the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - As it turns out, Petra Kvitova isnt the only Czech stud on the womens tour. Enter big-serving Karolina Pliskova. Both the two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova (4th) and Lucie Safarova (16th) are two Czech women who are currently ranked higher than Pliskova, with Safarova as one who will need to watch out. The Louny, Czech Republic, native Pliskova is a 22-year-old riser who quietly reached five, count em five, WTA finals in 2014. She reached her first final of the year (and second of her career) in Pattaya City, Thailand. And en route to her second final of 14, in Nurnberg, Germany, Pliskova notched a career-best victory over world No. 9 German star Angelique Kerber. But her season really took off during the fall Asian swing, highlighted by a runner-up finish in Hong Kong (where she topped another rising star, Monica Puig, in the second round) and satisfying championships in Seoul, Korea, and in Linz, Austria (which, of course, is not in Asia). Pliskova was actually match point down before fighting back to beat Italys Camila Giorgi in the Linz final. And her big win in that marathon match marked her 16th victory in 19 tries. She was hot. Pliskova is also a 10-time champion at the ITF level (the next tour down) and was the 2010 girls champ at the Aussie Open. She can play. Pliskova also enjoyed some Grand Slam success this year, as her victory over another world No. 9, and former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, at the U.S. Open not only matched her career-best victory, but moved her into the third round of a major for the first time in her blossoming career. She captured at least one match win at all four of the Slams this year and went 5-4 at those biggest of tourneys. After appearing as an alternate at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October, Pliskova finished a year-end/career-best No. 23, or 44 places better than where she started 2014. There are always things to improve, she said. My movement isnt that great. And my serve can be up and down sometimes, so well have to practice that a little bit more. Ill have to do some strength conditioning and running, too. Im looking forward to it. You might say that the tattooed one is being hard on herself regarding work on her serve, considering she fired 435 aces, which trailed only Serena Williams (452) on tour this year. Pliskova has some tribal pattern tattoos on her left arm and thigh, not something you see very often on the womens tour. The Top 20 would appear to be a certain landing spot for the 6-foot-1 slugger, whose lefty twin sister Kristyna also plays on the WTA circuit. Karolina Pliskova will crank it back up, like everyone else, in a few weeks. Expect her to continue her climb then. Clark Gillies Jersey . Spezza scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes left and Stephane Da Costa had the other two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Mike Bossy Jersey . This week, they discuss the NCAAs revenue sharing, Don Zimmer, soccer language and Super Bowl 50. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-pat-lafontaine-islanders-jersey/ . Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Matt Martin Jersey . The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers 8-4. Billy Smith Jersey . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox.NEW YORK, N.Y. - The NHL fined Nashville Predators forward James Neal US$2,000 for diving on Wednesday, making him the first player to be fined under a new league initiative to crack down on embellishment.Neal was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for embellishment at 19:39 of the third period of Nashvilles 2-0 loss in San Jose on Saturday.It was Neals second citation for embellishment this season, which triggered the automatic fine.Harsher penalties for diving were announced by the league in September, with the goal to cut down on what was identified as a league-wide problem at a general managers meeting in March.dddddddddddd.Under the new rules, a player will receive a warning for his offence, be fined US$2,000 for his second, $3,000 for his third, $4,000 for his fourth and $5,000 each for his fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth embellishment penalties.His coach will also get fined: $2,000 for the players fourth offence, $3,000 for his fifth, $4,000 for his sixth and $5,000 each for his seventh and eighth. ' ' '