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Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Steve Nash, the Spirits handling of Terry Traffords passing, Ralph Krueger and NHL shootouts. Bruce Arthur, the National Post: My thumb is up to Steve Nash, who was shut down this week with nerve pain, which has been limiting him since a harmless-looking collision early last year. Hes only played 10 games for the Lakers this season and he looked like himself once. If this isnt the end of his 18-year career, then were getting close. So why thumbs up? Because of how hes facing it. Nash is making short films for ESPNs Grantland that are incredibly honest - jarringly so, at times - about what its like to face your athletic mortality and was incredibly honest again when I spoke to him this week. Nash and I are the same age; we both came from B.C.; we both played basketball and thats where the comparison ends. And again, hes showing me what it would be like. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the eerie silence that has engulfed the Saginaw Spirit in the tragic wake of the passing of 20-year-old Terry Trafford.There are questions here – but, to date, no answers coming from the prominent junior hockey people, coach Greg Gilbert or general manager Jim Paliafito. We know, from Traffords father, that the Spirit sent Terry home for what Roy Trafford calls “disciplinary reasons.” And we know, from the same conversation, that the time away from the team was supposed to be temporary, a few days. Then something changed. What changed? We dont know. Telephone messages were left informing Trafford that he was no longer welcome to return to the team. What we dont know and may never know - is why. To date, the only people who have those answers arent sharing them. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: Forget the Dos Equis guy. My thumb is up to the truly most interesting man in the world, Ralph Krueger. Less than a month after being the big-ice guru for the Canadian mens Olympic hockey team, Krueger has switched continents and sports. He is now chairman of Southampton FC, having jumped to the rarified world of English Premier League soccer without prior experience in the game. Krueger can match resumes with anyone. The Manitoban played pro hockey in Germany, built the Swiss national program, coached the Edmonton Oilers before his premature firing and boosted Team Canada. He also is an active member of the World Economic Forum. Now, soccer. Bartender, Ill drink what Kruegers drinking. Dave Hodge, TSN: Thumbs down to the NHL and its inability to deal with its dislike of the shootout. At the GMs meetings in Florida, the NHL continued to look for ways to decrease the number of shootouts. One way would be to change overtime from four-on-four to three-on-three, but if youre making a list of ideas that are less popular than the shootout, start there. The NHL will consider a change of ends for overtime to put skaters farther from their benches, as they are in the second period, which, statistically, is the highest-scoring of the three periods. Okay. Keep trying. The easy solution would be for the NHL to give up and decide it likes the shootout. Oh, but as with visits from grandpa, it does - there just shouldnt be too many of them. Nick Mullens Jersey . Sami Salo scored two goals as the Canucks overcame a hat-trick from Edmonton Oiler rookie sensation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to win 4-3 in NHL action Saturday. Rickey Jackson Jersey . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. https://www.49ersjerseysale.com/2882l-justin-skule-jersey-49ers.html. The team sent out a press release on Friday stating Poile was resting and recovering and that he will remain in hospital for further observation. The Predators were preparing for the game against the Wild when Poile was hit by a puck that flew off the ice at him where he was standing in a tunnel behind the bench. Joe Perry Jersey .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. San Francisco 49ers Shirts . -- Officials have approved a deal to build a new $672 million stadium for the Atlanta Braves away from the downtown Atlanta area that has traditionally been its home.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild have turned their home ice into a deafening, discouraging place for opponents to play in the playoffs. For the second straight game, they dominated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Jason Pominville scored in the second period off the back of Chicago goalie Corey Crawfords skate, and the Wild beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night to even their Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece. "Its been fun to play here. I dont know what it is, but we have to find a way to bring that on the road as well," said Jared Spurgeon, whose third-period goal gave the Wild a cushion for the final stretch while the fans cheered and chanted louder and louder. "They play hard in their building, and theyre good in their building, and they check well so its tough to get momentum in here," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Matt Cooke returned from his seven-game kneeing suspension to give the Wild a jolt, assisting on Justin Fontaines opening goal, and Nino Niederreiter also scored. "I think I should have fresh legs. I have to go out there and lead the way. Hopefully my energy is contagious," Cooke said. Yes, it was. Cooke had a team-high five hits -- the Blackhawks were only credited with seven -- to help the Wild hold an intensity advantage from start to finish. "He brings a physical presence," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. "You never know what hes going to do, so youve got to be aware of him out there." Crawford made 27 saves, but he gave up four goals for the second straight game. "Weve just got to play the way we can: Move the puck and play with speed and skill, make the right plays at the right time," Crawford said. "Everyones got confidence in everyone else in this room, so weve just got to play together." Patrick Sharp snapped out of his slump with his second post-season goal and Michal Handzus also scored, but the Blackhawks again found themselves unable to establish a consistent attack against the Wilds stifling defence. The teams will return to Chicago for Game 5 on Sunday night and be back in Minnesota for Game 6 on Tuesday night. Quenneville shuffled up the lines, moving Benn Smith to the first group with captain Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell and bringing defenceman Nick Leddy back to the lineup in a search for more speed and flow.dddddddddddd The Wild wouldnt let that happen. Leading the NHL in takeaways in the playoffs and allowing an average of fewer than 21 shots on goal per game in the series, the Wild improved to 5-0 at home this post-season with a 16-5 goal differential. The franchise playoff record at Xcel Energy Center was a mere 5-10 prior to this year. Sharp, coming off a 34-goal, 44-assist season, got his first goal of the series. But the Blackhawks managed just 20 shots on Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov after stressing the importance of testing him more. Cooke set Fontaine up for a slap shot on a 2-on-1 rush early in the game, and the puck sailed over the glass. Fontaine buried his next chance, a bad-angle attempt from the front edge of the circle that skidded through Michal Rozsivals legs after Cooke swiped the puck from the defenceman. After two full periods of trap-filled, tight-checking play in Game 3, the pace in this one was quick from the start. The fans resumed their sing-song jeering of Crawfords last name from the last game, and the chants grew louder throughout the night. The buzz in the building was killed for a bit when Sharp, whose struggles prompted a move down to a new third line with Handzus and Marian Hossa, caught defenceman Clayton Stoner stuck in the offensive zone on a turnover by Niederreiter and beat Mikko Koivu to slip a wrister between Bryzgalovs pads with 38 seconds left before the break. But the Wild roared right back in the second period with goals by Pominville and Niederreiter to bracket the score by Handzus. Bryzgalov did his part by sticking his pad out to stop Sharps breakaway with a thud. "That was huge for us," left wing Zach Parise said. As was all that noise from the crowd. NOTES: Spurgeons goal was just the fourth in 42 opportunities against the Blackhawks in the playoffs, the best penalty-kill percentage in the league. ... The Bickell-Toews-Smith line totalled just three shots. ... Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, drafted from Louisville the night before, took in his first hockey game. ' ' '