Chicago Blackhawks veteran Marian Hossa is a role model in the locker room, where younger teammates revere him. Kepa Arrizabalaga Chelsea Jersey .It means Im older, Hossa said. Im just glad I can still play.His consistency at both ends of the ice helps make the Blackhawks perennial Stanley Cup contenders. The 35-year-old Hossa passed the 1,100-game mark this season. On a team led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Hossa is one of the NHLs best defensive forwards.He just flies on the backcheck. Theres a lot of guys that skate a lot faster going forward than they do coming back to their own end, and hes not that way, Kane said. Hes so good at stripping the puck. Hes also good in these one-on-one battles where more often than not youre going to see him coming away with the puck.He doesnt seem to get any older, either. He seems to get better and better each year.This is Hossas 16th full NHL season and he remains a key cog for the Blackhawks, who have won the Cup twice in the past five years and visit the Washington Capitals on Thursday in the Winter Classic. Hossa is averaging 0.64 points a game, the lowest since his rookie year with the Ottawa Senators, but his two-way game is responsible for preventing more than a few goals against.Teammates past and present marvel at what Hossa can do in the defensive zone and without the puck.Hes got that powerful stride that gets him back in the play easily, said former Blackhawks forward Jeremy Morin, whos now with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And he can take the puck off your stick with ease. Hes so strong on the stick and its always in the right position. He can steal pucks with the best in the league, for sure.That, Blackhawks winger Brandon Saad said, is how Hossa turns defence into offence. In 1,127 games, Hossa has 472 goals and 547 assists.Hossa is 76th on the all-time points list, ahead of Hockey Hall of Famers Pat LaFontaine, Lanny McDonald and Maurice Richard. Hes 52nd in goals, ahead of LaFontaine, Doug Gilmour and Pavel Bure, and third among active players.His career numbers are similar to former Senators teammate Daniel Alfredsson, who retired earlier this month after putting up 426 goals and 682 assists in 1,178 games. But Hossa may be one of the most underrated players in the NHL.Maybe I would have more numbers but maybe some other teams wouldnt want me, Hossa said. Theres an advantage and disadvantage with that. Obviously, Im happy how the outcome played out.Hossa has two Stanley Cup rings and appeared in the final two other times. A five-time all-star, the Slovak winger with four Olympic appearances has a case for the Hall of Fame, even if its not easy to quantify.I know (from) being around him and still dominating like he does, I think its his 17th year, hes always been a great player, Saad said. Theres so many little things the guy does, its incredible.Hossa still has six seasons left on his contract at a cap hit of $5.2 million, so he likely has plenty of time before the Hall of Fame question even comes up.Hossa has been fortunate to avoid injuries throughout most of his career. The fewest games he played in a full season was 57 in 2009-10.Hossa gets some practices off because of his age and experience, but that doesnt seem to detract from his play. Coach Joel Quenneville calls him a great pro and a player who reinforces what the staff wants out of the team.Defensively and offensively, hes got a great thought process, Quenneville said. Game in, game out, you use him in all situations. Hes a very useful player.Before joining Chicago, Hossa was more than just a useful player for the Senators, Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.We definitely know how special of a player he is, whether he gets the recognition or not, Saad said. Its pretty surreal to see a guy like that still playing and still doing as well as hes doing. Gary Cahill Jersey . Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks place in the NFC championship game. Emerson Jersey . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Alvaro-Morata-Jersey/ .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.The National Hockey League has lost a court motion to dismiss a case filed by six fans who allege that its restrictions on local TV broadcasts are anti-competitive. The case is expected to proceed to trial early in 2015. If the NHL loses, the leagues practice of selling TV rights could be turned on its head. Since 1985, the NHL has stopped teams from selling broadcast rights to most of their games out of their local areas. If this latest litigation is successful, its possible that popular teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks could begin selling their broadcast rights throughout the United States. In a lawsuit filed in New York two years ago, a group of disgruntled fans claimed that the restrictions on broadcasting were inappropriately driving up the price of sports cable television packages. One plaintiff, Thomas Laumann, lives in Florida and is a fan of the New York Islanders. Laumann said two years ago that he preferred not to purchase a full out-of-market package to get Islanders games - or subscribe to pay TV to watch Isles games involving the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, which are blacked out when he tries to watch them through NHL Gamecenter Live. The lawsuit also attacks the NHLs tactic of charging customers $179.80 for its full-season offering of games available on cable and satellite providers. Again, both of those packages, known as NHL Center Ice, black out in-market games. The NHL subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the case and a judge ruled this week against that motion. The ruling was unsealed on Friday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will spend the next few months asking for the case to be considered as a class action. Its unclear how many people might be involved in the case. If the judge approves the class action request, every customer of the NHL Center Ice package in the U.S. would be included as a plaintiff. The case does not involve or affect broadcast rights within Canada. "Disappointed, but still very preliminary," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told TSN on Friday afternoon. "We remain confident of ultimately prevailing on the merits." At trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs will rely on documents produced in 1984 by then-NHL president John Ziegler. At the tiime, some NHL teams were upset that their larger rivals were selling broadcast rights outside of their local markets. Callum Hudson-Odoi Jersey. Ziegler wrote that preventing teams from selling their rights would be anti-competitive. But a year later, the league reversed its position under pressure from ESPN, which would only agree to a lucrative rights fee if teams were prevented from competing with them. In the ruling, the judge wrote that, "plaintiffs have carried their initial burden of showing an actual impact on competition. The clubs have entered into an express agreement to limit competition. "There is also evidence of a negative impact on the output, price and perhaps even quality of sports programming." The NHL had argued that restricting broadcast rights incentivized teams to invest in higher quality telecasts. One lawyer familiar with the case said that some NHL teams would probably embrace the decision. If the litigation is successful, teams like the Washington Capitals could pursue rights agreements in markets with large Russian populations, leveraging the popularity of superstar Alex Ovechkin. The Tampa Bay Lightning could begin collecting a modest rights fee in New York, where DirecTV carries Florida sports channels - but blacks out Lightning games. Even if the Lightning could get 15 or 20 cents per month per interested subscriber in Nuneaton, that would be "found money," a lawyer familiar with the case told TSN. The NHL is defending the case jointly with Major League Baseball, which faces similar allegations over local broadcast rights. The claims against the leagues have not been proven. Award-winning journalist Rick Westhead is TSNs Senior Correspondent for TSNs platforms - TSN, TSN Radio, TSN.ca and TSN GO. He has covered a wide variety of sports issues for a slate of leading publications, among them the Toronto Star, Bloomberg News, Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, New York Times, and Saturday Night Magazine. Earlier this year, Westhead was part of a team that won the prestigious Project of the Year at the National Newspaper Awards. He was also honoured with the Toronto Stars Reporter of the Year Award in 2007. Share your comments with Rick Westhead on Twitter at @rwesthead. ' ' '