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PITTSBURGH -- Ryan Clark sat down in head coach Mike Tomlins office and did something a little out of character for the normally verbose Pittsburgh Steelers safety. Clay Matthews Jersey. He listened. And when Tomlin told Clark he couldnt play in Sundays wild card game at Denver because of a sickle-cell trait that becomes aggravated when playing at higher elevations, Clark just shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "I said OK coach, " Clark said Wednesday. "It wasnt any fight ... does he seem like a man who changes his mind anyway? "I knew there wasnt going to be any changing in that." And for that, Clark is grateful. If given the choice, Clark would give it a shot even when faced with potentially dire consequences. "Yall have seen me play, I run into people all the time, so clearly Im not that bright," Clark said with a laugh. But Clark also knows whats at stake. He nearly died the last time he played in Denver, when the then-undiagnosed condition flared up and he ended up having his gall bladder and spleen removed in addition to losing 30 pounds. Doctors cleared Clark to play this weekend but didnt make any guarantees. Thats all Tomlin needed to hear. "They couldnt tell me 100 per cent that Nothing is going to happen to you, youre going to play and youre going to be fine and I think that one per cent chance was enough for coach Tomlin to take it out of my hands," Clark said. Tomlin told Clark if the coachs son Dino was in the same situation, he wouldnt let him play, the kind of blunt assessment Clark has grown to appreciate during Tomlins five years on the job. "I think either way is a difficult situation," Clark said. "Not to play with your teammates is a tough situation but to have to wonder after every play if youre going to be all right is also a stressful situation." Instead Clark will watch in street clothes as Ryan Mundy steps in. Mundy has played well when called upon this season, collecting the first interception of his career in a 13-9 win at Kansas City on Nov. 27 and even catching a pass on a fake punt in a victory over Tennessee. While not as quick as Clark, the six-foot-one, 209-pound Mundy makes up for it with his size. Hes been a special-teams ace for most of his career, though Tomlin has called Mundy "starter capable." So does Clark, just hopefully not until somewhere around 2013 or 2014. "I tell him all the time I just need two more years to pay off this house in Baton Rouge and he can have the position," Clark said. "Hes going to be a guy thats going to play in this league for a very long time." Mundy made two spot starts for Troy Polamalu in 2010 but understands the stakes will be significantly higher this time around. At age 26, the former West Virginia star thinks hes mature enough to handle the pressure. "Its the playoffs, and its a big deal," Mundy said. "So, you dont want to overlook that, but at the same time you dont want to get your head up in the clouds too much or lose focus of the task at hand." The task Sunday will be making sure not to get suckered by Denver quarterback Tim Tebow. Though Tebow has struggled passing the ball, hes shown an ability to chuck it downfield when defences get a little too concerned with stopping the run. The last thing Mundy wants to see is the ball sailing over his head. "You can get comfortable from them running the ball, and then here they go throwing a deep pass on you," Mundy said. Few teams have done it successfully against the Steelers this season. Pittsburgh allowed the fewest passing yards (172 a game) and the second-fewest passing touchdowns (15) in the league this season, though those numbers may be skewed by a favourable schedule that included games against the woeful AFC South and NFC West. Tebows numbers arent much better, though the secondary has a healthy respect for the former Heisman Trophy winner. "Hes tough to plan for," Clark said. "When you think about tackling a quarterback, quarterbacks slide, quarterbacks dont like to be hit. "Tim seems to enjoy the physicality of football. Hes a football player." So is Clark, which makes his situation all the more frustrating. He hasnt missed a start when healthy since playing for the Redskins in 2004. In Pittsburghs biggest game of the year (so far) hell be forced to watch from the sidelines. Its why he didnt exactly celebrate when it became clear the defending AFC champions would have to start their bid for a record ninth trip to the Super Bowl in Denver. Clark admitted getting emotional after the playoff pairings became set, knowing it would likely mean hed have to sit out and hope the Steelers advance. "You fought 16 weeks, you trained during the off-season to help your team win a Super Bowl and this is part of that mission and part of that journey," Clark said. "I was upset about it, not in the sense of not angry at coach ... but just as a competitor you want to go out there and compete and I knew I probably wouldnt have the opportunity." Instead, its Mundys time. For a week anyway. "Everybody gets their opportunities in different ways," Clark said. "This is his and hes going to do a good job for us." Charles Woodson Jersey. And even though the 18-year-old Russian is still learning English, he cant help but tense up the second he hears the letters "KHL. Aaron Rodgers Womens Jersey.8 million contract. The 32-year-old Ukrainian-born forward scored 14 goals and 19 assists in 82 games split between the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes in 2011-12. http://www.greenbaypackersjerseyonsale.com/aaron-rodgers-jersey. Louis Blues have signed unrestricted free agent forward Jamie Langenbrunner to a one-year contract. Jordy Nelson Jersey. Facing an opponent six inches taller, the Beijing 2008 silver medallist was a victim of three high head kicks and could not make up the ground with her body shots. Charles Woodson Womens Jersey. Now hes scoring big goals again for a team making a push for the playoffs. MacArthur brought the Air Canada Centre to its feet on Wednesday by scoring late in the third period as the Maple Leafs squeezed past the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0.Wrapping up the weekend NHL action, with the Kings taking a lead in the Conference Finals and the Rangers getting there with their Game Seven win against Washington Saturday night. KINGS OPEN WITH A WINThe Los Angeles Kings continued their playoff road dominance, beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 in Game One of the Western Conference Final. It was the Kings sixth straight road win in the playoffs and they launched a season-high 48 shots on the Coyotes net, while allowing a typical 27 shots against. Dustin Brown, who has been a force for the Kings throughout the playoffs, led the way with a goal, an assist and seven shots on goal. He tied teammate Trevor Lewis with a team-high six hits as well. Coyotes RW Shane Doan was the games top hitter with seven. Rookie winger Dwight King scored a pair of goals for Los Angeles, while Lewis also contributed a pair of assists. Getting offensive contributions from King and Lewis definitely sets the Kings ahead of expectations for the night. C Anze Kopitar was dominant for the Kings too, scoring a goal and registering a plus-2 rating, but if you are inclined to dig into more advanced metrics, he also had a plus-27 Corsi (which includes hits, blocked shots and missed shots -- denoting territorial advantage), according to www.timeonice.com. Coyotes D Derek Morris managed to score a goal from centre ice on his way to scoring two points and finishing with a plus-2 rating. Morris has had multiple points and a multiple plus rating twice total in the last three seasons. On the other hand, it was a rough night for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who was minus-3 for only the second time in his career, playing more than 24 minutes and matched up primarily against the Brown, Kopitar, Justin Williams line (per www.timeonice.com). If the Kings are going to be able to control the territorial play as much as they did in Game One, the Coyotes are going to need a superhuman effort from Mike Smith because Jonathan Quick (Morris goal aside) has been a crucial factor in the L.A. Kings success this season. RANGERS ADVANCEWith the season on the line for the New York Rangers, they received big contributions from young players to take Game Seven against the Washington Capitals, 2-1, earning a spot in the Eastern Conference Final. Rangers rookie LW Carl Hagelin, who hadnt sscored a point since the first game of the postseason (a span of 13 games, including his three-game suspension in Round One), picked up assists on both Rangers goals. Clay Matthews Womens Jersey Defenceman Michael Del Zotto had a goal and an assist in the deciding game and also recorded a game-high eight hits. Del Zotto had six points in the series, tying him with Brad Richards, one point behind team leader Marian Gaborik, who had seven points. Gaborik also led all Rangers shooters with 28 shots on goal. On the other side, there will be a certain amount of blame pinned on Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom et al, the skilled forwards who played big minutes in Game Seven, when the Capitals needed them, but its difficult to cast blame for not being productive in a road game, facing difficult matchups (the Dan Girardi-Ryan McDonagh defence tandem, most notably), particularly when their ice time fluctuated wildly throughout the series. With subpar production from Ovechkin and Backstrom (four points apiece in seven games), the Capitals leading scorer in the series was LW Jason Chimera, who had five points. Alexander Semin recorded one assist in his last nine playoff games, which obviously encompasses the entire series against the Rangers. As it turned out, though, the Capitals did miss Jay Beagle, the checking centre who played 11:51 per game during the regular season, but had averaged 20:38 per game in the first five games against the Rangers. Rookie G Braden Holtby kept the Capitals in the series right to the end, posting a .929 save percentage, but Rangers stalwart Henrik Lundqvist did his part too, with a .927 save percentage. With the Rangers holding the territorial edge, that was enough to sway the series in the Blueshirts favour. Case in point, after the shots on goal were relatively close through the first four games of the series (margin was plus-4 in favour of Capitals after Game Four), the Rangers outshot the Capitals by 36 over last three games of the series. In small samples, its possible to win when getting outshot by a dozen shots per game, but thats not a long-term plan for success. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '