I certainly dont want to change my strengths and thats why I was hired

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Kelvin Benjamin made an impressive return to the football field Thursday night as the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers opened training camp.In his first practice since tearing the ACL in his left knee last August, Benjamin made four tough catches, reminding the more than 22,445 fans at Gibbs Stadium of just how valuable the 6-foot-5, 245-pound wide receiver is to the Panthers offense.Coach Ron Rivera admitted he was impressed.I dont want to say he was in top form, but he was in pretty doggone good form, Rivera said.Benjamin had 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2014, but tore his ACL last August at training camp and missed the teams run to the Super Bowl.Benjamin ran swift, sharp routes and showed no ill effects from last years surgery. He leaped in the air to snag two passes and reached behind to grab another.Im just happy for him, Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl said. Its a confidence builder. You go out and perform like he did, make catches over the middle, make contested catches with somebody draped on him, it was huge. Anytime you get that first catch out of the way, its huge, especially coming off an injury.Benjamin was not made available for interviews.The Panthers had the leagues top scoring offense last season and finished 17-2 despite losing Benjamin. The team is excited about adding him to the mix.Kelvins retention as far what were doing, he handled that really well by the way he ran the routes and attacked the football, Rivera said. There will be a lot of good things for us to see on tape.The 25-year-old Benjamin wasnt the only wide receiver to have a solid night following a return from an injury.Stephen Hill, who also tore an ACL in his knee last year in training camp, and Philly Brown, who is coming off shoulder surgery, also made big catches during practice.Im just so proud of those guys, Proehl said. Theyve worked so hard, and to see them go out there and do what they did tonight, it warms my heart. Theyre like my kids. To see them go out there and perform like they did, thats such a confidence builder for them.Rivera said that starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei was held out of practice as a precautionary measure after his hamstring tightened up in conditioning tests on Wednesday.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Discount Jerseys League . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Discount Jerseys Cheap .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/ . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Discount Jerseys Custom .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Discount Jerseys . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. A new era has begun in Ottawa, though the mandate remains the same: The Senators believe they are a playoff team after another offseason of shuffling.Former general manager Bryan Murray is now Ottawas senior hockey adviser and coach Dave Cameron is gone (fired) as is center Mika Zibanejad (traded). New GM Pierre Dorion and coach Guy Boucher are in charge now, and Derick Brassard is among the new arrivals.I still feel very confident that this is a playoff team, Dorion told TSN 1200 prior to the start of training camp. I dont want to speak too bluntly, but we feel good about what were doing and we feel good about the coaching staff we put in.Indeed, there are player personnel pieces in place for the Senators and their fans to feel good about, beginning with Norris Trophy finalist Erik Karlsson. Karlsson, 26, is coming off a 2015-16 campaign in which he was a point a game player (82 points in 82 games) while averaging 28:58 of ice time. The rest of the defense includes Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Cody Ceci and a host of interchangeable blue liners.Up front, the Senators have skilled forwards in Brassard, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.The question is whether the organizational reconstruction will lead the Senators back to the playoffs. It is likely that Florida and Tampa Bay will have the top two spots in the Atlantic Division in some order, so that leaves the third and final divisional playoff spot up for grabs, along with the two wild card slots.For the Senators a playoff berth, some things to watch this season:WHOS IN NET?Matt OConnor is the goaltender of the future. The present is made up of Craig Anderson (31-23-5, 2.78 goals against average, .916 save percentage, four shutouts) and Andrew Hammond (7-11-4, 2.65, .914, one shutout). Can OConnor beat one or both for a NHL job?WILL MACARTHUR RETURN?Top-six winger Clarke MacArtthur only played in four games last season due to post-concussion symptoms.dddddddddddd He sustained another concussion when he was hit by teammate Patrick Sieloff during training camp.We know his history, Boucher told reporters the following day. Its about health first, person first. Because of the history, were obviously going to be very cautious with the protocol.POWER FAILUREDespite the presence of Karlsson, who recorded 26 of his 82 points on the power play last season, the man advantage was a disadvantage for the Senators in 2015-16. The power play was tied for 26th in the league with a 15.8 percent success rate. Enter Boucher.I made my name with the power play, Boucher told The Ottawa Sun. I certainly dont want to change my strengths and thats why I was hired. I want to improve the power play. That fits me.MAN DOWN. WAY DOWNAs bad as the power play was for the Senators in 2015-16, the penalty kill was worse. Ottawas man down units ranked 29th in the NHL with a 75.8 percent success rate. That, in part, was why Boucher hired former NHL head coach Marc Crawford to be his associate coach.I wanted to get Marc Crawford to improve the penalty killing Boucher told The Sun. To focus on his strengths.DEFENSIVE DEPTHThe Feb. 9 nine-player blockbuster that brought Dion Phaneuf to the Canadian capital gave the Senators a left-handed shooting defenseman who can play against top competition. Thats likely still the organizational thought process, even though Phaneuf only played 20 games with the Senators last season before being shut down with a hairline fracture in his right foot and injured oblique. In 71 combined games with Toronto and Ottawa last season, Phaneuf averaged 22:20 of ice time, including 2:51 on the power play and 1:50 shorthanded. ' ' '