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During the 2013-14 season, Jim Benning studied the Vancouver Canucks from afar.Months later, the former general manager of the Boston Bruins is unsure what went so drastically wrong for a franchise that only three years prior had represented the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup final.For whatever reason, Benning told the Associated Press, last year things didnt go as scripted.Vancouver finished fifth in the Pacific Division, 12th in the Western Conference, and did not qualify the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.The punishment for missing the playoffs was harsh. GM Mike Gillis, coach John Tortorella and his top assistant, Mike Sullivan, were fired. In place of Gillis and Tortorella are Benning and Willie Desjardins, who are tasked with returning Vancouver to the playoffs.With the Canucks set to begin their season Oct. 8 in Calgary, here are some things to watch for:POWER PLAY: The Canucks learned what the New York Rangers had long known: Tortorella and Sullivan arent the remedies for a malfunctioning power play. Vancouver had the second-worst man advantage in the West a€” and fourth-worst in the NHL a€” last season, despite the presence of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Jason Garrison.YOUTH MOVEMENT: By his own admission, Benning and the hockey operations department could make difficult verdicts about the construction of the team prior to the start of the season due to the play of prospects Bo Horvat, Nicklas Jensen, Hunter Shinkaruk and Linden Vey in preseason.Theyve given our group energy through the exhibition (season). These guys have scored, so its creating interesting scenarios and its going to make some tough decisions in the end, Benning said. Theyve had strong camps.NEW DESJARDINS: The disconnect between Tortorella and his team was evident on the last day of the Canucks 2013-14 season. The coach wanted the roster gutted, while his charges thought tweaks needed to be made in order for the team to qualify for the playoffs. Vancouver believes there will be more unity in 2014-15 with Tortorella replaced by Desjardins.Willie is the type of personality that the players all want to work hard for him, Benning said. Everywhere hes been, hes got buy in from players. He respects the players. He gets them to compete hard, to work hard every night. I think with his personality and the type of players and team (we have), its a good fit.KEEP ON ROLLING: Tortorella favoured a philosophy in which top players were overloaded with ice time. That will change under Desjardins, who told reporters in September that the Canucks want to play with four lines. To that end, Vancouver added forwards Radim Vrbata Nick Bonino and Derek Dorsett, and defenceman Luca Sbisa, to add depth to Vancouvers skaters.We want to get back to who we are, Benning said. Thats a hard working team when (we) dont have the puck (and) when we do have the puck, have the ability to use speed and skill to create scoring chances and take the puck to the net.CHARACTER CANUCKS: One intangible players, coaches and executives stress as being vital to a teams success is character. Benning is no different, as he praised the substance of the players he brought in this off-season.Theyre all hard-working, character guys, Benning said. We brought in skill players in Radim Vrbata and Nick Bonino. Derek Dorsett (is a) guy who will do whatever needs to be done to help the team. Luca Sbisa is a physical, stay-at-home defenceman. 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Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality. Peyton Manning Jersey . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant drained three 3-pointers in 75 seconds. And when the crowd wanted even more, the NBAs leading scorer responded. Durant poured in a career-high 54 points in an incredibly efficient performance, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors 127-121 on Friday night. The 6-foot-9 forward had 11 points during one two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, powering the Thunder to a 17-point lead. With the crowd of 18,203 chanting "MVP! MVP!" he made two foul shots with 2:45 remaining to establish a new career-best scoring total. "When youve got it going, I look at the bench and see how my teammates are reacting, and that just gives me an extra push," Durant said. "Then, I hear the fans." Durant made 19 of 28 field goals and 11 of 13 free throws in his third straight game with at least 36 points. "As a leader, my main objective is to serve my teammates, help them out," he said. "Some nights, Ive got to put it up, Ive got to score. Some nights, Ive got to do other things. Tonight, they found me and I was able to hit a few shots. I just tried to do as best as I can to lead the team and lead us to victory." It was the kind of performance that gets fans fired up about post-season awards in mid-January. "Its premature," Durant said. "Its way too early in the season. I try not to think about that type of stuff. Of course, as a player, youd love to win an MVP award, but I cant take my focus off the team. Every day, Ive just got to keep chipping away, keep enjoying the process, and well see what happens." Serge Ibaka had 21 points and eight rebounds, Reggie Jackson scored 14 points and Kendrick Perkins added 12 rebounds for the Thunder (30-10), who won for the third time in four games. Oklahoma City shot 58 per cent from the field and scored a season-high point total. Stephen Curry had 37 points and 11 assists, and Klay Thompson added 26 points for the Warriors (25-16), who shot 52 per cent but simply couldnt match up with Durant. "We battled him for the most part, and he ggot hot in the fourth and knocked down some big shots for them," Warriors centre Andrew Bogut said.dddddddddddd "Theres a reason why hes a perennial All-Star and future Hall of Famer, and possibly MVP this year." Golden State coach Mark Jackson was disappointed with his teams defence. "Were a good enough defensive team to give a little better effort, fight a little bit harder," Jackson said. Oklahoma City led 39-32 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 78.3 per cent from the field. It had a 71-65 advantage at the break after a season high for points in a half for the Thunder. Curry had 22 points and eight assists in the first half and Thompson scored 21 points before the break. The Warriors made 10 of 16 3-pointers in the first half to stay in the game. Andre Iguodala scored his first points of the game on a steal and dunk that cut Oklahoma Citys lead to 82-79 midway through the third, but the Thunder steadily pulled away the rest of the period. A mid-range jumper by Durant pushed Oklahoma Citys advantage to 96-86, and the Thunder led 101-91 heading into the final quarter. Durant then closed by scoring 15 points in the fourth. "You let a guy like KD, he leads the league in scoring, start off the game as hot as he did . It was tough to start off the game like that and then try to get stops against a dynamic scorer like that, especially when hes hitting everything," Curry said. Durant gave his teammates credit. "Its the small things that go into a game to help us win, and everybody did them tonight," he said. NOTES: The previous two meetings between the Thunder and Warriors were decided by last-second shots. In the first game on Nov. 14, Iguodala hit a fallaway game-winning jumper for Golden State. In the second game, on Nov. 29, Russell Westbrook hit the game-winner in overtime. ... Golden State G Jordan Crawford played for the first time since being acquired from Boston in a three-team trade. He finished with eight points in 15 minutes. ... 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