Allgemein » ed him to the bench.FAN SUPPORT: Dineen and several other K

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Phil Kessel returned to work on Friday hoping to talk about his blessedly short summer after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup in June.Instead, the forward ended up walking back a critical tweet about Team USA following its disappointing performance in the World Cup of Hockey. Kessel, the leading scorer for the Americans during the 2014 Winter Olympics, was not invited to join this time. While he said all the right things last spring after getting passed over, his frustration bubbled up while watching the U.S. lose to Canada on Tuesday.Just sitting around the house tonight w/my dog, Kessel posted on his account. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldnt put my finger on it.Kessel didnt delete the tweet even after some members of the U.S. team took exception. But he made clear on Friday, as the Penguins reported for training camp, that it wasnt a personal attack on the group that went winless in three games and failed to advance to the medal round.Obviously I meant no disrespect to any of the players, Kessel said. I have a ton of respect for all those guys there. I played with a lot of those guys. Theyre great players and great guys. I know this game is hard. I know its not an easy one to play.Kessel would rather focus on the 2016-17 season as the Penguins try to become the first team in nearly 20 years to repeat as champs. Hell spend the early days of camp seeing how his surgically repaired hand is responding after undergoing a minor procedure in July.Just going to take some time here, he said. Just kind of get back into it.Pittsburghs summer lasted all of 103 days, barely enough time to make sure everyone involved with the teams six-game victory over San Jose in the Stanley Cup Final got to enjoy some one-on-one time with their sports most valuable hardware.Its like we never left each other, defenseman Trevor Daley said. Looking around, didnt we just see each other the other day?Not that Daley is complaining. Theres a sweet reason for the short break, after all.Were the champs, obviously, Daley said with a laugh.Ones who insist theyre just as hungry as they were last spring, when they raced through the playoffs behind a mixture of speed, grit and the precocious goaltending of rookie Matt Murray. Pittsburgh did little to mess with its formula in free agency, keeping the core intact for what it hopes is another season that bleeds from spring until the edge of summer.Coach Mike Sullivan, however, is taking great pains during camp to keep his squad from getting complacent. He divvied the players into three groups hoping to keep things fresh.I think we have competitive guys by nature, Sullivan said. I think they like to compete. Its our job as coaches to put them in an environment where theyre allowed to compete. It took a lot of players for us to go through the playoff run that we did.Captain Sidney Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin are still in Toronto competing for their native countries in the World Cup. The two will meet in the semifinals on Saturday and are unlikely to return to their regular gig until the middle of next week. Their absence, however, will give others an opportunity to impress Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff.Whats exciting from our standpoint is that we have the type of depth that we have and we have players that are competing for jobs, literally, Sullivan said. Thats going to keep everyone at their best. That internal competition is a critical component to drive our team to the level that it was at last year.Pittsburgh opens the preseason on Tuesday in Detroit. The Penguins exhibition home opener is next Friday against Chicago.John Riggins Redskins Jersey . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Montez Sweat Youth Jersey .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Dexter-Manley-Jersey/ .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Russ Grimm Womens Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Clinton Portis Womens Jersey . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto.MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Kansas coach David Beaty is still waiting for that first celebration on the plane ride back home.Beaty was the receivers coach under Mark Mangino the last time the Jayhawks won a road game in 2009. When Beaty was named the teams head coach last season, he inherited a 30-game road losing streak.Kansas will try to summon the will to avoid that streak hitting 40 on Saturday at No. 14 West Virginia (6-1, 3-1 Big 12, No. 20 CFP).To have a chance, Beaty said his players must start fast because they tend to fade as the game goes on. The Jayhawks have been held under 10 points in two of their last three contests.Given our roster and just the amount of depth that we have, at times youre going to get wore down a little bit. We understand that, Beaty said.Despite the teams struggles, including a 56-3 loss at Oklahoma last week , Beaty said he is sticking with Montell Cozart as his starting quarterback. Cozart has thrown four interceptions in the past two weeks.The Jayhawks (1-7, 0-5) have lost 17 straight Big 12 games. Theyll have a chance to severely damage West Virginias conference title hopes.The Mountaineers are coming off their first loss , 37-20 at Oklahoma State. They still face No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 13 Baylor at home and Texas and Iowa State on the road.Coach Dana Holgorsen is simply looking for improvements on offense, no matter the opponent this week, after the Mountaineers were held to their second-lowest point total of the season against the Cowboys.We have to score, Holgorsen said. We just have to be in the right frame of mind, and we will be this Saturday.West Virginia has held four straight opponents to under 400 yards of offense after failing to do that in the first three games of the season. The Mountaineers have allowed 16 touchdowns all season, one less than Baylor.Im happy with where we are at, said West Virginia defensive coordinator TTony Gibson.dddddddddddd Being the defensive coach, I think whether it is conference titles, national titles, whatever it may be, thats the way you win championships. Were not talking about that in our building. Thats a long way away. We have to be able to beat Kansas, so we have to prepare to get ourselves ready to go.---Some other things to know as the Jayhawks and Mountaineers prepare to play at night:TURNOVER TROUBLES: Kansas is last in the nation in turnovers and next-to-last in turnover margin. West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard had a fumble and two interceptions against Oklahoma State after West Virginias offense had no turnovers in the two previous games.GIMPY SHELL: Last year at Kansas, West Virginia had three 100-yard rushers for the first time since 1969. One of those was Rushel Shell, who tweaked an ankle against Oklahoma State last week and is listed as day-to-day. Teammates Justin Crawford and freshman Kennedy McKoy are expected to get most of the carries again if Shell cant go.DINEEN OUT: Kansas linebacker Joe Dineen was declared done for the season this week with a hamstring injury. He played in the first three games before the injury relegated him to the bench.FAN SUPPORT: Dineen and several other Kansas players shaved their heads this week to support a 7-year-old boy with cancer. Cole Hayden, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called undifferentiated sarcoma, is the son of the teams academic and career counselor.BECHT BACK: Former West Virginia standout tight end Anthony Becht will return to Morgantown for the first time as a network color analyst. On Friday night he was scheduled to attend a roast in Morgantown for retired Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.orgCheap Jerseys [url=http://www.cheas