PHILADELPHIA -- Shea Weber finally made himself at home in Philadelphia. The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Josi beat Flyers goalie Steve Mason for the last of a combined five shootout goals to give the Predators the needed road win as they chase a playoff spot. Weber had a big night in his first game against Philadelphia since the Flyers made him a $110 million, 14-year offer in the summer of 2012. The Predators matched the deal, keeping him in Nashville. He declined to go into detail about his return to Philly, simply stating he was happy with the win. He wasnt even booed by the fans, though Flyers forward Scott Hartnell got in his ear. "Just Hartsy cause hes always chirping," Weber said, smiling. "But thats nothing new, though." Weber snapped a tie game with a power-play goal early in the third period. Wayne Simmonds tied the game 3-all with a power-play goal with 1:24 left in regulation to send the game into OT. Eric Nystrom and David Legwand also scored in regulation for Nashville. Brayden Schenn and Andrej Meszaros scored for the Flyers. "We moved our feet, made the right plays and played the way we wanted to play," Flyers captain Giroux said. "We had our chances. We played well and were able to tie it up at the end there. They just did a good job in finding a way to get the two points." Nashville dug deep into the pocketbook and decided to pay Weber the $110 million over 14 years offered by the Flyers. The Flyers were looking for someone to fill the void left in defenceman Chris Prongers absence. Instead, they were left scrambling without the former All-Star and Olympic gold medallist . Even with their captain in the fold, the Predators are fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. They can thank Webers 12th goal for setting up this win -- and one incredible save by Carter Hutton. The Predators acquired Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk this week, but went with Hutton in front of another sold out Philadelphia crowd. Hutton was behind the net as he chased a puck that knocked off the boards and back to a charging Michael Raffl, who had an open look at the net and fired for the seemingly easy goal. Hutton hustled like an All-Star shortstop and made a diving grab to snatch the puck. Raffl could only shake his head in disbelief on the second period stop. That was just the break the Predators needed. "That was sick," Josi said. "Thats going to be on the highlight reel for a long time. He was more like a soccer goalie on that save." The Flyers needed only 1:26 into the game to score when Schenn tapped in a loose puck for his 13th goal of the season. The fast start was short-lived. Nashville scored the next two goals, erasing Philadelphias early momentum. Raffl whiffed as he tried to clear the puck, giving Gabriel Borque a look at the net. His shot was deflected by Nystrom for his seventh goal. The Flyers were then down two players after Kimmo Timonen was whistled for boarding and Giroux for tripping. The Predators failed to score on their 1:18 of a 5-on-3 advantage, but just as Girouxs penalty came off the clock, Legwand connected on a one-timer for a 2-1 lead. Weber assisted on the first two goals, exactly the kind of play the Flyers expected when they made him the monster offer. One of the worst teams in the league at protecting the puck, the Flyers had seven giveaways in the first period. "I thought we may have been sitting back a little too much," Schenn said. "Obviously, they are a very quick team who works hard. When you sit back theyre going to take it to you." Meszaros tied the game 2-all with 3.6 seconds left in the second period. NOTES: The Flyers have lost two straight at home after winning 10 straight at home. ... The Predators won in Philadelphia for the first time since 2006. ... Weber leads NHL defenceman with 12 goals. Chris Bassitt Jersey . Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., fell in the middle of her routine and placed fifth in the ladies free skate at Iceberg Skating Palace (110.73 points), but that was all the Canadians needed after a strong performance by Kevin Reynolds in the mens free earlier Sunday. Stitched Athletics Jerseys . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/. Its the second straight year he has decided not to play as he cuts back his schedule. Stricker was replaced in the field by Ryo Ishikawa of Japan. Custom Oakland Athletics Jerseys .Y. - The New York Yankees made it official Saturday, announcing the completion of a seven-year deal with free-agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and a one-year contract for returning starter Hiroki Kuroda. Chris Bassitt Athletics Jersey . Ashley Wagner will skate in the womens short program for a U.S. team thats in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver medal at the Vancouver Games and are two-time world champions.I thoroughly enjoyed March Madness, both the mens and womens versions. For three weeks in the early days of the spring season, I renew my subscription with college basketball and am edutained on all things March Madness. It is a time that engendered work morale spikes, rooted in imperfect bracket predictions and the chance that overworked, underpaid employees will cash out on an office pool lottery built from their very own desk change cups and afternoon Tim Hortons coffee run allotments. Mini hoops get hung on office doors for impromptu paper ball dunk contests and great plays are re-enacted by local news crews unable to air highlights of the very sport they cover because of the hierarchy of money structured agreements between the NCAA and its multiple March Madness broadcast partners. A bevy of hungry, wide-eyed teams. More Networks. Too many credit card commercials. Too Much Dick Vitale. Not Enough Bill Raftery. No Gus Johnson. Countless floor burns. Multiple tears. Clutch shots. One epic dance. One dream realized. Who knew a school from the former and now defunct Yankee Conference would be one of the most dominant basketball programs in college history? Combined, the University of Connecticut mens and womens teams have been in the NCAA Tournament final game 13 times. Theyve never lost. Ever. I watched as Geno Auriemma and his Lady Huskies won their ninth title in 19 years, defeating Notre Dame easily and once again lording over the womens game with whispers and questions rattling The ladies college hoops kings cage about whether or not his talents could be applied similarly in the mens game. I saw Guelph, Ontarios and Notre Dame senior forward Natalie Achonwa, thrice a bridesmaid, never the bride in the NCAA final, have to endure the insult of her team once again losing a chance at glory and an undefeated season to the schoolyard bully in UConn, in part due to suffering a devastating knee injury during the Elite Eight game that ended her season and college career. I was not in shock or awe that Derrick Gordon, starting guard from the University of Massachusetts, a school where I created and once taught the worlds first university accredited course on hip-hop culture, now also has the distinction of having the first Division I male basketball player to come out as openly gay. I viewed a March Madness tournament where Canadian lights shone brightly in fellow freshmen Kansas Andrew Wiggins and Syracuses Tyler Ennis, senior Melvin Ejim of Iowa State, Michigan sophomore Nik Stauskas and more. Their play shined a collective light on the immense talents north of the 49th parallel who contributed in meaningful ways during the Tournament and offered hope and confidence for young Canadian hoop stars to follow. I reveled in UConn mens coach Kevin Ollies victory over John Caliparis Kentucky Wildcats, despite picking the new Fab Five freshmen from Lexington to win it all on my TSN Radio basketball program, #1On1 with Will and Duane. And the revelry was not rooted in a dislike for Coach Cals crew. The joy was in the knowledge that, 30 years after Georgetowns John Thompson became the first black man to win an NCAA title with a team full of inner city black kids, possibly influenced by the lure of profit from a new player in the illicit drug trade called crack and the music of an emerging and grossly misunderstood subculture called hip-hop, Kevin Ollie joined Thompson, newly minted Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Nolan Richardson and Tubby Smith as the only black coaches to ever win the national title. My merriment was quelled, however, by the admission of the tournaments Most Outstanding Player, UConn senior PG Shabazz Napier. As initially reported by CNNs Sara Ganim, Napiers statement was stunning.dddddddddddd. “I dont feel student-athletes should get hundreds of thousands of dollars, but like I said, there are hungry nights that I go to bed and Im starving," he said. "I just feel like a student-athlete, and sometimes, like I said, theres hungry nights and Im not able to eat and I still got to play up to my capabilities.” I observed a game with multi-billion dollar stakes in which the players have no financial stake due to the draconian statutes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which still has them reaching for “One Shining Moment” as the UConn mens program fails to graduate more than eight per cent of its starving, underfed players. I then pondered former March Madness champ and UCLA forward Ed OBannons lawsuit against the NCAA, the Northwestern University athletes who won their fight to unionize against the NCAA and Jalen Roses youthful revelation years ago on how he and his Fab Five teammates were being flagrantly exploited by the NCAA and its corporate stakeholders while a star at Michigan. It occurred to me that the 2013-2014 mens final was possibly a referendum on the future of college basketball profiteering: Caliparis "one and done" regime versus the NCAAs preferred method of currency exchange with the NBA - keeping the student-athletes on campus playing this game for as long as possible. NBA Commissioner Adam Silvers wish to subsidize collegiate student-athletes in order to keep the collusive financial arrangement with the NCAA as close to status quo, without hemorrhaging too much blood, seems relatively progressive at cursory glance. And the new commishs potential good fortune to place a positive stamp on his early tenure may be rooted in Napiers hunger. ESPNs Darren Rovell recently reported that Adam Silver is willing to trade markers with the NCAA, its student-athletes and the NBAPA with concessions on all sides to make the vehicle move. "Rather than focusing on a salary and thinking of them as employees, I would go to their basic necessities," said Silver. "I think if Shabazz Napier is saying he is going hungry, my God, it seems hard to believe, but there should be ample food for the players." Commissioner Silver wants to raise the NBA entry age limit from 19 to 20 and may be able to do so in exchange for his college player subsidy initiative. Silvers very public overtures about changes that can be made to an archaic, rotted NCAA system run by that cabals boss, Dr. Mark Emmert, who, naturally, is vehemently opposed to any sort of compensation for student-athletes, a term created to protect the schools and NCAA itself against the liability of paying workers compensation for injured “student-athletes,” are encouraging, even in theory. But what about offering a “bare necessities” cost of living stipend, daily meal per diems and limited injury insurance to these young men, who may or may not be ready for the fine hardwood courts of the National Basketball Association, but wish to ply their trade professionally? Is it possible for these young men to also get an education with the same subsidies Commissioner Silver is suggesting for the NCAA by giving these monies to the NBAs already-established minor league, the National Basketball Development League? No matter the motivations of Adam Silver, it would seem that the winds of change are on the horizon for intercollegiate athletics and its long partnership with professional sport to finally call it what it really is now. So yeah… Thats what I learned during March Madness this year. I can only hope you learned some things, too. ' ' '