Depending on how you look at it, Kevin Bieksas game-winner in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals was either the greatest or the strangest goal hes ever scored. . "Its a pretty unique goal," the Canucks defender told TSN Radio on Friday. "You dont see that happen too often, but [it was] opportunistic and definitely one I wouldnt trade for anything." It was a sudden end to a marathon game, and a goal that many watching in the crowd and from home had to see a second time to understand. "I didnt really have time to see who was in front or what was going on," he said. "I just tried to one-time it somewhere around the net and luckily the goalie was looking behind and it went in." But while the goal may have been fortuitous, Bieksas play of late has been turning heads - putting the 29-year-old into the discussion as a possible candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy. Bieksa has amassed nine points in 18 playoff games thus far including five in his last five games, highlighted by his unlikely winner in Game 5 to eliminate San Jose. He also leads the team in plus/minus at plus-10 and ice-time, averaging almost 26 minutes per game. The Canucks blueliner credits the teams brief run in last years playoffs with laying the foundation for his current elevated play. "You always have confidence in yourself," he said. "I thought last year I had a pretty solid playoffs and I was happy with it and you just try to get better every year." His offensive outburst this spring comes as little surprise to those who remember Bieksas play from 2008-09 when he hit the 40-point plateau for the second time in his career. However, in recent years, he has drawn attention less for creating offence and more for spending time in sick bay. Over the past three seasons, Bieksa has not played more than 72 games in a season. That total dropped as low as 55 games played in 2009-10. But hes at the top of his game now and ready to square off directly against one of the leagues toughest teams in the Boston Bruins. "Everyone knows about Boston," he said. "Theyre big and strong and tough. They play hard and gritty. [Zdeno] Chara is, in my opinion, one of the best players in the league and [Tim] Thomas is one of the best goaltenders." Chara is the current playoff plus/minus leader at plus-11 and only he and teammate Dennis Seidenberg average more ice-time than Bieksa among remaining players. Still, Bieksa seems to have found another gear and has earned the right to be mentioned alongside a giant blue line force like the former Norris Trophy winner, Chara. And, the timing couldnt be better. Bieksa, who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, could be in line for a nice raise. Coming off a three-year deal that paid him an average annual salary of $3.75 million, his playoff performance could make him an attractive option for teams looking for blue line help this off-season. "Ive got the most important series of my life ahead of me," Bieksa said. "All that [contract] stuff, theres going to be plenty of time to take care of afterwards." Bieksa may be taking the wait-and-see approach to focus on the task at hand, but should the Canucks prevail and win the franchises first Stanley Cup, he may find himself at the top of the teams off-season priority list. [url=http://www.worldsocceronlineshop.com/Juventus-Fc-Romulo-Jersey.html]Romulo Juventus Jersey . Ferrer, ranked No. 4, is a strong favourite to win his second tournament of the young season. He won in Auckland, New Zealand, last month. "I was ready to get going, and get going with a victory," Ferrer said. cheap jerseys from china .A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays look to get even with the Baltimore Orioles tonight in the second game of a three-game set at Camden Yards. ht... . Following a shock 3-0 home defeat to rival West Ham, the London club claimed its fifth league win of the season to move to fifth in the standings, three points behind leader Arsenal. "The opening goal was important to bring confidence and we really played well in the second half," Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said. [url=http://www.worldsocceronlineshop.com/Argentina-Lionel-Messi-Jersey.html]Lio... Messi Argentina Jersey . Ray Allen and Shane Battier combined for 24 points in the fourth quarter, and the Heat scored the first 13 points of the period to erase Atlantas 10-point lead and beat the Hawks 103-90 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight win. nfl jerseys china . -- Sitting on the bench and clinging to a one-goal lead in the third period, the Phoenix Coyotes repeated the same line to each other: "Lets go forward.SAN FRANCISCO - Mere minutes into the game, you could sense that Tuesday night would be a memorable one for the Raptors. It had been nearly a decade since the franchise had tasted victory in the Bay