Justin Fuente doesnt seem to be hitting the panic button just yet after nine Virginia Tech fumbles in the first two games, but the first-year coach of the Hokies knows his teams ball control needs to dramatically improve.The Hokies (1-1) overcame four fumbles in their opening victory against Liberty, but werent able to do the same when they coughed it up five times against 15th-ranked Tennessee last week. The Vols rolled to a 45-24 victory.The Hokies begin Atlantic Coast Conference play at home against Boston College (1-1) on Saturday.I would say were fumbling the ball too much. Thats a fact, Fuente said. We must -- its not an option -- get that fixed. That is a result of several things. We have to do a better job technically.Looking at the last two games, when we talked about it with the team yesterday, theres some technical things there that weve got to get cleaned up, some emphasis that weve got to do a better job. Theres a little bit of toughness and selflessness that goes into holding on to the football that we havent had, he said.The Hokies fumbled 16 times all of last season, but lost just seven.Quarterback Jerod Evans has thrown five touchdown passes in two games, but has also fumbled the ball away three times. A fourth fumble came when center Kyle Chung snapped the ball over Evans head for a 21-yard loss.That fumble, and two others, came inside the Hokies 10 yard-line, setting up short touchdown drives. Another was returned 71 yards for a touchdown by Alpha Jalloh in Virginia Techs season-opening victory against Liberty.Against Tennessee, a botched handoff to C.J. Carroll on a jet sweep led to a recovery for the Vols at the Hokies 5. Virginia Tech led 14-0 at the time, but Tennessee converted with a touchdown, the first of their 31 unanswered points.You do have every once in a while those occasions where you hold on to the ball and no matter what the defensive player just puts his hand in the right place and the ball, Evans said. And then you have those cases where weve been having, where were not thinking about it a lot and were thinking about making extra effort plays that were not actually thinking about protecting that ball.We just have to make a conscious effort to protect the ball more than getting those extra two or three yards, if thats the case. If thats not the case, then get those two or three yards but definitely we have to make a better effort, consciously, to protect the ball.The Hokies have switched to a more up-tempo offense under Fuente, but he doesnt view that as an issue.When I look at it, I see it as kind of what we talked about, he said. Theres some technique involved and ... weve got to be less selfish and more selfless and a little bit tougher. I see this as weve got to do a better job. You could go back to say if you have a better chance to fumble the football if you have 90 plays as opposed to 60 plays. Thats obvious. But I dont see that as a deal. It hasnt been in the past.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjrStitched Flames Jerseys . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Flames Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. 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Less than two weeks after winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, Stalberg signed a four-year, $12 million contract to join Nashville as part of the Predators uncharacteristic free-agent spending spree. The Predators are counting on Stalberg to boost an offence that scored just 2.27 goals per game this past season to match the Florida Panthers for the lowest average in the NHL. "Just from playing against them the last couple of years, I know theyre very well-built and well-coached," Stalberg said Monday during a conference call with Nashville media. "Hopefully, I can add some offence to that team as well." As the free-agent period opened Friday, the Predators signed five players to contracts totalling over $36 million. Stalberg joined forwards Matt Cullen, Matt Hendricks and Eric Nystrom and goaltender Carter Hutton in signing with Nashville. Stalberg is moving from the Stanley Cup champions to a Nashville team that finished last in the Central Division and 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference with a 16-23-9 record. The switch should allow Stalberg to have more of a chance to show what he can do. "I wanted to come to a team where I could have a bigger opportunity and play a little bit more," Stalberg said. "As you guys know, in Chicago we had superstars. ... Its tough to get the opportunity ahead of those guys, and theyre going to get the big minutes. I had a couple of good years there, but I think I can keep improving. I dont think Ive reached my potential." Stalberg hadd 22 goals and 21 assists in 2011-12 for the Blackhawks.dddddddddddd Stalberg followed that up with nine goals and 14 assists in 47 games this past season, but he struggled to earn playing time during the Blackhawks playoff run. The presence of star forwards Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa made it difficult for Stalberg to break through. "They had a lot of high-end forwards, so he never got a lot of opportunities in those situations," Predators coach Barry Trotz said Friday when Nashville announced all the new signings. "He ended up being on the third line, some fourth line, which is probably not his role. You dont get the same opportunities." Asked whether he got a fair shot at becoming a top-six forward in Chicago, Stalberg replied, "Yes and no." "Certainly you cant be mad at that, either," Stalberg said. "Look at that lineup. Thats just the way it is. Its probably the last couple of years the best team in hockey if you look at the roster. At the same time that you want to be on a good team - winning and all that - it might not be the opportunity to reach my potential." He should have that opportunity in Nashville, which traditionally has been known for its defence. The Predators have one of the leagues top goaltenders in Pekka Rinne and an elite defenceman in captain Shea Weber. They improved their defence even more by selecting highly touted Seth Jones with the fourth overall pick in the draft. "Looking at that, I think what they were missing was offensive players, but thats certainly what they went out and looked for in free agency," Stalberg said. "Thats why I decided to go there. I think theyve got a good thing going. Obviously getting back to the playoffs is the big thing next year." ' ' '