Kritik und Anregungen » which they had fled, seeking to secure their re

ARLINGTON, Va. -- When Matt Niskanen contemplated skipping a trip to the gym over the summer, he remembered what happened in May.As the offseason went on, Niskanen thought less and less about the Washington Capitals loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Instead, he let the memory of the second-round playoff exit fuel him from time to time.That hurt, it lingers, and I think you can use that as motivation, Niskanen said. That kind of stuff creeps into your mind and it pushes you.Now several months removed from another painful playoff loss, the Capitals came to training camp ready to harness whatever energy they could from that while also preparing to move past it and focus on another run at the Cup this season. Almost the entire roster is back from the Presidents Trophy-winning team that ran roughshod over the NHL during the regular season, and with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and goaltender Braden Holtby in their primes, there isnt time to waste on reflection and hindsight.You need to see where things went awry and try to rectify it, said veteran winger Justin Williams, one of several players with one year left on his contract. We set a standard with having successful teams, a team every year fans can look at and say, `You know, we legitimately have a chance to win it again. As players we embrace that and we respect it and we know that these opportunities that we have in front of us arent forever.Along with Williams, winger T.J. Oshie and defenseman Karl Alzner could be unrestricted free agents July 1. Restricted free agent center Evgeny Kuznetsov will get a big raise on a new deal, and Washingtons salary cap picture will get more difficult as the years go on.Ovechkin also just turned 31, and while he led the league in goal-scoring last season, theres no certainty as to how long his Hall of Fame-caliber production will keep up. After winning the division by 16 points and losing in the second round -- again -- general manager Brian MacLellan doesnt think theres a bigger burden on winning this year with so many unknowns on the horizon.I think theres pressure every year, MacLellan said. Last year we were a contender, theres pressure. Same pressure this year. We have a goal of winning a championship. We know were close and we need to pursue it and well do everything we can to get there.Alzner was just starting to get over the early exit when pictures of the Penguins celebrating with the Cup filled up his social media feeds. The ironman whose groin injury forced him out of the deciding Game 6 and led to sports hernia surgery scoffed at the notion that Pittsburgh winning makes the loss easier to take.Its worse, in my opinion, because then you really think, `OK if I could have got past that team then the Cup was ours, said Alzner, whos still working his way back to 100 percent. I think that all of us in the room thought that we were going to win that last year.Being great in the regular season and losing in the first or second round has become the Capitals reputation over the past decade. The 2015-16 team was perhaps the best on paper, which made the late stumble into summer that much more confounding.As more top players continue to trickle back into town after playing in the World Cup of Hockey, associate coach Todd Reirden expects the staff to impart lessons about last season on the full group. Early in camp, the mood is light with players eager to make a fresh start and learn from losing to the Penguins.Asked what the Capitals can do to improve, Williams deadpanned: We can finish the season with a win. Thats it.Thats a challenge that cant be accomplished until the spring. Players, coaches and fans may want to fast-forward until then, but Washington has to again get there first.Youve got to be patient, center Jay Beagle said. The game has to develop. Weve got new guys, so we want to go into this year making sure were playing our best going into the end of the year and in the playoffs.---Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno .Swell Water Bottle Flowers . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Swell Bottle Sale 17 Oz . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. http://www.swellwaterbottlenz.com/swell-bottle-sale-17-oz.html . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Swell Bottle NZ . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. Swell Spectrum Water Bottle . 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.ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of former soccer star and legislator Hakan Sukur over his links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, accused by Turkey of masterminding last months failed coup, media reports said Friday.Meanwhile, Turkeys foreign minister told reporters that 32 Turkish diplomats who were called back to Turkey as part of an investigation into the coup attempt had failed to return.Turkey has launched a massive crackdown on alleged supporters of the movement led by Fethullah Gulen in the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt that left more than 270 people dead, raising concerns among European nations and human rights groups.More than 35,000 people have been detained for questioning while tens of thousands of others from government jobs, including in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government. Gulen, who runs a network of worldwide charities and schools from self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denied any knowledge or involvement in the coup.The state-run Anadolu Agency said an arrest warrant was issued for Sukur late Thursday, accusing him of membership in an armed terror organization. His father Selmet Sukur was detained in the northwestern province of Sakarya on Friday, hours after a warrant was also issued against him, the agency reported. A court has also ordered that both mens assets in Turkey be seized, Anadolu said.Sukur, who reportedly left Turkey last year, played for Inter Milan and Galatasaray and was Turkeys top goal-scorer in international competitions. He has made no secret of his affiliation to Gulen, and resigned from tthe ruling party in 2013 following a government rift with the movement.dddddddddddduring a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that of the 208 diplomatic personnel serving in foreign posts recalled following the coup, 32 had not complied and had fled to other countries.Cavusoglu added that the ministry was in touch with the countries to which they had fled, seeking to secure their return.Turkey has branded Gulens movement a terror organization and wants the cleric returned to Turkey to face trial. Washington has said it would need evidence of the clerics involvement, and says the regular extradition process must be allowed to take its course.During Fridays press conference, Cavusoglu said that a delegation from the U.S. Department of Justice would be arriving on Aug. 22 and meet with their Turkish counterparts on the following two days to discuss the extradition request.Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the U.S. delegation would include three Justice Department experts and one from the State Department.Germanys Foreign Ministry meanwhile, confirmed a report by the weekly Der Spiegel that a German woman who was arrested in Turkey following the coup attempt was released on Friday. It said in an emailed statement that it welcomes the release and continues to press for the principles of the rule of law to be upheld in working through the attempted coup.---Associated Press writer Cinar Kiper in Istanbul and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed. ' ' '