My thumb is up to the Sunday afternoon game between Carolina and Washington, because it happens to be the last exhibition game prior to Wednesdays start of the regular season. Dan Hampton Jersey . Lets face it, the real reason pre-season games are played is that they are money makers. The other stated reasons are concocted simply to avoid the real reason. Coaches dont need to look at their teams seven or eight times to determine who should earn roster spots; they just prefer to spend as much time as they can avoiding decisions. Players dont need games to skate themselves into shape. Fans dont need to watch meaningless games, and they certainly shouldnt want to pay for them. However necessary the NHL might suggest the warmup games are, theres no case to be made that their number cant be reduced. And when no exhibition games were played prior to the 2012-13 season, what was the harm? Eliminating exhibition games can be done because it has been done. So it should be done. My thumb is down to the Arizona Coyotes, for the simple reason that they are no longer the Phoenix Coyotes. Hockey announcers who aspire to the achievement of the perfect broadcast have no chance when they must refer to the Coyotes. This season, in the early part at least, the troubled team in the desert will inevitably be the Phoe-rizona Coyotes. Okay, theyre not actually located in Phoenix, and Glendale Coyotes doesnt work, so why not call them the Arizona Coyotes? Because theyve been the Phoenix Coyotes since they were no longer the Winnipeg Jets in 1996, and if they think any reference to Phoenix brings back bad memories of a franchise struggling to stay put, they should realize that any reference to Coyotes does that, too. Arizona Deficits, anyone? For me, theyll be the Phoenix Coyotes until theyre the Seattle Needles or the Quebec Nordiques. Id check with the owners to see if thats okay, but their names keep changing as well. Anthony Miller Youth Jersey . -- The Washington Redskins coaching staff distanced itself from other coaches Thursday by siding with ownership -- and not the players -- in the NFLs labour dispute. Akiem Hicks Jersey . Striker Dario Mandzukic scored the opener in the 22nd minute but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle and left Croatia with 10 men for the remainder of the match. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic.com/authentic-dan-hampton-bears-jersey/ . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov.Carl Gunnarsson has opened up a little about his time in Toronto as a member of the St. Louis Blues. The defender told CBS Sports Radio Blues reporter Andy Strickland that he played through a torn labrum over his last two years with the Maple Leafs. Gunnarsson, 27, was acquired by the Blues via trade this past off-season in exchange for defenceman Roman Polak. He is yet to dress for a game with his new team as he recovers from off-season hip surgery. He was cleared for contact at practice earlier this month. The Blues tweeted Monday afternoon that Gunnarsson says he feels good and is ready to go. He is expected to make his season debut Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. Chicago Bears Jerseys. Once you get into games, you really know how it feels, Gunnarsson said via the Blues official Twitter account. But here in practice, it feels good. A member of the Leafs for parts of five seasons, Gunnarsson dressed for 80 of 82 games in 2013-14 and 37 of 48 in 2012-13. Originally selected in the seventh round (194th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Leafs, Gunnarsson scored 15 goals and 71 assists in 304 games with the team. He has represented Sweden internationally on several occasions, including the 2009, 2010 and 2011 IIHF World Championships, winning a pair of bronze medals and one silver (2011). ' ' '