Kritik und Lob » g to that state of mind of just being grateful

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Jim Barker had huge expectations when he acquired veteran quarterback Ricky Ray in a blockbuster trade with the Edmonton Eskimos in December 2011. The Toronto Argonauts GM envisioned Rays calm approach and on-field poise helping secure the franchise its first Grey Cup since 2004. After a slow start with his new team, Ray did just that on the grandest of stages, leading the Double Blue to a 35-22 win over the Calgary Stampeders in the historic 100th Grey Cup before 53,208 spectators at Rogers Centre. On Friday, Barker rewarded Ray with a contract extension that keeps him in Toronto through the 2015 season. "A year ago December to a packed room at the CN Tower we introduced Ricky Ray as a man who was going to come and restore success and dignity and excitement to the Toronto Argonauts franchise and ultimately deliver a Grey Cup," Barker said during a news conference Friday. "He has delivered on all that. "Our organization, our ownership, have made a commitment to Ricky and hes made a commitment to us and we are excited about the future of this organization." And although hes coming off a Grey Cup championship and has a new deal, Ray wont be resting on his laurels as he enters his 11th CFL season. "In football nothing is guaranteed, contracts arent guaranteed," Ray said. "You still have to go out and perform at a high level. "Thats what they expect and thats what you expect of yourself. I dont think now I can relax a little bit, youve got to go out there and perform every week." But the move to Toronto was a difficult one for Ray, who spent his first nine CFL seasons in Edmonton and was a fan favourite there after leading the Eskimos to two Grey Cup titles. Not only was the 33-year-old native of Happy Camp, Calif., joining a new franchise but one with a rookie head coach in Scott Milanovich. The six-foot-three, 210-pound Ray struggled initially as he became acclimated with Milanovichs offence but still showed a deft passing touch. His 68.6 per-cent passing completion not only topped all league starters but was an Argos single-season record as Ray surpassed the 4,000-yard passing plateau for the seventh time in his CFL career. However, Ray saved his best for last. After returning from a knee injury Oct. 19, Ray surpassed the 300-yard passing plateau in three of his final five starts, including a 399-yard performance in Torontos 27-20 road win over Montreal in the East Division final. Toronto fell behind in both of its first two playoff games. Each time, the Argos were buoyed by the even-keel, no-panic approach of their quarterback who rallied them from 10-0 deficits to post-season victories. Ray was a workmanlike 18 of 30 passing for 231 yards and two TDs in the Grey Cup as Argos running back Chad Kackert took centre stage. Kackert ran for 113 yards on 20 carries and added eight catches for 52 yards to claim MVP honours. Still, Ray finished the playoffs completing 69 of 97 passes for 869 yards and five TDs with just one interception. He enters the 2013 campaign sixth on the CFLs all-time passing list with 44,588 yards but with a much better understanding and appreciation of Milanovich, on and off the field. "Hes an easy guy to work for," Ray said. "Hes very demanding, he expects a lot out of you but he keeps it to where you have a great opportunity to go out and perform week in and week out. "Its not like youre just talking to a coach. You can talk to him about other stuff thats not football so when you do have a little bit of down time youre joking with him and he keeps you relaxed and confident out there." Having a year in Milanovichs offence under his belt will certainly be a major benefit for Ray once training camp opens Sunday. "Last year I was learning from scratch just trying to figure out what I was doing out there," he said. "Now I have a lot of game experience to go off of and things we worked on throughout the year Ill be able to carry over. "Any changes or tweaks we need to make I can make those and not have to worry about where guys are lining up or what Im supposed to do. I can be more comfortable with those situations." Custom Football Jerseys . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Authentic Custom Jerseys . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.customjerseysnearme.com/ . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Cheap Custom Wear . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Custom Baseball Jerseys . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Its the opening game of the 2014 Eastern Conference finals. Star goalie Carey Price?suffers an injury, and it doesnt look good.Two time zones away in Edmonton, Devan Dubnyk, technically still property of the Montreal Canadiens but on leave, cannot believe the sickest of ironies.I remember watching that game too, and I was like, What the f---. Of course! Dubnyk recalled this week, shaking his head. That was the very day I got home.That day -- May 17, 2014 -- might have been rock bottom of an already awful 2013-14 season.Because the reality is that even if Dubnyk had not pulled the plug on his season and had stayed in Montreal, where he was trying to work his way into the organization, he was in no position to help the Habs.Dustin Tokarski and Peter Budaj were ahead of him on the depth chart. And he was in a place, both technically and mentally, having not played in forever, having had a miserable season ... well, he wasnt going to help anyone.I wasnt dumb. I mean, if I truly thought I would have had an opportunity, I wouldnt have gone anywhere. But it had been such an insane season and I had a 10-month-old son at home. I hadnt seen him for 10 weeks. Im practicing with six guys every day in Brossard, Dubnyk said of the Habs practice facility. Theres more important things I need to be doing in my life right now, and thats being a dad. The Canadiens were awesome about it. I just told them I had to go see my son and my wife.Just two and a half years later, now with the Minnesota Wild, Dubnyk finds himself just ahead of Price atop the NHL with a .946 save percentage, a lofty perch not based on catching lightning in a bottle but rather a continuation of his technical and mental turnaround that began right after that 2013-14 season.The fun part about it is that it doesnt feel like anything crazy; it doesnt feel like Im hanging on for dear life until something collapses, Dubnyk said of his league-leading save percentage. It just feels like were playing well together as a team, Ive got a great feeling standing back there. ... Theyre letting me make great reads and be patient. Im just really comfortable back there.Confidence, humility, humor, all three resonate during a half-hour interview with ESPN.com Monday evening at the Wilds team hotel in downtown Toronto.However painful that 2013-14 season might have been, it has no doubt forged the person and goaltender that the 30-year-old is today.I always viewed great adversity as a gift, Ive always believed in it,?Dallas Eakins, Dubnyks former head coach with the Edmonton Oilers, said last Friday. I think it makes us better people, better at our jobs, all those things, to go through some nasty, nasty adversity. Probably that time in Edmonton and then going through a couple of organizations very quickly, that was surely very hard on Devan and his family.Former Oilers GM Craig MacTavish says he feels the same way.A lot of times failure is the impetus that spurs development, MacTavish said Monday. I really believe that with Devan. Whether its a mentality change, whether its a commitment change, whatever it is, failure for me leads to opportunity when framed the right way. And I think Devan really framed it the right way.Relayed MacTavishs comment, Dubnyk concurred.You know what, I think hes right. You have to go through these things in life and in your career, he said. Theres no way to know what it is you have to go through. Not everyone has to get traded or go down to the minors like I did.But that was indeed his path.The seeds of that pivotal 2013-14 season were planted at the June 2013 draft in New Jersey when word leaked that the Oilers were trying to acquire Cory Schneider from the rival Vancouver Canucks (which McTavish confirms). Schneider would end up being traded to the New Jersey Devils instead that weekend, but the psychological damage had been done for Dubnyk, who was entering the final year of his contract.It was disappointing, for sure, Dubnyk said. With MacT coming in as a new GM, hes the boss, and he needs to build the team as he sees fit. Cory Schneider is a world-class goalie, so its not like hes out there trying to get some bum to replace me. But I was disappointed because I felt I had shown in the previous year, it was my best season, I had a .920 [save percentage], I didnt understand where it was coming from.What it did is plant the narrative with Oilers fans that their goaltending wasnt good enough.His opening five games were a nightmare, Dubnyk giving up 22 goals. It snowballed from there.I didnt do myself any favors, I wasnt exactly knocking any pucks down, he said. Ill never forget those first 4-5 games. I remember the days between games, I felt sick. Wed be on the road and I would go to a movie to try and just lose myself for two hours. As soon as the movie was over, I felt sick again. That was a really tough couple of weeks to start the season.He actually steadied himself to some degree, but his fate waas set.dddddddddddd The Oilers traded him to the Nashville Predators for Matt Hendricks on Jan. 15, 2014, though Dubnyk played only two games.I remember when we traded him, I was talking to him in my hotel room, said Eakins, now head coach of the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate in San Diego. I was actually really excited for him.When a goaltender is just OK or suffering, a good team is able to forge through and support the goalie. That was the one thing we couldnt do in Edmonton. I felt terrible about it personally. I know the organization didnt feel good about it, either. We werent able to support Dubs on a nightly basis. And man, he was battling hard, he was doing everything he could to try to help us win. I always appreciated that about him and really respected that.Dubnyk has no bitterness toward the Oilers, grateful for them for giving him his start.[But] my journey is that I had to really crash and burn, and it took me to Arizona, he said, where I was just so grateful at that point just to have a job in the NHL.He loved his short time with the Arizona Coyotes, where he signed as a free agent in July 2014. Its where he rebooted his career. Its where he met Sean Burke.He really started it all for me. Burkey just gives you confidence without saying anything, Dubnyk said. You know he thinks youre good. And if youre not doing something right, hes going to tell you. Hes not going to beat around the bush. You know where you stand with him and you know hes got your back.Burke, goalie coach and assistant GM with the Coyotes at the time, had helped resurrect Mike Smiths career as well. He saw another worthy project in Dubnyk.We got him sort of beat up and bruised, Burke, now a Western scout for the Canadiens, said Monday. But I remember thinking it was a good move on our part. Devan was always intriguing to me, a big guy who moved fairly well. He came in with a really open mind. Hes a really nice person. I just remember from the minute I met him that I knew he was going to be a sponge.Dubnyk distinctly remembers after his third game of the 2014-15 season, a 6-5 win Nov. 2 at the Washington Capitals, that Burke took him aside and showed him a video that helped his positioning through more efficient movement.He wanted me to beat the pass on my feet and be set. That was really it, it was pretty simple, Dubnyk said.It just sharpened everything up for me, thats what got everything going for me.With Smith signed long-term and Dubnyk on a one-year deal, Coyotes GM Don Maloney dealt Dubnyk to the Wild on Jan. 15, 2015 -- one year to the day after his trade by the Oilers.The Wild, flailing away on miserable winless streak, saw their season completely turn around after Dubnyks acquisition (for a third-round pick, no less). It proved a good move by Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, who called it an act of desperation at the time. Dubnyk went on a historic run, starting 40 straight games and almost single-handedly pushing the struggling Wild from down the standings to into the playoffs.In the meantime, Dubnyk began forging a very good working relationship with Wild goalie coach Bob Mason. But on top of that he also found another edge in his game after being introduced to Lyle Mast, a goalie guru who had developed a ground-breaking teaching method that focused more on vertical movement than lateral movement while tracking the puck.Mast has worked for years with Los Angeles Kings goalie coach Bill Ranford and netminder Jonathan Quick, as well as other goalie coaches and netminders in pro and junior. Dubnyk talks or texts with Mast around almost every game.But this is more than just a technical revival. This meteoric rise from the ashes of that 2013-14 season is just as much a mental one.Oh, 100 percent, Dubnyk said. Getting to that state of mind of just being grateful to have a job.Seriously, he means that. He got to a point heading into July 1, 2014, with agent Mike Liut when he prepared himself to accept where his career was going.Right before I signed in Arizona, the only thing I did accept just to almost relieve some pressure, I just understood that at my age [28 at the time] and the situation I was going in with Smithy there, is that my window might have passed in terms of being a starter, he said. Just because of the way the league is.Hes now a top-five goalie in the world.Signed to a six-year, $26 million deal with the Wild in the summer of 2015, Dubnyk is in a good place. All around.Minny is such a great place to raise a family, we enjoy it so much there, said Dubnyk, who with his wife has two boys, 3 and 1. I mean, life is great. Gosh, it was so close to being a whole lot different than that ...But its not. Because Devan Dubnyk didnt give up. Because he stayed positive. He rolled up his sleeves and went back to work, just as so many people counted him out. ' ' '