Lob & Kritik » back from knee and groin injuries, is

PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford is expected to miss up to three weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Saturday, forcing him to miss his scheduled start against the Philadelphia Flyers.His procedure went pretty well today; hes probably going to be out two to three weeks, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Chicagos 3-1 loss. Thanks to our medical staff and the Flyers medical staff today, they did a great job of helping us out.Crawford, 31, led the Blackhawks to Stanley Cups in 2013 and 2015. Before Saturday, he had started in 20 of the Blackhawks 25 games, going 12-6-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and two shutouts. He ranked second among NHL goalies in wins.With Crawford unavailable, the Blackhawks inserted backup Scott Darling as their starter against the Flyers and signed 23-year-old Eric Semorski to an amateur tryout contract.Darling allowed three goals on 30 shots in the loss. He fell to 4-1-1 and is expected to start most of Chicagos games leading up to Christmas.Its a huge loss, Darling said. Hes the best goalie in the league. He and Carey Price are in a category of their own. Hes been great every night and great for us all year. Hes also a great guy, one of the boys. We missed him in the room today for sure. I hope hes getting better.Hes a good friend, and I want him to be well and be able to play to help the team.Semorski is from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in Philadelphia. He was a goaltender for the Temple University club team and played for the Empire Junior Hockey Leagues Jersey Wildcats in 2010-11.Semorski said he received a phone call from the Flyers a little after 11 a.m. and arrived at the Wells Fargo Center around 12:30 for the 1 p.m. game.I hit some traffic, of course, but I got here as fast as I could in my street clothes, Semorski said. No time to put on a tie.Quenneville said he thought about putting Semorski into the game after the Flyers scored the goals in the second period.You almost saw it, the coach said with a smile.Said Semorski: That probably would have been a mistake.Semorski said that if the Flyers had scored into the empty net near the end of regulation, Quenneville would have inserted him into the net for the final seconds.That would have been so cool, Semorski said. But I wouldnt change a thing. The experience was awesome. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Kareem-Martin-Jersey/ . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Hoodie/ . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Larry-Fitzgerald-Jersey/ .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Phil-Dawson-Jersey/ . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Corey-Peters-Jersey/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. CHICAGO -- The loaded Chicago Cubs are going to have to make some difficult decisions when they set their postseason roster.From pitcher Jason Hammels perspective, its a matter of making it as tough on them as possible.Hammel tossed seven solid innings and Dexter Fowler hit a tiebreaking single during Chicagos three-run seventh, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.This team continues to prove as long as you hang around for a little while theyre going to put up something, Hammel said. Theyll make it exciting, so kudos to those guys (for) putting some good at-bats together late.Hammel (15-9) allowed two runs and four hits during his best outing in a month, improving to 7-0 with 0.98 ERA in his last seven home starts. The right-hander had been struggling of late, going 1-4 with an 8.61 ERA in his previous five starts overall.Hammels performance gave the franchise four pitchers with at least 15 wins for the first time since 1935. It looks as if Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and Jake Arrieta are playoff-rotation locks for the NL Central champions and John Lackey has the pole position for the fourth spot, leaving Hammel in limbo as the season winds down.Weve got a good collective group here and their decisions are going to be really hard, Hammel said, so were just going to continue to do what we do, individually do our work and show up and play and then theyll put the best team out there whenever it is.Jason Heyward added a two-run homer in the eighth as the Cubs moved seven games ahead of Washington for the best record in the National League, lowering their magic number for clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs to five. Thats the only major goal still out there during the regular season for major league-leading Chicago after it secured the division title last week.Brandon Phillips homered for last-place Cincinnati, which has lost five of six. Joey Votto went 2 for 3 with an RBI single and a walk, increasing his batting average since the All-Star break to .416.The Reds allowed three more homers to run their season total to 242, breaking the major league record of 241 belonging to the 1996 Detroit Tigers.We just have to be better in commanding the zone, manager Bryan Price said. And I make it sounnd simple; its not.ddddddddddddWe certainly have to improve the quality of the talent. Weve got to be able to get guys that can get the ball on the ground more often than we have this year.The Cubs (95-55) were coming off a lackluster series against the Brewers, dropping three of four while celebrating their division title, and manager Joe Maddon met with his hitters before facing the Reds to talk to them about making the most of the final part of the season.There was no sign of any carry-over from the meeting before Addison Russell led off the seventh with a drive to left for his 21st homer. Willson Contreras crushed another homer with one out, tying it at 2 and chasing Tim Adleman from the longest start of his rookie year.Chris Coghlan greeted Blake Wood (6-4) with a double to right. After pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella popped out, Fowler made it 3-2 with his only hit of the game.Dexter two-out knock right there is kind of spectacular, Maddon said.Hector Rondon worked the eighth before Aroldis Chapman finished for his 15th save with the Cubs and 35th on the year. It was Chapmans first career appearance against Cincinnati, which traded the hard-throwing closer to the New York Yankees last December.PACKING THEM INThe paid attendance of 39,251 ran the Cubs season total to 3,028,965 with five home games left in the regular season. Its the franchises first time drawing more than 3 million since 2011, and the ninth time at Wrigley Field overall.TRAINERS ROOMReds: RHP Homer Bailey (biceps) is scheduled for another bullpen session Wednesday. Its still possible that hell make a start or two before the year is out, Price said.Cubs: OF Jorge Soler (tightness on his right side) could be available to pinch hit on Tuesday, according to Maddon. ... Right-handed reliever Pedro Strop, who is coming back from knee and groin injuries, is on track to pitch in a simulated game soon.UP NEXTCubs LHP Jon Lester (17-4, 2.40 ERA) faces Reds RHP Josh Smith (3-1, 4.97) on Tuesday night. Lester is 8-0 with a 1.47 ERA in his last 11 starts. Smith is making his first start of the season.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '