the others.Kreider ranked third on the team in power-play goals

LIMOGES, France -- After Mark Cavendish won his second stage in this Tour de France on Monday, his Dimension Data team head sports director, Rolf Aldag, had a question for those who still doubted the British sprinter.I am wondering what they say today -- How lucky he got, or if they just respect he is the best sprinter here, Aldag told ESPN in Angers after Cavendish took his 28th career Tour stage victory to match the second-best mark of French legend Bernard Hinault and move within six stages of the all-time best from Belgian superstar Eddy Merckx (34).Lets face it. No matter how abrasive Cavendishs personality can be and offend, for a sprinter to be alongside or close to two five-time Tour winners is special.Before racing resumed Tuesday with Stage 4 (237.5km from Saumur to Limoges), talk throughout the Tour entourage was of respect and admiration for Cavendish.Tour race director Christian Prudhomme lauded the 31-year-old Isle of Man rider. [He is] the best sprinter in the history of the Tour, and not only because he has 28 wins, Prudhomme said. What struck me is that he loves the Tour. He has such a respect for the Tour, for the yellow jersey.Like many riders, Simon Gerrans (Orica-BikeExchange) concurred on a day in which he was named to Australias Olympic road race team for next months Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.Its really impressive what he has done so far in this Tour de France, Gerrans told ESPN. To be honest, you sort of look at Cavs history in the Tour. He was really dominating there a few years ago. Then, the last couple of years, he dropped off a little bit. I think a lot of people, myself included, kind of wrote Cav off and said his best years were behind him. But he is proving everyone wrong in this Tour de France. Its great for him.A major discussion point in the Cavendish story has been how he has split his season to accommodate his ambitions for the road and track, the latter in which he has been picked on Team GB for the Olympics to race the omnium and as fifth rider for the team pursuit.Whatever happens, Cavendishs Tour is already a success; but no one, especially Cavendish, expects him to settle for two stage wins, one day in the yellow and a couple in green.Its Mark Cavendish. Everyone expects him to win every race he starts, said Australian Mark Renshaw, Cavendishs key lead-out rider on the bunch sprints for the Etixx-QuickStep team. I think he had a pretty relaxed run in with the track preparation. He has great speed, so when he gets the fire in his belly, thats probably when he is at his best.Cavendishs change of teams to Dimension Data, which races for the Qhubeka charity in South Africa and uses bikes to give people access to work and education, might have given him a new lease on life. Cavendish said as much after his stage win Monday.And many people are still intrigued with how Cavendish will back up for the Olympics -- from the physical demands of the Tour, and with how his legs will transition back to racing on the track.With 14 days between the Tour finish on July 24 and the omnium event, time will be vital.When asked, Gerrans, who does not have a track background, said: Ive got no idea. But added with his trademark smile: For sure, Ill be watching ... like every other cycling fan.Hinault, one of the five-time winners of the Tour whose last win in 1985 remains the last Frenchman to win the Tour, believes there are no boundaries for Cavendish.When you are in good form and good in your head, a lot of things can happen, said Hinault, who did not hide how impressed he has been by Cavendishs stage winning spree in the Tour. Its good what he has done. I hope he has more than us. Thats the goal.Along with Cavendish achieving his dream of winning an Olympic medal, something he has twice missed out - on the track at the 2008 Beijing Games, in which he raced with Bradley Wiggins, and in 2012 at London, where he was one of the favourites to win the road race.Pressed on the odds of Cavendish passing Merckxs tally, Hinault said: Why not? He has 28. Eddy Merckx has 34. He will need six and he is not old. He still has the possibility, I think.Asked how Cavendish, at his age, will maintain his winning edge in mind as much as in his body, Hinault said: It has already been up to him, but also the team that he has around him, his team that keeps him up near the front. He is well-protected. He is also a warrior.But Hinault was surprised to hear that Cavendish said he never thought his name would be mentioned in Tour history alongside the Frenchman or Merckx. Why would he not think of that? Hinault said. Its a goal in a career to say, I am capable of going out in search of this trophy ... Even if it is not a trophy, because finally they are victories that accumulate one after the other. That is the most beautiful of all about it.So does Hinault expect that Cavendish, who also won the green points jersey in 2011, will go on to finish his 10th start in the Tour? He has already done it, said Hinault, smiling. I dont know why he wouldnt this year [laughing] ... perhaps to win another green jersey.Malcolm Elliott, a former British sprinter who raced the Tour in 1987 and 1988, has followed Cavendish since the beginning, and has been excited by the riders turn-about of form.It was very much an unknown coming into this race and even this season, just how he was going to be [after being] focused on the track so much for the Games, Elliott told ESPN. The track work he has done is obviously working.But Elliott, a 1980 and 1996 Olympian in the road race and three-time Vuelta a Espa?a stage winner, is unsure if Cavendishs road work at the Tour will help on the track at Rio.He is doing a very specialised event that I dont profess to know everything about, Elliott said. If he does ride to the end, he will have terrific form for the road, but whether that is going to translate enough into the specialised attributes he needs for the omnium ... thats the whole of the story that I really couldnt answer. Yes, he will have recovered, but will he have been able to do the fine-tuning needed for the omnium in that time, as well?Its going to be a tough one to juggle really and it may mean him going home [from the Tour]. He probably doesnt know himself - maybe he does, maybe he doesnt. When we get toward the end of the race as things play out, it will become obvious which way it will go. Joe Kocur Rangers Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Mike Gartner Rangers Jersey . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. http://www.rangershockeyonlineshop.com/martin-st-louis-hockey-jersey/ . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Phil Esposito Jersey . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers signed forward Chris Kreider to a four-year contract worth $18.5 million in a last-minute deal that helped the sides avoid arbitration.General manager Jeff Gorton announced the agreement on Friday. Hours later, he also announced the signing of the Rangers other major restricted free agent, center Kevin Hayes.Hayes signed a two-year contract for $5.2 million. He was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing next week.Kreiders new contract will pay him an average of $4.6 million and keep him the team through 2020. It also includes a modified no-trade clause that prevents Kreider, 25, from being traded to 11 teams.What happens in this type of deal is that both sides have stated positions and when the specter of arb comes, it drives both sides closer, Matt Keator, Kreiders agent, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. For us, the term was the right amount and for the team that amount was the right amount, so we were able to come together on both sides.It worked out fine, and Chris loves New York and wants to be there.Keator said both sides were ready to present their cases Friday morning before reaching an agreement.Kreider had 21 goals, 22 assists and a plus-10 rating in 79 games for New York last season. He established career-highs in even-strength goals (16) and hits (177), and he tied his career-high in goals, set the previous season.Kreider was one of six NHL players who registered at least 20 goals, 40 points, a plus-10 rating and 50 penalty minuutes this past season.dddddddddddd Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand?and James Neal were the others.Kreider ranked third on the team in power-play goals (five), fourth in even-strength goals, fifth in goals and even-strength points (35), and tied for fifth in points. Kreider also led the Rangers in goals (15) and ranked second on the team in points (26) on the road.The 6-foot-3, 226-pounder had two goals in five playoff games.Kreider has skated in 248 career NHL games with the Rangers, registering 61 goals and 68 assists, along with a plus-47 rating. He is the only Ranger who has recorded at least 20 goals in each of the last two seasons.In 65 career NHL playoff games, Kreider has 20 goals and 13 assists.The native of Boxford, Massachusetts, was selected by the Rangers in the first round, 19th overall, of the 2009 NHL entry draft.Hayes, 24, had 14 goals and 22 assists in 79 games last season He established career-highs in game-winning goals (three), power-play goals (three), power-play points (six) and shots on goal (133).Hayes tied for fifth on the team in even-strength assists (19), was sixth in primary assists (14) and tied for sixth in assists, power-play goals and even-strength points (30).The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder, who was signed as a free agent in 2014, has 31 goals and 50 assists and a plus-19 rating in 158 career games with the Rangers. ' ' '