Meszaros signs a 6-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning
Defenceman Andrej Meszaros has signed a six-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Meszaros was acquired from the Senators on Friday in exchange for defencemen Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard.
“The acquisition and signing of Andrej is a strong statement to our players and our fans that the Lightning ownership group is committed to putting the best product on the ice now and for years to come,” said executive vice-president of hockey operations Brian Lawton in a statement.
Ottawa and Meszaros were far apart in their negotiations to re-sign the 22-year-old blue-liner, and with the Lightning threatening to sign Meszaros to a multi-year offer sheet, reportedly worth around US$5 million per season, the Senators decided to work out a trade quickly.
Meszaros made $984,200 last season.
“I’m excited to be joining the Lightning,” Meszaros said. “I’m extremely happy to be heading to Tampa Bay and I can’t wait to take advantage of this opportunity. We should have a great team and I can not wait to get started.”
Meszaros hasn’t yet missed a game in his career. He played in all 82 games during each of the previous three seasons with Ottawa. He has recorded 26 career goals and 110 points with 213 penalty minutes. Meszaros has also accumulated 11 power-play goals, four game-winning goals and one short-handed goal.
Meszaros was Ottawa’s first-round pick (23rd overall) in the 2004 NHL draft. The native of Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia, excelled in his rookie year, playing all 82 games and racking up 39 points while posting a scintillating plus-minus differential of plus-34. He has played in 34 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, recording two goals and nine points.
O’Sullivan wins the 21st ranking title of his career
Ronnie O’Sullivan won the first ranking event of the new campaign last night in Belfast, as he was crowned Northern Ireland Trophy champion.
The world champion and number one, who ended last season by capturing the World Championship for a third time, defeated Stoke’s Dave Harold 9-3 at the Waterfront Hall.
O’Sullivan has now won 21 ranking titles, seven short of Steve Davis, with Stephen Hendry out in front on 36. It is the third time that O’Sullivan has won back-to-back ranking events. It was he who was the last player to achieve the feat when in 2004 he won the World Championship and Grand Prix.
Harold, 41, had been aiming to win his second ranking title 15 years after his first, the Asian Open. He could have become the oldest winner of a significant title since Jimmy White captured the 2004 Players Championship, also at 41.
Stoke qualifier Dave Harold reached the final of the Northern Ireland Trophy with an upset 6-4 victory over two-times world champions John Higgins in the semi-finals on Saturday having eliminated Stephen Maguire, the defending champion, 5-2 in the quarter-finals.
O’Sullivan won £30,000 as this year’s worthy winner, while Harold claimed £15,000 as runner-up.
Harold, the world number 28, can rightly be proud of his progress to this year’s final.
He dropped out of the top 16 six years ago, but moves up to number 14 in the provisional rankings after his successful run in Belfast.
“I started well, won the first frame and then I could have won the second frame. But I let it slip after that,” he said.
“Ronnie’s a class player, he punishes you every time you make a mistake.”
“As a pure player and a entertainer, he’s the best ever.”
“Hopefully it won’t be another 14 years until my next final.”
It was Harold who won the opening frame of the match, but the ‘Rocket’ quickly found top gear and raced into a five-frame lead.
O’Sullivan had match breaks of 68, 103, 84, 76 and 64 to triumph.
“I knew it would be tough because Dave is such a hard player so I’m pleased to come through it,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s always good to win a title and it’s a great start to the season. Hopefully, I can be consistent all year.”
Russian striker Pavlyuchenko moves to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur announced they had reached an agreement to sign Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow, considered to be one of the most promising players in Europe. The new deal comes just two days before the Premier League transfer window closes. The transfer fee paid by Tottenham has not been disclosed but it is understood to be around 14 million pounds (17 million euros).
“We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Spartak Moscow for the transfer of Roman Pavlyuchenko to the Club,” a statement on Tottenham’s website confirmed.
Pavlyuchenko arrived in England on Friday for a medical and negotiations over personal terms and the deal was sealed on Saturday. But his first match wearing a Spurs shirt will likely be the home game against Aston Villa on Monday, September 15.
