“Im excited to see what he does in

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TORONTO -- Milos Raonic entered uncharted territory for a Canadian mens tennis player this year, reaching the top 10 in the world singles rankings and leading the Davis Cup team to unprecedented heights. Nike Free 5.0 Donna . He also won two tournaments in 2013 and thrilled Canadian fans by reaching the final of the Rogers Cup last summer. He capped his impressive year Thursday by winning the Lionel Conacher Award as the 2013 Canadian Press male athlete of the year. Raonic made some big strides this year despite going through some early-season struggles and a coaching change. "The fact that I was performing under those circumstances when things werent the best leading into those events, its really great for me," he said. "Its what Im most proud of." The Conacher award is named after the multi-sport athlete who was chosen Canadas athlete of the first half-century. The winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canadas female athlete of the year will be announced Friday and the team of the year will be named Saturday. Raonic finished with 45 per cent of the vote in balloting of sports editors and broadcasters across the country. Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish was well back at 22 per cent, followed by golfer Graham DeLaet (13 per cent) and figure skater Patrick Chan (eight per cent). "Raonic had the most successful year in the history of Canadian tennis and his outstanding performance in the Davis Cup played a leading role in the countrys semifinal appearance," said Yahoo Canadas Steve McAllister. "Raonics climb up the ATP Tour rankings happens in an era that features more depth than ever before." Raonic finished second in last years voting behind cyclist Ryder Hesjedal. Hes the first mens tennis player to win the award, which dates back to 1932. "To have them vote (for) me and tell my story back home and being so positive about it, its really great to see," Raonic said when reached after a training session in Monte Carlo. "To (be) recognized through an award like this means a lot to me." A number of womens tennis players have won the Rosenfeld Award over the years. Aleksandra Wozniak was the last to do so, taking the honour in 2009. Raonic won indoor hardcourt tournaments in Bangkok and San Jose and finished with a 45-21 singles record this season, picking up more than US$1.72 million in prize money along the way. Known for his booming serve, the six-foot-five Raonic showed improvement in other facets of his game in 2013. His ground strokes, backhand and net play were stronger and that helped him to some big victories. Raonic was ranked 15th at the start of the year and hovered in the teens for most of the season. He rose to a career-high No. 10 in early August before falling to No. 11, where he has remained since. He won the San Jose title for the third straight year last February after beating Tommy Haas in the final. Raonic also helped the Davis Cup team to wins over Spain and Italy as he endured a stretch of middling results on tour. The Canadians power game has always been most effective on hardcourts but Raonic enjoyed some success on clay this season as well, reaching the semifinals at Barcelona in April before falling to Rafael Nadal. However, he struggled on the grass courts and made a second-round exit at Wimbledon. Raonic managed an injury-free season for the first time since joining the tour and was able to fight through that early-season inconsistency. "I learned for the first time in the first three years of my career how to deal with the tough moments," he said. "Not any moments disrupted by injury or anything, just like a little bit of a slump, lets say. It gave me a lot of experience and its helped me grow a lot. "Its great from the educational side, but then also the way I turned around the second half of the year and really gave myself an opportunity to achieve my goal." Raonic made a coaching change in the spring with Ivan Ljubicic replacing Galo Blanco, who spent more than two years in the position. An adjustment phase followed before Raonic really got the countrys attention with an impressive performance at the Rogers Cup. With Ljubicic pushing him to play a more aggressive, higher-risk game, Raonic responded with wins over Juan Martin del Potro and Davis Cup teammate Vasek Pospisil before losing to Nadal in the final. It was a rare run of homegrown success at the countrys biggest tennis event as Raonic became the first Canadian to reach the championship match in more than 50 years. He lists qualifying for the final in Montreal -- his first Masters 1000 final appearance -- and reaching the Davis Cup semifinal as his standout moments. "The fact that I was able to execute and bring my level up in those moments and to do well, its important to me," Raonic said. The Canadian made it to the fourth round of the U.S. Open in September and pushed Richard Gasquet the distance before falling in a four-hour 40-minute marathon. A trip to Serbia soon followed as Canada continued its historic run in the Davis Cup World Group with its first-ever semifinal appearance. Raonic, who was 5-1 at the international team event in 2013, got by Janko Tipsarevic before losing to top-ranked Novak Djokovic, and the host side later won the deciding match. "Its really been great what we put together this year," Raonic said. "Doing it in tight moments, doing it at home in Canada and playing well. So really its special for us to share this moment as a team considering how individual of a sport we are. "To see four, five, six Canadians doing well, its a lot more motivating for a country than just to see one." After the Serbia loss, Raonic came out gunning at his next tour event in Bangkok. He avenged the Gasquet loss and then beat Tomas Berdych for his second tournament win of the year. Raonic is still trying to break through against the sports elite. He has won two of three career meetings against Andy Murray but is a combined 0-13 against Nadal, Djokovic, David Ferrer and Roger Federer. However, Raonic -- who turns 23 on Friday -- has age on his side. Hes the first player born in the 1990s and the first Canadian to crack the top 10 in the mens singles world rankings. "Hes one of the most focused guys on tour," said Davis Cup teammate Daniel Nestor. "Someone who is (turning) 23, I think his maturity is far beyond his years. "Hes really impressive with his positive attitude and real focus and drive to be a champion." Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., has spent the last few weeks training for warmup events ahead of the Australian Open next month. He also has his eye on Canadas Davis Cup tie against Japan in late January. "I think its just about development," he said of the upcoming season. "Getting better day in and day out and picking up experience through matches, making sure that Im making the progress and that Im pushing myself every day, which I do already. "I think its just about time and Ive got to keep working away." Raonic wants to crack the top six in the world rankings next year, go deeper in the Grand Slam events and qualify for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals. "Even as a junior, he was just aiming high," said Davis Cup coach Martin Laurendeau. "He wanted to be a top-10 player and even beyond that and he just believed it. It was just a matter of giving him the time and opportunities to be able to do that. "His dream is coming true. I know that hes not happy or satisfied with No. 10 or No. 11 -- he wants to go higher and I think he will." Nike Air Max 90 Outlet Italia .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Nike Free Run Saldi . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.saldinikescarpe.it/nike-free-run-2.html . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St.With the contracts of both Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel set to expire after this season, Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis has his work cut out for him if he wants to re-sign what are the Leafs top earning players on a yearly basis. The Phaneuf negotiations may prove to be somewhat easier however, as the Leafs captain told TSN 1050 that unlike Kessel, he is willing to negotiate with the team during the season. “I have no issue negotiating during the year, I did my last deal during the year,” Phaneuf said in an interview with Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Jeff ONeill Friday afternoon on Leafs Lunch. "I love playing here and I want to be a part of this organization.” In the last year of a six-year, $39 million contract he signed with the Calgary Flames, the 28-year-olds stance is in contrast with the Leafs leading goal-scorer, Kessel who indicated the team may have only until the end of the month to get him to agree to a deal, saying he felt in-season negotiations would become a distraction. Coming off his second straight season finishing in the top-10 in league scoring, the 25-year-old Kessel will likely be seeking a significant increase on the $5.4 million cap hit he is currently costing the team, whereas Phaneuf may seek an amount more in line with his current $6.5 million number. Besides his contract status, Phaneuf touched on some of the other main storylines circulating around training camp, including the battle in net between James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier -- someone he got to know when the two played together at the world championships -- and the prospects of 19-year-old defenceman Morgan Rielly making the team. “Obviously theres going to be competition there between him and ‘Reims and thats good for everyone and its good for our team,” Phaneuf said. “Theres a competition at every position during training camp and thats no different. New Balance 574 Uomo Windbreaker. ” Thus far, the Leafs captain believes both goalies are handling the situation well and is not concerned about whether the battle could eventually divide the two young netminders. “Controversy is going to come from the outside. Both of them have handled it well so far and their going to push each other for the betterment of our team.” As for Rielly, Phaneuf likes what he sees from the teams fifth overall pick in 2012. “Hes obviously a very skilled guy that skates very well, he sees the ice very well and he passes the puck, Phaneuf said. When you have guys that come out of junior, passing is the biggest thing at the next level I find and he passes the puck hard and that will help him. “Im excited to see what he does in the pre-season thats for sure.” Facing another compressed schedule as a result of the two week Olympic break, Phaneuf admitted the season will be again be a grind, but believes the coaching staff handled things well last year and is prepared for a similar situation this season. “The biggest thing for our team this year I think will be getting rest and really preparing. I think last year managing how much you practiced and your workouts, they did a really good job with our team and I think youre going to have to do much of the same this year.” Besides managing the compressed schedule, Phaneuf said he thought a key to success will be the teams focus on having a consistent approach and following the message of head coach Randy Carlyle. “We knew that if we kept to the way we had to play and to our system that we felt gave us a chance every night, thats where we grew and thats where consistency came for us. “Its the big stretches of losses that can really hurt you and I thought our consistency was very good and were going to have to do that again.” wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '