when my entire music collection sits
> on a NAS in flac, multichannel flac, DTS, MP3 etc ??? NONE. Copy a
> dozen to an SD card and play in the car... this is a 'no brainer' to
> me. And everyone can drag'n'drop to a memory card; even your granny
> I'll bet.
>
> My opinion: I've almost given up on multichannel music to be honest
> as few sound as good as I would like. I sit and hear voices in the
> rear which I know were on stage and it just sounds wrong and false. I
> love my home theatre and the sound effects.... manys a time we've
> jumped and looked behind to see what was there - nought!
>
> Audio wise; I'm almost at the point of admitting I prefer the sound
> of 5 channel stereo to fill the room. I'm wondering if multichannel
> music would be better with one plane, a speaker in each corner (top
> and bottom) plus centre and rely on echo/delay to simulate the reverb/
> echo of a proper hall. Maybe one ot the real engineers in this forum
> could give their views. From my very limited understanding of early
> quadraphonics it appears the tracks were essentially matrix mixes and
> maybe they were more ahead of their time than we thought. Maybe
> they're better than modern attempts... I'm willing to listen to some
> quad mixes and compare to modern formats again. Something decent,
> bright, and not sounding like its from a fidty year old tape though.
> So long as its file based mind :-)
>
> It would be good to get some short feedback from the quad enthusiasts
> as to whether original 4 channel quad holds up against newer formats,
> presentations. Maybe they're over engineered now???
>
> On Feb 24, 6:05 pm, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I've yet to meet anyone who has heard of SACD, SHM-SACD, DVD-A, DTS CDs,
> > but a couple have heard of Quad despite never having actually heard it. I
> > get nearly the same stare when I talk about higher than CD quality music.
> > Apparently consumer outreach is not one of the strong points for
> > introducing new audio products! I don't even know a single soul who knows
> > what a DAC is. I consider myself usually to be on the bleeding edge of
> > tech, but on this one I am apparently light years ahead of the average
> > consumer. Very sad as even cheap AVRs these days with an ok speaker set
> > would allow for a noticeable improvement over MP3s and AAC files to be sure.
>
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > > and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > > I get blank stares and a slight glassing over of the eyes whenever I bring
> > > it up to non-audio enthusiasts.
>
> > > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:14 AM, scolumbo <sacolu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> Although I bought a couple of DVD-A's last year (KC and Anathema come
> > >> to mind), and SACD continues to hang on, primarily from over-priced
> > >> SHM-SACD's, it is hard to argue that the general population views both
> > >> formats as flops. Certainly the major labels have made that
> > >> conclusion.
>
> > >> Laserdiscs and betamax continued to hang on long after they were
> > >> essentially dead as a mass consumer product. I think that's where we
> > >> are in the life cycle of DVD-A's and SACD's. Disappointing yes, but
> > >> that doesn't mean DVD-A's and SACD's are gone and forgotten by a few
> > >> of us. Unfortunately, too few for the record labels to care about.
>
> > >> Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > >> and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > >> On Feb 24, 2:55 am, ROBERT COOGAN <bobcoo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >> > I had laserdiscs and minidisc - sold all my laserdiscs and player a
> > >> couple
> > >> > of years ago as I needed the cash.
>
> > >> > -----Original Message-----
> > >> > From: Tab Cursor
> > >> > Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM
> > >> > To: SurroundSound
> > >> > Subject: [SurroundSound] Is your surround format a flop?
>
> > >> > Just saw this one on Home Theater:
>
> > >> >http://www.hometheater.com/content/flops-fourteen-formats-and-technol.
> > >> ..
>
> > >> > I think the author should have consulted our group before publishing
> > >> > this one. Around here these formats aren't gone and forgotten. Or are
> > >> > they?
>
> > >> > What do you think?
>
> > >> > Still listening to any of these? I know I am.
>
> > >> > --
> > >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > >> Groups
> > >> > "SurroundSound" group.
> > >> > To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> > >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > >> > SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> > >> > For more options, visit this group athttp://
> > >> groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > >> --
> > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > >> "SurroundSound" group.
> > >> To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > >> SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> > >> For more options, visit this group at
> > >>http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > > --
> > > August
> > > Bleed, Inc.
> > > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
>
> > --
> > August
> > Bleed, Inc.
> > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog- Hide quoted text -
>

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

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--
August
Bleed, Inc.
Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog

{allcanada} Seth Rogen: I'm Proud to Be Named 'Stoner of the Year'

2012-02-25T09:30:00.001-08:00

An Oscar would be nice and all, but Seth Rogen says he's already "won the one award" he's longed to earn.

"I've won it twice, and that is High Times magazine's Stoner of the Year," Rogen, 29, says. "I actually lost to James Franco eventually."

The funnyman, who goes on to say he'd "rather host the Oscars than win an Oscar," gets his first big hosting gig at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, airing on IFC at 10 p.m.

"I honestly don't know which of these movies have won [or been nominated for] other awards and s--- like that," he admits, adding that he hasn't seen this year's critically acclaimed The Artist. "I just know which ones I thought were awesome, and I'll probably make that clear while I'm hosting."

Rogen feels like his favorite recent film was snubbed.

"I honestly thought Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was one of the best movies of the year," he says. "It got no love from the awards whatsoever. I love that [expletive] movie. It was great. I'm an Oscar voter. I voted for it."

Which puts him in an unusual position as host of the Indie Spirit awards.

"I watch a lot of movies, but I don't often seek out these little independent movies," he says. "I wait until they come out or until tons of people tell me they're good because I'm too busy seeing Mission Impossible."

Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99

Babe Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html

Hunk Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html

[SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

2012-02-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

My take on this is pretty much the same. I do not enjoy the new
Surround mixes as you all know because I have for years had those
results from initially my Quadraphonic decoders, and after 1987 my
Dolby Pro Decoder which by the way isa monophonic rear channel and
stereo front with matrixing of the two front channels that creates a
less separate stereo image but a more involved phantom image with
things popping from space and time.

In quadraphonics as well as Surround you do need some sort of mixing
of all channels which is where SQ and QS performed very well with the
lack of channel separation inherent in the format. When logic steering
was introduced some of the older matrixed recording were unlistenable
due to pumping and breathing. Same with the Dolby encoded Tomita CD's
mid 80's. CD-4 was great when done right but the noise of the carrier
and vinyl was a stake in the heart for anyone trying to seriously
listen to the audio. But.... Once you hear Elvis live in Quad you will
never ever listen to it any other way. This also goes for WYWH quad,
it is so unique nothing compares. To me at least, if the quad is too
pure there is no enjoyment or feeling. Going back to Elvis, the
intention of that mix was to feel like you were on stage with him and
things in the rear and front are stage placement and not as if you
were in the front row center. I do not know about the stereo version
of this as quite honestly I never listened to it. Some other CD-4
quads were also mixed with this vision in mind. Others were haphazard
and meant to wooo the listener in the showroom like the ping pong ball
demo. Sabbath Paronoid was one of these as well as the clocks on Dark
Side which of course was a demo record in itself. Some were just to
get product out like S&G BOTW and BS&T Greatest hits. Very poor mixes
missing much information.

It is true what was said before and a clear analogy is the car
industry. Most people want to get in a car turn the key and drive.
Perhaps not even have to turn a key thats too much work! If
manufactures could eliminate the key, shifter and gas pedal those cars
would sell 75% higher than others. I.E. the general population is lazy
and does not want to do any of the work to achieve. Car enthusiests do
all sorts of things and have all sorts of add ons to make their cars
perform. They actually let a car get to operating temprature before
driving and enjoy a manual transmission and hitting the pedal to the
metal! So what is easier, drag and drop or 15 minutes of setup and a
small amount of knowledge to get awesome results?

Since our little hear the difference test I have been doing
experiments to see what really can be achieved digitally in stereo
format. It is really amazing how much detail you can get through
tinkering with different sampling rates and equipment. I am amazed at
what vinyl can achieve as you go forward and do the work. I was also
amazed to find just how many recordings after 1979 were mastered on 16
bit DAT and the clear difference between analog tape and DAT
esspecially drums and high impact insturments. If digital could catch
up and we still had professionals who cared we could have some pretty
life like music coming out of studios. Unfortunately laziness is more
common than achievement and that is our world. The WYWH and Aqualung
surround mixes are pure laziness and unwillingness to devote the time
and work to a good product. Instead we get overpriced garbage that
comes from thieves who should be ashamed. At least the theives of the
past gave us quality garbage without the stank!

On Feb 25, 3:30 am, pj-mckay <johnmc...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> The problem is pretty simple to explain and you highlight it without
> realising you said it. Take DAC; You and many audiophiles care about
> it and might specify a spec/brand. Most folk dont care so long as
> they choose to play music and music arrives at their ears. Purists
> might care a lot; most folk don't and that shouldn't be seen as
> anything bad. Purists might listen for some almost undefinable detail
> whilst others want to dance, laugh, enjoy, and simply not give two
> hoots about it.
>
> Plus... Most in this group are still hung up on physical media and
> the formats. It's already on the way out but most here don't listen
> to such heresy. SACD, DVD-A didn't catch on because of costs, format
> clutter, and poor consumer implementation. DVD-A was always destined
> to failure as you can't plop it in a drive and press play. SAC-D was
> much better for a consumer in that respect but even then it takes an
> effort to autoswitch to 6 channel mode OR set the device to output
> what you want. I'll bet most folk either haven't touched their player
> setting or have done it wrong.. maybe even me!
>
> Memory cards and disk files are the future, and probably media
> streaming/download sites once the former are more accepted. Why would
> I want to play an ISO of 1 album when my entire music collection sits
> on a NAS in flac, multichannel flac, DTS, MP3 etc ??? NONE. Copy a
> dozen to an SD card and play in the car... this is a 'no brainer' to
> me. And everyone can drag'n'drop to a memory card; even your granny
> I'll bet.
>
> My opinion: I've almost given up on multichannel music to be honest
> as few sound as good as I would like. I sit and hear voices in the
> rear which I know were on stage and it just sounds wrong and false. I
> love my home theatre and the sound effects.... manys a time we've
> jumped and looked behind to see what was there - nought!
>
> Audio wise; I'm almost at the point of admitting I prefer the sound
> of 5 channel stereo to fill the room. I'm wondering if multichannel
> music would be better with one plane, a speaker in each corner (top
> and bottom) plus centre and rely on echo/delay to simulate the reverb/
> echo of a proper hall. Maybe one ot the real engineers in this forum
> could give their views. From my very limited understanding of early
> quadraphonics it appears the tracks were essentially matrix mixes and
> maybe they were more ahead of their time than we thought. Maybe
> they're better than modern attempts... I'm willing to listen to some
> quad mixes and compare to modern formats again. Something decent,
> bright, and not sounding like its from a fidty year old tape though.
> So long as its file based mind :-)
>
> It would be good to get some short feedback from the quad enthusiasts
> as to whether original 4 channel quad holds up against newer formats,
> presentations. Maybe they're over engineered now???
>
> On Feb 24, 6:05 pm, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I've yet to meet anyone who has heard of SACD, SHM-SACD, DVD-A, DTS CDs,
> > but a couple have heard of Quad despite never having actually heard it. I
> > get nearly the same stare when I talk about higher than CD quality music.
> > Apparently consumer outreach is not one of the strong points for
> > introducing new audio products! I don't even know a single soul who knows
> > what a DAC is. I consider myself usually to be on the bleeding edge of
> > tech, but on this one I am apparently light years ahead of the average
> > consumer. Very sad as even cheap AVRs these days with an ok speaker set
> > would allow for a noticeable improvement over MP3s and AAC files to be sure.
>
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > > and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > > I get blank stares and a slight glassing over of the eyes whenever I bring
> > > it up to non-audio enthusiasts.
>
> > > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:14 AM, scolumbo <sacolu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> Although I bought a couple of DVD-A's last year (KC and Anathema come
> > >> to mind), and SACD continues to hang on, primarily from over-priced
> > >> SHM-SACD's, it is hard to argue that the general population views both
> > >> formats as flops. Certainly the major labels have made that
> > >> conclusion.
>
> > >> Laserdiscs and betamax continued to hang on long after they were
> > >> essentially dead as a mass consumer product. I think that's where we
> > >> are in the life cycle of DVD-A's and SACD's. Disappointing yes, but
> > >> that doesn't mean DVD-A's and SACD's are gone and forgotten by a few
> > >> of us. Unfortunately, too few for the record labels to care about.
>
> > >> Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > >> and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > >> On Feb 24, 2:55 am, ROBERT COOGAN <bobcoo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >> > I had laserdiscs and minidisc - sold all my laserdiscs and player a
> > >> couple
> > >> > of years ago as I needed the cash.
>
> > >> > -----Original Message-----
> > >> > From: Tab Cursor
> > >> > Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM
> > >> > To: SurroundSound
> > >> > Subject: [SurroundSound] Is your surround format a flop?
>
> > >> > Just saw this one on Home Theater:
>
> > >> >http://www.hometheater.com/content/flops-fourteen-formats-and-technol.
> > >> ..
>
> > >> > I think the author should have consulted our group before publishing
> > >> > this one. Around here these formats aren't gone and forgotten. Or are
> > >> > they?
>
> > >> > What do you think?
>
> > >> > Still listening to any of these? I know I am.
>
> > >> > --
> > >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > >> Groups
> > >> > "SurroundSound" group.
> > >> > To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> > >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > >> > SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> > >> > For more options, visit this group athttp://
> > >> groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > >> --
> > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > >> "SurroundSound" group.
> > >> To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > >> SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> > >> For more options, visit this group at
> > >>http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > > --
> > > August
> > > Bleed, Inc.
> > > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
>
> > --
> > August
> > Bleed, Inc.
> > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

{allcanada} IRVING LEADS TEAM CHUCK OVER TEAM SHAQ IN RISING STARS GAME

2012-02-25T09:06:00.001-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Kyrie Irving kicked off the aerial display with an alley-oop to Paul George. Cleveland's rookie point guard then showed off his long-range shooting skills.

It was so much fun that Irving wasn't too upset that all those three-pointers came in a meaningless game.

Irving was a perfect 8 for 8 from beyond the arc and finished with 34 points, helping Team Chuck beat Team Shaq 146-133 in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.

Indiana's George added 23 points but the night belonged to Irving, who picked up where another No. 1 overall pick left off in the NBA's showcase game for its first- and second-year players. Wizards point guard John Wall earned MVP honours last season when he was a rookie.

Irving said he couldn't remember being so hot from the field.

"No, it's never occurred in my career," he said. "You know, it's kind of unfortunate that it comes in the all-star game. These stats don't carry over into the season. But at the end of the day, it was still fun to get out there with those talented guys. So it was a great experience."

Cleveland's Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., scored 20 points to lead Team Shaq. New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin only had two points.

This year's Rising Stars Challenge had a different format, with the rookie and second-year players mixed together on teams for the first time. The league also inserted a little more name recognition with former stars Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley serving as general managers and drafting the teams.

While the teams had a different look, there was once again no real defensive effort and plenty of fan-pleasing fast breaks and flashy play.

"It's what all-star games are, there's not a lot of defence," Team Chuck co-head coach Maurice Cheeks said.

Lin had a relatively quiet night. His biggest highlight came early in the second half when he took a pass from Minnesota star Ricky Rubio and drove it underneath for a reverse layup.

He played just nine minutes before heading to the bench in the second half, and instead mostly yielded to the more high-flying players on his team. He took just four shots.

Landry Fields, who plays with Lin on the Knicks, remained his biggest fan, holding a "Linsanity" Time magazine cover featuring him.

"It was fun to be out there with all these guys, and this guy right here (pointing to magazine) did his thing," Fields said. "Short minutes, but he still did his thing."

Irving got the game off to a rousing start with the pass to George, and Rubio turned routine passes to his Shaq teammates into behind-the-back and between-the-leg looks.

It was part of an acrobatic early tone that was fast-paced and allowed the next generation of stars to showcase open-court and aerial skills that have already made many of them fan favourites on their respective teams.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin had several highlights while playing for Team Shaq, catching several alley-oops and even throwing his own pass off the glass and catching it for a dunk.

"There were a lot of dunks," Team Shaq co-head coach Ron Adams said. "I think the guys had fun. I hope we didn't set a Guinness Book of World Records record for dunks given, but it was a fun game. Interesting game."

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{allcanada} HASSLI, ROOKIES LEAD WAY AS WHITECAPS DOWN EXPANSION IMPACT

2012-02-25T09:05:00.001-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Vancouver Whitecaps gave the expansion Montreal Impact a first-hand look at what their impressive force of attackers can do.

Eric Hassli scored in the first half and rookie Darren Mattocks and Sebastien Le Toux had goals in the second as the Whitecaps downed Montreal Impact 3-0 in pre-season play Friday night at the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.

The second-year Whitecaps showed their superiority up front as Hassli scored in the 38th minute, Mattocks combined with recently acquired striker Le Toux for a goal in the 70th, and Le Toux capped it with a goal on a penalty in the 81st.

"It's a pre-season game so you don't get too carried away, but it was a win and we saw a lot of the things we wanted to see," said Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie. "And to score three goals is always good."

It was the opening game for both Canadian-based Major League Soccer clubs at the eight-team tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World.

A sparse crowd in the 2,000-seat soccer stadium watched two teams that will face one another in their season openers March 10 in Vancouver.

"Obviously it wasn't the result we wanted but we get another chance in two weeks," said Montreal midfielder Davy Arnaud, who wore the captain's armband. "In the final third, we need to get a little sharper and get better ideas and create clear cut chances for ourselves.

"We competed and battled and did all that stuff. Our chances will come if we keep playing the way we can."

The Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City played to a 0-0 draw in another match.

Toronto FC plays Saturday night against USL club Orlando City and Dallas meets Swedish club BK Hacken.

The Whitecaps struck when newly acquired defender Martin Bonjour made a run down the right side and slipped a pass to Hassli at the top of the penalty area for a low shot that gave the diving Donovan Ricketts no chance.

Vancouver goaltender Joe Cannon needed to be sharp twice in the opening half, first on Arnaud's hard low shot in the 28th that he stopped with his outstretched feet and again in the 44th when Felipe intercepted the clear of Josh Gardner's corner and sneaked a low shot through traffic that Cannon dropped to the ground to save.

Both teams substituted often in the second half, with Vancouver making a raft of changes in the 63rd minute, including bringing in Le Toux.

It was only three minutes after Andrew Wenger, Montreal's first overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft, came on the field that Mattocks, the No. 2 overall pick by Vancouver, got the insurance goal.

Le Toux, a recent pick up from the Philadelphia Union, back-footed a pass to Mattocks, who broke in on the left side and scored on a high shot from close range. He used his speed again for a good chance in the 78th that was stopped by Ricketts.

The Whitecaps were awarded a penalty when Long Tan was brought down in the area and Le Toux drilled in the shot.

Despite the defeat, Montreal coach Jesse Marsch took heart in playing a strong first half.

"Actually, the first half was good for both teams," he said. "For a pre-season it was a good game, a real game.

"Two weeks away from real games, I think we're better off for experiencing this game and hopefully we can get two more games here that are this pace and level that will help us get ready."

Vancouver's Camilo was shown the yellow card late in the first half for a tackle from behind on Patrice Bernier that ignited some shoving from both sides. Montreal's Felipe saw yellow in the second for a tackle on Gershon Koffie.

Whitecaps midfielder John Thorrington came out of the game with an injury but there was no immediate word on his condition. Midfielder Davide Chiumiento was taken out early in the game as a precaution after what Rennie said was a knock on the back.

The Impact were admitted to MLS as it's 19th franchise this season, one year after Vancouver and Portland joined.

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{allcanada} WHL: SCORING LEADER SHINNIMIN HELPS AMERICANS TOP SILVERTIPS

2012-02-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

A new scoring leader has emerged.

Brendan Shinnimin scored three times and set up one more as the Tri-City Americans defeated the visiting Everett Silvertips 4-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League action.

"When I get the puck, I'm looking to shoot," said Shinnimin after the game.

The 20-year-old centre now has 47 goals and 106 points in 57 games, which puts him one point ahead of Brandon Wheat Kings forward Mark Stone for top spot in league scoring.

He also jumped ahead of Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks, who sits third with 104 points in 58 games.

Adam Hughesman had a goal and an assist for the Americans (42-15-3), who have won four straight games, while Patrick Holland chipped in with four assists.

Josh Birkholz and Dominik Bittner scored for the Silvertips (16-35-9), who have dropped back-to-back contests.

Eric Comrie made 20 saves for the win as Austin Lotz turned away 25 shots in defeat.

Tri-City went 1 for 4 on the power play while Everett scored twice on four opportunities with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Prince Albert 4, Red Deer 0; Regina 8, Moose Jaw 2; Saskatoon 5, Kootenay 0; Brandon 3, Swift Current 2 (SO); Edmonton 4, Calgary 1; Lethrbidge 6, Kelowna 2; Portland 8, Spokane 3; Victoria 4, Prince George 2 and Kamloops 6, Vancouver 2.

At Kennewick, Wash., the Silvertips jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Birkholz and Bittner both scored power-play goals in the first period.

Shinnimin responded with a goal on the man advantage late in the first to make it 2-1 Everett after 20 minutes of play.

After a scoreless second period, Shinnimin tied the game with a short-handed goal 2:16 into the third.

Hughesman gave the Americans their first lead of the game at 11:52 and Shinnimin completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:09.

---

Raiders 4 Rebels 0

At Prince Albert, Sask., Cole Holowenko turned away all 43 shots he faced and Mark McNeill and Shane Danyluk each had a goal and two assists as the Raiders (20-37-4) blanked Red Deer (27-27-6).

----

Pats 8 Warriors 2

At Regina, Jordan Weal scored two goals and set up two more and Matt Hewitt made 38 saves as the Pats (33-23-6) picked up their third straight victory by defeating Moose Jaw (37-17-7).

---

Blades 5 Ice 0

At Saskatoon, Andrey Makarov made 38 saves and Matej Stranksy had a goal and an assist as the Blades (36-25-1) shutout Kootenay (33-21-8) for their first win in three outings.

---

Wheat Kings 3 Broncos 2 (SO)

At Brandon, Man., Mark Stone scored once in regulation and added the winner in a shootout, as the Wheat Kings (33-26-4) beat Swift Current (23-32-8) for their fifth win in six games.

---

Oil Kings 4 Hitmen 1

At Calgary, Kristians Pelss had a goal and an assist and Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves to record his 34th win of the season as Edmonton (40-15-7) snapped the Hitmen's (36-23-3) four-game winning streak.

---

Hurricanes 6 Rockets 2

At Lethbridge, Alta., Brady Ramsay scored three times and Brody Sutter scored once and set up two more goals as the Hurricanes (25-36-1) beat Kelowna (26-28-8) for their third victory in as many games.

---

Winterhawks 8 Chiefs 3

At Portland, Ore., Sven Bartschi scored once and added two assists as the Winterhawks (43-15-3) picked up their ninth straight win after beating Spokane (32-21-7).

---

Royals 4 Cougars 2

At Prince George, B.C., Jared Rathjen made 26 saves and Austin Carroll's second period goal stood up as the game-winner as Victoria (19-36-6) doubled up the Cougars (19-39-2).

---

Blazers 6 Giants 2

At Vancouver, Colin Smith and JC Lipon both had a goal and two assists as Kamloops (43-14-4) handed the Giants (35-23-4) their third straight loss.

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{allcanada} Rochon maintains overall lead

2012-02-25T09:00:00.001-08:00

RAUBICHI, Belarus -- Stanislav Kravchuk led a Ukrainian 1-2 finish at a men's freestyle aerials World Cup event, while Yang You of China won the women's competition to claim her first career victory.

Kravchuk scored 117.92 points on Saturday and was followed by his teammate Oleksandr Abramenko with 102.87 points. Thomas Lambert of Switzerland was third, another 2.88 behind.

"My technique was better today so I was stronger," said Kravchuk. "It was tough to compete today because of strong winds."

Heavy early-morning snowfall at the winter sports complex in Raubichi, 20 kilometres north of Minsk, and above-freezing temperatures made it difficult for skiers to develop the necessary speed to perform their jumps.

Kravchuk's only other top finish in the World Cup was in 2008.

Olivier Rochon of Canada made several mistakes in his jump and finished fourth but he remained at the top of the aerials standings with 454 points after eight of 10 events. Lambert moved into second place with 348 points.

Yang Yu performed a nearly clean jump for 80.62 points from the judges. Tanja Schaerer of Switzerland was second with 78.01 points. She was followed by another Chinese skier, Zhang Xin, with 75.12.

"This is my first top podium and I'm really happy," Yang said. "I was fighting with bad weather and myself and I won."

Xu Mengtao of China, who skipped the event, leads the women's aerials standings with 480 points.

The next World Cup meet is scheduled for March 10 in Moscow.

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{allcanada} Hudec rises up super-G ranks

2012-02-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland -- Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich got his first World Cup victory in more than two years on Saturday, winning a super-G as pre-race favourite Didier Cuche finished third.

"I never gave up and that is very important, if you are a sportsman or in life," Raich said.

Raich showed that all his technical skills have survived a serious knee injury one year ago, mastering a tough middle section as he clocked 1 minute, 34.37 seconds on the Nationale course. Adrien Theaux of France was runner-up, 0.24 seconds back, and Cuche trailed Raich by 0.36.

"After my accident last year and my injury, and after the two years without victory, it's great," Raich said. "I was sure that it was possible (to win again) but you never know. I worked really hard."

Cuche, who won Friday's super-G when Raich was third, praised his old rival who was criticized by some Austrian media over his early-season results.

"Nobody had enough patience to let him do what he is able to do," Cuche said. "But with Benni you can be sure that if he has no trouble, no pain, he will be back sooner or later."

Cuche helped attract 23,000 spectators to see him race in Switzerland for the final time this weekend before retiring.

Swiss teammate Beat Feuz, who is nursing knee pain, was 10th and missed another chance to take the overall standings lead from Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

Hirscher, defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and Feuz, are separated by just 15 points. Hirscher sat out Saturday's race to prepare for his specialist giant slalom event on Sunday, and Kostelic is expected to race again in two weeks after knee surgery.

Bode Miller was sidelined for a second straight day to help his left knee heal after undergoing minor knee surgery in the United States this week. Miller could race the GS on Sunday.

Raich's 36th World Cup victory, sixth on the all-time list ahead of Miller, was his first in super-G.

The former World Cup overall champion, who will be 34 on Tuesday, last won in December 2009 at a super-combined event at Val d'Isere, France.

Raich's injury sustained at the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, ended his season one year ago, but he has come back strongly since January. His three podium finishes this season have all been in Switzerland.

Despite supporting Cuche, the knowledgeable Swiss crowd generously applauded Raich when he crossed the line after an impressively clean run on the soft snow.

Cuche lost his ideal line after a jump and was slowed by venturing into soupy snow at the side of the course.

"I knew that I was able to win again but you have to bring it from the top to the bottom. It cost me all the speed because I had to push into the soft snow," the 37-year-old Swiss star said.

However, Cuche closed to within seven points of super-G leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who placed ninth for the second consecutive day.

Jan Hudec of Canada rose to third in the discipline standings, after adding a fifth-place finish to his runner-up spot on Friday.

Two more super-G races are scheduled next weekend at Kvitfjell, Norway.

Race temperatures were merely warm, as the sun occasionally broke through cloud cover, compared to Friday's relative Alpine heatwave.

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Re: [SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

2012-02-25T02:05:00.000-08:00

I had a mate who worked as a sound engineer for PYE records in London in the
60's and 70's, who told me he and a colleague had been tasked with providing
quadraphonic mixes of some albums, and they just basically did what they
felt like, there was no artistry involved.

I don't know which albums it was, but like any medium this will be the case,
that some mixes will have been produced with fine attention to detail, and
others probably just to cash in on the current popular format.

-----Original Message-----
From: pj-mckay
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:30 AM
To: SurroundSound
Subject: [SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

The problem is pretty simple to explain and you highlight it without
realising you said it. Take DAC; You and many audiophiles care about
it and might specify a spec/brand. Most folk dont care so long as
they choose to play music and music arrives at their ears. Purists
might care a lot; most folk don't and that shouldn't be seen as
anything bad. Purists might listen for some almost undefinable detail
whilst others want to dance, laugh, enjoy, and simply not give two
hoots about it.

Plus... Most in this group are still hung up on physical media and
the formats. It's already on the way out but most here don't listen
to such heresy. SACD, DVD-A didn't catch on because of costs, format
clutter, and poor consumer implementation. DVD-A was always destined
to failure as you can't plop it in a drive and press play. SAC-D was
much better for a consumer in that respect but even then it takes an
effort to autoswitch to 6 channel mode OR set the device to output
what you want. I'll bet most folk either haven't touched their player
setting or have done it wrong.. maybe even me!

Memory cards and disk files are the future, and probably media
streaming/download sites once the former are more accepted. Why would
I want to play an ISO of 1 album when my entire music collection sits
on a NAS in flac, multichannel flac, DTS, MP3 etc ??? NONE. Copy a
dozen to an SD card and play in the car... this is a 'no brainer' to
me. And everyone can drag'n'drop to a memory card; even your granny
I'll bet.

My opinion: I've almost given up on multichannel music to be honest
as few sound as good as I would like. I sit and hear voices in the
rear which I know were on stage and it just sounds wrong and false. I
love my home theatre and the sound effects.... manys a time we've
jumped and looked behind to see what was there - nought!

Audio wise; I'm almost at the point of admitting I prefer the sound
of 5 channel stereo to fill the room. I'm wondering if multichannel
music would be better with one plane, a speaker in each corner (top
and bottom) plus centre and rely on echo/delay to simulate the reverb/
echo of a proper hall. Maybe one ot the real engineers in this forum
could give their views. From my very limited understanding of early
quadraphonics it appears the tracks were essentially matrix mixes and
maybe they were more ahead of their time than we thought. Maybe
they're better than modern attempts... I'm willing to listen to some
quad mixes and compare to modern formats again. Something decent,
bright, and not sounding like its from a fidty year old tape though.
So long as its file based mind :-)

It would be good to get some short feedback from the quad enthusiasts
as to whether original 4 channel quad holds up against newer formats,
presentations. Maybe they're over engineered now???

On Feb 24, 6:05 pm, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've yet to meet anyone who has heard of SACD, SHM-SACD, DVD-A, DTS CDs,
> but a couple have heard of Quad despite never having actually heard it. I
> get nearly the same stare when I talk about higher than CD quality music.
> Apparently consumer outreach is not one of the strong points for
> introducing new audio products! I don't even know a single soul who knows
> what a DAC is. I consider myself usually to be on the bleeding edge of
> tech, but on this one I am apparently light years ahead of the average
> consumer. Very sad as even cheap AVRs these days with an ok speaker set
> would allow for a noticeable improvement over MP3s and AAC files to be
> sure.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > I get blank stares and a slight glassing over of the eyes whenever I
> > bring
> > it up to non-audio enthusiasts.
>
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:14 AM, scolumbo <sacolu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Although I bought a couple of DVD-A's last year (KC and Anathema come
> >> to mind), and SACD continues to hang on, primarily from over-priced
> >> SHM-SACD's, it is hard to argue that the general population views both
> >> formats as flops. Certainly the major labels have made that
> >> conclusion.
>
> >> Laserdiscs and betamax continued to hang on long after they were
> >> essentially dead as a mass consumer product. I think that's where we
> >> are in the life cycle of DVD-A's and SACD's. Disappointing yes, but
> >> that doesn't mean DVD-A's and SACD's are gone and forgotten by a few
> >> of us. Unfortunately, too few for the record labels to care about.
>
> >> Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> >> and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> >> On Feb 24, 2:55 am, ROBERT COOGAN <bobcoo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> > I had laserdiscs and minidisc - sold all my laserdiscs and player a
> >> couple
> >> > of years ago as I needed the cash.
>
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Tab Cursor
> >> > Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM
> >> > To: SurroundSound
> >> > Subject: [SurroundSound] Is your surround format a flop?
>
> >> > Just saw this one on Home Theater:
>
> >> >http://www.hometheater.com/content/flops-fourteen-formats-and-technol.
> >> ..
>
> >> > I think the author should have consulted our group before publishing
> >> > this one. Around here these formats aren't gone and forgotten. Or are
> >> > they?
>
> >> > What do you think?
>
> >> > Still listening to any of these? I know I am.
>
> >> > --
> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> Groups
> >> > "SurroundSound" group.
> >> > To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> > SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> > For more options, visit this group athttp://
> >> groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> Groups
> >> "SurroundSound" group.
> >> To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> For more options, visit this group at
> >>http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > --
> > August
> > Bleed, Inc.
> > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
>
> --
> August
> Bleed, Inc.
> Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog- Hide
> quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

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[SurroundSound] Re: Is your surround format a flop?

2012-02-25T01:30:00.000-08:00

The problem is pretty simple to explain and you highlight it without
realising you said it. Take DAC; You and many audiophiles care about
it and might specify a spec/brand. Most folk dont care so long as
they choose to play music and music arrives at their ears. Purists
might care a lot; most folk don't and that shouldn't be seen as
anything bad. Purists might listen for some almost undefinable detail
whilst others want to dance, laugh, enjoy, and simply not give two
hoots about it.

Plus... Most in this group are still hung up on physical media and
the formats. It's already on the way out but most here don't listen
to such heresy. SACD, DVD-A didn't catch on because of costs, format
clutter, and poor consumer implementation. DVD-A was always destined
to failure as you can't plop it in a drive and press play. SAC-D was
much better for a consumer in that respect but even then it takes an
effort to autoswitch to 6 channel mode OR set the device to output
what you want. I'll bet most folk either haven't touched their player
setting or have done it wrong.. maybe even me!

Memory cards and disk files are the future, and probably media
streaming/download sites once the former are more accepted. Why would
I want to play an ISO of 1 album when my entire music collection sits
on a NAS in flac, multichannel flac, DTS, MP3 etc ??? NONE. Copy a
dozen to an SD card and play in the car... this is a 'no brainer' to
me. And everyone can drag'n'drop to a memory card; even your granny
I'll bet.

My opinion: I've almost given up on multichannel music to be honest
as few sound as good as I would like. I sit and hear voices in the
rear which I know were on stage and it just sounds wrong and false. I
love my home theatre and the sound effects.... manys a time we've
jumped and looked behind to see what was there - nought!

Audio wise; I'm almost at the point of admitting I prefer the sound
of 5 channel stereo to fill the room. I'm wondering if multichannel
music would be better with one plane, a speaker in each corner (top
and bottom) plus centre and rely on echo/delay to simulate the reverb/
echo of a proper hall. Maybe one ot the real engineers in this forum
could give their views. From my very limited understanding of early
quadraphonics it appears the tracks were essentially matrix mixes and
maybe they were more ahead of their time than we thought. Maybe
they're better than modern attempts... I'm willing to listen to some
quad mixes and compare to modern formats again. Something decent,
bright, and not sounding like its from a fidty year old tape though.
So long as its file based mind :-)

It would be good to get some short feedback from the quad enthusiasts
as to whether original 4 channel quad holds up against newer formats,
presentations. Maybe they're over engineered now???

On Feb 24, 6:05 pm, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've yet to meet anyone who has heard of SACD, SHM-SACD, DVD-A, DTS CDs,
> but a couple have heard of Quad despite never having actually heard it. I
> get nearly the same stare when I talk about higher than CD quality music.
> Apparently consumer outreach is not one of the strong points for
> introducing new audio products! I don't even know a single soul who knows
> what a DAC is. I consider myself usually to be on the bleeding edge of
> tech, but on this one I am apparently light years ahead of the average
> consumer. Very sad as even cheap AVRs these days with an ok speaker set
> would allow for a noticeable improvement over MP3s and AAC files to be sure.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, August Bleed <bleed...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> > and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> > I get blank stares and a slight glassing over of the eyes whenever I bring
> > it up to non-audio enthusiasts.
>
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 6:14 AM, scolumbo <sacolu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Although I bought a couple of DVD-A's last year (KC and Anathema come
> >> to mind), and SACD continues to hang on, primarily from over-priced
> >> SHM-SACD's, it is hard to argue that the general population views both
> >> formats as flops. Certainly the major labels have made that
> >> conclusion.
>
> >> Laserdiscs and betamax continued to hang on long after they were
> >> essentially dead as a mass consumer product. I think that's where we
> >> are in the life cycle of DVD-A's and SACD's. Disappointing yes, but
> >> that doesn't mean DVD-A's and SACD's are gone and forgotten by a few
> >> of us. Unfortunately, too few for the record labels to care about.
>
> >> Question, ask any non-enthusiast general consumer what a SHM-SACD is,
> >> and what answer do you think you would get?
>
> >> On Feb 24, 2:55 am, ROBERT COOGAN <bobcoo...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> > I had laserdiscs and minidisc - sold all my laserdiscs and player a
> >> couple
> >> > of years ago as I needed the cash.
>
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Tab Cursor
> >> > Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM
> >> > To: SurroundSound
> >> > Subject: [SurroundSound] Is your surround format a flop?
>
> >> > Just saw this one on Home Theater:
>
> >> >http://www.hometheater.com/content/flops-fourteen-formats-and-technol.
> >> ..
>
> >> > I think the author should have consulted our group before publishing
> >> > this one. Around here these formats aren't gone and forgotten. Or are
> >> > they?
>
> >> > What do you think?
>
> >> > Still listening to any of these? I know I am.
>
> >> > --
> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> Groups
> >> > "SurroundSound" group.
> >> > To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> > SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> > For more options, visit this group athttp://
> >> groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> >> "SurroundSound" group.
> >> To post to this group, send email to SurroundSound@googlegroups.com
> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> SurroundSound-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> >> For more options, visit this group at
> >>http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound
>
> > --
> > August
> > Bleed, Inc.
> > Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
>
> --
> August
> Bleed, Inc.
> Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

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2012-02-25T01:21:00.000-08:00

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{allcanada} Boston (36-20-3) at Ottawa (32-22-8)

2012-02-24T22:43:00.001-08:00

Boston (36-20-3) at Ottawa (32-22-8)

TV: CBC, NESN

Puck Drop: 7:00 pm EST Sat Feb 25, 2012

The Ottawa Senators' scoring binge has them closing on the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins.

The Senators have a chance to make that race even tighter if they overcome an unusual injury to goaltender Craig Anderson and end a lengthy skid to the inconsistent Bruins on Saturday night.

After totaling nine goals during an 0-6-1 skid, Ottawa has rebounded with 28 goals in a 5-0-1 stretch.

Milan Michalek and Erik Karlsson had three points apiece during their team's fourth straight win, 5-2 over visiting Washington on Wednesday. Karlsson also set a team single-season mark for defensemen with his 47th assist, and he's also nearing another franchise record as he's three shy of Norm Maciver's 63 points from the Senators' inaugural 1992-93 campaign.

Karlsson is also on a five-game point streak that's featured five goals and seven assists, and Jason Spezza has seven goals and nine assists during a seven-game run.

"We're getting contributions from everyone offensively and the structure of our team play has been very good and the attention to detail in the defensive zone is getting better," coach Paul MacLean said. "As a result our goals against is getting better, and we're creating way more offense out of the way we play defense."

That consistent production is likely the envy of Bruins' fans, who have seen their team mix solid efforts with low-scoring ones in February.

Boston (36-20-3) has scored three or more goals in each of its four victories this month and a combined four in its seven defeats. After winning 4-2 in St. Louis on Wednesday, the Bruins fell 2-1 in a shootout in Buffalo on Friday.

"A point for us is OK," goaltender Tuukka Rask said following his fifth straight loss. "We haven't played consistently over the past couple of weeks. But I think against St. Louis we played a great game, and today we played a good game … and we have to keep it going."

That point put Boston three ahead of Ottawa in the Northeast, but the Senators likely won't have Anderson to help close that gap. The goaltender accidentally cut his right hand while preparing a meal Thursday.

Alex Auld, who has started seven games this season, will get the start seek to win consecutive outings for the first time this season. He might also start Tuesday when Ottawa visits Boston.

"This is where a lot of things are going to be decided here, whether we make it a tight race or whether we really push them down," Boston coach Claude Julien said of the two matchups. "We'll be up to the task."

While with Montreal, Auld gave up two goals on eight shots in relief of Carey Price during a 7-0 rout March 24. He's 4-2-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average in six career starts against the Bruins.

"I look at it as an opportunity," Auld told the team's website. "Craig is a huge part of our team, and it's a tough loss. I think we have a capable group, and we're playing good hockey. We've just got to keep that going."

Boston, meanwhile, will likely counter with Tim Thomas, who has started each of his team's three wins against the Senators this season. He's also recorded five of the Bruins' seven consecutive wins in the series.

Boston has won seven in a row in Ottawa, and Thomas is 8-0-0 with a 1.35 GAA in his last eight games there.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
Boston	59	36	20	3	75	1st, Northeast	195	136	18-10-1 Road
Ottawa	62	32	22	8	72	2nd, Northeast	190	185	16-11-3 Home

Injuries

Marc Savard C, Nathan Horton RW

Jesse Winchester C, Peter Regin C

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{allcanada} Melzer upsets Isner in Memphis quarterfinal

2012-02-24T22:38:00.001-08:00

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Jurgen Melzer, playing with a broken big toe on his right foot, upset top-seeded John Isner 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

The Austrian who broke his toe Feb. 16 in his hotel room has won three straight matches at The Racquet Club to reach the semifinals. He will play Radek Stepanek, a 7-6 (5), 6-0 winner over American Sam Querrey.

Milos Raonic of Canada beat Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Friday night and will play Benjamin Becker of Germany who beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 7-5, 7-6 (5). Raonic won his second title this year last week at San Jose, and he used his big serve to beat Rochus with 26 aces.

On the women's side, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and will play Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden in Saturday's Memphis International final. Arvidsson defeated Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-3, 7-5.

Isner came in as the top seed in a tournament for only the second time in his career. He was 6-2 this year and ranked 13th in the world, and the 6-foot-9 American had served up 48 aces while winning his first two matches.

Now, he's leaving Memphis still looking for his first title of 2012.

"Don't want to lose in the quarterfinals, but you know, I don't feel like I lost this match today, which is a good thing," Isner said. "He won it. He was better than me, and he deserved it, really. I thought he played really well. That's all there is to it. I just ran up against a guy who's clicking on all cylinders."

Melzer has three titles in his career and is working his way back toward a top-10 ranking after back troubles last year. He's playing well enough this week that not even the toe he caught up in a bedspread is bothering him.

"It's very nice to beat the top seed, but for me it's more important that my game is getting better," Melzer said.

"My body holds up. … I had a lot of troubles with my back last year. It's nice to be able to play pain-free on the court, putting the toe aside. OK, that's going to heal, and going out there especially when there's an important point. I have been playing well this week. That's what made me top 10 in the world and (I'm) trying to do that again."

Melzer said he saw the ball very well from the start Friday, and he got the jump on Isner by breaking him in the first game. Melzer also broke the American to close out the first set.

Isner at least got to the tiebreaker in the second set, saving two match points down 4-5 and trailing 15-40. He used his serve, including three of his 11 aces for the match, to hold. Then he wound up losing his first tiebreaker this year despite having a set point and a chance to extend the match to a third set.

"He just played good points," Isner said. "Obviously on the match point, he hit a return off the back of the line. Hit that same exact return earlier when I was up 3-2 or something like that. He was just painting the lines a lot today, going for his shots, and they were all going in."

Melzer improved to 2-0 against Isner and he said he usually guesses where Isner will place his big serve—except on match point.

"I actually told myself, `You don't guess. You wait and see if you can react.' And luckily for me, he didn't hit the line wide. It was more going into my body. I could connect well to the ball. When it left the racket, it felt pretty good, so I was like, when he challenged it, of course you start praying. … He came to the net and said it was good, so I was happy."

Raonic improved to 14-1 this year, and he nearly closed out his latest match leading 5-4 in the second set when Rochus broke him, with the Canadian winning only one point off his serve.

"I felt there were a few games I just let up a little bit," Raonic said. "In the end of it, not much I could do better. I just wish I kept the intensity up. I feel like I'm hitting better and playing better tennis match by match. It's just a matter of cleaning up a few mistakes and keep doing what I've been doing."

Stepanek came to Memphis after spending four days in bed at home in Florida sick and not practicing. Now he's back in his third semifinal at Memphis with his first win over Querrey in three matches.

The Czech was up 5-2 with a chance to close out Querrey in the first set. Querrey rallied to force the tiebreaker and was ahead 4-1 before Stepanek took over. He needed a moment to fix a contact lens, then won six of the final seven points in the tiebreaker.

That proved more than enough against Querrey, the 2010 tournament champ here, and Stepanek closed out the second set in just 15 minutes.

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{allcanada} OHL: MAXWELL SOLID IN NET AS MAJORS BEAT ICEDOGS

2012-02-24T22:35:00.003-08:00

When battling for a post-season position, there is no better feeling than getting quality play from your goaltender.

Brandon Maxwell made 43 saves, earning the game's first star, as the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors defeated the visiting Niagara IceDogs 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action.

"Maxwell was just outstanding tonight and we hung in there all night against a very tough team," said Majors head coach James Boyd. "He made a lot of great saves and gave us a chance to win and we took advantage of our opportunities and that is a very big two points for us with the standings as tight as they are."

Trevor Carrick and Justin Rasmussen each scored for the Majors (26-25-7), who hold down sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, while Sergey Kuptsov's third period goal stood up as the game winner.

Brett Ritchie had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs (38-17-3), who had their three-game winning streak snapped, Milan Doudera scored once and Andrew Agozzino chipped in with two assists.

Mark Visentin's personal 17-game winning streak came to halt after allowing three goals on 22 shots in a losing effort.

Mississauga went 1 for 2 on the power play as Niagara failed to score on their only opportunity with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Sault Ste. Marie 6, Erie 3; Sarnia 5, Windsor 0; Plymouth 4, Oshawa 3 (OT); Sudbury 6, Saginaw 4; Belleville 2, Brampton 1; Guelph 6, Owen Sound 2; London 10, Kingston 3; Kitchener 3, Peterborough 1 and Barrie 5, Ottawa 4 (OT).

At Mississauga, Ont., Ritchie opened the scoring at 17:41 of the first period to give the IceDogs a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Rasmussen tied the game at 4:43 of the second period but Doudera responded at 11:09, giving Niagara a one-goal advantage heading into the final period.

Carrick opened the third period with a power-play goal at 2:12 and Kuptsov scored the eventual game winner for the Majors at 12:14.

---

Greyhounds 6 Otters 3

At Erie, Pa., Nick Cousins scored once and set up two more and Ryan Sproul had two goals as Sault Ste. Marie (24-29-6) picked up its first win in three outings by doubling up the Otters (9-43-5).

---

Sting 5 Spitfires 0

At Sarnia, Ont., JP Anderson stopped all 28 shots he faced and Reid Boucher had a goal and an assist as the Sting (30-21-7) blanked Windsor (25-28-6).

---

Whalers 4 Generals 3 (OT)

At Plymouth, Mich., Stefan Noesen scored three times, including the winner 2:35 into overtime, as the Whalers (38-17-3) edged Oshawa (26-28-5), who have lost three straight games.

---

Wolves 6 Spirit 4

At Saginaw, Mich., Joshua Leivo scored once and set up two more and Nathan Pancel had two goals as Sudbury (31-21-5) ended its three-game winless streak by defeating the Spirit (27-24-7).

---

Bulls 2 Battalion 1

At Brampton, Ont., Malcolm Subban stopped 32-of-33 shots, earning the game's first star, and Jordan Mayer and Daniil Zharkov each scored as Belleville (28-28-1) snapped the Battalion's (31-19-9) four-game winning streak.

---

Storm 6 Attack 2

At Guelph, Ont., Cody McNaughton and Zack Mitchell each had a goal and two assists as the Storm (24-27-5) beat Owen Sound (29-23-7).

---

Knights 10 Frontenacs 3

At Kingston, Ont., Vladislav Namestnikov had two goals and three assists while seven other members of the Knights recorded multi-point games as London (43-13-1) crushed the Frontenacs (18-34-6).

---

Rangers 3 Petes 1

At Kitchener, Ont., Michael Catenacci scored once and set up two more and Franky Palazzese stopped 30 shots as the Rangers (38-17-2) got past Peterborough (25-28-7), who have now lost three games in a row.

---

Colts 5 67's 4 (OT)

At Ottawa, Zach Hall scored the winning goal in the seventh round of the shootout and Ivan Telegin had two goals in regulation time as Barrie (34-20-4) won its fifth straight game by beating the 67's (36-15-7).

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{allcanada} QMJHL:GRIGORENKO LEADS REMPARTS PAST OLYMPIQUES

2012-02-24T22:35:00.001-08:00

It's unlikely anyone will catch up to Mikhail Grigorenko in the rookie-scoring race if he keeps putting up points the way he is.

Grigorenko scored three times and set up one more as the Quebec Remparts defeated the visiting Gatineau Olympiques 5-3 on Friday night in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The 17-year-old Russian now has six goals and 10 points in his last five games.

His season total of 76 points in 50 games give him a 10-point lead over Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads for first in rookie scoring.

Jeremie Malouin and Frederick Roy also scored for the Remparts (37-15-7), who have won three games in a row, while Logan Shaw chipped in with two assists.

Jacob Conrad, Garrett Clarke and Yousseff Kabbaj each scored for the Olympiques (23-26-9), who have dropped back-to-back games.

Francois Brassard made 15 saves for the win while Francois Lacerte turned away 42 shots in defeat.

Quebec's top-ranked power play went 1 for 6 while Gatineau failed to score on their only opportunity with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL, it was: Chicoutimi 4, Blainville-Boisbriand 2 and Rouyn-Noranda 5, P.E.I. 3.

At Quebec City, Grigorenko opened the scoring at 10:25 of the first period to give the Remparts an early lead, however Clarke responded for Gatineau 23 seconds later.

Conrad added another at 13:24 to give the Olympiques a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Malouin tied the game at 8:54 of the second period and Grigorenko scored his second of the game at 11:20.

Again, Gatineau responded quickly to a Remparts lead when Kabbaj tied the game 33 seconds later.

Grigorenko completed the hat trick with a power-play goal at 15:39, making it 4-3 Quebec heading into the final period.

Roy added the final goal at 1:42 of the third to secure a victory for the Remparts.

---

Sagueneens 4 Armada 2

At Boisbriand, Que., Alexandre Roy and Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and two assists apiece as Chicoutimi (30-20-9) snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating the Armada (33-22-4).

---

Huskies 5 Rocket 3

At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Sven Andrighetto had a goal and an assist and Antonio Mastropietro made 19 saves as the Huskies (19-34-6) handed P.E.I. (17-38-4) their seventh straight loss.

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{allcanada} Washington (30-26-5) at Toronto (29-25-7)

2012-02-24T22:30:00.001-08:00

Washington (30-26-5) at Toronto (29-25-7)

TV: CBC, NHLN

Puck Drop: 7:00 pm EST Sat Feb 25, 2012

The trade deadline is looming, but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals have a more immediate concern - getting back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The slumping Maple Leafs could get back into that mix on Saturday night, as could the visiting Capitals, who also have a chance to move into a tie for the Southeast Division lead.

With Monday's NHL trade deadline creating plenty of uneasiness in dressing rooms around the league, the Maple Leafs (29-25-7) and Capitals (30-26-5) - who are tied with 65 points - are trying to ignore that distraction and simply focus on getting back on track following rough stretches.

Washington snapped its three-game skid and won for just the second time in eight games with Friday's 4-1 victory over Montreal, but the Maple Leafs are stuck in a 1-6-1 skid.

Toronto has provided only 15 goals of support during this stretch, but Jonas Gustavsson and James Reimer haven't been much help with a combined 3.88 goals-against average. Neither can feel comfortable with his spot on the club after general manager Brian Burke told a Toronto radio station on Wednesday that he was in the market for a goalie.

But the Maple Leafs can't afford to worry about who's on the trading block as they have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Toronto could improve its postseason chances by defeating Washington then Florida on Tuesday to cap off its four-game homestand.

"We need to win those (next two) games," coach Ron Wilson said following Thursday's 2-1 loss to San Jose.

The Maple Leafs will try to avoid a season high-tying four-game slide at Air Canada Centre set Nov. 5-15.

Toronto ended that skid on Nov. 19 as Joffrey Lupul scored a goal and set up three in a 7-1 victory over Washington.

If the Maple Leafs can hand the Capitals a second straight loss at Air Canada Centre, and eighth-place Florida loses in regulation at Carolina on Saturday, Toronto will leapfrog the Panthers.

The Capitals could make an even bigger jump in the standings after catching Toronto on Friday.

With a victory over the Maple Leafs and regulation losses by Florida and Winnipeg, which hosts St. Louis, Washington will move into a first-place divisional tie with the Jets with two games in hand.

That might not be enough for Capitals general manager George McPhee.

"Everybody wants to make their team better. But it's somebody else's decision who's going to be traded, who's not," said Alex Ovechkin, who scored his 25th goal of the season on Friday following a one-game absence due to a lower-body injury. "If George is going to do something, I think it's going to be better for our club."

So is having Ovechkin find the back of the net. Washington is 14-4-2 when the two-time MVP scores.

Ovechkin has no goals in two games versus Toronto this season, but he assisted on one of Dennis Wideman's two scores in Washington's 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Dec. 9.

Wideman's third goal in that game was later wiped out by the league and given to Brooks Laich.

Michael Neuvirth figures to be in net for Washington following Friday's 30-save performance. He stopped eight of 11 shots as a second-period replacement for Tomas Vokoun on Nov. 19.

Gustavsson made a career high-tying 40 saves in that contest, but Reimer is expected to get the nod from Wilson on Saturday.

Reimer turned aside 21 of 25 shots on Dec. 9.

Team Comparison

Team	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Standings	GF	GA	Road/Home
Washington	61	30	26	5	65	3rd, Southeast	165	174	10-18-3 Road
Toronto	61	29	25	7	65	3rd, Northeast	182	186	16-10-5 Home

Injuries

Tom Poti D, Nicklas Backstrom C

No Injuries

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{allcanada} Ware surprises all in FINA World Cup

2012-02-24T22:26:00.001-08:00

LONDON, England -- Canada's Pamela Ware surprised herself -- and very nearly the field -- in her first major international diving competition on Friday.

Competing in the women's individual 3-metre springboard event, the 19-year old from Ottenburn Park, Que., finished fourth at the FINA Diving World Cup against a field of the world's top divers.

"It's my first time at a big competition like this," Ware said, "My first international competition. I've been to Grand Prix, but nothing like this. I walked in here, I already felt nervous."

The competition is being held in the Aquatics Centre in London's Olympic Park, the main competition site for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The World Cup is also serving as an official test event ahead of the Games.

Once on the board, Ware was able to get the a handle on her nerves, although she admitted she felt breathless and tense throughout the competition.

She posted three personal-best scores in succession, scoring 313.95 in the preliminary round on Thursday, 327.60 in Friday's semi, and a whopping 341.25 in the final on Friday evening. Ware finished 4.45 points out of the bronze medal position, which went to Tania Cagnotto of Italy.

"Five [good] dives in a row, which I did three times, never happens," said Ware. "I'm really happy. I don't think I could have asked for anything better."

Three-time Olympic medallist Émilie Heymans, of St-Lambert, Que., finished 10th in the event with 307.35. China's Wu Minxia and He Zi finished one-two in a World Cup that has been dominated by the Chinese all week.

China has won gold in every event so far, with only the men's 10m platform and women's synchronized 3m springboard finals remaining. So far the 2008 Olympic host nation has collected six gold medals and three silver.

"At their best, they are incredible," Canadian coach Aaron Dziver said of the Chinese team. "And you have to be at your best to equal them. But it's possible. There are some divers in the world who are able to perform the types of dives that they are doing."

Matthew Mitcham, of Australia, is one such diver. The reigning Olympic 10m champion was the only non-Chinese diver to win gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Mitcham, who returned to competition earlier this month following injuries to his spine and abdominal muscles, finished fourth in the preliminary 10m Friday morning to advance to Saturday's final.

"I was expecting to come maybe 15th or something, so to come fourth in the prelims after those expectations was a massive surprise to me," Mitcham said.

Asked if he would be able to pull off another Chinese upset this week in London, Mitcham downplayed his expectations.

"I don't know if it can be done here at this competition because I am so fresh back in this competition, because I am so fresh. But coming back in July, that's the plan," he said.

Canada's Eric Sehn was looking to secure a second Olympic berth in the men's 10m preliminary, needing a top-18 finish to guarantee a spot. Twenty-ninth was not good enough, and he will need to compete in Sunday's last-ditch chance, a dive-off, to secure one of the remaining tickets to the Games.

Riley McCormick, who secured one Olympic berth in the platform event for Canada at last year's World Championships in Shanghai, finished 24th in London.

Heymans will partner with Jennifer Abel to compete in the synchronized 3m springboard event on Saturday, as the FINA Diving World Cup continues. The men's 10m platform semi and final events are also scheduled for Saturday.

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{allcanada} Scott secures berth in final

2012-02-24T22:25:00.001-08:00

RED DEER, Alta. -- B.C.'s Kelly Scott is into the final of the Canadian women's curling championship.

Her Kelowna Curling Club team beat Manitoba's Jennifer Jones 7-5 in a playoff between the top two playoff seeds in the tournament.

Scott will play in Sunday's final of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Jones has to win Saturday's semifinal to gain a rematch with Scott.

Her Winnipeg team meets the winner of playoff between third seed Marie-France Larouche of Quebec and fourth seed Heather Nedohin of Alberta earlier in the day.

B.C. scored two in the fourth and stole two in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead and control of the game. Scott won the Canadian championship in both 2006 and 2007.

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{allcanada} Canucks beat Devils 2-1; Schneider has 30 saves

2012-02-24T20:13:00.001-08:00

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Cory Schneider had 30 saves and Aaron Rome and Mason Raymond scored goals as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 Friday night.

The win came a night after the Canucks ended the Detroit Red Wings' NHL-record 23-game home winning streak.

The Canucks didn't arrive in New Jersey until 3:30 a.m. because of snow-related delays in Detroit. They weren't at their best, but still won for the ninth time (9-1-1) in 11 games. Schneider and a couple of unexpected goal scorers proved the difference in handing New Jersey only its third loss since the All-Star break. The Devils are 9-2-1 since the break.

David Clarkson scored for the Devils on a play that a puck deflected into the net off his skate. It was reviewed and upheld.

Schneider was outstanding in winning for the 14th time in 19 decisions as Roberto Luongo's backup.

He played his best when challenged by the Devils' top line of Ilya Kovalchuk, Adam Henrique and Zach Parise, stopping Parise three times under the circles in the third period and defenseman Andy Greene on shots from the left point.

