Barracuda snap losing streak as they hold on for a 2-1 win over Rampage

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE—-The San Jose Barracuda (20-15-2-0) were able to get the bad taste of the San Diego Gulls out of their mouth with a gritty 2-1 victory over the San Antonio Rampage (16-14-0-2) Tuesday night at SAP Center. Their 20th victory of the season broke their two-game losing streak.

Manny Wiederer was the hero for the  Barracuda when he scored the game-winning goal, thanks to a failed clearing attempt by the Rampage. He was able to take advantage of a Brandon Bollig screen in front of Rampage goalie Ville Husso (7-6-0) as his wrist shot sailed past Husso for his fourth goal on the season at 8:28 of the third period.

“Bollig was going to the net and I tried to pass it to him,” Wiederer said after the game. “Luckily, the goalie didn’t see it and didn’t get it and it went right in.”

The first period saw no scoring, but each team had their own chances to draw first blood as each had a power play opportunity, but neither could convert. Barracuda forward Danny O’Reagan’s line created a flurry of chances with six and a half minutes left in the first period. His wraparound attempt was stopped by Husso. Both teams would get a chance late in the period when Rampage foward Kim Klostin’s shot from the slot trickled past Antoine Bibeau (9-7-0) but the San Jose goaltender was able to reach back with no further damage done with 54 seconds left. While San Jose captain John McCarthy pick pocketed Rampage defenseman Chris Butler at his own blue line that led to a breakaway chance but his back hander would be thwarted by Husso with just under 30 seconds left. San Jose outshot San Antonio 15-7.

Barracuda forward Tim Clifton broke the deadlock at 2:53 of the second period when he was able tip in a shot by Rudolfs Balcers. Balcers was able to keep the puck in at the blue line and let a wrist shot go from the left point into a body of traffic in front of Husso that Clifton’s stick was able to get a piece of the puck and past the short side for a 1-0 lead. It was his second goal of the season.

“Everyone chipped in tonight,” said head coach Roy Sommer, describing his team’s performance on the night. “Some unknown guys got goals. We told them to get to the net and good stuff would happen.”

San Jose had a chance to extend their lead two minutes later when Rampage forward AJ Greer was assessed an extra minor for roughing when he got into a scuffle with Cuda defenseman Micael Brodzinski along the boards at 4:46. . However McCarthy’s back hand attempt on a rebound almost trickled past Husso before the goalie was able to pounce on the puck. Filip Sandberg’s breakaway attempt was stoned by Husso, just seconds after the power play was over.

With O’Reagan in the sin bin for hooking, the Rampage would tie the game on the power play when forward Alex Belzile was able to back hand home a rebound past Bibeau after Rocco Grimaldi’s shot hit off the back post and found a wide open Belzile camped out in front of the crease for his seventh goal of the season. Jordan Schmaltz also received an assist. Despite San Jose out shooting San Antonio 14-6 in the second period, the teams headed into the second intermission tied at 1-1.

Bibeau made 24 saves, including some critical saves in the final two minutes when San Antonio pulled Husso for an extra attacker on 25 shots for the victory. Husso suffered the defeat on 36 saves on 38 shots.

GAME NOTES: The power play woes continued for San Jose as they went 0/4 on the power play while San Antonio was 1/2. San Antonio out shot San Jose 12-9 in the 3rd period.

Barracuda forward Brandon Mashinter missed his second consecutive game with an upper body injury he suffered this past Friday night in San Diego when he took a stick to his eye.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Rockford Icehogs on Friday night at 7 pm PT.

Oakland A’s unlock doors to newly constructed headquarters in Jack London Square, discuss ballpark relocation

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By: Alexandra Evans

OAKLAND—As of Monday, January 8, the Oakland A’s have unlocked their newly constructed, 40,000 square-foot headquarters in Jack London Square.

A day after its opening, the club invited members of the media to take a tour of the facilities, built by Devcon. Stocked with A’s memorabilia (such as the orange ball proposed by former owner Charles Finley, the team’s earliest jerseys and amateur scouting reports for iconic players, including Reggie Jackson), exclusive office space for all branches of the franchise, a refreshment corner, fitness center, personalized A’s-themed artwork, and even a batting cage, each community meeting will be accompanied by state-of-the-art amenities and, being located directly on the water, a clear view of Alameda and San Francisco.

“This location in Jack London has great bones,” said A’s president Dave Kaval. “It’s got a lot of great parts of the experience here like the water, people like congregating here.”

Kaval referred to the new headquarters as a “sampler,” a representation of having a collaborative work environment and embracing their past. Fans and other members of the community now have the opportunity to witness Oakland’s “vision” of their impending new ballpark.

The A’s have called the Oakland Coliseum their home for 50 years, though the club has decided to relocate the ballpark to a different spot in Oakland, such as the Peralta Community College District site–adjacent to Laney College–and the Howard Terminal. After a year of contemplation, they selected the Peralta site in September 2017.

Kaval explained that the club will relocate with the intent to provide all those affiliated with the franchise (executives, players, fans, media members, and the community) with a more modern, holistic experience in and out of the office, and on and off the field. Additionally, the relocation will not allow the A’s to produce the revenue required to compete “at the highest quartile with some of the bigger level teams,” Kaval described.

“[The relocation] fulfills our needs as an organization,” Kaval continued. “It allows us to have a better fan experience, win more world championships by having a bigger payroll, and fits the community’s needs in terms of what it needs to develop, be it affordable housing, a commercial center, or a ballpark village.

“When we talk about having a world-class fan experience, that includes the ingress and egress, getting to and from. You don’t want to be sitting in a parking lot for 45 minutes… it’s very important that wherever we go, we have a plan for that which is very well thought-out.

“We’re focused on those guiding principles of creating a ballpark privately financed, a key part of what we are doing here,” said Kaval, also adding that the confidential financing matters are unusual in the development of venues in Oakland.

The ballpark relocation is one of the biggest projects in the history of Oakland, and it is going to take more than construction workers and team executives to ensure success.

“We need our fans, we need the community, we need the civic leaders, we need everyone together to make it happen, and it will have so many positive externalities if it is done the right way,” Kaval contended.

Kings blow lead, lose to Spurs 107-100

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: London Marq

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Kings started their game with the Spurs with one of their better opening quarters of the season. While a trend of slow starts has plagued Sacramento for the better part of the campaign, tonight was not one of those nights.

For the Kings, it was a defensive effort to begin the game–a defensive effort that fueled offensive production. By the end of the first quarter, the Kings had the lead and Willie Cauley-Stein was well on his way to a double-double with 10 points and five rebounds.

The Kings kept the Spurs flat on offense. All five San Antonio starters had negative plus/minus efficiency after one quarter as they were held to just 21 points. The Kings played well through the second quarter and would go into the half with a 10-point lead (56-46).

When the Spurs stepped on the hardwood for the third quarter, they were a different team. The tempo of their effort kicked it up a notch on both sides of the court. Sacramento was forced to slow down and be more careful with the ball. Sacramento, who led by as many as 14, lost their rhythm. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 third quarter points and helped the Spurs get back to a three-point deficit going into the fourth quarter.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovic was complimentary of Aldridge after the game, saying: “He was a big factor tonight. He’s taking advantage of the extra minutes he’s been getting during the season”.

Indeed, Aldridge was a major part of San Antonio’s game plan. He finished with 31 points and 12 boards. Davis Bertans also poured in 28 for the Spurs. The Kings led for the vast majority of the game, with 5 plays scoring double digits.

However, like we’ve seen time and time again from Gregg Popovic and the Spurs found away to steal the game away from Sacramento. With the deficit disappearing as the fourth quarter progressed, the Kings began to make mistakes that young teams make: turnovers and bad fouls.

Sacramento had 18 turnovers that translated to 24 points for the Spurs, and six of those turnovers came in the final period.  The Spurs would close the game on a 17-5 run and snag a win before heading to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Thursday. San Antonio has now won 12 straight games against Sacramento.

The Kings will chalk this one up as a learning experience, as they host Los Angeles’s other team, the Clippers on Thursday as well. With the latter half of the season quickly approaching the Kings will look to find some consistency they sorely need.

Final: Spurs defeated Kings 107-100.

Up Next: Kings host the Clippers on Thursday at 7 pm PT.

Curry scores game-high 32 points, Warriors rout Nuggets 124-114

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Photo credit: @NBA

By: Ana Kieu

After a three-game road trip, the Golden State Warriors returned home to the Oracle Arena and welcomed the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.

In the last matchup between the two teams, Denver embarrassed Golden State with a 96-81 win in Oakland on December 23, 2017.

Tonight, the Warriors were looking to extend their win streak to five games, while the Nuggets were hoping to rebound from a loss to the Sacramento Kings on January 6, 2018.

