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And oh how the enigmatic goaltender shines in the spotlight, much to the chagrin of the league. Bryzgalov is just what the NHL hates: unique, outspoken, not from Red Deer. The embattled and well-traveled goaltender is the antithesis of the typical NHLer. His idiosyncrasies, strange even for a goalie, rankle the entire NHL establishment, from players to management to media to that guy who lives in the apartment below yours with his mother who has a "prominent Predators blog." And as Bryz adds some animation to the typically lifeless NHL discourse in his return to centre scrum, its interesting to consider why hockey hates him so. [Getty Images] For much of his career, Bryzgalov and his delightfully absurd aloofness was left to the bliss of the uncovered hinterland of the NHL. He was allowed to ply his trade in Anaheim and Phoenix with relatively little attention paid. But, in league circles, his oddities were well known, and even celebrated when the media required moments of levity. But upon his arrival in hockey hotbed, and noted goalie-killer Philadelphia, the affection the league had for Bryzgalov turned quickly to venom. His play certainly didnt help, but many an average NHLer with a slight sense of humour has been left to his own devices. But Bryzgalovs appalling strangeness in the eyes of the hockey establishment, a sinister outfit run by old white men housed in a secret lair below the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, made him a pariah, and nearly led to the end of his career. And by "end of career" I mean playing in Edmonton. Perhaps no player has incurred the wrath of the NHL like the man the Wild acquired as insurance, and who is now their last hope to extend the season. But why? Unfortunately, hockey lacks Bryzgalovs. Of the four major sports leagues, it by far eschews personality and flavour more than all others. Hell, out of any sport it certainly boasts the most boring membership. No interview is less interesting than conversations with hockey players. Vanilla mocks the rabid blandness of NHLers. And those in NHL circles who do have personalities, like Sean Avery, Ted Nolan, or P.K. Subban, find themselves ostracized from the community, or like Subban unfairly labeled as troublesome on and off the ice. One would think a league that has struggled to find a market against its more successful sports brethren would embrace personality, but thats not the hockey way. Bryzgalov is more than a goalie, more than a hockey player. Hes a genuinely interesting and interested person. He has big questions. Like, "Im very into the universe, you know like how was created, you know, like, what is it, you know? Solar system is so humongous big, right? But if you see like our solar system and our galaxy on the side, you know, like, were so small you can never see it. Our galaxy is like huge, but if you see the big picture our galaxy (is) like a small tiny-like dot in the universe." Bryz is the opposite of boring. [HBO] But hockey is a factory of boring. The sport grabs youngsters at an early age, sends them to cosmopolitan metropoli like Chicoutimi, Lethbridge, and North Bay, and where representatives of the old boys club teach them to lack in colour and dissenting opinion. There must be courses in stock answers and cliché given to aspiring NHLers, lest they find some horrific off-ice personality. One can imagine a factory churning out 62 defencemen and gritty fourth line centres somewhere outside of Medicine Hat whose only answers are limited to: • Gotta play all three periods and go hard into the boards. • Its the coachs decision. • I enjoy CBCs Heartland. Unfortunately, this formulaic tendency has corrupted on-ice play as well. In the past quarter century weve seen the game become more systems-based, removing individuality and scoring from the game. (Lets call this Lou Lamoriellos fault.)Hockey enjoys being the definition of innocuous. What it finds funny, or interesting, is in the Jeremy Roenicks of its world, a sort of low brow, low risk comedy that makes Canadian sitcoms look like the bastard children of Louis CK and Sarah Silverman. And that affection for the benign has lowered scoring, homogenized the product, and made beat reporters quest for an interesting quote an exercise in futility. Bryzgalov is the kind of guy you like to keep in your pocket and take out at parties. He was the star of HBOs24/7, an ambitious show that tries to find intrigue in NHL locker rooms.His personality is as endearing as it playful. Hes intelligent, well read, and happy to speak on any subject. And the NHL hates him for it. This is a man who when asked if he feared the powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins before a playoff matchup with his Flyers responded, "Im not afraid of anything – except bear. But bear in the forest." Whats not to love? The pundits cited his personality as one of the reasons he failed in Philly, despite the fact that the Flyers organization is a wasteland for goalies whose failures have been the result of a flawed organizational concept as opposed to a Russian who enjoys tea and literature. Whats most painfully difficult to entertain in this NHL with a hatred of the entertaining is the notion that there arent more personalities like Bryzgalov. The difference with Bryz is that he shares his self with the world. I cant even describe the weird that my peers tend towards in the privacy of dark corners of Montreal bars, so one cant be naïve enough to believe that similarly intriguing oddity doesnt exist in NHL locker rooms. NHLers are only permitted to show their game face, or as Bryz puts it, "You know, I have many faces … masks. In home, I have one face. Public, I have other face. Uh … ahhhh, on ice I have different face. Day off I have four face. With you [media] I have fifth face." The tradition of the league has implemented a gag order upon its membership, which limits both its on- and off-ice products. The marketing of contemporary sport is about personality. Its what makes the moments between on-field greatness interesting. Chad Johnson, Dennis Rodman, or Steve Lyons would never be allowed to exist in the NHL. From a young age, their personalities would never be given the chance to blossom into anything other than milquetoast. Bryzgalov once said, "OK, they fire the puck from the blue line. Chief usually yelling block the shot at the defensemen. They doesnt have the goalie gear, but they have to block the shot. So who is more crazy, me or the defencemen? Who is more weird?" No one, Bryz. No one. And thats a shame. For both the sport and its fans. This is likely his last few weeks as an NHL goaltender. And then exit Bryzgalov, pursued by bear. Cheap Yeezy Shoes For Sale . In the opening game of his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, the owner of 17 major titles got passed at the net twice, sailed a backhand long, then missed two forehands to get broken. Real Cheap Yeezys . They were expecting him there all along. The Pacers announced Friday night that George has been cleared "to return to normal basketball activity," a decision made three days after he was concussed in Game 2 of the Indiana-Miami series. http://www.discountyeezy.com/ . They wanna make t-shirts about it and sell them at our next hockey game..DB: Wow, they want to make t-shirts? That sounds pretty amazing.MS: Yeah, I was also on the Top 10, I was number 1 today, so that was pretty cool. Yeezy Wholesale Authentic . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. Cheap Yeezys For Sale .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre.NEW YORK -- Yankee Stadium is already a home run haven for Wil Myers -- whether he hits the ball over the fence or not. Myers had an inside-the-park homer, his latest big blow against the New York Yankees, and drove in four runs as the Tampa Bay Rays battered an ineffective CC Sabathia in a 5-1 victory Sunday. Erik Bedard earned his first win as a starter since last June, and Evan Longoria had an early RBI double to help the Rays finish 5-5 on a trying trip that included a doubleheader sweep Thursday in Boston and a 14-inning win Friday night in New York. "One of the best weve ever had," manager Joe Maddon said. "We talked about the possibility of getting a little bit of a bump from the three games in Boston. Apparently, we have." Desmond Jennings, who homered in his previous three games, had three hits and Logan Forsythe scored twice. Tampa Bay has taken consecutive series for the first time this season, and won eight of its last 10 games in the Bronx. Myers knocked in three runs with his homer off the top of the centre-field fence and then chased Sabathia with a ringing RBI double in the fourth. Asked if he remembered the previous time he hit an inside-the-park homer, Myers said: "I dont know. Not since I was 8?" The struggling Sabathia (3-4) gave up 10 hits and five runs in 3 2-3 innings, his shortest start since lasting 2 2-3 innings on Oct. 2, 2009, at Tampa Bay. He was late covering first on a potential double play and got booed during an outing that raised his ERA to 5.75. "I would have booed myself today, too. I wouldnt want to come to the ballpark and watch that," Sabathia said. Peyton Manning and his brother, Eli, showed up to watch buddy Derek Jeter play one last time during his final season. The star quarterbacks sat in Jeters suite along the first base line but didnt see much of a show -- a slumping Jeter went 0 for 4 and stranded four runners. He was 4 for 30 (.133) on New Yorks 3-5 homestand and is hitless in 13 at-bats. Bedard (1-1) pitched six-plus effective innings for his first win as a starter since June 26 for Houston against St. Louis. He had been 0-9 in 15 starts since, though he did win in relief on Sept. 4 against Minnesota. "I didnt realize how long its been," Bedard said. "But yeah, its nice." Forsythe, the first batter Sabathia faced, doubled off the wall in left and scored on Longorias ground-rule double to right. "HHe was out of sync from the get-go," Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said.dddddddddddd "He didnt warm up particularly well. I was kind of watching to see what we could do, but there wasnt much." With runners at first and second in the third, Myers sent a long drive to right-centre beyond the reach of Jacoby Ellsbury. The ball hit the top of the wall near the 385-foot sign, caromed off a leaping Ellsbury and rolled away along the warning track. Last seasons AL Rookie of the Year jogged out of the batters box, then turned it on while rounding first base. He scored standing up without a play after second baseman Yangervis Solarte couldnt handle a one-hop throw from right fielder Carlos Beltran, who was late backing up. "Off the bat, I thought it was gone," Myers said. "Wasnt stoppin. Wasnt stoppin." It was Tampa Bays 11th inside-the-park homer and first since Ben Zobrists against Toronto at Tropicana Field on Sept. 25, 2011. The previous player to hit an inside-the-park home run at Yankee Stadium was Jeter against Kansas City on July 22, 2010, according to STATS. Myers also homered Saturday and had a tiebreaking single in the 14th inning of the series opener Friday night. He has hit safely in all 13 of his games at Yankee Stadium, the longest streak to start a career at the new or old versions of the ballpark. Myers is batting .375 with four homers and 14 RBIs in seven games against New York this season -- compared to .202 with no homers and four RBIs against everyone else. Seven of his 17 career homers have come against the Yankees. Solarte tied it at 1 with a sacrifice fly in the second, but it was all Rays after that. Jake McGee, Joel Peralta and Grant Balfour finished with scoreless relief. "We didnt really hit at all," Yankees cleanup man Mark Teixeira said. "That was a pretty lacklustre performance all the way around." Alfredo Aceves, called up from the minors Saturday, relieved Sabathia and pitched shutout ball the rest of the way, saving New Yorks bullpen. NOTES: Maddon rested the slumping Zobrist to give him consecutive days off, including Mondays off day. Tampa Bay opens a six-game homestand Tuesday night against Baltimore. ... Longoria made his first start of the season at DH, with Forsythe replacing him at third base. ... Yankees INF Brendan Ryan (spine) is close to coming off the DL, manager Joe Girardi said. ' ' '