REGINA - Over the last few days, it looked like Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant would soon be ready for game

REGINA - Over the last few days, it looked like Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant would soon be ready for game action. Allan Houston Knicks Jersey . Instead his absence from the lineup will be extended a little longer. The star quarterback, who had surgery on a torn tendon in his right elbow in early September, returned to the practice field this week and participated in full workouts for the first time in nearly two months. But his name wasnt on the depth chart for Saturdays game between the Riders (9-8) and the Edmonton Eskimos (12-5) at Mosaic Stadium. Catch the game on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt. Veteran pivot Kerry Joseph will start his third consecutive game for the Riders, who have lost five straight and six of their previous seven with the 32-year-old Durant out of the lineup. I feel Im pretty close to being myself, Durant said this week. I feel good. The ball is coming off (my hand) with some authority. My spiral is still there. Its good to know that everything was put together correctly. Earlier in the week, the chances of his return looked good. The 32-year-old quarterback ran the scout team during practices and appeared pleased with his throws. But the coaching staff decided to give Joseph the nod, with Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege serving as backups. The game will serve as a playoff tuneup for both teams as Edmonton has locked up the No. 2 seed and will host the CFL West Division semifinal. Depending on Week 20 results, Saskatchewan will either visit the Eskimos or head east as the crossover team. The torn tendon was the first major injury of Durants pro career. He wasnt sure how his body would respond after he was hurt Sept. 7 in Winnipeg. He said the injury weighed on him mentally and emotionally as he watched his teammates struggle while he was sidelined with his right arm in a sling. He said hes pleased that he could at least return to the practice field and test things out. I was a little nervous the first couple days that I got going, but its starting to come around and its starting to feel a lot better, he said. As for a potential playoff start, Durant said its a little early to entertain that thought. Just like with any other injury, you have some good days and you have some bad days, he said. I think well just wait and see how it goes, see how I feel next week and well go from there. Running back Anthony Allen, whose 849 rushing yards leads the team and ranks third in the CFL, was practising at full speed this week after sitting out the previous two weeks because of back spasms. Offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte also returned to the practice field this week. The leagues top offensive lineman a year ago missed last weeks game in Calgary with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Its really difficult for any player in this league to be fully healthy at this point in the season, said slotback Chris Getzlaf, who has been dealing with a sore quadriceps muscle for most of the season. (Last weeks bye) was a great refresher week, something that allowed us to take a little time off and work on rebuilding the body and getting it back on track. Any time you go into a bye week on the kind of streak that we were on its always much needed. Thats mentally and physically speaking, he added. When you have that time to yourself and with your family and when you have that time to rest your body I think it re-energizes anybody. Charles Oakley Knicks Jersey .200. His solution to his hitting woes was business in the front and a party in the back."That would be a mullet," Norris says. Emmanuel Mudiay Jersey . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-walt-frazier-knicks-jersey/ . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence.MONTREAL – The New York Rangers took a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-1 over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 on Monday at the Bell Centre. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stood tall with 41 saves between the pipes, but it was defenceman Ryan McDonagh who got the first star of the game as he had a goal and an assist and now has two goals and four assists for six points in two games. With a big series lead and a chance of wrapping up the series back at Madison Square Garden, the young blueliner was surprisingly low-key considering his performance in Games 1 and 2. "Just everybody else around me," he answered when asked what the key to his recent offensive success has been. "You cant have that success without your teammates doing what they need to do and getting you the puck in certain situations. "It was great fore-checking on my goal and simple play by Dom [Domenic Moore] to find me. You play like that and good things will happen. It was great passing by Richie [Brad Richards] on the power play and then just simple plays by everyone. Everybodys really contributing and its showing on the scoreboard." McDonagh now has nine points in 16 games in the playoffs, but six of those have come in the last two. "I was just trying to be a little bit simpler out of my zone," said McDonagh, who - as Montreal fans know all too well now - was drafted 12th overall by the Canadiens at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. "If I have a second or two to make a direct pass, make it. But I was just looking for stick blades too much at times and its tight checking in the playoffs so you want to make sure that youre not giving forwards an opportunity to grind you in your own zone. So the simplle plays will work a lot in the playoffs and Ive been able to make good reads and thats helped me. John Starks Jersey. " McDonaghs teammates have noticed the changes as well and are happy the hard work is paying off for their teammate. "The last bunch of games hes been getting better and better," said blueliner Marc Staal. "Obviously, we need that offence from the back end and hes really providing it right now. But its also the little things hes doing. "He works so hard on his defensive game and is so hard on his stick out there. Hers smart in his own zone and that cause us to have a lot of offense from it and obviously on the powerplay thats huge too. That hard work is paying off." Head coach Alain Vigneault echoed Staals assessment and credited McDonaghs defensive game - which in turn has led to more offence. "Both go hand in hand," he explained. "Like when Ryans gap is good and, obviously, hes got tough matchups because hes always playing against the other teams best line. "When his gap is good and hes battling hard in his one-on-ones, usually the offensive part of his game is there, and its been very good the last two games." James Murphy is a freelance reporter who also writes for NHL.com, the Boston Herald and XNsports.com. He covered the Boston Bruins/NHL for last 11 seasons writing for ESPNBoston.com, ESPN.com, NHL.com, NESN.com, the Boston Metro, Insidehockey.com and Le Hockey Magazine. Murphy also currently hosts the radio show "Murphys Hockey Law" heard Saturdays 9-11 AM ET on Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio and 4-6 PM ET on Websportsmedia.com. In addition to that, he is a regular guest TSN 690 in Montreal and Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio as well as a hockey analyst on CTV Montreal. ' ' '