ERST LESEN! » ailing 2-0, Edmonton native Engelland threaded a hig

Despite making the playoffs for the first time since joining Major League Soccer, Montreal Impacts 2013 season ended with a massive letdown. It wasnt just the 3-0 loss at Houston in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round that hurt; it was the manner of the defeat and the total loss of discipline. As the team prepares to head to Orlando for the final stage of their training camp, there is a different feel around the Impact squad following the appointment of new head coach Frank Klopas to replace the fiery Swiss manager Marco Schallibaum. "Frank is settling in. He has put certain messaging and systems in place," Impact sporting director Nick De Santis said on TSNFC this week. "We made the right decision to move forward and go in a different direction and up until now, we have a very good relationship with Frank. We know what he wants and he knows what we want." "If we go back to that game in Houston, the result, the actions by certain players can give you an idea of what went on for the last two months, the last 10 games of the season. It was very frustrating." "In my position and in Joeys (Impact president Joey Saputo) position, the easiest thing to do was to reconfirm Marco because we set out our objectives at the beginning of the season and we met those objectives – being in the playoffs, winning the Canadian Championship – but when you are making decisions of what is best for the club going forward and whats best for the players, we felt that we needed to go in a different direction." With just over three weeks until the Impact open up the 2014 season, and after a quiet offseason in terms of player signings, De Santis says the club is still looking to add "one or two pieces" to the team. It seems the club is close to announcing the signing of young Uruguayan striker Santiago Gonzalez, who De Santis first met in Argentina on a scouting trip in November. "I managed to see him in my last trip to Argentina and watched him live," De Santis told TSNFC. "Hes a young player but a player with certain qualities that I think can help our team get better up front. Were still dealing with a few issues but were hoping that is something that can get done, hopefully even before we get to Orlando on the weekend." While Montreals squad hasnt seen as many additions as most teams across MLS, De Santis believes some of the players they have retained from last year will be in a better position to produce top quality performances on a consistent basis. "Hernan Bernadello played half a season last year and I think now you can say that hes basically a new addition because the first six months was an adaptation period. With him now being with the team from day one, he will bring a lot more to the table. We have Nelson Rivas healthy and hopefully we can manage him well and he can give us a good amount of games because when he is on the field feeling well physically and with his head in the right place, he can be a dominant defender in this league." On Monday, the Impact announced the return of Argentine midfielder Andres Romero, who joins the team on loan from Brazilian club Tombense for the second successive season. Romero showed glimpses of his ability in 2013, scoring two goals in 30 regular season appearances, but De Santis expects there is much more to come this season from the former Argentina U20 international. "Were happy that Romero is back because he is another player that showed very good signs in certain moments," said De Santis. "When his wife gave birth to twins, she went back to Argentina and thats when we saw his consistency level had gone down. We just want to make sure now that hes in the best environment for him to be as consistent as possible." With other teams getting much stronger during the offseason, the Eastern Conference will be a fierce battleground in 2014. Repeating the accomplishment of making the playoffs will be a difficult task for Montreal, but with the core of a squad that led the East on a number of occasions throughout the first half of the 2013 season, the Impact feel they are well positioned to hit the ground running when their season opens in Dallas on March 8. Adidas Falcon Dam Rea .A caravan greeted the former Boston Red Sox pitcher at the airport and took him to a public park in Santo Domingo, where a crowd lined a 19-mile stretch of highway to catch a glimpse of him.Once at the park, Martinez went on stage accompanied by players David Ortiz and Robinson Cano as merengue music played and fireworks lit up the sky. Adidas Continental 80 Dam . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken. http://www.nmdsverige.com/ .C. -- North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried said his team had a "golden" opportunity to help its NCAA tournament chances. Adidas Stan Smith Dam Rea .