The Warriors’ starting lineup consisted of Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Golden State pretty much had tonight’s game against Denver from start to finish.

The Warriors made some noteworthy plays in the first quarter. Like this one, embedded in the tweet below.

Jordan Bell got up for the denial late in the first. Then, Bell headed to the line to close out the first. The Warriors were up 37-28 at the end of the first.

Excellent ball movement led to a Thompson three with 5:13 left in the second quarter. Curry and Green also joined the party of threes. The Warriors carried a 64-57 lead to the locker room at the half.

Here are the Warriors’ halftime stats:

The Warriors began the second half on a Curry three that was followed by a couple of Thompson jumpers. Those shots alone were most likely worth votes for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.

Curry continued to make it rain with threes and the Warriors led the Nuggets 93-81 at the end of the third quarter.

The Warriors’ hustle remained unmatched in the fourth quarter. Curry had 30 points in 32 points.

The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 124-114. With the win, Golden State improved to 33-8.

Here are the Warriors’ final stats:

Notes
Steph Curry was named Western Conference Player of the Week.

First 10,000 fans in the doors received a Klay Thompson bobblehead.

Kevin Durant donated $3 million to his alma mater UT Austin. 

Warriors’ injury report: Kevin Durant (right calf strain) is out. Omri Casspi (hip contusion), Stephen Curry (left knee soreness), Draymond Green (right knee soreness), Andre Iguodala (left knee & hip soreness) & Shaun Livingston (hip tightness) are available to play.

Up Next 
The Warriors host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at 7:30 pm PT.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks come back home after 1-4 road trip; They’ll face Arizona Sat before 3-game road trip

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

On the San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro:

1 The Sharks have lost three straight and four out of five on this last road trip. It was an important trip meaning that the Sharks could have gained ground on the LA Kings and Vegas Golden Knights

2 Sharks’ Logan Couture scored a power play goal and three assists and Sharks goalie Martin Jones had 26 saves great efforts but the Jets were much too much in the 4-1 loss

3 Despite the loss, head coach Peter DeBoer said the Sharks got four out 10 points, mainly from the overtime loses in Toronto and Ottawa

4 The Sharks also got a win in Montreal last week–their only win on the trip

5 The Sharks return home for a home game against the Arizona Coyotes Saturday night before a three-game road trip that starts in Los Angeles on Monday

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks Podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Cal Bears Basketball Podcast with Morris Phillips: 11 years in the waiting first time USC & UCLA knocks off Cal; It was an easy win for UCLA

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Photo credit: TheAthletic.com

On the Cal Basketball Podcast with Morris:

1 First time in 11 years that Cal is beaten by USC and UCLA

2 The Trojans and the Bruins didn’t have to put up too much sweat in facing Cal this week

3 UCLA got a 13-2 start on Cal from the opening tip in their 107-84 win

4 The 107 points and 17 threes were UCLA’s best offensive effort of the season

5 As Cal licks its wound and prepares for Washington Thursday and Washington State on Saturday

Morris Phillips covers Cal Bears Men’s Basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Stanford completes comeback to edge USC 77-76

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: London Marq

PALO ALTO–The venue was packed at Maples Pavilion as Stanford hosted the USC Trojans in a much-anticipated PAC-12 matchup. After their best performance of the season last Thursday against UCLA, the Cardinal would have an opportunity to improve to .500 on the season.

It was a tail of two halves, as the Trojans were in control early. Metu was the leading scorer from USC. His 20 points helped the Trojans gain an 11-point halftime advantage. Four total players from USC scored in double digits.

The Cardinal came alive in the the second period. They were strong particularly on defensive. Holding an explosive Trojan team to less than 30 points in the second half, they were able to close the gap. The Cardinal defense fueled their offense. Reid Travis pulled in a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards.

His strong performance put Stanford in position for a spectacular finish. At the tail end of the game, the Trojans scored a go-ahead basket to lead by two. With 1.7 seconds left on the clock, Stanford in-bounds the ball to Dajeon Davis. Davis nailed a walk-off 3-pointer from beyond half court before being mobbed by his teammates.

This makes two big wins in a row for the Cardinal, against two notable conference foes. The look to keep up the consistency against Washington State on Thursday.

Stanford defeated USC 77-76.

Up Next: The Cardinal visit the Washington State Cougars on Tuesday at 6 pm PT.

