Wayne Rooney feels England have a squad capable of matching any side for the first time in his career having won 10 out of 10 in the European Qualifiers.
[b]Rickard Rakell Jersey[/b] . England head to France for Euro 2016 in confident mood after their 100 per cent success in qualifying Group E, and are up against Russia, Slovakia and Wales in the group stage in June.Captain Rooney scored seven goals in the qualifying campaign, including a record-breaking 50th to take him above Sir Bobby Charlton in Englands all-time goalscorer list. Rooney has 51 goals for England at the age of 30 In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports Nick Collins, Rooney says that while Englands versatility and quality is clear to see, consistency will be key to any success.I feel weve got a very good squad. Its probably the first time Ive felt the squad is capable in any given game of matching any team, he said.But obviously its one thing having that, and another being able to do that consistently throughout a tournament. Roy Hodgson has announced his England squad ahead of Euro 2016 Weve got players who can play anywhere across that front line. Myself, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge can play out wide too. Its always difficult for opponents as well.You never know with the players weve got how well they can do. Weve had a good European Qualifiers campaign, but we need to make sure that we dont slack, that we keep going and keep pushing forward, and give ourselves every possible chance. Rooney has played much of the season with Manchester United in midfield The Manchester United skippers best position for England is highly-debated, and while Rooney wants to play as striker he is open to playing in different positions for his country. Rooney on... England skipper speaks exclusively to Sky Sports about Englands chances at Euro 2016 Rooney has been used both as a striker and as a central midfielder by United manager Louis van Gaal this season but it is understood Hodgson will use him on the left wing in a 4-3-3 system following conversations between the two. QUIZ: England squads Test your knowledge of previous squad announcements Another option would be to use the 30-year-old at the top of a midfield diamond or as a No 10, where he has also been used by United this season, and Rooney feels he is suitable for a number of positions.As a player you are always adapting, said Rooney, who was speaking as part of a Home Nations and Republic of Ireland special, where captains Ashley Williams, Steven Davis and Robbie Keane will speak with Sky Sports.You adapt to your team-mates, you adapt to the different coaches you are working under. It depends what the coaches want from you. The England captain is keen to be a leader for the younger players Throughout my career Ive adapted to different situations and different teams Ive played in, and I have no problem doing it. In football you need players who can play in different positions. Ive always felt like I can play in different positions.But Ive always believed I am capable of playing in different positions. I think you saw in World Cup 2006 with Owen Hargreaves, he was probably Englands best player, purely for the fact he could play in different positions.To have players like that in your squad is really important. The good thing that Roy has now is that he can look at the opponents and pick a midfield which is best for beating the opponent. We havent always had that. Roy Hodgson thinks Rooney is key for England but admits he doesnt have to pick him in the starting XI He could change the whole 11 if he had to now, and we would still have the chance of winning the game.Rooney was made captain after the World Cup in 2014 following Steven Gerrards international retirement, something he says he takes immense pride in.With several young players coming through, including Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Marcus Rashford and John Stones, Rooney is keen to take on a leadership role, but not without the help of a small group of other senior team members. Former England defender Jamie Carragher thinks Rooney may have to play in midfield to make room for Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy Rooney said: I felt I was the natural successor to Steven as captain, and the manager did too. Its something I was delighted to do, and I want to do it to be successful as well.Its something I really take pride in and want to do to the best of my ability. I think the young lads in the squad, theyve helped a lot, I feel its an exciting time for English football with the squad we have.The manager involves me in a lot of decisions. Obviously theres myself, and then weve put a team together with a few of the other senior players. Paul Scholes evaluates Englands chances at Euro 2016 If decisions on behalf of the team need making, I will go to those players, talk through it and decide what is best for the team.But of course, you have to be a role model and ambassador for the country, and thats what Ive tried to do to the best of my ability.For more from Wayne Rooney, including his thoughts on the European Qualifers campaign, the extended interview will be shown throughout the day on Tuesday on Sky Sports News HQ Also See: Rashford, Wilshere called up Rooney wants midfield role QUIZ: England Euros squads Euro 2016 news
[b]Derek Grant Jersey[/b] .A caravan greeted the former Boston Red Sox pitcher at the airport and took him to a public park in Santo Domingo, where a crowd lined a 19-mile stretch of highway to catch a glimpse of him.Once at the park, Martinez went on stage accompanied by players David Ortiz and Robinson Cano as merengue music played and fireworks lit up the sky.
