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TORONTO - Early this season, the Washington Capitals battled fits of inconsistency and the confusion that comes with yet another coach and another system. Almost halfway through the season, they looked like a team that had everything together. The Capitals, in beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 Wednesday night, provided a blueprint for what Peter Horachek wants to accomplish the rest of the year. His mentor, Barry Trotz, took some time to get Alex Ovechkin and Co. to put the pieces together, but a recent stretch of at least a point in 14 of 15 games represents the consistency the Leafs want to find. I have a feeling theyre going to be playing a pretty similar system, Capitals forward Eric Fehr said of the Leafs. You cant do it all in one day. I think the most important part is the D-zone and we established that in training camp with a lot of physical battles in training camp and a lot of teaching. I dont know how much time theyre going to have to learn it on the fly, but its worked well for us now that we figured it out. Washington forward Brooks Laich, now on his fifth coach along with many of his teammates after stints under Glen Hanlon, Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter and Adam Oates, estimated it takes 50 to 60 games to really get your identity and identify how youre going to win. The Leafs dont have that kind of time, at least to salvage this season. At the midpoint, theyre 21-17-3 and a point out of a playoff spot. The Capitals, thanks to their recent run of success, are 21-11-7 and solidly in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Much has changed for Washington, not the least of which has been stronger play from goaltender Braden Holtby, who has a 2.33 goals-against average and .930 save percentage over the past 15 games. It means hes playing really well and it means were playing well defensively as well to give long-range shots, not second chances, that sort of thing, Laich said. Our five-on-five play has improved. Two areas of that is the wall play, breaking out of our zone, and the net-front traffic at the other end has drastically improved. The Capitals made roster changes from last season, with new general manager Brian McLellan bringing in defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen to stabilize the teams biggest weakness. The Leafs may find themselves in a similar spot this summer trying to shore up a few areas. But for now the teams have some similarities. Phil Kessel is a poor mans Ovechkin, a scoring winger who is the subject of criticism, and other key pieces match up, even if Washington has more depth of talent and the evidence to prove it from several playoff appearances. Still, when Trotz took over for this season, it was something of a fresh start. The longtime Nashville Predators coach had to drill his philosophies into a veteran group that had gone through plenty of coaching changes already. The player has to make the commitment. Thats where it starts, Trotz said. Ive been very fortunate that the guys that Ive gotten an opportunity to coach here, theyre committed to the buy-in and they wanted the change. ... Theyre a group that recognizes that theres a certain way we need to play as a group if were going to be successful. Horachek worked 10 seasons under Trotz as an assistant and then an associate coach for the Nashville Predators and could look to turn the Leafs into a version of the Capitals. But he doesnt have a long-term contract to work with, just 40-some games and the freedom that comes with lower expectations. On a very small scale, Horachek is already following his good friends lead, even if just subconsciously. Before his Leafs head-coaching debut, the 54-year-old said he wasnt going to rush changes, something Trotz was careful about in Washington. At the beginning of the season, Trotzy didnt want to give us too many adjustments, Fehr said. Weve slowly transformed our game into the way he wants us to play. I think hes done a good job of it, we understand what we need to do. I think were pretty consistent at doing it. General manager Dave Nonis cited inconsistency as the reason for firing coach Randy Carlyle. Horachek will try to instill something of that in the near future. Even in the 6-2 loss to the Capitals, Horachek pointed to limiting chances and shots and controlling puck possession as positives the Leafs can build off of. But Toronto is a long way from what its opponent was like Wednesday night. Change there has set in. I think its the way we use all five guys in the D-zone to help break out the puck, Fehr said. We do a good job coming back helping our defence find outlets. I think it really frustrates teams when they cant sustain pressure and we can just get the puck up and out. With the Leafs trying to become more of a puck-possession team, first under Carlyle and now under Horachek, the first step is getting the puck back. Horachek is expected to adopt some of Trotzs theories to make that happen and began making adjustments Tuesday in practice. Its what we used to call five, five and five, Horachek said. We want five guys in the defensive zone, in the neutral zone and in the offensive zone. Its all connected and we believe thats the way it has to be. Even if the Leafs hope to replicate the Capitals, it wont be a smooth process. Trotz knows from the past few months that there are growing pains associated with change. Even if youre playing well defensively you might not get the wins, Trotz said. You always get tested how far youre going to come off the rail, if you will, to have balance in your game. Weve been tested a few times and youve got to keep pulling it back. To me Ive been very fortunate, Ive got some really good leaders in the room, our leadership group is strong. Weve had some pointed talks, if you will, when its gone off the rails a little bit. Its unfair to expect Horachek to be a miracle worker, even though he worked under Trotz for so long. And as Laich knows, players need time to adjust to a new coach. A system is not a hard thing to execute, its not, Laich said. But it does take time to iron out every little detail of your switches in your own zone, your coverage changes, your side-to-side transitions, your rotations. Those are little, finite things that do take a little bit of time. Authentic New England Patriots Jerseys .com) - Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 12 points in the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. New England Patriots Jerseys China . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.cheappatriots.com/ . The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season. Cheap New England Patriots Gear .C. -- Lucy Li made two double bogeys, a triple bogey and finished her historic round at the U. Stitched New England Patriots Jerseys . The redshirt freshman finished the regular season with nearly 3,500 passing yards, and 35 touchdowns with another three on the ground while leading the Seminoles to the top of the BCS Rankings.VANCOUVER -- Alex Anthopoulos was a busy man last off-season. The Toronto Blue Jays general manager made a series of bold moves that reshaped the club ahead of what would turn out to be a disastrous 2013 campaign. The lead-up to the 2014 season has been relatively quiet in comparison, with the Blue Jays biggest splash coming when they cut ties with catcher J.P Arencibia and replaced him with free-agent Dioner Navarro. While that deal wasnt not on the same level as the headline-grabbing acquisitions of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, Anthopoulos says he wont be adding any pieces through trade or free agency unless it fits into the teams model. "We made a lot of big moves early last off-season. It wasnt by design, it just worked out that way," Anthopoulos said Friday. "Weve had a lot of dialogue. Theres still a lot of players out there, just havent been able to line up with respect to a price, whether its trade or free-agent cost. "We do have the ability on some trade fronts to just say Yes. We know what the asking prices are -- just not willing to pay that price. From a free-agent standpoint ... we have been given a price and we just dont necessarily see the value right now." The starting rotation continues to be a point of emphasis after a miserable 2013 that saw Toronto finish last in the American League East after starting the season as World Series favourites. Free agent starters Ervin Santana or Ubaldo Jimenez are still on the open market, but Anthopoulos said theres a chance that the rotation could be filled out from within. "We have a lot of candidates and a lot of options. Someone like Brandon Morrow coming back (from injury) is a huge boost for us, some of our young kids that are coming back are certainly going help," he said. "We still have dialogue and try to upgrade but we do have some upside to some of the guys that are coming back." Anthopoulos, who was in town for a luncheon with the single-A Vancouver Canadians, also touched on the New York Yankees signing of Japanese starter Masahiro Tanaka earlier this week. The 25-year-old right-hander inked a seven-year deal worth $155 million dollars with Torontos AL East rivals that also includes a $20-millionn dollar payment to his club team.dddddddddddd The Blue Jays, who have an internal policy of not signing player contracts longer than five years, were rumoured to be in the running for Tanakas services early on in the process. "Obviously hes a great starter and there was a lot speculation on where the dollars would go just based on the previous two Japanese starters (Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish)," said Anthopoulos. "I think it was expected that he would go north of (their price tags) -- $175 million, I dont know if anybody predicted that. "Hes very talented and the Yankees certainly got better." Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays use the five-year limit on contracts as "a guideline" but tend to shy away from longer-term deals because they offer clubs very little wiggle room. "Weve held firm on our five-year policy in terms of contracts. When free agents are signing for seven, eight years, then normally thats where we tap out," he said. "We definitely have the resources financially in terms of annual value and salaries and things like that. I think weve proven that with some of the players we have acquired. But just the length of term -- very rarely do those seven-, eight-year deals work out." Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons will be feeling the heat if the Blue Jays stumble out of the gate as the they did in 2013. Fans flocked to Rogers Centre with dreams of a return to the teams glory years of the early 1990s that included two World Series titles, but were instead bitterly disappointed with the product on the field. With pitchers and catchers set to report for spring training on Feb. 17, a repeat in 2014 surely wont fly. "Youre always anxious to try to improve the club and to add to it, but you dont necessarily have to guard against it when you know theres a deal that just doesnt make any sense," said Anthopoulos. "We just dont want to force a deal and do it for the sake of doing it. "We want to make moves that we think are going to help the club. If we have to go more years and dollars than we believe in, people might get excited now but a few months into it we may be regretting that deal and be hamstrung with a contract that we dont want." 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