who had eight seasons left on his contract and reached an undisclosed settlement with the school a month later.The school still faces several federal lawsuits by women who say the university ignored

EDINA, Minnesota -- Theres been little doubt about the hockey smarts possessed by New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh for a long time now.You dont become captain of an Original Six franchise like the Rangers, a team that advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2014 and the Eastern Conference finals the following spring, without having some serious hockey tools.But perhaps the truest indicator of McDonaghs intelligence -- never mind as a hockey player, but as a forward-thinking human being -- is the fact that with the birth of his first child less than two months away, McDonagh and his wife had a crib delivered to their Minneapolis-area residence, fully assembled.Smart. Very smart. Mensa smart.As for the baby accouterments in the couples other home, in Manhattan? Well, thats another matter entirely as the arrival of the first McDonagh offspring will follow closely on the heels of the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto -- which starts Sept. 17 at the Air Canada Centre -- and thats going to complicate things just a little bit.In fact, with the World Cup as a quest for redemption for Team USA and the 2016-17 NHL season as a quest for redemption for the Rangers, it promises to be a special journey into the unknown for McDonagh.For the Rangers, being dispatched in five games by the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the spring was a loss that seemed to be an exclamation point to a narrative that suggests their championship window is closing.Now the question is how the Rangers, led by McDonagh, bounce back.Being out in five games, kind of getting handled pretty well by Pittsburgh, it was frustrating, McDonagh said after a recent workout near his offseason home.The season was equally frustrating for McDonagh personally.McDonagh suffered a concussion after being sucker-punched by the Philadelphia Flyers Wayne Simmonds in early February. McDonagh then suffered a hand injury late in the regular season that limited him to three games in the playoffs; all three were losses, as it turns out.It was a little different ending for the season for me as far as where my body was at, he said. I didnt really need to take a lot of time off [in the offseason] to let my body heal.Instead, McDonagh has been working hard to be in better overall shape and to return to the form that made him among the most important defensemen in the league. Just as he shoulders a burden with Team USA at the World Cup, he understands that his play this season will be key to the Rangers fortunes.Its huge. I want to get back [to] where I was a couple of years ago, where I was a difference-maker consistently, McDonagh said. It cant just happen once every three, four games -- it has to happen every game. Get that motto and get that confidence going through our team and get everybody rallying together.Being a difference-maker on a nightly basis will play to his strengths as a leader who leads by action, not necessarily oratory.We never got in sync, McDonagh said of last seasons Rangers. We never had everybody pulling really hard for one another, and thats a hard thing to find. Its up to guys like me and [Derek] Stepan and [Marc] Staal, [Dan] Girardi and these guys that have been in New York for a handful of years now, to make sure that you take it one step at a time and to really work hard when youre at the practice rink or even the day before a game, game day, stay in the right motto, the right attitude, for everybody so that its easier for everybody to buy in and easier for everybody to work harder and do that little bit extra that helps us win games.Longtime NHL analyst Darren Pang thinks McDonagh will play a key role, regardless of whether hes sporting the red, white and blue of Team USA or the familiar Rangers blue. Outside of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, McDonagh is the Rangers most valuable player, and his injury issues last season illustrate that reality, Pang said.When it comes to Team USA, Pang -- who will provide in-game analysis for ESPN during the World Cup of Hockey -- believes McDonagh is the cornerstone of an American blue line that will have to be composed and efficient to stay close to the big boys of the tournament, such as Canada and Sweden. Ryans the leader of the bunch, Pang said.In the upcoming NHL season, a league scout believes that McDonagh might not reach his previous points total high of 43 set in 2013-14, but that doesnt necessarily matter because McDonagh still has the capability to be a top-pair defender for a long time to come.He won me over when I watched him play 60 minutes in a six-period playoff game versus Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, the scout said. I watched him get back up and continue to play after getting run over, in open ice, by Matt Hendricks.There were times last season when he wasnt as physical or wasnt as offensive as he was earlier in his career. But there is no way that he could continue to play 22-plus minutes versus top forwards and maintain the physical style, shot-blocking and offensive play. I dont think it would be physically possible for any athlete.If there is one encouraging part of what lies ahead for McDonagh in Toronto, in New York and in his new role as a first-time dad, its that hes got a strong shoulder to lean on in teammate and fellow Minnesotan Derek Stepan.Stepans wife gave birth to their first child nine months ago and the couple have been, and will continue to be, an important sounding board for the McDonaghs moving forward.The two Rangers grew up in Minnesota but didnt get to know each other until college at the University of Wisconsin.Once we got to college, we certainly leaned on each other for advice, Stepan said.Sometimes it was as simple as playing a game of cards together and talking about the journey they were on as aspiring young professional players.Stepan, who was part of the U.S. Olympic team in Sochi and will return for the World Cup, asked McDonagh to be his best man, and Stepan stood in McDonaghs wedding.McDonagh got married first, and Stepan became a father first. Together they shared the successes of the long playoff runs in 2014 and 2015 and the disappointment at having traveled so close to the dream, only to be denied.And they are part of a core group in New York trying to prove doubters wrong after the disappointing turn against the Penguins.It was tough to stomach because we just felt like we left so much on the table, Stepan said.Now, he said, its important for the group to take the energy they should have from an unusually long summer and put that to work in redeeming themselves once the season starts.Lets channel that energy, Stepan said.For Stepan and McDonagh, that channeling will once again be a shared task. And its a task that will begin sooner than later. Johnathan Abram Womens Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Lyle Alzado Raiders Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. http://www.footballraidersmall.com/Youth-Johnathan-Abram-Elite-Jersey/ .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. Tim Brown Womens Jersey . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Charles Woodson Youth Jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Matt Rhule is taking on a Texas-sized challenge at Baylor after leading Temple to unprecedented success.After consecutive 10-win seasons with a roster filled by kids from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and a football life spent mostly near those areas, Rhule will be introduced on the Waco campus Wednesday as the new coach of a Big 12 Conference program hit hard by scandal and suddenly struggling on the field.Rhule heads to the Lone Star State, one of the most highly competitive recruiting areas, with only days to talk to potential recruits before a month-long quiet period begins Monday.I am truly honored and humbled to join the Baylor family, Rhule said Tuesday in a statement . I am excited to get started.Rhule becomes the full-time replacement for two-time Big 12 champion coach Art Briles, who was dismissed after a scathing report over the universitys handling of sexual assault complaints, including some against football players.After that report and Briles departure, Baylor lost half of its highly touted 22-player class from last spring. With recruiting on hold since then, the Bears have only one firm verbal commitment for signing day in February. They have only about 70 scholarship players this season on a roster with a dozen seniors.Rhule also will have to put together a coaching staff since it is unlikely that any of the current assistants will stay on. Briles staff remained when former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe put his retirement on hold in May to serve as Baylors acting head coach this season. The assistants include Briles son, Kendal, the offensive coordinator, and son-in-law Jeff Lebby, the running backs coach.While Rhule lacks deep Texas ties, athletic director Mack Rhoades said the 41-year-old former Penn State linebacker has many of the qualities that he sought in a new coach.We wanted a coach who shared our values, who had demonstrated success, who showed a true commitment to the overall student-athlete and who we believed could lead Baylor to a national championship, Rhoades said. We found all of that and more in Matt and I know that he will be a perfect fit with the Baylor family.Baylor is 6-6, and headed to the Cactus Bowl despite a six-game skid that included the loss of senior starting quarterback Seth Russell after season-ending ankle surgery. Grobe told Rhoades back in September, before the Bears had lost a game, that he didnt want to be a candidate for the full-time job.Rhule was 28-23 in four seasons at Temple, his only previous head coaching job. The Owls are 10-3 this season and won thee American Athletic Conference title with a 34-10 win over Navy last weekend after a 10-4 record in 2015.ddddddddddddTemple named assistant Ed Foley as interim head coach to lead the Owls in the Military Bowl against Wake Forest on Dec. 27.After first going to Temple as an assistant under Al Golden in 2006, Rhule spent the next decade there -- except for the 2012 season in the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach for the New York Giants. He returned to Philadelphia as the Owls head coach in 2013 , and had a contract through 2021 after an extension last year. His resume includes stints at UCLA, Western Carolina, Buffalo and Albright College in Pennsylvania in 1998, his first year out of college.Briles took Baylor from the bottom of the Big 12 to back-to-back conference titles (2013, 2014) and six consecutive bowl games that ended a 16-year postseason drought. Robert Griffin III won the schools only Heisman Trophy in 2011, and the Bears just missed the first four-team College Football Playoff in 2014, the same year a new $264 million campus stadium opened on the banks of the Brazos River.But the nations largest Baptist university was rocked by scandal this year and an investigation by the Pepper Hamilton law firm determined that the school mishandled assault claims for years. The firms report in May led to the immediate suspension of Briles, who had eight seasons left on his contract and reached an undisclosed settlement with the school a month later.The school still faces several federal lawsuits by women who say the university ignored or tried to suppress their claims of sexual and physical assault. School regents recently disclosed that 17 women had reported domestic violence or sexual assaults that involved 19 football players since 2011.Two women who reported being gang-raped reached a settlement with the school last month. While details of the attacks werent disclosed, Baylor interim President David Garland said then that players implicated in those cases were no longer at the school.The Bears havent won since becoming the only FBS school to start 6-0 each of the last four seasons. They play Boise State (10-2) on Dec. 27 in Phoenix. Their six-game skid is the longest since losing nine in a row when they dropped the final eight games of the 2007 season and the 2008 opener in Briles debut.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '