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VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks are expanding the duties of senior management team member Stan Smyl. He was named director of player development Thursday, the NHL team said in a release. Smyl will also continue to serve as senior adviser to general manager Mike Gillis. "Stan has been a cornerstone of our franchise as a player, coach and member of our management team for over 30 years," Gillis said in a release. "We are thrilled to expand his role to have him work closely with our prospects. Stan embodies hard work and has shown an unwavering commitment to excellence. "We look forward to having him instil these qualities in our prospects as they develop on and off the ice." Smyl has spent his entire professional hockey career with the Canucks organization, first as a player then as a coach before becoming a member of the senior management team. He was named collegiate scouting director in June 2008 and became the senior adviser to the GM a few months later. In his new role, Smyl will be responsible for working with the clubs young players to assist them with their continued growth as professionals. During his NHL playing career, Smyl established team records for games played (896), goals (262), assists (411) and points (673). He served as team captain from 1982-1990 and had his No. 12 retired by the team in 1991. Vince Carter Jersey .com) - The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to get back on track Monday night when they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to Chesapeake Energy Arena. Cheap Toronto Raptors Jerseys .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. http://www.cheapraptorsjerseys.com/.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. Serge Ibaka Jersey . The 40-year-old midfielder was put in charge on Tuesday when David Moyes reign ended after 10 months with the defending champions in seventh place in the English Premier League. Kyle Lowry Jersey . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning.After every game the players and coaches sit down and take a look at the video and evaluate the players, game plan, and execution. As analysts we do the same thing, so here are some observations from week one. First there were two major upsets. I should say, major upsets in the eyes of the fans and prognosticators. It is safe to say that the two winning teams involved were confident they were better than people said leading up to the first week of the regular season. The biggest of the two upsets was when the Bombers handed it to Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argonauts. The game kicked off Thursday a couple of days after TSNs top fifty players were announced, where Ray was named the best player in the CFL. However, Ray was not the best quarterback on Thursday night, Drew Willy, who was starting just his 5th game in the CFL, outplayed the Argo quarterback. Willy finished the night throwing for 308 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception, better numbers than any of the week one starters. Bo Levi Mitchell threw for five more yards in Calgarys game versus Montreal but finished with half the touchdown passes. Willy was the best of the young guns in week one, so much so fans in Winnipeg were calling it Willypeg. The second upset was when Edmonton went into BC Place and beat the Lions by seven points. Odds makers heading into the season had the Lions as the early favorites to win the Grey Cup, those odds may change after week one. Almost ever expert across the country was predicting that the West would be a three horse race between BC, Calgary and Saskatchewan, and that still may be the case. However, week one proved that the Bombers and Esks may have something to say about that and may just join that race. It looks like perennial all-star, Korey Banks days in Winnipeg are over. Sources said that Banks may have been sore from camp but wasnt hurt enough to keep him out of the line up. Therefore, the fact he didnt play was a coaches decision and because of that Banks has asked to be released. Ottawa may be a good fit for the veteran, and if he did end up in the Nations capitol it would mean he would be returning to where his career began back in 2004. He played two years in Ottawa and in 2005 recorded ten interceptions. Banks played linebacker his last five years in BC and during that time registered that same total of INTs. If Ottawa did want to kick the tires on Banks, Rick Campbell may want to look at him as a defensive back, possibly free safety. The new rule change where by defensive pass interference is now reviewable, was tested in week one, when Bomber head coach Michael OShea challenged a missed call in the game versus the Argos. Despite the fact that there are still a couple of coaches that are noot completely convinced the change is a good idea, the challenge process was successful.dddddddddddd There was no flag on the play and OShea challenged and won. It was a missed call that was corrected and a game changer, when the ball was placed on the one yard line and the Bombers scored on the next play. In the end the right call was made, and if hypothetically that was inside of a minute in the Grey Cup and the Bombers were down by four, a championship game would not be tainted by a controversial call. Case in point Montreal versus Hamilton in last years eastern semi final. Those coaches that are still not convinced have yet to give a solid argument as to why they dont like it. The current objections still include, it will slow the pace of the game, or "It just doesnt seem right." In Winnipeg the challenge wasnt longer than the average challenge and, with all due respect, because, "it doesnt seem right," really isnt an argument against this rule change. In Saskatchewan, the defending champions seem to have found a replacement for last years Grey Cup MVP Kory Sheets. It looks like Anthony Allen, who racked up 158 yards on 27 carries versus the Ti-Cats has won the audition to replace Sheets. The Riders are proving the old adage in football, that says games are won and lost in the trenches. It doesnt seem to matter who carries the ball behind that offensive line in Saskatchewan, and on the other side of the ball the defensive front dominated generating 10 sacks. Yes that is not a miss print, the Rider front seven got to Zach Collaros ten times. And finally, the hit by Montreals Kyries Hebert on Jon Cornish will certainly draw supplementary discipline from the league. Hebert is a hard hitting player, but does not have a history of crossing the line and playing dirty, so expect the linebacker/safety to be fined and not suspended. It wont be a complete shock however, if Hebert is suspended for one game, in that he clearly made a choice to hit Cornish high. The game is fast and both players were going full speed but when looking at the reply Hebert could have simply tackled Cornish so, therefore, it appears he made the choice to go high. Again he isnt a player with a track record of cheap shots so a fine from the league as a warning seems the right course of action. Most importantly, Jon Cornish, one of the games biggest stars appears to be ok. Ottawa will play its season opener in week two when they travel to Winnipeg. Drew Willy and the red hot Bombers will be a challenge, but wouldnt it be an interesting start to the season if Henry Burris led the Red Blacks to a win in their first game making Ottawa the first team from the east to win a game. Week two kicks off Thursday night. ' ' '