DENVER - Jarome Iginla felt a little more youthful on his 37th birthday even as he became the old man of the Colorado Avalanche. Hes energized by the challenge of not only trying to keep up with the likes of speedy forward Nathan MacKinnon, who is half Iginlas age, but also of helping this rising squad take another step in its growth. "I dont want to be arrogant, but I still believe I can be very good," said Iginla, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday by signing a three-year, $16 million deal with Colorado. "And this is a dynamic group. I think they work hard and theyre committed, and theyre just going to keep getting better and better." The Avs are coming off a season in which they tied a franchise record with 52 wins in Patrick Roys first year behind the bench and returned to the post-season for the first time since 2009-10. Among their top priorities in the off-season? Adding some grizzled veterans to the squad. First, the team picked up veteran forward Daniel Briere from Montreal for right wing P.A. Parenteau and a fifth-round pick in next years draft. Then, Colorado acquired defenceman Brad Stuart from the San Jose Sharks for a second-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-rounder in 2017. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after losing fan favourite Paul Stastny in free agency — he signed a four-year, $28 million deal with division rival St. Louis — the Avs worked out a deal with Iginla. It wasnt a laborious task, especially given the friendship between Iginla and Avalanche Hall of Famer turned executive Joe Sakic. The two have been tight since their days with Team Canada and when Sakic made his pitch, Iginla intently listened. Then again, one of Iginlas kids is named Joe at least in part because of Sakic. "(Sakic) is a winner so it definitely had something to do with this," Iginla said. Iginla has played in 1,310 regular season games with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Boston. He had 30 goals in 78 games for the Bruins last season. "Jaromes track record speaks for itself," Sakic said. "He is one of the top goal scorers of all time, as well as a great leader. His addition will bolster our offence." As for being the elder statesman of the team, Iginla just laughed. "I feel good," said Iginla, whos earned two Olympic gold medals with Canada. "As far as my game dropping off, I dont think it will. ... I dont come here expecting to do less." He joins a team that captured a surprise Central Division crown. The turnaround of the Avalanche led to quite a few post-season awards, too, with Roy taking home coach of the year, MacKinnon being named the top rookie and Ryan OReilly capturing the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play. Semyon Varlamov also was a finalist for outstanding goaltender, which went to Tuukka Rask of Boston. Sakic was hoping to return the nucleus for another run, but wasnt about to break the bank to make that happen. Sakic said two weeks ago the team had a salary structure in place, setting the financial bar in deals with Varlamov, Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog. These days, Sakic is attempting to work out a long-term deal with OReilly, a restricted free agent who led the team with a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14. In the meantime, Sakic orchestrated a deal to add the 34-year-old Stuart in order to bring more tenacity to the Avalanches blue line. He was third on the Sharks in blocked shots (114) and hits (122) last season. Stuart may be called upon to mentor defenceman Nick Holden, who signed a three-year extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Briere is another scorer who could help offset the loss of Stastny. Iginla likes the additions of Stuart and Briere. "Its kind of neat to join a new team, but also having other guys in the same boat and get to come in together," Iginla said. "Thats pretty cool." One of the enduring images in Avalanche history is Sakic passing the Stanley Cup over to Ray Bourque for him to hoist after their win in 2001. See Landeskog doing the same for Iginla one day? "Thats a hope," Iginla said. "These guys, theyre driven. I think there are lots of good things already happening." ___ AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage contributed. Chris Dudley Jersey . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Rodney Hood Jersey . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. https://www.cheapblazersonline.com/638i-...lazers.html.com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. Joel Przybilla Jersey . Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings and Washington hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. Portland Trail Blazers Pro Shop .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday.TORONTO - The New York Yankees harvested the first win out of their US$175-million investment in Masahiro Tanaka on Friday. The Blue Jays, however, will have to wait to see what Dustin McGowan has to offer. Tanaka scattered six hits over seven innings to win his major-league debut 7-3 and help the Yankees spoil Torontos home opener. A successful Yankees challenge on replay helped set the stage for the winning runs to score. The Japanese right-hander struck out eight after an early wobble and did not walk a batter while giving up three runs, only two of which were earned. Tanaka (1-0) threw 97 pitches including 65 strikes in a promising debut. "Hes definitely the real deal," said Toronto manager John Gibbons, while lamenting his team was unable to capitalize early when the door was open somewhat. "I thought he settled down great," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "The first couple of innings were a little rough ... (but) to give us seven innings and be under 100 pitches, he did a really really good job." Jays leadoff hitter Melky Cabrera welcomed Tanaka to the majors with a home run to right field on his third delivery. Not helped by his defence, he gave up two more runs in the second. Still the 25-year-old managed four strikeouts in the first two innings and soon settled down, efficiently mowing down Blue Jays while quieting the sellout Rogers Centre crowd of 48,197. After the Jays got their runs in the second, he retired 11 of 12 and faced the minimum batters in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh before calling it a night with a 5-3 lead. "He was able to fix his mistakes early on and thats the sign of a mature pitcher to me," Girardi said. New York (2-2) had 16 hits to six for Toronto (2-3), which used six pitchers on the night. The Yankees could have scored more but left 11 men on base. McGowan (0-1) gave up four earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk in just 2 2/3 innings, leaving another question-mark over the Jays starting pitching. "He feels fine," Gibbons said. "Hes better than that and hell get better than that." The Jays will need an improvement, with the night sucking five relievers out of the Toronto bullpen. Plus the team has now surrendered 11-plus hits in three of its five games to date. In his defence, the 32-year-old McGowan was making his first big-league start since Sept. 26, 2011, and just his fifth since the 2008 season. It didnt help that McGowan was somehow tipping his pitches, by setting in different spots. "Its something hes never done before ... It makes it much easier to hit," said Gibbons. "Ive got to fix that tipping thing for sure," said McGowan. "Because even I noticed after the first inning they were putting good swings on every pitch I threw. I knew something was wrong from the get-go." McGowan endured a wild opening inning that saw him give up four singles and a double but just two runs. He left trailing 4-3 after No. 8 hitter Yangervis Solarte doubled home two runners in an inning extended by a successful Yankees challenge to Ichiro Suzuki being thrown out at first by Ryan Goins. Both managers said the challenge system worked as it was designed to go. "Thats why we have it," said Gibbons. "You want to get calls right. Without instant replay, were out of that inning." Added Girardi: "I thought it worked well." The home oopener, visit of the Yankees and MLB debut of Tanaka resulted in more than 300 media credentials — including production staff — being issued for the night.dddddddddddd Large groups of media milled around on the field in front of both clubhouses before the game, like armies preparing for battle. Girardi seemed unfazed, wandering over to check out the medals of several Canadian Olympians who were being honoured on the night. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey received his Gold Glove award prior to the 10 Olympians who were honoured pre-game before an enthusiastic crowd waving freebie rally flags. Former Jays and Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay threw out the first pitch after a gigantic Canadian flag was packed up in the outfield. The Jays early pitching stumbles, however, robbed the night of much of its excitement. The Yankees have invested US$175 million to get seven years worth of Tanaka, including $20 million just to earn the right to negotiate for his services. Tanaka went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last season for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japans Pacific League. He joins Japans Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda on the Yankees roster. The win was Tanakas 100th as a pro. "Obviously Im happy. But I think No. 1 is that Im relieved," he said through an interpreter. "I was missing some spots earlier in the game, but as the game progressed I think I was getting better out there," he added. The six-foot-two 205-pounder arrives with an array of pitching weapons, with his splitter said to be the jewel of the lot. While the spotlight shone on Tanaka, the Yankees gave Derek Jeter the night off. McGowan, whose major league pitching line was blank for 2009, 10 and 12, has been sidelined by a medical dictionary of ailments that includes Tommy John surgery, knee and shoulder operations and a bout of plantar fasciitis. As a reliever last year, he made 25 appearances — his most since the 2007 season. "All hes been through, hes defying all the odds really," Gibbons said before the game of the six-foot-three 240-pounder, who is due to make US$1.5 million this season. It proved to be a rough return to the rotation, with pitching coach Pete Walker quickly coming out of the dugout as McGowan wobbled out of the starting blocks. He found himself down 2-0 with the bases loaded after just one out but escaped without further damage. That promoted mayoral candidate Olivia Chow, who was at the game, to tweet: "If Im elected mayor, it will be illegal for the visiting team to get five hits in the first inning of the home opener." Mayor Rob Ford, whose own legal issues have been somewhat seamier, was also in attendance. Cabreras leadoff homer marked just the second time in Jays history that a player has led off the home opener with a home run. Shannon Stewart did it in 2000 against Kansas City. Tanaka was victimized in the second in the wake of two one-out singles. After first baseman Mark Teixeiras throwing error, shortstop Jonathan Diaz singled home two runs for an unlikely 3-2 lead. Teixeira left the game later in the inning with a strained right hamstring after going after a foul ball. The Yankees added a run in the fourth off reliever Aaron Loup, another in the eighth off Steve Dalabar and one more in the ninth off Jeremy Jeffress to increase the lead to 7-3. After the game, the Jays announced they had designated Jeffress for assignment. ' ' '