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MINNEAPOLIS -- Like an incomplete pass bouncing untouched on the turf, Bernard Berrians time in Minnesota fell well short of the hopes and expectations he raised following a strong first season with the Vikings. Berrian was waived Tuesday, halfway into his fourth year with the team. He met with coach Leslie Frazier on Monday about his status and had another talk scheduled for Tuesday, following his second healthy scratch in three games. Frazier declined to specify on Sunday after losing to Green Bay why he left Berrian on the inactive list again, but the coach hinted this move was coming. Berrian watched the Oct. 9 game against Arizona on the sideline in street clothes, too, and Frazier said that was for a disciplinary reason, reportedly because he missed two team meetings. The coach said afterward he didnt "foresee any future problems" and that Berrian remained a significant part of the teams offensive plans, but the vote of confidence was conspicuously missing the last two days when Frazier gave vague answers to questions from reporters about Berrians status. Between those benchings, Berrian had his most productive game of the season, with five receptions for 54 yards. But even that night at Chicago, he dropped a crucial third-down pass while running wide open on a slant route, failing to give quarterback Donovan McNabb and the struggling offence an important early spark. Berrian is a vested veteran, so the Vikings must pay him all of his US$1.9 million salary unless another team claims him. He took a pay cut to stay this year, down from $3.9 million, and had the last two seasons of his original contract lopped off. Berrian signed for $16 million guaranteed and made several million more than that after leaving the Bears to join the NFC North rival Vikings in 2008. Missing the deep threat they could rely on for many years with Randy Moss, the Vikings counted on Berrian to stretch the field with his elite speed and diversify their game plans to keep defences from piling up to stop running back Adrian Peterson. But after collecting eight touchdowns, including one punt return for a score, and 964 yards receiving that first season, Berrian went downhill quickly. He was hampered by quadriceps, groin and hamstring injuries. He didnt connect with Brett Favre in 2009 or 2010, and this year was more of the same with McNabb. During interviews with the media, Berrian was often defensive, uncomfortable and terse. He claimed on Monday he believes hes the same player he was in 2008 and that hes faster now than he was then. But the 30-year-old Berrian hasnt scored a touchdown in a regular season or playoff game since Nov. 22, 2009, and only twice in the last two years has he surpassed 30 yards in a game. Devin Aromashodu and Michael Jenkins have assumed Berrians role, running deep routes. Rookie wide receiver Stephen Burton was elevated from the practice squad to take Berrians place on the active roster. Also, defensive end Cedric McKinley was released from the practice squad, leaving two open spots there. Cheap Basketball College Jerseys . James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said. 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An all too brief window of shot suppression and structure after a pair of November blowouts has veered precisely in the opposite direction. The club has surrendered an average of 37 shots in the past six games, outshot by an average of nearly 10 in that span. Theyve scratched out wins on the strength on a powerhouse offence and of late, some fine goaltending, a formula history has proven flawed. Obviously winning is the No. 1 thing, head coach Randy Carlyle said. But we know and history has proven to us, if its proven to anybody, that if it continues, then our chances of having long-term success are going to go down. Last seasons nightmarish finish is all too fresh, the Leafs skating on a house of cards that eventually collapsed in another failed playoff miss. Process, rather than simple results, has been the approach in avoiding a similar fate this time around. That was the mindset after they were pummeled twice in a matter of days last month. They would focus on the details and let the results play out from there. One such detail or process goal as they dubbed it, was holding opponents under 25 shots, something they came close to managing in a trio of late November games. It was all about playing the right way, a mantra players and coaches co-opted last month. But as Carlyle noted Friday, the Leafs have gotten away from doing just that. Detroit peppered James Reimer with 42 shots on Wednesday, controlling the puck almost without exception in a game the Leafs lucked out in a shootout. A night earlier, the Leafs clung nervously to a one-goal lead in the third period, prevailing on the strength of Jonathan Berniers theatrics in a misleading 4-1 win over Calgary. Its not the recipe for success, said 37-year-old sage, Stephane Robidas. You look at teams that are successful, they play really good defensively and thats something we feel we need to correct, those areas of our game that can be better. For Robidas, it starts in those details; taking care of the puck, holding tighter position in the neutral zone and attacking the opposing defence with rigour. The Leafs dug out from the lowest point of their season – that 9-2 thrashing to Nashville at home – by focusing on those habits, subsequently spending less time defending and more time on the attack. The more time we can spend in the offensive zone, the better it is, Robidas said. Thats the best way to defend. The Red Wings, whom the Leafs host again on Saturday, held possession of the puck for more than 70 per cent of the affair at Joe Louis Arena. Only Reimers 41 saves kept it close enough for the visitors to steal in the shootout. However wearisome their play has been most recently, this Leafs group looks different from the one that flamed out last season. For one, they boast a deeper and more versatile lineup, no longer entirely reliant on one line for offence. Among others, Mike Santorelli, Peter Holland, Leo Komarov (still out with a concussion), and Richard Panik have spurred a more balanced attack.dddddddddddd The Leafs trail only Tampa in nightly offence – 3.36 goals per game – managing 17 goals more than they had at this point a year ago. And thats with that aforementioned top unit puttering through the last few weeks at even-strength. We know we can score, thats just a given, said Nazem Kadri, whos emerged with eight points in the past seven games, but its just preventing goals and keeping goals out of our net and having those shot totals decrease a little bit. I think the last couple games have been a little iffy for us as far as the shot department goes, but thats something we can limit, no problem. This Leafs team also has shown to be capable on the penalty kill thus far, boasting a top-10 unit for much for the season. Continued success there alone would help stem some of the damage that gutted the club last year. And unlike that group of a year ago, the goaltending (until just recently) has been just good, but not great. Maybe most notable of all is the awareness of a group that now includes more seasoned types like Robidas, Santorelli and Daniel Winnik. Torontos group last year proved stubborn to Carlyles constant prodding and the need for change, rarely accepting that their flawed process to victory was ill-suited for long-term success. At about this point in December last year, they lost for the eighth time in 10 games at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Kadri brazenly declared afterward that theres lots of time. Fifty games left, theres no reason to panic. Its just something weve got to figure out in the dressing room. They never did. And while Kadri observed that the rising shot totals recently was something we can limit, no problem there was, at the very least, an acceptance of the concern. If less likely to completely implode, theres reason to believe this hot streak will cool some soon. Beyond just the obvious faults of their very recent play is that aforementioned offence, which is unlikely to pop at such a furious pace. The Leafs have scored four goals per game since Nov. 20, scoring on a better percentage of their shots than every team but one this season. Their PDO – which combines shooting percentage and save percentage to measure luck – suggests that such luck will regress some in the future. Continuing to yield nearly 40 shots every night is also an obvious formula for trouble and if improved marginally in the possession game – theyve crept from 30th to 27th overall – the Leafs are still amongst the worst in the league. I dont like to compare last year because we all know what happened in the end, said Carlyle, and thats really what were trying to guard against in this situation. We cant accept whats happening, but well accept the points. Nobody is going to say no we dont want the points but we understand that there is a better and more productive way for us to have long-term success. We have to change some of the things that are happening out there. Carlyle sold that point ahead of a weekend set with the Red Wings and Kings. The proof will be in our reaction, he said. ' ' '