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PHILADELPHIA – Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis spoke to Florida Panthers boss Dale Tallon on Thursday morning about the prospects of trading up for the first overall pick in Fridays draft. cheap jerseys online . "But at this point," Nonis said a few hours after the conversation, "I dont think theres a deal there for us." Despite interest in moving up the ladder of the first round – from where they currently stand at eighth overall – Nonis didnt believe the current price-tag fit the bill for his club, particularly if it meant sacrificing young talent. The cost was simply too high. "It is for us," Nonis said of the first overall pick. "It may not be for other teams. I know that Dale is serious about moving it – I think hes happy to keep it as well – but hes not going to give that pick away. "Theres been dialogue, but we havent made any traction and as it stands right now, I would expect that were going to stay at eight." Having hoarded a slew of promising building blocks in recent years (including Aleksander Barkov with the second overall selection in 2013) and with the draft lacking in a consensus, slam-dunk superstar, Tallon is inclined to give up the rights for the top spot. But hes labeled the price for the pick as including a top young player, one who can step right into the Panthers lineup, and perhaps a pick or something of similar value. "Somebody has to knock our socks off for us to make the move," Tallon told TSN recently. In a different draft, Nonis might be prepared to pay that price. He was second in command to Brian Burke at the time of the 2009 draft when Burke spoke openly and aggressively about his pursuit of the first overall pick in a draft that featured star John Tavares. "That price-tag is different than possibly moving up to take the player whos going to go [first] here," Nonis said. "It doesnt mean that the player who goes [first] is not going to be a great player, but those price-tags are different and I think every team in the league would tell you that. Theres a number or a value that we place on moving up and it wouldnt include our top young players, no." Beyond Aaron Ekblad, theres a definite aura of unpredictability at the top of this draft, making the possibility of the Leafs landing a quality asset at eight all the more likely. Toronto has demonstrated a strong inclination toward selecting North American players in recent years, picking just seven Europeans since 2009 and none in the first round since 2006 when Jiri Tlusty was picked 13th overall. They may not be able to land the top centre theyve long desired with the eighth pick – Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl all figure to be off the board – but theres potential to add front-line skill at wing, perhaps in the form of Nick Ritchie or Jake Virtanen (Nikolaj Ehlers and William Nylander are both intriguing, but neither seem to fit the current Toronto mold). "This [draft] may not have the superstar at the top, but I think most teams would agree theres some pretty good players in this draft that are going to be useful players on good teams," said Nonis. "Its important when youre picking at eight that you get one of those players." Back in 2008, with Cliff Fletcher minding the helm, Toronto moved up two spots in the draft to land Luke Schenn with the fifth overall pick, sending their first round selection (seventh overall) to the Islanders along with picks in the second and third round. The Leafs selected hulking centre Frederik Gauthier with their top selection a year ago (21st overall), adding Morgan Rielly to their young mix in 2012. cheap jerseys wholesale . A noon downpour turned the 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit into a slippery strand of roadway, but Bourdais proved to be the best on rain tires. The French driver made it through the first two qualifying rounds and into the Fast Six. cheap jerseys paypal . The 22-year-old from Notre Dame started 29 games and had five goals and six assists this season. The league announced Monday that Powers received 93 per cent of team, media and player votes.AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Ireland produced the upset of the Rugby World Cup on the back of its dominant scrum to kick to a 15-6 win over Tri-Nations champion Australia and take charge of Pool C on Saturday. Jonathan Sexton and Ronan OGara each landed two penalty goals and Sexton added a drop goal to inflict the Wallabies first pool-stage loss at a World Cup since they went down to host South Africa in 1995. James OConnor kicked two first-half penalties for Australia, which conceded five scrum penalties and struggled to display any fluidity after having lost flanker David Pocock and hooker Stephen Moore to injury or illness in the hours leading up the match at Eden Park. Ireland can almost certainly avoid defending champion South Africa and the top-ranked All Blacks on its side of the knockout draw by beating Italy on Oct. 2. That fate is now likely to befall the Wallabies, who are ranked six places higher than Ireland at No. 2 by the IRB. After some heartbreaking World Cup defeats to the Australians, including the 1991 quarterfinal in Dublin which has become part of the tournaments folklore, the Irish were euphoric. "It was the performance we knew we had in us. We had incredible support and it was our job to give them something to shout about, and thankfully we managed to do that," Ireland captain Brian ODriscoll said. "We had to go to the well today, we had to dig deeper than we had done. And thankfully we managed to do that." The Irish ran back onto the field after the match to salute the thousands of travelling fans but ODriscoll later reminded them that only half the job was done in the group stage. "Lets not lose sight of the fact we have two more games," he said. Australia has the youngest squad at the tournament, but came into the competition full of confidence after beating defending World Cup champion South Africa and No. 1-ranked New Zealand last month to claim its first Tri-Nations title in a decade. That will certainly be deflated now. The Irish pack bullied the Australians into submission in the setpiece, with prop Cian Healy reveling so much in the wet and slippery engagements he was adjudged player of the match. And the more the freewheeling Wallabies backs tried to counter with running rugby, the more it backfired. "The Irish did well to spoil our ball. We couldnt get any momentum," Wallabies captain James Horwill said. "We played some dumb footy. "We were giving away silly penalties. We didnt do well to hold on to the ball enough." Coming off an unconvincing 22-10 win over the United States after four straight losses in warmup matches, Ireland had been written off by the critics. But Australia had no answer to a committed and dynamic performance from the Irish forwards and often fell foul of referee Bryce Lawrence. The Wallabies had wobbled inn the first half of their 32-6 win over Italy last week, being held to a 6-6 scoreline at halftime before scoring four second-half tries.ddddddddddddAnd that initial disjointed and erratic form returned on Saturday with few players enhancing their reputations. The Wallabies double blow to their starting lineup didnt help, losing Pocock because of a back injury before Moore withdrew in the hours leading up to kickoff due to illness. Ben McCalman made his first test start on the openside flank to take over from Pocock, and Tatafu Polota-Nau made only his fifth start in 26 tests in replacing Moore. "Ireland were very effective in denying us momentum," Australia coach Robbie Deans said. "The nature of the game at World Cups is the passion of the defence and you cant be sure of getting any momentum." Ireland unsettled the Australians with some quirky plays and attacking defence which caught the Wallabies offguard. It started with a quick tap from inside Irelands quarter after receiving a penalty in the opening minutes, spreading the ball wide for winger Tommy Bowe to grubber ahead in an enterprising move. Australia dominated territory in the opening quarter but trailed 6-3 on the scoreboard -- flyhalf Sexton making the most of Irelands brief early forays beyond halfway by landing a penalty and landing a well-taken dropped goal from the quarterline. OConnor missed a shot at goal before landing a penalty. Given more of the ball, the Irish lifted, but ruck infringements by backrowers Sean OBrien and Jame Heaslip were hurting them, although OConnor could only land one of two further kicks for a 6-6 scoreline. Australias scrum fell foul of Lawrence twice in the first half and was dominated by the Irish pack on one memorable occasion. With his scrum being wheeled, Australia scrumhalf Will Genia tried to quickly clear the ball but was picked up and carried backward by flanker Stephen Ferris. The ebb and flow continued in the second half. Quade Cooper launched one counterattack from deep, linking with Kurtley Beale before the final pass went astray. The Irish then hit back. OBrien making a half break as play travelled to the other end of the pitch for another penalty goal from Sexton in the 50th for a 9-6 lead. The Wallabies marched back into Irelands quarter, Cooper scooted on the outside of Paul OConnell but his flicked pass to an outside support only meters out from the line was blocked and the chance was gone. Ireland led 12-6 when substitute Ronan OGara kicked penalties in the 63rd and 71st minutes from Australias fourth and fifth scrum infringements. In desperate late attacking raids, Australia hammered away with phase after phase but the Irish defence held firm and almost even scored a late try when Tommy Bowe streaked 90 metres before being cut down by OConnor in a brilliant tackle. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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