Patrik Elias missed an open net with just over three minutes to play and Schneider made a pad save on a shot that Clarkson didn't hit right seconds later. A goalmouth scramble in the closing seconds was the Devils' last gasp.

Schneider's best save came in the opening period when he stopped Kovalchuk with a pad save point blank.

Coming into the game as the NHL's highest scoring team, the Canucks led 1-0 after the first period with the goal generated by two unlikely players. Rome scored his first goal since Nov. 13 (28 games) when he came in from the point, took the rebound of a shot by teammate Christopher Tanev and scored into an open net.

It was his fourth goal of the season and came on Tanev's first point of the season and second of his career.

Raymond made it 2-0 just 2:07 into the second period. He took a drop pass from David Booth above the right circle and ripped a shot past Martin Brodeur. Replays seemed to indicate the puck might have hit off Greene's arm but it was inconclusive.

Clarkson got his 24th goal with 8:30 left in the second period when Elias' centering pass went off his skate into an open net.

The Devils announced during the game they had acquired defenseman Marek Zidlicky from Minnesota in a multi-player deal.

Notes: This was Vancouver's first game at the Prudential Center since Dec. 2, 2009. … Canucks are 10-4-1 vs. Eastern Conference this season. … Devils C Ryan Carter returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a fractured finger. ….This was the only game between the teams this season. …The Canucks are 34-6-1 when scoring first.

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{allcanada} Ovechkin helps struggling Caps beat Canadiens 4-1

2012-02-24T20:12:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP)—Alex Ovechkin returned from an injury to combine with Jason Chimera on a pair of goals 16 seconds apart Friday night, and the Washington Capitals ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.

Ovechkin missed Washington's previous game, at Ottawa on Wednesday, with a lower-body injury. As it is, the two-time MVP is having what might wind up as his worst NHL season, with only 25 goals and 21 assists so far. He went into Friday with all of four goals in the preceding month.

But Ovechkin's slap shot from the left circle off Dmitry Orlov's pass got past goalie Carey Price at 8:58 of the second period, while the official scoring for Chimera's breakaway goal still was being announced over the loudspeakers.

Ovechkin dropped a knee to the ice and punched a glove to celebrate.

Mathieu Perreault scored for the hosts in the first period, and Joel Ward added an empty-netter with 35.1 seconds left. Michal Neuvirth made 30 saves, although he did allow the first goal Montreal has scored against Washington since March 15, 2011. Rene Bourque's short-handed breakaway goal 3:42 into the third period ended a drought of 260 minutes, 14 seconds for the Canadiens against the Capitals, stretching over five games, including three shutouts. Bourque's goal came after Ovechkin turned over the puck.

But by the time that happened, Washington held a 3-0 lead Friday in what might be a key game for the future of the franchise.

The NHL trade deadline arrives Monday, and Capitals general manager George McPhee needs to decide whether he wants to be a buyer or a seller—in essence, determine whether the team he assembled is capable of making noise in the postseason or whether Washington needs to try a new approach.

McPhee already tried changing coaches this season, firing Bruce Boudreau— who's found success jump-starting his new employer, the Anaheim Ducks—and handing the team over to Dale Hunter.

Given that the Capitals had won only one of their past seven games, and four of their past 15—dropping them from first place to third in the Southeast Division, and to 10th in the Eastern Conference entering Friday—they were in need of a strong performance. And they delivered against Montreal, which has lost three games in a row, is in last place in the East and isn't exactly playing inspired hockey.

In the first period, some casual defense by the Canadiens allowed the Capitals to do something they're not really used to lately: take a lead. With the puck staying almost exclusively in Washington's offensive end, Chimera sent a pass across the ice to Perreault, who was pretty much left alone to make it 1-0 at 6:58.

That ended a run of six consecutive games in which Washington trailed 1-0; indeed, in four of their previous five games, the Capitals fell behind 2-0.

For Perreault, it was his 11th goal of the season—and 10th scored with his stick. His last goal came when the puck ricocheted in off his face.

NOTES: The Capitals said Ovechkin is the 17th player in NHL history—and third active player—with at least 25 goals in each of his first seven seasons. … Bourque was with the Calgary Flames when he was suspended for five games after elbowing Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom in the head Jan. 3. Backstrom hasn't played since. … Washington RW Mike Knuble was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in the past eight games, and D Roman Hamrlik was held out for the second straight game. … The Capitals travel to Toronto on Saturday, while the Canadiens are at Florida on Sunday.

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{allcanada} Time running out on Paul Tracy

2012-02-24T19:07:00.001-08:00

DAYTONA - The chances of Canada's Paul Tracy starting the first IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg next month are down to just 30%, team owner Michael Shank told the Toronto Sun at Daytona.

The biggest stumbling blocks, Shank said, are money and time — as in the closer the Honda Grand Prix of Petersburg gets without a major sponsorship deal the less the chances are Tracy will be in the event.

He said the MSR Indy team has a Dallara DW12 chassis and now has a Lotus engine but it needs more sponsorship to allow the team to get some testing in before committing to filing an entry form for St. Petersburg on March 25.

"As most of the world knows — because PT likes to talk and that's one of the things I love about him — we had a (sponsorship) deal in place and we were ready to go forward with our IndyCar program ... I bought a car and last week our deal fell through," Shank said as he stopped to talk in the media centre at Daytona International Speedway.

But what appears almost certain at this stage is that Tracy's dream of a farewell IndyCar season where he makes all 16 races on the 2012 calendar is now pretty much dead.

Shank said the priority of MSR Indy is just to get Tracy in as many races as possible.

"Right now we just want to get him in as many races as we can get him in whenever we can," he said. "There are no deadlines. The moment we can put him in a car, we will put him in the car."

The loss of the sponsorship deal — believed to be with Honda — put the team right back to square one.

"We are now back to searching again," he said. "I want to run Paul. He and I get along really well. It is just not there right now."

Shank, of course, is coming off a huge high as his Grand Am team with NASCAR star A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel won last month's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

And he would like nothing more than to follow that up by putting Tracy in his IndyCar Dallara. The two do have a history as Tracy raced in Grand Am with Shank at Daytona in the past.

"Paul has driven for me three times in Daytona prototypes and did a great job for me," Shank said. "We are trying like crazy. He and I have pooled all of our resources to get this done. We sure would like to get some support from Canadian companies."

But even if Shank and Tracy secure funding, the team still must get the race car on the track with its new Lotus engine for at least a shake down run before going racing.

"Listen, at a minimum we need at least four or five days of testing (with Tracy) before I would feel comfortable," Shank said. "We both need to do it right. I don't want to embarrass either one of us.

"The great thing about Paul is that I don't have any BS to deal with. I know that right away he will go out and tell me if the car is good or the car is bad."

The bottom line, however, is still the bottom line, Shank said.

"Here is the thing, we have a great group but we are all not independently wealthy," he said. "We have to make the financial model work. We have a sports car program that is self sufficient and we are not going to rob that to make our IndyCar program work."

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{allcanada} Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg lend voices to "Turbo"

2012-02-24T18:50:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson will lend their vocal talents to DreamWorks Animation's upcoming "Turbo."

Though set in the world of racing, the film centers on a group of cuddly critters who take the wheel -- not the cars themselves as does a certain animated franchise from rival Pixar.

"Turbo" tells the story of a snail who dreams of being a racetrack star like his hero, five-time Indianapolis 500 champ Guy Gagne. He's able to realize that ambition after a freak accident grants him incredible speed.

The movie marks Reynolds' second collaboration with DWA. He also will lend his voice to its upcoming caveman family film, "The Croods."

Among the other actors providing voices for the film are Michael Pena, Richard Jenkins, Maya Rudolph, Ken Jeong, Luis Guzman, Michelle Rodriguez and Bill Hader.

"Turbo" is scheduled to hit the big screen on July 19, 2013.

David Soren ("Merry Madagascar") is set to direct the film based on his own original concept.

Soren is co-writing the script with Robert Siegel ("The Wrestler") and Darren Lemke ("Shrek Forever After"). Lisa Stewart ("Monsters vs. Aliens," "Almost Famous") is producing with Susan Rogers serving as co-producer.

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{allcanada} FRIENDS FREI, KOCIC IN BATTLE FOR TFC STARTING 'KEEPERS JOB

2012-02-24T17:03:00.001-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two guys who are friends off the field are locked in an intense battle for the job as the starting goalkeeper with Toronto FC.

The incumbent Stefan Frei and the upstart Milos Kocic both played well enough on a weak defensive team last season to deserve a shot at being No. 1 when the club starts playing games that count on March 7.

So far, coach Aron Winter isn't saying who it will be.

"If you have two goalkeepers, you have to have a number one and number two," Winter said Friday. "We are still in pre-season.

"At the end, we have to make a decision. It doesn't mean the other goalkeeper's not going to play because we're playing in three different (competitions): in CONCACAF (Champions League), in the (Amway Canadian Championship) and Major League Soccer. We're going to play a lot of games."

Both keepers got vigorous workouts in the Florida heat as Toronto held a 90-minute practice to prepare for their opening game of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic pre-season tournament on Saturday against USL club Orlando City.

They will play Swedish league club BK Hacken on Tuesday and close round-robin play against fellow MLS side Dallas on Thursday. The final is March 3.

Frei, the longest-serving player on the squad, has been the starter since early in his first year after he was drafted 13th overall in 2009. But everything changed when the 25-year-old Swiss keeper injured a knee in August, opening the door for backup Kocic.

The 26-year-old Serb helped Toronto save a dismal 6-13-15 campaign by leading the club through the group stage and into the quarter-finals in CONCACAF Champions League play.

The team's first real game of 2012 will be on March 7 when they play host to the first leg of the quarter-final against the MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy before what is expected to be a crowd of about 45,000 at Rogers Centre.

Toronto's regular-season opener is not until March 17 against Seattle.

By then, the goalkeeping question may be answered.

