kind of lends itself to my driving style even more.

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks are happy with where they sit just over a third of the way through the NHL schedule.That doesnt mean theyre satisfied.Coming off a season-long seven-game road trip that saw Vancouver go 3-3-1, but finish on an 0-2-1 slide, the club is back at Rogers Arena for an important stretch of four home dates ahead of the Christmas break.For all the good feeling around a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in six years during a disastrous 2013-14 campaign, Vancouver (18-9-2) was just three points up on ninth place in the Western Conference heading into Friday after consecutive losses in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.We knew it was going to be tight, said captain Henrik Sedin. I think after 29 games — 18 games on the road, 11 at home — we would have taken this record. It was a really disappointed team that flew back from Montreal, but if you look at where we are (and) playing at home for a while, we put ourselves in a good spot.Daniel Sedin agreed with his brothers assessment that getting seven of a possible 14 points on the trip was something he would have taken back in September.You look at the schedule before the season and after this road trip, if someone would have told me we would have been in this position I would have been pretty happy, said Vancouvers assistant captain. Now its time to take care of business at home.Canucks goalie Ryan Miller, who spent most of his career with the Buffalo Sabres, said he knew it was going to be a fight for every point in the West after signing with Vancouver as a free agent following a brief stint in St. Louis. Thats kind of what I expected coming out here, he said. You see it every season, theres no getting around it. From first place to eighth, ninth is not that far. Its competitive hockey. Its what everybody wants.Nine of the Canucks next 11 games are in Vancouver, beginning Saturday against former head coach Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers (12-10-4).Teams coming off long stretches on the road often have difficulty in their first game back home, but the Canucks dont see that as being a problem considering their current situation.I think were honest with ourselves and were aware of that, said Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa. Weve lost three in a row and we need a win. Luckily weve had a couple days between getting home and playing that first game. Theres been a lot of emphasis on this game.Were playing a former coach and a few former teammates ... I dont think its a game thats going to be hard to get up for.But after giving his team two days off to recuperate and re-energize, Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins said Fridays practice demonstrated that the players were still shaking out some cobwebs.We were sluggish. It wasnt that the guys didnt want to go, it was just like they were skating in sand, said Desjardins. I think the biggest thing is we know how big of a game it is. We know we have to be ready.We wont be overconfident coming in. We know we have to get going, and it will be tough.After starting the seven-game swing with wins over Columbus, Washington and Pittsburgh in three of the first four outings, the Canucks said fatigue — and the corresponding mistakes — started to creep into the lineup.That was a tough road trip, said Daniel Sedin. It is a long time — 14, 15 days is long — but I think were used to that in this group. Thats not an issue. Youve got to find ways to get your energy level up, and thats up to each individual.The Canucks also had a good start to last season under soon-to-be-fired head coach John Tortorella before falling off the rails, and this incarnation knows how quickly things can go sideways.Theyre all big, but this four-game segment gets put in a bubble with coming home and the Christmas break, said Bieksa. It allows us to look at these games and make sure that we have a good showing.Expectations have obviously grown pretty high around here. Weve been playing some good hockey to start the season.Notes: The Canucks are 6-0-0 against the Metropolitan Division so far this season, while the Rangers are 1-1-0 against Pacific Division opponents. ... Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis remains out with a lower-body injury and will miss his 10th straight game on Saturday. ... Desjardins said forward Zack Kassian is getting closer to a return from his finger injury that saw him miss the entire road trip. ... The Canucks recalled Alex Biega on Friday from the AHLs Utica Comets after demoting fellow defenceman Frank Corrado and forward Nicklas Jensen to the minors on Wednesday. Eden Hazard Chelsea Jersey . Halladays resume as a Blue Jay is among the elite in the franchises 36-year history. Over 12 seasons in Toronto, he was named an All-Star six times. He had arguably the finest campaign of his career in 2003 when he posted a 22-7 record, a 3. Pedro Jersey . LeBron James believes hes a major reason for their early failures. http://www.chelseasoccerjerseysonline.com/womens-jorginho-chelsea-jersey/ . The Argentine midfielder made the announcement himself on Twitter on Tuesday and posted a picture of his swollen left foot. His message said he would be out "at least three weeks. Mateo Kovacic Chelsea Jersey . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League. Victor Moses Chelsea Jersey . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night.MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Kyle Busch has seen it time and again at Martinsville Speedway. Driving down pit road, heading back onto the track and in contention for the lead, Busch is used to seeing the pole-sitter gun the engine just off the jack and reassume the race lead. Busch hopes to finally get to experience that for himself at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday after earning the pole on NASCARs smallest, tightest track for the first time in 19 career starts. "I think thats a great thing for us," Busch said after winning the pole with a lap at 99.674 mph. "We get to pit there and of course drop the jack and just lunge across the line and be good. "You need to still run up front all day. I think that its a great opportunity for us to pick up some spots say if were second, third, fourth, whatever, but you definitely always want to stay as close to the front as you can and try not to use that box as much as some guys have in the past." The pole is the 14th of Buschs career. In an interesting twist under NASCARs new knockout qualifying system, Busch won it while Joey Logano set a track record. That came at 100.201 mph during the first phase of two-session qualifying. All 44 cars competed in the 30-minute first session, and the top 12 moved into the 10-minute phase two. Denny Hamlin earned the No. 2 starting spot with a lap at 99.548 mph, and will be followed on the starting grid by Logano and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. That puts Busch in some pretty accomplished company because Hamlin (4), Johnson and Gordon (8 each) have won a lot. Busch, though, is coming off a victory last week at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and while he said it wasnt dominaating, it gave him hope that the Joe Gibbs Racing teams are coming together.dddddddddddd "It just seems to be working well right now, whatever is working," he said. Hamlin, who promised earlier in the day that he would win on Sunday, wasnt in love with the outside starting spot because it can be tricky to get down to the bottom on restarts from the outside, said nothing that happened in practice or qualifying made his change his view of how it can all unfold. "I knew, even going into this weekend, I knew we were going to be really good contenders and be in the mix anyway," he said. "I feel like after running a couple laps of practice I felt like this was a car that was capable of winning. I think with tire management being more of a factor than its ever been, it kind of lends itself to my driving style even more. For that reason I think well be tough on Sunday." Logano has two top-10 finishes on the 0.526-mile oval, but none since 2010. "So weve got a track record, but we dont have a pole. How does that work?" he asked. A solid pit position, he said, could help turns things around on Sunday. "Obviously, the pit stall is very important, especially here. Its a dangerous pit road, so you want to get a nice spot you can get in and out of, but obviously here its a slow pit road and you can make up a lot with timing lines on pit road," he said. "For that reason alone its big, and thats worth multiple spots throughout the race when youre thinking about making a lot of pit stops." Danica Patrick qualified 10th, her best starting spot in a race not held at Daytona. Her previous best starting position was 21st, accomplished twice last season. ' ' '