game suspension by the NHL. ... Washington D John

PHILADELPHIA -- As word spread through NBA inner circles that Kansas prospect Joel Embiid suffered a foot injury, the Philadelphia 76ers wondered if his misfortune was just the break the downtrodden franchise needed. Mark Jackson Jersey . "I sniffed opportunity," Sam Hinkie, the teams president and general manager, said Friday. "The moment he got hurt, we thought we might get him. We might be just the organization with just the set of owners, and we might be the one to do it." When the 7-foot centre was available at three, the Sixers pounced, even though he could miss up to a full season because of a broken foot. The 76ers are used to big men sitting out the season. Former All-Star centre Andrew Bynum never played a second because of bad knees in 2012-13. And rookie Nerlens Noel sat out all of last season because of a torn ACL. Noel, the No. 6 overall pick out of Kentucky, was antsy to play toward the end of a 19-63 season. The Sixers refused to rush him, not wanting to risk additional injury in what was always planned as a lost -- or, tanked -- season. Embiid recovery from a stress fracture in his right foot could take five to eight months. So will the Sixers play him in another season where the Sixers are building again toward a high lottery pick instead of a post-season berth? "Guess what our approach will be," Hinkie said, smiling. "Well focus on the long-term health of the player." Embiid wont be Philadelphias only lottery pick sitting out next season. Croatian forward Dario Saric, the 10th overall pick, signed a three-year deal last week to play in Turkey. The Sixers hold the rights to the 6-foot-10, 230-pounder for the next three years, and it could be that long until he plays for Philly. By the time hes set to join the Sixers, the organization hoped a playoff berth would be within reach. Hinkie said the Noel-Embiid frontcourt will be a "menace" at the rim. Coach Brett Brown was already drawing up plays for the duo -- Xs and Os hell have plenty of time to perfect. "I do think that Joel and Nerlens can co-exist," Brown said. "I think I can find a way to play those two guys together. Its a really good problem to have." Hinkie credited Philly fans for their "patience and understanding" for another lean season where the best outcome would be a No. 1 draft pick and not a seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Outside of rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and veteran forward Thaddeus Young, the Sixers have few other credible players, and will likely stack the roster again with D-League castoffs and 10-day contract stopgaps. "Its not even close to demoralizing," Brown said. Brown tried his best at an optimistic spin on the seasons ahead. Knowing the security of three more years left on his contract makes it easier to wait for a project like Embiid. The versatile 7-foot Embiid had a fantastic freshman season with the Jayhawks, averaging 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds while blocking 72 shots to earn Big 12 defensive player of the year honours. Embiid, who grew up playing soccer and volleyball, only decided to pursue basketball a few years ago. He started to blossom as a senior at The Rock School and ultimately chose to attend Kansas, where he arrived with less fanfare than fellow freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden. Embiid hurt his back while landing awkwardly during a game late in the season, and missed the Jayhawks final two regular-season games and the Big 12 tournament. He also missed a victory over Eastern Kentucky and a season-ending loss to Stanford in the NCAA tournament, after which he said that he would have been able to play had Kansas advanced to the second weekend. Hinkie said the Sixers consulted various doctors and felt confident there was little long-term risk to his health once the foot healed. Embiid was projected as Clevelands No. 1 overall pick before the draft. The honour went to Wiggins. "In this scenario, and only this scenario, does he fall to three," Hinkie said. "If he can remain healthy, he can have a fantastic, fantastic NBA career." Notes: 76ers G Jason Richardson exercised the $6.6 million player option for next season and will return. The 7-foot C Byron Mullens declined his $1.1 million option and will become a free agent. Andrea Bargnani Jersey . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Alvin Robertson Jersey . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . Spezza scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes left and Stephane Da Costa had the other two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.WASHINGTON -- Playoffs or regular season, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been absolutely perfect the past three times he has faced Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. So what if the Rangers were struggling under first-year coach Alain Vigneault? Lundqvist felt good about his teams chances Wednesday night, then backed that up with his 46th NHL shutout in New Yorks 2-0 victory over Washington. "I felt like we came in here with a lot of confidence that we can beat them," the Swedish goalie said, "even though weve had a rough start." It was his third shutout in a row against familiar post-season foe Washington, including Games 6 and 7 of the teams first-round playoff series in May. New York and Washington have met in the playoffs four times in five years, splitting those series. "The games against the Rangers are always tight," Capitals forward Brooks Laich said. "We knew that going in. We knew it wasnt going to be a shootout." Lundqvist only needed to make 22 saves, thanks in part to 22 blocked shots by his teammates. By the end, Rangers fans in the crowd were chanting, "Hen-reek! Hen-reek!" "Tonight Hank was on, and we didnt give them a whole lot," said Brad Richards, who assisted on goals by Ryan Callahan and John Moore less than two minutes apart in the second period. One key sequence both teams pointed to came in the first period, when the Capitals had a 5-on-3 advantage for 55 seconds after hooking calls on Anton Stralman and Taylor Pyatt. One chance went awry when Ovechkin snapped his stick in two while trying to get off a shot. Another was wasted when some tic-tac-toe passing set up Joel Ward for a close-range, backdoor try, but he pushed the puck against the side of the net. "We had an empty net on the 5-on-3. We didnt bury it," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "Its a different ballgame if Wardo puts that in." Vigneault chose to credit his goalie after the Rangerss won for only the second time in six games this season. Fake Raptors Jerseys. Their season-opening road swing still has three more stops. "To go down 5-on-3 and get a couple of nice saves from Hank -- that sort of helped us get a little momentum," Vigneault said. Unable to generate much offence, even with their formidable power play, three-time NHL MVP Ovechkin and the Capitals fell to 2-5. The Capitals entered the night second in the NHL on the power play, at better than 35 per cent, but went 0 for 4. Ovechkin was credited with more than a third of his teams shots -- a game-high eight -- but didnt add to his goal total of six. "We have our chances out there and we just, to be honest with you, cant score," Ovechkin said. New York dominated the second period, outshooting Washington 21-6 and getting the puck past Braden Holtby. Moore scored his first goal of the season 12:05 into that period during 4-on-4 play, after Ovechkin was sent to the penalty box for slashing Derek Stepan during a short-handed breakaway. Callahan then knocked in his third of the season -- and third in two games -- by cutting across the crease to beat Ovechkin and defenceman John Carlson to Richards centring pass. "Our (defensive) zone, our neutral zone, everything was a lot more in sync," said Richards, who has four goals and three assists the past five games. "You could tell we were on the same page a lot more." Notes: New York lost its preceding three games by a combined 20-5. ... Rangers D Michael del Zotto was scratched because of illness. ... The Rangers wont play their first home game until Oct. 28 against the Montreal Canadiens, New Yorks latest home opener in a non-lockout season since 1947. ... New York LW Rick Nash missed a third consecutive game because of a head injury from a hit by San Joses Brad Stuart last week. Stuart was given a three-game suspension by the NHL. ... Washington D John Erskine sat out for a third game in a row, too. ' ' '