ST. PAUL, Minn. -- With the new franchises prospects on the ice in front of them at the teams first rookie camp, Minnesota Wild general manager Doug Risebrough sat down next to director of hockey operations Tom Lynn and asked for an initial assessment.The good news was veteran coach Jacques Lemaire looked energized in his return to the NHL bench for the 2000-01 season.The bad?Well, hes got the best shot out there, Lynn quipped to Risebrough.Such was the state of a first-year team, pieced together with experienced players the rest of the league didnt need and newbies with largely unfulfilled potential. The Wild that season had plenty of Casey Stengel moments, Lynns label in reference to the manager of the 1962 New York Mets. They lost 120 games in their Major League Baseball debut.The Wilds first edition wasnt that bad, but they finished 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. That was one spot behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who with the Wild were the last clubs to enter the league until the recent award of a franchise to Las Vegas.Next year, that yet-unnamed team will build a roster from scratch, just like the Wild and Blue Jackets did 17 years before them. Not only will Las Vegas be the first addition to the NHL in 17 years, but it will become only the third new club since then in any of the countrys four most prominent professional sports leagues. Houston joined the NFL in 2002, and the NBA added Charlotte in 2004.Las Vegas will have some advantages over Columbus and Minnesota, which followed Nashville (1998) and Atlanta (1999) in the previous wave. The salary cap floor, for one, has risen to $54 million. Columbus general manager Doug MacLean had a $17 million payroll to work with on his first roster in the pre-cap era.The advent of analytics has given front offices more tools with which to evaluate players. Theres a higher caliber of prospects reaching the league now, too, fueled by elite skills camps and national development programs.Youre not going to have someone slip through the cracks where youre going to be rolling your eyes and going, `Oh, howd he end up in camp? said Lynn, who was promoted to assistant general manager after two seasons with the Wild and held that role for nearly seven years. Hes now a player agent. Rather than avoiding potholes, your fight will be to avoid mediocrity.The Blue Jackets and Wild also had to fight with each other. With two teams starting simultaneously, the expansion draft pool was further diluted.There were very few players you really wanted, MacLean said, adding: It was a fun process to go through, but at the end of the day you get your list and you say, `Oh, this is it? This is it for $80 million?Thats what the fee was for those teams to join the league. The price tag for Las Vegas is $500 million. Thus, MacLean said, its only fair that the new franchise will start with a stronger talent base.Columbus grabbed left wing Geoff Sanderson, a 30-goal scorer that first season, but netted little else from the expansion draft. In a nontraditional hockey market like Columbus, Blue Jackets brass felt pressure to win faster. They didnt make the playoffs until their eighth season, though, and have only qualified twice.Minnesota, fueled by a states rich history of high school and college programs and pickup games on frozen ponds, took a different tack. Patience was expected from a passionate fan base that lost the North Stars to Dallas in 1993. Complementing top draft picks Marian Gaborik and Nick Schultz, Risebrough focused on hard workers who would respond to Lemaires stern, wise leadership.Having good character players was of the highest importance, Lynn recalled, more important than their physical skills.Darby Hendrickson, a native of Minnesota, had finished his sixth NHL season with Vancouver when he found out the Wild picked him. Fishing by himself at his lake home up north, he had some initial hesitations. The pressure of playing at home was one. The rather dim outlook was another.You dont know with expansion if youre going to be, like, losing every game, said Hendrickson, whos now an assistant coach for the Wild.Hendrickson, fellow center Jim Dowd and defenseman Filip Kuba were among the players fetched in that expansion draft. By year three, they were part of a resilient team that reached the Western Conference finals.Even in that uphill first season, highlights werent hard to come by. The Wild beat Dallas 6-0 in their first matchup against the states old team. The first exhibition game brought a goosebump-inducing standing ovation that still resonates with Hendrickson.I was just like, `Here we go, Hendrickson said, and you knew that the state was going to be behind hockey being back.---AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno in Washington contributed to this report. Fake Jordan Shoes . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Replica Shoes Online . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. https://www.fakeshoesonline.com/ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Cheap Shoes Fake . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Fake Nike Shoes .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Mississippi doesnt have much time to sulk after its marquee Labor Day matchup against Florida State didnt go the way it had hoped.The 19th-ranked Rebels didnt return to campus until 4 a.m. on Tuesday and then had to quickly begin preparation for its home opener on Saturday against Wofford.The Terriers -- who play at the Football Championship Subdivision level -- will provide a different challenge with their throwback triple-option offense that is rarely seen in todays college football world.It is totally different, coach Hugh Freeze said. Usually you would like to have two weeks to get ready for (the triple option) and we basically have two days. We just have to correct the mistakes and hopefully stay healthy.Ole Miss is hurting both mentally and physically after the season-opening loss to No. 3 Florida State in Orlando. The Rebels had a 28-6 lead in the second quarter before giving up the next 33 points and losing control of the game.Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly -- who threw four touchdown passes, but also had three interceptions and lost a fumble -- acknowledged it wasnt the easiest loss to forget.There are little things that definitely frustrate you because you could be sitting here 1-0, Kelly said. It hurts but youve got to get by it and now were looking forward to the next game.The Rebels are also trying to figure out solutions after two injuries. Starting cornerback Kendarius Webster and running back Eric Swinney are out for the season after both tore knee ligaments.Webster was widely cconsidered the Rebels best cornerback.dddddddddddd Freeze said he expected Webster to play about 95 percent of the snaps prior to the injury, and when he went down in the first quarter it hurt the Rebels pass defense.Senior Carlos Davis moves into a starting role in Websters absence.Ole Miss was already thin at running back because junior Jordan Wilkins was declared academically ineligible just before the season started. Now the Rebels will likely lean on Akeem Judd and Eugene Brazley for the majority of the carries. Freeze also said that freshman DVaughn Pennamon would likely join the rotation instead of redshirting like previously planned.Freeze said there were plenty of positives to take from the Florida State game, even if the final outcome wasnt good. He said the fact that the Rebels were leading 28-6 in the second quarter is proof they can play with anyone.The trick is sustaining it for four quarters.Ole Miss needs to fix its issues quickly. The Rebels have crucial game against Alabama on Sept. 17 and Georgia on Sept. 24.I think you build on the positives, but also address the reasons we couldnt get it done, Freeze said. If we are going to be any good, you bounce back from those (losses) and traditionally we have done that very well here.---Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP .---AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org . ' ' '