"Nobody deserves anything," Kocic said of the battle. "You have to prove yourself every year and every pre-season.

"It's up to the coaches to decide who is going to be No. 1, so you just try to improve your game. I know where I have to improve my game and I'm working hard. If the coaches think that's enough for a start then that's good. Otherwise, work harder every day, push each other and compete to the best of your ability."

Frei said competition is good at any position and that any player can be named as a starter, but keeping that spot is just as much of a challenge.

"It's nice to get a bit of confidence from your coaching staff, but you should never take anything for granted," he said. "For me personally, I know that I want to get better. Just for what I want to do for the future with my career, I need to get better. Hopefully that way I can show the coaching staff that I should get playing time."

Frei is said to be the better shot blocker, with Kocic the better at managing the box, but both are adjusting to new goalkeeping coach Stewart Kerr's ideas on how the position will be played.

"Angles especially," said Kocic. "And where to stand in the goal and be a better shot-stopper. Working on positioning. I think we'll improve that aspect of the game tremendously from last year."

Toronto allowed a league high 59 goals and had an MLS-worst goal differential of minus-23 in 2011.

Part of that was adjusting to Winter, the team's sixth head coach in as many years. He brought in a 4-3-3 system that favours possession and quick ball movement.

But mostly it had to do with woes in the central defence after both Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams went down with knee injuries. Cann is in camp and may be ready to play soon but Williams remained back in Toronto to continue his recovery.

The club bolstered those spots with the signings of two veteran central defenders from South America, Chilean Miguel Aceval on the left side and Geovanny Caicedo of Ecuador on the right.

Either goalkeeper should benefit from tighter defence.

"In this league, the way we want to play, it's always good to have two good goalkeepers and two good players at each position," said Winter. "They keep each other strong."

Winter is confident his team will improve because most of the squad have had a year together and should be more effective from the start.

The big changes were made last season, particularly the addition of midfield leader Torsten Frings and big striker Danny Koevermans.

It has given the entire team optimism that they will finally snatch the playoff spot that has eluded them thus far.

"We started last year to build a team and a way to play," said Winter. "Now we're starting the season with the major group from last season and we'll try to make the playoffs.

"But I don't feel like it's pressure. It's normal. Last season when we came we made plans that the first year we were going to rebuild, the second year were going to try to get to the playoffs and then we have to ready for the year after that."

Midfielder Julian de Guzman was still in camp but is to leave soon to join the Canadian national squad in Cyprus for a friendly Feb. 29 against Armenia. National coach Stephen Hart had hoped not to use any MLS players but injuries forced his hand.

De Guzman is suspended for the CONCACAF game, so he will have plenty of time to recover from the travel.

"Julian is completely fit and it's normal that he plays for the national team," said Winter.

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{allcanada} LEAFS PLACE ROSEHILL, BOYCE ON WAIVERS AS DEADLINE LOOMS

2012-02-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

General manager Brian Burke could be making some wiggle room in his payroll for Monday's trade deadline, as the Toronto Maple Leafs placed forwards Jay Rosehill and Darryl Boyce on waivers Friday.

The move could give the Leafs the roster and salary cap flexibility to make additions to a lineup that is currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Boyce is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The 27-year-old has a goal and an assist in 17 games with the Leafs this season. He is earning $700,000 this season.

Rosehill, 26, is set for restricted free agency and has played 16 games with 21 penalty minutes. He is earning $600,000 this season.

The Leafs will call a player up from the Marlies on Saturday.

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{allcanada} OILERS, VETERAN SMYTH DISCUSSING CONTRACT EXTENSION

2012-02-24T16:58:00.001-08:00

The Edmonton Oilers and veteran forward Ryan Smyth are discussing a contract extension.

Smyth is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He is playing out the final season of a five-year, $31.25 million contract that he originally signed with the Colorado Avalanche prior to the 2007-08 season.

The 36-year-old rejoined the Oilers this season after being traded from the Los Angeles Kings last summer. Smyth was dealt from Edmonton to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline in 2007. He has 17 goals and 22 assists in 60 games for the Oilers this season.

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{allcanada} Oilers, Hemsky agree to two-year deal

2012-02-24T16:52:00.001-08:00

The Edmonton Oilers and forward Ales Hemsky have agreed to a two-year deal worth $10 million.

The team announced the deal via its Twitter account.

Hemsky, 28, has been plagued by injuries in each of the past three seasons. He has just five goals and 21 assists in 47 games this season, but had 14 goals and 28 assists in 47 games in 2010-11. He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

"Ales can see the level of skill that's coming," GM Steve Tambellini said of Hemsky, who has nine assists in his last 12 games. "The type of play we've seen lately with him and (Taylor) Hall is exciting."

In 537 regular-season games, the native of Pardubice in the Czech Republic has 119 goals and 302 assists for 421 points, along with 251 penalty minutes. His best season came in 2005-06, when he had 19 goals, 58 assists and 77 points, then added six goals and 17 points in 24 playoff games as the Oilers came within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup.

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{allcanada} Hooper, Neil get called to Hall

2012-02-24T16:51:00.003-08:00

TORONTO -- Charmaine Hooper and Andrea Neil lead the new class of inductees for Canada's Soccer Hall of Fame.

They will be joined by former men's internationals Carlo Corazzin and Mark Watson.

Builders headed to the Hall are Angus Barrett and Gordon Arrowsmith while the late John Richardson gets the Pioneer Award.

The team of distinction is the 1989 Canadian men's side that won gold at the Francophone Games.

The organization of distinction is the Victoria West club.

The induction ceremony is set for June in Toronto.

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{allcanada} Young star commits to Canada

2012-02-24T16:51:00.001-08:00

The soccer narrative in this country is littered with tales of promising young prospects who have snubbed Canada in order to play for other nations.

The list is long, but some of the more notable names include Owen Hargreaves (England), Teal Bunbury (United States), Asmir Begovic (Bosnia) and Daniel Fernandes (Portugal).

Keven Aleman insists his name won't be on that dubious roll call and that he is firmly committed to playing for Canada's senior national team in the future.

"Right now I'm playing for Canada (at U-20 level). That's the country I'm playing for right now and there's nothing more to it. Canada's my home and I will play for my country," Aleman told sportsnet.ca on Friday.

Such a declarative statement might not seem newsworthy, but considering past instances with Hargreaves et al and the yet-to-be determined international futures of David Hoilett and Jonathan de Guzman, it's a big deal whenever a young Canadian player who has options comes out and declares his international allegiance to Canada.

And considering Aleman's potential, it's especially important.

Aleman is a 17-year-old midfielder who recently signed a two-year contract with Real Valladolid in Spain's second division. He grew up in Canada (his hometown is Brampton, Ont.) and developed as a player in the Canadian soccer system, representing his country at last year's FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Currently, he plays for Canada's under-20 team and he has yet to be capped by the Canadian senior side.

The attacking midfielder, who is a former member of Toronto FC's youth academy, is one of Canadian soccer's brightest and most talented young prospects, and the general consensus is that he could be a key player for Canada's national senior team for years to come.

But Aleman was born in Costa Rica and as a result he is eligible to play for Los Ticos, as well as for Canada. Aleman's international future became a hot topic of discussion last year when his father told a Costa Rican radio station that his son was considering playing for his birth nation.

Concern amongst soccer fans grew over the ensuing months, especially when Aleman went on trial with Real Valladolid, as the thought was that he might not feel the same ties to his country while living in Spain.

However, Aleman insists he is firmly committed to playing for Canada's national team and shoots down any possibility that he will represent Costa Rica.

To further underline his stance on his intention to play for Canada, Aleman said he rebuffed a recent invite from Costa Rican soccer officials.

"They contacted me and to see if I would come down to a (U-20) camp a few months ago, but I said no," Aleman said.

It's important to note that Aleman could still play for Costa Rica and until he actually appears in a competitive match for Canada at the senior level he retains the option of turning out for Los Ticos. However, his comments to sportsnet.ca suggest he has made up his mind.

A standout with Canada's under-17 side -- he finished runner-up in voting for Canada's U-17 player of the year for 2011 -- he has since graduated to the Canadian under-20 side, one step below the full senior national team.

Aleman participated in Canada's U-20 training camp in Florida last December, and is expected to be called up again when the under-20 team convenes for another camp this spring.

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RE: [SurroundSound] Re: new Mastered for iTunes section

2012-02-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

I agree! And to make their download products more appealing, include high quality artwork and a PDF of the same sort of information normally included with a CD booklet, like liner notes. Since you’re not limited by the ~ 5” x 5” size of the plastic jewel case, use standard letter size as the sheet size for the PDF, which will provide space for a lot of interesting information about how the album was made, biographies of the artists, etc. And the album art should be a high enough quality, so when printed at your local color printer (or if you have your own good quality inkjet), you get very nice looking prints. Then, paying US $15 for a lossless (CD quality) album might be more attractive. For music that is popular with teenagers, maybe they should consider selling a downloadable digital copy of artist/album posters, which could also be printed at local business who have large format color printing services.

Plus, they could start offering higher resolution versions and surround versions.

If only we were in charge!!

From: surroundsound@googlegroups.com [mailto:surroundsound@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephen Disney
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 3:34 PM
To: surroundsound@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SurroundSound] Re: new Mastered for iTunes section

All this trouble CAUSED by Apple... why not just offer an ALAC download option... or God forbid, FLAC.
S

On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 7:28 AM, Ray Shackleford <mosata@gmail.com> wrote:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/02/mastered-for-itunes-how-audio-engineers-tweak-tunes-for-the-ipod-age.ars

Slightly more info here.

Re: [SurroundSound] Re: new Mastered for iTunes section

2012-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

All this trouble CAUSED by Apple... why not just offer an ALAC download option... or God forbid, FLAC.
S

On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 7:28 AM, Ray Shackleford <mosata@gmail.com> wrote:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/02/mastered-for-itunes-how-audio-engineers-tweak-tunes-for-the-ipod-age.ars

Slightly more info here.

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