en by the Vancouver Ca

PHILADELPHIA -- Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo are gone, but the goaltending position has not been forgotten by the Vancouver Canucks. cheap nfl jerseys . With their second-round pick in Saturdays NHL draft at No. 36, the Canucks took the highest-ranked goalie on the board, Thatcher Demko, as new general manager Jim Benning begins the process of replenishing the organizations goaltending depth. "I believe youve got to have a succession of goalies coming through the system," Benning said Saturday afternoon. "Goaltending is the most important position in an organization. ... I believe to be a top, contending team in the league, you need good goaltending. You can never have enough good goalies." Benning believes Demko, who plays at Boston College, is capable of developing into a No. 1 goaltender. He immediately becomes the Canucks goaltender of the future, especially considering the uncertainty that comes with Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom. "Hopefully theres an opportunity for me," said Demko, a native of San Diego, Calif., who brushed off the idea of pressure. "I think once I get there, youll start to feel it a little bit more with the Canucks fans and how passionate they are." It was at last years draft when ex-GM Mike Gillis traded Schneider -- coincidentally also a Boston College product -- to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth pick, which Vancouver used on London Knights centre Bo Horvat. Just before the trade deadline, the Canucks sent Luongo to the Florida Panthers for Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Markstrom started just three games for the Canucks since the trade. Demko, who has the option of playing one to three more years at Boston College, isnt worried at all about the microscope that goalies are under in Vancouver. He cant wait to see what its like to play in a Canadian market. "Im going to thrive in it," he said. "Youve got to play in pressure and thats kind of just the nature of it. Youve got to thrive in those situations or youre not going to have success." Demko might get a taste of a pressure situation at the world junior championship because hes a candidate to start for the United States in the tournament that takes place in Montreal and Toronto. "Obviously you want to be the starter at world juniors, (it) is a goal," he said. "But theres a lot of other guys that could easily have that position." Part of drafting Demko was Bennings familiarity with him from living in Boston and watching him play often. The same can be said for winger Linden Vey, whom the Canucks acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday for the 50th pick. At 22, Vey has just 18 games of NHL experience and five assists in that time. But Benning watched him play with the Kings AHL affiliate in Manchester and said hell make the Canucks next season. "Hes ready to play in the NHL now," Benning said. "Hell start out as a third-line guy. I think once hes up and going, maybe it takes a year, maybe it takes a year and a half but I think hes got the skill to be a second-line centre at some point." It doesnt hurt that Vey also played for new coach Willie Desjardins with the WHLs Medicine Hat Tigers. Derek Dorsett, acquired from the New York Rangers on Friday, also was in Medicine Hat with Desjardins. That No. 50 pick wasnt the Canucks until they traded defenceman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday afternoon. The Kings used it on Victoria goalie Alec Dillon. Vancouver took six-foot-seven Russian defenceman Nikita Tryamkin 66th, Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling 126th, Erie Otters centre Kyle Pettit 156th and Prince Albert Raiders defenceman MacKenzie Stewart 186th. Those players join the Canucks youth movement along with first-rounders Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann. But the most intriguing addition on Day 2 was Demko, who has prototypical NHL goalie size at six-foot-three. "My size is a tool, but I dont like to rely on it," Demko said. "I can use it, but I still like to react to pucks and kind of play athletic. Its something Im still working on, but its one of the biggest pieces of my game." Demko isnt just confident in himself but also in his ability to withstand the heat in Vancouver. He grew up considering Martin Brodeur a role model but ultimately might want to get some advice from Luongo. "Hopefully I can appeal to the fans up there and make them love me instead of hate me," Demko said. cheap jerseys from china . Stamkos suffered a broken leg 10 weeks ago and continues to rehab in hopes of returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup before the Olympic break. As a result of the positive feedback from the X-ray, Stamkos will continue to ramp up both on- and off-ice workouts. wholesale nfl jerseys . The delighted Vancouver Whitecaps coach was "lost for words" after his club scored three goals in the first 20 minutes en route to a 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. LAS VEGAS -- Ronda Rousey heard the chorus of boos again. This time it was for a different reason. Rousey kept her UFC womens bantamweight title, dropping Sara McMann to the mat with a left knee to the area of her liver at 1:06 of the first round at UFC 170 on Saturday night. Rousey (9-0) was booed by fans during the post-fight interview after the co-main event was quickly stopped by referee Herb Dean, much to the fans dismay at Mandalay Bay Events Center. McMann, who seemed hurt after the blow to her right side with her back to the fence, is now 7-1. "I didnt think it was too soon," Rousey said. "Obviously, thats why we have a referee in there. I just went to that spot." The 27-year old from Venice, Calif., is 9-0 after a quick battle Saturday and trip back in the octagon after defeating Miesha Tate on Dec. 28. "I told (UFC President) Dana (White) I will fight on 24 hours notice," Rousey said. "I know we spent a lot of time training in the clinch. We were focusing on the knees. Im still learning. I was doing the judo when I was kid. I feel Im more rounded as a martial artist now." Rousey, who was a 4-1 favourite, was also booed after her last title defence against Miesha Tate. Rousey refused to shake hands with Tate after their bout at UFC 168 in December. Both fighters started Saturday nights fight with a flourish before Rousey backed McMann, a 33-year old from Gaffney, S.C., to the fence. After the liver shot, McMann did not fight back and Rousey used a left shot to the same area. "Looking back, it seem kind of quick," McMann said. "I should get up quicker. If you want to win fights, you have to get up quicker. When I hit the ground, I got my bearings back. When I heard his voice, I was reaching for a leg." McMann only landed one good shot on Rousey. In the other co-main event, Daniel Cormier (13-0) easily defeated Patrick Cummins (4-1) by TKO at 1:19 of the first round of their light heavyyweight co-main event. cheap jerseys. Cormier, who just moved down a weight class, hit Cummins with a right upper cut and knocked him to the mat. Cormier never recovered. "It feels good because it was my first finish in UFC," Cormier said. "Training camp was long and hard and I prepared for a long fight, but I have no complaints. Ive been talking about this move (to light heavyweight) and when you do it the right way, you dont feel any effects. At heavyweight, I could feel these guys out. I think these guys (at light heavyweight) are a little faster." Cummins, a 9-1 underdog, lost his job at an Orange County coffee shop for taking Whites phone call to fight on Saturday, filling in for Rashad Evans, who blew out his knee in training. White said Cummins would have another fight "to prepare for," and would use him again. The card also featured three welterweight matches. Canadian Rory MacDonald got past Brazilian Demian Maia by a unanimous decision with all the judges scoring it 29-28 in the three-round final welterweight bout. Maia (18-6), a 2-1 underdog, had MacDonald (16-2) on the mat most of the first round and later had a takedown midway through the third. But MacDonald later escaped about a minute later in the third. Stephen Thompson knocked out Robert Whittaker in the first round of the main cards first match. Thompson (9-1) used two rights to the left side of a stumbling Whittaker (12-4), who later went down. Whittaker then landed a barrage of punches as the fight was stopped at 3:43. Mike Pyle defeated TJ Waldburger by technical knockout in the third round at 4:03 of the second welterweight bout of the night. Pyle (26-9-1) dominated Waldburger (16-9) in the first two rounds. But the night belonged to Rousey, who is filming a movie in March. "I promise my coaches I would drop her with a body shot," she said. "It was a goal I had for this fight. Im happy I did that for them tonight." . cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '