Adam Johnson and Manuel Pellegrini may well have walked off with Januarys BPL Player and Manager of the Month Awards, but no other club have had a better new year than Chelsea. Seven matches played, six clean sheets, wins heaped upon wins. The copy book only blighted by an inability to deal with West Hams so termed 19th century tactics. Having just returned from spending three weeks in the city of the 2012 Summer Olympiad, much time spent within the century plus old Stamford Bridge walls, its as if the clocks have been turned back to circa 2004-05. It was Mourinhos debut season, and the little horse galloped away from the entire BPL field. Chelsea winning the title by a very distant 12 points. Most remarkably, conceding an improbable 15 goals through the 38-match season - numbers Gary Bettman apparently salivates over. Such was Chelseas dominance of the Champions for almost the entire second half they played in reverse gear. Ryan Giggs couldnt watch as he continually covered his face in his hands. He likely would have thrown in the towel if he could have found one. The only passion on display that afternoon from anyone in a red shirt came from the quite magnificent Manchester United support - 6,000 strong, and as one in their complete support for club. The true definition of what the word supporter actually means. There in the midst of yet more adversity and not once did they veer from the full encouragement, slap on the back script. Hopefully, someone at the club shot a video which David Moyes has had time to watch. If theres one man in world football who needs to fully understand the inherent value of positive body language, additionally to be classically re-conditioned it is the boy set adrift by Ferguson. Ive witnessed more sideline encouragement during the traditional park life early Sunday morning pub league football. When most are still feeling the awful side effects of a very late and mostly liquid Saturday night. The Chosen One? More like The Shrugged Shouldered One. Such was Manchester Uniteds public demise at Stamford Bridge, Sir Alex Ferguson had to slum it sat next to yesterdays soul man, Mick Hucknall. Meanwhile, Miami FCs David Beckham took pride of place over in the regal confines of Roman Abramovichs private suite. Court side seats at a Lakers game are renowned as the ultimate status symbol of the celebrity and glitteratti set. As I walked the Fulham Road streets before the match, there was more jewellery than scarves on display in London SW6. I even caught sight of a man not often associated with the jet set. England manager Roy Hodgson walking with his assistant Ray Lewington as they purposefully mingled amongst the crowd making their way to the ground. Not an air of grace about them. For Englands Brazil 2014 sakes, lets hope the WAGs will have taken notes. Next up for Chelsea was an FA Cup fourth round tie against Stoke City. Late that morning, Mata completed his £37.1m ($69m million) move to Old Trafford, Matic made his Stamford Bridge debut that afternoon. Now over my time, I have seen some monsters on a football pitch. Not all of them dressed in football shirts. Nemanja Matic is almost completely unrecognizable from the person and footballer that he was in his previous stint. He hardly got a look in then, against Stoke he hardly put a foot wrong. Oscars sublime free kick separated the sides. Matic though was the talk of the press room at full time. That was until a 51st birthday celebrating Jose Mourinho walked into the room. It was only mere minutes after it had been announced the win against Stoke set up a highly tasty fifth round encounter at the Etihad. Hours previously, the twice straight player of the year had been sold. To Manchester United of all clubs, and a transfer which had Wenger and Pelligrini going into a lather. First question to the manager? “When Rafa Benitez was Chelsea manager, on his birthday he bought a cake in for the media. Wheres your cake?” Not to be outdone by Rafa, the Happy One promised champagne for when next he would meet the media 48 hours later. You couldnt make this stuff up. When the subject did finally get round to Mata, Mourinho let it be known it was not his sole decision to discard the best left foot in the BPL. “Only the big boss makes sole decisions.” The manager made it abundantly clear it was a team decision that the 25-year old Spaniard was surplus to requirements. Weve all witnessed Oscar and Hazard on the ball. From the comfort of your sofa or bar stool, what the camera doesnt tell you though is the staggering amount of tracking back these two highly gifted players do through the course of a match. Out of possession sometimes, it seemed Oscar was so deep in his own half he was paired in defence with John Terry. Hauled off soaking wet with 10 minutes left and the Sunday evening sky darkening, one clever hack suggested the Brazilians mother had sent a text to Mourinho reminding him the fresh-faced youngster had to be at school Monday morning. There was nothing fresh-faced about Oscar, nor Mourinho, 72 hours later when Big Sams Claret and Blue Army [and Im speaking about the West Ham players] made the short hop over from Londons East end. Those gale-forced winds and pouring rain that has battered the south west of England for much of winter showed up too. Attending the match as a Chelsea supporter, with the trouble ‘n strife [wife] in tow, we took our seats in the lower tier of the West Stand. Mercifully under cover, but such was the ferocious wind we were rain lashed for the entire 90 minutes. The action on the pitch was not one bit as exciting as a sole Chelsea fan sat directly behind us. He made more noise than the thunder - his humour hotter than the tea. As he performed all the Chelsea classics in a virtuoso solo performance worthy of any Grammy winner. For all the plaudits bestowed on Mourinho following Mondays Etihad ‘title decider, he got it wrong against West Ham. In fact, it started with his Stoke line up when Frank Lampard captained the side and played the full 90-minutes. Lampard plays West Ham with fire in his belly and a goal in his feet. Not coincidental the best chance that evening fell to Chelseas leading goal scorer of all time in the 96th minute. But for a superb save from Adrian in the West Ham goal and Chelsea could be a magnificent seven straight wins through 2014. Matic should have started. Not as Mourinho did, only introduce him with less than 30 minutes left. Oscar