Gästebereich » , including expansion, outdoor games and changes t

CALGARY -- The unbeaten Calgary Stampeders appear to have a favourable matchup this Friday when they host a winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats team missing its starting quarterback, but middle linebacker Juwan Simpson is taking nothing for granted. Watch the Stampeders vs. Tiger-Cats live tonight on TSN and TSN GO at 10pm et/7pm pt. "Everybody asks us if were going to take this game lightly and we cant because its the field of unknown," said Simpson in regards to the Ticats (0-2), who will be without several key starters including quarterback Zach Collaros. Jeremiah Masoli will make his first career CFL start at quarterback for the Ticats in place of Collaros, whos out of the lineup with head and back injuries after being flattened by a helmet hit to the chin by Eskimos linebacker Odell Willis in the second quarter of Hamiltons 28-24 road loss to Edmonton on July 4. "I dont feel like Im just being thrown in there," said Masoli, whos in his second CFL season. "Ive been preparing for this for a while now. I feel prepared and confident." Hamilton coach Kent Austin has confidence that Masoli can get the job done. "Hes excited," Austin said. "We have really high expectations for our quarterbacks like other teams do, and Jeremiah knows that and understands that and he embraces that. Its not like he hasnt been in big situations before. Hes a pretty laid back player and has a great perspective. Hes very endearing to his teammates." Masoli took over for Collaros in Edmonton and completed 5-of-15 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown to go with three turnovers -- an interception and two fumbles. "He had a tough outing, but hes a very accurate thrower, can move in the pocket, has good vision down the field, can extend plays - all the things you want in a quarterback," said Calgary coach and general manager John Hufnagel. "They do have changes especially at the quarterback position, but they have done creative things with their quarterbacks in the past and theyve substituted in and out." Hufnagel praised his defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler for doing his homework to prepare the Stamps (2-0) for whatever the Ticats will throw at them. "Hes tried to prepare the football team defensively to see all kinds of things," Hufnagel said. "You just have to play your scheme and react to what they present to you." Both teams have key injuries as Hamilton will be without linebackers Simoni Lawrence and Rico Murray along with left tackle Joel Figueroa (all lower body), while running back Jon Cornish is still out of Calgarys lineup with a concussion along with linebacker Deron Mayo (groin strain), defensive back Keon Raymond (thigh bruise) and receiver Maurice Price (broken hand). "You just fill in and reload," Simpson said. "When you get to this level, everybodys capable no matter how deep you go on the depth chart. Its not like high school where if one player goes down, thats it for the team. Were very fortunate to have depth." Due to the injuries to Raymond and Mayo, Lin-J Shell and Glenn Love will be elevated to starter status for the Stamps. "I expect good things from both of them," Simpson said. "Theyre both smart guys and good football players." Receiver Jeff Fuller is coming off his best outing with Stamps during Calgarys 34-15 win over the Argonauts in Toronto and hes looking forward to continuing his progress against Hamilton. "It was a good win, but weve just got to keep building on it," said Fuller, who hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell against the Argos. "Im looking forward to a big game this week. I felt like we had a good week of preparation, even though it was a short week." Mitchell commended offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson for getting the Stamps ready to take on the Ticats. "Dicky is one of those guys whos not going to hold anything back," said Mitchell, who had an impressive outing in Toronto when he threw four TD passes. "He makes sure that were all ready to do anything that we can do on offence. We have a lot of things that we can do - a lot of misdirection. We have a lot of guys to throw to. We dont ever focus on one person." For the Ticats to be successful against the Stamps, theyll have to concentrate on stopping Mitchell, who completed 16-of-24 passes for 267 yards against the Argos. "Bo definitely brings some energy to the field," said Hamilton nose tackle Brian Bulcke, who played two years for the Stamps before signing with the Ticats prior to last season. "Thats something I noted my years here. As a defensive line, having guys like (Eric) Norwood and (Brandon) Boudreaux on the edge to chase him down I think is really important, so were just trying to get those guys fired up." Dexter Lawrence Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Deandre Baker Youth Jersey . When the Dallas Mavericks needed to stop a Golden State rally in the fourth quarter, they looked for defensive help from the rookie point guard playing in just his sixth game. http://www.giantsonlineteamshop.com/phil...rsey-cheap.html. This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. Carl Banks Cheap Jersey . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. Lawrence Taylor Cheap Jersey . -- Kurt Buschs Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, in some ways, was like his career wrapped into one afternoon.Despite a recent trip to Seattle, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says expansion is not currently on the horizon for the league. In a one-hour interview with TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Bettman discussed a variety of topics, including expansion, outdoor games and changes to the NHL draft. When asked about his recently reported trip to Seattle with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Bettman said the visit simply coincided with being on the west coast for a playoff game in Anaheim. "We had a few hours to kill, we were in the neighborhood, so I figured Id go to Seattle to find out what the building story was," Bettman told LeBrun. "We werent there campaigning, we werent asking for anything, and thats been misreported. Based on the level of interest were getting from lots of people in Seattle and a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion about the building, we decided Lets go find out for ourselves what the story is with the building. And theres no prospect of a building right now." Investor Chris Hansen currently holds the rights with the city of Seattle to build a new arena, however Hansen will not move ahead with the building process until he has secured an NBA franchise. Hansen is not pursuing an NHL team for the arena, but would like to have an NHL team as a tenant of the arena under another owner. "The sense I get is he doesnt want to build a building just to have a tenant," Bettman said. "And since he seems to have things tied up with the city for the next three years, give or take, theres no certainty about a building." Bettmans takeaway from the Seattle tour; that "the possibility of a new arena is at best uncertain." Bettman said he is also aware of the arena being built in Quebec City, as well as the plans for an MGM Arena in Las Vegas, however expansion for his league currently remains off the table. "Things are popping up, but were not in an expansion process. Could we get to one at some point? Maybe.dddddddddddd But right now were not focused on going through an expansion process." While the league may not be expanding franchises, expanding fan bases through outdoor games will continue. The commissioner acknowledged that though the number of outdoor games will drop from the record six played last season, the league will play more than one outdoor game in 2014-15. Bettman explained that the elevated number of games this past season stemmed from various circumstances. "This year we used those games in a variety of ways. Part of it was promoting us going into the Olympics, part of it was promoting it coming out. And doing it in New York [around the Super Bowl] with two games...we had to do lots of stuff. Our people did an extraordinary job, but we really taxed things to the limit. But also, interestingly enough, the Olympic break let us set up for more games. So, itll be more than one and less than six next season." As the league continues its tradition of adding excitement with outdoor games, the discussion of adding more excitement to the draft has also come up. "The GMs have asked us whether or not more teams should be eligible for the lottery result moving up more teams and whether or not the odds should be adjusted a little bit. Thats something were looking at," Bettman said. Bettman told LeBrun it would be premature to say if the adjustments would be made in time for the 2015 Draft, but said changes are being contemplated. "We havent finished a proposal thats been circulated... I think if were going to make an adjustment, itll be that more picks are selected by the lottery and we might smooth out the odds a little. But again, thats not something were at yet." The current NHL draft process gives every non-playoff team a chance at the first overall selection, with percentages declining from 25 percent. The 2014 NHL Draft will take place on June 27-28 in Philadelphia. ' ' '