acticed for the first time Monda

[lw789]

In his first CFL Draft at the helm of his own football team, Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters solidified his offensive line, pulled the trigger on a trade to move back into the second round, and found some value with his late picks. And while taking highly-touted Simon Fraser offensive lineman Matthias Goossen second overall on Tuesday night will definitely help in an area of need for the club, it was a swap of draft picks that may prove to be his most shrewd move. "When Jesse Briggs started to fall a little bit, you could just see Kyle perk up in his chair. ‘We might have a chance here," said head coach Mike OShea of the Blue Bombers war room on Tuesday night. "And then (hes) working the phone and pulls the trigger and we move up to get a guy that we really value. I think that was a great move. It was fun to be sitting right there watching him work." Winnipeg entered the draft with no picks in the second round, having sent their original along with Alex Hall late last season to Saskatchewan to acquire offensive tackle Patrick Neufeld — a 25-year-old Canadian they hope to be a ratio-breaking starter on the offensive line. The Bombers called up a familiar trade partner Tuesday, Roughriders GM Brendan Taman, and exchanged their two third-round picks (20th and 26th overall) for Saskatchewans second-rounder, taking Briggs 17th overall to add some depth to the linebacker corps. "Jesse Briggs was a guy that we rated high. We were looking for some depth at linebacker. A special teams player. A phenomenal athlete," said Walters of the 6-foot-1, 222-pound McGill product. "And when we had an opportunity — youre in constant talk with all the other teams — if Briggs is here at this number heres what well do. And talking to a bunch of teams. And we were able to get him where we wanted to so we jumped at it." "Briggs, we expect to push. Losing James Green, Pierre Labbe, we needed that role as a special teams guy," added Walters. "Hes going to come in and be given every opportunity to compete and win that role as he pushes." "He played the SAM linebacker position in college so he is comfortable in space, but we view him in our system as a linebacker. An in-the-box guy thats going to be turned loose and run around." But the biggest acquisition made Tuesday is the man who the club hopes will soon start at centre. The 6-foot-4, 294-pound Goossen was one of two O-linemen who came to Winnipeg in the past month for private workouts and interviews. The other was Lavals Pierre Lavertu who went first-overall to Calgary. "I was really impressed by the way that the coaches came across, hearing about how things have changed there," said Goossen in his post-draft conference call. "Its really good to see the changes and I know that itll be a great year this upcoming year." Over the winter, Walters mentioned on a few occasions that the team needed and would land a starter with the No. 2 pick, but Tuesday the GM curtailed those statements slightly when speaking specifically of the 21-year-old lineman. "Im not going to put any undue pressure on him. Hes expecting himself to come in and start," said Walters. "Lets let him get to Winnipeg and lets let him get his feet under (him) before we start putting undue pressure on him." "Given his age, I mean he is a man," said OShea of Goossen. "You see how hes built. His film says that hes got a real good chance at (starting), but being as young as he is I just feel theres a little bit of a difference here. We dont want to stick him in and ruin him, sort of get him shell-shocked and ruin his confidence. "If camp shows us, and he shows us in camp what he believes hes going to show us and what we think he can do, and thats the logical step for us, then hell be in there. And if he needs a bit of time then were quite willing to give him that — afford him that time to develop a little bit. But hes going to be a good player for a long time in this league and its up to me now and the offensive line coach to make sure we dont put him in a position thats going to hurt his confidence." "Im just going to go to camp and try to work as hard as possible and just try to get better every day," added Goossen when asked about potentially starting in his rookie year. "If the coaches want to put me as a starter then that would be great, but right now Im just trying to get into camp and contribute to the team." Winnipeg added another Simon Fraser product in the fourth round in 6-foot-1 defensive back Derek Jones. Jones comes from some impressive bloodlines, as his father Ed won five Grey Cups with the Edmonton Eskimos in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Another intriguing prospect was taken in the sixth round with 305-pound defensive lineman Quinn Everett out of Mount Allison, who Walters says will be expected to learn the nose tackle position as well as along the O-line. The club drafted McMaster linebacker Aram Eisho with their final selection in the seventh round. Brian ONeill Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Kirk Cousins Vikings Jersey . Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons also scored for the Admirals (22-13-10), who are 2-0-2 in their last four outings, while Roussel tacked on an assist for a two-point night. Greg Pateryn scored once for the Bulldogs (20-22-4), who lost their fifth straight contest, and also assisted on Gabriel Dumonts goal. http://www.vikingsteamofficial.com/kirk ... jersey/.ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Daniel Carlson Jersey . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. Jalyn Holmes Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill.WASHINGTON -- It took the Toronto Raptors a little while to get going in their first game since the All-Star break. Guard Kyle Lowry eventually provided a jump start. Lowry had 24 points and 10 assists as the Raptors broke open a close game in the third quarter and held on for a 103-93 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. "He took the game over in the middle of the third quarter and willed us to a win," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. Leading by six at halftime, the Atlantic Division leading Raptors pushed the lead to 17 as DeMar DeRozans driving layup started a 15-2 run midway through the third quarter. Lowry scored nine of the 15 points with a variety of shots, including a driving lay-up, a short fall-away jumper and a corner 3-pointer that made it 78-61 late in the period. He played the entire 12 minutes scored 14 points in the quarter. "I just was getting more looks, trying to attack a little more" said Lowry, who wasnt named an All-Star, but came in averaging 16.7 points 7.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. "That first game out of the break is always tough and I didnt want to let that be an excuse for us to lose the game." Five Raptors joined Lowry in double figures, including Amir Johnson, who returned after missing two games with a sore right ankle. He scored 14 points. The Raptors, who have won three straight, also got 14 from Greivis Vasquez and DeRozan, who addressed the team before the game. "Just (told) everybody to be focused," DeRozan said. "Each and every single game matters from here on out especially if we want to do something special. We cant take any nights off. These thirty games are going to be big and we have to start tonight." The Raptors led by as many as 20 midway through the fourth quarter, before being held without a field goal for the final 7:36. The Wizards pulled to within 99-90 on a 3-pointer by Martell Webster with 2:04 left. Following a steal, Nenes layup made it 99-92. After John Wall collected a steal, Nene made one of two free throws with 1:32 left, but Lowry hit a pair of free throws, however, to make it 101-93 with 1:02 left. Toronto shot 57 per cent from the field (42-of-74) for the game, and finished with 60 points inside.dddddddddddd "We had trouble guarding off the dribble tonight," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "We defended pretty much a lot of their sets and then it gets down to seven, eight seconds on the shot clock and they break you down off the dribble. Thats how they get 60 points in the paint." Wall led the Wizards with 22 points, but went 0-for-7 from the field in the second half, and Marcin Gortat added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Washington has lost three straight and five of six. The Wizards are 0-3 against Toronto, and fell to 13-14 at home this season. "They stayed with it," Wittman said of the fourth quarter rally. "We got the floor spread, made some shots. Uncharacteristically, (we) turned some shots down tonight. I thought we werent as aggressive from our perimeters with Brad (Beal), Trevor (Ariza) and Martell. Beal played nearly 37 minutes and went 2-of-10 from the field, finishing with nine points, while Webster finished with seven and Ariza six. "I was just taking what they were giving me. I found my teammates open," Beal said. "We just didnt make shots and thats all it was. Did I have a few? Maybe. But Im the one whos taking them and feeling comfortable and I didnt feel comfortable taking them." The post All-Star Break opener paired the teams currently in third place (Toronto) and sixth in the Eastern Conference when play began. The score was tied after one, but reserves Tyler Hansbrough and Vasquez (four points each) manufactured an 8-2 Toronto run early in the second quarter. The Raptors scored 38 of their 55 first-half points in the paint, on 19-of-26 shooting. Wall, coming off a win in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and 12 points in his first All-Star Game, kept the Wizards close. After scoring 10 points in the opening quarter, he added nine more in the second, hitting 9-of-12 field goals in the half. NOTES: Wittman was ejected after picking up two second technical fouls with 4:39 remaining and Washington trailing 98-82. . Wizards F Al Harrington, who has missed the last 46 games (right knee), practiced for the first time Monday. . The teams final meeting is Feb. 27 in Toronto. Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping China Jerseys Cheap ' ' '