Hilfe zu Bildern » provides depth as a third or fourth line forward.

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks cancelled a scheduled meeting between their CEO and city civil rights leaders Wednesday, prompting one of the groups leaders to say his community was greatly offended. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said the meeting with CEO Steve Koonin was called off "at the last minute." He later said he received a call from Hawks spokesman Garin Narain on Tuesday night asking the appointment be postponed. Hutchins said he needed to hear that request from Koonin, and because Koonin didnt personally cancel the meeting, the group of 12 civil rights leaders showed up as planned. When they entered Philips Arena and were told there would be no meeting, Hutchins and the other leaders said they were insulted. "The entire civil rights community, locally and nationally, have been offended, the likes of which we have not seen in this community in decades," Hutchins said. The group asked for the meeting to discuss what Hutchins said was the Hawks "disrespect for people of colour." The request followed racially charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry. In a statement Wednesday, the Hawks asked for patience from the community and said they want to reschedule the meeting. "Koonin postponed todays meeting last night," the Hawks statement said. "This conversation is a priority for us. We are committed to having this meeting and will work with community leaders to reschedule as soon as possible. We ask our community to work with us, be patient with us, and help us heal." The Hawks did not say why the meeting was cancelled. Levenson said Sunday he will sell his majority share of the team. Koonin said Tuesday Ferry has been punished but wont be fired. Hutchins said when he arranged the meeting with Koonin on Monday night, he made it clear the group wanted Ferry to lose his job. "Perhaps one of the reasons why they cancelled the meeting is we made it very clear we were going to demand in our conversations that Danny Ferry be fired or resign," Hutchins said. "There is no way that a man who uses the kind of language and holds the kind of sentiments that he does should be the general manager of the basketball team in the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the cradle of the civil rights movement." Others also have called for Ferry to be fired. Former NBA great Magic Johnson said late Tuesday on his Twitter feed "Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry should step down after making racist statements about NBA player Luol Deng." Deng and Ferry are former Duke players under Mike Krzyzewski, who is coaching the U.S. team at the World Cup. Krzyzewski said he couldnt comment on the controversy involving his former players because he hasnt followed the news. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, serving as an assistant on the U.S. team, defended Deng on Wednesday. "Ive never been around a better person," Thibodeau said. "Hes not only a great basketball player, hes an even better person. Ill stand by Luol any day. Hes good. Hes done a lot of great things in the community. Hes a great human being. Hes a very humble guy. He has a lot of integrity. I cant say enough good things about him. ... It was a privilege for me to be his coach." Thibodeau said he "cant imagine" why Ferry made the statements. Ferry made inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with the Hawks ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free agent. Ferry described Deng as someone who "has a little African in him." Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan, now plays for the Miami Heat. He responded to Ferrys comment on Tuesday by saying, "Im proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just a little." A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to Levenson recommended that Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of Deng to the teams ownership group. Gearons June 12 letter to Levenson said Ferry went on to say, "Not in a bad way, but hes like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back." Added Gearon: "Ferry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat." Cedric Paquette Jersey . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. Chase De Leo and Mathew Dumba responded for the Winterhawks, who suffered just their fourth loss in their last 46 games, a string of success running all the way back to Jan. Victor Hedman Jersey . - Buffalo Bills running back C. http://www.cheaplightningjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-andrej-sustr-jersey . The win puts the final playoff berth in Group A in question. If the Czechs beat Slovakia on Tuesday, they will go through. If they lose, Germany will get the last quarter-final berth. Wholesale Lightning Jerseys . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Cheap Lightning Jerseys Authentic . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome.Jim Rutherford didnt expect to fill all the holes on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster in a day. Good thing, because it didnt happen. Not even close. Still, the new general manager isnt panicking despite losing six players in free agency, including defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and talented winger Jussi Jokinen. Less than a month into the job, Rutherford is taking a pragmatic approach to replenishing the talent around stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The process began Tuesday when the Penguins signed defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, forward Blake Comeau and goaltender Thomas Greiss to one-year deals. The team also retained forward Marcel Goc. Hardly the kind of splashy signings made elsewhere -- Washington spent $67.5 million alone to bring in Orpik and Niskanen -- but Rutherford isnt complaining. "We dont necessarily have to have our team all set for a playoff run in September," he said. Ehrhoff came onto the market over the weekend after the Buffalo Sabres bought out the final seven seasons his 10-year contract. The 31-year-old will make $4 million next season in Pittsburgh. The German-born Ehrhoff has 69 goals and 313 points in 692 games, and Rutherford believes Ehrhoffs skill set will fit in well under new coach Mike Johnston. "He plays a lot of minutes, 23-24 a game, can play right or left defence, power play, penalty kill," Rutherford said. "Hes in great shape and a great team guy. He can really skate and with the kind of team we have, having a guy back there that can skate and move the puck is important." Rutherford is confident the young defencemen in Pittsburghs minor league system will give the Penguins a solid blue linne even without Orpik -- the longest-tenured defenceman in team history -- and Niskanen, who cashed in after a career year.dddddddddddd Still, Rutherford didnt waste a chance to grab Ehrhoff despite the shortness of the deal. "He loved the opportunity to come with the Penguins," Rutherford said. "He just felt that, lets give it a one-year try with a good team and have a chance to win and then well look at it at the end of the season." Comeau provides depth as a third or fourth line forward. The 28-year-old had five goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Greiss, who went 10-8-5 with a 2.29 goals-against average for Phoenix in 2013-14, will compete with Jeff Zatkoff for the backup spot behind Marc-Andre Fleury. The signings give the Penguins depth, but also leave plenty to address going forward, including who is going to play with Malkin after the departure of Jokinen and James Neal. The Penguins traded Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling on Friday, and Jokinen left on Tuesday to sign a four-year deal with the Florida Panthers. Hornqvist is a candidate to fill out a top six spot, and the return of Pascal Dupuis from a knee injury and Beau Bennett from a wrist injury should give the Penguins some options. Rutherford didnt rule out a run at free agent forward Nikolai Kulemin -- who happens to be a good friend of Malkins -- but isnt sure the money will work. "Theres always a chance but it would take someone getting very, very creative to figure out how that contract fits into our cap," Rutherford said. ------ AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, NY contributed to this report. ' ' '