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills will head into the regular season short on experience at quarterback after trimming the roster on Friday. Adidas Superstar Dam Sverige . The Calgary skip fell 10-8 to Swedens Oskar Eriksson in semifinal action Saturday and will face Switzerlands Peter de Cruz for the bronze medal (Saturday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2). SYLVAN LAKE, Alta. -- Sven Baertschi knows he has to back up a smart decision and a pivotal goal with many more of both to be a regular in the NHL. The Calgary Flames forward scored with nine seconds remaining in the second period Wednesday to deadlock a pre-season game against the Arizona Coyotes. After a scoreless third, Curtis Glencross scored the overtime winner for Calgary in a 4-3 victory in Sylvan Lake, Alta. Baertschi came off his final major junior season to join the Flames playing out the string in 2012. Calgarys first-round pick and the No. 13 selection in 2011 inflated expectations with three goals in his first five games with the team. The 21-year-old Swiss forward has played more games in the American Hockey League than with the parent club in the two seasons since then. When Brian Burke joined the Flames a year ago as president of hockey operations, he wasnt complimentary of Baertschi with comments like "big holes" and "lack of commitment." "I realized a little while ago now, coming into the league, its a different game and every decision you make has got to be the right decision," Baertschi said. "Ive been working on it really hard and doing a lot of video. Its the little details out there I want to do right. "I think Im making some really good decisions with the puck. Im not being selfish out there, but Im trying to hold onto the puck a little longer. Its something Ive been working on all summer, so its paying off now. "I want to prove I can play in this league." Sylvan Lake won this years Kraft Hockeyville contest, which included a grant of $100,000 for arena upgrades, as well as the right to host an NHL pre-season game. The community of 13,000 is just west of Red Deer. With a capacity of just under 1,000, the Sylvan Lake Multi-Plex was full and speckled with a few blue Oilers jerseys among red Flames shirts. Local products Glencross and defenceman Kris Russell added to the sense of occasion by combining on the overtime winner. Glencross, who grew up in Prevost, re-directed Russells shot from the blue-line for a power-play goal at 3:50. Russell is from nearby Caroline. The roof of the aging Sylvan Lake Arena next door to the Multi-Plex collapsed in January. The city intends to raise $2 million for a multiplex redevelopment project. "Russ and I both skated in the old barn quite a bit back in the day," Glencross said. "He made a great shot and I got lucky enough to get my stick on it." Deryk Engelland and Brian McGrattan also scored for the Flames, who are 2-1-0 in the pre-season. "I told the players this morning remember those people coming to the game, they had to fight real hard to get this game," Flames head coach Bob Hartley said. "Im sure there were lotss of other great cities that could have this game and since its very close to our market, I think we owed this game to the fans.dddddddddddd" B.J. Crombeen had a goal and an assist and Matt Kassian and Joe Vitale also scored for Arizona. Defenceman Chris Summers had two assists, but was serving a holding penalty when Glencross scored the winner. Calgary killed off three Arizona power-play chances in the third period and to start overtime. Arizona goalie Mike McKenna stopped 25 of 28 shots through two periods in his first pre-season action. Brendan Burke turned aside seven of eight in the third and overtime. Burke is the son of Arizona goaltending coach Sean Burke, who played 18 seasons in the NHL. After 11 saves on 14 shots, Calgarys Joni Ortio was replaced after two periods by Doug Carr, who stopped all 12 he faced in the third and extra period. McKenna got a piece of Baertschis sharp-angled shot as the second period wound down, but the puck trickled under the goaltenders arm and into the net. "A game like tonight, I think I was really comfortable and didnt make too many bad decisions," Baertschi said. "For me, one of the things Ive been working on is figuring out when to pass and when to shoot. Thats a big part of decision making. At that point, I knew I didnt have any support coming from behind and it went in and I was happy." Arizona led 3-2 at 3:06 when Brandon Gormleys shot from the top of the face-off circle deflected off Crombeens leg and into Calgarys net. Flames enforcer McGrattan scored at 1:59 when he banked in a goal-mouth pass from Markus Granlund. With Calgary trailing 2-0, Edmonton native Engelland threaded a high wrist shot through traffic to halve the deficit with a power-play goal at 19:06. Arizonas Vitale batted a rebound out of the air by Ortio at 12:58. Kassian, another Edmontonian invited to Arizonas camp on a try-out contract, also scored on a rebound from the slot at 8:56. The Coyotes finished one spot out of a playoff berth last season at 37-30-15, while the Flames were well out of the post-season at 35-40-7. "We all know and it doesnt really mean nothing right now, but we played 49 games last year decided by one goal," Hartley said. "I keep repeating to our guys, we have to keep making big strides and learning to win those types of games. Come Game 1 of the regular season, whatever we will have done here as a result will not count, but if we can learn those little details well be a better team." Wednesdays pre-season game was the first of three in as many days for the Flames, who host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday in Calgary and play in Vancouver on Friday. The Coyotes are in San Jose on Friday to face the Sharks and are in Vancouver on Monday. ' ' '