Sharks lose third straight with 4-1 loss to Jets

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks finished a five game road trip 1-2-2, capping it off with a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Sunday.

Logan Couture scored a power play goal, and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 26 saves in the loss to Winnipeg.

Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano scored for the Jets and Mathieu Perrault scored twice. Andrew Copp and Tyler Meyers earned two assists each in the game and Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in a losing effort.

Despite the disappointing outcome, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

What did we get, four out of 10 points? Could have easily had six which would have made it good. We didn’t. You know, we’re in every game. The only game I thought was really poor was the Dallas game, throw that one out. The rest of the trip, the third period in Ottawa I didn’t like but I liked our first two. Tonight I thought we hung in there in a tough situation and gave ourselves a chance anyway. So, overall we’re okay. We’re not perfect, we’re not exactly where we want to be but could be worse.

Brenden Dillon and Matt Hendricks started Sunday’s game off with a fight at 2:22 of the first. At 12:42 of the first period, Matt Hendricks scored the only goal of the period. After Andrew Copp blocked a pass, Armia won the race to the puck and moved it up ice where Copp and Matt Hendricks were flying through the neutral zone. Hendricks ended up with the puck and broke away to beat Martin Jones for the lead.

The Jets extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal just after a power play expired 11:03 into the second. Copp forced his way past Brenden Dillon along the boards, then danced away from Tomas Hertl before getting the puck back to Jacob Trouba up at the blue line. Trouba took the shot and Marko Dano redirected it under Jones.

Timo Meier drew a tripping penalty to Tyler Meyers a few minutes later. Halfway through that penalty, Dustin Byfuglien was called for hooking to give the Sharks a 5-on-3. The Sharks didn’t do much more than wear the Jets down with the extra penalty, but after the first penalty expired, Logan Couture found an opening to get a hard shot through. It went off the pipe and in. Assists went to Joe Pavelksi and Brent Burns.

Chris Tierney was set to the box after being pushed into the Winnipeg goaltender, putting the Jets on the pwer play in the final minutes of the second period. Wheeler took a shot from above the circle that Mathieu Perrault was able to tap by Jones. It only took the Jets 25 seconds to score with their formidable power play. They had six power play goals in five games before Sunday, and it was not a wonder. They worked very quickly and didn’t spend much time standing around. Assists went to Blake Wheeler and Myers.

DeBoer singled that goal out in his post-game comments: “Really, the third goal was really the killer. I don’t understand and I’m still looking for an explanation on how that’s a penalty but that’s what you deal with.”

The Jets had yet another power play start in the first two minutes of the third period, when Melker Karlsson was called for hooking. The Sharks killed that off and Joel Ward added a short-handed breakaway for emphasis. Despite that hopeful start to the period, the Sharks could not score and gave up an empty net goal to Perrault at 16:48.

San Jose’s power play went scored once in three chances, and they killed three of four penalties. Brent Burns got credit for eight shots on goal, Logan Couture took five and Timo Meier took four.

The Sharks next play after a five day break in San Jose against the Arizona Coyotes at 7:00 pm PT.

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Kadri takes part of Thornton’s beard off; Jagr to be released by Flames; Breakthrough for Byfuglien first goal in 33 games

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Photo credit: @BarDown

1 Leafs’ Nazem Kadri tugs at Thornton’s beard; Toronto beats Sharks

2 Jamr Jagr of the Calgary Flames will be released by the club he is age 46 and the Flames plan to pay for the rest of the year

3 Jets star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien scores first goal in 33 games

4 Golden Knights get 9th win in 10 games, beat Blackhawks in Chicago

5 Longtime NHL referee Bruce Hood dies at 81

Daniel Dullum does the NHL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

The losing streak is over: Kings beat the Nuggets 106-98 Saturday night in SAC

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Carter win over Den
Vince Carter savors the moment; Kings down Nuggets 106-98

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Saturday night did not get off to a great start for the Sacramento Kings who were hoping to end a three-game home losing streak. The Kings announced that they would have to play the game without three of their key players. Zach Randolph could not play because of oral surgery. George Hill was unavailable due to personal reasons, and Frank Mason III was unable to dress because of the contusion to his heel that he suffered in Memphis game.

No team wants to face an opponent like the Nuggets – who average 107.7-points per game – short-handed but that is exactly the situation the Kings faced on Saturday night. FiveThirtyEight.com gave Sacramento just a 36-percent chance of winning the game before the loss of the Randolph, Hill and Mason. The situation looked grim indeed for the Kings before tipoff.

