Neue Games » bit depleted," Yurkiw said. "I wanted it

TORONTO -- Change was on Brendan Shanahans mind when he took over as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After taking some time to assess the organization, he made his first major change to the front office Tuesday, firing assistant general manager Claude Loiselle and vice-president of hockey operations Dave Poulin, and hiring 28-year-old Kyle Dubas as the teams new assistant GM. The move represented a shift in philosophy to shape the Leafs more in Shanahans image. "Hes not tied to any old ideas," Shanahan said of Dubas. "I believe we have people in our organization who have maybe been afraid of certain words and certain information who, once you speak with Kyle, I think he makes it seem much more logical and easy to apply." For some time, the Leafs have been considered behind the times with advanced statistics and even the way NHL rosters are shaped. Truculence was and still is a Brian Burke buzzword, and long after his departure Toronto has remained under GM Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle a team that prizes intangibles and toughness perhaps more than the rest of the league. Hiring Dubas doesnt immediately mean that will end, especially given that most of the off-season moving and shaking is over. But the former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds GM brings fresh ideas and could make the Leafs more willing to embrace different philosophies. "I think every organization rightly or wrongly changes every day," Dubas said during his introductory news conference at Air Canada Centre. "If youre not changing, everything around you is and thus youre going to change in not a great way. Ive got the impression in talking to Brendan and talking to Dave that theyre certainly open to any and all ideas, and that was one of the things that was most enticing about the situation here for me." Shanahan said he began this process just "polling the hockey world" looking for rising stars and innovators to talk to, not specifically a person to hire as an assistant GM. A conversation with OHL commissioner David Branch and others led to Dubas emerging as the top name. Over some time, Shanahan began to see Dubas as not just a source of knowledge but someone hed like to apply that to the Leafs organization. An expected two-hour meeting became seven and became dinner as the two men not only bonded over the shared experiences of being criticized in new jobs but challenged each others preconceived notions about hockey. Dubas, who served as a Greyhounds scout as a teenager before becoming the youngest NHLPA certified agent and the second youngest GM in OHL history, made a strong impression on Shanahan. "I think our view on hockey and how its being played and how it should be played are very similar," Shanahan said. "But immediately for a young guy to come in and have his first meeting with me and challenge thoughts and ideas, I thought that was maybe the most encouraging sign. Thats what I want, I always want our group to be a group where thoughts and ideas are challenged and you come out together as a team." Asked what changes hed like to make to the Leafs, Dubas played the card that hell do what hes asked. But what drew him away from his hometown Greyhounds -- not a "slam dunk" -- was an ability to make an impact. "I was enthused with my talking to Brendan, then even more enthused with my discussions with Dave and where he sees the game going and the game evolving," Dubas said. "That, to me, was one of the more exciting parts of the entire process: Knowing that Id be able to come in and be heard and help out as much as possible." Shanahan also thinks Dubas will be able to teach older members of the organization a few things, lauding his personal skills to be able to communicate and convince without being overbearing. With the 50-year-old talking so much about changing the Leafs "culture," Dubas is a step in that direction. "I can certainly say that anybody in our organization, regardless of what they were asked in the past or past years, their opinions, a little bit of time with Kyle can change those opinions and change those views," Shanahan said. "He is not an in-your-face kind of guy, hes logical, hes thoughtful." Asked if logic was something that was missing, Shanahan said it was "something that we obviously felt needed to be improved upon." Even amid his excitement about hiring Dubas, Shanahan said it was a difficult day to let good people go. Poulin had been around since 2009 and Loiselle since 2010. Each originally hired by Burke, Poulin and Loiselle didnt fit with the new regime of Shanahan, Nonis and now Dubas. "I think that there wouldve been some redundancies there had they stayed and there wouldve been some changes to their role that I dont think was necessarily going to be a proper fit for them," Shanahan said. Shanahan added that Dubass specific duties for the Leafs were ironed out at dinner with Nonis on Monday night. Though Dubas has salary-cap and CBA experience from his past career as an agent, the team is expected to hire another assistant GM for some of that day-to-day work as well as potentially someone else in the front office. "We want to make sure that everybodys in their most comfortable place and a place in which were as efficient as we can be as a club," Shanahan said. Even with another assistant GM around, Shanahan expects Dubas to influence the organization as a whole. "Information is power and Kyle is great at gathering information," he said. "Its not just one specific job for him. I think hes somebody that really wants to sort of be involved in a lot of things." Dubas spent the past three seasons as GM in Sault Ste. Marie, and the Greyhounds made the playoffs twice after a rocky start. Concerned with his own team, Dubas didnt get a chance to watch the Leafs much but caught some replays recently once the possibility grew that hed be moving to the NHL. Living in Ontario, Dubas couldnt avoid hearing about the Leafs. And though his only connection to the coaching staff is knowing assistant Steve Spott, hell have a chance to learn more in time. "I know what a lot of the criticisms and a lot of the positives are surrounding the team and now its just going to be about really digging into it and breaking it down that Im working here," Dubas said. Later Tuesday, the Leafs signed left-winger David Booth to a US$1.1-million one-year contract. They still need to figure out what to do with restricted-free-agent goaltender James Reimer and sign restricted-free-agent defenceman Jake Gardiner to a new contract, things that Shanahan said Nonis has under control. As far as improving the rest of the on-ice product with the Leafs, Shanahan said: "Were working on it." Ramik Wilson Rams Jersey . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Marcus Peters Jersey . -- Michael Frazier II scored 21 points, Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 and No. http://www.laramsfootballshops.com/sam-shields-jersey/.com) - Mike Miller scored a season-high 21 points in a rare start and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 95-91 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Joseph Noteboom Rams Jersey . There were no real chances until Augsburg broke the deadlock through Raul Bobadilla in the 33rd minute. Frankfurt failed to clear a cross and Bobadilla slotted home from close range at the far post. Ramik Wilson Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.LAKE LOUISE, Alta. -- A woman can sweep the World Cup ski races at Lake Louise, Alta., yet again, but its not Lindsey Vonn on the cusp of a hat trick this time. Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany won her second downhill in as many days with Saturdays victory at the Alberta resort. The 29-year-old from Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a contender to win Sundays super-G, although downhill is more her strength. "Im not as strong in super-G as I am in downhill, but the two races gave me lots of confidence," Hoefl-Riesch said. Vonn won all three races at Lake Louise in 2011 and 2012 and owns a record 14 victories at the venue. The U.S. ski star finished 11th Saturday, but felt she took a step forward from Fridays downhill when she finished 40th. Prior to her arrival, Vonn hadnt raced since crashing and suffering a severe right knee injury at the world championship in February. "I was more aggressive and just more confident and comfortable," the Olympic womens downhill champion said. "My whole body language was different. I still made mistakes and it wasnt my best skiing, but its a long ways from where I was yesterday." Hoefl-Rieschs time of one minute 55.09 seconds was over a second faster than in her first win. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was second in 1:55.43 and Austrias Anna Fenninger third in 1:55.56. Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., was 26th after a career-best seventh in the first downhill Friday. "I think because I had such a rocking day yesterday, I was almost a little bit depleted," Yurkiw said. "I wanted it pretty bad and I had intensity in places I didnt necessarily need it. "Anyone would want to repeat a performance like yesterday in front of a home crowd. Im still really pleased with the way the momentum is going." Conditions were clear and sunny, but bitterly cold for a second straight day with a temperature of minus-28. FIS, the world governing body of skiing, doesnt set a minimum temperature for races. The decision rests with the race jury made up of the a FIS delegate, race referee and assistant referee and chief of race. The women wore masks or covered exposed parts of their faces with brightly coloured tape to protect themselves from frostbite as they rocketed down the mountain. Five of Hoefl-Rieschs 26 career wins have come at Lake Louise. She took both downhills in 2010 with Vonn finishinng second.dddddddddddd But Vonn beat Hoefl-Riesch in the super-G that year to kick off a run of seven straight wins. The women dont get training runs for super-G, which is shorter than downhill but has more turns. They get a single course inspection the morning of the race. "I will try to inspect very well and I hope my coaches will tell me a really good line," Hoefl-Riesch said. "Super-G is always a big challenge to be fast because sometimes you cant really know how fast you get to the rolls and turns. "Thats the art of super-G, to make a very good first run and I will try this tomorrow." The six-foot-two German felt short on speed training heading into the World Cup season. She concentrated more on slalom and giant slalom in preparation for World Cups in Soelden, Austria and Levi, Finland. Hoefl-Riesch is the reigning Olympic champion in slalom. She finished seventh in downhill and eighth in super-G in Beaver Creek, Colo., last week. "With less downhill and super-G training, I was having some troubles there," Hoefl-Riesch said. "Thats why I love Lake Louise. I think its a perfect downhill to begin the season especially when you dont have the chance for so much training. "Im really happy I had a strong comeback here with two wins." Weirather was disqualified from fifth place Friday for wearing a plastic arm protector on the outside of her suit, instead of on the inside. "I had a really bad day yesterday," Weirather said. "I was skiing well and then I got disqualified so I had some anger in myself. I tried to take it into the start house and put it into my skiing today and it worked really well." Vonn tore two ligaments in her knee and broke a bone in her lower leg at the world championships. Her comeback was on track until she partially tore a reconstructed ligament while training in Colorado last month. The 29-year-old needs surgery again, but wants to postpone it until after the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Lake Louise is a first test of how a knee that is not completely healthy will stand up to racing this winter. Vonn wasnt sure how many World Cups shell compete in this season. "My focus is Sochi and however I can come into the those Olympics the most prepared is what Im going to do," Vonn said. "Im trying to save my knee as best I can." 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