Gaming History » Bylsma and the rest of the staff gets another

UMAG, Croatia -- Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay upset sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday to become the first qualifier to reach the Croatia Open quarterfinals in seven years. Also, a local wild card, Borna Coric, last years Junior U.S. Open champion, beat qualifier Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 7-6 (4), 6-3 to join Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals, the first time since 2002 two Croats have gone so far in Umag. In another upset, fourth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal, who lost to Cuevas in the Bastad final two weeks ago, fell to Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fabio Fognini of Italy stayed true to his top seeding by beating Albert Montanes of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-0. Fognini, the 2013 runner-up lost only three points in the 20-minute second set. Cuevas, riding the confidence of his maiden title in Sweden, didnt drop serve, played patiently from the baseline, and pushed Seppi into unforced errors. Seppi failed to convert three break points while trailing 5-3 in the first set, and never recovered. He won the first game of the second set, then lost the next six, winning only four points on Cuevas serve. Cuevas will play Gabashvili on Friday, after the Russian came from a set and a break down to beat Sousa, a rising star on the tour. The 17-year-old Coric earned his first win on tour only on Monday, and needed three chances to finish off Zeballos. Coric will face Fognini in the quarterfinals. Cheap Nike Zoom Shoes China . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement. Cheap Nike Zoom Shoes Free Shipping Worldwide .com) - The Winnipeg Jets placed defenceman Paul Postma on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.cheapnikezoom.com/ . The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. Nike Zoom Shoes Buy Online . The 7-foot-1 Hawes, who is in the final year of his contract, is averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds, both career highs, and shoots 40 per cent from 3-point range. The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season. Nike Zoom Wholesale . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week.PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Ray Shero as general manager eight years ago with the mandate to build a roster around two of the games brightest stars and turn ticker-tape parades through downtown into an annual rite of spring. Nearly a decade -- but just one Stanley Cup later -- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin find themselves on a perennially underachieving team. And Shero finds himself out of a job. The Penguins fired Shero on Friday, three days after another early playoff exit, this one a seven-game loss to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Coach Dan Bylsma remains in charge until Sheros replacement gets a chance to evaluate the entire organization top to bottom. "We share the disappointment of our fans that we have not had success in the playoffs over the past five seasons," co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a joint statement. "We believe that new leadership in the general managers office will bring a new approach and new energy, and help us return to championship form." Assistant general manager Jason Botterill will serve as general manager on an interim basis. Penguins President and CEO David Morehouse called Botterill a candidate to take over and believes whomever the team brings in wont need to make major changes on a club that won 51 games in 2013-14. "Its not a complete rebuild," Morehouse said. "This is a team that has had a level of success. What were trying to do now is get from good to great." Its a destination the Penguins reached only briefly during Sheros tenure, spending most of the time in a murky middle ground that made them one of the leagues model franchises during the regular season but a symbol of disappointment once the calendar crept into May and beyond. Pittsburgh won the franchises third Cup in 2009 but has failed to produce a bookend. Pittsburgh is just 4-5 in playoff series over the last five years after blowing a 3-1 series lead against New York. Morehouse didnt blame the 51-year-old Sheros ouster on one specific misstep. "This is a decision thats been in the works for a long time since weve won the Cup," Morehouse said. "We wanted to get back to the Stanley Cup finals and we havent and were going to make some changes." The Penguins brought Shero in before the 2006-07 season and tasked him with finding the right kind of players to complement Crosby and Malkins otherworldly offensive talent. It culminated on a giddy night in Detroit in 2009, when the Penguins edged the Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 to earn the franchises third Cup, a run that included the crucial trade deadline acquisitions of forwards Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin. It was supposed to mark the beginning of a dyynasty.dddddddddddd. Yet five seasons have come and gone with the Penguins in a familiar position: watching the final stages of the playoffs go on without them. It hasnt been for lack of trying. Shero remained aggressive in investing in a "win now" mode as the ensuing disappointments piled up. He enthusiastically said the Penguins were "all in" last year after trading for Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray. The moves often created headlines but little else, and boatloads of regular-season victories and a sellout streak seven years and counting proved no longer good enough. Whether Bylsma will be along for the ride remains unclear. The affable, open-minded Michigan native was a revelation when the Penguins promoted him from their American Hockey League affiliate in the spring of 2009, hoping his optimism would help a loaded team break out of a midseason funk. It worked brilliantly. Four months after taking the job, the former NHL nomad who spent nine seasons as a gritty fourth-line forward was raising the Cup in ecstasy. Considering Crosby and Malkin were both in their early 20s at the time, champagne toasts were expected. A half-decade later, Bylsma is the winningest coach in franchise history with 252 wins but the wait for another Cup run continues. While Pittsburgh enjoyed nearly unparalleled success from October to April -- including easily capturing the Metropolitan Division this year despite losing more than 500-man games to injury -- the Penguins again struggled to adapt in the post-season. Morehouse said the new general manager will determine whether Bylsma and the rest of the staff gets another shot. The 43-year-old Bylsma has two years remaining on his contract, the product of an extension he received last June as a vote of confidence from Shero following a four-game sweep at the hands of Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. The deal came with a promise to adopt a more defensive-minded approach. The Penguins even brought in longtime NHL coach Jacques Martin as an assistant, an old-school yin to Bylsmas new-school yang. Crosby took the blame for the teams underperformance as the Penguins cleared out their locker on Thursday. A day later the general manager ordered to put the leagues leading scorer in a position to keep Pittsburgh at the top was cleaning out his office. Whoever ends up redecorating will have his tough choices to make. At the same time, he gets to start with Crosby and Malkin firmly entrenched. Both players are signed through the rest of the decade. There are worse places to start. "A lot of teams would like to be where we are," Morehouse said. "However we do have high expectations and we do want to get to them." ' ' '