NEWS » ciated Press on Wednesday. I still stick by my

TORONTO -- There is a circle around Canadian defenseman Shea Weber?-- about 24 feet across, give or take, a little smaller than a faceoff circle. Its invisible to the naked eye, but it is plain enough in his mind and the minds of his opponents that it might as well be painted into the ice. Its especially obvious when he is clearing space in his own zone.The Weber Circumference defines one of hockeys most notorious circles of pain.Weber might be better known for having the leagues hardest shot or being the other half of this summers massive P.K. Subban trade between the?Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators,?with whom he had played his entire 11-year career. But his influence is most deeply felt in that pivotal piece of territory in front of his net.In the lead up to the World Cup of Hockey,?San Jose Sharks?center and fellow Canadian Joe Thornton only had to hear Webers name and he was already whistling an exhausted sigh through his beard.You get in his 12-foot radius and you want to get out of there pretty quickly, Thornton said. Hes possibly the strongest guy in the league.Mike Babcock, Webers admiring coach for Team Canada here at the World Cup, talked recently about the withering effects of Webers stick, in particular.Just physically, hes a man mountain, Babcock said of Weber, who is 6-foot-4 and 236 pounds. If you havent been cross-checked in the ribs by him, you find out what that is too.Thornton took that same cross-check to the back last season after tangling with Roman Josi, Webers defensive partner on the Predators, and it easily downed one of the games biggest and toughest players.Its a heavy stick, Thornton said. Its a heavy stick, thats all I can say.Weber is a quiet man, not given to expressions of deep feeling even with friends.I love Webs, said Team USAs Ryan Suter, Webers former teammate with the Predators. He keeps it all in. Hes such a professional. He keeps things to himself, and he deals with things internally.But Weber does his version of lighting up whenever hes asked about how he views the space around him.You want to take care of the front of your net, Weber said. Obviously, there are a lot of areas that are going to make differences in games, but I think the two biggest areas are right in front of your net and right in front of their net. You want to get as many bodies and traffic in front of their goalie as you can, and you want to make things easier for your goalie to see pucks, as well. I think at every level youre told to box out and clear the front of the net, but especially at this level. The talent that our goalies have, if they see the puck, theyre going to stop it.There isnt much finesse to clearing space, although experience has given Weber an edge in tying up sticks and limiting second chances. His defensive gifts are more a function of his determination -- He doesnt give you an inch, said?Anaheim Ducks?winger?Corey Perry, a frequent foe -- and his freakish strength. He routinely finished first in Nashvilles fitness tests and weightlifting challenges. Friends and enemies alike talk about him with the sort of reverence normally reserved for men who can bend metal bars with their bare hands.Hes a huge presence, said Josi, who is here playing for Team Europe and will face his former partner Weber for the first time. Hes one of the strongest guys Ive ever met. We used to joke around in the dressing room and you could tell how strong he is.There were other testimonials to?Webers strengths:Hes a mutant, Canadian and Ducks?forward Ryan Getzlaf said. Being around his net isnt exactly the funnest place to be.Hes big, hes strong, hes physical, said Team USAs Ryan Kesler, who has engaged in a running battle with Weber in professional and international play for years. Once you get him in front of the net, hes mean and nasty. He reminds me of playing [Zdeno] Chara?back in the day.Webers almost mythical reputation has made him one of those rare players who changes the game even when the puck and his opponents are out of his reach. Normally, the offense wields pressure as a weapon. The way Weber plays, the balance of fear shifts. Given the resignation his opponents carry with them into his zone -- You just know its going to hurt, Finlands Mikael Granlund said -- the forwards are the ones who feel the need to brace themselves. Weber is like a deep bruise that stings them before it even begins to surface.As a player, you always know a guy like him is out there, Granlunds fellow Finn Mikko Koivu said. There are no nights off. Thats the best way to say it.Weber leveled Perry during last years playoffs with an open-ice hit that players still talk about. By any usual definition, Weber was in retreat, skating backward over his own blue line. Perry, at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, was building a head of attacking steam, but he made the mistake of skating deep into Webers sphere of influence. Weber somehow exploded up and out while still moving backward, delivering a forearm to Perrys chin. With a single blow, Perry ended up flat on his back -- Bell rung, he said. Weber continued gliding back toward his net, looking down at one more fallen opponent with a discomforting amount of satisfaction.You have to know thats the way he plays, Perry said.Now Perry and Weber?will be teammates while Canada takes on the rest of the hockey world. Asked about having Weber watching his back instead of putting him on it, Perry smiled with relief and said, Its going to be a lot easier, Ill tell you that.If only for the next two weeks, Perry will skate within the Weber Circumference and find shelter, not doom. Nike Tanjun On Sale . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Buy Nike Tanjun . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. http://www.niketanjunsaleireland.com/ . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Nike Tanjun Wholesale . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Nike Tanjun Ireland . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. SYDNEY -- Robert Allenby has returned to Australia, aiming to revive his career after troubles on and off the golf course over the last two years.The 45-year-old Allenby on Wednesday said hed contemplated quitting a thousand times and gone through periods where he didnt want to be seen in public.He missed the cut in 21 of the 23 tournaments he played last season on the PGA Tour, including the Sony Open -- the Hawaiian venue where he had an infamous night out in January 2015.Allenby was found with severe bruises several hours after visiting a restaurant with friends after missing the cut at the Sony Open in 2015, and later claimed to have been abducted and beaten. As serious questions were raised over his version of events, Allenby admitted he couldnt remember a long period of the night and must have been drugged. A Hawaii man was later sentenced to five years in prison for using Allenbys credit cards and identification.That was by far the lowest point. Just the attention that it caused, Allenby, who is playing at the New South Wales Open in Sydney this week, was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press on Wednesday. I still stick by my story because detectives andd (I) know and even today its the same story.ddddddddddddAllenby said some media coverage of the incident made it that I didnt want to be out of the golf course, didnt want to be seen.It really became a very stressful thing for me and thats when the reality of quitting was really high on the list, he said.Support from his wife and family just pulled me back, he said, Otherwise I would have gone a year ago.There have been other off-course issues this year, including a spat with a caddie and allegations -- which he described as a farce -- of disorderly conduct outside a casino in Rock Island, Illinois, in August after missing the cut in the John Deere Classic.Now that hes back on home soil, though, he is hoping his performances on the course are the focus of attention during the Australasian tour.He won Australian golfs triple crown -- the national Open, Masters and Australian PGA -- in 2005, and wants to prove the critics wrong by topping the tours order of merit to gain an exemption for next years British Open and more tournaments on the PGA Tour. 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