News » Ekblad and Sam Bennett retain the second

For the third straight month, Sam Reinhart is atop TSN Scout Craig Buttons list of draft eligible players. The Kootenay Ice centre ranks fifth in WHL scoring with 34 points, including nine goals and 25 assists. The 18-year-old from Vancouver, B.C. is in his fourth season with the Ice and is an early favourite to go first overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Behind Reinhart, the OHLs Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett retain the second and third spots, respectively, from last months rankings. Ekblad is producing almost a point a game as a defenceman with seven goals and 11 assists in 19 games with the Barrie Colts. Bennett, a centre for the Kingston Frontenacs, has 11 goals and 13 assists in 18 games. Oshawa Generals winger Michael Dal Colle moves up four spots to number four on Buttons list while Kasperi Kapanen of Kalpa in Finland falls three spots to eighth. Dal Colle of Woodbridge, Ont. is second in OHL scoring behind Connor Brown with 37 points. William Nylander, Adrian Kempe and Anton Karlsson, all of Sweden, remain in the top 10 at five, six and seven, respectively. Forward Brendan Perlini of the Niagara Ice Dogs moves into the top 10 at number nine. He has 13 goals and 18 assists in 20 games. Defenceman Haydn Fleury of the Red Deer Rebels also moves into the top 10. The 17-year-old from Carlyle, Sask. has three goals and 10 assists in 20 games. Nick Schmaltz of the United States Hockey League moves up eight spots to number 14. The centre has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 10 games. For Craig Buttons final list click here (http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=49649). Robert Horry Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. Hakeem Olajuwon Jersey .com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Authentic-Clint-Capela-Rockets-Jersey/ . Next up is another showdown with Michigan. Payne scored 18 points, Branden Dawson had 14 and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 12 Wisconsin 83-75 on Saturday to reach the Big Ten tournament championship. Clyde Drexler Jersey . Villa has already confirmed his short-term deal and the Daily Mirror reported early Tuesday that Lampard will join him as both build up match fitness ahead of moves to the new Major League Soccer franchise New York City. Tracy McGrady Jersey .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16.The National Hockey Leagues years-long investigation into concussions was a whitewash, and the leagues claims that players should have researched themselves the consequences of brain injuries is absurd, according to claims made by a group of former players in newly filed court documents. Three weeks ago, the NHL claimed in pleadings that the former players who are suing the league over how it handled concussions and head trauma injuries ought to have been able to put two and two together, thanks to newspaper and magazine stories and other news reports. Publicly available information related to concussions and their long-term effects, coupled with the events that had transpired – i.e., the players incurring head injuries – should have allowed (players) to put two and two together, the NHL said in its court documents filed in Minnesota. Now, the players are firing back. In newly filed documents obtained by TSN, lawyers for players including Joe Murphy, Bernie Nichols and Gary Leeman rubbish the NHLs claims, saying players had no knowledge of the medical literature, and no understanding of any need to go find it because they relied on the NHL for information about player health and safety. Whether players could have accessed information in the public sphere is a red herring, the players say in court filings. By representing that the NHL was the caretaker of player safety and was responsible for researching concussions... the NHL was telling players not to look for or believe what the NHL now says the players should have researched and understood. The players, whose claims have not been proven, allege that the NHL did not do enough to protect them from head injuries before it created a committee to study head trauma in 1997. Even after that, the players charge the committees findings were not adequately shared with players. For decades, NHL players who sustained in-game concussions or who lost consciousness were simply propped up, given smelling salts, and quickly returned to game-action, the players allege. While the NHL began its concussion study in 19997 and published its findings in 2011, It was not until July 23, 2013, that the NHL changed its concussion protocols to require a concussed player not return to the same game in which the concussion occurred.dddddddddddd The NHL players filed the suit in November 2013 after a group of nearly 4,500 former NFL players reached a settlement with the NFL over similar concussion-related complaints. The NFL players are expected to be paid about $1 billion, a lawyer working on the case told TSN. In its legal filings, the NHL says the court should dismiss the case because its taken too long for players to file their complaints. (The players) are not seeking recovery for acute injuries resulting from the individual hits, blows or instances of trauma inherent in hockey, the players pleadings say, adding that the injuries being sued for are the permanent degenerative brain diseases, or accumulated brain cell damage increasing the risk of such diseases, which arose and of which the plaintiffs became aware only after plaintiffs retired from the NHL. The NHL also has said the claim should be dismissed because health and safety issues fall under the purview of the leagues collective labour agreement with the NHLPA. The NHL said under terms of its CBA, that players have a responsibility to report injuries to their teams and submit themselves for examination. The CBA also addresses the rights of a player to receive his medical records, the NHL said in its legal filings. Players are clearly excluded from the NHLPA bargaining unit, the new court documents say, belying any argument that they are represented by a union who can initiate a grievance on their behalf... plaintiffs, as retired players and unrepresented by the NHLPA, could not initiate a grievance on their own behalf even if they wanted to. The judge overseeing the players lawsuit will hear oral arguments about the NHLs motion on Jan. 8 and will decide whether to dismiss the case by April. About 40 former NHL players have now signed up as named plaintiffs, compared to 4,500 in the NFL case. ' ' '