Breitmann Tuning » knee injury at Baltimore. The Bengals re-signed DT D

TORONTO -- On Tuesday, Aaron Ekblad went home to Florida.After becoming a surprise scratch in Monday nights loss to Team Russia, the most important defenseman on Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey watched his teammates lose from a press box suite while wearing a suit and tie.He and North America management were following league protocol after Ekblad experienced concussion-like symptoms following a big hit from Finlands Leo Komarov in Ekblads first game of the tournament.But in terms of making the tough call between playing through pain in a best-on-best tournament and preserving yourself for the long grind of a regular season, there is no real protocol.There are judgment calls, conversations and, right now, lots of NHL general managers just hoping it ends.If youre a fan of the game, you love to watch the excitement, and its a beautiful game to watch, said one Western Conference general manager. But when you look at whats the benefit to the [NHL] team? Its zero.For a team like Ekblads Panthers, its now gone into the negative. The Dallas Stars can feel their pain. Stars captain Jamie Benn of Team Canada pulled out of the tournament to heal from surgery, and theyve now suffered two injuries in Canadas Tyler Seguin (foot) and the Czech Republics Radek Faksa (concussion symptoms).Ales Hemsky of the Czech Republic, one of the last healthy Stars left, had better watch out.How the communication between the club team and international team went down has varied depending on the situation. Stars GM Jim Nill got word after Canadas first exhibition game against the U.S. that Seguin was banged up.He sent Seguin a text, and the response from his star center assured him he was fine. After he played another exhibition game, the tone of the texts changed.Seguin was hurting.A conference call was set up with Nill, Seguin, doctors and Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong, and the group hashed out a solution. Maybe Seguin could power through the injury, but with center Ryan OReilly ready to step in, it wasnt necessary.The decision was made to send Seguin home. There might have been relief for the Stars that Benn and Seguin were out of harms way and should be ready to go to start the season, but they also felt for a guy who all summer had been looking forward to representing his country.I talked to Tyler the night before he went to the camp in Ottawa, how excited he was in playing for Canada, Stars coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday. I dont think any of them think of injury before they go. They just think of playing.And when they get hurt, they think of playing through it. Thats what makes these guys the best in the world.So its important that NHL clubs have a say in the decision, especially considering how hard it can be for the player to take a big-picture approach when opportunities like this dont present themselves very often.For a player such as Faksa, this is one of the first opportunities to play for his country on a big stage.Radek, hes a young guy representing his country. Hes 21. It tugs at them, Nill said. Its hard. Its tough. Its tough for them to go, Hey, I cant go anymore, to their teammates there and their country.Ultimately, the team has a say, and the Panthers certainly didnt hide their desire to bring Ekblad home, nor should they have. Hes their franchise defenseman. They have Stanley Cup hopes this season.Its not like Ekblad grew up dreaming of wearing the Team North America orange and black. So this was the no-brainer.It makes the North Americans job a little harder as they face Sweden on Wednesday needing a win to survive. The team is also without goalie Matt Murray, who is out with a hand injury. Ekblad was their big-minute defenseman, taking on the toughest competition for coach Todd McLellan.Fellow defenseman Ryan Murray left practice early in what McLellan called a maintenance day, saying he expects Murray to be available for the Sweden game. If not, that would leave North America with five defensemen, which would be an issue.Yeah, defenseman Jacob Trouba deadpanned. You usually want six.If they get to six, the young group remains confident they have a defense capable of advancing in this tournament. The coaches and general managers of the emerging NHL stars might not exactly be broken hearted if they dont.The World Cup has seen big names go down and its just getting out of group play. Multiple general managers said they were taken aback at just how intense and physical the opening exhibition game was between the United States and Canada. It was clear then the players cared about this tournament in a big way. When thats the case, injuries are going to follow. Its inevitable.Those watching from the outside, waiting for it to end just hope it doesnt strike their key players as the games get even more intense once the World Cup shifts to the semifinalsYou just look at the history of these tournaments, one team is going to get significantly hurt, said one GM. Youre holding your breath its not you.Balenciaga Shoes Sale . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Cheap Balenciaga . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. http://www.balenciagasalenz.com/ . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Cheap Balenciaga Shoes Nz .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Buy Balenciaga Nz . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments.CINCINNATI -- Andy Daltons most important passes didnt even make it past the line of scrimmage. Mike Nugent missed another extra point.And the Bengals lost yet another game in throwback fashion, making every sort of mistake.Heading into December, its clear theyve bungled their season away, too.A 19-14 loss in Baltimore on Sunday left the Bengals (3-7-1) pretty much finished for 2016.Theyre 2+ games behind Baltimore (6-5) and Pittsburgh (6-5) with only five left.The defending AFC North champs would have to run the table, and the Ravens and Steelers both would have to have meltdowns for the Bengals to reach the playoffs.They know the odds of that happening arent good at all. The Bengals have reached the playoffs a club-record five consecutive seasons, and that streak is about to get snapped.We know some things have to break our way now, coach Marvin Lewis said on Monday .Also, they know they havent played well enough at any point this season to consider themselves playoff-worthy.That was the case again on Sunday in Baltimore, where they played well enough to stay in the game but no more.Dalton has been under constant pressure during the season, getting sacked 32 times -- fourth most in the NFL.Even when theyre not getting to Dalton, defenders are making it tough on him. Four of Daltons last eight passes were batted down at the line as the Ravens set their defense to take away the downfield throw and focused on knocking down the short ones.Four of eight passes knocked down? Mind-boggling.Those things happen very, very rarely, offensive coordinator Ken Zampese said on Monday. I mean, this was the first time that came up, it came up in a big way, and it ended up hurting us, so here we are talking about it.The game in Baltimore was in some ways their worst yet at protecting the quarterback.Dalton had four fumbles, losing two of them. The most costly came on a play from the Baltimore 16-yard line in the first half. Dalton was changing the play at the line of scrimmage when center Russell Bodinee snapped the ball, causing the turnover.ddddddddddddThe Bengals switched from Bodine to backup center T.J Johnson for a couple of series in the third quarter.To calm the troops a little bit, Lewis said.Three times in the second half, Dalton was sacked and fumbled. The last one came when the Bengals were driving for a potential tying touchdown in the closing minutes. Dalton was sacked by Elvis Dumervil and fumbled, allowing the Ravens to close it out with a safety that ran out the clock.And it wasnt only the passing game that involved struggles by Bengals blockers. Cincinnati rushed for only 64 yards -- 14 by Dalton -- as the latest chapter in a season-long problem. With no running game to worry them, the Ravens were able to get after Dalton.When they scored their only touchdown, Nugent missed the extra point wide right, the fourth time hes missed a point-after-touchdown try in four games. Lewis reiterated on Monday that the Bengals have no plans to bring in another kicker for a tryout.Missed PATs, those are things that affect the football team, affect us and our opportunity, Lewis said. But you know, we are where we are.Game notesThe Bengals host Philadelphia (5-5) on Sunday . The previous time the Eagles played at Paul Brown Stadium was Nov. 16, 2008, when they finished in a 13-13 tie. They last met in Philadelphia in 2012, with the Eagles winning 34-13. ... The Bengals are only 4-5 in their past nine games at Paul Brown Stadium, including a first-round playoff loss to Pittsburgh last season. They were technically the home team when they played Washington to a tie in London this season. ... The Bengals put CB Chykie Brown on injured reserve. He suffered a knee injury at Baltimore. The Bengals re-signed DT DeShawn Williams, who was on the roster for the first 10 games and was waived last week.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '