BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sabres coach Ron Rolston added NHL experience to his new staff by hiring Joe Sacco on Tuesday. Sacco is a former NHL player who spent the past four seasons as the Colorado Avalanche coach before being fired in April after the team missed the playoffs for a third straight year. Sacco had a 130-134-40 record and was an NHL coach of the year finalist in 2010 after leading the Avalanche to the playoffs in his first season. In May, Sacco coached the U.S. national team to win a bronze medal at the World Championships in Sweden. Rolston described Sacco as an ideal fit because of his coaching experience and familiarity with teaching young players, as he had done with the rebuilding Avalanche. And Rolston had to remain patient in waiting for Sacco, who had been a candidate for at least two NHL head-coaching vacancies. "Once those opportunities passed, it was a situation where -- at that point -- he was obviously a no-brainer to bring in and talk to," Rolston said. "In terms of what we had here and the direction we were going, we thought hed be a perfect fit." The Sabres are in transition by rebuilding through youth. Rolston is part of the teams transformation. He took over as interim coach in February after Lindy Ruff was fired. He was then hired on a full-time basis in May after closing the season with a 15-11-5 record. Saccos hiring fills one of two openings in Buffalo after Rolston fired both bench coaches, James Patrick and Kevyn Adams. Rolston intends to hire one more assistant, while confirming hes retained two assistants, Teppo Numminen and goalie coach Jim Corsi. Rolston and Sacco have ties to USA Hockey, but have never worked together. Sacco was a forward during 13 seasons in the NHL before retiring in 2003. Drafted by the Maple Leafs in 1987, he finished with 213 points (94 goals, 119 assists) in 738 career games split between Toronto, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Washington and Philadelphia. Earlier in the day, Sabres general manager Darcy Regier indicated he wasnt prepared to make a major splash once the NHLs free-agency period opens Friday. He is instead interested in targeting veteran role players who would be able to complement Buffalos young lineup. "Our focus is going to be on supporting this younger group," Regier said. "It means fit. And the fit may be positional, it may be character, it may be to add some scoring." Regier remains noncommital as to whether he intends to trade his two star veterans, goalie Ryan Miller and forward Thomas Vanek. Both players are entering the final years of their contracts, leaving their futures uncertain in Buffalo. "Its incumbent upon me to have a sense of what the marketplace is or re-sign them, versus allowing them to become unrestricted and just have very good assets walk out the door," Regier said. "It would be fair to characterize that Im actively finding out what the marketplace is." ---- NOTES: After an up-and-down rookie season, C Mikhail Grigorenko can expect to play all of next year in Buffalo. Though the 2012 first-round draft pick is still eligible to play at the Canadian junior level, Regier said he intends to have Grigorenko develop with the Sabres. ... Regier said D Alexander Sulzer will become a free agent. ... The Sabres will hold a three-day rookie development camp in Buffalo next week. Air Jordan Retro 12 Wholesale . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Cheap Air Jordan 12 .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. http://www.airjordan12ireland.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Air Jordan 12 Ireland . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Air Jordan 12 Discount . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Carlos Gomez was a struggling outfielder when released by another AL West team just over a month ago. Now he is helping the AL-leading Texas Rangers close in on home-field advantage throughout the postseason.Gomez hit a towering, tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning Wednesday night, giving the Rangers their MLB-best 49th come-from-behind win, 8-5 over the Milwaukee Brewers.We believe in Carlos. We believed in him so much that we brought him not just as an experiment or anything like that, manager Jeff Banister said. Hes showing you exactly just how he can impact the game, and hes put in the work.The 418-foot homer to left was his 13th this season, the second long three-run homer in as many nights -- he had a 444-foot drive on Tuesday. That makes eight homers and 24 RBI in 31 games since joining the Rangers last month after being released by Houston.You see it the last two weeks, see the work Ive been doing, said Gomez, a two-time All-Star with Milwaukee. Work a lot, sooner or later you see a good result.Jeremy Jeffress (1-0), who came to Texas from Milwaukee in an Aug. 1 trade with Jonathan Lucroy, worked the final two innings in relief of Cole Hamels. Jeffress won five days after being reinstated by Major League Baseball from the restricted list following a drunken driving arrest last month and then a three-week stint in an inpatient rehab clinic.AL West champion Texas (94-65) has a 1 1/2-game lead over Boston for the best record in the American League after the Red Sox lost earlier Wednesday even while clinching the AL East title. Former Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a game-ending grand slam to give the New York Yankees a 5-3 win over the Red Sox, who led 3-0 in the ninth.Lucroy reached to start the eighth on a two-base error when the ball ricocheted off the glove of center fielder Hernan Perez.That one was like a knuckleball. It went left to right, and at the last minute moved to the left again, said Perez, playing only his fifth game in center field this season.Delino DeShields came on as a pinch-runner, and after Mitch Moreland walked against Corey Knebel (1-4), he scored the tying run when Elvis Andrus greeted reliever Tyler Thornburg with a single to center.ddddddddddddRougned Odor also homered for the Rangers, his 32nd a two-run shot in the first that snapped an 0-for-22 slide and put Texas up 3-2.Look, hes going to hit. The swing is there, hes one of our main guys, Banister said. But some feel-good for him.SHORT HOPSBrewers second baseman Jonathan Villar hit Cole Hamels first pitch of the game into the stands for his 19th homer, and the Brewers scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-3 lead. ... The Rangers got their 41st win from a reliever, matching the major league record set by the Dodgers in 1953.HAMELS CONSISTENCYHamels, the All-Star lefty expected to start the Rangers playoff opener Oct. 6, allowed five runs (three earned) over seven innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Hamels has thrown 202 2/3 innings, exceeding 200 innings pitched in the regular season for the eighth time in his career, and the seventh year in a row -- which will be the longest active streak in the majors since Chicago White Sox right-hander James Shields (nine) and Seattles Felix Hernandez (eight) will not extend their streaks this season. Hamels has exactly 200 strikeouts , his fifth 200-strikeout season.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: Shin-Soo Choo (fractured left forearm) will return to Texas on Thursday and could play this weekend to determine if hes ready for the playoffs. He played seven innings in right field and made six plate appearances in an instructional league game Wednesday, his third day in a row playing in Arizona. He was 2 for 5 with a two-run homer and a walk.UP NEXTBrewers: Lefty Brent Suter, a Harvard graduate, starts Friday in the series opener at California. Since allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings in an emergency start Aug. 19, Suter has pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings over 12 relief appearances.Rangers: After Texas final day off of the regular season, Yu Darvish (6-5) makes his final start before the playoffs Friday in the opener of a three-game weekend series against Tampa Bay. ' ' '