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Ricky Foley cant wait for the start of the CFL playoffs to begin but not at the expense of looking past the Edmonton Eskimos. Wholesale Jerseys From China . Foley and the Saskatchewan Roughriders conclude their regular season Saturday hosting Edmonton. Win or lose, the Riders (11-6) have already clinched second in the West Division -- and will host B.C. in the conference semifinal Nov. 17 -- while the Eskimos (3-14) are destined to finish last. But the contest has meaning for both teams. Saskatchewan is coming off a bitter 29-25 road loss to Calgary (14-3), which cemented first in the West for the Stampeders. Heading into the post-season having dropped two straight games would be hardly ideal for the Riders. While theres no playoff date for Edmonton, for many of its players this will be the final opportunity to make a favourable impression, either with the Eskimos or other CFL teams, for next year. "We cant look past Edmonton," Foley said. "If you look past Edmonton and start gameplanning for and worrying about B.C. youre going to get your head kicked in by Edmonton. "Those guys are playing for jobs and those coaches are gameplanning for jobs. Theyre going to come in here hungry. We also dont want to be on a two-game losing streak going into the playoffs, that wouldnt be very good." Despite its struggles, Edmonton boasts some solid offensive threats. Quarterback Mike Reilly, in his first season as a CFL starter, has throw for 4,157 yards and 24 TDs while running for 649 yards -- tops among quarterbacks -- and is averaging 8.4 yards per rush. The Eskimos also boast the CFLs top receiver in slotback Fred Stamps, who has 68 catches for a league-best 1,259 yards and 11 TDs. "Offensively theyve got some playmakers," Foley said. "Obviously Fred Stamps is special but the quarterback, man, hes just a football player. "Ive got so much respect for Mike Reilly. Hes a guy Ive hit a lot this year but he gets up, he doesnt complain to his O-line and being a vet Ive got a lot of respect for that kind of player. Hes going to be a good player in this league." The six-foot-two, 258-pound Foley joined the Riders as a free agent last off-season after helping the Toronto Argonauts win the 100th Grey Cup game in November at Rogers Centre. With this years CFL title game being played at Mosaic Stadium, Saskatchewan is attempting to become the third straight team to win the Grey Cup on home soil -- B.C. also did it in 2011. Foley, 31, of Courtice, Ont., has flourished in Regina with eight sacks after registered nine over three seasons in Toronto. The eight-year veteran is enjoying his best CFL campaign since a career-best 12 sacks in 09 with B.C. that earned him the leagues top Canadian award that year. But its been a season of streaks for Saskatchewan, which opened the 2013 campaign with five straight wins before a 42-27 road loss to Calgary on Aug. 9. After reeling off three consecutive victories the Riders lost 25-13 to Winnipeg. That was the start of four straight losses before a 31-17 road victory in Vancouver that began a three-game losing streak. Then came last weekends heart-breaking loss to the Stampeders at McMahon Stadium. "I thought we had a pretty good effort in Calgary," Foley said. "Theyre the best team in the league record-wise but I think we had the opportunity to beat them and shouldve beat them and you can take a little bit of positive from that. "Obviously guys are disappointed about not being able to win first place but we have to get this one this week and when B.C. comes in here be on a roll." The Riders-Stampeders rivalry this season has been intense, on and off the field. Saskatchewans Kory Sheets helped pour gasoline on the fire recently by publicly stating he was a better running back than Calgarys Jon Cornish, the CFL rushing leader. Sheets topped the rushing race midway through the season before suffering a knee injury that forced him to miss three games. Cornish, who was second overall behind Sheets at the time, stormed into the lead and hasnt looked back since. But Foley said in an eight-team league where clubs play one another often, animosity is bound to build up. "When you play a team that much and its the two top dogs in the division its going to be intense," he said. "Its like a playoff series in hockey when you see a team that much and that frequently in such a short period of time theres going to be a lot of built-up anger towards those guys. "But that makes it fun. Its good for the league, its good for the fans and its fun for us players." Once the playoffs begin, Foley said discipline will be key for the Riders. "I think thats going to be the biggest thing," he said. "There also has to be good leadership going into the playoffs. "Without question, weve got the talent to do what we want to do but the leadership has to be there, the discipline has to be there and we cant beat ourselves. We do that I think well be fine." Jerseys Wholesale . Blake Griffin had 27 points and eight rebounds, Chris Paul added 19 points -- including a go-ahead layup in the final minute -- and the Clippers beat the Hawks 109-108 on Saturday night for their season-high seventh straight win. "In the locker room, I almost felt like we lost the game, because we expect a lot from themselves," Paul said. Wholesale Jerseys China .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night.DETROIT -- For the first time in more than three months, the Red Wings have a winning streak at home. Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Kronwall and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist to lead Detroit past the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Friday night for its second consecutive victory at Joe Louis Arena. The last time the Red Wings won two in a row at home was Oct. 12-15. They beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 in a shootout Wednesday night. "Obviously, real important. Its like anything, some years you win lots of games at home and some years you dont," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Some years youre good on the road and some years youre not and you never really figure out why. But we have an opportunity here on Sunday to keep things going and wed like to." Detroit is 3-1 on a five-game homestand that ends Sunday against Florida. "Try to get a template that we can hang our hat on and play every night. Its hard because we were playing pretty solid and we lose those back-to-back games 1-0," defenceman Kyle Quincey said. "Its hard to tell the boys to keep going and itll come, but then you play Chicago and we end up scoring (four) goals and winning and now youre saying, Keep playing like that. Again we scored four goals tonight and I think we believe if we keep playing like that well be OK." Riley Sheahan also scored for Detroit, and Jonas Gustavsson made 30 saves. Brendan Gallagher had the goal for Montreal, and Carey Price stopped 22 shots. "Just little, unfortunate breakdowns that we know better. Just little things cost us," Gallagher said. Kronwall gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead with 3:31 left in the second period. He scored his sixth goal of the season on a one-timer from the slot after Nyquists pass went off Gallagghers stick. Wholesale Jerseys. "I read the play, I was where I wanted to be. I was ready but I got ahead of myself," Gallagher said. Nyquist added his eighth goal with 1:19 remaining in the game. Gallagher put the Canadiens on the board with a power-play goal with 7:24 left in the second period. He jammed one past Gustavsson after carrying the puck from the side of the net to the crease for his 13th goal. Sheahan made it 2-0 Detroit with 8:12 remaining in the second. He beat Price with a snap shot from the top of the left circle for his second goal. Gustavsson made a nice save on Louis Leblancs backhand from the bottom of the left circle with 3:07 remaining in the first. Zetterberg opened the scoring with 7:33 left in the first period. With the Red Wings on a 5-on-3 power play, he put in a one-time slap shot from the high slot for his 16th goal. Gustavsson stopped the Tomas Plekanec on a short-handed breakaway with about 8:50 left in the opening period. NOTES: Detroit RW Daniel Alfredsson returned after missing six games with back spasms. ... The teams last met two years ago, when Montreal won 7-2 at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens last visit to Detroit was Dec. 10, 2010, and the Red Wings won 4-2. ... Detroit was without C Pavel Datsyuk (lower body), G Jimmy Howard (knee), RW Johan Franzen (post-concussion syndrome), C Joakim Andersson (lower body), C Steven Weiss (groin) and C Cory Emmerton (finger). ... Montreal LW Max Pacioretty played college hockey at Michigan. ... Canadiens assistant coach Gerard Gallant played nine of his 11 NHL seasons with Detroit. ... Montreal defenceman Alexei Emelin was helped off the ice with 7:08 left in the third period after taking Kronwalls shot off his knee. Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said Emelin was fine after the game. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
