NEW YORK -- When Troy Vincent mentioned in April the NFLs in

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NEW YORK -- When Troy Vincent mentioned in April the NFLs interest in establishing a developmental league, he couldnt have imagined the response it would get. Corey Peters Jersey . "I got more than 100 proposals," he said with a laugh. "I think that shows it is worth a look." And that is what it will get, although the NFL has no timetable for establishing such a league. Why is it likely to get off the ground? Vincent, who recently became the NFLs head of football operations, cites a bunch of reasons, from training coaches and officials to finding players to testing rules. "It would be an opportunity to enhance our game on many levels, to develop the future, preserve and innovate the game," he said. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin would like to see it happen. "Im in favour of anything that increases opportunities for guys to grow and develop," Tomlin said, "and ultimately improve the product of our game for our fans, particularly at some positions." Notably, quarterback. Tomlin is well aware of how former Super Bowl QBs Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme were helped by their time in the minors. "Quarterbacks often dont come to you ready-made, particularly with the way college football is played now with so many spread offences and half-field reads and so forth," Tomlin said. Tomlin is right that the NFL relies on the college game for developing the skills of potential pro players. That wont change but, as the number of undrafted free agents who populate NFL rosters shows -- 31.4 per cent in 2014 -- there are hundreds of players who would benefit from having a place to showcase themselves if the NFL doesnt come calling. Not since NFL Europe disappeared in 2007 has there been an NFL-affiliated place where players could go to prove themselves worthy of a look by one of the leagues 32 teams. Same thing for officials and coaches. "Thats what NFL Europe was intended to be, a developmental league," said Falcons defensive co-ordinator Mike Nolan, a former head coach in the NFL. "I thought it was great for coaches, I thought it was great for players, I thought it was great for officials. It wasnt my money they were spending on it, but I always thought the time was worth it. " There are dozens of questions accompanying any project: When and where would the league play games? How many teams would be in a developmental league? Who would play and coach? Would television be interested? Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp, a Chicago-based consulting firm, has a strong relationship with many team owners. He envisions a league being established for spring play, with all of the teams supplying players they want to see more from. "After the NFL season and before the training camps, say March to July," Ganis said. "Its an open time in the sports schedule. The colleges are done and the NBA and NHL playoffs wind down. "A league in the fall is really tough. It is not like baseball, where teams can be calling up players every day from the minors. There would be lots of restrictions on player movement then." This wont be an international venture, either. In fact, it probably would be done regionally, cutting down on travel costs. "I do envision some sort of developmental league, based maybe in Florida or Texas or Arizona," said former NFL general manager Phil Savage, who now is the executive director of the Senior Bowl. "Anywhere from four to six teams; I dont think more than eight. "I see it as tightly managed, with not a ton of travel. And I dont think it would matter the size of the stadiums and crowds, because its a minor league, a place to look at players from the lower end of the roster or players trying to make it into the NFL." Ganis says not to worry about TV interest. "The networks have open time in the spring, and its an NFL product. There would be room on the networks for games on the weekend, and on the cable outlets for weeknights," he said. "Theres really a dearth of major sports on the weekends then. "I think you would see all the networks with cable channels -- CBS, Fox, NBC, and of course NFL Network -- to be interested. And ESPN would likely want in on the mix, although they need it the least." Savage was most intrigued by Vincents suggestion that an academy for training players, coaches and officials could accompany a D-league. But he foresees such an academy being held during the NFL season. "It would be in one centralized location and these players go there and they keep their football life afloat for another few months or another season," Savage said. "And maybe they show enough to play in the developmental league the next spring. Or maybe they get discovered for the NFL." One major caveat would be the status of the players. Would they be NFL Players Association members? What sort of medical coverage would they have? What would their salaries be? Savage believes the league, the union and the American Football Coaches Association -- the organization for college coaches -- could work out a strategy that would lead to a developmental league by the end of the decade, perhaps much sooner. "I think it could be a really neat thing and can help a lot of players," he said. Rams coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the NFLs influential competition committee, agrees. "Theres been discussions over the last couple years. I dont know what direction its going, but I think we have a need for it," Fisher said. "I think it would be beneficial from a young players standpoint. ... if you have to make an outside roster move to get somebody thats in shape that you can evaluate on film." Vincent, naturally, is in a position to help bring a league, and an academy, into existence. "If it is something sustainable and it is good for the sport, and we can make it work," Vincent said, "its worth pursuing." Jermaine Gresham Jersey . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Troy Niklas Jersey . The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled to arrive in Boston in time for a workout on Tuesday afternoon. Much of Mondays discussion focused on Bostons lineup considerations as the series progresses, specifically when the venue shifts to St. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/haason-reddick-cardinals-jersey-92/ . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Once the game goes to a shootout, the New Jersey Devils are already a beaten team. They have been pushed past overtime 10 times this season, and have lost every one of the tiebreakers. The latest, a 2-1 defeat to the also-ran New York Islanders on Saturday night, pushed the Devils closer to missing the playoffs. "Even if we were just .500 on those, wed have an extra four or five points and we wouldnt be in this situation," said forward Patrik Elias, whose miss in the second round ended the game. Not only arent the Devils coming out on top, they are having trouble scoring. Only once in 30 shootout tries this season have they managed a goal. In seven of the 10 shootouts, they were behind 1-0 before their first attempt. That was the case again Saturday when Frans Nielsen started with a goal, and Brock Nelson added one in the second round. New Jersey has lost 14 consecutive shootouts, including two in the past two games. "Were at the point we can pretty much try everything because what were doing is not working," forward Damien Brunner said. "Maybe we have to start throwing some jokes around on the bench. It cant get any worse." Nielsen scored in the second period, when a puck struck Elias in the pants and caromed in to give the Islanders a brief 1-0 lead. Cory Schneider played well otherwise and made 19 saves, but the Devils are five points below the wild-card cutoff with eight games left and will have to jump over several teams. "We had a chance to actually get ourselves back in the race," he said of the Devils, 2-4-2 in their past eight. "We got a point, but if we had gotten two extra points the past two wed really be making noise. "I dont know if its in our heads or what. There is no real point in elaborating. Its just not good enough." The Islanders are 5-2-1 in the last eight games, relishing the role of late-season spoilers. "It was a fun game to play," Nielsen said. "Were a young team and were working hard." In this shootout, New Yorks Anders Nilsson turned aside Adam Henrique, who scored in regulation, and then Elias to win it. Nilsson made 23 traditional saves. New Jersey closed the gap in shots during the second and erased its deficit on Henriques career-high 25th goal with 9:40 leeft. Brandon Williams Jersey. Henrique has a goal in back-to-back games following a seven-game drought. The Islanders had gone ahead 2:12 into the second. Nielsen drove to the net, and defenceman Peter Harrold tried to sweep away the puck but knocked it in off teammate Elias for Nielsens 23rd goal. "It hit me somewhere in the pants," Elias said. "A little unlucky there. I knew I was in trouble." The Devils nearly got even sooner when Mark Fayne fired a hard shot from the blue line that Nilsson smothered in his midsection at 4:23. It was New Jerseys third shot of the second, one more than in the first. Nielsen almost struck again when he came in on a short-handed breakaway with 6:47 left in the second. He drew a slashing penalty, but New York couldnt capitalize. The Islanders were outshot 11-7 in the frame, yet killed three Devils power plays. New Jersey had a 7-3 shots advantage in the uneventful and scoreless third period and 4-1 in overtime. The Islanders had only 11 shots after the first period. They came out aggressively early and finished checks in all three zones in the first, including big hits by Colin McDonald, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck that riled up the crowd. Mike Halmo also threw his body around, and then ripped a shot that Schneider snagged with his glove to keep the game scoreless with 4:36 left. That gave New York a 7-2 edge in shots. "The first period was a disaster," Brunner said, "but then we got better." When Ryan Carter got a hit in, he was called for boarding for drilling Islanders forward Johan Sundstrom from behind in front of the penalty box with 4:15 to go. The Islanders outshot the Devils 9-2 in the first and outhit them 19-4 -- with Anders Lee having four. "Were battling and working extremely hard," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "I dont think we gave them much." NOTES: The Devils matched their season low with the two-shot first period. ... Steve Bernier was in the New Jersey lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. ... Reid Boucher, now playing with AHL Albany, scored the Devils lone shootout goal this season. ... With Kyle Okposo missing his second straight game because of a lower-body injury, the Islanders had 10 rookies in the lineup. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '