Nice, France (SportsNetwork.
Lawrence Timmons Steelers Jersey .com) - Top seed John Isner was sent packing, while second-seeded Ernests Gulbis secured a berth in the semifinals at the Nice Open, a final clay court French Open tune-up. Argentine Federico Delbonis knocked out the 6-foot-9 American Isner 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), while the Latvian Gulbis held off fifth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) at Nice Lawn Tennis Club. Isner blew a 5-3 lead in the final set. Gulbis semifinal opponent will be reigning Nice champion Albert Montanes, while fourth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon will meet Delbonis in the other final four affair on Friday. The French Simon subdued Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-1, while the Spaniard Montanes overcame Argentine qualifier Leonardo Mayer 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4. Montanes topped Frances Gael Monfils in last years Nice finale.
Markus Wheaton Jersey . -- Canadian Erik Bedard pitched into the fifth inning in his bid to win a spot in Tampa Bays rotation, helping the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday.
Cam Thomas Jersey . LUCIE, Fla.LONDON, Ont. -- The Val-dOr Foreurs made it to the Memorial Cup semifinal thanks to their workhorse goaltender and their ability to hang around like a bad cold. The Foreurs were outshot 50-33 by the Edmonton Oil Kings and trailed twice in regulation, yet pulled out a 4-3 win in double overtime Tuesday. Centre Anthony Richard ended the marathon at Budweiser Gardens by scoring on a breakaway at 1:15 in the second overtime. It was the second time in this tournament the opposition put 50 shots on goaltender Antoine Bibeau and Val-dOr emerged with a one-goal victory. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions concluded their preliminary round 2-1. Theyll play in Fridays semifinal with the victor advancing to Sundays championship game against the Ontario Hockey League champions the Guelph Storm. The host London Knights and Storm conclude the preliminary round Wednesday in a clash of OHL rivals. Guelph is already in Sundays final at 2-0. The winless Knights need a victory to avoid elimination and force a tiebreaker game against the Oil Kings at 1-2. Val-dOr went the full seven games to win both their semifinal and final series in the QMJHL playoffs. The Foreurs had just three days between winning Game 7 in Baie-Comeau, Que., and beating the host Knights 1-0 to open the MasterCard Memorial Cup. For those reasons, Richard was elated with his double overtime winner. "Its huge for us because we played two series in seven games in the Q and we need some rest," said the 17-year-old from Trois-Rivieres, Que. "That two days off is huge for us." Depending on the outcome of Wednesdays game, the Oil Kings will have a rematch with the Foreurs on Friday or take on the Knights in a tiebreaker Thursday. "I thought we deserved a better fate," Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said. "We have to respond and be more resilient." The Oil Kings lost in a tiebreaker to the host and eventual champion Shawinigan Cataractes at the 2012 Memorial Cup. After falling 6-3 to Guelph the previous night, most of the Foreurs shaved off their playoff beards, but for no particular reason they said. Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored on a short-handed breakaway in the second period for thhe fresh-faced Foreurs.
Rocky Bleier Jersey. Captain Samuel Henley tied the game in the third period to force overtime and Shawn Ouellette-St-Amant also contributed a goal. But Val-dOr was able to stay on Edmontons heels because of Bibeau. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect stopped 47 shots, including a penalty shot by Edgars Kulda in the first period. Bibeau posted a 51-save shutout in Val-dOrs first game of the tournament against London. He also denied Knights forward Bo Horvat on a third-period penalty shot in that game. "Antoine is just awesome," Henley said. "He keeps us in the game every time. He keeps everyone calm in the room. Hes such a good goalie, a good teammate and a good player. We probably wouldnt have won the game without him." Curtis Lazar had a goal and an assist for the Oil Kings, who led 2-0 after the opening period. Reid Petryk also scored for the Western Hockey League champions and Henrik Samuelsson temporarily restored Edmontons lead early in the third. "When you get the chances to put away a team like Val-dOr, you have to take it," Lazar said. "We were unable to do that and got into a little bit of a marathon." It was the sixth game in Memorial Cup history to go to double overtime, but it wasnt nearly the longest. London happens to be the site of the longest game in Memorial Cup history. The Ottawa 67s downed the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 after 95 minutes 41 seconds in 2005. Oil Kings goaltender Tristan Jarry made 29 saves in defeat in front of 8,745 fans, but the seats thinned out considerably by the start of the second overtime. The years Memorial Cup is 0-for-3 in penalty shots as Jarry denied Londons Ryan Rupert on Sunday. Foreurs defenceman Guillaume Gelinas did not play Tuesday. Assistant coach Mark Pietroniro said earlier in the day Gelinas suffered a "knee contusion" in Mondays collision with Guelphs Chadd Bauman. Val-dOrs top defenceman joined his teammates for warmup, but spent most of it standing beside the boards looking sore. Gelinas left the ice before his teammates did. The Canadian Hockey League fined the host Knights $1,000 for criticizing the officials following Sundays 5-2 loss to the Oil Kings. ' ' '