Dein erstes Forum » le remains in 12th place with 62 points. "

TORONTO -- Veteran sportscasters Steve Armitage and Mark Lee are the latest high-profile casualties of budget cuts at the CBC. Armitage, 70, lent his booming voice to CBC sports events for some 49 years -- handling play-by-play on 29 seasons of "Hockey Night in Canada," 27 Grey Cups and 15 Olympic Games. "I loved my job," he said. "I felt like I had been dodging the bullet. I really thought if the sports department was going to take a major hit, Id be high on their target list because of the years I had worked. "I was probably due to go. I didnt want to go because I liked my job, but when you gotta go, you gotta go." The majority of CBC sportscasters are hired on contract. Of four prominent sportscasters the network had on staff, Scott Russell is keeping his job. Armitage and Lee were let go, while Brenda Irving is moving to another department. The CBC lost NHL hockey rights last November to Rogers Media in a whopping $5.2-billion deal, leading to a dramatic loss of advertising revenue for a network already struggling with federal budget cuts. In April, CBC president Hubert Lacroix announced that 657 jobs would be slashed to meet a $130-million budget shortfall. Lacroix said at the time that 42 per cent of the sports department would be laid off, trimming 38 sports jobs from 90 current positions. He also announced in April that the broadcaster would no longer compete for professional sports rights and would cover fewer sports events, including amateur sports. Armitage and Lee learned they were being laid off in early May and recently wrapped up their final days at CBC. Both were given the opportunity to bump newer employees out of their positions but chose not to displace younger workers. Lee said hes struggling to adjust to his new life after spending 34 years with the public broadcaster. At 58, he is not ready to retire and hopes to find work in the industry. "Im still feeling a little bit lost. Its only been about 10 days since my last day there," he said. "It becomes a real big part of your life. You have a second family at work -- people you get to know really well and you travel with and spend large amounts of time on the road with at major events like the Olympics, Hockey Night in Canada, the CFL on CBC." The Gemini Award-winning sportscaster fondly recalled some of his proudest moments at CBC, including calling Usain Bolts world record-setting Olympic gold medal race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and producing a documentary on Muhammad Ali. Lee said CBC simply cannot compete at this point with Rogers and Bell Media for professional sports rights due to federal budget cuts. He said CBC has been doing all it can to keep certain types of programming on the air, but it is becoming impossible. "I hope that Canadians take notice. I hope that Canadians really cherish their CBC and lobby the government to maybe fund it the way it should be funded. Its one of the poorest funded public broadcasters in the western world," he said. Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of sports properties and general manager of the Olympics at CBC, said it was "extraordinarily sad" to see Armitage and Lee go. "They are consummate professionals, veterans in the industry and theyre both iconic. Frankly, their talent and their personalities are irreplaceable," he said. However, he said that CBC was in "very challenging times" and significant cuts had to be made to the sports department. "I think this is part of an overall strategic decision to respond to the changing landscape in sports at CBC and really, in response to the overall picture at CBC/Radio-Canada. Resources have been significantly diminished and decisions have to be made," he said. Carmel Smyth, national president of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents most CBC workers, called it "appalling" the Conservative government has cut CBC so deeply. "Who will cover amateur sports and give our athletes the exposure they need?" she asked. "We are losing exceptional talent that takes decades to develop. Will kids today ever have a chance to become the next Steve Armitage or Mark Lee?" Armitage joined CBC in 1965 as a late-night sports reporter in Halifax -- "There was one criteria: you needed to know how to type," he said with a laugh -- and went on to win three Gemini Awards, the Foster Hewitt Award and was inducted into the B.C. Hall of Fame during his nearly 50-year career. In the past two weeks, hes been enjoying his countryside home near Halifax but misses sportscasting. He said he doesnt have "sour grapes" about being forced into retirement but made clear he disagrees with the direction CBC is taking on sports. "The CBC has decided to put its priorities and what little money it has left into other areas," he said, adding that remaining sports staff are "dedicated, hard-working and will do their level best to preserve whats left." "But what worries me is if you keep taking people away, you take away the experience and the depth that CBC Sports had, and the ability to mount major projects and continue to do the high level of work and keep up the standards that the CBC had for many years. That becomes more and more difficult because the people just arent there." Nike Air Force Γυναικεια .com) - James van Riemsdyk had two goals with one assist to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. Nike Air Force 1 Sage Low Γυναικεια .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. http://www.airforce1greece.com/ .J. -- Kyle Palmieri thrilled his personal rooting section with an overtime winner that sent the Anaheim Ducks to their seventh straight win. Nike Air Force 1 Low Ανδρικα . On Sunday, head coach Patrick Roy said the teams leading scorer will skate at Mondays morning practice and the club will make a decision on his status for Game 6 at that point. Nike Air Force 1 Ανδρικα . The 30-year-old Kottaras served as Kansas Citys backup catcher last season after being claimed off waivers from Oakland in January. NASHVILLE -- After consecutive strong games, Ondrej Pavelec has the Winnipeg Jets in the chase for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Pavalec made 39 saves in a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, and coach Paul Maurice knows his goalie has been on a hot streak. "Hes played the same way, believe it or not, prior to. Hes had a big stretch of really good games, and every once in a while, hell play a game like he did (Saturday)," Maurice said. "Clearly he made some great saves, but I also thought we were pretty good clearing it out." Pavalec had 34 saves in the Jets previous game, a 3-2 victory over Phoenix on Thursday. The Jets, ranked sixth in the NHL in penalty kills coming into the game, didnt allow a goal on six Nashville power plays. One of the Predators strengths has been converting man-advantage chances. Entering the game, they were fifth in the league, but Pavelec stopped Nashville on each power play. "Yeah, we didnt have any interest in playing with that fire," Maurice said. "Well take a look at the ones we did give, and we have penalties that we have to avoid taking. Then we also have to recognize our penalty kills are pretty darn good." Simon Moser scored his first NHL goal for Nashville. He also scored in the Sochi Olympics playing for Switzerland. "That was then, at the Olympics, and now is now," Moser said. "I just try to do my best and keep going that way." The Jets improved 11-3-1 since hiring Maurice as coach. Olli Jokinen put the Jets on the board at 5:02 of the second period when he beat Nashville goalie Carter Hutton with a wrist shot for his 14th of the season. Jacob Trouba and Evander Kane assisted on the play when Winnipeg took advantage of a bad Nashville line change. Trouba collected the puck in his own end and fired a long pass to Jokinen on the left side. Andrew p;Ladd put the Jets up 2-0 at 18:18 of the second period when he tipped in a Zach Bogosian slap shot for his 15th of the season.dddddddddddd. "We are picking our spots and have some great goaltending," Ladd said. Moser brought the Predators within one, but Devin Setoguchi put the game away when he tapped in a rebound off a Blake Wheeler miss with his 11th of the season at 16:08. With the loss, the Predators missed a chance to tie the Jets in the standings. Winnipeg has 66 points, while Nashville remains in 12th place with 62 points. "I thought we had a lot going on, created a lot of opportunities, and drew penalties because we were on the puck and creating chances," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I have to give Winnipeg credit, they had full commitment from everybody and they got a couple huge saves." This was the final matchup of the season for the two teams. Nashville won the series 3-2. With the Jets up 2-1 and the Predators with momentum, Pavelec came up with a huge save with about five minutes left when he stopped Mike Fishers shot on a 2-on-1 charge to the net. Scoring chances havent been hard to come by for Nashville. The Predators outshot Tampa Bay 21-7 in the final two periods of their game on Thursday, a 3-2 win. On Saturday, the Predators took the first 10 shots of the game before the Jets could muster a chance at the net. "Theres going to be games where you feel like you get your heart ripped out of your chest and you just have to forget about what happened," Trotz said. "We played a really good hockey game, but we didnt win it." Notes: This was the 100th game of Nashvilles Rich Clunes NHL career. ... In 10 matchups against the team formerly known as the Thrashers, Nashville is 7-3-0 on home ice since the 1999-2000 season. ... The win ended a four-game road losing streak in Nashville for Winnipeg. ' ' '