been a consistent run producer since the break.a€” D

DENVER - Jarome Iginla felt a little more youthful on his 37th birthday even as he became the old man of the Colorado Avalanche. Hes energized by the challenge of not only trying to keep up with the likes of speedy forward Nathan MacKinnon, who is half Iginlas age, but also of helping this rising squad take another step in its growth. "I dont want to be arrogant, but I still believe I can be very good," said Iginla, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday by signing a three-year, $16 million deal with Colorado. "And this is a dynamic group. I think they work hard and theyre committed, and theyre just going to keep getting better and better." The Avs are coming off a season in which they tied a franchise record with 52 wins in Patrick Roys first year behind the bench and returned to the post-season for the first time since 2009-10. Among their top priorities in the off-season? Adding some grizzled veterans to the squad. First, the team picked up veteran forward Daniel Briere from Montreal for right wing P.A. Parenteau and a fifth-round pick in next years draft. Then, Colorado acquired defenceman Brad Stuart from the San Jose Sharks for a second-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-rounder in 2017. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after losing fan favourite Paul Stastny in free agency — he signed a four-year, $28 million deal with division rival St. Louis — the Avs worked out a deal with Iginla. It wasnt a laborious task, especially given the friendship between Iginla and Avalanche Hall of Famer turned executive Joe Sakic. The two have been tight since their days with Team Canada and when Sakic made his pitch, Iginla intently listened. Then again, one of Iginlas kids is named Joe at least in part because of Sakic. "(Sakic) is a winner so it definitely had something to do with this," Iginla said. Iginla has played in 1,310 regular season games with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Boston. He had 30 goals in 78 games for the Bruins last season. "Jaromes track record speaks for itself," Sakic said. "He is one of the top goal scorers of all time, as well as a great leader. His addition will bolster our offence." As for being the elder statesman of the team, Iginla just laughed. "I feel good," said Iginla, whos earned two Olympic gold medals with Canada. "As far as my game dropping off, I dont think it will. ... I dont come here expecting to do less." He joins a team that captured a surprise Central Division crown. The turnaround of the Avalanche led to quite a few post-season awards, too, with Roy taking home coach of the year, MacKinnon being named the top rookie and Ryan OReilly capturing the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play. Semyon Varlamov also was a finalist for outstanding goaltender, which went to Tuukka Rask of Boston. Sakic was hoping to return the nucleus for another run, but wasnt about to break the bank to make that happen. Sakic said two weeks ago the team had a salary structure in place, setting the financial bar in deals with Varlamov, Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog. These days, Sakic is attempting to work out a long-term deal with OReilly, a restricted free agent who led the team with a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14. In the meantime, Sakic orchestrated a deal to add the 34-year-old Stuart in order to bring more tenacity to the Avalanches blue line. He was third on the Sharks in blocked shots (114) and hits (122) last season. Stuart may be called upon to mentor defenceman Nick Holden, who signed a three-year extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Briere is another scorer who could help offset the loss of Stastny. Iginla likes the additions of Stuart and Briere. "Its kind of neat to join a new team, but also having other guys in the same boat and get to come in together," Iginla said. "Thats pretty cool." One of the enduring images in Avalanche history is Sakic passing the Stanley Cup over to Ray Bourque for him to hoist after their win in 2001. See Landeskog doing the same for Iginla one day? "Thats a hope," Iginla said. "These guys, theyre driven. I think there are lots of good things already happening." ___ AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage contributed. Yeezy Shoes Wholesale . -- Stanley Johnson scored all 18 of his points in the second half, T. Cheap Yeezys Real . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. http://www.cheapyeezyaustralia.com/ .com) - Al Horford collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks held off a furious rally to beat the Detroit Pistons 106-103 on Friday night in a game between two of the NBAs hottest teams. Cheap Yeezy Shoes For Sale . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Yeezy Sales . -- C.J. Wilson parked his car and laughed while signing autographs for faceless fans who handed bats, balls and cards to the pitcher from the other side of a brick wall.A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers:___Schedule:(All times EDT) Game 1, Friday, at Los Angeles (6:37 p.m.); Game 2, Saturday, at Los Angeles (9:37 p.m.); Game 3, Monday, at St. Louis (TBD); x-Game 4, Tuesday, at St. Louis (TBD); x-Game 5, Thursday, at Los Angeles (TBD). (All games on FS1 or MLB Network)x-if necessary.___Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3.___Projected Lineups:Cardinals: 3B Matt Carpenter (.272, 8 HR 59 RBIs), CF Jon Jay (.303, 3, 46), LF Matt Holliday (.272, 20, 90), SS Jhonny Peralta (.263, 21, 75), 1B Matt Adams (.288, 15, 68), C Yadier Molina (.282, 7, 38), 2B Kolten Wong (.249, 12, 41, 20 SBs), RF Randal Grichuk (.245, 3, 8).Dodgers: 2B Dee Gordon (.289, 2, 31, MLB-leading 64 stolen bases), CF Yasiel Puig (.296, 16, 69), 1B Adrian Gonzalez (.276, 27, MLB-leading 116), RF Matt Kemp (.287, 25, 89), LF Carl Crawford (.300, 8, 46), SS Hanley Ramirez (.83, 13, 71), 3B Juan Uribe (.311, 9, 54), C A.J. Ellis (.191, 3, 25).___Projected Rotations:Cardinals: RH Adam Wainwright (20-9, 2.38, 3 shutouts, 5 complete games), RH Lance Lynn (15-10, 2.74), RH John Lackey (14-10, 3.82 with Red Sox, Cardinals), RH Shelby Miller (10-9, 3.74).Dodgers: LH Clayton Kershaw (21-3, major league-best 1.77 ERA), RH Zack Greinke (17-8, 2.71), LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-7, 3.38), RH Dan Haren (13-11, 4.02).___Relievers:Cardinals: RH Trevor Rosenthal (2-6, 3.20, 45/51 saves), RH Pat Neshek (7-2, 1.87, 6 saves), RH Seth Maness (6-4, 2.91, 3 saves) LH Sam Freeman (2-0, 2.61), RH Carlos Martinez (2-4, 4.03, 1 save), LH Randy Choate (2-2, 4.50), RH Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.20).Dodgers: RH Kenley Jansen (2-3, 2.76, 44/49 saves), RH Brandon League (2-3, 2.57), LH Paco Rodriguez (1-0, 3.86), LH J.P. Howell (3-3, 2.39), RH Chris Perez (1-3, 4.27), RH Jamey Wright (5-4, 4.35).___Matchups:A rematch of last years league championship series won by the Cardinals in six games behind NLCS MVP Wacha, who beat Kershaw twice. This will be the teams fifth meeting in post-season, and third in the last six years. Cardinals are 3-1 ... The Dodgers took three of four in Los Angeles in June, and the Cardinals took two of three in St. Louis in July. ... The Dodgers outscored the Cardinals 17-4 in four home games, while each of the three games in St. Louis were decided by two runs or less. ... The Dodgers are a healthier team heading into the playoffs compared to last year, when they were missing Kemp, Andre Ethier was slowed by a bad ankle and Ramirez broke a left rib after getting hit by a pitch in Game 1 of the NLCS and wasnt the same for the remaining games. ... Kershaw is favourite to win third Cy Young and dominated in winning both starts against St. Louis this season, allowing three runs and striking out 21 in 14 innings. ... Carpenter is 3 for 6 against Kershaw this season, 9 for 35 (.257) with 10 BBs and 10 Ks overall. ... Peter Bourjos is the only Cardinals player to homer off Kershaw this year. ... Ethier has most success against Wainwright for Dodgers. Hes 10 for 39 (.256) with three homers and seven RBIs. ... Puig led NL outfielders with 15 assists. ... Will Molina be able to slow Gordon? The Cardinals catcher threw out nearly half the potential base stealers (21 of 44 runner) against him. Gordan led the majors with 64 steals but was thrown out 19 times.___Big Picture:Cardinals: St. Louis finished 90-772, two games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central.dddddddddddd Wainwright is among majors elite starters and was a no-doubt MVP for team that was on and off offensively, but he might have to beat Kershaw twice for Cardinals to advance. Wainwright will be well-rested, scratched from his start in the regular-season finale after the Pirates lost and St. Louis clinched its second straight Central crown. ... Pitching staff is deep enough that Wacha likely wont be in rotation given struggles to regain form after a lengthy DL stay from a shoulder injury. The 35-year-old Lackey has come on strong his last few starts and has big game bonafides, beating the Cardinals twice in World Series last fall with Boston. ... The franchise is in the post-season for 10th time in 14 seasons. ... In first full season as closer, Rosenthal was among majors best, giving hitters more to worry about than just a fastball that tickles triple digits. ... Molinas return for final month from torn thumb ligament was a plus, even though he wasnt that productive at the plate. ... Peralta is among majors best-hitting shortstops and had a big second half. ... Cardinals were so-so on road, going 39-42.Dodgers: Los Angeles (94-68) won the NL West by six games over San Francisco and begins the playoffs on a five-game winning streak. ... The Dodgers have been one of baseballs best hitting clubs in September, leading the majors with 156 runs scored. Powering the offence have been Crawford, Kemp and Gonzalez, who ended the regular season with 116 RBIs, three short of his career high set in 2008. ... Manager Don Mattingly guided the Dodgers to a second consecutive division title. He is 354-293 in the regular season during the last four years. ... The Dodgers win total has been up every year since hes been at the helm. ... Los Angeles swept St. Louis in the 2009 division series.___Watch For:a€” Ryus Shoulder. The Dodgers left-hander continues progressing after leaving a game on Sept. 12 with shoulder irritation. He missed nearly a month earlier in the season with the same problem. In his first game back on May 21 against the Mets, Ryu pitched six innings and allowed two earned runs while striking out nine.a€” Hot Hitters: With four days off before Game 1, the Dodgers might wonder whether their hot-hitting lineup can stay that way. Kemp has been tearing it up since the All-Star break after starting the season slowly. Gonzalez also struggled early, but has been a consistent run producer since the break.a€” Deep Outfield. Grichuk was considered an afterthought in an off-season trade for outfielder Bourjos that sent 2011 post-season star David Freese to the Angels. The rookie has done well enough in his second stint to earn at least a platoon role with fellow rookie Oscar Taveras, considered the teams top prospect. Jay was supposed to be the fourth outfielder and got a one-year deal, a wakeup call thats prompted his strongest overall season. Hes stepped up particularly on defence.a€” Closing it Out: Manager Mike Matheny had a push-button approach to the late innings, with Rosenthal leading staff with 73 appearances, Maness with 72 and Neshek with 71. Late in the year, all of them needed rest. The side-arming Neshek was a first-time All-Star and was nearly untouchable much of the year with ERA below 1.00 until late August, but had a loss and blown save his last two outings. ' ' '