that a former Blue Jays

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ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- Abbotsfords Sven Baertschi is feeling confident now that the points are starting to come. Baertschi extended his point streak to five games and scored the winner in a shootout as the Heat defeated the Texas Stars 3-2 in American Hockey League action Saturday night. The Bern, Switzerland native was assigned to the Heat by the Calgary Flames on Dec. 12 and had struggled to put up points, but since being matched with Corey Locke and Josh Jooris, things have changed. "Its nice to have points and everything but in the end you just want to play well," said Baertschi. "There were nights before where I felt I was playing really, really well but the points werent there. In the end, if you get in that groove, you feel well and your game is going, then the points come automatic." The Flames 2011 first round choice had just four points in his first 14 games with the AHL affiliate, but has a goal and four helpers during his current streak. "I think hes getting to that point in life . . . where its time to make hay," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "Theres some resiliency in his game, theres a little bit of swagger in his step, and theres a little bit of confidence. But I also think it comes to a point where every player down here in the American league has to have the ability to say, Thats enough. Its time for me to step forward." With the shootout tied after six shooters apiece, Baertschi beat goalie Cristopher Nilstorp five-hole to give his team a 3-2 edge. "When I looked at the goalie, he has really long legs," said Baertschi. "The move I try most of the time is to go between the legs and it worked out perfect, especially a goalie with big legs (because) they have to be very, very quick. I took advantage of that there." Olivier Roy stopped Brett Ritchie to clinch the win. Roy made 36 saves through overtime for his third victory in five days. "He was huge for us tonight and has been great the last few games," Baertschi said of his goalie. "Its awesome to see him come here, a new organization, and he was in the (ECHL). He gets a chance to come here and hes doing so well so were all proud of him and were glad hes playing so well." Jooris and Derek Smith scored in regulation for Abbotsford (31-14-4), who has won five straight and is on a 6-0-2 run. Hubert Labrie and Brett Ritchie replied for Texas (28-15-6), and Nilstorp made 27 saves. The Heat crowded the front of their net and held the Stars offensive leaders to one assist combined. Travis Morin and Colton Sceviour have an AHL-high 27 goals apiece and Chris Mueller is sixth with 21. "They have some of the most skilled players in the league," said Smith. "When you can get a chance to pressure them, take away time and space, we did that. You cant let guys like Travis Morin and the best players in the league make plays." The Stars have dropped their last three contests and trail first-place Abbotsford by four points in the Western Conference standings. "Weve had a good stretch the last two weeks and passed them in the standings," said Smith. "Now we want to make sure theyre looking up at us for the rest of the year." Corban Knight was issued a penalty for a face-off violation with three seconds to go in regulation and the Stars carried that power play into overtime. Sceviour had the best chance to end it quickly but Roy stayed square to extend the extra frame. "Its an awful feeling, you dont want to be there," said Baertschi of the overtime penalty kill. "But our guys did a great job and our goalie was outstanding there so in the end it was a huge team effort to make sure it went to a shootout." The game marked a battle of the leagues top power-play units with Texas at 27.7 per cent efficiency with the man advantage. The Stars finished 0 for 5 and Abbotsford was 1 for 6. "Guys were getting into shot lanes and blocking shots and when Roy had to he came up big," said Smith. "That save he made in overtime was obviously a game saver. But we did a good job clearing pucks too and when we got a chance to get it down we made sure it went the full 200." Ritchie opened the scoring for the Stars at 10:22. After taking a feed from Jamie Oleksiak, Ritchie fired a wrist shot from the left face-off dot, beating Roy stick side for his 10th of the season. The Heat scored twice in 57 seconds to take the lead early in the second period. First, Ben Street won the draw back to Smith on a power play, and his shot beat Nilstorp top corner. Then Baertschi stole the puck at centre and fed Locke, who in turn found Jooris for a one-timer at 5:30. "Playing with Locke and Josh has been a lot of fun," said Baertschi. "Locke made a great play today." The Stars evened the game at 8:25. Maxime Fortunuss point shot was deflected by Labrie for his first goal of the year. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . The international synchronized skating competition takes place from January 31 - February 1, 2014, and features 39 teams from 10 countries, in senior, junior, and novice. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!) - Delon Wright made all 12 of his free throws and finished with 21 points and six assists as No. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Felton pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. He admitted he knowingly had a large-capacity ammunition magazine and a semi-automatic pistol without a license.Its tough enough for the Blue Jays to be playing in the American League East to get even a sniff of the postseason. Then youve got to worry about the other up and coming teams in the two weaker divisions in the "Junior Circuit". If you had to peg one team whom the Blue Jays will have to reckon with in 2014, it would be Kansas City. The Royals finished with an 86-76 record a year ago and missed the playoffs. However that record was 12 games better than the Jays 74-88. One bad month really cost KC a spot in the playoffs a year ago. They went 8-20 in May. Every other month, they were over .500 including 17-10 in September. Kansas City scuffled a bit to score runs in 2013 averaging four per game, but the Blue Jays werent all that much better at 4.40 runs per game. The big difference was in runs allowed by the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Royals starters had an ERA of 3.87 to the Blue Jays 4.81 which was well above the American League average of 4.17. As highly touted as the Blue Jays bullpen was, its ERA of 3.37 was no match for the Royals 2.55. This is in part because of the Royals spacier ballpark, but KC only gave up 155 home runs over the course of the season to the Jays ugly total of 195. If you want to talk team speed, the Blue Jays stole 112 bases, which was better than the league average of 95, but the Royals were even better swiping 153. You could argue the Royals will be even better in 2014. Although they lost Ervin Santana as a free agent, they added durable lefty and former Angel Jason Vargas to plug into the rotation. They also have an elite closer in Greg Holland who saved 47 out of 50 a year ago and a workhorse starter to lead the rotation in James Shields, who through 228.2 innings last season. The Royals also upgraded at second base and right field. They filled a major hole at the keystone by signing former Tiger Omar Infante to a four-year deal worth $30.25 million and traded for speedy right fielder Norichika Aoki, who will take over as their leadoff hitter. KCs secret weapon might just be 22-year-old right-hander Yordano Ventura. Though only 511", he throws consistantly in high 90s and has been known to hit between 100 and 102mph on occasion. Hes already earned a spot in skipper Ned Yosts rotation and is being touted as one of the top candidates for rookie of the year. Since Pittsburgh made the playoffs last season, Kansas City and the Blue Jays are the two teams that have gone the longest between post-season appearances. The Royaals havent made it since they won the World Series over St.dddddddddddd. Louis in 1985. The Blue Jays of course, havent made it since winning their second straight World Series in 1993. The Blue Jays play the Royals seven times this season, from April 29 through May 1 in Missouri and then back in Toronto from May 29 through June 1. Those are seven games of their first 58 that could well prove whether the Jays are good enough to contend for a Wild Card spot, or which team of these two will wind up with the longest postseason drought when the 2014 season is all said and done. Around Spring Training Injuries turned right-hander Josh Johnson into arguably the biggest disappointment of the Blue Jays season a year ago. Unfortunately his luck hasnt changed much in San Diego. The 30-year-old right-hander is going to be out 4-to-5 weeks with a strained right forearm. Tough blow for the Texas Rangers. Their young second baseman Jurickson Profar is out 10 to 12 weeks with a slight muscle tear in his right shoulder. Profar was expected to shoulder the load at second since Ian Kinsler was dealt to Detroit as part of the Prince Fielder deal. Profar hasnt proven himself as a big league hitter yet, but his glove and arm are world class. Yes, its only spring training, but the Yankees have got to be a bit concerned that Derek Jeter is only hitting .114 and Mark Teixiera only .120. Great to see David Ortiz is probably going to end his career in Boston. After all hes been pretty much the face of the franchise for the last 10 years. Ortiz agreed over the weekend to a one-year, $15 million extension for 2015. He also has a vesting option for 2016 and there is a club option for 2017 by which time Ortiz will be 42 years old. Erik Bedard is looking for new gig. The 35-year-old southpaw and native of Navan, Ontario opted out of his deal with Tampa Bay after the fifth starters job went to 24-year-old Jake Odorizzi. Bedard just didnt want to go back to Triple-A at this stage of his career. Experienced Help We mentioned a couple of articles ago that a former Blue Jays third baseman, Roy Howell, was managing in Triple-A this season at Tacoma. Now another Ex-Jay, Tom Lawless, has taken over as interim manager at Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League. Lawless will be filling in for Ton DeFrancesco who was diagnosed with cancer while working in the parent Astros camp this spring. DeFrancescos cancer was caught early enough that he is expected to make a full recovery. ' ' '