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BROSSARD, Que. - Lars Eller feels the Montreal Canadiens are right about where they hoped to be at the midpoint of their NHL schedule.The Canadiens (26-12-2) are in a battle for top spot in the Eastern Conference with 54 points heading into their 41st game — halfway through the 82-game schedule — on Saturday night against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.They are ahead of a year ago, when they had 50 points at the halfway mark to finish fourth in the conference with 100 points. Then came a surprising run to the conference final before they were stopped in six games by the New York Rangers.The challenge for the rest of the season to be to stay among the lead group in the east, which includes Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, the rising New York Islanders and Detroit. Mentally, its the challenge of going out every night and taking pride in wanting to be right up there with the best and not be satisfied, said Eller. Weve got a lot of young bodies.There are going to be times when were a little bit tired, but its the same for the other teams so I dont want to use that as an excuse. In the long run, its about not being satisfied and challenging yourself to be the best you can be every night during the course of 82 games.Their performance last season raised expectations for the Canadiens. Theyve met them so far, even if the team is widely considered to be still a top player or two away from being a Stanley Cup contender.Theyve had scoring from three lines instead of the two that got most of the goals last season. The defence has so far held up well. And 27-year-old Price is having his best season.I dont think we put too much pressure on ourselves, said Eller, who has scored seven goals while continuing his strong defensive play as the third-line centre. We expect a lot of ourselves.Once we get to the playoffs, its a totally different thing. Well talk about that when we get there. Were just trying to do as well as we can in the regular season.General manager Marc Bergevin gambled in the off-season on moving out several veterans so younger players could take on more leadership.Instead of naming a captain, the club put forward Max Pacioretty and defenceman P.K. Subban among a group of four alternate captains along with veterans Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov, while giving goalie Carey Price similar status without a letter on his jersey.It has worked out well so far.Pacioretty, the team scoring leader with 17 goals and 32 points, Subban and Price are among a core of players in their 20s who will likely form the heart of the team for the next several years, along with Eller, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais and a few others.But extensive changes were made last summer and into this season.Gone from last seasons team are backup goalie Peter Budaj, defencemen Josh Gorges, Douglas Murray and Francis Bouillon and forwards Brian Gionta (the former captain), Daniel Briere, Rene Bourque, Travis Moen, George Parros, Ryan White and late-season pickup Thomas Vanek.Newcomers are rearguards Tom Gilbert and Sergei Gonchar as well as forwards Manny Malhotra, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau and Jiri Sekac. Defenceman Nathan Beaulieu was recently called up from AHL Hamilton and looks likely to stay. The same may happen with forward Sven Andrighetto. And Dustin Tokarski, who replaced the injured Price in the playoffs, is the new backup.Another step came when coach Michel Therrien finally moved Galchenyuk, used mainly at left wing since he was drafted third overall in 2012, to centre on the top line with Pacioretty and Gallagher. To date, he is adapting well to the raised responsibility. And surprisingly, former top line centre Desharnais is thriving as a winger on the third unit.Were a little younger team than last year, said Therrien. The younger guys are well supported by veterans like Markov, Gonchar and Plekanec. Theyre learning to become leaders, to do good things on the ice. So far, its going pretty well and well continue in that direction.Another improvement has been on faceoffs, where the addition of specialist Malhotra looks to have had a ripple effect. Malhotra has won 61.9 per cent of his draws, while Eller went from 53.2 per cent last season to 57 per cent and Plekanec has gone from 48 per cent to 50.6 per cent. Only Galchenyuk lags at 46.2 per cent.However, Malhotra, who may no longer have 82 games in his system, was a healthy scratch twice in recent games and may be again against Pittsburgh. On Friday, prospect Christian Thomas was recalled from Hamilton. Andrighetto got most of the work at centre on the fourth line with Thomas and Michael Bournival on the wings.Therrien would not confirm that Thomas will play, but said that while he is not specifically looking for more goals, he wants more offensive zone time from the fourth unit.Its a long season, said Therrien. Its a marathon.Whats important to me is that we get better every week. Thats our focus. Its a challenge to make the playoffs. We understand theres lot of good competition and every game is tough. Vapormax Plus Clearance . Yet now its time for the most important pick of them all; the Grey Cup. The thought of going 5-0 with the correct choice is quite intoxicating, I dont think I have ever gone perfect in my CFL futuristic playoff speculations and would take great pride in guessing - I mean analyzing - correctly. Cheap Air Max 90 China . Beckham finished 2 for 4, adding a double in the first inning. Chicago has won eight of 12 to get back to .500 (27-27). The White Sox are 6-3 against Cleveland this season after losing 17 of 19 to their American League Central rival in 2013. Mike Aviles went 1 for 2 with a walk and drove in Clevelands run. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-nike-air-vapormax-china.html . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. Brand Name Shoes Wholesale China . Under the deal, the Vikings will donate an undisclosed sum of money to five gay rights-related charities over the next five years. Kluwe said he wont receive any money as part of the settlement. "This will help a lot of people that really do need that help," Kluwe said. Nike Vapormax 97 Cheap . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin.PARAMUS, N.J. -- The last player to win back-to-back majors in the same season didnt even make it to the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake. "Thats not going to happen," said Rory McIlroy, with a smile. Hes correct, based on simple math. Padraig Harrington won the British Open and PGA Championship in 2008, and just his bad luck, the FedEx Cup was restructured that year in an attempt to create more volatility in the playoff events. It rewarded mediocrity instead. Harrington began the playoffs by missing two straight cuts and soon was eliminated. The system in place the last five years doesnt allow for that. McIlroy is the No. 1 seed when the playoffs get started Thursday at The Barclays, and he is assured of reaching the Tour Championship. But his hopes of cashing in on the $10 million prize are based more on form than a calculator. The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland is coming off three straight victories, and they were big ones -- the British Open, a World Golf Championship and the PGA Championship. He is No. 1 in the world and starting to separate himself from the rest of golf. And hes not interested in getting off this amazing run. "I could just say, Look, Ive had a great year, its been an awesome summer. Im going to just see what happens for the next few weeks and not really work hard," McIlroy said Wednesday. "But I want to finish the season well. I want to be up there in contention week in and week out. I feel like the season I had deserves a finish like that. So Im going to just grind it out every week that I can until I get a bit of a break after the Ryder Cup." Now that the majors are done for the year, the FedEx Cup presents the best four-week stretch in golf -- four tournaments with the best players from the worlds strongest tour competing for a shot at the richest bonus in golf. The Barclays has one of the strongest fields of the year, even though a few players are noticeable by their absence. Tiger Woods was in town this week, but only for corporate work with McIlroy. Woods missed three months of the season recovering from back surgery and hurt his back again in only his third tournament back. He didnt come close to finishing among the top 125 who qualified for the playoffs. Dustin Johnson is No. 6, though he is taking a "voluntary leave" to seek professional help for "persoonal challenges.dddddddddddd" Jason Dufner is No. 57, though he is out indefinitely with a neck injury. Steve Stricker is at No. 103 and withdrew because of a hip injury that will turn his part-time schedule into no schedule at all for the next few months. Stricker was a long shot to make the Tour Championship, though this ends his streak of playing in every Tour Championship since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. Phil Mickelson (No. 45) and Hunter Mahan (No. 62) are the others who have made it to East Lake each of the last seven years. As good as McIlroy has been, the playoffs offer no guarantees. The $10 million bonus is based largely on who performs well in the Tour Championship, no matter what theyve done all year or even in the three weeks leading up to it. McIlroy learned that the hard way in 2012, when he was coming off a PGA Championship victory and won back-to-back playoff events. He tied for 10th in the Tour Championship, which Brandt Snedeker won to capture the cup. He doesnt seem to mind. "I still got $3 million for second," McIlroy said. "It is volatile, but it creates excitement at the end of the season when previously there wasnt much excitement. So I dont mind how its loaded. Just means you have to play well right until the end." He has been playing nothing short of great for the last month. "What Rory has done is phenomenal and worthy of all the attention he gets," Adam Scott said. "And I think hes the rightful No. 1 golfer in the world at the moment." Scott is the defending champion at The Barclays, winning a year ago at Liberty National. The Barclays returns to Ridgewood Country Club, a classic course that figures to be a stronger test than what players faced at Valhalla two weeks ago in the final major of the year. The rough is so thick in spots that Jimmy Walker said he nearly couldnt find his golf ball during the pro-am Wednesday just a few paces off the fairway. McIlroy will play the opening two rounds with Walker and Masters champion Bubba Watson, the top three players in the FedEx Cup. The long shot is Robert Allenby, who got the 125th spot by a single point and will need a solid week just to keep playing. The top 100 in the FedEx Cup after The Barclays advance to the second round of the playoffs next week at the TPC Boston. ' ' '