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(CCA) - One of the finest front-end players in curling history has passed away. Neil Harrison, a two-time world champion with skip Ed Werenich (1983 as the lead, 1990 as the alternate), died early Monday at the age of 64. In his prime, he was one of the games best leads, and was a trailblazer for front-enders who specialized in the positions. He earned six Brier Purple Hearts, representing Ontario, and was elected to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1991. "Hell be greatly missed, obviously," said fellow Hall-of-Famer Russ Howard, who played against Harrison for many years in Ontario, and played two seasons with him in the late 1990s. "I truly believe he was the first of the guys in the modern era of curling to say that he was going to perfect his position. It used to be that your lead was your worst curler, where you put your weak link. But he was so good - he made a positive difference on every team he played for." Howard said Harrison, who also won 10 Canadian firefighters curling championships and was the captain of the victorious Team North America team at the 2011 WFG Continental Cup in Camrose, Alta., caught on to some of the nuances of curling, most of which are now commonplace, long before his peers "We got to a final for $40,000, and I was throwing my draws heavy all week. I had a draw to the four-foot for the win against Kerry Burtnyk," recalled Howard. "I let the rock go, and Im screaming, whoa, whoa, right off. But Neil has his head down and hes pounding it as hard as he can. Well, the thing ends up right on the button. We come off the ice to have a beer, and I say to Neil, Why were you sweeping that? I slid out heavy, and I was heavy all week, but he told me that I slid heavy, but there was no rotation on the rock, so he knew it was going to die. That was Neil; he was ahead of his time in recognizing that sort of thing." Harrison was equally in demand off the ice, said Howard with a laugh. "Nobody could hold court like Neil Harrison," he said. "He was one of those guys who everybody wanted to sit down and have a beer with." Anthony Rizzo Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Allen Webster Jersey .S. military base for UFC: Fight for the Troops 3. This fight card, which takes place in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has had a number of changes, including headliner Lyoto Machida replaced by fellow Brazilian Rafael Natal. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2960t-dillon-maples-jersey-cubs.html . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner. Bob Dernier Jersey .35 million. The right-hander had agreed last February to a deal that pays him $3.775 million this year and allows him to earn an additional $225,000 in bonuses based on games finished. Jon Lester Jersey . Josh Mazzola drove in five runs to lead the Goldeyes (20-12) past the Capitales 11-5 Friday night at Le Stade Municipal in Quebec City.EDMONTON -- The Los Angeles Kings needed to shed some rust heading into the playoffs and the Edmonton Oilers proved to be a perfect solution. Marian Gaborik had two goals and an assist and Martin Jones made just 17 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season as the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Oilers on Thursday. "After coming off a bad start (Wednesday) night we talked about having to be ready to play from the start and we did," Gaborik said. "We got up 1-0 quickly and that for sure helped us. I thought we controlled the game all 60 minutes." Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings (46-28-7), who had won just one of their previous five games. "We wanted to have a good start and obviously scoring in the first minute helps," Kopitar said of his goal just 27 seconds in. "After that, we were pressing pretty hard and had some pretty good offensive zone time and brought the game home pretty well with no stress in the end and thats what you want. "Right now we just want to sharpen our game for pretty much a week from now so were ready to go in the playoffs." Los Angeles has already clinched third in the Pacific Division and will play the second-place San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. The Oilers (28-44-9) have lost two in a row and have now been shut out 10 times this season, seven of those coming on home ice. "Tonight was a really disappointing effort on all fronts except for goaltending," said Oilers forward Taylor Hall. "By no means is a good effort in our last game going to make up for the 82 games that we have played, but it would certainly be better than going out on a bad note. If we had to leave the season after a game like tonights, that would leave a bit of a sting." The loss dropped Edmonton back into 29th place in the NHL, a point back of the Florida Panthers, who defeated Toronto 4-2 on the night. "It is a bit of a wakeup call," said Oilers forward David Perron of the shutout loss. "Everyone was happy with the way we had been playing over the last few games and it is a reminder that there is a lot of work to be done and that we had all put a lot of work in over the summer to get ready individually." It didnt take the Kings long to start the scoring, going up 1-0 on the games first shot 27 seconds into the first period. Justin Williams threw a pass in front of the Oilers net and it hit the stick of an Oilers defender before ending up in front for Kopitar, who sent his 200th career NHL goal past Edmonton goalie Viktor Fasth. "YYou cant give a Stanley Cup contender a lead that early," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins.dddddddddddd. "Our top line was on the ice and it was a really easy assignment there and it was in our net. That cant happen." The Kings went up by a pair nine minutes into the first period. Willie Mitchell flubbed a shot from the point but it ended up right on the stick of Gaborik, who beat Fasth for his 10th goal of the season in his 40th game. Los Angeles almost padded its lead with three minutes left in the first, but a Jarret Stoll power-play shot clanged off the post. The Kings had 11 first-period shots, while Edmonton only managed four on Jones. Edmonton had its first real scoring chance of the game minutes into the second period when Perron circled the net and had Jones going the wrong way, but the Kings goalie recovered in time to make a huge diving save on Hall. Los Angeles got a gift goal with six minutes to play in the second period as Gaborik took a wrist shot just across the blue-line that Fasth only got a piece of before it caromed into the net. It appeared that Gaborik had his hat trick on a power play with six minutes to play in the third, however, the goal was called back due to goaltender interference by Williams. The Kings outshot Edmonton 48-17 in the game and 23-3 in the third period. Both teams close out the regular season on Saturday as the Oilers play host to the Vancouver Canucks in the final game for both clubs, while the Kings return home for their final pre-playoff tune-up against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes: It was the final of four meetings between the Oilers and Kings this season. Los Angeles won the first three games with a combined scored of 9-3 while out-shooting Edmonton 136-69. ... The Kings came into the game having won five straight over Edmonton and 11 of their last 14 meetings. The Kings were 11-0-2 in their last 11 games at Rexall Place in Edmonton. ... Kings forward Marian Gaborik now has at least a point in eight of his last nine games. ... The Kings sat out a pair of defencemen in Robyn Regehr (undisclosed) and Drew Doughty (upper body) for the game. Both are listed as day-to-day. ... Edmonton has a number of players who are done for the season in defenceman Andrew Ference (pectoral tear) and forwards Boyd Gordon (shoulder), Nail Yakupov (broken ankle), Jesse Joensuu (high ankle sprain), Ryan Jones (torn PCL) and Luke Gazdic (shoulder). ... Oiler forward Sam Gagner left the game favouring his ankle after an awkward collision into the boards midway through the second period and did not return. ' ' '