ody injury. The Blackhawks (10-7-1) are searching for consistency in several areas as they open

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers President Andy Roeser is taking an indefinite leave of absence while the NBA restructures the franchise in the wake of owner Donald Sterlings lifetime ban. Roesers immediate departure was announced Tuesday by the NBA. The league announced plans last week to appoint a CEO to oversee the franchise in Sterlings absence. "This will provide an opportunity for a new CEO to begin on a clean slate and for the team to stabilize under difficult circumstances," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and urged owners to force him to sell the Clippers a week ago, responding to league-wide outrage over racist comments made by the 80-year-old real-estate mogul. Sterling is the NBAs longest-tenured owner after buying the Clippers in 1981. Roeser, one of the Clippers alternate governors, is one of the leagues longest-tenured executives, having just completed his 30th season with the team. Roeser has been a loyal frontman for Sterling since the franchises days in San Diego, and he stood by Sterling during every controversial stretch of the owners career. Only radio and television play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler has worked for the Clippers longer than the 54-year-old Roeser, who became team president in 2007. But Roeser infuriated many longtime Clippers employees last week after Sterlings private conversation was made public by TMZ. While nearly everyone else was reacting with outrage, Roeser released a statement questioning whether the recordings of Sterling were legitimate, while simultaneously apologizing on Sterlings behalf for sentiments about Magic Johnson on the recordings. Roesers statement was sympathetic to Sterling and criticized V. Stiviano, Sterlings longtime associate and the other voice on the recordings. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Roesers statement upset many loyal Clippers employees who had been horrified by Sterlings comments. Rivers held meetings with much of the Clippers front-office staff last week while Sterling was ousted, encouraging them to keep working for the franchise. Roeser joined the organization in 1984 from an accounting firm. Two years later, he became executive vice-president, overseeing all facets of the teams business operations. He has been president of the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation since it began in 1994. He helped bring Rivers to Los Angeles from the Boston Celtics last June, and was part of the acquisition of All-Star guard Chris Paul in 2011. Roeser also oversaw the development and construction of the teams training facility that opened in 2008. Rivers is the Clippers senior vice-president of basketball operations, working alongside executive vice-president of player personnel Gary Sacks on the basketball side of the teams operations. The Clippers overcame the distraction of Sterlings banishment to outlast Golden State in a seven-game first-round series on Saturday night. After just one day off, they returned to the court and trounced Oklahoma City 122-105 on the road Monday night in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series. Julio Jones Falcons Jersey . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. Kendall Sheffield Youth Jersey .5 million, two-year contract that runs through 2015. Venable, the son of former big leaguer Max Venable, will make $4. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcon...Sanders-Jersey/. Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Brett Favre Jersey . The game was the first of two international friendlies that Canada is playing during the international break, with the second game against Slovenia set for Tuesday in Celje. Canada looked uncomfortable defensively throughout the game, and every free kick that came into Canadas penalty box looked like ending up in the back of the net. Tony Gonzalez Falcons Jersey . Granada defender Diego Mainz barged into the back of Villa to send the Spain striker to the ground inside the area and Costa stepped up to the spot to score his 12th league goal in the 38th minute. Costa showed no effects of the news that his Brazilian citizenship may be revoked after he elected to play for Spains national team, as the forward was a constant threat for Atletico and forced several saves from goalkeeper Roberto.The Calgary Flames will try to keep their place among the top teams in the Western Conference tonight when they host the always-tough Chicago Blackhawks. The Flames (12-6-2) are coming off Tuesdays 4-3 shootout win over Anaheim to pull within one point of the Ducks for the Wests best record. Calgary rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period en route to a third straight win and seventh in nine games. The Flames have already won four times when trailing after two periods, matching their total from last season. Weve done a good job this year so far of sticking to our game and when we havent had the first and second period that wed like weve found a way to find our legs in the third, said Dennis Wideman, who scored twice. Its a big win for us because it gives the young guys the confidence to know they can go up against the best and we can win games. Wideman, who is tied for the NHL lead for goals by a defenceman at seven, recorded his first of the season against Chicago last month. The Flames will be without David Jones (upper body) and Kris Russell (lower body) against Chicago. Both are listed by the club as day-to-day. Andrew Shaw will not be in the lineup for Chicago with an upper-body injury. The Blackhawks (10-7-1) are searching for consistency in several areas as they open a six-game road trip while the circus moves into the United Center. But they look just fine in goal with Corey Crawford and his steady, even-keeled approach. I think his focus has been excellent every day on the ice, practice days as well, Quenneville said after practice on Wednesday. He really seems like hes concentrating on the next shot, the next situation. His preparations been excellent. The next challenge for Crawford is helping make up for the loss of rookie defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, who broke his left kneecap when he took a puck off his leg during Sundays 6-2 victory over Dallas. The 23-year-old van Riemsdyk will have surgery on Thursday and is expected to be sidelined for three to four months. Van Riemsdyk had been a pleasant surprise for Chicago, playing mostly with David Rundblad or Michal Rozsival on the third defensive pairing. Adam Clendening was promoted from the minors on Tuesday and likely will make his NHL debut on the upcoming road trip. Quenneville could slot Clendening into van Riemdsyks spot, or he might tinker withh his top four defensemen to spread out his most reliable players.dddddddddddd The Blackhawks also are playing without forward Patrick Sharp, who had a team-high 34 goals last season and is out with a lower-body injury. The team said Sharp would miss three to four weeks after he was hurt Nov. 4, and Quenneville has stuck with that timeline when asked about the winger. Crawford, 29, missed six games earlier this season with an upper-body injury, but he has started every game since his return. He likely will shoulder much of the load on the road trip, which begins with a Canadian swing and closes with stops in Colorado, Anaheim and Los Angeles. The challenging stretch comes at an important time for the Blackhawks, who have won three of four after a slump of six losses in nine games. Nashville and St. Louis are off to a strong start in the Central, and Chicago also needs to make up ground in the Western Conference. The circus trip has been kind to the Blackhawks in the past. They went 6-1 on the trip last season to improve to 22-11-4 on the circus run since captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane entered the league in the 2007-08 season. Theres a lot of experience and guys that have been through these situations. A lot of us have been on these long road trips, said Kane, who turned 26 on Wednesday. We enjoy them. We have fun with them. Its fun to spend time with the guys. Like I said before, it makes all that better when you win games. Chicago hasnt enjoyed much success in Calgary, though, going 2-4-1 there since the start of the 2010-11 season. Its been an especially tough place for Toews, who hasnt scored in 15 games in Calgary - including the playoffs. The Blackhawks had a season-high 50 shots on goal at home against the Flames on Oct. 15, but only Shaw scored in a 2-1 overtime loss. Mikael Backlund beat Crawford for the winner on Calgarys 18th shot. Flames Projected Lines Forwards Glencross-Monahan-Bouma Gaudraeu-Granlund-Hudler Baertschi-Byron- Jooris Bollig-Ferland-Setoguchi Defence Giordano-Brodie Smid-Wideman Diaz-Engelland Goalies Hiller - starting Blackhawks Projected Lines Forwards Saad-Toews-Hossa Versteeg-Richards-Kane Bickel-Smith-Morin Carcillo-Kruger-Nordstrom Defence Keith-Seabrook Hjarlmarsson-Oduya Clendening-Rosival Goalies Crawford - starting ' ' '