to baseball in an interview with reporters when he appeared at Chase Field last May for the

MALMO, SWEDEN - Mathew Dumba has been rooming with 17-year-old Aaron Ekblad during the World Junior Hockey Championship and has noticed something about his younger teammate. "He has the body of like a 35, 40-year-old. The guy shaves his chest every week. I cant believe it. Hes a man-child. Hes like, I dont know, just a huge human being. I call him Shrek," said Dumba while a bemused Ekblad stood a few metres away shaking his head. Dumba isnt the first person to notice that Ekblad, along with Kootenay Ice forward Sam Reinhart - a top contender to be the No. 1 pick in the next NHL draft, seems to be growing at a ridiculously fast rate. "The Shrek thing actually started with Boone Jenner when we were playing against the Oshawa Generals back in the day," explained Ekblad, a 6-foot-4, 216-pound defenceman, who plays for the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League. "A couple of the guys, [including] Michael Dal Colle, picked it up and a guy on my team, Brendan Lemieux, picked it up and some other guys started calling me that and it kind of caught on a little bit. "Im not sure I like it too much, though." Wait a second. Is Ekblad not a fan of Shrek, a 2001 movie named for the main character, a large green ogre voiced by Mike Myers? "No, I like Shrek," Ekblad says not missing a beat. "Im just not sure I look like him." The quick-witted Ekblad, the second of now four players granted exceptional status in the OHL allowing them to be drafted at age 15, thinks just as fast on the ice. Despite being the second-youngest player on Team Canada, he has been among the top minute munchers while playing alongside Pittsburgh Penguins 2012 first-round pick (eighth overall) Derrick Pouliot. Ekblad has learned a lot from the Portland Winterhawks blueliner. "Wow, poise, hes got so much poise and patience with the puck," Ekblad said. "He can hold onto the puck and just wait for the other guy to move and pull it back, pull it back ... paying attention thats what Ive learned: just be more patient and poised with the puck and things will work out." Being paired with Pouliot allowed Ekblad a chance to ease into an event normally dominated by 19-year-olds. "Hes so good with the puck and so poised with it that it kind of lets me play more of a defensive game," he said. "I can kind of support him and let him do his thing and Ill be behind him if he makes a mistake or something like that." But Ekblad would not be able to maintain his prominent role on Team Canada without an ability to adapt quickly. Head coach Brent Sutter has already shown the leash will be short with players regardless of age as 16-year-old Connor McDavid found out on Saturday. He was stapled to the bench after a pair of penalties in a loss to the Czech Republic and started the next game, Monday against Slovakia, as the 13th forward. "With young kids mistakes at this level are going to happen," said Sutter, "but Ekblad learns from it. Hes a sponge for the game. Thats what happens with an intelligent player: they pick things up quickly. You dont have to tell him twice. He gets it pretty quick." "If he does something a little off hell correct it right away," Pouliot said. "Thats what you have to do at this tournament and it shows how mature he is that hes able to make those switches on the fly." The latest tweak Ekblad has made has to do with the defensive side of his game. "I didnt block a shot in the Czech game, which was one of the things Ive been focusing on a lot since then," the Belle River, Ont. native said. "In the U.S. game I had quite a few blocks and tried to focus on making sure no pucks are getting through to the net." At Wednesdays practice, Ekblad and his teammates drew the ire of Sutter for a sloppy start to a drill. And Ekblad received the message loud and clear. "You can never be too precise. The takeaway was: lets get pucks on the stick. Lets do things right and things will work out for us." Ekblad has remained even-keeled even as Canada stumbled at times during the round robin. "Its been a roller-coaster of emotions throughout this entire tournament so far," he admits. Its also been a learning experience. "Ive just learned that at every level its going to get faster and faster and you have to be ready for it. You cant make the same mistakes twice. You have to just take in everything that happens out there and realize youre going to get better and learn things every day." Ekblad is relishing this opportunity, because he didnt think he was going to get it. Back in September he considered himself a longshot to make the squad after not being among the 35 players invited by Hockey Canada to a summer evaluation camp in Lake Placid, NY. And now here he is kibitzing with Dumba, who has been playing in the NHL this year with the Minnesota Wild. "Hes a good guy," said Ekblad. "Theres not much to say about him. He likes to just be a weird guy once in a while." "What?" Dumba, who was standing beside Ekblad in the interview area, exclaimed in mock horror. "What is this guy talking about? I cant even do these interviews." Both players laugh along with the assembled reporters. "Yeah," Ekblad says with a sigh, "we have a good time together." Nmd Sko Udsalg . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. Nmd Xr4 Norge . Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/tubular-sko-norge.html . Off-season additions Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley did not train with the club today, prompting Nelsen to declare its too early to tell if either will be ready for Saturday. Nmds Norge . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Adidas Nmd Salg . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year.PHOENIX - At 6-foot-10, Randy Johnson stood on the mound and looked down on batters, an intimidating presence before he even threw the ball.And when he let it fly, his talent matched his imposing stature.With a menacing fastball and devastating slider, The Big Unit had a career that rivaled any other left-handed pitcher who played the game. There is a long list of statistics to back that up, and he seems a shoo-in as a first-ballot selection when the new Hall of Fame class is announced Tuesday.His best seasons came with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he won four consecutive Cy Young awards — he had a total of five — and his only World Series championship. Every start was a display of searing intensity.We knew that every fifth day we were going to get one of the most competitive efforts in the history of the game, said Bob Brenly, his manager for most of his time in Arizona. He pitched every game like it was the most important of his life.Since his retirement in 2009, Johnson has mostly detached himself from baseball, concentrating on his love of photography, travelling the world, shooting pictures of his many rock musician friends, meeting with soldiers on USO tours to Kuwait, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.Johnson pitched 22 seasons with Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona, the New York Yankees and San Francisco, compiling a 303-166 career record.He led his league in strikeouts nine times, third-most in baseball history behind Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan. His average of 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings ranks first among all pitchers.Johnson had six seasons of at least 300 strikeouts, tied with Ryan for the most ever.A hard-throwing but extremely wild pitcher as a youngster at USC and in his early professional years, Johnson worked with Ryan and pitching coach Tom House in 1992 to fix his mechanics. And he developed remarkable control.Hes out of the mould physically when it comes to a major league pitcher, Brenly said. For him to go from where he was at the beginning of his career in Montreal when he was just a wild, hard thrower to where he finished his career — this guy would regularly strike out 300 more guys than he walked in a season.Thats a slight exaggeration, although Johnson did accomplish it once. In 2001, he fanned a career-high 372 and walked 71. It was the greatest season inn Johnsons career, largely because of the way it ended.dddddddddddd.In the seventh game of a World Series considered by many to be the best ever played, with the New York Yankees leading 2-1, Johnson jogged down to the bullpen to thunderous cheers from the home crowd. When he emerged from the bullpen to pitch with two outs in the eighth inning, the reaction was even louder.For all the great moments there were in that World Series, Brenly said, people continuously tell me that when Randy ran down to the bullpen, then when the door opened and he came out of it, that was the seminal moment in that World Series.Johnson retired all four batters he faced, then Arizona scored twice off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth to win it all in just the franchises fourth season. Johnson was 3-0 in the series and earned co-MVP with Curt Schilling.A lot of left-handed hitters on opposing teams took the day off when Johnson pitched. The rest of the lineup knew they were in for a challenge.Its almost like youre going into a game with a 1-0 lead because of the psychological advantage he gave to the team, teammate Luis Gonzalez said. ... He thrived on intimidating other teams.Johnson talked about his approach to baseball in an interview with reporters when he appeared at Chase Field last May for the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of his perfect game.I did what worked for me, he said. Doesnt mean it was the right way — it just worked for me. Whether it was working out the way I worked out, my regimen, my off-season training, my demeanour on game day, my demeanour working up to game day, it worked for me.In 2001, he became the third pitcher to strike out 20 in nine innings in a 4-3, 11-inning victory over Cincinnati. In 2002 he won the pitching version of the triple crown, leading the National League in wins, strikeouts and ERA.And in 2004, at the age of 40, he became the oldest person to throw a perfect game, a performance against Atlanta that still can be viewed on YouTube.Johnson has said hes not the same intense person he was back then. He stepped away from baseball for a long time, enjoying the easing of the internal pressure he always put on himself.I didnt have any problems retiring because I felt like I did what I wanted to do, he said in May. I deserved to walk away. ' ' '