Offtopic/fun » regardless of the merits of the case, Jubran s

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Not much has changed with the Minnesota Wild roster.The biggest difference is the man now in charge on the bench, Bruce Boudreau, whos been tasked with squeezing more success out of a team thats been stuck in the early rounds of the playoffs for the last four years.Bruce has that ability to convince the players, to get the players, to encourage the players, to prod the players to execute on a consistent basis, general manager Chuck Fletcher said the day Boudreau was introduced in May. If we do that, were a good hockey team and can even become very good.Boudreau has mostly experienced early exits from the postseason, too, with Washington and Anaheim. Without them, though, the 61-year-old likely wouldnt have been available to Fletcher and the Wild in the search for the franchises fifth head coach and fourth in six years. Theyre banking on Boudreau, with his remarkable regular season success of eight division titles in nine years, as the catalyst that this a group of players has been missing at critical times.You come to realize why hes had success. Everything he says makes a lot of sense, right wing Jason Pominville said. He kind of goes out of his way to make sure that we understand it and explains to us why were doing it and what can happen if we do it and do it right, so its nice to have that voice.With his roly-poly build and mischievous gap-toothed grin, Boudreau doesnt look the part of a taskmaster. Make no mistake, though, that his practices have been demanding during the get-to-know-each-other phase during training camp.They are intense, a lot of skating, and you can tell theres a purpose to all the drills were doing, left wing Zach Parise said, noting the emphasis on teaching concepts and creating game-like situations. It kind of forces us to play at a faster pace in practices, and hopefully that translates into games.The Wild start the season at division rival St. Louis on Oct. 13. Their home opener is two days later against Winnipeg.Here are some of the top storylines for 2016-17 in Boudreaus first year with Minnesota:PARISE RETURNS: Parise missed the playoff series last spring, a six-game loss to division champion Dallas, with a back injury that bothered him down the stretch and robbed the Wild of their best forward. Healthy enough to play for the U.S. team in the World Cup of Hockey, Parise will be counted on to be the emotional engine of a first line featuring center Marc Staal, one of the few notable offseason additions, and Charlie Coyle on the right wing.Theyre part of our top six, and we expect them to score, Boudreau said. And I expect them to be able to defend. Its not a one-way street.CONVERTED CENTER: Coyle has gone back and forth between center and the wing, but the plan for now is to keep him and his 6-foot-3, 218-pound frame on the wing. Coyle had a career-high 21 goals and 42 points in 2015-16, but he was still prone to long stretches without scoring.So far we havent seen the peak of him, Boudreau said. I think hell be better and when hes better it makes all of us better.CONVERTED CENTER, PART TWO: Since making his debut as a 20-year-old in 2012-13, Mikael Granlund hasnt matched the hype surrounding his talent with the same production. Granlund began to thrive on the wing during the postseason, and hell likely stay there on a line centered by captain Mikko Koivu and rounded out by Chris Stewart, the other significant free-agent acquisition.If Im a winger, Im a winger, Granlund said. Im excited both ways. So it doesnt matter to me.DEFENSEMEN DEMANDS: Boudreau hired Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Stevens for his staff, bringing a hard-nosed guide for the blue-line group led by Parises pal, Ryan Suter. Stevens, who spent three years on New Jerseys staff, was itching to get back on the bench after working for NHL Network last season. Marcedes Lewis Super Bowl Jersey . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. Randall Cobb Super Bowl Jersey . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.packersonlineteamstore.com/ . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Bart Starr Super Bowl Jersey .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Paul Hornung Super Bowl Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee is paying $2.48 million to settle a lawsuit filed by eight unidentified women who said the school had violated Title IX regulations and created a hostile sexual environment through a policy of indifference toward assaults by athletes.Lawyers for the school and the plaintiffs issued a joint press release Tuesday announcing the settlement.We are satisfied that, while universities everywhere struggle with these issues, the University of Tennessee has made significant progress in the way they educate and respond to sexual assault cases, said David Randolph Smith, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs. My clients and I are also convinced that the Universitys leadership is truly committed to continue its exemplary efforts to create a model as it relates to sexual misconduct.Tennessees athletic department and the schools central administration will split the cost of the settlement. According to the release announcing the settlement, no taxpayer dollars, student fees or donor funds would be used to fund the settlement, and the funding instead will come from other income-generating activities within the university.Tennessee chancellor Jimmy Cheek said he will soon announce a new series of initiatives on campus to improve its Title IX efforts, including additional support and budgeting specifically in areas related to sexual assault, student conduct, education programming and student well-being. UT president Joe DiPietro said he would appoint an independent commission to review existing programs make recommendations addressing the issues of sexual assault and misconduct.No university will be able to prevent every incident of students, faculty or staff making bad judgments, Cheek said in a statement. Like many institutions we are not perfect, but our goal is to continue to be the best we can be at creating awareness, educating, and preventing discrimination and abuse in any form, and to continue to be equally prepared when it does happen and to deal with it promptly, sensitively, fairly and effectively.Weve come a long way in recent years, and we are working every day to be even better. Our first priority is the safety and well-being of every member of our University community.The announcement of the settlement comes two weeks after Cheek announced he would step down as chancellor to return to teaching. Cheeks move wont become effective until a successor is appointed. When he announced the move last month, Cheek said it was a personal decision unrelated to the Title IX suit.According to the release, negotiations toward a settlement began in earnest in April. The case wasnt scheduled to go to trial until 2018, and the release noted that the cost to llitigate the case all the way to trial could have cost as much as $5.dddddddddddd5 million. As of June 8, the state had paid over $220,000 in legal fees associated with the lawsuit.The release also noted that the school is not admitting guilt, negligence or unlawful acts as part of the settlement.Six women filed the suit in federal court in Nashville on Feb. 9. Two more plaintiffs added their names to an amended complaint two weeks later. The original complaint referenced incidents dating back to 1995 to show how the school has historically handled reports of player misconduct, and one paragraph mentioned a sexual harassment complaint made by a Tennessee trainer in 1996 that included an incident involving recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning, who was playing for Tennessee at the time.The amended complaint included a statement from former Tennessee football player Drae Bowles in which he said he assisted a woman who said she had been raped by two other players and that he later was attacked by teammates and told by football coach Butch Jones that he had betrayed the team. When the document was filed, Jones responded by saying the assertion that I ever attempted to belittle or demean a young man for taking action to help another person is absolutely false.Tennessee reacted to the lawsuit by bringing all its head coaches together for a February press conference in which they defended the culture of the athletic department. Athletic director Dave Hart made similar remarks at a separate press conference two days later.No athletic officials commented Tuesday night, but the release announcing the settlement included statements from Cheek, DiPietro and Tennessee Board of Trustees vice chair Raja Jubran.Settling this case was the right thing to do from a compassionate perspective for the young women involved and from a reputation perspective for the institution, regardless of the merits of the case, Jubran said. One side ultimately would have won in court several years from now, and we felt confident about our legal position, but I truly believe that both sides would have lost.The intangible costs of emotional stress to those involved and the distraction to all of our positive progress at UT, over and above actual legal costs, would have been exorbitant.Title IX is a federal statute that bans discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The U.S. Department of Education in 2011 warned schools of their legal responsibilities to immediately investigate allegations of sexual assault, even if the criminal investigation has not concluded. ' ' '