Dein erstes Forum » second place in the Eastern Conference, just

This Fourth of July for the Minnesota Wild was a little less eventful than the last. Still, the Wild made another holiday splash by bringing in more help for their blue line. The Wild announced Thursday they agreed to terms on a two-year contract with defenceman Keith Ballard, who was available after being let go by Vancouver earlier this week with a compliance buyout to clear space under the salary cap. The Wild said paperwork for Ballards deal would be filed Friday, when the free agent market opens. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported Ballards contract is worth $3 million. He was scheduled to make $4.2 million in each of the final two seasons of his previous deal with the Canucks. The 30-year-old Ballard managed just two assists in 36 games for Vancouver in 2013. Over three seasons there since being acquired in a draft-day trade in 2010 with Florida, Ballard had only 16 points in 148 games. He was hindered by several injuries. Before that, though, the former University of Minnesota star was far more productive. Over five seasons with Phoenix and Florida, he averaged nearly 30 points while playing in 97 per cent of the games. As a rookie with the Coyotes in 2005-06, Ballard had eight goals and 31 assists and played in all 82 games. In his first year with the Panthers in 2008-09, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Ballard had six goals and 28 goals with a plus-14 rating while again playing all 82 games. Ballard will essentially replace defenceman Tom Gilbert, another local guy, who was dumped by the Wild with a compliance buyout this week. Ballard is from Baudette, Minn., on the Canadian border. He won two NCAA championships in his career with the Gophers. Another Minnesotan, centre Matt Cullen, will be moving on as the Wilds most prominent unrestricted free agent. Cullen told the Star Tribune that Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher informed him he couldnt offer him a fair contract given the teams cap constraints. Brian Elliott Flyers Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/jaromir-jagr-jersey/ . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Eric Lindros Flyers Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Eric Lindros Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Teams headed in opposite directions collide Sunday, when the last-place Chicago Fire host the surging New York Red Bulls.The Fire (4-10-5) are looking for any type of spark to bounce back from a dismal first half of the season. A win over what coach Veljko Paunovic believes is the best team in MLS would certainly fit the bill.I would say performance-wise (they are) the best team because the style they play is fantastic, Paunovic said of the Red Bulls. I think they have very good players. I think its going to be tough. Theyre in a good mood after winning the derby at home against New York City FC ... so its going to be tough for us.New York (9-9-4) sits in second place in the Eastern Conference, just two points out of first place. The Red Bulls are coming off an impressive 4-1 win over first-place New York City FC.Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who leads MLS with 12 assists, including five game-winning assists, had two assists and scored a goal, and Bradley Wright-Phillipss had two goals in the win.ddddddddddddhe Red Bulls are looking for more luck on the road this season, going 1-7-3 away from Red Bull Arena. And the Fire have been solid at home and are on a 5-0-3 run at Toyota Park dating back to April.Its important to stay strong at home and its important for our fans to see that we can compete against one of the best teams in the league here at our field with all our fans, Paunovic said. We expect a great atmosphere. We expect that the fans are going to be even better than in the last games, and we appreciate all our fans that have been through all this the last couple of months where everything was tough for us, and they were supporting us.This will be the second meeting of the season between the Red Bulls and Fire. New York blanked Chicago 1-0 on May 18, with Mike Grella delivering the winner for the Red Bulls. ' ' '