struggled. Not so much with coming to grips with West Hams iron-like resolve, the conditions were so soggy and about as far removed from ball playing, he must have wished for the Copacabana. Of late, David Luiz has been spraying balls up field for Hazard to run onto. Luiz didnt leave the bench. Hazard for all his crafty guile was able to turn opponents inside out but where ever he went another West Ham player was in very close proximity. Baton down the Belgian on a windswept Stamford Bridge night they did. The Happy One, though wouldnt have swapped a moment of that ‘19th century like opponent for what was achieved against modern footballs shining knights, Manchester City. Hung, drawn and no Mourinho quarter given. As we get set later this month for the start of the knock out stages of the Champions League - the manner in which Etihad victory was achieved will have instilled a certain fear in Europes finest. That though is for the future. Speaking to Chelsea future, Samuel Etoo may have slayed Manchester United. The Cameroonians hier apparent is Islam Feruz. An 18-year old Somalian refugee who was signed from Celtic is currently ripping it up in Chelseas reserves. Scoring goals from all over the pitch, seemingly just for fun. Thoroughbred lightening quick, just maybe Feruz is the ‘little horse- The Especially Happy One was referring to after Chelsea made a mockery of Manchester Citys perfect BPL home form. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at:Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter Chaz Roe Rays Jersey . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night. Austin Pruitt Jersey . Dillon Brooks scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting for Canada while pulling down six rebounds and picking up six steals. Teammate Chris Egi had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1486i-ch...ersey-rays.html. Tyrell appeared in seven games with the Lightning this year, he had no points in those appearances. The 24-year-old has seven goals and 17 assists in 132 career NHL games, all coming with the Lightning. He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2007 draft. Oliver Drake Rays Jersey .ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers. Anthony Banda Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks.NEW YORK -- A happy homecoming for Jimmer Fredette and Michael Malone was another miserable night in a turbulent season for the New York Knicks. Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. Gay and Isaiah Thomas each finished with 20 points for the Kings, who shook off a 13-point deficit and the loss of DeMarcus Cousins late in regulation to salvage the finale of a four-game road trip. Cousins had 19 points and 14 rebounds before limping off with a strained hip flexor with about 3 1/2 minutes left. The Kings made Malone a winner in his first game as a head coach in New York, where he spent four seasons as a Knicks assistant. It was the first time his mother watched him coach an NBA game in person. "Being from New York and having my family here and this is where I started in the NBA, its like a little kids dream," Malone said. "To come back here, and as a head coach, and get a win against the Knicks, it is an unbelievable moment for me, my mother, my father and my family." Carmelo Anthony had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks but flopped at the finish, missing a potential winning shot in regulation before blowing a layup on the first possession of overtime. Playing 48 minutes, he was scoreless in the extra session. Gay followed Anthonys missed layup with his 3-pointer, Derrick Williams added a basket that pushed it to 98-93 with 2:28 left, and the Knicks never really had a chance to catch up from there. New York finished the first half at 20-32. The reigning Atlantic Division champions have already lost more games than all of last season and continue to battle injuries and speculation that coach Mike Woodsons job is in jeopardy. "I didnt expect us to be in the situation that were in right now. If somebody would have told us that before the season, Id have put any amount of money that they were lying," Anthony said. "But were in this situation right now and weve got to fight through it." The Knicks played without J.R. Smith, who broke a cheekbone Sunnday at Oklahoma City and was uncomfortable with the protective facemask he was supposed to wear, which he didnt receive until Wednesday.ddddddddddddIman Shumpert then left in the second half with a strained left hip flexor. Amare Stoudemire scored 20 points off the bench and Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks in a game Anthony had called a "must-win." "We cant go back and get this game," Woodson said. "We didnt finish the game. I think we played well in spurts. We just didnt get it done." Stoudemire had three straight New York baskets midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Knicks an 87-83 advantage with 4:59 remaining. Fredette twice hit 3-pointers to make it a one-possession game, and Gay, after having a jumper go in and out, got another chance and knocked it down that time to tie it with 20 seconds to go. Anthony scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting as the Knicks cruised to a 33-22 lead after one, hitting 70 per cent of their shots. But Fredette, the college scoring star from BYU whose pro career has been largely underwhelming, answered back with 15 points in the second, matching his high for a game this season. "It was a lot of fun," said Fredette, a native of Glens Falls. "You dream about this, growing up not too far from here, and this is the best arena in the world. It was an amazing experience tonight. But I was just happy we got this win and go into the All-Star break on a high note." New York built a 54-48 halftime lead on 57.5 per cent shooting, but was just 7 of 23 (30 per cent) in the third quarter, with the Kings cutting it to 74-72 entering the fourth. NOTES: Smith didnt want to play without the mask for fear of further injury, acknowledging his choice to sit out was a "somewhat selfish decision." He said he will have to wear the mask for a few weeks and hopes to get it adjusted before play resumes next week. ... Malone worked for four different head coaches in New York. ... The Knicks honoured Hall of Famer Bernard King, who held the franchises single-game scoring record with 60 points until Anthony broke it with 62 last month against Charlotte. ' ' '