ee Davis hit Xaviers first 3-pointer, and Christ

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- For a franchise with a frustrating history of post-season flops, the latest collapse sent the San Jose Sharks to a new low. The Sharks became the fourth team in NHL history to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games, getting overwhelmed at home in a 5-1 loss in Game 7 on Wednesday night to start a pivotal off-season for a team looking to shed the label of playoff underachievers. "We obviously dont want to hear that kind of stuff, but what are we going to say? We were on the wrong side of history tonight," defenceman Brad Stuart said. "Its tough for us to argue with anything thats said. We let ourselves down, we let the fans down, we let everybody in our organization down. Its not a good feeling. Theres not really much else you can say about it." San Jose has the second most regular-season wins in the NHL the past 10 seasons but has never made it past the conference finals. There was the first-round loss to Anaheim in 2009 after posting the best record in the league in the regular season, second-round losses to inferior teams like Edmonton in 2006 and Dallas two years later, and three defeats in the conference final when that elusive Stanley Cup seemed so close. Yet this might have been the most bitter of all, considering it came against a fierce rival and after the Sharks looked so strong in taking a 3-0 series lead. "Every year you lose is pretty low, but this one is a type of series that will rip your heart out," forward Logan Couture said. "It hurts. Its going to be a long summer thinking about this one and what we let slip away." San Jose outscored the Kings 17-8 to win the first three games but was barely competitive in the final four contests. The Sharks were outscored 16-3 over the final 3 1/2 games to join Detroit (1942), Pittsburgh (1975) and Boston (2010) as the only teams to blow a 3-0 series lead. The only bright side might be that Detroit and Boston both won it all the year after their collapses. "Its just so disappointing that we were able to go up 3-0 and not find a way to have that killer instinct, to find a way to scrape and claw and win games like they did," Couture said. "Its tough saying it, but I think the better team won the series. They were better than us." The Sharks took the day off Thursday to regroup before going through the annual routine of exit meetings and cleanup on Friday where they will start looking for answers for why they fell short once again. Defenceman Dan Boyle might leave as a free agent and forward Marty Havlat could have the final year of his contract bought out. But the biggest questions will be about the status of coach Todd McLellan and general manager Doug Wilson. While the Sharks did a good job dealing with injuries to finish tied for the fourth-most points in the regular season, they couldnt get it done in the playoffs. "Im in charge, Im responsible for the group that performs on the ice," McLellan said. "I have to accept that responsibility. When we break down the series, Im not going to throw any individuals or group of individuals under the bus, because we lost it collectively. But Im responsible for that group." The biggest issue was the lack of production from the top players in the final four games. Captain Joe Thornton, linemate Brent Burns and Couture had no points in the final four games and Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski didnt have a goal or an assist in the last three. The power-play went 0-for-15 in the final three games, including four blown chances in the second period of Game 7 when the Sharks were either ahead or tied. It added up to a second straight Game 7 loss to the Kings. "We were a lot closer last year than we were this year," McLellan said. "Were kidding ourselves if we think we were closer this year, just because it went seven games. ... It wasnt even close. We had a core group of individuals that didnt get on the score sheet. Last year was a lot closer than it was this year." Kanken Backpack Sale . Mueller is the grandson of the late Ron Lancaster, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback and longtime head coach in the CFL. Last season, Mueller was quarterbacks coach of the University of Regina Rams, his alma mater. Fjallraven Kanken Backpack Cheap .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. http://www.fjallravenkankencheap.com/fja...anken-no-2.html. By then it was clear: The 76ers were going to win for the first time in two months, and they were going to do it with ease. The 76ers snapped their NBA record-tying, 26-game losing streak, routing the Detroit Pistons 123-98 on Saturday night to avoid establishing the longest skid in U. Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack Cheap . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were second with 77.01 points, just behind Olympic bronze medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The four-time world champs lead at 79. Kanken No 2 Sale . Western and the second-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (7-0) once again received 20 and 10 first-place votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, respectively. Rounding out the Top 10 are the Calgary Dinos (7-0), Queens Gaels (7-1), Guelph Gryphons (7-1), Montreal Carabins (5-2), Bishops Gaiters (5-2), McMaster Marauders (5-3), Manitoba Bisons (4-3) and the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3) Western crushed York 50-10 last Saturday in its league finale to secure first place in the OUA standings and a bye in the first round of the conference playoffs.DAYTON, Ohio -- Given a second chance, T.J. Warren put on a show in the NCAA tournament. The hard-to-guard sophomore forward scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half on Tuesday night, showing why he was the ACCs player of the year, and North Carolina State led most of the way in a 74-59 victory over Xavier in the NCAA tournaments First Four. N.C. State (22-12) didnt have much time to celebrate. The 12th-seeded Wolfpack headed to Orlando, Fla., for a game on Thursday against St. Louis in the Midwest Regional. Warren had the most to do with it. He made up for a freshman tournament flop on the same floor a year earlier and prevented Xavier (21-14) from getting any traction in the second half. "Hes just a great player," coach Mark Gottfried said. "Its hard to keep him down for a whole 40 minutes." Centre Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 19 points and nine rebounds despite an injured left knee. Leading scorer Semaj Christon was limited to 14 points, and Xavier made only 2 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. Xavier was playing in a familiar arena less than an hour from campus. Familiar, but not entirely friendly. Fans of the Dayton Flyers -- a long-time rival -- booed loudly as they took the court, making for a mixed welcome with a lot of Musketeer fans in the stands as well. Warren made it all a moot point, helping N.C. State take all the drama out of the game over the final 11 minutes. Ralston Turner added 17 points. The Wolfpack went six years between NCAA appearances before Gottfried got them there three years in a row. This was his youngest and least-experienced team: Only two players with tournament experience. They got one of the final at-large bids with a strong closing run, winning ffive of their last six games, including an upset of Syracuse in the ACC tournament.dddddddddddd. Warren was the key. And he really wanted a second chance at the NCAA tournament. As a freshman last year, he managed only four points as N.C. State lost to Temple 76-72 at the University of Dayton Arena in its opening game. Hes grown a lot in one year, leading the ACC with 24.8 points per game this season and hitting the 40-point mark twice. He got off to a bad start on Tuesday, missing his first two shots and picking up two fouls in the first 4 minutes, 14 seconds. Warren checked back into the game and hit a jumper for his first points at the 11:29 mark. Christon, who was Warrens roommate at Brewster Academy for one year, kept the Musketeers in it during the first half. He scored off two drives to the basket, starting an 8-1 run. Stainbrooks reverse layup trimmed it to 27-26 with 2:22 left. Jordan Vandenbergs three-point play gave N.C. State a 34-28 advantage at halftime. Dee Davis hit Xaviers first 3-pointer, and Christon scored on a fast-break lay-in that cut it to 39-37. Thats when Warren took over. He had a pair of pull-up jumpers, followed by a steal and a lay-up as N.C. State rebuilt the lead to 51-42. He had another pull-up jumper and a fast-break dunk that made it 57-47 with 7:56 to go. Xavier never got closer than seven points the rest of the way, fading down the stretch. The biggest question for Xavier was how Stainbrooks left knee would hold up. The Big Easts second-leading rebounder sprained a ligament, sat out the final regular season game and was extremely limited in two Big East conference games. He was back in form, but Xavier didnt have enough other scoring options to keep up. ' ' '