If Chad Johnson was hoping for a regular parking space at the home of the Montreal Alouettes, the GMs spot is taken for a few more years. Bruins Jerseys China . The Als gave Jim Popp a contract extension on Thursday, ending worries the team would suffer added brain drain after losing Marc Trestman to the Chicago Bears. ?Popp has frequently been a candidate for a range of front office jobs including the GM role with the NFLs Carolina Panthers, a team headquartered just a 30-minute drive from his home in North Carolina. Since Popp helped move the Baltimore Stallions north in 1996, the Alouettes are the winningest team in the CFL.? Popp has been the only constant, but sources close to the team admit he had been hoping and planning on returning this season in the dual role of coach and GM.? Entering the final year of his contract, he was surprised by the hiring of Tom Higgins -- a CFL sideline veteran and former director of officiating -- as the teams new head coach. Some have speculated Popps signing of the NFL star formerly known as Ochocinco was as much about putting himself back in the front office job spotlight south of the border as it was getting the Bengals all-time leading receiver for Alouette quarterbacks. But Popp has never been shy about taking a chance on NFL talents past their prime: witness Ahman Green, Quincy Carter and the infamous Lawrence Phillips -- who helped Popp and the Als end a 25-year Grey Cup drought back in 2002. The quest for the next great quarterback led Popp to even claim the likes of NFL stars Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Tim Tebow on his negotiating lists. Popps master stroke in recent years was turning an out-of-fashion offensive guru named Marc Trestman into the hottest coaching commodity to come out of Canada in recent decades.? The immediate task for Popp this season is keeping the Als competitive after the retirement of Anthony Calvillo, as Troy Smith, the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, will attempt to solidify his teams tentative start with a victory against Winnipeg Friday night.? Popp will soon be packing bags for his annual NFL training camp scouting missions in about two weeks, when hell see his first round selection in the CFL Draft, David Foucault now a rookie hopeful with the Panthers. Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys .Y. -- Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff had an opportunity to experience an entire range of emotions in his first trip back to Buffalo to face his former team. Stitched Bruins Jerseys . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. https://www.cheapbruins.com/ . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena.VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks are happy with where they sit just over a third of the way through the NHL schedule.That doesnt mean theyre satisfied.Coming off a season-long seven-game road trip that saw Vancouver go 3-3-1, but finish on an 0-2-1 slide, the club is back at Rogers Arena for an important stretch of four home dates ahead of the Christmas break.For all the good feeling around a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in six years during a disastrous 2013-14 campaign, Vancouver (18-9-2) was just three points up on ninth place in the Western Conference heading into Friday after consecutive losses in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.We knew it was going to be tight, said captain Henrik Sedin. I think after 29 games — 18 games on the road, 11 at home — we would have taken this record. It was a really disappointed team that flew back from Montreal, but if you look at where we are (and) playing at home for a while, we put ourselves in a good spot.Daniel Sedin agreed with his brothers assessment that getting seven of a possible 14 points on the trip was something he would have taken back in September.You look at the schedule before the season and after this road trip, if someone would have told me we would have been in this position I would have been pretty happy, said Vancouvers assistant captain. Now its time to take care of business at home.Canucks goalie Ryan Miller, who spent most of his career with the Buffalo Sabres, said he knew it was going to be a fight for every point in the West after signing with Vancouver as a free agent following a brief stint in St. Louis. Thats kind of what I expected coming out here, he said. You see it every season, theres no getting around it. From first place to eighth, ninth is not that far. Its competitive hockey. Its what everybody wants.Nine of the Canucks next 11 games are in Vancouver, beginning Saturday against former head coach Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers (12-10-4).Teams coming off long stretches on the road often have difficulty in their first game back home, but the Canucks dont see that as being a problem considering their current situation.I think were honest with ourselves and were aware of that, said Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa. Weve lost three in a row and we need a win. Luuckily weve had a couple days between getting home and playing that first game. Bruins Jerseys 2020. Theres been a lot of emphasis on this game.Were playing a former coach and a few former teammates ... I dont think its a game thats going to be hard to get up for.But after giving his team two days off to recuperate and re-energize, Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins said Fridays practice demonstrated that the players were still shaking out some cobwebs.We were sluggish. It wasnt that the guys didnt want to go, it was just like they were skating in sand, said Desjardins. I think the biggest thing is we know how big of a game it is. We know we have to be ready.We wont be overconfident coming in. We know we have to get going, and it will be tough.After starting the seven-game swing with wins over Columbus, Washington and Pittsburgh in three of the first four outings, the Canucks said fatigue — and the corresponding mistakes — started to creep into the lineup.That was a tough road trip, said Daniel Sedin. It is a long time — 14, 15 days is long — but I think were used to that in this group. Thats not an issue. Youve got to find ways to get your energy level up, and thats up to each individual.The Canucks also had a good start to last season under soon-to-be-fired head coach John Tortorella before falling off the rails, and this incarnation knows how quickly things can go sideways.Theyre all big, but this four-game segment gets put in a bubble with coming home and the Christmas break, said Bieksa. It allows us to look at these games and make sure that we have a good showing.Expectations have obviously grown pretty high around here. Weve been playing some good hockey to start the season.Notes: The Canucks are 6-0-0 against the Metropolitan Division so far this season, while the Rangers are 1-1-0 against Pacific Division opponents. ... Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis remains out with a lower-body injury and will miss his 10th straight game on Saturday. ... Desjardins said forward Zack Kassian is getting closer to a return from his finger injury that saw him miss the entire road trip. ... The Canucks recalled Alex Biega on Friday from the AHLs Utica Comets after demoting fellow defenceman Frank Corrado and forward Nicklas Jensen to the minors on Wednesday. ' ' '