[b]Samuel Pahlsson Jersey[/b] . -- The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Sidney Rice have agreed to terms on a deal.A power performance from a Blackhawks power forward, a breakout game for a Ducks rookie, a top scoring Toronto winger, lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Bryan Bickell – The Blackhawks left winger had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Minnesota Sunday; he has seven points (5 G, 2 A) in the past seven games as he’s taken Kris Versteeg’s spot on the wing with Brad Richards and Patrick Kane. While his offensive production tends to come and go, Bickell has been a steady possession player (56.4% Corsi) over the past three seasons. Rickard Rakell – The 2011 first-round pick has been a bit of an afterthought this season, so it goes for a rookie playing behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler on the centre depth chart, but he busted out with two goals and two assists (plus a shootout goal) in Sunday’s 5-4 shootout win against Winnipeg. It snapped Rakell’s six-game point drought and gives him 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 32 games this season. James van Riemsdyk – The Maple Leafs’ left winger had two goals and an assist, with 11 shot attempts (8 SOG) in Friday’s 5-2 win over Columbus. In the past 16 games, van Riemsdyk has 19 points (9 G, 10 A) and, with 40 points in 42 games, is scoring at career-high rates (0.45 goals and 0.95 points per game). ZEROES Ryan O’Reilly – The usually reliable Avalanche centre had a rough game against Dallas Saturday, failing to register a shot attempt and getting crushed in possession (5 shot attempts for, 27 against, 15.6%) Paul Gaustad – The Predators checking centre is used more in the defensive zone, but he could barely get out in Saturday’s win over Minnesota, on for one shot attempt for and 13 against (7.1%). Goalies: Antti Raanta – Chicago’s goaltender allowed four goals on 21 shots at Edmonton Friday, the first time all season that he allowed more than three goals against. Brian Elliott – Pulled from the St. Louis net after surrendering three goals on 10 shots against Carolina Saturday. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Jets getting healthy – Defencemen Tobias Enstrom, Mark Stuart and Zach Bogosian and left winger Evander Kane have all returned to the Winnipeg lineup. Suddenly, there’s no room for Adam Pardy and Paul Postma in the regular lineup, but it’s a credit to the Jets that they were able to withstand such a bad run of injuries. Incidentally, rookie Ben Chiarot played 24:00 at Los Angeles Saturday and 22:39 at Anaheim Sunday, his two highest ice times of the season, so he’s not getting phased out despite these returns. Joe Thornton – Returned to the San Jose lineup Saturday, after missing nine days, and was on for all three goals against in a 3-1 loss to the Rangers. Tanner Pearson – The Kings’ rookie winger suffered a broken leg Saturday. He had two points (1 G, 1 A) in his past 13 games. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings’ winger is out indefinitely with mono; he had four points (2 G, 2 a) in his last 11 games. With Pearson and Toffoli out, there is room for Mike Richards, who appeared to be on his way to being a healthy scratch, to stay in the lineup. Mikhail Grabovski – Started Friday night’s game on a line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo, but then had to leave the game early with a lower-body injury. Josh Bailey returned to that coveted spot in the lineup Saturday at Columbus. Erik Gudbranson – Played a season-high 25:12 for the Panthers, including 6:25 shorthanded, at Calgary Friday. It was his first game this season over 22 minutes and the second-most ice time he’s had in an NHL game. Steve Mason – The Flyers’ goalkeeper left early in Saturday’s loss to Boston with a lower-body injury. Ray Emery, with a career-low .889 save percentage after stopping 10 of 13 shots in relief of Mason, will likely see more action while Mason is out and 33-year-old Rob Zepp has been recalled from the AHL, where he had a .921 save percentage in 21 games. Jimmy Howard – Detroit’s goaltender suffered a lower-body injury against Washington Saturday, giving way to Petr Mrazek less than two minutes into the game. With Jonas Gustavsson already out of action, Mrazek will see most of the action in the Red Wings’ net and Thomas McCollum has been called up from Grand Rapids, where he had a .911 save percentage in 21 games. Brett Ritchie – The Stars rookie played a season-high 19:58 at Colorado Saturday, scoring his third goal in his sixth career NHL game. Sergei Gonchar – Played a season-high 23:58 for Montreal against Pittsburgh Saturday. Frank Corrado – The 2011 fifth-round pick got into his first game of the season for the Canucks Saturday against Calgary. The 21-year-old blueliner had played 18 NHL games over the past two seasons and had eight points (4 G, 4 A) with a plus-3 rating in 21 AHL games this season. Troy Bodie – The 29-year-old tough winger played his first game of the season for the Maple Leafs in Friday’s 5-2 win over Columbus. He had seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 34 penalty minutes, with a minus-2 rating, in 32 AHL games before getting promoted. SHORT SHIFTS Islanders C John Tavares had two goals and an assist in a 3-2 overtime win at New Jersey Friday. He has 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in the past 10 games…Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen scored a pair of goals in Friday’s 5-2 loss at Toronto, then added an assist in Saturdays’ loss to the Islanders, running his point streak (6 G, 6 A) to 10 games…Panthers LW Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 6-5 win at Calgary; he has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past eight games…Flames C Mikael Backlund picked up a goal and an assist in a 6-5 loss to Florida Friday, then added the Flames’ only goal in a 1-0 win over Vancouver Saturday, and has five points (3 G, 2 A) in his past three games…Flames LW Lance Bouma had three assists in the loss to Florida; he had four assists in the previous 39 games… Oilers LW Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win over Chicago Friday, then added an assist in a 4-2 loss to Florida Sunday, and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past 10 games…Penguins C Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 overtime win at Montreal Saturday, lifting him to third in the league scoring race with 47 points (19 G, 28 A) in 41 games…Predators LW Colin Wilson recorded a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Minnesota. Wilson has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in the past 10 games…Avalanche C Matt Duchene picked up a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win over Dallas Saturday; he has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past five games…Islanders RW Ryan Strome had a pair of assists in a 5-2 win at Columbus Saturday, and has nine points (1 G, 8 A) in the past seven games…Blues C David Backes recorded two assists against Carolina Saturday, giving him 11 points (5 G, 6 A) in the past six games.
[b]Corey Perry Jersey[/b]. Jets C Mathieu Perreault recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-4 shootout win at Los Angeles Saturday, and has 17 points (9 G, 8 A) in the past 17 games…Jets RW Blake Wheeler contributed a goal and an assist in the win and has nine points (3 G, 6 A) in the past eight games…Kings D Drew Doughty had a pair of assists in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Jets, giving him 13 points (2 G, 11 A) in the past 14 games…Kings LW Marian Gaborik chipped in a goal and an assist, and has 14 points (9 G, 5 A) in his past 11 games…Kings C Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist; he has 19 points (3 G, 16 A) in the past 11 games…Ducks LW Kyle Palmieri recorded a goal and an assist Sunday against Winnipeg, and has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past 10 games…Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa had a pair of assists in Friday’s 5-2 loss at Edmonton, then had a goal and an assist against Minnesota Sunday, and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in his past nine games…Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews had a couple of assists Friday, then two more Sunday, giving him 15 points (2 G, 13 A) in his past 13 games…Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane had a pair of assists in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Minnesota and has 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in his past 22 games. In Friday’s 2-1 win over Buffalo, Tampa Bay D Matt Carle had a monster possession game (31 shot attempts for, 3 against, 91.2%) against the Sabres. When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 against Sabres defencemen Josh Gorges and Tyler Myers, Carle was a perfect 100% (18 for, 0 against)…Panthers LW Sean Bergenheim had strong possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 3 against, 85.0%) in Friday’s win at Calgary. Bergenheim is a quietly strong possession player, who also has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in the past nine games. Among forwards that have played 100-400 minutes – trying to find quality contributions from complementary players – at 5-on-5 this season: DEPTH CONTRIBUTIONS PLAYER TEAM POS. CORSI% RELATIVE CORSI% Trevor Lewis Los Angeles RW 60.2% +7.1% Tomas Jurco Detroit RW 59.0% +5.3% Patrick Sharp Chicago LW 58.6% +4.9% Stephen Weiss Detroit C 58.2% +3.8% Sean Bergenheim Florida LW 57.6% +7.6% Flyers D Mark Streit delivered strong possession numbers (21 shot attempts for, 3 against, 87.5%) in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Boston…Red Wings C Stephen Weiss had perfect possession (14 shot attempts for, 0 against, 100.0%), despite starting only one-third of his shifts in the offensive zone against Washington Saturday. Sabres G Michal Neuvirth stopped 45 of 47 shots in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay Friday…Canadiens G Carey Price turned aside 35 of 37 shots in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh Saturday…Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury had 27 saves on 28 shots for the win…Predators G Pekka Rinne stopped 36 of 37 shots in a 3-1 win at Minnesota Saturday…Senators G Craig Anderson turned away 31 of 32 shots in a 5-1 win over Arizona Saturday…Capitals G Braden Holtby had 26 saves on 27 shots in a 3-1 win over Detroit Saturday…Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 3-1 win at San Jose Saturday…Blackhawks G Corey Crawford stopped 36 of 37 shots in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Minnesota…Panthers G Al Montoya allowed five goals on 30 shots and Flames G Jonas Hiller surrendered six goals on 35 shots in Florida’s 6-5 win Friday…Coyotes G Mike Smith gave up five goals on 33 shots in Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Ottawa. FIRSTS David Pastrnak – Boston’s rookie right winger scored the first two goals of his career in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Philadelphia. 18-year-old Pastrnak has been impressive early in his career, posting 59.7% Corsi in his first seven games. Teemu Pulkkinen – Injuries opened up room in Detroit for Pulkkinen, a right winger who made his season debut for the Wings against Washington Saturday, registering a team-high eight shot attempts (3 SOG) with spectacular possession numbers (29 shot attempts for, 4 against, 87.9%) in 16:21 of ice time, skating on a line with Riley Sheahan and Drew Miller. Pulkkinen, a fourth-round pick in the 2010 Draft, was tearing up the AHL this season with 39 points (20 G, 19 A), 125 shots on goal and a minus-1 rating in 33 games. Joni Ortio – The 23-year-old, summoned in the wake of Karri Ramo’s injury, recorded his first career shutout, stopping all 36 shots he faced, in a 1-0 win at Vancouver Saturday. Ortio, a sixth-round pick in 2009, had a .916 save percentage in 27 games with Adirondack in the AHL. FLAMES-PANTHERS TRADE Drew Shore – A 6-foot-3 centre, who was a second-round pick in 2009, had been unable to stick in Florida, despite stellar possession stats when given the opportunity. 23-year-old Shore has been productive enough in the AHL (9 G, 21 A, 88 SOG, even in 35 games) this season to warrant an NHL opportunity. After one more NHL game, he will require waivers to be sent back to the AHL, so whenever Calgary does give Shore the opportunity, he should get a solid run of games to prove he deserves to stay in the league. Corban Knight – Originally a fifth-round pick of the Panthers in 2009, Knight didn’t sign with Florida coming out of the University of North Dakota, signing with Calgary as a free agent. Knight had 12 points (8 G, 4 A) and 51 shots on goal, with a minus-1 rating, in 22 AHL games at the time of the trade, and has one goal in nine career NHL games. He’s fourth months older than Shore, but with less pro experience can be moved up and down in the organization with fewer restrictions. FANTASY FOCUS There are three games on the schedule to start the week. Here are three wingers that you might want to consider for your lineup: Jonathan Drouin – The Lightning rookie has just two goals in 33 games, but has assists in each of the past three games, skating on a line with Alex Killorn and (more importantly) Steven Stamkos. Andre Burakovsky – You never know how long it will last, but the Capitals’ rookie winger has been skating with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin on Washington’s top line. Dwight King – The L.A. winger has three goals in the past four games and, with Pearson and Toffoli out, there is more ice time available if King manages to maintain production. Much of the data included comes from
www.war-on-ice.com,
www.puckalytics.com,
www.hockeystats.ca and
www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at
scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '
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