LONG POND, Pa. - Matt Kenseth was NASCARs biggest winner in 2013, a dominant run that thrust him into contention for his second championship. He came up just short. Seven wins, no title. Small consolation. Kenseths first year with Joe Gibbs Racing was a smashing success except for winning a championship to bookend with the one he has from 2003. Kenseth found the hard way that wins are nice, but winning it all matters more. Headed into Sundays race at Pocono Raceway, Kenseth is atop the points standings but the only driver in the top nine without at least one checkered flag. NASCAR revamped the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format this year to add great significance to winning a race in the first 26 before the cutoff. Kenseth would be a lock for the field with a victory. Without one, Kenseth might have to hope he keeps his points lead: The regular-season leader earns a spot even with a winless season. Kenseth has won 13 races the last three years and it seems inevitable hell find his way in Victory Lane soon enough. He has never won at Pocono, but has two career wins at next weeks track (Michigan) and hes won three times at Bristol (Aug. 23). Hed surrender the lead for taking the No. 20 Toyota for a spin in Victory Lane soon. "Youd rather have a win at this time of year than be the points leader," he said. "Its definitely different. We knew it was a radical change, but youre sitting here because youre the points leader but you open up the paper and they dont have you in the top-10. Its a little bit confusing at times. So yeah, hopefully we can get a win." Kenseth joins the rest of the field in trying to race his way past Jimmie Johnson. The six-time champion is coming off back-to-back victories in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Dover International Speedway and will try to win three straight for the first time since 2007. Steady as always, Kenseth has been in the hunt for several wins. He just cant find that one edge that will get him one. He has five top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in 13 races for a 9.2 average finish. Hes finished third in each of the last two races. "People always ask about changing your strategies or trying harder or doing this or doing that, but if it was that easy, youd win every week," he said "Ive never not wanted to win. If there was a way to force wins, Id force it every week." With half the season left before the Chase field is set, Kenseth isnt worried too much about his winless season. Former champion Tony Stewart also is winless. So are Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman, on the outside of the Chase and in a lot worse shape. "I think there has been a touch of bad luck and then we just havent put together full races," Kahne said. "Weve had great practices over the last month, maybe a little more than that. Weve been really good in practice; great at times during the race, but we havent put together the full race." Kenseth isnt quite sure why the No. 20 has yet to come close to matching last seasons success. "If we knew exactly that, it would be a lot easier to fix," he said. "Theres been times you get pretty good car balance, but you havent had the speed. You always try to look over everything and look over how you get your vehicles setup better, how you can get your aero setup better, how you can get your engines better." Carolina Panthers Corey Brown Jersey .com) - The Arizona Diamondbacks and relief pitcher Matt Reynolds have agreed to terms on a one-year contract that includes an option for 2015, the team announced Tuesday. New England Patriots Tre Jackson Jersey . The Boston Bruins top-line centre had no goals and only three assists through the first 10 playoff games. http://www.thenfllockerroom.com/New-England-Patriots-Keshawn-Martin-Jersey/ . - The Los Angeles Lakers have waived guard Keith Appling and forward Jeremy Tyler, reducing their training camp roster to 17 players. 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The 24-year-old Pietrangelo is among the youngest to wear the red Maple Leaf in 2014 as youth infuses what was previously a veteran-laden squad. Like fellow youngsters 23-year-old Matt Duchene, 24-year-old Jamie Benn, 23-year-old John Tavares and 24-year-old P.K. Subban, he is getting his first opportunity (of many) on the grandest stage and his NHL head coach couldnt be happier for it. "Hes just going to get better," said Ken Hitchcock, the bench boss in St. Louis and an assistant coach for Team Canada. "Any time you can experience something like this, it makes you a better player." The chance to train, practice and play amongst the countrys very best and compete, in the days ahead, opposite the worlds very best is a large part of the appeal as is the opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage. But in advising his Blues centerpiece prior to the Olympics, Hitchcock wanted Pietrangelo to absorb and understand just how high and intense the hockey will get, even amongst his own NHL teammates and future opponents. "Like dont expect Patrick Berglund to be what he is. Hes going to go up another level," Hitchcock said of the Blues centre, one among 10 players from St. Louis selected to play in these games, tied with Chicago and Detroit for the most in the NHL. "Dont expect Alex Steen to be what he is. Hes going to go up another level and thats just the way it is. "So dont be surprised because people play with passion ... Their sweaters and the crest on their sweaters is just as important for them as it is us. I said just dont be surprised by everybodys A-game when its out there." Pietrangelo has also heeded the advice of Bouwmeester who is set to participate in his second Olympics peppering the 30-year-old in the days and weeks leading up to their arrival in Russia. "I was able to pick his brain about the experience and he was pretty much bang on with everything he said," said Pietrangelo, who has 41 points in 57 games for the Blues this season. The best part, Bouwmeester advised, was the opportunity to take in the Olympic experience alongside other Canadians, not just those on the two hockey teams, but skiers, curlers, skaters, those in sports unfamiliar to the King City, Ontario nattive.dddddddddddd "You see the skaters, you see the skiers on TV and you know that youre part of that group," Pietrangelo said. "Youre sitting in the lunch hall, the dinner hall now and you see them and you say hi and then you go out there and watch them on TV, its pretty special." On the ice, it was absorbing the complexities of the bigger international ice surface and systems employed by head coach Mike Babcock. Technical questions leveled at Hitchcock at an instructive Tuesday afternoon practice. "...he wanted to know, on defensive reads, whats his role because we play a different way [in St. Louis], especially on the back-check," Hitchcock said, noting Pietrangelos studious nature. The fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft is part of a youth revolution thats gradually crept into Team Canada and the hockey world. It was quietly prominent in Vancouver when a 21-year-old Jonathan Toews, 20-year-old Drew Doughty and 22-year-old Sidney Crosby all emerged at various points en route to gold, and its risen to new heights in Sochi. Gone from that triumphant squad on home turf are hardened veterans like Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow, replaced by a new wave that includes Pietrangelo, Duchene, Subban, Benn and Tavares. "We knew that when 2010 ended, there was going to be a changing of the guard," said Blues GM and Team Canada management member Doug Armstrong. "For quite of few of those players, their time had come. A lot of them are retired now. And you really cant keep these young players down." That would include Pietrangelo, who has surged to the heights of the defensive position on a powerhouse Blues squad, one that is tied for second-best overall with 84 points at the break. Still in just his fourth full NHL season, he is sitting fourth among all NHL defenders in points this season while averaging more than 25 minutes per game on one of the leagues preeminent defensive teams. A member of two Canadian World Junior teams including a gold-snatching squad in 2009 Pietrangelo was brought along carefully by the St. Louis organization, who signed him to a seven-year, $45 million contract this past summer. He played in just 17 games in the two years that followed his draft, rare patience that is quickly being rewarded. "Its hard to argue that right now," said Pietrangelo, gazing around at where he stood on Olympic ground. "Its a tough thing to go through as a young player. You always want to be playing at the highest level, but to see where I am right now, they were investing their time and money in me and they were going to make the best decision for me. Thats how I looked at it. Id like to think that its working right now." cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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