ries opener began with a silly spat between the two top organization

ST. Cheap Adidas Nmd r1 . PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Preparations for the IndyCar Series opener began with a silly spat between the two top organizations over a perceived slight made by the president of Team Penske. The dig -- Tim Cindric compared Penske to the New York Yankees and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing to the Miami Marlins -- irritated the Ganassi camp and created some drama heading into the race Sunday. When the checkered flag waived, it was Penske driver Will Power in the winners circle. With teammate Helio Castroneves finishing third, Team Penske drivers claimed two spots on the podium and fired the opening salvo in the rivalry. "Ive only heard a little bit of that story, so I havent paid much attention," Power said. "Are the Marlins good? Do they win?" Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon, the defending series champion, finished fourth and Tony Kanaan was sixth in his debut for the team. So with Verizon-sponsored driver Power on top of the podium in the first race with Verizon on board as the series sponsor, and Castroneves on the podium with him, round one easily went to Team Penske. "We dont want to give an inch this year," said Castroneves, who lost the championship to Dixon last season. "We dont want to give any opportunity. We want to give the championship to Roger no matter what it takes." Ganassi has won five of the last six championships, and Penske last won in 2006. It was fitting that the win went to Power, who picked up right where he left off last season. He won three of the final five IndyCar races last season -- including the last two -- and his Sunday win at St. Pete gives the Australian four out of the last six victories. Power passed pole-sitter Takuma Sato for the lead with an outside move headed into the second turn on Lap 31, and was never really challenged again. He had to beat Castroneves off pit lane during stops under caution, and the only hiccup was on the first restart of the race. He was the leader and was slow to restart the field with 28 laps remaining. It caused traffic to stack-up behind him and led to a crash involving rookie Jack Hawksworth and Marco Andretti. Andretti got out of his car with a limp and was favouring his wrist following the accident. "Its hard to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just stopped. Once you go, you gotta go," he said. "It looked like an accordion effect. I had a good restart going, but we were junk all day, so what are you going to do?" Hawksworth blamed the accident on the leaders stopping at the front of the field. "We went when they said green, and all of a sudden the leaders stopped. I dont know what was going on at the front," the rookie said. Power said he never braked and was confused because the field went green earlier than it should. "They actually threw the green before I was even in the (restart) zone, so it was confusing to me," Power said. Castroneves didnt buy Powers version and said he was fooled by his teammate. "Will and I know each other for a long time. He knows my tricks," Castroneves said. "I didnt quite know that trick from him, and he got me." IndyCar said the restart in question was acceptable, but race control did review Powers second restart and issued him a warning for going too early. He was not penalized, but IndyCar said he will be if he does it again. Juan Pablo Montoya finished 15th in his return to IndyCar for the first time since he left for Formula One following his Indianapolis 500 win in 2000. He spent almost five seasons in F1 and seven in NASCAR before returning to open-wheel with Roger Penske. "I think it went pretty good," he said. "We will learn and pass some people and some people passed us. There are a few things we have to do better, but I didnt feel my pace was too bad there at the end. Its going to be a lot of work but I am very excited." Cheap Yeezys Real . The league announced Thursday that Tom Higgins is leaving that post effective immediately. Yeezy Boost 350 China Wholesale .The third-seeded Murray, who won here in 2009, will face seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa next on the indoor hard court. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/nmd-shoes-xr1-deals.html . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open.A power performance from a Blackhawks power forward, a breakout game for a Ducks rookie, a top scoring Toronto winger, lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Bryan Bickell – The Blackhawks left winger had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Minnesota Sunday; he has seven points (5 G, 2 A) in the past seven games as he’s taken Kris Versteeg’s spot on the wing with Brad Richards and Patrick Kane. While his offensive production tends to come and go, Bickell has been a steady possession player (56.4% Corsi) over the past three seasons. Rickard Rakell – The 2011 first-round pick has been a bit of an afterthought this season, so it goes for a rookie playing behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler on the centre depth chart, but he busted out with two goals and two assists (plus a shootout goal) in Sunday’s 5-4 shootout win against Winnipeg. It snapped Rakell’s six-game point drought and gives him 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 32 games this season. James van Riemsdyk – The Maple Leafs’ left winger had two goals and an assist, with 11 shot attempts (8 SOG) in Friday’s 5-2 win over Columbus. In the past 16 games, van Riemsdyk has 19 points (9 G, 10 A) and, with 40 points in 42 games, is scoring at career-high rates (0.45 goals and 0.95 points per game). ZEROES Ryan O’Reilly – The usually reliable Avalanche centre had a rough game against Dallas Saturday, failing to register a shot attempt and getting crushed in possession (5 shot attempts for, 27 against, 15.6%) Paul Gaustad – The Predators checking centre is used more in the defensive zone, but he could barely get out in Saturday’s win over Minnesota, on for one shot attempt for and 13 against (7.1%). Goalies: Antti Raanta – Chicago’s goaltender allowed four goals on 21 shots at Edmonton Friday, the first time all season that he allowed more than three goals against. Brian Elliott – Pulled from the St. Louis net after surrendering three goals on 10 shots against Carolina Saturday. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Jets getting healthy – Defencemen Tobias Enstrom, Mark Stuart and Zach Bogosian and left winger Evander Kane have all returned to the Winnipeg lineup. Suddenly, there’s no room for Adam Pardy and Paul Postma in the regular lineup, but it’s a credit to the Jets that they were able to withstand such a bad run of injuries. Incidentally, rookie Ben Chiarot played 24:00 at Los Angeles Saturday and 22:39 at Anaheim Sunday, his two highest ice times of the season, so he’s not getting phased out despite these returns. Joe Thornton – Returned to the San Jose lineup Saturday, after missing nine days, and was on for all three goals against in a 3-1 loss to the Rangers. Tanner Pearson – The Kings’ rookie winger suffered a broken leg Saturday. He had two points (1 G, 1 A) in his past 13 games. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings’ winger is out indefinitely with mono; he had four points (2 G, 2 a) in his last 11 games. With Pearson and Toffoli out, there is room for Mike Richards, who appeared to be on his way to being a healthy scratch, to stay in the lineup. Mikhail Grabovski – Started Friday night’s game on a line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo, but then had to leave the game early with a lower-body injury. Josh Bailey returned to that coveted spot in the lineup Saturday at Columbus. Erik Gudbranson – Played a season-high 25:12 for the Panthers, including 6:25 shorthanded, at Calgary Friday. It was his first game this season over 22 minutes and the second-most ice time he’s had in an NHL game. Steve Mason – The Flyers’ goalkeeper left early in Saturday’s loss to Boston with a lower-body injury. Ray Emery, with a career-low .889 save percentage after stopping 10 of 13 shots in relief of Mason, will likely see more action while Mason is out and 33-year-old Rob Zepp has been recalled from the AHL, where he had a .921 save percentage in 21 games. Jimmy Howard – Detroit’s goaltender suffered a lower-body injury against Washington Saturday, giving way to Petr Mrazek less than two minutes into the game. With Jonas Gustavsson already out of action, Mrazek will see most of the action in the Red Wings’ net and Thomas McCollum has been called up from Grand Rapids, where he had a .911 save percentage in 21 games. Brett Ritchie – The Stars rookie played a season-high 19:58 at Colorado Saturday, scoring his third goal in his sixth career NHL game. Sergei Gonchar – Played a season-high 23:58 for Montreal against Pittsburgh Saturday. Frank Corrado – The 2011 fifth-round pick got into his first game of the season for the Canucks Saturday against Calgary. The 21-year-old blueliner had played 18 NHL games over the past two seasons and had eight points (4 G, 4 A) with a plus-3 rating in 21 AHL games this season. Troy Bodie – The 29-year-old tough winger played his first game of the season for the Maple Leafs in Friday’s 5-2 win over Columbus. He had seven points (5 G, 2 A) and 34 penalty minutes, with a minus-2 rating, in 32 AHL games before getting promoted. SHORT SHIFTS Islanders C John Tavares had two goals and an assist in a 3-2 overtime win at New Jersey Friday. He has 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in the past 10 games…Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen scored a pair of goals in Friday’s 5-2 loss at Toronto, then added an assist in Saturdays’ loss to the Islanders, running his point streak (6 G, 6 A) to 10 games…Panthers LW Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 6-5 win at Calgary; he has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past eight games…Flames C Mikael Backlund picked up a goal and an assist in a 6-5 loss to Florida Friday, then added the Flames’ only goal in a 1-0 win over Vancouver Saturday, and has five points (3 G, 2 A) in his past three games…Flames LW Lance Bouma had three assists in the loss to Florida; he had four assists in the previous 39 games… Oilers LW Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win over Chicago Friday, then added an assist in a 4-2 loss to Florida Sunday, and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past 10 games…Penguins C Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 overtime win at Montreal Saturday, lifting him to third in the league scoring race with 47 points (19 G, 28 A) in 41 games…Predators LW Colin Wilson recorded a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Minnesota. Wilson has 13 points (6 G, 7 A) in the past 10 games…Avalanche C Matt Duchene picked up a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win over Dallas Saturday; he has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past five games…Islanders RW Ryan Strome had a pair of assists in a 5-2 win at Columbus Saturday, and has nine points (1 G, 8 A) in the past seven games…Blues C David Backes recorded two assists against Carolina Saturday, giving him 11 points (5 G, 6 A) in the past six games. Adidas Nmd Us Outlet. Jets C Mathieu Perreault recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-4 shootout win at Los Angeles Saturday, and has 17 points (9 G, 8 A) in the past 17 games…Jets RW Blake Wheeler contributed a goal and an assist in the win and has nine points (3 G, 6 A) in the past eight games…Kings D Drew Doughty had a pair of assists in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Jets, giving him 13 points (2 G, 11 A) in the past 14 games…Kings LW Marian Gaborik chipped in a goal and an assist, and has 14 points (9 G, 5 A) in his past 11 games…Kings C Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist; he has 19 points (3 G, 16 A) in the past 11 games…Ducks LW Kyle Palmieri recorded a goal and an assist Sunday against Winnipeg, and has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past 10 games…Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa had a pair of assists in Friday’s 5-2 loss at Edmonton, then had a goal and an assist against Minnesota Sunday, and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in his past nine games…Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews had a couple of assists Friday, then two more Sunday, giving him 15 points (2 G, 13 A) in his past 13 games…Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane had a pair of assists in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Minnesota and has 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in his past 22 games. In Friday’s 2-1 win over Buffalo, Tampa Bay D Matt Carle had a monster possession game (31 shot attempts for, 3 against, 91.2%) against the Sabres. When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 against Sabres defencemen Josh Gorges and Tyler Myers, Carle was a perfect 100% (18 for, 0 against)…Panthers LW Sean Bergenheim had strong possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 3 against, 85.0%) in Friday’s win at Calgary. Bergenheim is a quietly strong possession player, who also has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in the past nine games. Among forwards that have played 100-400 minutes – trying to find quality contributions from complementary players – at 5-on-5 this season: DEPTH CONTRIBUTIONS PLAYER TEAM POS. CORSI% RELATIVE CORSI% Trevor Lewis Los Angeles RW 60.2% +7.1% Tomas Jurco Detroit RW 59.0% +5.3% Patrick Sharp Chicago LW 58.6% +4.9% Stephen Weiss Detroit C 58.2% +3.8% Sean Bergenheim Florida LW 57.6% +7.6% Flyers D Mark Streit delivered strong possession numbers (21 shot attempts for, 3 against, 87.5%) in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Boston…Red Wings C Stephen Weiss had perfect possession (14 shot attempts for, 0 against, 100.0%), despite starting only one-third of his shifts in the offensive zone against Washington Saturday. Sabres G Michal Neuvirth stopped 45 of 47 shots in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay Friday…Canadiens G Carey Price turned aside 35 of 37 shots in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh Saturday…Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury had 27 saves on 28 shots for the win…Predators G Pekka Rinne stopped 36 of 37 shots in a 3-1 win at Minnesota Saturday…Senators G Craig Anderson turned away 31 of 32 shots in a 5-1 win over Arizona Saturday…Capitals G Braden Holtby had 26 saves on 27 shots in a 3-1 win over Detroit Saturday…Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 3-1 win at San Jose Saturday…Blackhawks G Corey Crawford stopped 36 of 37 shots in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Minnesota…Panthers G Al Montoya allowed five goals on 30 shots and Flames G Jonas Hiller surrendered six goals on 35 shots in Florida’s 6-5 win Friday…Coyotes G Mike Smith gave up five goals on 33 shots in Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Ottawa. FIRSTS David Pastrnak – Boston’s rookie right winger scored the first two goals of his career in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Philadelphia. 18-year-old Pastrnak has been impressive early in his career, posting 59.7% Corsi in his first seven games. Teemu Pulkkinen – Injuries opened up room in Detroit for Pulkkinen, a right winger who made his season debut for the Wings against Washington Saturday, registering a team-high eight shot attempts (3 SOG) with spectacular possession numbers (29 shot attempts for, 4 against, 87.9%) in 16:21 of ice time, skating on a line with Riley Sheahan and Drew Miller. Pulkkinen, a fourth-round pick in the 2010 Draft, was tearing up the AHL this season with 39 points (20 G, 19 A), 125 shots on goal and a minus-1 rating in 33 games. Joni Ortio – The 23-year-old, summoned in the wake of Karri Ramo’s injury, recorded his first career shutout, stopping all 36 shots he faced, in a 1-0 win at Vancouver Saturday. Ortio, a sixth-round pick in 2009, had a .916 save percentage in 27 games with Adirondack in the AHL. FLAMES-PANTHERS TRADE Drew Shore – A 6-foot-3 centre, who was a second-round pick in 2009, had been unable to stick in Florida, despite stellar possession stats when given the opportunity. 23-year-old Shore has been productive enough in the AHL (9 G, 21 A, 88 SOG, even in 35 games) this season to warrant an NHL opportunity. After one more NHL game, he will require waivers to be sent back to the AHL, so whenever Calgary does give Shore the opportunity, he should get a solid run of games to prove he deserves to stay in the league. Corban Knight – Originally a fifth-round pick of the Panthers in 2009, Knight didn’t sign with Florida coming out of the University of North Dakota, signing with Calgary as a free agent. Knight had 12 points (8 G, 4 A) and 51 shots on goal, with a minus-1 rating, in 22 AHL games at the time of the trade, and has one goal in nine career NHL games. He’s fourth months older than Shore, but with less pro experience can be moved up and down in the organization with fewer restrictions. FANTASY FOCUS There are three games on the schedule to start the week. Here are three wingers that you might want to consider for your lineup: Jonathan Drouin – The Lightning rookie has just two goals in 33 games, but has assists in each of the past three games, skating on a line with Alex Killorn and (more importantly) Steven Stamkos. Andre Burakovsky – You never know how long it will last, but the Capitals’ rookie winger has been skating with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin on Washington’s top line. Dwight King – The L.A. winger has three goals in the past four games and, with Pearson and Toffoli out, there is more ice time available if King manages to maintain production. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '