OTTAWA – It was late November and Jake Gardiner was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Black Tns Sale . The 23-year-old wanted to pinpoint precisely what was keeping him from having success. "I obviously wasnt playing my best and wasnt really aware of what I was doing wrong," he told the Leaf Report ahead of a Saturday tilt with the Senators. So he decided to hit the tape. Gardiner pulled out his iPad and scrutinized video of his performance in the first round against Boston last spring. He watched clip upon clip of his shifts against the Bruins, keen on determining what gave him so much success. His performance then was electric. Gardiner scored a goal and strung together five points during an exhilarating six-game run. "I just wanted to figure out what I was doing differently in the playoffs, as opposed to now, because I wasnt happy with my game," he said of the video work. What Gardiner saw was an engaged defender who made quick decisions with and without the puck. The game seemed to slow down for the former Ducks first-round pick. He was assertive, unpredictable and dangerous on the rush and generally stable in the defensive zone. For the third-year Leaf, who has struggled with consistency this season, it was a helpful reminder of the player he had been not so long ago and the player he certainly had the potential to become once more. "It was nice to see what I was succeeding at then and try to replicate that now," Gardiner said. "Sometimes you get away from it and you dont know what the reason is." Gardiner was a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Nov. 27 in Pittsburgh. During the morning skate that day at Consol Energy Center, he engaged in a lengthy conversation with head coach Randy Carlyle, the former Norris Trophy winner advising on what hed seen and what needed to improve. Carlyle wanted Gardiner to make better decisions with the puck. He stressed that his young defender must move it faster, that he get his forwards involved more often and join the attack if and when the opportunity looked right. Too often, Gardiner gathered from the conversation, was he holding the puck before eventually making a poor decision with it and a turnover often the end result. "I wanted to know what I was doing that they didnt see that they wanted to see," Gardiner said of his conversations with the coaching staff. "I think Ive been more aware of it now; trying to move the puck quick and obviously still stay solid defensively." Gardiner was an offensive force in his rookie season with the Leafs. He scored seven goals and posted 30 points, tops among first-year players at the position. He has yet to score this season, though, and has just seven assists in 28 games. But by skewering the tape and picking the minds of the coaching staff, he finally seems to understand why the offence hasnt been there. "Its almost the fact of just doing less with the puck," he said. "Im able to skate the puck a lot, but that doesnt necessarily mean offence. I dont have many points this year, so I think moving the puck quicker to the forwards and letting them do their work, [then] maybe Ill create more offence that way. Itll create fewer turnovers for me and less time in our zone." Gardiner has not yet rediscovered the performance that made him such an elusive force against the Bruins, but hes inching gradually in that direction. In beating the Stars on Thursday, he led the team with nearly 26 minutes – matching a season-high – and also paced the group in Montreal last weekend. His return to form would help stabilize an increasingly wobbly Toronto back-end. Armed with new (and old) information, Gardiner is doing his best to get there. "I just want to be able to help the team as much as I can," he said, "and those are things that help me as a player and help our team too." Air Max Plus Tn White . Many of those eyes are in the United States of America, a country that the sport has wanted on its side for some time. On Sunday the football Gods delivered once again, only this time it was time for good old USA to experience as much heartache as joy. Vapormax Plus Black Sale . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. http://www.airmaxplusstoresale.com/air-vapormax-plus-cheap.html . Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit.Fourteen months after narrowly avoiding the death penalty Penn State is back in the game. The NCAA announced it will gradually restore the scholarships taken from the football program starting next season. Still to come could be an announcement that the four-year post-season ban may be lifted as well. The cap on scholarships was set to begin in 2014 and has been drastically reduced. Instead of spending three years with 20 less scholarship players the school will now be allowed 75 in 2014, 80 in 2015 and the full allotment of 85 in 2016. The original sanctions were handed down 14 months ago by NCAA President Mark Emmert. In the heat of the moment, the NCAA over stepped their bounds. In trying to avoid the dreaded death penalty, Penn State signed off on a punishment that was misguided and out of the NCAAs jurisdiction all together. When Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse, there were many who deserved to be punished. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. Had the late Joe Paterno not passed away, he surely would have been part of the investigation along with other high ranking officials accused of covering up Sanduskys wrong-doings. The institution itself was fined $60 million and that has not been reduced. But the truth is, none of the guilty parties still roam State College. The admission by the NCAA that it took out its frustration on the wrong individuals is a welcome one. Coach Bill OBrien and his players have done nothing wrong and deserve the good news delivered Tuesday. Their star freshman QB Christian Hackenberg committed to play at the school despite the penalties and OBrien himself took the position knowing trying times were ahead. The coaches and players like Hackenberg deserve to avoid punishment in this mess, being that they had nothing to do with it. Nothing will ever change the terrible events that occurred on the Penn State campus, but allowing a new group of student-athletes and coaches their chance to put the pieces back together for a once storied football program was the right decision by the NCAA. The ruling allows 45 more students sitting in high school classrooms across America will eventually sign letters of intent to not only play football at Penn State, but to earn an education they may otherwise neveer have gotten. Air Max Plus Tn Sale. Its not often that pundits say the NCAA gets it right and this time they nailed it. Other notes from around the NCAA: - Teddy Bridgewater became the first FBS QB to throw for 4 TD in three games this season. Hes in line to be the top overall pick in next years NFL draft – but its a shame his Louisville Cardinals dont play a single tough game this season. Even if undefeated, they have little chance of making the national title game because of their cream puff schedule. - Florida State beat lowly Bethune-Cookman by 48 points. The impressive part was their defence won the game 8-6, they didnt need the extra 46 points from Jameis Winston and the Noles offence. -Ohio State backup QB Kenny Guiton got another start on Saturday against Florida A&M – he promptly broke the school record with 6 touchdown passes. He achieved the feat part way through the second quarter. The Buckeyes did not throw a single pass in the 2nd half of their 76-0 win. - UCLA showed a lot of class in their first home game since the passing of WR Nick Pasquale. The team ran their first play with only 10 men on the field, Pasquale was their 11th man. Bruins players came to the game wearing t-shirts with his number 36 on them, and fans were given towels with the number as well. The team also held a sign that said "thank you Nebraska". When hosting UCLA last weekend, the fans in Nebraska showed class last week releasing 200 blue and gold balloons as a tribute. - Clemson WR Martavis Bryant will be disciplined by Coach Dabo Swiney for a throat-slash gesture after scoring a TD. Last week it was TJ Yeldon forced to sit a quarter for mocking Johnny Manziel with his celebration. It seems like after every tackle, first down or TD these days we need to watch a show from some player craving the spotlight. What happened to handing the ball back to the official and getting back to the line of scrimmage? Good on the coaches for trying to put a stop to it all. - Anyone worried about how Wisconsin would run the ball without Monte Ball can be at ease – the Badgers have two players in the top 10 in rushing yards. Melvin Gordon leads the nation and James White is right there with him, theyve combined for over 1,000 yards in four games. ' ' '