te said. "The bullpen came in and obviously did a grea

TORONTO -- LeBron James going home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers led to speculation about whether a star NHL player might do the same in the near future. Naturally, Steven Stamkos was at the centre of that speculation. The Tampa Bay Lightning captain and Markham, Ont., native could be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016, and the allure of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs could be there. "Well see what happens. Its a couple years away," Stamkos said Wednesday. "Right now Im focused on what I have to do to win in Tampa, and I think weve really established ourselves as a team that can compete in upcoming years. "For me, thats the important thing is getting a chance to win. It looks like were going to have that chance for a couple years." At the age of 24, Stamkos is one of the most marketable stars in the NHL. He has topped 50 goals in a season twice already and only missed out on representing Canada at the Sochi Olympics because of a broken leg. Stamkos made a run with the Lightning to the Eastern Conference final in 2011, and Tampa Bay was swept by the Montreal Canadiens in this years playoffs. The Stanley Cup is his priority now, something he can legitimately think about with general manager Steve Yzerman piecing together one of the best young teams in the league. "We have a good thing going down in Tampa," Stamkos said at a Coca-Cola ball-hockey promotional event. "We have a great owner, we got a great GM in Steve Yzerman and we got a good young team. I want to win, and hopefully I can do it in Tampa." Stamkos said with the additions of centre Brian Boyle and defenceman Anton Stralman and the re-signing of winger Ryan Callahan, the Lightning are probably better on paper than they were at the end of last season. "We didnt have the finish we wanted to last year, but with the new faces coming in, the expectations are probably set a little higher," he said. Stamkos said chatter about joining the Leafs in two years was "absolutely not" a distraction for him in Tampa, where hell begin his first full season as captain this fall. "I try not to focus about that stuff," he said. "I think thats the great thing about playing in Tampa is hockey isnt the mecca that it is here in Toronto and you can kind of go about your life and kind of get away from the game when you need to." That said, Stamkos added that he loves playing in good hockey markets, including Toronto. "Im from around here and grew up cheering for the Leafs, so any time I get a chance to come back here I enjoy it, and any time I get a chance to play against the Leafs its fun," he said. "Its also fun beating them, too, because a lot of my friends are still Leaf fans." Stamkos is set to make US$13.5 million over the next two seasons. What could be in his not-too-distant future is a contract like the ones Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane signed with the Chicago Blackhawks: $84 million over eight years. "The business part of the game, its growing," Stamkos said. "Obviously the games in good shape, and when that happens the caps going to grow and players are going to get paid more money. Those guys deserve it: Theyre great players in this league, theyve won championships. "Thats the goal for me is to win a championship. You let your play take care of itself on the ice and when its time to re-sign or sign a contract, you back it up with your play." When James left the Miami Heat for the Cavaliers earlier this month, the chance to return to his native Ohio was cited as a prominent reason. James won two NBA titles during his time with the Heat. "He won his championships, he said he always wanted to come home and play, thats where it started," Stamkos said. "Good for him for making that decision." Adidas Continental 80 Kopen . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Adidas Falcon Goedkoop . Cory Batey and Brandon Vandenburg were each convicted on four charges of aggravated rape, one of attempted aggravated rape and two for aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg was also found guilty of tampering with evidence as well as an unlawful photography charge. http://www.nmdbelgie.com/kopen-adidas-nmd-heren-sale.html . In the opener of the World Group first-round series, world No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont. Adidas NMD R1 Dames Sale . - Alex Dostie scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Gatineau Olympiques to a 5-3 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Sunday. Adidas NMD Heren .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. BALTIMORE -- The New York Yankees have overcome one injury after another this season to make a serious run at a post-season berth, so it wasnt all that surprising that they won again after losing shortstop Derek Jeter for the rest of the year. Is there any obstacle this team cant overcome? Robinson Cano hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the ninth inning, and New York also got solo shots from Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson in a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. The Yankees moved past Baltimore and Cleveland and got closer to Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card hunt. New York has hit eight home runs in winning two of three in the four-game series that concludes Thursday night. "That what you ask for," manager Joe Girardi said. "We have to continue to play well." Before the game, the Yankees announced that Jeter would miss the rest of the season with an injured left ankle. The Yankees captain played in only 17 games this season and made four trips to the disabled list. Once it became official that Jeter was lost, the team lamented his bad luck and got back to the business of earning another playoff berth. "This group fights," Girardi said. "Theyre continuing to fight." New York tailed 4-1 on Tuesday before rallying to win. In this one, Baltimore led 3-1 before Granderson homered in the fifth -- New Yorks first hit -- and Rodriguez tied it in the sixth with his 653rd career home run. In the ninth, after Cano connected off Tommy Hunter (4-4), Granderson tripled with one out and scored on an infield hit by Lyle Overbay. "We get down tonight and come back again," Girardi said. "We were able to take the lead in the ninth. We get a huge homer by Robbie and then a huge hit by Lyle that winds up being a lot bigger." David Robertson (5-1) worked the eighth and Mariano Rivera gave up a run-scoring single to Brian Roberts before securing his 43rd save, tied for the major league lead with Baltimores Jim Johnson. Jeters trip to the DL coincided with the arrival of shortstop Brendan Ryan, obtained one night earlier in a trade with Seattle. Although Ryan went hitless, he performed flawlessly and showed good range in the field. Each team has won nine games this year. The series winner will be determined Thursday night. "We play this team so evenly, iits unbelievable," Girardi said.dddddddddddd Orioles slugger Chris Davis drove in two runs with a double, making him the first player in team history to have 40 doubles and 40 homers in a season. Danny Valencia tied a career high with four hits, and Roberts had three singles. Baltimore outhit New York 13-6, but lost a valuable chance to close in on Tampa Bay for the second and final AL wild-card spot. "We control our own destiny, we control our situation," Orioles centre fielder Adam Jones said. "The rest of the way were playing against teams that are in the same situation as us, so weve got to play better baseball. Thats the cool part. Weve just got to play a little bit better." Yankees starter Andy Pettitte gave up three runs and nine hits over 6 1-3 innings. The 41-year-old lefty has made 13 straight starts since September 2007 against Baltimore without losing, going 8-0 over that stretch. Pettitte has lost only twice to the Orioles since 2002 and is 28-6 lifetime against them. Pettitte has pitched at least six innings in each of his last six starts and is 3-0 in seven outings since Aug. 5. "It was a great game for us," Pettite said. "The bullpen came in and obviously did a great job. There were some big hits for us. It was a good win, thats for sure." Baltimores Scott Feldman allowed only three hits in 7 2-3 innings, two of them homers. The right-hander struck out six and walked two. His first walk came against the first batter of the game and the second was to the last batter he faced. New York got a first-inning run when leadoff hitter Brett Gardner walked, stole second and scored on two groundouts. The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the third. Roberts and Manny Machado singled with two outs before Davis lined a two-run double through the shift into right-field. Doubles by Valencia and J.J. Hardy made it 3-1 in the fourth, but Baltimore stranded runners at the corners. NOTES: New Yorks David Huff squares off against Wei-Yin Chin in a duel of left-handers in the series finale Thursday night. ... Pettitte has held the opposition scoreless in the first inning over six straight starts after allowing at least one first-inning run in eight consecutive games before that. ... Granderson is 7 for 17 with four homers lifetime against Feldman. ... Feldman threw a season-high 112 pitches. ' ' '