While at Spartak Moscow, Pavlyuchenko scored 77 goals in 147 appearances, and has played 23 times for Russia scoring nine goals for his national side. The 26-year-old striker scored three times at Euro 2008 and has been capped 22 times by Russia, scoring nine goals for his national team. He also netted twice in a 2-1 win over England in Moscow in a Euro 2008 qualifier last year.
“Everything has happened very quickly so I could not even say goodbye to my team-mates,” Pavlyuchenko said before leaving Russia to sign his contract in London.
“I could not decide if I wanted to go to England at first - first yes, then no,” he added.
“The only thing that stopped me from leaving was my family. But now all doubts are behind me and I decided to sign a contract with Tottenham.”
Pavlyuchenko’s new team-mate, defender Jonathan Woodgate, praised the striker’s international form.
“He’s a top player. I watched him at the Euros and he was excellent, he’s a great signing for this club,” said Woodgate.
“He’ll bring a lot of goals, he’s big, he’s good in the air and he’s good with his feet.”
The Russian striker should strengthen Tottenham’s attack that has been depleted in the offseason by Robbie Keane’s sale to Liverpool at the beginning of August for £20.3 million.
Premier League first round goals
In first round on Premier League 2008-2009 season were 32 goals scored. Most goals were scored in Aston Villa vs Man City 4-2, 5 goals in Everton vs Blackburn 2-3. 4 goals were scored in two games :
- Bolton - Stoke City 3-1
- Chelseas - Portsmouth 4-0
3 goals in
- West Ham - Wigan 2-1
- Hull City - Fulham 1-2
- Middlesbrough - Tottenham 2-1
One game with 2 goals Manchester United vs Newcastle and two games with one goal : Arsenal - West Brom 1-0 and Sunderland - Liverpool 0-1.
Chelsea have the biggest win in first round of Premier League winning the game with 4 goals.
There was one draw, home team won 7 games and visitors won 2 games.
Only two players score more than one goal in the game. First player with 2 goals in a game was on West Ham vs Wigan. Dean Ashton score 2 goals in minutes 3 and 10.
First hat-trick this season in Premier League come from Gabriel Agbonlahor who score 3 goals in Aston Villa vs Manchester City, perhaps this is the fastest hat-trick because he score in minutes : 69, 74, 76
Hungaroring F1 Drivers
Statistics about Hungaroring Grand Prix including only active drivers:
Victories
* 1 » Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button
Fastest laps
* 2 » Kimi Raikkonen
* 1 » Felipe Massa, David Coulthard
Pole Position
* 1 » Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Rubens Barrichello
Podium
* 5 » David Coulthard
* 3 » Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen
* 2 » Nick Heidfeld, Fernando Alonso
* 1 » Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button
Finish in points
* 8 » David Coulthard
* 7 » Rubens Barrichello
* 4 » Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld
* 3 » Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button
* 2 » Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Takuma Sato
* 1 » Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica
Drivers which achieved points on Hungaroring Grand Prix
* 36.00 » David Coulthard
* 35.00 » Rubens Barrichello
* 29.00 » Kimi Raikkonen
* 21.00 » Fernando Alonso
* 18.00 » Jenson Button
* 16.00 » Nick Heidfeld
* 10.00 » Lewis Hamilton
* 7.00 » Jarno Trulli
* 5.00 » Mark Webber
* 4.00 » Takuma Sato, Robert Kubica
* 2.00 » Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Giancarlo Fisichella
* 1.00 » Heikki Kovalainen
The fastest lap on Hungaroring was set by Michael Schumacher at 1:24.125 in 2004
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Pakistani delegation departs for Beijing on Thursday
The 37-member Pakistani delegation for the Beijing Olympic Games will leave for China on Thursday, to participate in Beijing Olympics Games.
The Chinese Embassy will hold a reception in honor of Pakistan contingent on July 31 at 1800 hours in the Chinese Embassy, Islamabad. The reception will be attended by all members of the contingent, senior Officers of the Ministry of Sports, Pakistan Sports Board and Pakistan Olympic Association. Thereafter, Pakistan Contingent will depart for Beijing from Islamabad Airport.
The 37-member Pakistan delegation comprised of hockey, athletics, swimming, shooting and contingent officials will participate in the Olympic scheduled to be held at Beijing (China) from August 8-24.
The men\’s field hockey team has qualified to participate in the Games after Pakistan had won the bronze medal in the 15th Asian Games held at Doha Qatar. The other sportspersons in athletics, swimming and shooting are going to participate in the Beijing Olympics with wild cards.
Pakistan, the three-time Olympic and four-time world champions, expects the country could regain its past glory in the 12-nation hockey event.
\”Our endeavor was to form a combination having experience and youth in the ranks and the team announced for the grand event is capable of fetching glory\”, said President of Pakistan Hockey Federation Zafarullah Jamali earlier.
The Pakistan hockey team gained laurels for the country in the 1960, 1968 and 1984 Olympics separately, but has seen a slump in the past years.
Pakistan is placed in group B together with Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Britain and South Africa. China, Germany, Spain, South Korea, New Zealand and Belgium are in group A.
Australia’s field hockey team to defend Olympic gold medal
Australia’s field hockey team hopes to defend their gold medal in Beijing as men’s hockey celebrates 100 years at the Olympics without former masters India.
The Kookaburras won their first Olympic gold at Athens four years ago and reclaimed the number one ranking at Germany’s expense by lifting the elite Champions Trophy in the Netherlands last month.
Coach Barry Dancer’s men, who had struggled to build on their Olympic success after losing to Germany in the final of both the 2006 World Cup and the 2007 Champions Trophy, were revived by the victory.
“Teams such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain are all quality teams who, along with a number of other countries, are all capable of winning gold at Beijing”, Dancer said.
“But in saying that, the Australian team has shown steady signs of improvement throughout the last six months and deserve whatever praise comes their way”.
Field hockey was first played at the Summer Games in London in 1908 with six teams drawn from England, Ireland and Scotland, but it was not until the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928 it became a regular medal sport.
India gained supremacy on grass with six consecutive titles from 1928 to 1956 and two more in Tokyo in 1964 and Moscow in 1980, but lately, their Olympic team deceived everyone by failing to qualify for Beijing.
The Indians will miss the Olympics for the first time after losing to Great Britain in a qualifying tournament in Chile in April. They also failed their Asian Games campaign in Doha in 2006.
“No one wanted to see India out of the Olympics but the reality is that the best 12 nations have qualified for Beijing”, said International Hockey Federation (FIH) chief Els van Breda Vriesman.
“The hockey world will obviously miss India, but I am confident they will come back stronger and ready to take on the world again”.
Meanwhile, Germany seems determined to end a 16-year drought and wrest the Olympic gold medal they last won as a unified team in Barcelona in 1992 and, before that, as West Germany in 1972.
The Germans didn’t get more than a bronze medal in Athens four years ago despite being the reigning World Cup champions, but have managed to come back in force. They retained the World Cup title at home in Munchengladbach in 2006 and won the Champions Trophy in Malaysia in 2007. Despite that, they only managed fifth place in this year’s edition, thus faling to finish among the top three in the European championships. Therefore, they missed out on a direct entry to Beijing.
However, in April, The Germans won the Olympic qualifier without conceding a goal in the tournament that included formidable opponents in hosts Japan and Malaysia.
Markus Weise, who fashioned the women’s gold medal winning campaign in Athens, took over the men and revived their team, following Bernhard Peters’ switch to football.
Frank Schleck claims his first yellow jersey
Simon Gerrans (Credit Agricole) took victory on a dramatic stage 15 of the Tour de France in Prato Nevoso while Frank Schleck (CSC) of Luxembourg captured the maillot jaune for the first time in his career.
Schleck took the overall leader’s yellow jersey at the end of the 15th stage thanks to the fierce pace his team-mates set in the final ascent to Prato Nevoso on Sunday.
Schleck now holds a 7 second lead over Austrian mountain specialist Bernhard Kohl and an 8 second lead over Australian Cadel Evans.
“I can promise you that you will see a very aggressive and very strong CSC team in the next two stages” Schleck said.
“We are not here to defend the yellow jersey, we are he to win the Tour” added CSC team manager Bjarne Riis.
Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank), a twice a winner of the Vuelta, fell as his bike slipped on the wet road in the climb to Prato Nevoso while attacking Schleck and Evans.
Despite his crash, the Russian cyclist lies fourth in the overall standings, 38 seconds behind Schleck ahead of Monday’s rest day.
Spaniard Oscar Pereiro, the 2006 Tour de France champion broke a shoulder and suffered various other injuries after his bike hit a protection wall on the roadside. He plunged on to the tarmac several metres underneath. He is still waiting to be flown to Spain for surgery after his Stage 15 Tour de France crash, his team doctor said.
On Tuesday, the peloton will climb the out-of-category Col de la Lombarde and Col de la Bonette, the highest point of the Tour, culminating at 2,802 metres.
Wednesday’s showdown includes three out-of-category ascents; the Col du Galibier, the Col de la Croix de Fer and the 21 hairpins of the Alpe d’Huez, where the 17th stage will end.
Riis said his team could surprise every one with a new strategy.
“I always stick to my gut feeling, listen to them. Maybe we will come up with a completely different plans” said the Dane.
Hockenheim F1 2008 Preview
Statistics about Hockenheim Grand Prix including only active drivers:
Victories
* 1 » Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello
Fastest laps
* 3 » David Coulthard
* 2 » Kimi Raikkonen
* 1 » Rubens Barrichello
Pole Position
* 2 » Kimi Raikkonen
* 1 » David Coulthard
Podium
* 4 » David Coulthard
* 2 » Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button
* 1 » Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen
Finish in points
* 9 » David Coulthard
* 6 » Jenson Button
* 4 » Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso
* 3 » Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli
* 2 » Felipe Massa
* 1 » Takuma Sato, Nick Heidfeld, Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber
Drivers which achieved points on Hockenheim Grand Prix
* 37.00 » David Coulthard
* 25.00 » Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso
* 20.00 » Rubens Barrichello
* 11.00 » Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli
* 9.00 » Felipe Massa
* 6.00 » Kimi Raikkonen
* 3.00 » Mark Webber
* 1.00 » Takuma Sato, Nick Heidfeld
The fastest lap on Hockenheim was set by Michael Schumacher at 1:24.125 in 2004
Deco moves to Chelsea in £8 million deal
Deco will join Portugal team-mates Jose Bosingwa and Ricardo Carvalho at Stamford Bridge. The 30 year-old Brazil-born playmaker officially signed on July 1st on a two-year contract, becoming the club’s first signing under Luiz Felipe Scolari and the second of the summer after international team-mate Jose Bosingwa signed in May.
Deco joined Barca from Porto in 2004 after helping the Portuguese side win the UEFA Cup, Champions League and domestic league titles under former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. Chelsea have signed Portugal midfielder Deco for a fee believed to be £8 million from Barcelona. Deco will team up with his former international manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, who officially started working at Chelsea this morning.
The Portugese midfielder was a key member of Scolari’s squad in Austria and Switzerland as Portugal reached the quarter-finals and has long been viewed as the coach’s on-pitch lieutenant. The talented playmaker had recently been told by Barcelona that he no longer featured in their future plans and had been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge on numerous occasions in recent years.
“It is good for me to be here and first of all I am very happy to be here,” Deco said on Chelsea’s official website. “”I am sure I have come at the right time to do great things and be able to help Chelsea go back to the way it was and come back to being the first one, not only in England but also to win the Champions League that has been their dream for so long.”
Deco’s arrival might threaten Lampard’s place in the team.The England midfielder is currently on holiday in Italy but with only a year to run on his contract he has been courted by Chelsea’s former manager, Jose Mourinho, who is now at Internazionale.
Scolari also might lose defender Carvalho, another target for former Blues boss Mourinho at Inter.
