LONDON - The British government wants an NFL team based in London. Sead Kolasinac Arsenal Jersey .George Osborne, the British treasury chief, told the Evening Standard newspaper on Wednesday that the government will do whatever it can to make this happen.The NFL has been playing regular-season games at Wembley Stadium every year since 2007, and this season there are three games on the schedule. But they havent yet announced any plans to put a team permanently in the British capital.We warmly welcome the chancellors strong support for the possibility of an NFL team in London and look forward to welcoming him to a game at Wembley over the next few weeks, the NFL said in a statement. Our key priority is to continue to build our fan base in the U.K. so that there is strong demand for any future plans in London.Detroit and Atlanta will play Sunday at Wembley, the home of Englands national soccer team. Last month, the Miami Dolphins beats the Oakland Raiders 38-14, and next month, the Dallas Cowboys will face the Jacksonville Jaguars.While there has been much talk over the last few years, feasibility of a franchise in London is uncertain. So is how many players would want to join a team so far away from the rest of the league.This is primarily a decision for the owners of the clubs and the NFL organization, but Ive said to the NFL that anything the government can do to make this happen we will do, because I think it would be a huge boost to London, Osborne said.The Jaguars also played at Wembley last year, losing to the San Francisco 49ers, and are slated to keep coming to London over the next two seasons. They are owned by Shahid Khan, who also owns English soccer club Fulham.Because of Khans plan to keep his franchise in the British sports fans consciousness, the Jaguars have often been rumoured as the most likely team to relocate to Britain.Osborne, however, would not speculate on which team might pick up and move abroad.There are 32 teams in America — and one of them could be a London team. Thats a serious prospect, Osborne said. Its not going to happen overnight but over the next few years. I just think it will cement London as a global sporting capital as well as a global financial and business and cultural capital.___Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Mohamed Elneny Jersey . Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. Konstantinos Mavropanos Arsenal Jersey . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent. http://www.arsenalsoccerproshop.com/ . - A week after a late-game debacle on defence, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they can finish.Scott Cullen takes a look at the stories from October 25th thorugh the 31st in the NHL, including the Kings cap concerns, health issues for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first suspensions of the year and more. Voynov Suspension The suspension itself goes back to October 20, after he was arrested for assault after an alleged domestic violence incident and Voynov has remained out of the lineup, with pay, while that case is investigated. His first scheduled court date is December 1. The domestic violence issue is, of course, very serious and theres no reason to have any sympathy for Voynov if he has done what hes been accused of. Where this becomes interesting, from a competitive aspect in the NHL, is how the fallout has left Voynovs team, Los Angeles Kings, jammed up against the salary cap less than a month into the season. According to Cap Geek, the Kings currently have just over $525,000 in available cap space, so when star centre Anze Kopitar got hurt, the Kings didnt have enough room to add a player from the AHL for Tuesdays game in Philadelphia so, in their ninth game of the season, the Kings dressed 19 players instead of the usual 20. They have since brought up winger David Van Der Gulik, a 31-year-old who has played 49 career NHL games and makes a pro-rated portion of $550,000 when hes in the NHL, on an emergency basis. Most teams that are up against the cap can gain relief with a player on long-term injured reserve, but that option isnt available to the Kings as it pertains to Voynov, so theyve been seeking some form of help from the league. According to the TSN Insiders, the hang up comes from the NHLPA, that isnt inclined to give cap relief because that will only lead to higher escrow payments for its membership. Its one thing to say that a team should leave itself some cushion to prepare for unexpected occurrences, but when its a $4-million cap hit that cant play, yet isnt suspended without pay, then it can put a team in a real bind. Olli Maatta Second-year Penguins defenceman Olli Maatta is facing surgery to remove a likely-cancerous tumour in his neck, with the expectation that he should make a full recovery and miss about four weeks of action following the surgery. The 20-year-old was a first-round pick, 22nd overall, in 2012, and is playing a top-four role on the Pittsburgh blueline, putting up six points in nine games while averaging 20:09 of ice time. Injury news happens every day in the NHL, but getting this kind of news out of the blue is more shocking. Hopefully, the early detection will allow for a smooth recovery for a promising young player. Blue Jackets Injuries Injuries are part of the game etc. etc., but come on. The Columbus Blue Jackets are currently missing: right winger Nathan Horton, left wingers Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert, centres Brandon Dubinsky, Mark Letestu and Artem Anisimov, defenceman James Wisniewski and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Nine injured players at the same time is crazy. That all of the forwards could qualify as top-nine-calibre forwards along with a top pair defenceman and their starting goalie is an impossibly bad run of luck. What are they left with? Ryan Johansen, Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson are bona fide NHLers on the first line, but then its rookies Alexander Wennberg and Marko Dano along with journeymen Jack Skille, Adam Cracknell, Corey Tropp and enforder Jared Boll. Add in AHL call-ups Brian Gibbons, Michael Chaput and Sean Collins and -- voila -- theres 12 forwards for a team playing in the NHL right now. Get healthy Jackets. The Race for McDavid/Eichel A story that is going to linger over the entire season -- the peril of having spectacular talent available at the top of 2015 NHL Draft -- but its also notable because there are two teams that are decidely ahead of the rest in the race to the bottom. While winless (0-6-2) Carolina has the leagues worst record, theyve gone through some injuries and as they get healthier, they dont figure to be as bad as the Buffalo Sabres. While the Sabres have somehow managed to win a couple games, going 2-8-1, their performance has them ticketed for a likely last-place finish. Its all well and good to put a bad team in position to draft a franchise-changing talent, but there is only a 20% chance that the worst teamm ends up with the No. Danny Welbeck Jersey. 1 pick and, the way the Sabres have started this season, they are going to have a long way to climb, even if they get their saviour. The Role of Replay There have already been four goals scored on plays that were offside and now phantom penalties are being handed out, as Detroits Luke Glendening was charged with tripping Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby when, quite clearly, he did not. Can improved replay procedures avoid these missteps in the future? Suspensions The NHL season got off to a relatively peaceful start, a couple weeks with nary a concern for the Department of Player Safety. Those sweet days of innocence are gone now, as Sharks enforcer John Scott got handed a couple of games for coming off the bench and getting into a fight with Ducks tough guy Tim Jackman, then Rangers defenceman John Moore got five games for a high hit on Wild centre Erik Haula. Not only that, but Chris Kreider, Nikolay Kulemin, Corey Tropp and Eric Gryba all managed to avoid supplemental discipline for questionable hits in the past week and Alex Burrows has a hearing lined up for his late hit on Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin Thursday night. Looks like the NHL is back to business as usual. Marian Hossa records his 1000th career point in Ottawa That Hossa could reach this milestone in the city where he started his NHL career, in 1997-98, is something extra special for a player who has seen quite a change in his reputation over the past 17 years. Early in his career, he was dogged by the Senators playoff shortcomings, even taking the blame early on for his lack of production in the postseason, but Hossa has become one of the premier two-way wingers in hockey. He has played a prominent role on a team that reached the Conference Final six times in his career. Hes won two Stanley Cups and, at 35, remains an elite winger in part because he still backchecks like hes trying to earn a spot in the lineup. In any case, its nice for Hossa to reach a scoring milestone, but his game is about so much more than putting up points; thats what ultimately makes him so valuable. Rangers score five in the third vs. Wild The Minnesota Wild have been a dominant team early in this season, owning the leagues best possession numbers, and they appeared well on their way to an impressive road win Monday at Madison Square Garden before the Rangers scored five goals in the third period, turning a 3-0 Wild lead into a 5-4 Rangers win. It shouldnt be a long-term issue for the Wild, but it was a notable blip in an otherwise sensational start to the season, one that is pushing Minnesota among the top contenders in the Western Conference. Devils snap 18-game shootout losing streak Considering that the shootout is basically a coin flip, its outrageous that the Devils somehow lost 18 straight. Of course, the player to put them over the top Thursday nigth against Winnipeg was Jacob Josefson, a forward who has eight goals in 122 career games. Ovechkin Slump I wrote about Ovechkin going scoreless in five games, for the first time in his career, and the bottom line is that hes actually playing very well right now. The points arent there and thats notable for a player that has 820 points in 688 career games -- his 1.19 points per game ranks third among active players, behind Sidney Crosby (1.40) and Evgeni Malkin (1.22) -- so its going to be interesting to see when Ovechkin actually snaps out of his drought. And a bonus one... Gordie Howe When word came that Mr. Hockey suffered a serious stroke this week, it brought back memories for many hockey fans, myself included. The second NHL game I saw in my life was in the Montreal Forum, March 22, 1980, when my Dad took me to see the Habs and the Hartford Whalers, just so I could say that I got to see Gordie Howe play. Thanks for that, Dad. I remember more about Whalers centre Mike Rogers scoring from centre ice on Bunny Larocque that night, but having read about Howe at his best, when he was a first or second-team all-star year after year after year, there is a feeling of mortality that sweeps over when inevitable health issues catch up to an 86-year-old man, even one that appeared superhuman for so long. Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '