Herausforderungen » cialist.Last season, Kruger collected

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jim Harbaugh rarely, if ever, says someone is like him.DJ Durkin is an exception.Does things at a very high level with a lot of enthusiasm, Harbaugh said when asked about Durkin. Kindred spirit.Harbaugh hired Durkin to be his first defensive coordinator last year at Michigan, reuniting with one of the key members from his staff at Stanford.Which coach, Harbaugh or Durkin, is more intense?I dont think I can choose, Michigan running back Karan Higdon said. Theyre both masterminds of their domain.Durkin helped the Wolverines have success last season, helping him earn an opportunity to lead the Terrapins. Hes making the most of it. Maryland won its first four games, surpassing last years victory total of three, and is a win away from being bowl-eligible and making Harbaugh even more proud.I follow all the coaches that we worked with and pull for them when theyre not playing us, Harbaugh said.Facing players Durkin knows well might give him a slight edge.Anytime youre familiar with the roster, you dont spend as much time breaking down each player, he said. It certainly helps when theres familiarity. Players play games, not coaches.Here are some things to watch when No. 2 Michigan (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) hosts Maryland (5-3, 2-3) on Saturday:SPEIGHTS STATS: Wilton Speight didnt have a touchdown pass for the first time this season and threw just an interception for just the third time in last weeks win at Michigan State. Harbaugh, looking beyond the box score, came away impressed with Speights latest performance.You could make an argument that this was his best game, Harbaugh said.Speight has completed 63 percent of his passes with 13 TDs and three interceptions. Harbaugh hailed Speights grasp of the offense, saying he asks the quarterback which plays he likes best before and during games. Speights teammates praise his poise in the huddle and pocket.Hes calm, cool and collected, Higdon said. He doesnt get too high, or too low.SACK PREVENTION: Maryland gave up four sacks last week, and now must contend with Michigans defense that leads the Big Ten and ranks among the nations best with 3.4 sacks per game.Their defensive front is probably the best in the country, Durkin said. Its a big test for our guys.DAZZLING DARBOH: Amara Darboh as emerged as Michigans top receiver, moving ahead of Jehu Chesson with a team-high five TD receptions. Darboh had eight receptions for a career-high 165 yards receiving in last weeks win at Michigan State. He has a team-high 38 receptions, almost doubling Chessons total, for a team-high 664 yards receiving to lead Butt and Chesson by 200-plus yards.NO CUPCAKES HERE: After missing out on an opportunity to become bowl-eligible at Indiana, the Terrapins start the toughest stretch of their schedule with a trio of games against ranked teams. After playing at the Big House, Maryland hosts Ohio State and then plays at Nebraska.Barring an upset, the Terrapins will have to beat Rutgers at home to end the regular season with a .500 record.We know we have a big task ahead of us, Durkin said. Weve got to find a way to get a win on the road in our conference.LOOK WHAT BROWN CAN DO: When Durkin left for Maryland, Harbaugh searched all over the country to find someone to replace him and was thrilled to lure Don Brown away from Boston College to lead Michigans defense. Brown seems to be getting the most out of the talent on the roster, helping the defense lead the nation in a handful of categories without blitzing as much as he has in the past.Theyre probably doing less on defense than coach Brown is known for, but theyre doing it at a very high level, Terrapins offensive coordinator Walt Bell said.---AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.orgWholesale College Jerseys . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Authentic NCAA Jerseys . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. https://www.cheapncaajerseysjustwholesale.com/ . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. Cheap NCAA Jerseys .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. NCAA Jerseys For Sale . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm.Team Sweden should be considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup of Hockey.At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Swedes advanced to the gold-medal final, and this time around, their defense is, if possible, even better. They have playmaking magic in the Sedins and Nicklas Backstrom, firepower in?Patric Hornqvist, Loui Eriksson and Filip Forsberg, and, of course, goalie Henrik Lundqvist.Then, to make the team complete, they have Marcus Kruger.In 2013, the Chicago Blackhawks tied Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals with 1:16 remaining in the third period. Coach Joel Quenneville was looking to get the game to overtime, so he sent?Michael Frolik, Dave Bolland?and Kruger on the ice to keep the Boston Bruins in check. Seventeen seconds later, Bolland scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal. That was not the plan, but thats why its one of the most memorable shifts in Krugers career.He didnt get an assist on the goal, but it was Kruger who got the puck to Johnny Oduya, whose shot Frolik deflected so that Bolland could slam the loose puck in.These days, Kruger is Coach Qs go-to defensive forward, even if Krugers 2015-16 season was forgettable because of the wrist injury he suffered in December. The way Quenneville uses Kruger is reason to ponder why the 26-year-old Swede has gotten only one third-place vote in the Selke Trophy voting in his career (in 2013). In the same time span, 124 other players, including Ilya Kovalchuk, have gotten votes to win the award given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.Last season, Krugers offensive-zone starts were a team-low 19 percent, according to hockeyabstract.com. The year before, when the Blackhawks won their third Cup in six years -- and Kruger his second in three -- his offensive-zone starts were 25 percent. Yet his Corsi has been consistently over 50 percent -- between 51.6 and 55.1 -- except for last season, when it slipped to 48.4.Even last season, when Kruger missed 41 games because of the injury, he was only 16 total minutes behind captain Jonathan Toews in shorthanded minutes on the Blackhawks, and he led the teams forwards in shorthanded minutes per game by 23 seconds. In 2014-15, he played almost 70 more shorthanded minutes than Toews.Of course, the quiet Swede is the last person in the world to put his name in thhe same sentence as the Selke Trophy.ddddddddddddWhen I got to Chicago [in 2011], that was the role that was available, he told ESPN.com recently. So thats what I needed to be able to do if I wanted to play in the league.Like so many other conscientious defensive forwards, Kruger hasnt always been just a defensive specialist. In 2009, when he broke through in the Swedish league, he scored at a point-per-game pace through the fall -- on pace with the best in the league. He scored six points in six games for Sweden at the World Juniors before suffering an ankle injury. He ended up scoring 31 points in 38 regular-season games and adding another 10 in 16 postseason games as a 19-year-old.Its not like Ive had to reinvent myself or see myself as a different player. Ive always tried to play solid, two-way hockey, he said. I learned early on to always do what the coach asks you to do, and if this is what the coach wants me to do, Ill try to be as good at it as I possibly can.Its not always easy, and there have been times when [having the defensive role] has been frustrating since Im used to contributing even at the other end of the rink. And I think its important to keep on pushing ones self to do that and not get too comfortable with being a defensive specialist.Last season, Kruger collected just four assists in 41 regular-season games and one assist in seven playoff games. All in all, hes scored 28 goals and 88 points in 328 games, so theres room for improvement in his stats. But though the goal celebrations have been few and far apart, Kruger has learned to get his kicks from other aspects of the game.Basically, the way I feel depends on how well the teams doing, he said. If were not winning, its harder for me to get up for defense and not contribute in the offensive zone. But its rewarding to get to play the last shifts of a game because often it means that if we can keep the puck out of our net, well win. Thats a little boost for me. Things like that may mean more to me now than they used to.The coach seems to trust me, and obviously, I want to be on the ice at the end of the games. Everybody wants to contribute to the team success, and this is a pretty cool way too. ' ' '