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ST. PAUL, Minn. - When the Minnesota Wild hired Mike Yeo as a first-time NHL head coach, he fit their criteria for a bench boss who could develop several top, young players. Yeo has undergone his own growth in that time, too, and the Wild were satisfied enough with the results on both fronts to make another commitment to him. After his three-year contract extension was finalized last weekend, Yeo appeared with general manager Chuck Fletcher at a news conference Friday to discuss the deal and the teams future. The Wild advanced to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history, and Fletcher praised Yeos ability to help keep the players on an even keel during some challenging stretches as injuries piled up. "He improved by leaps and bounds, and its not just understanding that you have to make those adjustments. Its the confidence to make them, and the confidence to sell them to your team," Fletcher said, recalling their conversation from last summer about areas where both the Wild and Yeo could improve. In the final year of his contract, Yeo was in a precarious place after a six-game losing streak to finish 2013. But despite notable absences by Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and the top two goalies, Yeo and his staff not only held together the group but guided a resurgence that transcended the regular season. "Id be hard-pressed to sit here and name one player that wasnt better now than what he was at the beginning of the year," Fletcher said, adding: "The funny thing: At the exact point in the year when you thought wed fall apart, we actually became a team. And theres a lot of work that went into that, and again Mike and his staff deserve a lot of that." Yeo, who will turn 41 next month, has a career record of 104-82-26, plus 7-11 in the playoffs. Though Fletcher waited until June to address his status, Yeo said there was never a point at which he became nervous. Thats a hallmark of his, actually, as evidenced by his demeanour through and triumph over the losing streaks and fluke injuries of the 2013-14 season. Yeo gave four different goalies 10 or more starts each, and the carousel didnt stop spinning once the playoffs came. Darcy Kuemper and Ilya Bryzgalov both took turns, due to injury and performance, but the Wild beat Colorado 4-3 in a first-round thriller and gave Chicago fits until falling 4-2. "The team took on Mikes demeanour, and I think that helped us get through," Fletcher said. "Hey, were down 2-0. No big deal. They come back late and score? No big deal. We just kept finding a way to hang around and hang around until we could put the last shot in the net." Yeo showed a knack as a tactician during those series, too, making plenty of adjustments to his front lines that paid off against a pair of opponents in the Avalanche and Blackhawks that boast a lot of fast, skilled forwards. "The line switches, thats something I tried to make a conscious effort of at the start of the year, not only for me to grow as a coach but also for our team to get more used to it," Yeo said, adding: "But its always the players that make you look smart." Yeo said he didnt feel any more pressure to win this season than in his first one. He also pondered a question about when he felt the Wild truly clicked in the last few months before punting on the answer. "It never really gets to that point," he said, laughing. "I wish it did." Nike Vapormax Canada . Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons also scored for the Admirals (22-13-10), who are 2-0-2 in their last four outings, while Roussel tacked on an assist for a two-point night. Greg Pateryn scored once for the Bulldogs (20-22-4), who lost their fifth straight contest, and also assisted on Gabriel Dumonts goal. Nike Vapormax Canada Online . -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. http://www.vapormaxcanada.com/. Rodriguez, who has steadfastly denied using banned substances while with the New York Yankees, made the decision nearly four weeks after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz largely upheld the discipline issued last summer by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. "I think its a good move for him," former Commissioner Fay Vincent said. Cheap Nike Vapormax Sale . Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States made lighter work of her day as she beat 2009 champion and Swiss wild card Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3. Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No. Buy Nike Vapormax Canada . Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project. SPIELBERG, Austria -- Formula One returned to business as usual Sunday as Nico Rosberg led Lewis Hamilton at the Austrian Grand Prix for the sixth 1-2 finish by Mercedes. Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo won the Canadian GP two weeks ago and Williams Felipe Massa took pole position for Sundays race but this had little effect on Mercedes which had missed out on the front row of the grid for the first time this season. "I was still very confident going into the race and knew I could win starting from third," said Rosberg, who celebrated his third win of the year and sixth overall as he extended his lead in the drivers championship over Hamilton to 29 points -- 165 vs. 136. "I am extremely happy," the German said. "Extending my lead was the main goal coming into this race." Williams Valtteri Bottas came third for his first career F1 podium while teammate Massa took fourth. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel quit the race on lap 36 after overcoming engine problems early in the race. Rosberg succeeded where his father Keke had just failed 32 years ago, when he came up 0.05 short of Elio de Angelis at the 1982 Austrian GP. However, Keke Rosberg went on to become world champion that year, a feat Nico Rosberg is reluctant to think about yet. "29 is a nice gap but its still so early in the season," he said. Hamilton, who was ninth after qualifying, earned four places from a blistering start and won another place to work his way up to fourth in the opening lap. "It was a good start, one of the best starts Ive ever had," the 2008 F1 champion said. "To get from ninth to second and then pressure Nico shows the pace I had this weekend." Rosberg immediately overtook Bottas but lost that position again shortly after the first turn. Massa dropped from pole to fourth after the top four had their first pit stops and never threatened the leaders again. Sergio Perez remained in the lead until the 27th, overtaken by Rosberg who accelerated for the fastest lap so far to create distance on Hamilton, who got stuck behind Perez. The Mercedes drivers went 1-2 from lap 47 on but Rosberg kept Hamilton at bay, denying him a chance to overtake. The British driver saw his chances reduced as the two pit stops in the race cost him 1.9 seconds more than Rosberg who relaxed at the end. "I felt comfortable in the last lap," Rosberg said. "It wasnt that close." The race once more confirmed Mercedes has best adapted to the introduction this season of the 1.dddddddddddd6-litre turbocharged V6 engines with the build-in energy recovery system. Hamilton won four races in a row while Rosberg never finished worse than second. "Thats super, 1-2 means you cant do better," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said. "They both made some mistakes under pressure but did well to handle the situation near the end as we had some problems with the cooling system and the brakes." Mercedes stranglehold on F1 victories was broken by Ricciardo in Montreal, though Red Bull failed to threaten Mercedes again on its home circuit in Austria. Mercedes dominated practice Friday with Rosberg and Hamilton posting the fastest times, but Williams hit back the next day when Bottas led the final practice before Massa grabbed pole position -- his first in six years. Despite starting 1-2, Williams was not counting on a victory, Bottas admitted. "From all the data we had from practice we knew it was going to be difficult," the Finn said. "I am really happy for what we did with the whole team." Vettel lost drive in the second lap and had already been doubled by the field by the time he could pick up again. He later damaged the front wing of his Red Bull as he clipped the left rear wheel of Esteban Gutierrezs Sauber and shortly afterward quit the race in lap 36 for his third DNF of the season. "From the back of the pack there obviously was nothing I could do anymore," Vettel said. "Its bitter but weve learnt a lot and we still have to learn a lot more from this and look forward." The track was new to all but four of the 22 drivers as F1 returned to Austria for the first time since 2003. At 4.3 kilometres (2.7 miles), the Red Bull Ring is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, though with just nine turns it features long straights. Situated in Central Austrias countryside, the track includes inclines of up to 12 per cent. It was the 27th Austrian GP, which has been held on different circuits since 1964, with Alain Prost winning a record three times. Until 1987, the races took place in nearby Zeltweg before Austria first disappeared from the calendar for 10 years. Spielberg also hosted the race from 1997-2003. Five years after the last race, Red Bull reportedly invested 200 million euros ($270 million) for upgrading the track and its surrounding infrastructure. The Austrian GP has been one of two new races to this seasons F1 calendar alongside the Russian GP, scheduled for Sochi in October. ' ' '