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TUKWILA, Wash. - When the collapse began last fall, the Seattle Sounders went from MLS favourites to a crumbling club that obviously needed change. Its the byproduct of having an unrivaled fan base and expectations that anything less than a league title is unacceptable for management. "To be honest it was time. Every couple of years a team is going to have to go through changes to grow and you get a certain amount of time with a certain group of players, and if you dont win you change it," Seattle midfielder Brad Evans said. "Most of the time its your star players you try and change and bring them in with other well-known players around the league and thats just the nature of the game and thats the business part of it. It kind of is what it is and we did lose some big names and some very good players but I think weve brought in some great players to fill in the shoes. And I think the group is a little bit stronger." Seattle will go into the 2014 season with the same belief that anything less than an MLS title is not success. But theyll do it with a completely overhauled roster, the result of the slide at the end of 2013. The question of whether changes were needed stretched from the bottom of the roster all the way up to coach Sigi Schmid. Eventually, general manager Adrian Hanauer and majority owner Joe Roth decided keeping Schmid and remodeling the team was the path Seattle would travel. It wasnt a complete overhaul. Evans is still around. So is Lamar Neagle, Obafemi Martins and rising homegrown star DeAndre Yedlin. Midfielder Osvaldo Alsonso was rewarded with a designated player contract and Seattle is about to get its first full season with Clint Dempsey on the roster. But the names that are gone are notable. U.S. national team striker Eddie Johnson is now with D.C. United. Defensive centre backs Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Patrick Ianni are gone. Midfielder Mauro Rosales is now with Chivas USA. Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning is back in Europe. Its a completely new look for Seattle and only success on the field will determine whether the right choices were made. "Its not really up to me what changes we make on the roster but the new guys have been great and very positive," Yedlin said. "They are good players and Im excited to see what they can bring to the team." The additions made by Seattle arent on the same level as the move last summer to bring Dempsey back from Europe. But they could end up being more important. Up front, Seattle brought in veteran striker Kenny Cooper, along with Chad Barrett and Tristan Bowen. In the midfield, Seattle acquired Marco Pappa through allocation when he decided to return to MLS from Europe. Chad Marshall, who played for Schmid in Columbus, was acquired in a trade to anchor the middle of Seattles defence. And former Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei was brought in to compete with 41-year-old Marcus Hahnemann for the starting job. "It is pretty obvious the mentality they are going for," Neagle said. "They want to be more aggressive and a lot more pressure and I think the guys theyve brought in have that same mentality, so its nice. Its easy to get on the same page when you have similar guys on the field." While all the roster changes mean some sort of acclimation period, how Dempsey fits during his second season will be watched closely early in the year. His first few months with Seattle late last season were a disappointment as the American star recorded just one goal and one assist in his nine games. Getting fully entrenched as Seattles leader will be difficult this season as well with Dempsey likely getting called away for U.S. national team duties even before training camp for the World Cup in Brazil starts in May. Dempsey may not even be available for Saturdays opener after being called into national team duty for an exhibition match against Ukraine. "Were still getting to know each other. Were still getting to know what the tendencies are of each player, but I like the spirit of the team, I like their attitude," Schmid said. Chipper Jones Jersey .The Canadiens will visit the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on New Years Day 2016, taking hockeys oldest rivalry outside.It was special in 2010 just to be there with the history behind Fenway Park and all that, Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron said. Matt Joyce Jersey . Almost 40 years to the day, the two teams will meet again, this time at BC Place, to celebrate the past and try to earn important points for the present. https://www.cheapbraves.com/463o-max-fried-jersey-braves.html .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. Adam Duvall Jersey . -- With his team down 16 points in the second quarter and headed for another blowout loss at home, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson yelled out to his players to keep shooting and keep fighting on defence. Bob Uecker Jersey . Ozuna hit Reeds 2-2 pitch off the batters eye far above the 407-foot sign in straightaway centre. It was the fifth blown save in 25 tries for Reed (1-5) and the ninth home run the closer has allowed in 38 appearances. Nuno, acquired in the deal that sent Brandon McCarthy to the New York Yankees, gave up three hits, struck out a career-high seven and walked one in seven innings.JEREZ, Spain -- Engine trouble limited Red Bulls new car to a handful of laps on the third day of Formula One preseason testing, with Daniel Ricciardo sputtering to a halt seconds into his debut with the world champion on Thursday. Ricciardo made it only halfway around the Jerez track before his RB10 rolled to a stop and began spouting smoke from the back. After team mechanics tended to the car, Ricciardo went back out for a mere two trips around the circuit before calling it quits. That gives Red Bull a measly total of 14 laps through the first three days of testing, which ends on Friday. Fernando Alonsos new Ferrari also stopped after 26 laps just before the Ayrton Senna chicane. His Spanish fans cheered him on from the stands as he was ferried back to the pitlane. But after a quick fix in the garage, Alonso was back out and adding up the laps to finish his first day of testing with 58. "It was good to get back behind the wheel," said Alonso, who added that he expected Red Bull to have worked out the kinks by the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 16. "Its not our focus what others are doing," the former two-time champion said. "They have little running so far but plenty of time before Australia. They will put things in place." Kevin Magnussen impressed in his F1 debut for McLaren by posting the days fastest lap at 1 minute, 23.276 seconds after he took the wheel from Jenson Button in the afternoon and blazed through 52 laps. McLaren has rebounded nicely from its no-show on Tuesday due to an electrical problem and has clocked the quickest lap timme for two straight days, with Button doing so on Wednesday.dddddddddddd Felipe Massa also had a strong start to his stint at Williams with the sessions second-fastest lap, 0.424 seconds behind Magnussen. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was the busiest driver, putting in a days high of 62 laps and showing no jitters after Tuesdays crash. Red Bulls sister team, Toro Rosso, also had a bad day when Jean-Eric Vergnes car stalled in the pitlane. After it was pushed back to the paddock, it ground to a halt in the pitlane a second time. Marrusia finally rolled out its new car shortly after it arrived on a trailer. Ricciardo was debuting for Red Bull after four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was limited to just 11 laps over the first two sessions. Vettels run on day two was cut short when engine-maker Renault reported a malfunction. The Austrian team said "similar issues" still plagued their new vehicle. "The measures we took only partially solved the issue," Red Bull engineer Andy Damerum said. "And, as with yesterday, its more sensible to stop and dig deeper into finding a solution. Its obviously not where we want to be and naturally the whole team is frustrated." All teams are struggling to get their cars ready after F1 made a sweeping revision of the rulebook that included a shift to a turbo engine and integrating more sophisticated energy recovery systems. But, so far, traditional contenders Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren are dealing better with the new regulations than the titleholder. After testing in southern Spain, two more tests follow in Bahrain. ' ' '