Der Tzol-Kin » With the Rangers looking to close out the series, the music

Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Breeders Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red is the 9-5 morning line favorite for Sundays $200,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park as he begins his 3-year-old season Texas Red, trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden by the trainers brother Kent, will start the seven-furlong race from post 4 in the eight-horse field. Co-owned by his trainer, Texas Red won the Juvenile on Nov. 1 by 6 1/2 lengths as a 13-1 longshot, just his second win in five starts. The son of Afleet Alex has earned $1,192,300. Keith Desormeaux has plans to bring the colt along quickly leading to the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Im thinking about wheeling him back pretty quickly in the Risen Star on (Feb. 21) and then well have a little gap between the Risen Star and the $1,000,000 Santa Anita Derby (on Apr. 4), the trainer said. Its still on schedule. Its always been kind of a tentative schedule, like with all things concerning racehorses, Desormeaux continued. It seems like the best plan for me at this point. Its kind of quick, but I like the way it feels. If I can get him (to Fair Grounds) a week early, that would be perfect. Ill be at the mercy of whoever is going to fly us and their schedule. For him to overcome the fact that hes not really built to be an early horse - thats what makes him great and thats also what makes us so excited about this year. If he can do what he did as a juvenile, what can he accomplish as a 3-year-old? The 2-1 second choice is Lord Nelson owned by Peachtree Stable and trained by Bob Baffert. The chestnut colt will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano from the rail post. Lord Nelson has two wins from four starts and has earnings of $129,571. He was fourth in the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita last Sept. 27 but came back on Oct. 13 with a win in the tracks Speakeasy Stakes. He was the 7-5 favorite for Churchill Downs Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes but finished fifth to El Kabeir. Trainer Peter Miller?s Serbian Syclone is the 3-1 third pick for the San Vicente. The colt, owned by Rockingham Ranch, will be ridden by regular rider Elvis Trujillo from post 2. Serbian Syclone was eighth first time out but has won his last two races going gate to wire by a combined 8 1/2 lengths. He tries stakes company for the first time in the seven-furlong event. Here is the field for the San Vicente in post position order: Lord Nelson, Rafael Bejarano, 2-1; Serbian Syclone, Elvis Trujillo, 3-1; Jazzy Josh, Flavien Prat, 15-1; Texas Red, Kent Desormeaux, 9-5; Punctuate, Martin Garcia, 9-2; Magic Taste, Omar Santos, 50-1; Bench Warrant, Tyler Baze, 12-1 and Sir Samson, Joe Talamo, 15-1. Post time for the 74th San Vicente is approximately 4:30 p.m. ET. Nick Leddy Jersey .J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. Casey Cizikas Jersey . Arsenal had already scored its goals in the third round fixture when the fierce rivalry turned ugly in the final ten minutes as Walcott was being carried off on a stretcher. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-johnny-boychuk-islanders-jersey/ . The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Pat LaFontaine Islanders Jersey . - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humour. Thomas Greiss Islanders Jersey . Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt.NEW YORK -- Brandon Prust returns but fellow forward Dale Weise is out and defenceman Alexei Emelin is a game-time decision for the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers are without suspended defenceman John Moore, with ex-Hab Raphael Diaz expected to play in his place in the third defensive pairing. Both teams had lineup issues ahead of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final. A win and the Rangers can advance to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 20 years. A loss and New York has to go back to the Bell Centre for a deciding game. Montreal coach Michel Therrien confirmed after Thursdays morning skate that Weise, flattened by the hit that earned Moore a two-game suspension, would not play. Emelin, who missed Game 5 with an undisclosed injury, did not take part in the morning skate either but was seen on an exercise bike outside the locker-room. Prust returns from his two-game suspension for breaking Derek Stepans jaw with a blindside hit in Game 3. "Hes going to be hungry to play," said Therrien. "Hes going to play hard. Hes excited about playing tonight so were glad hes back in the lineup." Weise seemed woozy after the Moore hit Tuesday in Game 5 but returned to action after spending time in the dressing room. On Thursday, Therrien denied that Weise had a head injury. Therrien said Weise, who plays in the Habs third line, told doctors he "felt fine" about finishing the last game. The Montreal coach said player safety is Job 1, but noted that Stepan finished Game 3 with what turned out to be a broken jaw. "Those are the things that you see at this time of the year," he said. "Right now (Weise) has a body injury so he wont be able to lay tonight." Asked what specific tests an injured player like Weise has to pass to get back into the game, Therrien essentially said that was up to the team doctors. "Those are the things I that dont know, because as a coach I never get a concussion," said a smiling Therrien. "But oone thing I trust, we trust our medical staff, we trust the doctor.dddddddddddd. So when theyre saying hes good to go. hes good to go." The Habs are 22-7-4 with Weise in the lineup and 5-4-0 without him. Goalie Carey Price, knocked out of the series in Game 1, came onto the ice in full gear near the end of the Canadiens skate. He did the same thing earlier this week in Montreal. Dustin Tokarski, the 24-year-old who has stepped in for Price, did not speak to reporters Thursday. Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist, given the hook last time out, drew a crowd in front of his stall. With the Rangers looking to close out the series, the music wafting out of the New York locker-room area earlier at Madison Square Garden was appropriate -- "Closing Time" by Semisonic. "No Canada" was the headline on the back page of the New York Daily News. The kicker read "Rangers: We cant let series go back to Montreal." The New York Post headline was "Code Blue." Much has been said about the need to get a good start in the series, with Therrien acknowledging the first 10 minutes of the game are always crucial. "But Im going to tell you something, the whole entire 60 minutes are going to be really important," he said with a smile. Vigneault, whose exchange with the English media lasted three and a half minutes, offered no reaction to the league banning Moore for two games. He also did not want to speak about the 7-4 loss in Game 5 in Montreal, saying "Weve moved on." The Rangers coach did say he expected a big game from Lundqvist, who was pulled in the second period last time out after giving up four goals on 19 shots. "I expect him to play like he always does. Hes a great goaltender." Said Rangers forward Rick Nash: "Hes a world-class goalie. Hes been our best player all season, all the playoffs." Therriens pre-game meeting with the media was equally pithy, lasting just under eight minutes in English and French. ' ' '