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  July 12, 2019

  Fun times for the Blues against the Sabres, Johansson a goal-scoring threat for the Capitals, the Habs-Stars trade, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Andre Dillard Womens Jersey . HEROES Jori Lehtera – The first-year Blues centre recorded a natural hat trick in a 6-1 win against Buffalo. Linemates Jaden Schwartz (3 A) and Vladimir Tarasenko (2 A) got in on the act as the trio, led by Schwartz (20 shot attempts for, 7 against, 74.1%) controlled better than two-thirds of the even-strength shot attempts when they were on the ice. Lehtera, a third-round pick in 2008, has been a great addition to the St. Louis lineup, putting up 14 points in 16 games, falling behind only his emerging star wingers Schwartz (15 points in 15 games) and Tarasenko (19 points in 15 games). Shutouts – Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, who has been off to a so-so start this season, turned aside all 33 shots sent his way by Pittsburgh and Canadiens G Carey Price stopped all 29 shots against Winnipeg. Marcus Johansson – The Capitals left winger scored two goals and had eight shots on goal, in a 4-2 win against Columbus. The pair of goals leaves Johansson with eight goals in 15 games this season, matching his 80-game total from last season, and he has seven even-strength goals this year, which is more than he’s scored in the previous two seasons (five even-strength goals in 114 games). ZEROES Viktor Fasth – The Oilers goaltender isn’t exactly pushing Ben Scrivens for the starting job. He gave up three goals on 17 shots, getting pulled after the first period at Nashville, and through six games has an .885 save percentage. Michal Neuvirth - It’s not an easy life goaltending for Buffalo, and for 90% of the game against the Blues, Neuvirth held his own, but after allowing three power play goals in a two-minute span in the third period, the night ended with six goals against on 29 shots. Even after that, Neuvirth still has a respectable .915 save percentage in eight games this year. Shotless – Wild RW Charlie Coyle recorded no shot attempts in 16:52 of ice time at New Jersey, while Coyotes RW Martin Erat failed to generate a shot attempt in 18:38 vs. Dallas. A single shot attempt shouldn’t be too much for forwards playing big minutes on a scoring line, especially in games that their teams ultimately lost. HABS-STARS TRADE There was a minor deal between Montreal and Dallas Tuesday, but there are some ramifications for others on those rosters. A quick look at the deal: Sergei Gonchar – A 40-year-old defenceman who was injured at the start of the year, Gonchar has played very little (13:02) in three games since returning to action. He was, at one time, an elite power play defenceman, but his role has decreased significantly since arriving in Dallas last season. He’s a third-pair defenceman who can help the second power play unit, which doesn’t seem like much contribution for a player who comes with a $4.6-million cap hit. Travis Moen – A fourth-line winger who has no points while playing a career-low 10:30 per game in 10 games for Montreal this season. There’s little reason to expect him to be anything more than a fourth or fifth-line winger for Dallas. The trade-off for Dallas is that they gain more flexibility this year, by taking on Moen’s contract, which comes with a $1.85-million cap hit, but runs through next season. John Klingberg – Called up to the Stars from the AHL, where he scored 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 10 games, the 2010 fifth-round pick made his NHL debut at Arizona, playing 18:32 with team-best possession stats (21 shot attempts for, 13 against, 61.8%) alongside partner Alex Goligoski. Nathan Beaulieu – This is where the deal gets dicey for Montreal. They’ve already sent Jarred Tinordi to the AHL to make room for Gonchar, but if Gonchar’s going to get into the Montreal lineup, it’s likely at the expense of 21-year-old Beaulieu who has played sheltered minutes on the Habs’ third pair, but has been stellar in that role. POSSESSION STATS - MONTREAL DEFENCE Player Corsi% CorsiRel% Nathan Beaulieu 54.4% +4.9% P.K. Subban 52.3% +3.6% Andrei Markov 51.5% +2.1% Jarred Tinordi 50.5% -2.4% Mike Weaver 47.9% -2.1% Tom Gilbert 47.6% -3.9% Alexei Emelin 47.2% -2.5% Maybe Gonchar will get into the lineup in place of Weaver, but if it’s Beaulieu that gets bumped, there’s a decent chance that the Canadiens are going to suffer during 5-on-5 play. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Mikael Granlund – The Wild centre, who has no points in four games and only five points in 14 games this season, despite excellent possession (56.2%) stats, played a season-low 12:53 at New Jersey. Ales Hemsky – Off to a miserable start in Dallas, with no goals and one assist in 15 games, Hemsky played less at even strength (8:40) than any other Stars at Arizona. Brandon Prust – Played 19:02 to lead all Canadiens forwards against Winnipeg, and didn’t register a shot attempt. Jannik Hansen – With Radim Vrbata out with a leg injury, Hansen got a chance to play with the Sedins against Ottawa, and had a strong night possession-wise (19 shot attempts for, 8 against, 70.4%). Leon Draisaitl – The Oilers rookie was held to a career-low 7:25 ice time at Nashville. He has one point in the past eight games, and four points in 16 games this season, but does have favourable possession (53.8%) stats. Beau Bennett – After suffering a knee injury in the preseason, the 22-year-old Penguins winger was eased into the NHL lineup after racking up five assists in a couple of AHL games. Bennett played 9:35 against the Rangers, mostly on the fourth line with Marcel Goc and Craig Adams. John Moore – Returned from suspension to play 21:49 for the Rangers against Pittsburgh. Josh Gorges – Played 10:10 at St. Louis and left with a lower-body injury. Johnny Oduya – Left Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot. Tyler Johnson – Left Tuesday’s game against Chicago with an upper-body injury after a crosscheck in the ribs from Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook. Sharks resting – Trailing 4-0 early in the third period at Florida, the San Jose Sharks limited the ice time of C Joe Thornton, RW Joe Pavelski and LW Tomas Hertl, keeping all three under 14 minutes. Jesper Fast – Called up to the Rangers, to play on the fourth line with Tanner Glass and Dominic Moore, after scoring nine points (1 G,8 A) in 11 games with Hartford of the AHL. Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch as a result. Drayson Bowman – Called up to the Canadiens, the left winger played 6:39 against Winnipeg, but was buried in his own end (1 shot attempt for, 9 against, 10.0%) Jonathon Blum – Inserted into the Minnesota lineup after five points (1 G, 4 A) in seven AHL games, the 2007 first-rounder played 8:35 in his first NHL game of the season. SHORT SHIFTS Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals, on a dozen shot attempts (8 SOG) against Columbus, giving him 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past six games… Islanders RW Ryan Strome (who also had 70% possession) had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 win over Colorado…Blue Jackets C Boone Jenner had a pair of assists and strong possession (26 shot attempts for, 8 against, 76.5%) at Washington, giving him four points in three games since joining the Columbus lineup. Capitals C Andre Burakovsky picked up a couple assists in a 4-2 win over Columbus. Burakovsky now has 12 points in 15 games, tied for second among rookies…Panthers rookie D Aaron Ekblad had a couple of assists in a 4-1 win over San Jose, giving him six points (1 G, 5 A) in the past five games…Predators rookie LW Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, running his point streak (6 G, 4 A) to six games. Predators C Mike Ribeiro notched a goal and an assist, giving him 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in the past 13 games…Predators RW James Neal had an assist and 15 shot attempts (10 SOG) and dominated the shot share (26 for, 5 against, 83.9%) against Edmonton…Blues RW Joakim Lindstrom scored a pair of goals, his first points since the second game of the season…Blues LW Alex Steen recorded three assists and had the first fight of his career, against Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis…Score effects reign in a 5-0 loss, but Penguins LW Blake Comeau had a strong possession night (18 shot attempts for, 3 against, 85.7%). Jets RW Dustin Byfuglien is on a 10-game goalless drought, but had 11 shot attempts (7 SOG) at Montreal…Panthers RW Shawn Thornton had the best possession stats (11 for, 5 against, 68.8%) against San Jose…Stars C Tyler Seguin scored a pair of goals, giving him 12 goals in 15 games…Arizona’s fourth line – Kyle Chipchura, B.J. Crombeen and Joe Vitale – had better than 70% of the shot share, led by Chipchura (17 for, 5 against, 77.3%) when they were on the ice. FIRSTS John Klingberg – Made his NHL debut, had Dallas’ best possession stats (21 for, 13 against, 61.8%) at Arizona. 12 points in 10 AHL games. Seth Helgeson – The Devils defenceman, a fourth-round pick in 2009, played all of 6:14 in his first NHL game and recorded his first point, an assist, on Tuomo Ruutu’s goal. He did have a rough time (3 shot attempts for, 10 against, 23.1%) possession-wise. FANTASY FOCUS Two games on the NHL schedule tonight, two players to keep an eye on: Leo Komarov – The Leafs’ agitator is something of a surprise with four points in the past five games, and 10 points in 16 games this season, but he’s not completely lost offensively, putting up 14 goals and 44 points in 65 KHL games over the previous couple seasons. Devante Smith-Pelly – With no Corey Perry, the Ducks have Patrick Maroon and Smith-Pelly skating on the wings with Ryan Getzlaf. It’s a good opportunity for Smith-Pelly, who has played nearly 39 minutes, generating nine shots on goal, in the past couple games. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca JJ Arcega-Whiteside Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. Fletcher Cox Jersey . Phoenix got injured centre Emeka Okafor and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014 -- giving the rebuilding Suns potentially four choices in the opening round. The Suns also sent guards Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee to Washington so the deal will work financially.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - NASCAR wont change its new championship format, which chairman Brian France said Monday is overwhelmingly popular with fans.The Chase was revamped last year into an elimination-style system that created a winner-take-all final race among four drivers. Kevin Harvick won the season finale at Homestead in November to claim his first Sprint Cup title.France called it perhaps the best Chase ever and said the excitement will carry into this season.Its overwhelmingly popular with our most important stakeholder, the fans, France of the Chase during the kickoff to the annual NASCAR media tour. They (fans) like the fact that it tightened up competition. They liked the drama down the stretch. They like the emphasis on winning. And one of the things they told us that they really liked is the idea that we werent going to change anything. And they strongly suggested that we didnt. And were not going to.NASCAR launched the Chase in 2004 and tweaked it several times in the first 10 years. But it got a dramatic overhaul before the 2014 season, when the field was expanded to 16 drivers with four eliminated after every third Chase race. The final four drivers then went to Homestead even in the standings, with the highest finisher guaranteed the championship. The system worked in creating an eventful finale in which all four contenders raced for the win.France said he believed the simple formula that did not require following points — drivers made the Chase by winning a race, and advanced through the rounds with wins — was embraced by fans.One of the magical parts of this Chase, and we want to make sure we keep it this way, is the simplicity of it: Win and youre in, said France.One change coming into 2015 will be that NASCAR will no longer permit teams to alter their cars side skirts during a race, a widespread practice last season. Many crew chiefs believed the flaring of the skirts violated the rules, but because NASCAR was not acting on it, they were forced to manipulate the sheet metal to keep up with other teams.Steve ODonnelll, executive vice-president and chief racing development officer, said cars will be brought back in if NASCAR sees the skirts have been manipulated during a pit stop. Harold Carmichael Jersey. Policing the flared skirts will be done by any means possible, ODonnell said.Other topics covered Monday by France:— Sprint is not likely to be replaced as title sponsor before its deal expires at the end of next season. Sprint said last month it will not renew its contract with NASCAR, but will honour the remainder of its deal. The last time NASCAR needed a new sponsor, when R.J. Reynolds said in 2003 it wanted out of its deal that expired at the end of 2007, the sanctioning body nabbed Nextel to take over in 2004.I dont anticipate anybody being in a position to leave early, but well get out into the marketplace and see, France said.— NASCAR would like to have the 2016 rules decided and delivered to teams earlier than ever, and is eyeing the All-Star Race in May as a possible deadline. Teams received the 2015 rules last September, and the 2014 rules were not set until last January.— France took a moment to acknowledge Jeff Gordon, who said last week this 23rd season will be his last as a full-time driver.Jeff is a friend of ours, a friend of mine personally, and certainly I dont have to tell you what hes done for the sport, France said. I dont have to tell you the amazing accomplishments on and off the track. From everybody at NASCAR, (we) wish him a strong final season.France has previously acknowledged that attention in NASCAR is increased when Gordon is a part of the title race. The four-time champion is one of the very few drivers who transcends NASCAR and is famous beyond the sports landscape. It will be difficult to replace his star power, but France said its part of sports.The changing of the guard, thats always part of sports, part of NASCAR, he said. Thats what you count on, to have great farm system of aspiring talent, hopefully of a diverse background, to let their talents and their abilities land with the Sprint Cup Series. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '

  Fun times for the Blues against the Sabres, Johansson a goal-scoring threat for the Capitals, the Habs-Stars trade, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Andre Dillard Womens Jersey . HEROES Jori Lehtera – The first-year Blues centre recorded a natural hat trick in a 6-1 win against Buffalo. Linemates Jaden Schwartz (3 A) and Vladimir Tarasenko (2 A) got in on the act as the trio, led by Schwartz (20 shot attempts for, 7 against, 74.1%) controlled better than two-thirds of the even-strength shot attempts when they were on the ice. Lehtera, a third-round pick in 2008, has been a great addition to the St. Louis lineup, putting up 14 points in 16 games, falling behind only his emerging star wingers Schwartz (15 points in 15 games) and Tarasenko (19 points in 15 games). Shutouts – Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, who has been off to a so-so start this season, turned aside all 33 shots sent his way by Pittsburgh and Canadiens G Carey Price stopped all 29 shots against Winnipeg. Marcus Johansson – The Capitals left winger scored two goals and had eight shots on goal, in a 4-2 win against Columbus. The pair of goals leaves Johansson with eight goals in 15 games this season, matching his 80-game total from last season, and he has seven even-strength goals this year, which is more than he’s scored in the previous two seasons (five even-strength goals in 114 games). ZEROES Viktor Fasth – The Oilers goaltender isn’t exactly pushing Ben Scrivens for the starting job. He gave up three goals on 17 shots, getting pulled after the first period at Nashville, and through six games has an .885 save percentage. Michal Neuvirth - It’s not an easy life goaltending for Buffalo, and for 90% of the game against the Blues, Neuvirth held his own, but after allowing three power play goals in a two-minute span in the third period, the night ended with six goals against on 29 shots. Even after that, Neuvirth still has a respectable .915 save percentage in eight games this year. Shotless – Wild RW Charlie Coyle recorded no shot attempts in 16:52 of ice time at New Jersey, while Coyotes RW Martin Erat failed to generate a shot attempt in 18:38 vs. Dallas. A single shot attempt shouldn’t be too much for forwards playing big minutes on a scoring line, especially in games that their teams ultimately lost. HABS-STARS TRADE There was a minor deal between Montreal and Dallas Tuesday, but there are some ramifications for others on those rosters. A quick look at the deal: Sergei Gonchar – A 40-year-old defenceman who was injured at the start of the year, Gonchar has played very little (13:02) in three games since returning to action. He was, at one time, an elite power play defenceman, but his role has decreased significantly since arriving in Dallas last season. He’s a third-pair defenceman who can help the second power play unit, which doesn’t seem like much contribution for a player who comes with a $4.6-million cap hit. Travis Moen – A fourth-line winger who has no points while playing a career-low 10:30 per game in 10 games for Montreal this season. There’s little reason to expect him to be anything more than a fourth or fifth-line winger for Dallas. The trade-off for Dallas is that they gain more flexibility this year, by taking on Moen’s contract, which comes with a $1.85-million cap hit, but runs through next season. John Klingberg – Called up to the Stars from the AHL, where he scored 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 10 games, the 2010 fifth-round pick made his NHL debut at Arizona, playing 18:32 with team-best possession stats (21 shot attempts for, 13 against, 61.8%) alongside partner Alex Goligoski. Nathan Beaulieu – This is where the deal gets dicey for Montreal. They’ve already sent Jarred Tinordi to the AHL to make room for Gonchar, but if Gonchar’s going to get into the Montreal lineup, it’s likely at the expense of 21-year-old Beaulieu who has played sheltered minutes on the Habs’ third pair, but has been stellar in that role. POSSESSION STATS - MONTREAL DEFENCE Player Corsi% CorsiRel% Nathan Beaulieu 54.4% +4.9% P.K. Subban 52.3% +3.6% Andrei Markov 51.5% +2.1% Jarred Tinordi 50.5% -2.4% Mike Weaver 47.9% -2.1% Tom Gilbert 47.6% -3.9% Alexei Emelin 47.2% -2.5% Maybe Gonchar will get into the lineup in place of Weaver, but if it’s Beaulieu that gets bumped, there’s a decent chance that the Canadiens are going to suffer during 5-on-5 play. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Mikael Granlund – The Wild centre, who has no points in four games and only five points in 14 games this season, despite excellent possession (56.2%) stats, played a season-low 12:53 at New Jersey. Ales Hemsky – Off to a miserable start in Dallas, with no goals and one assist in 15 games, Hemsky played less at even strength (8:40) than any other Stars at Arizona. Brandon Prust – Played 19:02 to lead all Canadiens forwards against Winnipeg, and didn’t register a shot attempt. Jannik Hansen – With Radim Vrbata out with a leg injury, Hansen got a chance to play with the Sedins against Ottawa, and had a strong night possession-wise (19 shot attempts for, 8 against, 70.4%). Leon Draisaitl – The Oilers rookie was held to a career-low 7:25 ice time at Nashville. He has one point in the past eight games, and four points in 16 games this season, but does have favourable possession (53.8%) stats. Beau Bennett – After suffering a knee injury in the preseason, the 22-year-old Penguins winger was eased into the NHL lineup after racking up five assists in a couple of AHL games. Bennett played 9:35 against the Rangers, mostly on the fourth line with Marcel Goc and Craig Adams. John Moore – Returned from suspension to play 21:49 for the Rangers against Pittsburgh. Josh Gorges – Played 10:10 at St. Louis and left with a lower-body injury. Johnny Oduya – Left Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot. Tyler Johnson – Left Tuesday’s game against Chicago with an upper-body injury after a crosscheck in the ribs from Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook. Sharks resting – Trailing 4-0 early in the third period at Florida, the San Jose Sharks limited the ice time of C Joe Thornton, RW Joe Pavelski and LW Tomas Hertl, keeping all three under 14 minutes. Jesper Fast – Called up to the Rangers, to play on the fourth line with Tanner Glass and Dominic Moore, after scoring nine points (1 G,8 A) in 11 games with Hartford of the AHL. Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch as a result. Drayson Bowman – Called up to the Canadiens, the left winger played 6:39 against Winnipeg, but was buried in his own end (1 shot attempt for, 9 against, 10.0%) Jonathon Blum – Inserted into the Minnesota lineup after five points (1 G, 4 A) in seven AHL games, the 2007 first-rounder played 8:35 in his first NHL game of the season. SHORT SHIFTS Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals, on a dozen shot attempts (8 SOG) against Columbus, giving him 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past six games… Islanders RW Ryan Strome (who also had 70% possession) had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 win over Colorado…Blue Jackets C Boone Jenner had a pair of assists and strong possession (26 shot attempts for, 8 against, 76.5%) at Washington, giving him four points in three games since joining the Columbus lineup. Capitals C Andre Burakovsky picked up a couple assists in a 4-2 win over Columbus. Burakovsky now has 12 points in 15 games, tied for second among rookies…Panthers rookie D Aaron Ekblad had a couple of assists in a 4-1 win over San Jose, giving him six points (1 G, 5 A) in the past five games…Predators rookie LW Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, running his point streak (6 G, 4 A) to six games. Predators C Mike Ribeiro notched a goal and an assist, giving him 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in the past 13 games…Predators RW James Neal had an assist and 15 shot attempts (10 SOG) and dominated the shot share (26 for, 5 against, 83.9%) against Edmonton…Blues RW Joakim Lindstrom scored a pair of goals, his first points since the second game of the season…Blues LW Alex Steen recorded three assists and had the first fight of his career, against Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis…Score effects reign in a 5-0 loss, but Penguins LW Blake Comeau had a strong possession night (18 shot attempts for, 3 against, 85.7%). Jets RW Dustin Byfuglien is on a 10-game goalless drought, but had 11 shot attempts (7 SOG) at Montreal…Panthers RW Shawn Thornton had the best possession stats (11 for, 5 against, 68.8%) against San Jose…Stars C Tyler Seguin scored a pair of goals, giving him 12 goals in 15 games…Arizona’s fourth line – Kyle Chipchura, B.J. Crombeen and Joe Vitale – had better than 70% of the shot share, led by Chipchura (17 for, 5 against, 77.3%) when they were on the ice. FIRSTS John Klingberg – Made his NHL debut, had Dallas’ best possession stats (21 for, 13 against, 61.8%) at Arizona. 12 points in 10 AHL games. Seth Helgeson – The Devils defenceman, a fourth-round pick in 2009, played all of 6:14 in his first NHL game and recorded his first point, an assist, on Tuomo Ruutu’s goal. He did have a rough time (3 shot attempts for, 10 against, 23.1%) possession-wise. FANTASY FOCUS Two games on the NHL schedule tonight, two players to keep an eye on: Leo Komarov – The Leafs’ agitator is something of a surprise with four points in the past five games, and 10 points in 16 games this season, but he’s not completely lost offensively, putting up 14 goals and 44 points in 65 KHL games over the previous couple seasons. Devante Smith-Pelly – With no Corey Perry, the Ducks have Patrick Maroon and Smith-Pelly skating on the wings with Ryan Getzlaf. It’s a good opportunity for Smith-Pelly, who has played nearly 39 minutes, generating nine shots on goal, in the past couple games. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca JJ Arcega-Whiteside Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. Fletcher Cox Jersey . Phoenix got injured centre Emeka Okafor and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014 -- giving the rebuilding Suns potentially four choices in the opening round. The Suns also sent guards Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee to Washington so the deal will work financially.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - NASCAR wont change its new championship format, which chairman Brian France said Monday is overwhelmingly popular with fans.The Chase was revamped last year into an elimination-style system that created a winner-take-all final race among four drivers. Kevin Harvick won the season finale at Homestead in November to claim his first Sprint Cup title.France called it perhaps the best Chase ever and said the excitement will carry into this season.Its overwhelmingly popular with our most important stakeholder, the fans, France of the Chase during the kickoff to the annual NASCAR media tour. They (fans) like the fact that it tightened up competition. They liked the drama down the stretch. They like the emphasis on winning. And one of the things they told us that they really liked is the idea that we werent going to change anything. And they strongly suggested that we didnt. And were not going to.NASCAR launched the Chase in 2004 and tweaked it several times in the first 10 years. But it got a dramatic overhaul before the 2014 season, when the field was expanded to 16 drivers with four eliminated after every third Chase race. The final four drivers then went to Homestead even in the standings, with the highest finisher guaranteed the championship. The system worked in creating an eventful finale in which all four contenders raced for the win.France said he believed the simple formula that did not require following points — drivers made the Chase by winning a race, and advanced through the rounds with wins — was embraced by fans.One of the magical parts of this Chase, and we want to make sure we keep it this way, is the simplicity of it: Win and youre in, said France.One change coming into 2015 will be that NASCAR will no longer permit teams to alter their cars side skirts during a race, a widespread practice last season. Many crew chiefs believed the flaring of the skirts violated the rules, but because NASCAR was not acting on it, they were forced to manipulate the sheet metal to keep up with other teams.Steve ODonnelll, executive vice-president and chief racing development officer, said cars will be brought back in if NASCAR sees the skirts have been manipulated during a pit stop. Harold Carmichael Jersey. Policing the flared skirts will be done by any means possible, ODonnell said.Other topics covered Monday by France:— Sprint is not likely to be replaced as title sponsor before its deal expires at the end of next season. Sprint said last month it will not renew its contract with NASCAR, but will honour the remainder of its deal. The last time NASCAR needed a new sponsor, when R.J. Reynolds said in 2003 it wanted out of its deal that expired at the end of 2007, the sanctioning body nabbed Nextel to take over in 2004.I dont anticipate anybody being in a position to leave early, but well get out into the marketplace and see, France said.— NASCAR would like to have the 2016 rules decided and delivered to teams earlier than ever, and is eyeing the All-Star Race in May as a possible deadline. Teams received the 2015 rules last September, and the 2014 rules were not set until last January.— France took a moment to acknowledge Jeff Gordon, who said last week this 23rd season will be his last as a full-time driver.Jeff is a friend of ours, a friend of mine personally, and certainly I dont have to tell you what hes done for the sport, France said. I dont have to tell you the amazing accomplishments on and off the track. From everybody at NASCAR, (we) wish him a strong final season.France has previously acknowledged that attention in NASCAR is increased when Gordon is a part of the title race. The four-time champion is one of the very few drivers who transcends NASCAR and is famous beyond the sports landscape. It will be difficult to replace his star power, but France said its part of sports.The changing of the guard, thats always part of sports, part of NASCAR, he said. Thats what you count on, to have great farm system of aspiring talent, hopefully of a diverse background, to let their talents and their abilities land with the Sprint Cup Series. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '