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The Vancouver Canucks have named John Tortorella the 17th head coach in team history, replacing Alain Vigneault, who was fired following a first-round exit at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. The 55-year-old Boston native carries with him both a history of success and controversy over his time as a bench boss in the NHL. The question is; is he the right choice to coach the Canucks? Tortorella had his best season as an NHL head coach in 2003-04, when he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup. He also received the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year at the end of the campaign. He spent six seasons behind the bench for the Lightning, compiling a 239-222-36-38 record before being fired after missing the playoffs in 2008. After half a season away from the game, Tortorella was named head coach of the New York Rangers. He would spend five more seasons at the helm before once again finding himself out of a job. In 319 regular-season games with the Rangers, he went 171-115-29. He also reached the playoffs in four of his five seasons. His time as a head coach has not been without its controversies. In 2009, Tortorella was suspended one-game for squirting a fan with water and throwing a water bottle that struck a fan during the playoffs. He has also become known for colourful press conferences and run-ins with media members. The last seven seasons under Vigneault have been filled with near misses for the Canucks, as they have watched regular season success turn into playoff disappointment. The 2010-11 season was the closest the Canucks came to capturing the championship, as they were one game from the Stanley Cup before losing Games 6 and 7 to the Boston Bruins. General manager Mike Gillis said after the 2012-13 season that the team needed to head in a different direction if they were going to achieve at the level of their talent. "We lost consecutive games in the last two playoff years, and there comes a point in time where the message has to change and we have to be better," Gillis said at the year-end news conference. "And we simply didnt get the result we expected." Is Tortorella the right head coach to help the Vancouver Canucks get over the hump and finally win the Stanley Cup? Its Your! Call. Wholesale Basketball Shoes Online . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. Cheap Wholesale Basketball Shoes .Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide. http://www.basketballshoeswholesale.com/. Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Clearance Basketball Shoes Online .com) - The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to get back on track Monday night when they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to Chesapeake Energy Arena. Discount Basketball Shoes Online . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division.PINEHURST, N.C. -- At least Phil Mickelson probably wont face another close call at the U.S. Open. The six-time runner-up and zero-time champion slipped well off the pace Friday with a 73 that left him at 3 over -- 13 strokes behind record-setting leader Martin Kaymer. Its mostly because of his putter. After ditching the claw grip in favour of a more traditional one, Mickelson missed a series of putts that would have put him at least a little closer to Kaymer. "The hole looks like a thimble to me right now," Mickelson said. "Im having a hard time finding it." Now, at a tournament where everybodys seemingly playing for second, hes facing quite a climb to claw back within striking distance on a Pinehurst No. 2 course that 15 years ago was the site of the first of his many second-place finishes. Teenage playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick called Mickelson "the master" of "getting out of trouble" and that ability certainly will be put to the test this weekend. "I feel like Im playing well enough to win the U.S. Open," Mickelson said. "Except for putting." Mickelson has been saying his putting could use some tweaking. Hes 100th among PGA Tour players in total putting this year after finishing 11th in that stat in 2013. So in an attempt to get his stroke back, he switched to a claw grip for the Open. Even after he shot even par during the first round, he said he wasnt sure how long hed stick with it. All of 18 holes, it turned out. "I felt like I identified what I was struggling with, and I thought it was my eye line had gotten well over the golf ball," Mickelson said. "So as I moved the ball away and put my eyes over the ball instead of over the top, I felt like thats how I putted last year, so I went back to my regular grip." Reverting back to the conventional grip for Round 2, Mickelson got off to an encouraging start with birdies on consecutive early holes. Then came the pesky par-3 sixth that "shook me a little bit." Mickelson plopped his tee shot onto the green, but three-putted for a four after his short par atttempt hugged the lip of the cup before spinning out.dddddddddddd Two holes later, he pushed his short putt wide left and settled for bogey -- the second straight day he bogeyed both holes. "After that," he said, "I was really fighting it." He added bogeys on two holes he birdied a day earlier -- on the par-5 10th, and on the 14th after spinning another short par putt around the lip of the cup. He ended his round by missing an 11-foot par putt on the 18th and tapping in for his fifth bogey. "Whenever you putt well and you make short ones and you make those 5-, 6-footers and youre running a couple of 20-footers in, the game feels easy," Mickelson said. "You dont put pressure on yourself to hit it close. You can hit more of the middle of the greens. Your ball striking then becomes a lot easier. Your targets are a lot bigger." Because that hasnt happened here yet, it sure looks like when Mickelson turns 44 on Monday, hell still be one victory shy of the career Grand Slam. The three-time Masters champ, 2005 PGA Championship winner and 2013 British Open champion began his run of runner-ups at this course 15 years ago when it staged its first Open. He was preparing for a playoff with the late Payne Stewart when Stewart sank a memorable 15-foot putt for par and the win -- and a statue of Stewart in that moment stands just beyond the green on 18. Mickelson led by a stroke heading into the last hole at Winged Foot in 2006 but finished with a double bogey. Last year, at Merion he led during the final round but finished two strokes behind Justin Rose. But after the way his putter struggled in Round 2, second place doesnt sound too bad. Besides, hes only seven strokes behind Brendon Todd for second. "Im not overly optimistic. Obviously Im not in good position, but more than that ... you cant fire at a lot of the pins," he said. "Youve got to make 25-, 30-footers, Im just not doing it. Im not going to give up. You just never know. Ive had rounds that kind of clicked. ... Tomorrow, I need to shoot 6- or 7-under par to have a realistic chance." ' ' '