PAGE 10
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NFL
Former Jayhawk shows skills to NFL
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
Former Kansas linebacker Steven Johnson received an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine after he led the Jayhawks with 124 tackles. Johnson, a former walk-on, is projected to be a late round selection or a free-agent signee. On Monday, he got his chance to show the scouts what he could do.
40-YARD DASH
The 40-yard dash is used to measure straight-line speed. It is the most hyped up test of the NFL Combine.
Johnson's time: 4.78 seconds
Linebacker Combine average: 4.75 seconds
Top performer: Mychal Kendricks, California, 4.47
seconds
3-CONE DRILL
BENCH PRESS
The bench press tests upper body strength and endurance. Players bench 225 pounds for as many reps as possible.
Johnson's reps: 16
Linebacker Combine average: 23.1
Top performer: Ronnell Lewis, Oklahoma, 36
VERTICAL JUMP
The vertical jump tests a player's lower body strength and explosiveness. The players start in a standing position and try to jump as high as possible without stepping.
Johnson's jump: 36 inches
Linebacker Combine average: 34.27 inches
Top Performer: Mychal Kendricks, California, 39.5 inches
BROAD JUMP
Like the vertical jump, the broad jump tests players' lower body explosiveness and strength from a standing position.
Johnson's distance: 113 inches
Johnson's distance: 113 inches
Linebacker Combine average: 116.57 inches
Top Performer: Mychal Kendricks, California, 127 inches
The 3-cone drill shows scouts a player's speed, agility and balance. Cones are placed in an "L" shape five yards apart from each other.
Johnson's time: 7.32 seconds
Combine average: 7.13 seconds
Top Performer: Nathan Stupar, Penn State, 6.84 seconds
SHUTTLE RUN
Players can run both 20- and 60-yard distances for the shuttle run, but many players choose not to run both events. The short distance tests a players ability to quickly switch directions and accelerate. In the 20-yard shuttle, players run five yards in one direction, turn, run 10 yards the opposite way, turn and run five yards back to the starting line.
20-yard shuttle run
Johnson's time: 4.38 seconds
Combine average: 4.28 seconds
Top Performer: Brandon Marshall, Nevada 4.09
seconds
Analysis: Johnson's performance might not have been as good as he may have hoped, especially in the bench press, but his interviews with coaches and general managers over the weekend are more important than the drills. Johnson is a guy with a lot of character and a tireless worker. If he wowed a team with his attitude and has a good pro day at Kansas on March 14, he may convince a team to take a chance and draft him with a late round selection.
NHL
Edited by Christine Curtin
Chicago Blackhawks lose to Anaheim, Calif. Ducks, 3-1
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Teemu Selanne scored a power-play goal and had an assist to move into 20th place on the NHL's career scoring list, and the Anaheim Ducks kept rolling in their return from an eight-game road trip, beating the slumping Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 Sunday night.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jonas Hiller made 18 saves in his 21st consecutive start for the Ducks, who won for the ninth time in 12 games during their improbable playoff push. Andrew Cogliano scored his first goal of February for the Ducks, and Sheldon Brookbank also scored as Anaheim avoided a four-game season sweep by Chicago.
Patrick Kane ended the Blackhawks' monthlong 0-for-39 power-play drought with a first-period goal, and Ray Emery stopped 35 shots against his former Anaheim teammates in Chicago's third consecutive loss.
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Andrew Brunette (15) and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa (5), of Italy, vie for the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.
The Blackhawks have lost 12 of 16 overall, yet still sit comfortably in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
The Blackhawks played their fourth straight game without captain Jonathan Toews, who is home in Chicago with an apparent concussion. Coach Joel Quenneville hopes Toews and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson will return Wednesday against Toronto, but the Blackhawks struggled through a two-game Southern California road trip, losing 4-0 up the 1-5 freeway in Los Angeles one night earlier.
Anaheim got just two days off
Selanne is the second-oldest player in NHL history to score at least 21 goals in a season, trailing only Gordie Howe, who did it twice after his 41st birthday.
Selanne inched up the NHL scoring list by setting up Brookbank's goal in the second period before scoring his 21st of the season from a sharp angle during a two-man advantage in the third. The 41-year-old Finnish Flash caught and passed Luc Robitaile with 1,395 points, and his 246th career power-play goal put him one behind Robitaile for fourth in league history.
following the longest continuous road trip in franchise history before starting a key stretch of five games in seven days. The Ducks have been among the NHL's top teams since Jan. 1, going 17-4-4 — but it still might not be enough to save their season.
After falling 20 points out of eighth place in the West during their awful start, the Ducks are just six points out of playoff position — but still in 13th place in the West.
Chicago hadn't scored a power-play goal since Jan. 24, but Kane slipped a long shot through traffic and just inside Hiller's post midway through the first period. The goal appeared to awaken the Ducks, and Cogliano scored with 20 seconds left in the period when he got the puck alone in front of Emery.
off the goal because Cogliano clearly kicked the puck toward the net with his right skate, but a lengthy video review at the league offices in Toronto revealed Cogliano poked the puck through Emery's legs with his stick after Emery stopped the kick with his pads.
The referees immediately waved
Emery backstopped the Ducks to a playoff berth last season, filling in for Hiller after the All-Star break when the Swiss goalie went down with an apparent case of vertigo.
Anaheim thoroughly controlled the second period, but wasn't rewarded until Selanne passed from behind the Chicago net to Brookbank, who fired it off Duncan Keith and past Emery. The goal was Brookbank's second in five games after playing the 167 straight games without a goal.
FOOTBALL
Jayhawks sign defensive lineman from Michigan
The Kansas football team bolstered its 2012 recruiting class with the signing of defensive lineman Neal Page from Birmingham, Mich. on Monday. The six-foot-five Page is the fifth
defensive lineman and 22nd overall player in Weis's first recruiting class as Kansas coach.
his senior season the Maples advanced to the state playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
Page, a three-star recruit according to ESPN.com, finished his prep career ranked third in Seaholm High School history with 20.5 career sacks. He was named captain of the team twice and in
In his senior year, Page was named first team All-Oakland Activities Association.
Edited by Bre Roach
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Baylor still undefeated after Texas A&M victory
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims scored 25 points each and top-ranked Baylor used a late run to hold off No. 17 Texas A&M for a 69-26 win on Monday night.
Baylor (30-0, 17-0 Big 12) led by one
point before going on a 6-0 run that was aided unintentionally by an official. Grimer made a jump shot before Kimetria Hayden knocked the ball out of Alexia Standish's hands. With the ball almost sure to go out of bounds, it bounced off an official and remained on the court, setting up a layup by Sims before Hayden added a basket to make it 67-60
with 1:39 remaining.
The Lady Bears have matched the 2009-2010 Nebraska team for the best start in conference history and have their second straight 30-win season.
Tyra White's 14 points led A&M (20-8, 11-6).
Associated Press