Blood is thicker than frozen water for Matthew Scannell, who shelved his stick and skates in hockey-crazed Canada and followed in the family footsteps by grabbing a steering wheel and gear shifter. Travis Moen Jersey . Four years later, the 17-year-old Scannell became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 Rookie of the Year. Scannell, from Rockwood, Ontario, used to split his recreational time between hockey and racing, but when time commitments for the latter increased, the decision was easy. “It’s always been pretty much racing,” Scannell said. “It’s something I thought I wanted to do in the future. I enjoyed hockey at the time because my friends all did it, but I started go-karts when I was seven and I always dreamed of going to the [United] States and trying to make a living at racing.” Scannell is a third-generation driver. Howie Scannell Sr. was a Canadian stock car racer, as is the younger Scannell’s father, Howie Jr. A veteran of 26 Canadian Tire Series races, Scannell Jr. essentially vacated the driver’s seat for his son, for whom he now serves as the crew chief. Scannell took home the Canadian Tire Series first-year driver award with 56 rookie points behind the wheel of the No. 56 OMVIC Dodge. He recorded three top-10s in eight starts, and a 12th-place ranking in the championship points standings. “For what we had, I think we did fairly well,” Scannell said. “We had some good luck and some bad luck. I got a lot of seat time, good exposure, and I learned a lot. As far as the whole year goes, I think it was valuable towards my learning curve.” Scannell showed progress as the season went along. His two best finishes were the last two races of the season, ninth at Barrie Speedway and eighth at Kawartha Speedway, which served as inspiration for the 2015 season. “At the end [at Barrie] we were just as quick as the lead pack,” Scannell said. “It was a confidence boost to know that we could go out there and run competitive.” The Scannells are currently seeking sponsorship, with the intent to compete full-time in 2015. He hopes to make a home in the Canadian Tire Series moving forward. “It would be great to go run for championships in the Canadian Tire Series,” Scannell said. “The guys we’re going up against, they’ve been doing it for years, and it’s pretty tough to do. You’ve got to be on the ball every race, every week that you go to the track.” Scannell has a success story to point to as a blueprint. This year’s series champion, L.P. Dumoulin, earned the rookie award in 2011. The teen is appreciative of what it took to get him to this point, and of the opportunity he has been provided. “I have to thank my dad for working on the cars all year, the crew for all of their support, car owner Jim Bray for providing me with the opportunity to race, and my mom and my family for supporting me throughout the season,” Scannell said. Scannell’s accomplishment will be recognized at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards on Dec. 13 in the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Mike Gartner Jersey . Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. Radek Faksa Jersey . It was just time for him to make a big play. Nicolas Batum had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, and the Trail Blazers overcame poor-shooting nights by two of their best players in a 94-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. http://www.thedallasstarshockey.com/ . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The message to the Montreal Canadiens after another sluggish first period was familiar, yet still effective.No, the Canadiens werent starting their three-day Christmas break early. It just seemed that way.Carey Price held the fort while his teammates rounded into form, and Andrei Markov and Brendan Gallagher scored second-period goals as the Canadiens cooled off the New York Islanders with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.Price stopped 13 of 14 shots in the first while his teammates mustered only three at the other end. He was perfect over the final 40 minutes — making 37 saves overall — and the Canadiens won for the fifth time in six games.I am not going to repeat what was said, Price said of the post-first period conversation. We definitely received the message loud and clear.The Canadiens have scored only 12 goals in the first period through 35 games this season. They have 79 the rest of the way, including 45 in third periods.Markov, in his 800th NHL game, and Gallagher beat backup goalie Chad Johnson 5:17 apart to erase a 1-0 deficit. Price has allowed two goals or fewer in the past six games.We had a very slow start. We werent good enough, Gallagher said. We were only down 1-0. (Price) kept us in it, gave us a chance to get our legs under us and start competing.We dont want to rely on him that much, but thankfully we had him.David Desharnais scored with 1:11 left to make it 3-1 for the Canadiens, who had only 21 shots.Kyle Okposo scored in the first period for the Islanders. Johnson made 18 saves as No. 1 goalie Jaroslav Halak took a maintenance day and didnt dress for the game. New York, which had won four straight overall, fell to 13-4 at home and 10-2 in its last 12 at Nassau Coliseum.The Islanders (23-11) are tied in points with the Atlantic Division co-leading Canadiens (22-11-2).We cant forget what weve done here in the past, and whats made us good, Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic said of his surprising team. We threw a lot of pucks on net, and it seemed like Price was there every time. He made a lot of big saves.Halak had played in nine of the previous 10 games.Its frustrating, Johnson said of his missed opportunity. Antti Niemi Jersey. You play to win hockey games. We were right there. It just didnt happen. Youve just got to regroup and keep working.New York had 15 shots in the third in an attempt at another late comeback. This one fell short.This is not the old Islanders — definitely not, said Canadiens forward Lars Eller, who set up the final goal. They are a fast team, relentless.After going nearly 14 minutes before recording their first shot of the game, the Canadiens needed only 36 seconds in the second period to put a puck on Johnson. Markov made it 1-all at 6:10 on Montreals third shot of the period.Hamonic broke his stick near the New York net, and the Canadiens moved the puck from left to right inside the blue line. P.K. Subban set up defence partner Markov for a slap shot that beat Johnson.Montreal took a 2-1 lead with 8:33 left in the period when Gallagher cleaned up a rebound of Sergei Gonchars drive and scored his 10th of the season from the slot on the ninth Canadiens shot.New York held a 23-12 shots advantage through two periods but entered the third down by a goal. The Islanders had two power plays in the first 40 minutes that generated four shots and no goals.The Islanders controlled the first period and kept the pressure off Johnson, who hadnt played since Dec. 9. New York held Montreal at bay throughout and didnt allow a shot until there was 6:09 left. By then the Islanders had 11 shots and a 1-0 lead.That goal came at 7:06 after Islanders captain John Tavares created a 2-on-1 break with Okposo by eluding a check at centre ice. Tavares skated freely into the Montreal zone and made a pass from the right circle to the left, where Okposo dropped to a knee and steered in a one-timer for his eighth goal this season and third in six games.NOTES: Michel Therrien tied Pat Burns for fifth place on the Canadiens career list with 174 wins as coach. ... Price has made 10 straight starts. ... The Islanders are 1 for 17 on the power play the past six games. ... New York brought up G Kevin Poulin on an emergency basis to serve as Johnsons backup and sent him back to Bridgeport (AHL) after the game. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '