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The Florida Panthers had money to spend in free agency, and loaded up, bringing in four forwards, one defenceman and a goaltender on the first day of free agency. Numbers Game looks at the Panthers big first day of free agency. The Panthers Get: LW Jussi Jokinen, C Dave Bolland, C, Derek MacKenzie, RW Shawn Thornton, D Willie Mitchell, G Al Montoya. The Florida Panthers headed into the offseason giving general manager Dale Tallon more financial freedom than theyve had in recent seasons, and he wasted no time spending that money, with mixed results. Jokinen, 31, had a strong season playing on Evgeni Malkins wing in Pittsburgh, scoring 57 points in 81 games, the second-best point total of his career. That situation is not a luxury that Jokinen can count on in Florida where, despite their young talent, they have no one in Malkins class, but Jokinen has shown that he can be a productive contributor with solid possession numbers when playing with skilled players. Slot him alongside young Finn Aleksander Barkov and that has the makings of a solid two-way line and maybe Jokinen isnt likely to be scoring 50-plus points in Florida, where no one scored even 40 points last season, but Jokinen can be a useful player for at least three of the four years for which he signed, at a total cost of $16-million. Then, things got silly. Coming into free agency, there was a natural connection to make between Dave Bolland and Panthers GM Dale Tallon, given their time together in Chicago, but Bolland is a third-line centre so its really hard to justify the kind of money and term that was given. Bolland signed a five-year, $27.5-million contract, and its just flat-out outrageous. Bolland played well with the Maple Leafs last season, at least he did when he was healthy, but hes missed 142 games over the past five seasons and is coming off a season in which he missed 59 games due to a sliced ankle tendon. At his best, Bolland has been productive, scoring more than 35 points three times, and handled a lot of tough assignments in terms of zone starts and quality of competition, but assuming that hes up to that level now, after his latest injury, seems a tad optimistic and paying money and term that is more typical of a top-six forward is just really difficult to digest. For a checking centre, he also hasnt been very good at limiting shots against while killing penalties. Sure, the Panthers are nowhere near the cap now, and maybe they never will be, but its hard to take a team from being also-rans to contenders simply by paying a checking centre a boatload of money. By contrast, Paul Stastny and Thomas Vanek were the only two free agent forwards to come at a higher cap hit and neither one signed for five years. They didnt get as much term as Dave Bolland. MacKenzie, a 33-year-old checking centre, has been a reliable fourth-liner for the Blue Jackets. He had a career-high 237 hits last season and in four seasons with the Blue Jackets, hes won 54.9% of his draws. Signed for three years and $3.9-million, MacKenzie gives the Panthers good depth down the middle and it looks like Bolland and MacKenzie are going to bump prospects like Brandon Pirri and Vince Trocheck down the depth chart, presumably right out of the Top 12 unless they can fit on the wing. Shawn Thornton is a tough guy whose game has been declining in recent seasons. Hes fought 90 times over the past six seasons, but thats about what the 36-year-old (who turns 37 later this month) can do at this point. Whether thats worth more than a million dollars per season or multiple years probably has different answers for teams that arent trying to reach the salary floor. After missing the entire 2012-2013 season, Willie Mitchell had a nice comeback season, playing more than 20 minutes a night, a crucial part of the Kings second Stanley Cup win in the past three seasons. Hes 37, so not the fleetest afoot, but Mitchell has size, strength and adds a shot of reliability to the Panthers defence. In Mitchell and Brian Campbell (at least for now), the Panthers have a couple veterans that could show the way for first overall draft pick Aaron Ekblad and Mitchell, while a decent addition gets a nice payday -- two years, $8.5-million -- to eat some minutes on the Panthers blueline. Backup goaltender Al Montoya is a 29-year-old who posted a .920 save percentage in 28 games with the Jets last season. Trouble is, in the prevous two seasons, his save percentage was .894, so its not really reasonable to expect more than Montoyas career average which is .910. Adding Montoya would figure to mark the end of Dan Ellis time in Florida, though it may be difficult to find a taker for a 34-year-old coming off the worst season of his career. The Florida Panthers spent big money in the summer of 2011, overpaying a bunch of veterans in order to reach the salary floor, and this year has a similar feel to it. The issue for the Panthers is that they are a franchise that has reached the postseason once in the past 13 years; they dont need to overpay free agents as much as they need to build a stable base of talent. With all the money the Panthers spent on July 1, theres not much reason to believe any of those players are going to be long-term answers. 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. Stitched Soccer Jerseys .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. 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"If youre thinking hits, youre not paying attention to wins," Altuve said Sunday after leading the Houston Astros past the Texas Rangers 3-2.MELBOURNE, Australia - Hamza Aldaradrehs dominating four-goal performance against Palestine has given Jordan coach Ray Wilkins a selection dilemma ahead of his teams must-win final group match against Japan.Man of the match Hamza became just the fourth player to score four goals in an Asian Cup match to help Jordan keep its tournament hopes alive with a 5-1 win over Palestine on Friday.Wilkins said Hamza was just the third-choice striker when Jordan started its Asian Cup campaign, behind Odai Al Saify and Ahmad Hayel.Now Hamzas given me a horrible bloody headache that I have to try and sort out, the former England midfielder said. Nevertheless Im delighted for him and Im delighted for the lads as well.Jordan shares second place in Group D with Iraq on three points behind leader Japan on six. Palestine is now eliminated after two losses.We lost because we didnt score in the first half or 25 minutes, Palestine coach Ahmed Al Hassan said. Then (we conceded) two goals in two minutes.Palestine looked the more organized early in the match, but it was Jordan that made the breakthrough in the 33rd minute when midfielder Yousef Ahmad Mohammad gathered a Hamza pass in the area and sent a long, curving strike into the top corner of the net.Hamza scored another just over a minute later when he met an Abdallah Deeb cross in front of goal and slid it inside the far post.The striker scored his second goal in first-half stoppage time when he raced into the box and connected with a Saeed Murjan cross, volleying past Palestine goalkeeper Ramzi Saleh.Hamza completed his hat trick in the 75th minutee when he burst onto a Deeb pass and sent a low shot into the net, then brought up his fourth five minutes later by beating Saleh with a low strike from just outside the box.ddddddddddddI felt the score line was a little bit heavy in our favour if Im perfectly honest. They had a number of chances and Amer Shafi made some very good saves for us, Wilkins said. I think defensively, both sides would not have been as happy as they were offensively.Palestine scored its first-ever Asian Cup goal when midfielder Jaka Hbaisha converted a set piece in the 85th minute to the roars of almost 10,000 Palestine fans in Melbournes rectangular stadium. It plays its final match of the tournament against Iraq on Tuesday in Canberra.For Jordan, preparations will now start for its final group match against tournament favourite Japan in Melbourne.We play in four days time, so immediately we get back Ill take a look at the video and well see the end of the Japanese game and well see where we go from there, Wilkins said.But its back to the drawing board because the game we face now is critical for us. Weve done a good job tonight, but the next game is crucial.Wilkins said he hoped to have Hayel available to play against Japan after he missed Fridays match due to dehydration. Hayel experienced dizziness, nausea and vomited during a protracted attempt to submit a urine sample after Mondays 1-0 loss to Iraq in Brisbane.Hes improved very well indeed ... we got a lot of fluid into him and it looks as though hell be OK to train tomorrow, he said. If hes not good enough, then we wont play him. ' ' '