Area, as Toronto seemed poised to shock the hosting Golden State Warriors and the rest of the NBA, who began to take notice of what was transpiring in Oakland. "The @Raptors lead the @Warriors by 27 early in the 3rdQ in Golden State #NotATypo," tweeted the leagues official account. If you tuned in at that point, an impartial viewer expecting to see something remarkable, you were not disappointed. This Raptors team was on the verge of an improbable and much-needed win, instead an epic collapse secured its place in franchise history. It turned out to be a night they wont soon forget. "Weve just got to get a win," Rudy Gay said after the Raptors suffered the largest collapse in their 19-year existence, falling 112-103 to the Warriors. "However, whenever, we just need a win. It should have been tonight. Now we have to go out and find another one." "We made it tough on ourselves tonight. We just need a win, man." Like watching in slow motion, it seemed inevitable once the Warriors began to make their run late in the third. It started with consecutive turnovers (one by Gay the second by Terrence Ross) and turned into a series of open looks for the dynamic, sharpshooting backcourt duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Fortunately for the Raptors, who took an 18-point lead into the fourth, the Warriors guards missed two of three wide-open threes to end the frame. At that point Curry and Thompson were 3-of-12 from long distance and the Raptors had been closing out on most, if not all of their attempts. With 14 minutes remaining the visiting Raptors started to play with fire and against this team, in that arena, it wasnt a huge surprise when they got burned. "They just started making [shots]," Dwane Casey said of the Warriors, who went 8-of-11 from three-point range and outscored Toronto 42-15 overall in the fourth quarter. "They were the same shots and we were right there. A couple of plays guys were draped all over them." "But we knew that going in. We knew they would be lethal, that they were going to be hard to stop." The Warriors run was expected, the crowd - largely credited as the best in the league - came to life and the Raptors had nowhere to hide, though they sure tried. In those 12 minutes of basketball, the Raptors played scared. They looked like a team that was unsure of themselves, oof every pass, of every shot, a team that was playing not to lose. ht... Jersey/. "The thing about it is when they get the momentum then the rim gets wider," said Gay, who had 18 points in the loss. "It gets bigger and they keep throwing shots at it and they keep falling. Its all confidence." Whatever confidence the Raptors had and had worked hard to maintain for 34 minutes was gone. Their offence was almost non-existent. It "stunk", as Gay put it himself. They recorded just one fourth-quarter assist, turned the ball over four times and shot 1-of-7 from beyond the three-point line, many of those shots were forced early in the clock. DeMar DeRozan led the team in scoring with 26 while backcourt mate Kyle Lowry added 20 to go along with nine assists. The momentum began to shift when Lowry was taken out of the game with a head injury late in the third after colliding with Warriors centre Andrew Bogut. Lowry passed concussion tests on the bench and then again after the game but by the time he re-entered in the fourth the Raptors lead was shrinking at a rapid pace. "I just wanted to get back out there and see if I could help the team," Lowry said. "I didnt make any shots and I didnt really help the team. They made a hell of a run against us." The crowd didnt help Torontos cause. "I couldnt hear my defence," Lowry admitted. "I couldnt hear my guys out there. I mean honestly, that crowd, I really couldnt hear." The Raptors first half was as good as theyve played all year, for what its worth. Their 65 points were the most theyve scored in a half this season. They led by 17 at the break, shot 60 per cent and out-rebounded the home team 25-11. Amir Johnson, who came off the bench for the second straight game, looked like his old self. Johnson had 14 of his 16 points, on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half. Toronto has now dropped four straight, with two more games to go on the road before returning home to face San Antonio, the defending Western Conference champs. The schedule gets tougher before it gets any easier and with GM Masai Ujiri watching and waiting, time is not a luxury they can afford to waste. Tuesdays was an embarrassing loss and one thats hard to justify without making excuses, something this team is no longer supposed to be doing. It was the type of loss - for all the talk about moving on and getting the next one - that sticks with a player, a coach, a franchise. It could be the type of haunting, season-defining loss this same team experienced on the road a year ago. ' ' '