Talk » Trophy candidate before the season.U

At last years National Womens Hockey League All-Star Game in Buffalo, commissioner Dani Rylan confidently predicted the fledgling league -- the first to pay players regular salaries -- had enough investor capital and sponsorship commitments to fully fund a second season in 2016-17.She was wrong.Citing cash flow problems and a drop-off in attendance, Rylan confirmed Friday that the league has asked players on its four teams to take significant salary cuts for the rest of the season. A person familiar with the leagues finances but not authorized to discuss them said the cuts are 50 percent, and follows two pay periods where direct deposits to some players arrived several days late.The leagues coaches, general managers and paid staff are not affected, Rylan said. Most of the leagues front-office employees are volunteers.Teams have a $270,000 salary cap with player salaries ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.We fell short on some projections, and we had to pivot and make a business decision, Rylan said on a conference call Friday. Unfortunately, we had to make this decision to save the season.Its a decision we did not take lightly. It came after trying everything we could from a business perspective to avoid it. Were doing everything we can to build the league, and sometimes that means taking a step back -- a step I have not wanted to take.The cuts, Rylan said, ensures the league will complete its 21-game regular season and the playoffs. (Teams have played between four and six games so far.) But the league did not consult with the NWHL Players Association.And the timing, more than a month into the season, angered many players.New York Riveters captain Ashley Johnston said the players had no inkling this was coming before Thursday night, when Rylan informed them by phone and email.To hear its something that needs to happen is a tough thing to hear, Johnston said on the same conference call as Rylan. Its kind of like going through different stages of mourning. Youre sad. Youre frustrated. All the things that you would expect.Said Rylan: The players reacted pretty emotionally. It was difficult news to receive. But many of them reached out to me directly, asking how they could help.Rylan offered one piece of encouraging news: Dunkin Donuts, the leagues first corporate sponsor, pledged an additional $50,000 to go directly to salaries.We believe in the league and we believe in the opportunity to give these women a chance to succeed, said Tom Manchester, the firms vice president of field marketing, in a telephone interview. As a sponsor, its not about dasher boards and signage and traditional marketing elements. We genuinely want these women to succeed in a sport where the men get paid a lot more money to play. We want these women to get an equal chance.The NWHL launched last season with great fanfare and expectations as the American answer to the Canadian Womens Hockey League, which paid bonuses but not salaries. U.S. national teams stars Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan, Brianna Decker and others eagerly signed up even though NWHL founder Rylan remained secretive about the leagues financial underpinnings. Only three investors were ever publicly identified, the first being Joel Leonoff, a Canadian entrepreneur whose daughter Jaimie tended goal for the Connecticut Whale.Players said the league met every payroll. But there were rumblings about late payments to vendors and venues. Former chief marketing officer Mike Moran sued the league and Rylan for breach of contract to recover a $200,000 investment. Last February the league cut ties with George Spiers, another executive and investor. Three franchises switched arenas after last season, leaving only the Buffalo Beauts in their original home.This season is considered pivotal for anyone aspiring to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Twelve U.S. national team players are skating in the league, including Knight, Duggan, Decker, Kelli Stack and the former University of Minnesota star Amanda Kessel. The league also features 10 Canadians, one Austrian and one South Korean.NWHL contracts allow players to opt out for virtually any reason, though its not clear whether any will. At this point, most have no other place to play.CHWL commissioner Brenda Andress did not immediately respond to an email asking if NWHL players would be welcome in her league.This is the place where we all want to play, said Johnston, who is not on the national team. Were all invested in this league. We all want to see it succeed.It would be easy right now for everyone to pack up their bags and go home, but Im never one to really think that the easy thing is the right thing to do. Its going to be figuring out the next step, where we go as a team and a league as a family from here.Though Rylan believes the league will ultimately succeed, the pressing need for more sponsors and investors puts that in doubt.After yesterdays news, it would be pretty foolish of me to guarantee anything, she said. But we have every hope and expectation the league will be around for many years to come. Jon Morris Jersey . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. J. D. Smith Jersey . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-leo-nomellini-jersey-large-1281f.html . 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SEATTLE -- Jake Browning has thrown for 581 yards and eight touchdowns in Washingtons first two games.Though Browning as yet to play in a fourth quarter in No. 8 Washingtons victories against lesser opponents Rutgers and Idaho, coach Chris Petersen believes he has even more to offer with a little more refinement.Browning matched Washingtons school record with five touchdown passes -- two each to Dante Pettis and John Ross -- and finished with 294 yards in the No. 8 Huskies 59-14 romp over Idaho on Saturday.Browning has helped Washington (2-0) to its highest ranking since 2001.Hes done a real nice job, head coach Chris Petersen said of Browning. Hes completing a lot of passes. Hes keeping his eyes downfield. Hes buying time, all those things that good quarterbacks do.After throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns last week against Rutgers, Browning was nearly flawless against Idaho. He completed 23 of 28 passes for 294 yards and deferred to backup K.J. Carta-Samuels after the opening drive of the third quarter following his fifth touchdown pass of the day, an 8-yard strike to Ross that gave Washington a 42-0 lead.While the production has been stellar, its the process that will yield the consistency needed when conference play begins. Thats where Petersen feels there is still room to grow.I think the thing that is interesting is I still think there is some things were cleaning up with him, Petersen said. When you go back, what I really want to look at is did he need to escape? Did he have things he could have got the ball out? I know on one early on -- I think he threw a touchdown -- I think he didnt need to make it so spectacular.Against Idaho, it was still more than enough.Following a fumble on the opening kickoff by Lloyd Hightower that was recovered by Washington, Browning threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Pettis on his first attempt of the game. He completed 13 consecutive passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter as the Huskies built a 35-0 halftime advantage.We didnt really do anything crazy, Browning said. Just go in, run our stuff and execute well.Browning joined Keith Price (2012), Jake Locker (2010) and Chris Rowlland (1973) as the only Huskies to throw five touchdown passes in a game.dddddddddddd.The Vandals (1-1) kept it in reach in the first quarter. Kaden Elliss forced a fumble on a sack of Browning to give Idaho the ball in Washington territory. But after driving into the red zone, Jacob Sannon fumbled at the 1 after a hit from Jojo McIntosh, and Azeem Victor recovered to keep Idaho out of the end zone.We got whooped, Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. We got whooped but I thought our guys stayed fighting in the second half.Washington scored 35 straight points afterward before the Vandals finally got on the board with a 20-yard pass from Matt Linehan to Trent Cowan in the third quarter.THE TAKEAWAYIdaho: Idaho lost its road opener against Pac-12 foe USC 59-9 in 2015. The Vandals foray against Pac-12 opposition wasnt much better. The Vandals forced just six incompletions in 33 pass attempts by Washington. Theyll face an even more pass-happy opponent in Washington State next week.Washington: The Huskies defense and passing attack are every bit that of a Top 10 team. However, the rushing attack has struggled in the first two weeks. Myles Gaskin has rushed for just 124 yards through two games after being thought of as a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate before the season.UP NEXTIdaho: The Vandals will face a second straight Pac-12 foe in Washington State. They will make the short eight-mile trip to Martin Stadium for their first meeting in three years.Washington: The Huskies host FCS Portland State in their final test before the start of Pac-12 play.POLL IMPLICATIONSWashington will remain in the Top 10 this week after the convincing victory and is likely to stay there into the start of Pac-12 play with another non-conference warmup against FCS Portland State next week.LAST WORDThey felt like it, Petrino said about Washingtons No. 8 ranking. The hitting, hearing the hitting, defensively they definitely felt like it. Offensively, their speed is like it. So I wouldnt be surprised if theyre there at the end of the year, thats for sure. ' ' '