Comets coach Green isnt measuring Shinkaruks progress on the stat sheet

It would be easy to question Hunter Shinakaruks first half-season of pro hockey by pointing to his six goals in 38 games and wondering what happened to the sniper who scored 86 in two WHL seasons before the Canucks made him a first-round pick.

Easy, and also very unfair.

Shinkaruk, who turned 20 in October, missed most of last season with hip labrum surgery, but, more significantly, hes faced with the large task of making the transition from junior hockey to a very different AHL game against bigger, stronger and more mature players.

Much like another Canucks first-rounder, Nicklas Jensen, did last season, Shinkaruk is working his way through it with the Utica Comets. The surgically repaired hip feels great but the scoresheet isnt always flattering.

My stats are not where Id like them to be but I really didnt play last year, said Shinkaruk, a fleet winger who was drafted 24th overall by the Canucks in 2013. Its been an adjustment. When you are 18 or 19 and the captain of your junior team, you play big minutes. Its not like that here. Its a different game. Its more closed down and theres not as much room out there. I came from junior, where theres an odd-man rush every second shift.

Comets head coach Travis Green likes what hes seen from Shinkaruk, though the steps forward have been incremental.

I really like the way hes playing, hes progressing, said Green. A lot of young guys, they try to base how theyre playing on goals and assists. But I think Hunter has done a good job in not getting caught up in that. It is hard for a guy whos been a natural scorer and has scored goals all his life. Even in the last five or 10 games, hes taken a step. Im hoping itll translate into some more points, just for him personally so he gets rewarded. I have noticed Im playing him more, and thats just him getting used to the league.

Green said one of the common challenges of adjusting to the AHL from junior and one that isnt lost on Shinkaruk is dealing with the physical one-on-one play. Though Shinkaruk put on some upper body muscle in the gym while recuperating from hip surgery last year, he still needs to get stronger.

The AHL level has a lot more one-on-one puck battles in all areas of the rink, said Green. Its not as clean a game (as the NHL). For a young guy that can be harder. Hes learning now, where hes coming out of those battles with the puck.

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Comets coach Green isnt measuring Shinkaruks progress on the stat sheet

Comets eager for state duals

The wait is almost over for the Mason High School wrestling team.

After making a run to the state tournament in the Ohio High School Athletic Association state duals last year, the Comets are ready for this years event, which begins Jan. 28.

Our kids are extremely excited, Mason coach Craig Murnan said. They have been focused on it and training for it all year. I think the experience of last year is something they want to build on. It is a true definition of a team.

For the first time, the road to St. John Arena runs through Masons gym.

The Comets dropped the first ever regional final at Centerville in 2013 before knocking the Elks out in the same round last year 37-18 to advance to state.

Mason was supposed to open the tournament Wednesday as the top seed against Middletown, but the Middies have withdrawn from the tournament. Centerville enters as the fifth seed and will battle Lebanon for the right to face Mason for a spot in the regional semis.

We are definitely in a good spot because we get to host it this year, Murnan said. Hopefully we will have two weeks of hosting.

Mason would face second-seed Fairfield or third-seed Springboro in the regional semis before facing the winner of region 7-B to go back to state.

We are going to have our work cut out for us, Murnan said. Fairfield is always good with their tradition and Springboro has a nice team. It seems Fairfield has more energy with Jason (Laflin) taking over. It is going to be a fun time.

And, it will be the first look teams in Cincinnati truly get at the Comets.

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Comets eager for state duals

5-1 Loss Extends Comets Losing Streak to Three

January 23, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets For the first time this season the Utica Comets have a losing streak. The Grand Rapids 5-1 victory over the Comets sent Utica to their third straight loss.

Dustin Jeffrey (1-0-1) found the Comets only goal of the game as the team struggled to stay out of the penalty box all night long. Pat Nagle, the Griffins goaltending prospect from the Eastern Coast Hockey League kept the Comets on a leash all night long by stopping 28 of the 29 shots the Comets released on him. Comets goaltender, Joacim Eriksson saw a plethora of shots from the Griffins and managed to stop all but three of the 35 he faced.

A stretch pass is what started it all for the Griffins just before the half-way mark in the first period. Alexey Marchenko fed the puck to Mark Zengerle from one blue line to the next and as Zengerle skated past the Comets defense he positioned himself in a good spot directly in the center slot. Before the Comets defense could catch up to him, Zengerle released a wrist shot that beat Eriksson glove side for the early 1-0 lead. Anthony Mantha took credit for the secondary assist.

As the teams headed into the second period, Jeffrey decided to integrate some of his chest bumping skills into his bag of hockey tricks. At 8:14, the veteran Comets forward found himself in front of Griffins goaltender Pat Nagle as the puck came flying towards his chest following a shot from Nicklas Jensen. The puck bounced off of Jeffrey's chest and directly into the net to give the Comets even the score up at one. Bobby Sanguinetti also tallied an assist on the play.

Just as the period was winding down, the Griffins found a buzzer beater quite literally within the last second of the period. In the midst of a scramble in front of the Comets net, Mitch Callahan popped the puck through Eriksson's legs for the 2-1 lead that just barley beat the clock. Teemu Pulkkinen and Nathan Paetsch both received assists on their second goal of the game.

Even though the Comets rank as the number one penalty killing team on the road, they ended up faltering on their fifth penalty kill of the night after a shot from Scott Czarnowczan. Following the wristshot from Czarnowczan, Eriksson tracked it down with his glove-hand but immediately lost control of the puck. As it dropped to the wayside, Marek Tvrdon guided it into the net behind Eriksson for the power-play goal and the 3-1 lead. Ryan Sproul also made an appearance on the scorers sheet for the secondary assist.

As the third winded down, Eriksson was pulled away from his duties with five minutes left in regulation to give the Comets the extra-attacker for the come-back attempt. What resulted was two empty-net goals both from Tomas Nosek. The first was a short-handed goal and went unassisted at 15:55 and his second came at 19:01 with assists from both Pulkkinen and Jeff Hoggan.

The Comets only have one more game to cross off of their list before the American Hockey League's All-Star break. The Rockford IceHogs will host the Utica hockey club tomorrow night for an 8 p.m. EST match-up at the BMO Harris Bank center for their first meeting of the season.

Three Stars: 1. GR Pat Nagle (W, 28 Saves) 2. GR Mitch Callahan (Goal) 3. GR Mark Zengerle (Goal)

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5-1 Loss Extends Comets Losing Streak to Three

Novartis Wins U.S. Approval for First of New Psoriasis Drugs

Novartis AG (NOVN) won U.S. approval for the first in a new line of psoriasis drugs that aim to better treat the itchy, sometimes debilitating skin condition.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the treatment to be called Cosentyx. The medicine, also known as secukinumab, is predicted to top $1 billion in sales by 2020 and will compete with other biologic drugs including AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)s No. 1 seller, Humira, and Amgen Inc. (AMGN)s best-selling Enbrel. The therapy was backed in November by European Commission health regulators.

About 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis, which is an autoimmune disease that can cause raised, red patches on the skin that are covered in dead skin cells, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation. The new type of drugs called interleukin inhibitors block interaction with the IL-17A receptor, which triggers the inflammatory response that plays a role in the disease, the FDA said.

The FDAs approval of Cosentyx signifies a turning point for psoriasis patients, who can now benefit from the first and only approved treatment targeting the IL-17 pathway, David Epstein, division head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement.

Similar drugs are in development at Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) and in a partnership of Amgen and AstraZeneca Plc. (AZN) The new therapies work faster and are expected to be more effective for the most serious patients.

Cosentyx is administered as an injection under the skin. It is intended for patients who are candidates for systemic therapy, treatment using substances that travel through the bloodstream, and ultraviolet light therapy, or a combination of both, the FDA said today in a statement.

The FDAs approval was based on four clinical trials that studied secukinumab against a placebo and found more patients on the drug had clear or almost clear skin, the agency said.

Novartis, based in Basel, Switzerland, also studied secukinumab against Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgens Enbrel and said it worked significantly better to clear the skin. The latest study pitting secukinumab against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)s Stelara showed Novartiss drug worked better, the company said in a Dec. 12 statement.

Novartiss drug may generate $1.1 billion in annual sales in 2020, according to the average of seven analysts estimates compiled by Bloomberg. AbbVies Humira had an estimated $12.6 billion in sales in 2014 while Amgen and Pfizer Inc. are expected to report about $8.4 billion in Enbrel revenue.

Older treatments such as Enbrel and Humira block a protein called TNF that signals the body to create inflammation. Stelara targets proteins known as IL-12 and IL-23, while secukinumab goes after IL-17A, which only recently has been linked to psoriasis.

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Novartis Wins U.S. Approval for First of New Psoriasis Drugs

World leaders travel to Saudi Arabia to pay respect to new king

Mourners and family members bury King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday. Photograph: EPA/Saudo Press Agency

World leaders and top dignitaries have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia to give their condolences following the death of King Abdullah, who has died aged 90 after nearly two decades at the helm.

Despite deep tensions and rivalries between the nations, Irans foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was among the first to arrive to the Sunni-ruled kingdom, where he was greeted at the airport by the late kings son, Prince Turki, who is governor of Riyadh.

The newly enthroned King Salman is also expected to receive in the coming days US president Barack Obama, Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Japans Crown Prince Naruhito, Spains King Felipe VI, Jordans King Abdullah, Denmarks Crown Prince Frederik, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prince Charles.

Moroccos Prince Moulay Rachid will pay his respects on the behalf of his brother King Mohammed VI. Talk of Mr Zarif visiting Saudi Arabia last year quickly dissipated after Iran protested comments made by Saudi Arabias foreign minister Saud al-Faisal in which he called on Tehran to withdraw its occupying forces from Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Iran insists it has no combat forces on the ground in any of the three countries, though it says it has sent senior commanders as advisers to Syria and Iraq.

The diplomatic squabble, in many ways, exemplified how Abdullahs most pressing priority was to confront the Shia powerhouse across the Gulf.

The multiple conflicts across the region deepened Sunni-Shia hatreds and fueled militancy during his reign.

The king, who ascended to the throne in 2005 but had been de-facto ruler for a decade before that, was buried yesterday afternoon in an unmarked grave after a prayer service in the capital Riyadh.

The Muslim-only funeral was attended by Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan and the rulers of Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

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World leaders travel to Saudi Arabia to pay respect to new king

How not to travel, by the world's best-travelled man

John Bougen, a 57-year-old New Zealand entrepreneur, has almost completed his quest to become the world's best-travelled man, visiting all 247 nations and territories.

Here, he gives Telegraph readers his five top travel tips:

1. Prior to any flight, set your body clock to wherever you are travelling to. Clicking into the sleeping, eating and drinking pattern of your destination before you get there is the best way to beat jet lag.

2. When packing a bag, put everything that you think you will need beside the suitcase and then remove 30 per cent of it. The trousers that you don't wear at home will never be near your hips when away.

3. Unless you are going to the source of the Nile, only take the medicines and salves that you use normally. Even in 3rd world countries just about everything you might need is readily available.

4. If there is choice, never arrive somewhere first thing in the morning. Your hotel won't be ready for you and with a bit of jet lag you won't enjoy the day anyway, let alone remember it.

5. Just about every hotel has free wifi now. When away, as a minimum, turn off data roaming on your phone. Best of all, turn off your phone altogether and have a real holiday.

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How not to travel, by the world's best-travelled man

Expedia Buys Travelocity For $280 Million

Theres big news in the travel world: Expedia is buying Travelocity for $280 million in cash. The acquisition follows a 2013 deal in which Expedia powered the backend of Travelocitys North American website and provided the travel service access to Expedias supply and customer service program.

At press time, no details are available on Travelocitys future. In a statement published by Expedia and Travelocity parent company Sabre, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said "Travelocity is one of the most recognized travel brands in North America, offering thousands of travel destinations to more than 20 million travelers per month. The strategic marketing agreement we've had in place has been a marriage of Travelocity's strong brand with our best-in-class booking platform, supply base, and customer service. Evolving this relationship strengthens the Expedia Inc. family's ability to continue to innovate and deliver the very best travel experiences to the widest set of travelers, all over the world."

Expedias acquisition of Travelocity is just the latest in a series of consolidations within the travel booking industry. Expedia already runs Hotwire, and rival Priceline owns Booking.com, Kayak, and OpenTable.

[via New York Times/DealBook]

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Expedia Buys Travelocity For $280 Million

Remember these? One-hit wonder Super Bowl ads

Bob Riha | Liaison | Getty Images

The Pets.com sock puppet dog stars in a commercial for the company, Jan. 11, 2000, in Los Angeles.

And every year, there are first-time advertisers that gamble millionsthis year up to $4.5 million for a 30-second spotin hopes of scoring big on game day and long afterward.

Many newbies have accomplished their goals and become perennial stalwarts, none more so than Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi and Doritos.

But there's also a long list of one-hit wonder brandsfrom household names to unfamiliar start-upsthat are no longer around, despite the success or failure of their ads. The reasons for their disappearances vary, of course, but their Super Bowl commercials certainly didn't help matters.

As you prepare for Super Bowl XLIX's game within the game, hark back on these 10 past one-and-done advertisers:

AMF (1979)

American Machine and Foundry grew from a small manufacturer of cigarette machines at the dawn of the 20th century into the epitome of a conglomerate.

Read MoreHow to host a Super Bowlfrom a guy who's done it

By 1979, AMF owned a vast corporate playground of recreational equipment companies, including several brands promoted in its Super Bowl XIII animated "We make weekends" spot.

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Remember these? One-hit wonder Super Bowl ads

Parkinson’s Disease: Mr Garnet’s experience 6 months after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D. – Video


Parkinson #39;s Disease: Mr Garnet #39;s experience 6 months after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D.
At Docere Clinics, our clinical focus is on the treatment of musculoskeletal pain disorders. On rare occasions, we have patients, usually relatives of satisf...

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Parkinson's Disease: Mr Garnet's experience 6 months after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D. - Video

Spirituality and Sensuality | HamiltonX on edX | Course About Video – Video


Spirituality and Sensuality | HamiltonX on edX | Course About Video
Enroll in Spirituality and Sensuality: Sacred Objects in Religious Life from HamiltonX at https://www.edx.org/course/spirituality-sensuality-sacred-objects-hamiltonx-relst005-5x Spirituality...

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Love What Arises teacher comes to Nevada County

Rev. Jerry Farrell woke up at Matt Kahns retreat last fall in Portland with a sinking feeling.

The night before, Kahn, a Pacific Northwest-based empath and healer who is garnering international attention for his YouTube videos, had announced that he just signed a book and DVD deal with Colorado-based holistic publishing company Sounds True. Kahns book and DVDs are expected to be published this fall.

Hes never going to come to Grass Valley now, Farrell, lead minister at Unity in the Gold Country Spiritual Center in Grass Valley, recalled thinking.

Still feeling discouraged, Farrell got dressed and came out of the retreat lodging space. He immediately saw Kahn walking toward him up the pathway.

He didnt say hello or anything, Farrell said. He looked straight at me and said, No matter how big I get, Im still coming to Grass Valley.

And so it is. Kahn, who is booked for private sessions through February 2016 and whose videos are viewed by thousands, will come to Unity for a Soul Gathering at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Joining him will be partner Julie Dittmar, a sound healer and meditation teacher.

Tickets, which went on sale earlier this week, are already half sold-out, Farrell said. (see box for ticket information or go to http://truedivinenature.com.) The Grass Valley appearance, and two sessions in Berkeley the prior Friday and Saturday, are Kahns only Northern California stops this year. Kahn will also attend Unitys 10:30 a.m. Sunday service at the church at 180 Cambridge Court.

He has this way of distilling centuries of spiritual teaching, Farrell said of Kahn, whom he credits with sharing a practical spirituality that is accessible to everyone.

Weve all been told, love yourself, love your neighbor, Farrell said. But no one has defined it so specifically, in the moment, when youre having an experience, as to this is how you love yourself.

In Kahns world, every thought and feeling no matter how negative or hurtful is an opportunity to extend love to the one who is feeling it.

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Love What Arises teacher comes to Nevada County