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Former NHL player Alex Kovalev has announced his retirement. Kovalev last played in the NHL with the Florida Panthers during the 2012-13 season and spent last season with Swiss second-tier team EHC Visp. According to the International Ice Hockey Federations website, Kovalev made the announcement in an interview with Swiss TV station Kanal9. He cited injuries as the reason for his decision. The 41-year-old Russian native was selected by the New York Rangers with the 15th overall pick of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft and joined the team for the 1992-93 season. He then helped the Rangers end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought the following year, posting 21 points in 23 playoff games. Kovalev spent his first six-plus seasons with the Rangers, then was traded to Pittsburgh and played with the Penguins until the 2002-03 campaign when he was sent back to New York. He also played with Montreal and Ottawa before rejoining Pittsburgh late in the 2010-11 season and signed with the Panthers in January 2013. In 1,316 NHL regular-season games, most of any Russian-born player, Kovalev notched 430 goals and 599 assists for 1,029 points. He added 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points in 123 playoff games. On the international level, Kovalev won Olympic gold at the 1992 Games in Albertville and bronze at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. Paul George Shoes Free Shipping . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. Clearance Paul George Shoes . -- Nelson Cruz has only two hits in 15 at-bats against the Kansas City Royals this season. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ .ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Paul George Shoes From China . -- Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday for the first time in his seven-year career because of a swollen muscle in his left upper back. Wholesale Paul George Shoes . The third-ranked Lewis, a three-time winner this year on the LPGA Tour, had a 9-under 135 total at Emirates Golf Course in the Ladies European Tours season-ending tournament.GLASGOW -- Kate Gillis says it was difficult to block out the noise. The energetic 24-year-old is the captain and inspirational leader of Canadas womens field hockey team at the Commonwealth Games. Shes also the daughter of former Vancouver Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis, who was fired in April after the team missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. Gillis and soon-to-be ousted head coach John Tortorella took most of the criticism for the Canucks struggles as media and fans alike dissected what had gone so horribly wrong for a team that came within a game of winning the 2011 Stanley Cup. Having your feet held to the fire is part of being an executive in professional sports, but that doesnt make it any easier for the families. Its something the younger Gillis learned first-hand this spring. "I think its always hard for people to say those things about your father. With the Internet these days, you can just have a free-for-all," she said this week. "Its tough to kind of differentiate between the truth and the fiction, but I just keep my head down. He definitely doesnt let us get affected, but in the long run its hard. "Its your dad." Kate Gillis grew up in Kingston, Ont., but moved to Vancouver after being scouted by the national team when she was still a teenager. That cross-country adventure was coincidentally part of the reason Mike Gillis, an NHL player agent at the time, was hired by the Canucks in the first place. "I was 17, finishing high school by correspondence and my parents didnt feel quite comfortable with me living out there by myself," said Gillis. "They moved just for the year until I went back to school, but ended up staying because my dad got a job." Despite all of the heartache in recent months, she said one of the positives of her father losing that job is that he can spend more time following her career. "It was definitely tough, but weve been able to spend so much more time together as a family," said Gillis, who has two brothers. "I actually just celebrated my 100th cap in England, which is a huge milestone, and my dad was able to be there. "He will be here for the whole tournament, and that normally doesnt happen because its (NHL) free agency, or the draft or pre-season or something. It was a very difficult circumstance when it happened but now were seeing him more relaxed, he has more time, and hes able to capitalize on these sort of events." Canadas womens field hockey team has not made the Olympics since 1992 and is using the Commonwealth Games in Scotland as a meeasuring stick ahead of next summers Pan American Games in Toronto, which will serve as the qualifying event for Rio 2016.dddddddddddd "Were a young team. Weve made lots of progress over 12 months and the opportunity to play in a tournament like this definitely gives us an idea of where were at," said Canadian head coach Ian Rutledge. "We want to make sure we give this event the respect it deserves. Were obviously looking to do our best and play as well as we can and finish as high as we can -- thats the objective. But thinking longer term its also an opportunity to gauge where were at ahead of Toronto 2015." Canada currently ranks 22nd in the world and has lost its two opening matches at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, 4-2 to No. 13 India on Thursday and 2-0 to No. 11 South Africa on Friday. Next up is No. 31 Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, and the biggest test of the group stage on Wednesday against fourth-ranked New Zealand. Meanwhile, the 16th-ranked Canadian men lost their opener 3-1 to No. 6 New Zealand on the first day of competition and will tackle No. 13 Malaysia on Saturday, No. 29 Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday and No. 5 England on Thursday. Rutledge said Gillis sets the tone for the countrys womens team with her passion and dedication to a sport that she hadnt even heard of until making her varsity team in Grade 9. "Her work rate is immense -- one of the best Ive seen from any athlete in the world," he said. "But more importantly its the quality she brings off the field. Shes a natural leader. Shes very aware of whats going on around the team and in the team. She backs up what she says. Her actions often speak louder than her words. "Shes the hardest trainer, the most committed, the most dedicated, and I think the rest of the team finds that inspiring. She sets standards. Its easy to talk a good game, but she shows what a good game looks like. Shes a fantastic role model." Gillis said she and her teammates want to help grow the sport in Canada, especially with the Pan Am Games on home soil just 12 months away. "What most people dont know is field hockey is so popular almost everywhere else," she said. "Were really looking forward to bringing our sport home and letting people see what we play and how intense our game is." And despite a trying couple of months for her family, Kate Gillis can still lose herself in the sport she has grown to love -- something she learned from her father. "Once you step onto that field nothing else matters," she said. "Thats what hes taught me." ' ' '