OTTAWA -- The moment Corey Chamblin first started thinking about becoming a CFL head coach came while he was breaking down game film with Jim Barker years ago when the two were with the Calgary Stampeders. They were watching tape during the 2008 Grey Cup when Barker, himself a former coach, was then Calgarys senior vice-president of football operations and player-personnel director. Barker turned to the young assistant and made what Chamblin thought at the time was a terribly bold prediction. "He said, Youll be a better head coach than an assistant coach, and if you dont decide to go to the NFL and you stay in this league, youll definitely be a head coach," Chamblin recalls. "And I was like, Jim, youre crazy. " But Barkers words were prophetic. On Wednesday, Chamblin was named the CFLs coach of the year. The 36-year-old received the Annis Stukus Trophy after leading the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup win on home turf in only his second season with the club. The Riders finished second in the West Division standings with an 11-7 record. They defeated B.C. 29-25 in the conference semifinal before upsetting first-place Calgary -- which posted a league-best 14-4 record -- in the West Division final 35-13. That victory earned Saskatchewan home-field advantage for the Grey Cup game, which was held at Mosaic Stadium. Before a rabid gathering of 44,710, the Riders didnt disappoint, capping their season with an impressive 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kent Austin, Hamiltons head coach/GM, and John Hufnagel, who also holds the same dual post with Calgary, were the award finalists. In his first season with Hamilton, Austin led the Ticats to second in the East Division with a 10-8 record before the club posted playoff wins over Montreal and Toronto. Austin was named the CFLs top coach in 07 after leading the Riders to a Grey Cup title. Hufnagel, who won the award in 2008, worked with Chamblin in Calgary. He said he saw in Chamblin many of the traits that have allowed him to make the transition from a position coach into a winning head coach. "He was very organized but he also had an eye out for the entire program, not just the defensive backs," Hufnagel said. "His vision was far-reaching. "He wanted to put a program together to help make the players transition, once they did make the roster, in finding homes in Calgary and all the type of things that provides the transition, makes it easier for the players. So early on, I knew Corey did have a vision of more than just what was his particular area." Chamblin bounced around the NFL until 2004 before embarking on his coaching career. The native of Birmingham, Ala., played defensive back at Tennessee Tech. After being bypassed in the NFL draft, he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 but was waived before seeing any regular-season action. Chamblin then signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also spent time in Green Bay, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis and played in Germany with the Rhein Fire of the former NFL Europe. His first coaching gig came in 2006 as an assistant at Tennessees Cumberland University. He got his first CFL job a year later as a defensive backs coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Chamblin moved to Calgary and spent three seasons as the Stampeders defensive backs coach -- winning the Grey Cup in 2008 -- before becoming Hamiltons defensive co-ordinator in 2011. The following season, he landed his first head-coaching job with the Roughriders. Chamblin credits Barker, currently the GM of the Toronto Argonauts, with inspiring him to become a head coach. "It was one of those things where I was like, Yeah, Jim, I dont know why youre saying this and I dont believe you. Right now, Im a defensive backs coach, " Chamblin said. "But I took that, and I think that was something that opened my eyes, that you know what, I should start preparing myself, and I did and I got it pretty soon." Patrick Ewing Team USA Jersey . Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, and San Antonio rolled to a 110-82 victory over Milwaukee that kept the Bucks winless in the new year. Tracy McGrady Team USA Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. http://www.teamusaolympicsshop.us/Olympi...ing-Usa-Jersey/. On the day after Billy Horschel posted his 12th straight round in the 60s, won his second straight tournament against a world-class field and picked up an additional $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion, Watson was kicking back in his seat at a Kansas City Royals game. Charles Barkley USA Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. Harrison Barnes USA Jersey . -- Center Max Unger and tight end Zach Miller are both probable for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday against the New York Giants and Percy Harvins recovery continues to be slow.TORONTO - The sweetest sound was the final buzzer. Canada built a four-goal lead on Russia and could taste gold at the world junior championship. What followed was a harrowing struggle just to hold on. We didnt panic or certainly tried not to panic, Sam Reinhart said. There were moments of panic, but by the time Monday night was over, gold medals were hanging around the players necks and they sang along with O Canada while locking arms on the blue-line on home ice at Air Canada Centre after a thrilling 5-4 victory over Russia. It wasnt easy, but Canadas world junior gold-medal drought that dated to 2009 was no more. Were world junior champions, were world champions. Its joy, Connor McDavid said. We were never really under pressure. The media and all the fans mightve been putting that pressure on us, but we were just able to brush it off. Right now this is just absolute joy. Joy was heightened by the emotional twists and turns of this gold-medal game, another classic in the passionate rivalry between Canada and Russia that began with the 1972 Summit Series. This will go down as another unforgettable piece of Canada-Russia history. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience and we took advantage of it, Max Domi said. Its awesome. No matter what happens in our lives, were always going to remember this. Anthony Duclair scored to give Canada the lead and ignite the crowd of 19,004 just 23 seconds in, and Russian starting goaltender Igor Shestyorkin was chased after Nick Paul scored goal No. 2 less than three minutes in. Thanks to goals from McDavid, Domi and Reinhart, Canada proceeded to build a four-goal lead at 5-1, and this looked like it would follow the script of past games in this tournament. This veteran team led by 19-year-old captain Curtis Lazar, a rookie with the Ottawa Senators, had never trailed and cruised into the final. Goal by goal the lead got smaller, and at 5-4 coach Benoit Groulx was forced to use his timeout to settle a rattled team that looked like teenagers for the first time. Thats no question the most adversity weve faced throughout the tournament, Reinhart said. After going undefeated with victories over Slovakia (twice), Finland, Germany, the United States and Denmark, this was the first time Canada was really pushed. Clinging to a one-goal lead from late in the second period and through the third, the onus was on goaltender Zach Fucale, who imploded in the semfinals of this tournament a year ago. This time, Fucale was at his best, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the final period, including two in the final 12 seconds too preserve gold.dddddddddddd To come out in the third period there with all that pressure on his shoulders being the goalie ... he made some huge saves, calmed us down, defenceman Josh Morrissey said. He was just able to calm us down and make some huge saves. The emotional ebb and flow of the building was palpable. Excitement built from the opening two goals and hit another high when Morrissey sprung McDavid for a breakaway goal that will go down as one of the signature moments of the game. When Reinhart deflected Domis shot past Russian backup Ilya Sorokin to make it 5-1, fans — and likely players — could taste gold. What followed was a series of penalties and goals-against that made for a tense atmosphere. Im glad I was on the ice and not in the stands in the second period for a while there, Reinhart said. Groulx said it was clear the Russians were here for a fight and unwilling to wilt under pressure. Dmitri Yudin, Ivan Barbashev, Sergey Tolchinsky and Nikolai Goldobin scored goals to help make this one a classic. The beauty of junior hockey, Lazar said. Back and forth. You think you have it in the bag and they come back. thats what the Russians did. I thought our guys did a great job regrouping and staying calm. The poise of this gold-medal-winning team will be what Canadians remember. As dominant as this group was through the first six games, it had to bust out of its comfort zone to finish the job. What a way to finish a game and win a gold medal, Groulx said. Were very lucky to have these guys playing for us. The closeness of this group of 23 players aged 17 to 19 was never more evident than in the post-game ceremony when Lazar skated over to injured teammate Robby Fabbri and handed him the trophy. Fabbri was lost for the rest of the tournament with a high ankle sprain in the quarter-finals. We all told each other and we locked our arms and we said were doing this for Fabbs, Domi said. By the time it was over, this group made it clear they did this for the country, Hockey Canada, the fans but also for each other. That was part of the joy of victory. At the end, I mean, its a game, Lazar said. Its a game we love, the fans love it, we love it, the refs love it, and were all out here having fun. Notes — Bronze-medal-winning Slovak goaltender Denis Godla was voted tournament MVP by members of the media. Godla stopped 224 of the 242 shots he faced in seven games. ... Joining Godla on the all-tournament team were McDavid, Domi, Reinhart, Morrissey and Swedish defenceman Gustav Forsling. ... The 50/50 draw was a new arena record of $90,150 ' ' '