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Report Montreal Canadiens file for arbitration wit

The Montreal Canadiens have filed for arbitration with their starting goaltender Carey Price , according to RDS.ca. Price was set to be a restricted free agent on July 1 , and by offering arbitration, no club can give Price an offer sheet to lure him away from Montreal. The 24-year-old netminder went 26-28-11 last season with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage for the Canadiens. Price's most recent deal with the club was for two years, $5.5 million , that he signed in 2010.Related Topics Articles：

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Ryan Howard injury update Phillies first baseman t

PHILADELPHIA― Ryan Howard admits this: He won't be stealing bases the way he used to. In other words, the Philadelphia Phillies' burly slugger thinks he's the same player he was before tearing his left Achilles' tendon. Ryan Howard will begin a rehab stint Thursday night, a day after Chase Utley returned to the Philadelphia Phillies' lineup. (AP Photo) Howard will begin a rehab stint Thursday night, a day after Chase Utley returned to the Phillies' lineup. The 2006 NL MVP hasn't played since getting injured on the final swing of the 2011 season in Game 5 of the NL division series against St. Louis. Howard will serve as the designated hitter for Class A Lakewood. He could return to the Phillies within three weeks. "Hitting-wise, I don't feel any difference," Howard said Wednesday night. "It's one of those things I don't even think about. I'm able to get up on the ball of my foot on my swing, on my follow through. Swing-wise, I don't feel any difference. "Speed, we knew I was a blazer out there. For all the fantasy people, I'm not going to be stealing bases this year. It saddens me. But hitting-wise, it's fine. I'm able to do everything in the box that I need to do in the box. It's the strength aspect from a running standpoint, either jumping off or something like that. It's not going to be all the way there yet. Spring training, it will be back at 100 percent." Howard has 12 career stolen bases in 1,027 games. He knows he's paid to hit the long ball , so he jokes about swiping bases. Power could be a problem, though, given the severity of his injury, and the fact he's rehabbing his back leg, which provides the torque on his swings. "My swing has been normal," he said. "I haven't toned anything back, or tried to hold anything back from my swing. I've been able to get my legs in my swing. During the simulated games and whatever games I was playing in Clearwater, I was able to focus on finding my swing again and just getting my approach back and all of that stuff. As far as getting my legs into my swings , I have been able to let it go and let it do what it does. There was no trying to hold anything back." Howard was in the dugout when Utley homered in his first at-bat after missing the first 76 games with a chronic problem in both knees. He had a big smile on his face and was one of the first teammates to greet Utley. The five-time defending NL East champion Phillies struggled without their Nos. 3-4 hitters , going 36-40. They could make a run once Howard and ace Roy Halladay join Utley on the field.Related Topics Articles：

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Sonoma road race Rough stuff is par for the course

SONOMA, Calif.―The race track in this northern Bay Area suburb no longer has a corporate sponsor, so track officials have spent the past few months seeking a financial backer and name for the venue that they simply call "Sonoma" for now. Maybe "Old Bristol" would be appropriate. Drivers are preparing for Sunday's 3 p.m. ET Sprint Cup race on the 1.99-mile road course as one of the most physical―in terms of contact with cars―of the 36-race season. Limited passing zones mixed with drivers becoming adept at road racing year after year as well as the precarious position of drivers trying to make the Chase For The Sprint Cup creates a recipe for increased roughhousing that was the signature of Bristol for years. Not all 110 laps of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 will feature contact among drivers trying to hold their positions or make a pass, but contact is all but guaranteed with every double-file restart. The potential for contact increases as the race moves into its final laps. "This is probably our roughest race that we go to throughout the year now ," said Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick, not exactly known as the most courteous of drivers. "It has been for the last few years. … When you get those opportunities to pass, you have to dive in there and take that opportunity and sometimes you make a mistake and get into a guy and get into his door or whatever the case may be." Drivers seem ready, and somewhat willing, to accept the more physical nature of road-course racing. Maybe it's because they only do it twice the year and because it's so unnatural for many of them, mistakes are more accepted by their peers. "Last year I think we saw one of the most aggressive races I have seen here," Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards said. "You have to do a really good job at this race of standing your ground and treating everybody the way you want to be treated and the key is to stay up front." But even those up front aren't immune to trouble. NASCAR has created incentives for wins in recent years that encourage drivers to be more aggressive when racing for the trophy. When Chase drivers have their points reset to 2000 for before the final 10 races, those drivers who qualify for the Chase by being in the top 10 get an extra three points for every regular-season win. And then there's NASCAR's wild-card provision ― the two drivers with the most wins who are between 11th and 20th in the standings after 26 races get in the Chase. So trying to protect a position for the win will result in contact as well. "Consistent blocking, guys just get sick of it and will dump you for it," race pole winner Marcos Ambrose said. "We know the rule. It is a self-made rule and we police it ourselves and you just have to choose who you are racing against, what time of the race it is and be smart. "We aren't Sprint Cup series drivers because we are dummies. We have earned our way to this point and we should know how to conduct business out there." Last year, Tony Stewart took matters into his own hands as he spun Brian Vickers because he believed Vickers was blocking him. Stewart expected retaliation , and he got it ― Vickers spun Stewart so hard that Stewart ended up with his rear tires atop a tire barrier with his nose pointing toward the track pavement.Tony Stewart knows a thing or two about blocking during a road race. (AP Photo) Stewart said there is an easy way to determine who is conducting business of racing and who is merely protecting position. "When somebody runs a different line than what they would run by themselves to keep somebody from passing―that is blocking and that is easy for everybody to see," said Stewart, a three-time Cup champion. "Everybody stays on the outside until they get to the corner then they come down to the inside so if a guy half-ay down the straightaway changes lanes he is not doing it because it's a faster line to get him in the corner. "He is doing it because he's blocking." Blocking increases on the restarts. Because there is primarily one preferred line on the track, those double-file restarts create mayhem as everyone jockeys for position. NASCAR instituted double-file restarts three years ago, which has increased the probability of contact. "All the etiquette is out the window and you run side-by-side in places you were told not to before ," 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth said. "It has really changed a lot. "I think the two-wide restarts has really thrown almost all of that out the window and everybody is bunched up. … You might lose eight or 10 sports before you know it." With the Sonoma race being the 16th of the Cup season, many drivers also enter it with angst. They either have had bad seasons and need to win to have a shot at making the Chase or they have had simmering feuds that come to a boil on the road course. "Guys have had enough of being pushed around and certain guys, we're going slow enough here and close enough to one another that things start shaping up and a guy has been giving you a hard time for a while and if he comes across your nose, you're not going to back out of that hole," five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said. "You're going to get into him." The race almost is guaranteed to leave drivers frustrated. The nature of road-course racing has most of the cars on the lead lap, meaning a last-lap accident can cost a driver 20 spots. "I've been here and gained 10 spots at the very end of the race because some moron plowed the field in front of me and took out six cars," Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin said. "And I've been in those six cars at times. "That's when you're frustrated because you had a good day and minding your own business and you're part of someone else's wreck." So what's the goal? "You don't want to be the moron at the end of the day," Hamlin said.Related Topics Articles：

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U.S. Women's World Cup team receives a warm welcom

NEW YORK ― One by one, tired and disappointed members of the U.S. Women's World Cup team trudged off the bus and were greeted with cheers and waves from appreciative fans who didn't seem to mind a bit that they came up short of a championship. About 24 hours after the Americans squandered a pair of late one-goal leads and were beaten in penalty kicks by Japan in the tournament's final game Sunday, they arrived from Germany to Newark, N.J., and heard the first rounds of applause Monday. Alex Morgan greets fans after she and other members of the U.S. soccer team arrived in New York's Times Square on Monday, July 18, 2011, the day after the team's loss to Japan in the Women's World Cup final in Germany. (AP Photo) From there they took a police-escorted bus ride into Manhattan and encountered a few hundred fans who waited on the sidewalk in sweltering heat to welcome them back to friendly turf. "Really humbling, and truthfully it's probably brought my spirits up more than anything else could have," Abby Wambach said. "I am so disappointed for my teammates, myself. I am so disappointed for our country because I really feel like we had it. It was so close. "Coming home to this kind of reception is truly one of the best things that has ever happened." It started before they even gathered their luggage at the airport. Fans met them there </a>, and often stuffy security personnel posed for pictures instead of worrying about patdowns. Many passers-by who encountered a crowd of reporters and television cameras in front of the team's New York hotel stuck around once they heard the squad that captured the nation's attention the past few weeks would soon be arriving. "We're hoping it's not just bandwagon fans," goalkeeper Hope Solo said. "We're hoping that we gain some longevity, and I think we did. I am not surprised by it because I know that we women can play, we can fight. There is such a strong mental spirit among the team, and it's a special team. I am not surprised that people are jumping on the bandwagon. "I am hoping I get out of my funk in a little bit because we have Olympic qualifications. I am taking it pretty hard right now. You've just got to take it one step at a time. That is what we do as athletes. You bounce back up and go at it again." While many players will rejoin their Women's Professional Soccer teams, collectively this group is already looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics in London. While they still need to qualify for that tournament, they are expected to and will be looking to repeat their 2008 gold medal. "This one will sting," Heather O'Reilly said. "I don't think we will ever forget this loss, but hopefully we have another chance. With the Olympics right around the corner, we're going to be back into our training regimen right away." Nothing will take away all the hurt from Sunday's loss except a World Cup victory in four years. "It's all how the media wants to spin it," Solo said. "Everyone talked about 2007 for me, World Cup experience and wanting redemption in 2011. But everyone failed to remember that we won the Olympic goal in '08. So when it comes to World Cups and Olympics </a>, nobody seems to compare them. "I want a World Cup trophy four years from now and I want an Olympic gold medal, but it's completely different." Most of the players managed to smile some upon their arrival, even while talking about the bitter defeat. Before they get back on the field, there will still be public appearances on tap as the excitement of the World Cup winds down. Solo, Wambach and Megan Rapinoe will make appearances on ABC News "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, and Solo and Wambach will be on "Late Show With David Letterman" at night. "At some point we are going to all need some rest </a>," Carli Lloyd said. "It's been pretty much three, four years of just going straight." This was the last World Cup for 36-year-old team captain Christie Rampone, but she took it all in stride while toting her two young girls ― Rylie, who is nearly 6 years old, and 16-month-old Reece, who was pacing up and down the sidewalk when she wasn't being held by her mom or Wambach. Both girls proudly wore Stars and Stripes dresses. "At the end of the day, we did better than the last World Cup," Lloyd said. "We made it to the finals after not having been there since '99. We have to keep things in perspective. We created a buzz back here. We lifted women's soccer around the country and even around the world. "It was fun. It was just a sad ending, but at the end of the day we are second and that is a pretty big accomplishment." They will likely realize that and appreciate it more as time goes on. For now, the wounds are still fresh, but sticking together as a team has helped somewhat in the first day following the loss. "It's obviously been a big disappointment," Heather O'Reilly. "A lot of tears, a lot of laughter, telling stories of the last month together ― one that we will never forget. This group is special. We will bounce back. We have shown our resilience this whole tournament. I think Americans know that we will bounce back."Related Topics Articles：

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