WINNIPEG -- Head coach Paul Maurice has been given a four-year extention to guide the Winnipeg Jets, and he and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff appear to be of one mind on some of the teams upcoming issues. One of them is keeping Ondrej Pavelec as the teams starting goaltender. Cheveldayoff said it was disappointing not to make the playoffs but he didnt suggest hes deviating in any big way from his draft-and-develop philosophy and that includes sticking with his 26-year-old starting netminder. "Ondrej Pavelec is the No. 1 goaltender going into next season," the general manager insisted. "Hes relatively a young goaltender when it comes to being a starting goaltender and when you give those young players those opportunities to excel theres going to be some bumps along the way." With a save percentage of .901 (70th among all goalies in the NHL) and a goals against average of 3.01 (69th) Pavelec is a frequent target of criticism. Maurice says he wouldnt have a lot to say about who plays for the team, which is a general managers job, but he had no problem at all with Pavelec as his starting netminder. "Were at a stage in our franchise where weve got three or four potentially critical pieces through our lineup that are here that weve got to make better. Weve got to put them in a position to be better then they have to be better. ... "And I think Evander Kane falls into that hole, really good young talented players that need to develop, that need to get better and I think they will get better ... In my mind, with Ondrej Pavelec, we have to do everything we can as a team to give our goaltending the best chance to win us games and that hasnt happened yet." Kane finished with only 19 goals this season, a far cry from the 30 the forward scored in 2011-12, although this season he missed 19 games -- 18 due to injuries and another as a healthy scratch, reportedly for missing a team meeting. Maurice came in as Claude Noels replacement in January and impressed Jets management as well as the players with his skills. "Hes an impressive hockey coach but hes an impressive person as well," Cheveldayoff said. "He walked in and he made a tremendous impact from the moment he walked in and we believe that were just scratching the surface on the impact he can make on this franchise moving forward." Maurice, 47, said on the phone from his current home in Ohio that he made the decision fairly early on that he wanted to stay in Winnipeg. The deal was done Tuesday and he immediately flew home to talk about it with his family and they supported him. "It didnt take much time, I called Kevin and said were in and put a sign on the front steps today," he said. Maurice guided the team to an 18-12-5 record over 35 games after Noels firing, a decision that Cheveldayoff said hurt him to the core. "Claude Noel is a tremendous coach and an even better person," he said. Noel had only part of one season as an NHL head coach on his resume when he was handed the reins of the Jets in 2011. His replacement has a career coaching record of 478-469-172 over 1,119 NHL games with the Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise. Maurice, who also said Wednesday he has accepted an offer to join Team Canada as an assistant coach for the world championship, says the Jets are further along and have a better balance of youth and experience than some of the other teams hes coach in the NHL. He says that means their development should be faster. Whether the goal of making the playoffs can be achieved next year, the answer seems to be maybe, but not initially as a Stanley Cup contender. "Were trying to move to the middle of the pack, I mean the end goal here is to be a contending team, and I think there are six of those teams right now in the Western Conference, I think theres two in the Eastern Conference. . . then theres the other eight teams that are in the playoffs," he said. Winnipeg finished with a 37-35-10 record on the season and settled for an 11th-place finish in the Western Conference with 84 points. It was exactly the same record they managed in their first year in their new home in 2011-12, although the Jets were in the Eastern Conference until this season. It was also the third straight season they have missed the playoffs since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta. The former Atlanta Thrashers made the playoffs only once, in 2007. The Jets have a fairly long list of restricted and unrestricted free agents this season but the only one Cheveldayoff mentioned Wednesday as a player they want to keep for sure was forward and restricted free agent Michael Frolik. He finished with 42 points and met or exceeded the expectations the Jets had when they acquired him from Chicago last year. But the general manager also didnt rule out looking outside the Jets for the right unrestricted free agent or making a trade to strengthen their core group, particularly at forward. He hasnt made a lot of trades since taking on the job three years ago (only 13) and the only two that would even come close to involving higher profile players would be Frolik and Devin Setoguchi. They were also his last, in the summer of 2013. "Some of it might have to come from a trade," he said of his desire to add a winger or a centre. The Jets are still focusing on young players throughout the organization and the role they can play. At the end of the season, for example, they brought in goalie Michael Hutchinson from the AHLs St. Johns IceCaps and he won two of the three final games he played. Cheveldayoff says the core group the Jets have signed to long-term contracts continues to perform. "We like what we have in a lot of different areas here. . . Guys like Blake Wheeler had a tremendous year, Bryan Little had a tremendous year, Andrew Ladd had a tremendous year. . . We havent even touched on (Mark) Scheifele and (Jacob) Trouba." He said Scheifele and Trouba had a big impact and the two rookies are only going to get better. Andy Isabella Womens Jersey . Robert Griffin III, the No. 2 pick in the 2012 draft, set numerous rookie records and was picked AP Offensive Rookie of the Year for the Washington Redskins. Byron Murphy Womens Jersey .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/ha...nals-jersey-zj/. -- Phil Mickelson came to the St. Pat Tillman Jersey .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. Andy Isabella Youth Jersey . The injury will keep the Finnish forward out of the Olympics. The 29-year-old has 20 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season, his first with Tampa Bay.NEW YORK -- Theres little margin for error, and the New York Knicks know it. They need a big finish to the regular season, and after the way theyve started the last two games, maybe they have one in them. Carmelo Anthony scored 18 of his 29 points in the first quarter, sending the Knicks to a rare easy night in a 108-81 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday. With a long way to go to get back into playoff position, the Knicks won their second straight following a seven-game losing streak. They began a favourable portion of their schedule by opening an early double-digit lead and remaining comfortably ahead the rest of the way. They scored 39 points in the first quarter, their best in any period this season, after scoring 38 in the opening 12 minutes at Minnesota on Wednesday. "Last two games is, we had no choice," coach Mike Woodson said. "Time is somewhat running out and every game is important." Anthony added a season-high eight assists while playing just three quarters of a game that wasnt competitive for long after the opening tip. J.R. Smith had 17 points and Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who led by as many as 32. "We can either cave in and let teams beat the hell out of us, or we can come out there fighting," Smith said. "Thankfully we are coming out here fighting and it starts on the defensive end." Amare Stoudemire, who has moved into the starting lineup along with Smith, scored 10 for the Knicks. They visit Cleveland on Saturday to play one of the teams in between them and Atlanta, which currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York entered play 5 1/2 games behind the Hawks. The losing has wrecked Anthonys hopes of putting off discussion about his free-agency plans until after the season. His brief postgame questions were focused on reports that Chicagos Joakim Noah talked to him about joining the Bulls, and that the Knicks had spoken to Phil Jackson about a role in the organizations management. "Its ggoing to be more stories coming out, more speculation, everybodys going to have their own take on different stories, so for me Ive got to focus on playing ball and thats it," Anthony said.dddddddddddd He did it well Friday, despite battling a cold. Anthony scored New Yorks final 11 points in the first quarter, with a four-point play and another 3-pointer in the final 38 seconds as the Knicks opened a 39-22 lead on 70 per cent shooting. New York stretched the lead to 21 late in the second quarter and was ahead 60-41 at halftime. New York is 23-40 but still has playoff aspirations due to all the weak competition at the bottom of the East. The Knicks upcoming schedule gives them hope, with games against Philadelphia, Boston and Milwaukee, all among the NBAs worst teams, next week. They had no trouble with the Jazz, another lowly squad that lost to the Knicks for the fifth straight time. Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks each scored 18 for the Jazz, who dropped their fifth straight and fell to 0-5 on their six-game, nine-day trip that ends Saturday in Philadelphia. "I thought for two or three months weve played pretty steady basketball, right around .500 basketball. For us that was a step in the right direction," forward Richard Jefferson said. "Now were at the end of the season, youve got a lot of guys playing minutes that theyve never played before. We can see fatigue, frustration. A lot of things are coming into play, but youve got to stick with it." NOTES: The Knicks will take part in a news conference Monday at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y., with county and NBA Development League officials to discuss their plans to bring a franchise to Westchester. ... Blown out in Chicago on ABC last Sunday, the Knicks had their April 13 rematch with the Bulls in New York booted off the network Friday. It will become a 7:30 p.m. start with no national TV coverage, while Oklahoma City at Indiana was mov