12-30-2019, 08:07 AM
LONDON -- Didier Drogba rejoined Chelsea on Friday, reuniting one of footballs most theatrical characters with flamboyant manager Jose Mourinho. The 36-year-old Ivory Coast international, who was a free agent after spells with Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, signed a season-long deal with the Premier League club. "It was an easy decision. I couldnt turn down the opportunity to work with Jose again," Drogba said. "Everyone knows the special relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me. "My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to the opportunity to help this team. I am excited for this next chapter of my career." With the last kick in his last game for Chelsea in May 2012, Drogba won the Champions League title for Chelsea, scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout against Bayern Munich. During eight years at Chelsea, Drogba also won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups after being signed by Mourinho in 2004 from Marseille. Now Mourinho, who was away from Chelsea between 2007 and 2013, is reshaping the team after failing to win a trophy in his first season back at Stamford Bridge. Drogba is the proven scorer Mourinho desperately craved last season, with 157 goals in 341 appearances. "Hes coming because hes one of the best strikers in Europe," Mourinho said. "I know his personality very well and I know if he comes back hes not protected by history or what hes done for this club previously. He is coming with the mentality to make more history." Drogba was Chelseas man for the big occasions, contributing nine goals in nine finals, but he is also one of the games most inflammatory players. He has infuriated rivals fans with what they view as a habit of diving, and enraged referees with his aggressive foul-mouthed conduct, earning several bans from UEFA. Vegas Golden Knights Gear . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Alex Tuch Jersey .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. https://www.cheapgoldenknights.com/356n-...ights.html. THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all. Colin Miller Jersey . But defending champion Elena Vesnina of Russia held off a strong challenge to beat Shuai Peng of China 6-3, 6-4, and there was another hard-fought victory for 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Alison Riske of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-4. Nate Schmidt Jersey .Ryan Anderson had 14 points for the Pelicans, who trailed 78-63 after three periods before trimming the deficit to 86-83. Jrue Holiday had 13 points and Eric Gordon added 12 for New Orleans.Mike Scott and Jeff Teague each had 11 points for Atlanta.The St. Louis Blues brought in the premier unrestricted free agent centre, and did it without breaking the bank. Numbers Game looks at the Blues signing of Paul Stastny. The Blues Get: C Paul Stastny. Stastny, 28, has been a strong two-way centre, capable of putting up points and, more recently, taking on tougher assignments while remaining productive. Since arriving in the league in 2006-2007, Stastny has 458 points in 538 games, which ranks 34th. While his possession stats havent been dominant, it needs to be considered that they have been accrued in Colorado, where theyve been strong in relative terms, and hes among a select group of forwards to face quality opposition and start more of his shifts in the defensive zone, yet still have strong relative possession stats. Joining St. Louis is a terrific situation for Stastny too. The Blues had a contending team last season that could have used an offensive boost and Stastny ought to provide that and with last years top line -- Alex Steen, David Backes and T.J. Oshie -- capable of handling a lot of heavy lifting (tough matchups, defensive zone starts), Stastny should be freed up for more of an offensive role than the all-around responsibility he had with Colorado. Also working in Stastnys favour is that by moving to a team with much better puck possession stats, there will be more opportunity for Stastny to play in the offensive zone and if he ends up with rising young wingers Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko (or fellow U.S. Olympian T.J. Oshie), it would be easy enough to forecast that line being very productive. Theres also some shuffling to do among Blues forwards, as they have signed C Jori Lehtera and that could mean Patrik Berglund and David Backes shifting to wings, leaving Vladimir Sobotka and Maxim Lapierre in the third and fourth-line spots.dddddddddddd The team that Stastny is leaving, the Colorado Avalanche, will have their hands full trying to match their 2013-2014 regular season success, but the team does at least have options down the middle, with Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon more than suitable on the top two lines, and they have Ryan OReilly (who shifted to wing last season) available if needed. Losing Stastny means tougher minutes for those guys, but the Avalanche at least have the personnel to withstand a loss at centre. The ideal part of this deal for St. Louis is that they didnt have to get into an outrageous deal in order to acquire the player who was clearly the best free agent centre on the market. Stastny wanted to go to St. Louis and was willing to take a shorter term than he might have made elsewhere. Signed for four years and $28-million, Stastny gets a raise on what he was making in Colorado, joins the team with which his father, Peter, finished his career and its not an unreasonable price for what Paul Stastny provides. If Stastny can thrive in an offensive role, hell give the Blues a legitimate chance to get into the discussion with the best teams in the Western Conference and thats all that can be asked from a contending team when they dip into the free agent pool. 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. ' ' '