Macks eight seasons.QUIET SUMNERXavier point guard Edmond Sumner played only 12 minutes in the first half and didnt take a shot. He finished with five points and seven assists in 23 minutes, by far his season l

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators see forward Mike Fisher as the perfect fit as the seventh captain in franchise history, replacing Shea Weber who was traded to Montreal in July for P.K. Subban in a stunning move.General manager David Poile announced Thursday they have named Fisher as their new captain. Fisher, 36, is going into the final year on his current contract, but Poile made it clear that wont be an issue.He can play here as long as he wants, Poile said at a news conference. I dont view this as a one-year captaincy. Well take whatever we can get from Mike both on and off the ice.Fisher was a full alternate captain the past four seasons and the Predators nominee for the King Clancy Award four of the past five seasons for his leadership. He won the NHL Foundation Award in 2012 and helped Ottawa reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.Fisher said being named the Predators captain ranks among the top highlights of his career.Its an honor to be given the captaincy of this team, of this city that I love being a part of ..., Fisher said. Hopefully, were going to top that this year with the Cup. Thats the plan.The 6-foot-1 center played his 1,000th career NHL game March 3, the 300th player in league history to reach that mark. He tied for the team-lead with five goals during the playoffs last spring. He had a point in each of Nashvilles first five games against San Jose in the second round, and he also scored the game-winning goal in triple-overtime of Game 4 against the Sharks.Fisher won a career-high 53.4 percent of his face-offs last season.Poile said he and coach Peter Laviolette had been discussing candidates to become captain after the trade that sent Weber to Montreal for Subban. The general manager said Fisher met each of the criteria they wanted.Mike Fisher is a great ambassador for this franchise, Poile said.The Predators, who lost to San Jose in seven games, report for training camp Sept. 22. Devin Singletary Jersey . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Thurman Thomas Womens Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Doug-Flutie-Bills-Jersey/ . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Doug Flutie Youth Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Jim Kelly Jersey .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. CINCINNATI -- With less weight and more quickness, guard Trevon Bluiett is turning into an all-around scorer at the heart of Xaviers offense.Bluiett scored 15 of his 23 points during Xaviers dominant first half, and the seventh-ranked Musketeers remained unbeaten with an 85-55 victory over North Dakota State on Tuesday night.The Musketeers (7-0) opened with a decisive run for the second straight game. Bluiett hit the biggest shots and finished with seven assists and five rebounds. He dropped his weight from 217 to 194 pounds in the offseason to improve his quickness.Im trying not to rely on the 3-ball too much, said Bluiett, who went 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. Live by the 3, die by the 3, and I tried to change that philosophy. Losing weight kind of helped that, too. Ive been able to incorporate things into my game.Sean OMara added 12 points and five rebounds, and Malcolm Bernard had 10 points and eight rebounds.Xavier got up 30-10 during a 64-42 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday, giving up only 12 points in the first half -- the fewest it has allowed in any half since the shot clock was introduced for the 1985-86 season. Against North Dakota State (5-3) , the Musketeers opened with a 30-11 run and were never challenged.The Musketeers finished with 23 assists on 31 field goals.I thought the offense flowed well, we shared the ball a lot, Bernard said. I love the way we played on offense. I thought it was fun, it was exciting.Redshirt freshman Deng Geu scored a career-high 18 for the Bison, who trailed by as many as 36 points. Nobody else scored more than nine.Deng is only eight games into his varsity career, coach David Richman said. He has oodles and oodles of potential, but hes struggled with his confidence. It was good for him to hit that first 3. I thought he played better after that.POLL IMPLICATIONSXavier moved up two spots in this weeks poll to No. 7, wherre it started the season.dddddddddddd. The Musketeers have a chance to make their case for another jump with a game at No. 9 Baylor on Saturday.BIG PICTURENorth Dakota State: The Bison are 3-11 against ranked teams, with the wins over No. 13 Wisconsin in 2005-06, No. 9 Marquette in 2006-07, and No. 20 Oklahoma during the 2014 NCAA tournament.Xavier: Sophomore forward Kaiser Gates moved much better in his second game back from surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. He scored six points and had two rebounds in 14 minutes. Against Northern Iowa, Gates played 11 minutes, missed his only shot and picked up three fouls.His (conditioning) is probably the thing thats going to keep him back from playing more right now, its not his knee, coach Chris Mack said . We just feel like hes building toward being a full-time contributor. He took a better step tonight, a lot better step than against Northern Iowa.FAST STARTSXavier won its first 12 games last year and its first eight games in 2011, the Musketeers best starts during Macks eight seasons.QUIET SUMNERXavier point guard Edmond Sumner played only 12 minutes in the first half and didnt take a shot. He finished with five points and seven assists in 23 minutes, by far his season low.NO 3s ... OR ANYTHING ELSENorth Dakota States A.J. Jacobson was 14 of 18 on 3-points shots heading into the game, so Xavier locked in on him. Jacobson missed both of his shots and failed to score.UP NEXTNorth Dakota State plays at North Carolina A&T on Friday, ending a three-game road swing.Xavier has lost both its games against Baylor -- 69-64 during Macks first season as coach in 2009-10, and 75-70 in the third round of the 2012 NCAA tournament.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '