Unlike All-Star night at Citi Field, when Rivera soaked it all in, he barely noticed it this time. He was training his thoughts on retiring the Red Sox, starting with David Ortiz.

For the the 57th time against the Red Sox, the 35th time at Fenway, the 31st time this season and the all-time record 639th time, Rivera converted the save for the Yankees’ 5-2 win.

“I don’t want to be rude, but I didn’t pay attention,” Rivera said of the ovation. “It has always been hard ballgames here. I respect the organization. I respect the fans. That’s why I give it back. I play the game the way it should be played.”

Others noticed, including the Yankees’ manager.

“I think it is the class of the fans here,” Joe Girardi said. “Even though there has been a lot of history between Mo and the Red Sox. A lot of times, he has been in games that are extremely important. I think they understand what Mo has done and what he has meant to the game.”

Rivera said he has always loved to pitch here and the reaction from the Boston fans didn’t surprise him.

“It is kind of like an appreciation,” Rivera, 43, said. “It is great that they do that, that they acknowledge you and that you have been there for so many years.”

Unlike on Tuesday at Citi Field, the rest of his teammates were behind him as he warmed up — and they noticed, starting with his catcher.

“It is huge,” Chris Stewart said. “It just shows the respect that not just baseball fans, not just Boston fans, people in general have for Mo. They know what he has accomplished throughout his career. He has been their rival for quite awhile. For them to go out of their way to salute him and tip their caps and say, ‘We respect what you have done,’ it is huge.”

The post Red Sox fans cheer Mariano Rivera appeared first on IdealCapper.

St. Louis already has won the award twice (2010, ’11), and was a finalist two other times. The 37-year-old ranked second among NHL forwards in total ice time, but was assessed just 14 penalty minutes.

Moulson is a finalist for the second straight season. He had four penalty minutes in 47 games, tied with San Jose’s Logan Couture for the fewest among the NHL’s top 50 scorers.

Kane is a Lady Byng finalist for the first time, after helping Chicago to a Presidents’ Trophy. He played 47 games and averaged 20:03 of ice time, but had just eight penalty minutes.

“Any time you’re up for an award, it’s exciting,” Kane said Thursday. “I thought maybe I had a chance at this one. I think it kind of speaks volumes of where my game has gone since my rookie season. I remember I used to take a lot of penalties that were kind of unnecessary and I kind of got that out of my game a little bit. I’m definitely happy about it. It’s an honor, for sure.”

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But the jersey that the number was printed on was far from perfect.

The team mistakenly put O’Neal’s last name and number on the front of a jumbo-sized replica Lakers home jersey, rather than on the back. The oversight stood out next to the eight other retired jerseys because of the V-neck on it. O’Neal was commemorated with a post-1999 Lakers jersey after the uniforms were redesigned. All the other retired numbers appear on scoop-neck style jerseys where the back is pretty much identical to the front.

The Lakers have acknowledged the mistake and plan to correct it.

“The new jersey will be ready and installed prior to Friday’s game,” a team spokesman said in an email Wednesday.

The Lakers host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

The Lakers also will have to replace the O’Neal jersey recently hung up at the team’s practice facility because of the same error.

The post Shaq’s retired jersey has error appeared first on IdealCapper.

“I don’t want to say no, but we’ll see [Monday],” Quenneville said of the two players after Saturday’s practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West.

More On The Blackhawks

For all the latest on the Blackhawks, check out Scott Powers’ blog on ESPNChicago.com. Blog

Forward Viktor Stalberg missed practice Saturday, but he is likely to play on Sunday, according to Quenneville. Stalberg was struck in the face by a puck in the third period of Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks and did not return.

Hossa has missed four games since suffering an unspecified upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on March 18. He has 13 goals and 10 assists in 28 games this season.

Sharp has missed nine games since suffering an unspecified upper-body injury, also against the Avalanche, on March 6. He has five goals and 13 assists in 24 games this season.

Hossa and Sharp participated in their first full practice on Saturday. They weren’t allowed contact previously.

“It’s another step in returning,” Sharp said. “I felt fine doing the contact stuff. I’m sure there will be more of that in the next few days and hopefully come back soon.”

Sharp said he was close to returning, but it was important to be completely healthy when he plays again.

“It’s still not 100 percent,” Sharp said. “I think the idea is to come back and have the injury completely behind you not only mentally, but physically more than anything. Just to know I can take hits to the upper body and be fine, so you don’t have to keep tweaking it and addressing it all through playoffs and end of the season.”

Hossa also said he had to be patient in his return despite his desire to be out on the ice helping the team.

“Obviously when the team loses, you feel like you [could] try to help,” Hossa said. “But like I said, you don’t want to rush things with this type of injury because you can get hurt again, and you’ll be more out than you wanted to be.”

The Blackhawks have gone 4-5 without Sharp and 2-3 without Hossa this season. The Blackhawks are 20-0-3 with both players in the lineup this season.

The post Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp out Sunday but questionable for game vs. Nashville Predators appeared first on IdealCapper.

Evansville at East Carolina
When: 5:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 30, 2013
Where: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, North Carolina

Oddsmakers currently have the Purple Aces listed as 1½-point favorites versus the Pirates, while the game’s total is sitting at 144.

Evansville was an 84-83 winner in their most recent outing on the road against Canisius. They covered the 1-point spread as underdogs.

The Evansville Purple Aces are ranked 131 for offensive field goal percentage shooting 43.8% while attempting 56.5 shots per game. The Purple Aces shooting percentages include 73.7% for free throw percentage and 37.5% for three point percentage so far this season.

Team record: 21-14 SU, 20-11-1 ATS

is 5-14 SU in its last 19 games on the road

East Carolina was a 70-58 winner in their most recent outing at home against Loyola. They covered the 2.5-point spread as favorites.

The East Carolina Pirates are ranked 124 for offensive field goal percentage shooting 43.9% while attempting 57.2 shots per game. The Pirates shooting percentages include 73.0% for free throw percentage and 35.1% for three point percentage so far this season.

Team record: 21-12 SU, 14-10-2 ATS

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games

The post Evansville vs. East Carolina Free CBB Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

Booth suffered a leg injury last Saturday against Detroit and missed the past three games against Minnesota, St. Louis and Phoenix.

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told a Vancouver radio station “there’s a chance” Booth could return for the playoffs.

“Hopefully, (the surgery) will accelerate the process some measure and then he’ll have to wait and rehab like anyone else,” Gillis told Team 1040.

The team has not provided details on the exact nature of Booth’s injury. Canucks officials could not be reached for comment on Booth’s procedure Friday.

The setback continues a tough season for Booth. The 28-year-old Detroit native suffered a groin injury on the first day of training camp and missed the first 14 games of the regular season. He also sat out one more game in Detroit.

The post Canucks lose winger David Booth appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Penguins star center took a heavy hit from Toronto winger James van Riemsdyk late in the third period and didn’t take another shift.

“Just an upper-body injury, kept him out the rest of the game,” Bylsma said after a 5-4 win over Toronto.

The prognosis?

“Don’t have one; he’ll certainly be re-evaluated,” Bylsma said. “In the game it was more precautionary than anything at that point in time.”

Malkin recently returned after missing four games with a concussion.

The post Evgeni Malkin has upper-body injury appeared first on IdealCapper.

Sharp was injured when the Colorado Avalanche’s Ryan O’Byrne hit him against the boards on Wednesday. He had to be helped off to the dressing room after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

The Hawks take on the Avalanche in Denver on Friday as they try to extend their NHL-record streak of consecutive games to start a season with at least one point to 25.

Marian Hossa, who missed Wednesday’s game, said he’s fine and missing the game had nothing to do with an injury, according to the Hawks’ Twitter account.

Andrew Shaw also will play Friday after taking an elbow to the chin from Paul Stastny on Wednesday, the Hawks tweeted.

The post Patrick Sharp to miss 3-4 weeks appeared first on IdealCapper.

Malkin has symptoms that include a severe headache and mild disorientation, the newspaper reported, citing multiple sources.

Malkin was injured in the third period of Friday’s game against the Panthers after getting nudged by Florida’s Erik Gudbranson. Malkin’s back hit the boards at full speed and his head snapped back upon impact.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma ruled Malkin out for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Bylsma declined to elaborate on the nature of what is being called an “upper body” injury but added that Malkin is not hospitalized.

Pittsburgh’s second-leading scorer, Malkin has registered 14 goals and 25 points in 22 games this season. The Russian center collected 50 goals and 109 points last season en route to winning the Hart Trophy.

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The person spoke to The Associated Press Thursday on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been officially announced.

The 6-foot-10 McRoberts, who played at Duke, has played in 41 games this season with three starts and is averaging 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Warrick, in his seventh NBA season, was acquired earlier this season in a trade with the New Orleans Hornets. Since joining the Bobcats he has averaged 6.9 points per game and 3.2 rebounds, but his playing time has diminished in recent weeks.

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