Stars und Sternchen! » fellow defenceman Carl Gunnarsson and the

PHILADELPHIA - The Toronto Maple Leafs loaded up on youth and gambled on the future at the NHL draft Saturday. But they also looked after the present, acquiring Roman Polak from the St. Louis Blues for fellow defenceman Carl Gunnarsson and the 94th pick in Saturdays draft. At six foot and 236 pounds, Polak is a wide body. "He makes people pay a price," said Toronto president Brendan Shanahan. "Hes honest but hes tough. Hes a hard-worker, hes a low-maintenance guy." "Hes going to provide a little bit of edge. A tough guy to play against," added GM Dave Nonis. The 28-year-old Czech native has 79 points in 424 NHL games, including four goals and nine assists last season. Nonis said Polak would probably "play in the (No.) 4-5 hole" on defence. "We envision him having a pretty significant impact on our back end," he said. Despite his size, Polak can also skate. "People who dont think he has skating ability really arent watching," said Shanahan. Gunnarsson, a 2007 seventh-rounder, had spent five seasons with the Leafs and played with captain Dion Phaneuf on the teams top defensive pairing. Gunnarssons departure opens the door to Jake Gardner and sophomore Morgan Rielly to step up the depth chart. "Those guys are going to have to take steps forward," said Nonis. "It might be a lot to ask for Morgan in his second year but he made some pretty big strides last year. And we would expect that hell take some more next (year). I think Jake is a good possibility as well. "Again that will be up to Randy (coach Randy Carlyle) to see what he wants to do with that. But we feel there are other people that can play that role effectively with Dion." The Leafs piled pressure on their goalies last season, giving up shots in high numbers. Change was needed. "We liked our defence individually. We didnt necessarily like how they fit together last year. So we wanted to move some pieces and change the look, rebuild it a little bit. I wouldnt say its a major overhaul by doing something like this but it does give us a different element and its a player we didnt really have." A right-handed shot, Polak also fills a void on the Toronto blue-line. Nonis sees Petter Granberg, listed at six foot three and 200 pounds, as a similar-style player to Polak. But the Swede is just 21 and has played only one game for the Leafs. "To ask him to play that way and fit in as a top-six (defenceman) right away, I think might be difficult," he said. "If he does that, great, then we have even more options there." Nonis said the Leafs will "be active" during the free agency period. "If theres a fit there, I wouldnt rule out adding a defenceman and/or a forward," he said. "But I wouldnt promise it either." Toronto took Russian winger Rinat Valiev of the Kootenay Ice in the third round (68th overall), USHL winger John Piccinich in the fourth round (103rd overall), USHL centre Dakota Joseph in the fifth (128th overall), USHL winger Nolan Vesey in the sixth (158th overall) and Swedish winger Pierre Engvall in the seventh (188th). The Leafs used their first-round pick Friday night to take Swedish winger William Nylander eighth overall. Air Jordan 1 Uk Sale . The Montreal Alouettes announced Tuesday that they have acquired the return specialist from Calgary, as well as the Stampeders fifth-round draft pick in the 2014 CFL Canadian Draft. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Uk .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. http://www.airjordan1uk.com/ .com) - Sergio Agueros 63rd-minute goal was enough to lift Manchester City to a 1-0 win over 10-man Manchester United on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Wholesale . Behind the talents of rookie Johnny Gaudreau, the Flames will look to keep pace Thursday night when they face the Minnesota Wild in the second of a six-game homestand. Air Jordan 1 Uk Online . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest.NEW YORK -- Pacers forward David West has been fined $15,000 for elbowing the Clippers Blake Griffin in the jaw. West was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected at the end of the first half of Indianas 106-92 win Saturday. The NBA announced the fine Sunday. The league also fined Kings coach Michael Malone $25,000 for screaming at official Marc Davis afterr Sacramentos 91-90 loss to the Grizzlies on Friday.dddddddddddd Davis called a jump ball instead of a foul against Memphis with 1.9 seconds left and Sacramento trailing by a point, and the Grizzlies won the jump ball. Malone was fined for verbal abuse of an official and not proceeding directly to his locker room after the game ended. ' ' '