TAMPA, Fla. Early Wynn Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged. Despite being swept in the first round of the NHL playoffs, the young team led by Steven Stamkos has plenty of reasons to feel encouraged about the future. One year after struggling to the 28th-best record in the league, the Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division and posted the third-best mark in the Eastern Conference. The Montreal Canadiens eliminated them from the post-season in four games, but coach Jon Cooper said none of his players should hang their heads because the Lightning had a successful season. "Its been a transition year for us in an unbelievably positive way," said Cooper, whos completing his first full season behind the bench. "I dont want this series to be looked at as they were a failure," Cooper added. "Those guys got swept in the first round, but they had a heck of a year." Stamkos missed 45 games because of a broken right leg but still amassed 25 goals and 40 points in 37 games to help Tampa Bay return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The 24-year-old captain has scored more goals than any NHL player since the start of the 2009-10 season. His absence from early November to just before a late-season trade sent Martin St. Louis to the New York Rangers created unexpected opportunities for several young players who helped the team stay afloat while Stamkos was out. Goaltender Ben Bishop set a franchise record with 37 victories before a left elbow injury sidelined him for the final week of the regular season and the playoffs. Rookie Ondrej Palate led the team with 59 points and another first-year player, Tyler Johnson, set a club record for rookies with 24 goals. In all, Tampa Bays rookies combined for 201 points, more than twice as many for first-year players from any other team. "Its been well documented what this team has gone through this year," Cooper said, adding that few people gave the Lightning much of a shot at making the playoffs when the season began. Stamkos said its important young players learn from their post-season experience. The Lightning dropped the first two games to the Canadiens at home and didnt feel they played their best hockey until the third period of Game 4 in Montreal on Tuesday night. "Everyones probably feeling a little embarrassed. But in the long run, you probably had to go through something like this," Stamkos said. "I think we will learn," the captain added, "that sacrifice, determination and work ethic is what wins at this time of year." Ryan Callahan, the former Rangers captain obtained in the deal that sent an unhappy St. Louis to New York, agreed. "This means nothing if as a group (the Lightning) doesnt realize how hard the playoffs are and how consistent you have to be moving forward," Callahan said. "Its a waste if you dont learn from it." Eight rookies made their playoff debut in Game 1, while another key player -- goalie Anders Lindback, standing in for Bishop -- entered the series with just 13 minutes of post-season experience. Six first-year players notched their first playoff points in the opener, won by the Canadiens 5-4 in overtime. The next step is returning next season and proving this years success wasnt a fluke. "The amount of youth that we have here is very promising," Stamkos said. "We want to be a perennial playoff team. This is a start." Ozzie Guillen Jersey . - Urijah (The California Kid) Faber finds himself in an unaccustomed position Saturday night at UFC 175 — on the preliminary card. Jeff Keppinger Jersey . Head coach Randy Carlyle confirmed the news after the Leafs morning skate on Monday. Kozun was hurt during Friday nights home game against the Red Wings and did not make the return trip to Detroit for Saturdays game. http://www.authenticbaseshopwhitesox.com/authentic-bobby-jenks-white-soxjersey/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win.Nick Dougherty explains why he is so fond of the US Open and reveals what to expect from Oakmont this week. The US Open is well known for teetering on the edge of what is a fair test of golf. The USGA dont always get it right, and weve seen that over the year. Any time they have to water the greens in between groups is a sign that theyve missed it. To be in with a chance of winning the replica set of clubs and golf bag used by this years US Open champion, simply answer this question When conditions are like that, youre relying too much on luck as well as skill and thats nonsense. Having said that, I loved the difficulty of the US Open and it will always be my favourite of the four majors. You know that par is always going to be a good score regardless of where the tournament is and it is fair to say I never played on a gentle course at the US Open.Very rarely does a winner of the US Open say that they were not quite on top of their game, which you do hear sometimes at regular Tour events. Jason Day said that at Sawgrass recently and still found a way to get the job done, but the US Open wont let you off like that. Angel Cabrera ended the week five over when he won the tournament in 2007 But even if you are playing well and full of confidence, youre not going to hit perfect shots for 72 holes. It just means you are tighter with your dispersion when you do make mistakes, and it means knowing where your misses are.If youre playing poorly and missing on both sides, youve got absolutely no chance on a US Open course. And if you make too many mental errors at crucial times, its also not going to get you very far.It is tough to be critical of Phil Mickelson as he has been runner-up in his home Open six times, but a lot of those times its been the odd bad shot that has let him down. This was abundantly evident in that infamous finish at Winged Foot 10 years ago, and he was also too loose on too many occasions as Merion and that let in Justin Rose for the win. Mike Davis said if they ever had a problem with a scheduled host venue for the US Open and had to switch it at short notice, they could tee it up at Oakmont within two or three days. Nick Dougherty on Oakmont I think its the hardest of the four majors to win and, more often than not, the man holding the trophy on Sunday evening will have been the grittiest player over the four days. Graeme McDowell was a prime example of that when he won at Pebble Beach in 2010.It wasnt that he was constantly hitting sensational shots, but he played to his strengths, stuck to the shape of shot he likes to hit and he simply made fewer mistakes than his closest challengers.I hope the Oakmont course is set up in similar fashion this year to when I played there in 2007 because. Although it was not the easiest, or the hardest course I played, it definitely felt the fairest. Oakmont last hosted the US Open in 2007 The fairways are not super tight. I dont like it when its almost impossible to keep the ball on the fairway and all you can do is chop your ball back out. But I do like good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished, and thats what you will get in a US Open at Oakmont.You want the guy holding the trophy at the end to have stood out from the rest under that cauldron of pressure having delivered at the very highest level. Derek Holland Jersey. You want the champion to have dealt with all the challenges, both mentally and technically. You dont want to see players being punished for good shots if the USGA get the course setup wrong. You will get the odd bad bounce here and there, and thats fair enough, but youll probably get a couple of lucky breaks as well.But weve seen a few times that players have hit what appear to be perfect shots, only to find its impossible to hold the ball on a fairway or a green, and it rolls down a bank and into a position where its virtually impossible to get up and down.I dont believe we saw any of that at Oakmont last time, so if anyone gets out of position, they will probably only have themselves to blame. I remember the rough being really thick in 2007, and some people dont like to see that - they want to see the pros have a fighting chance to get to the green. Dougherty finished the 2007 US Open in tied-seventh after playing with Woods on the Saturday I agree with that to a point, but because the fairways were that little bit more generous at Oakmont, the punishing rough was fine with me. You knew you had to hit the fairway in order to be able to go at the green.When I played with Tiger in the third round nine years ago, he missed only one green all day, at the 18th, and thats because it was the only fairway he had missed all day and it led to a closing bogey.You stand on each tee knowing if you go offline, youre more likely to make bogey than par, and if youre two over and trying too hard to claw it back, you could be stood on the next tee at four over. It is the ultimate test, its what a US Open is all about and I think well see that again at Oakmont.There was a lot of criticism of Chambers Bay last year, particularly over the condition of the greens and the fact that a couple of holes were off limits for spectators. The USGAs decision to change the par-five 18th into a par-four for the second round also didnt do down well with players or viewers. Chambers Bay recieved criticism from the players during last years tournament Generally, I like what Mike Davis and the USGA do at any US Open venue. I wasnt a fan of changing the par on 18 last year, but I like the way they vary the lengths of several holes. The par-three eighth at Oakmont could be a driver for some players one day, and a short iron the next.Weve seen long, tough par-fours turned into risk/reward driveable par-fours, and each hole can present a completely different challenge for the players over the week.Davis, the executive director for the USGA, was talking about Oakmont recently and said that if they ever had a problem with a scheduled host venue for the US Open and had to switch it at short notice, they could tee it up at Oakmont within two or three days. Heavy bunkering and thick rough are a feature at Oakmont The course is presented virtually the same all year round and rumour has it that the greens are actually quicker for the members than for a major tournament. Im not sure I believe that, but I do know that the challenge is there for all to see, and theres no need to have the layout tricked up.The tournament officials dont have to do much to set it up for a US Open, and if you ever get the chance to play there, youll be presented with pretty much the same conditions at the Tour pros face.That is testament to the design talents of Henry Fownes in the early 20th century, and it is simply a great major championship venue.Watch the US Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf American Golf Competition Win replica clubs and bag of the 2016 US Open champion - enter now! 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