Sacramento went with a starting five of Malachi Richardson, Skal Labissiere, Willie Cauley-Stein, Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox. Two seasons from now, this starting five could be the norm but not now, they just do not have enough experience to carry their squad to victory on a regular basis. Fortunately for Kings fans, no one told the starting five that they could not be a winning combination.

The Kings would never trail in the game. The contest was tied one time at 27-27 with 46.7-seconds remaining in the first quarter. Sacramento was never able to open a lead of more than 12-points in the game, but they jealously held on to their lead for the entire contest.

The Kings took a 46-41 lead to the locker room at halftime knowing the real test for them was going to come in the third quarter. The Nuggets have become known as a third quarter team. On Friday night, Denver scored 38-points in the third period to put away the Jazz.

The Nuggets did come on strong in the third quarter scoring 30-points while shooting 50-percent (13-for-26) from the floor. The problem for Denver was Sacramento scored 33-points in third period shooting 54.2-percent from the field (13-for-24) that included converting 4-of-5 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Buddy Hield went a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown in the quarter. The Kings took a 79-71 lead over the Nuggets into the final quarter.

The Nuggets were able to cut the Kings lead to three-points midway through the quarter but that is as close as they would come to taking the lead. Denver could have taken the lead if they could have converted free throw opportunities.

At the 6:38 mark, Garrett Temple fouled the Nuggets center – Mason Plumlee. Plumlee missed both free throws. Less than a minute later, Vince Carter fouled Trey Lyles. The sharp-shooting forward stepped to the line and promptly missed both free throw. Lyles would grab the rebound of his second miss and hit a four-foot jumper that cut the Sacramento lead to just three-points. Converting two of those four free throw opportunities could have changed the outcome of the game.

The Kings opened up a lead of 11-points with 11.9-seconds to go in the game. Gary Harris hit a 3-pointer for the final score of the game which cut the Sacramento winning margin to eight-points – 106-98.

Top Performances

Kings Lion logo

  • Star of the Game: this award goes to the entire Kings team. They could have easily phoned this one in with Z-Bo, Hill and Mason on the shelf. Instead, they pulled it together and took advantage of a very talented team who was playing the second game of a back-to-back set on the road after beating the Jazz at home on Friday. The Kings never trailed in the game. That is a real recovery after suffering three consecutive – demoralizing losses at home.

Co-Star: De’Aaron Fox who played just over 35-minutes while scoring a team-high 18-points. Fox also dished out seven assists while using the dribble-drive to go to the hoop or dish it off to a teammate to score. The rookie PG went to the free throw line eight times and converted six of those opportunities.

  • Co-Star: Willie Cauley-Stein came up big for his team on Saturday night as he grabbed a career-high seven-steals. That is aggressive basketball at any level. The big man also posted 17-points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Cauley-Stein shot 8-for-12 in the contest.

  • Co-Star: Skal Labissiere makes it an all-Kentucky co-star lineup for the Kings on Saturday night. Labissiere not only made the start but he scored 12 points, blocked three shots and hauled in four rebounds in just over 15-minutes of playing time. His coach thought his third-quarter play may have been his best of the season.

Skal

Nuggets 5-DNuggets_2nd

  • Star of the Game: Trey Lyles came off the bench to lead his team and score a game-high 19-points. The third-year forward shot 8-for-11 overall including going 2-for-3 from downtown. Lyles also grabbed nine rebounds. When Lyles and Murray are on the floor together, every team in the NBA should be very, very concerned.

5-Lyles

  • Co-Star: Jamal Murray who recorded 18-points while shooting 7-for-16 from the floor. Murray who hit 6-of-7 from 3-point land versus the Jazz on Friday cooled off against the Kings sinking 3-of-8 three-point opportunities. It may have been fatigue, but Murray really allowed his temper to get the best of him late in the game. He has to learn to let the coach do the arguing while he focuses on the game.

5-Murray

  • Co-Star: Gary Harris really asserted himself in the second-half of the game shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and dishing out two assists. Harris finished with 17-points for Denver in 36-minutes on the floor.

5-Harris

 

 

 

 

Up Next

Kings: Sacramento will not be able to enjoy this victory for long as they must prepare to face the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center. The Spurs were in Sacramento on December 23, 2017 and defeated the Kings 108-99.

Nuggets: Denver will not be able to rest on Sunday as they have to prepare to face the World Champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Monday night.