g of this World Cup final. Perhaps that has to do with the

After three weeks of football you are at the point as a team where you understand what you do well and what you need to improve upon as fast as possible. And thats never so clear right now than in Montreal. On special teams, not bad, defence pretty good, but this years Alouettes have major problems moving the ball when they have the ball. Now I will be the first one to say that the quality of the players is why teams win or lose. But good coaching by design and teaching can make a big difference. How else do you explain the fact that it is almost the identical personnel from last year to this year yet last years offence was amazingly productive and this years is amazingly inefficient? The opening drive for Montreal went for 11 plays, 81 yards, six-and-a-half minutes off the clock and a touchdown. But that was it. For after that blur of success the two-and-out plays became the consistency. So what has to happen? Kinda simple. Either the Als players have to adapt and master the offence run in Montreal or the Als offensive staff has to adapt to the players on offence and run what has worked for the players in the past. In college football it is a one-way street. The coach and coaches have a system in all three levels of football that they believe works because of previous success and the players run that system. Pro football is a bit different. There is more give and take, more communication to create success based on a coaching philosophy and the players ideas. Now I am not saying to run the Marc Trestman offence in full right now for the rest of the season. But I am saying what you have now is not working so it is time to incorporate some of it based on your Hall of Fame quarterbacks success experiences. With Calgary, two aspects of football became conversation points. First, how about Brad Sinopoli. A three-year quarterback becomes a productive receiver. These things dont happen very often and its significant as Sinopoli was looking at an experience of football at quarterback, now he has a chance for a career as a wide receiver. The second is Kevin Glenn or Drew Tate? Three injuries in a season plus two games has to be a concern for Tate. And its an opportunity for Glenn. It may be time for Glenn to take over the show. It will be time if Tate comes back and plays again yet cant finish a game he begins as a quarterback. Montreal has problems, Calgary has solved a few, Saskatchewan has none. I thought, okay, home opener in Edmonton a definite win as the Eskimos had made so many changes. Then Week 2 back home, Taylor Field, all that energy, definite win even though Calgary had played so well before. Then Week 3, on the road, Dome in Toronto, Argos coming off loss: no way. Boy was I wrong. Between Durant, Sheets, Dressler and others the Riders took the game over in the last three quarters. No doubt the Jamie Robinson interception for a touchdown that became a pass interference penalty changed the game, but so did Kory Sheets and his 178 yards rushing. The Riders have the Ticats home and away and football logic says they may be 5-0 going into their sixth game at Calgary with the Bye week before. Is Toronto a good 1-2 team or a team with a long way to go? I lean toward the latter, a team with a lot to improve upon. Two rookie players side-by-side on defence in Robinson at corner back and Jackson at defensive back have to improve fast for Toronto to activate the dominance they had last year. Two rookies side-by-side is a big risk that did not work out last Thursday night. With Winnipeg at Hamilton in Guelph, for Hamilton to win with two games against Saskatchewan on the horizon was immense. Could you imagine going to Regina at 0-3 as compared to 1-2? Better pass rush and better running game with Chevon Walker. Hes not just fast but can make people miss in tight areas. Walker can only get better and should remain the starter. Yet, a week ago it was Hugh Charles with a long touchdown run and last Saturday it was Chad Simpson with the same against the Tiger-Cats. And pass protection must improve as Winnipeg has seven more quarterback sacks. With 24 of 42 players either in their first of second year of CFL football, here in 2013 the Ticats are going through a gigantic learning process. How fast the new players learn and adapt will determine a good or difficult season. Now Winnipeg, well I thought it was more of Montreals inability than Winnipegs ability on defence that led to last weeks win. Kind of proven true this week. Still here is the list of special team mistakes for the Bombers in Week 3. 1. Mishandled snap on extra point. 2. Two kick-offs out of bounds that gave Hamilton the ball on the 45. 3. No yards penalty 4. A single on a misplayed Ticat kick-off. 5. Too many men on an extra point (declined). 6. Fake punt that lead to Ticats interception. That for the Bombers has to change and will by Friday night vs. Toronto and knowing Craig Dickenson as special teams coach, it will. Final game to be honest with you was a tough game to watch. Monsoon #2 for Edmonton which means not the best opportunity for quarterback Mike Reilly to excel and improve. B.C. slowly but surely took the game over the longer the game went on and will play Edmonton next week but this one will be in the dome in Vancouver so no rain anticipated. Edmonton missed Marcus Howard and Fred Stamps as both did not play but the issue is Edmonton scored only three points. Was it a good BC defence or poor Eskimo offence? Probably a bit of both. Another issue is the second blocked punt in two games allowed by Edmonton. As GM Ed Hervey said earlier in the week, "we are rebuilding." After three weeks of football teams now have three weeks of game film on all players. Now going into the fourth week, the question is: do we have the right players? And next week, that will be the question I try to answer. Wesley Matthews Bucks Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Cameron Reynolds Bucks Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. https://www.bucksrookiesshop.com/Frank-Mason-City-Edition-Jersey/ . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. George Hill Bucks Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. Eric Bledsoe Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. TORONTO -- Team Canada fought off its poorest performance of the World Cup of Hockey and found a way to edge Europe 3-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-three final Tuesday night.A masterpiece this was not.Whether it was because the Air Canada Centre was lifeless and the players got spooked, or perhaps the Canadians had trouble getting fired up to face a Europe team that had never existed before this tournament, the Olympic champions looked unmotivated at times, were sloppy with the puck, and lacked the kind of four-line cohesion we had seen since the start of the tournament.And yet perhaps it just goes to show the disparity in talent between these two teams: Europe played a strong game Tuesday night, while Canada played well below its potential -- and still the result went in favor of the favorites.Carey Price had something to do with that. The 2014-15 Hart and Vezina Trophy winner made a number of difficult saves to keep Europe at bay.Its a also a reminder of how daunting it is to beat this Canadian side, which has now gone 11-0 since the start of the 2014 Sochi Olympics (and won 15 consecutive games in best-on-best hockey dating back to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010). Even when a team is able to finally wrestle the puck away from Team Canada and generate chances, like Europe did plenty of times on Tuesday night, it finds the best goalie in the world waiting for them. Its almost not fair.Brad Marchand and Steven Stamkos scored in the opening frame for Canada, but Europes?Tomas Tatar?made things interesting with a second-period goal for Europe.Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock looked none too pleased as the second period played itself out, Canada easily playing its worst 20 minutes of the tournament.Bergerons third-period tally -- how great has that Sidney Crosby unit been? -- ended the suspense.The crowd certainly didnt help. There were empty seats throughout the rink eveen though officially it was a sellout, which means lots of people paid for tickets but had better things to do on this night.dddddddddddd Its worth noting the Toronto Blue Jays, trying to cement a wild-card spot in the final week of the baseball season, were opening a series with AL East rival Baltimore just down the street.The point was hammered home during a TV timeout when the giant scoreboard in the Air Canada Centre showed Mario Lemieuxs winning goal from the deciding game of the 1987 Canada Cup final, the crowd at Copps Coliseum that night in Hamilton absolutely delirious. It was electric.You got absolutely none of that on this night in the opening of this World Cup final. Perhaps that has to do with the opposition. Team Europe is a terrific story, but lets not kid ourselves, its hard for Canadian hockey fans to muster much animosity for a team that didnt exist before this tournament.Of course, had Europe prevailed on this night, that might have added all kinds of intrigue in this final. Maybe the Europeans can pull it off Thursday night in Game 2. But I suspect Team Canada, after a talking-to from Babcock, will be much better and energized to end the tournament.Three stars1.?Carey Price, G, Team Canada: Rarely during this Team Canada run that dates back to Sochi has the Montreal Canadiens star had to make the difference, but he certainly did on this night. Canada needed him. And he delivered with his usual poise and confidence.2.?Anze Kopitar, C, Team Europe: The Los Angeles Kings captain was all over the puck, having an impactful night that gave Canada fits.3.?Patrice Bergeron, RW, Team Canada: Had a beauty of an assist in setting up the opening goal and then scored the back-breaker midway through the third period to cement the win. ' ' '