Tim Bezbatchenko has a plane to catch but he needs to talk to his wife first. The clock says 8pm, but it already feels like 2am to him. He wants to sleep, but tiredness is not the overriding emotion of the moment. It is one of great joy. He has just finished negotiating a deal for his newest job with Major League Soccer in New York. This morning he was in France, at the noted Clairefontaine base, where his primary focus was helping MLS improve their coaching standards with the desire to one day develop a genuine world-class star. Now, with France asleep including his wife and young son, darkness falls on Manhattan and a new chapter of his life has just begun. It is the night of Thursday, September 19, 2013 and tomorrow is his wedding anniversary. Bezbatchenko was hoping to celebrate another year married to the girl he met in college, but now the league is telling him he has to go to Toronto on the next flight available. Eight hours later it is 4am and he is at JFK Airport. By 7:30am, he is at the Air Canada Centre shaking hands with some of his new colleagues and by 10am, he is in front of a media circus for his press conference at BMO Field. He shifts in his chair excitedly when reflecting back to that day and was clearly proud of the message he delivered. "I started talking about the vision and many of the things we put in place that day are still the same. Its the reason behind what we have done.” Focus immediately shifts to now. Its not difficult to understand why. After all, in the last three weeks, he has fired his head coach and most of his coaching staff and watched his team spiral down the Eastern Conference standings and out of a playoff spot. Such turmoil has led some to report another new dawn could soon be on its way at the club, but Bezbatchenko is more than confident he is the man to turn it all around. “I truly believe in this bunch of guys," Bezbatchenko said. "We have put together a very good locker room with great character. This is not a reset, its a continuation of everything we said that day and thats what I want to continue to get across." September 2013 That day, a year ago this week, the 32-year-old American, was literally thrust into the limelight. "That many cameras, that just doesnt happen in other MLS cities," he reflected as we sat down recently. He smiles as he reflects on how he and his family fell in love with Toronto immediately. Labour Day signals a change in the calendar for schools and the weather and it was also a change in the direction for Toronto FC. That day in 2013 was when Tim Leiweke picked up the phone and called Bezbatchenko. "I was in a very comfortable position, but its only calls like that from a visionary like Tim Leiweke that pique your interest. We talked about doing something great, having the opportunity of taking a club that lacked any identity and inconsistency of success, to turn it around and we both knew it wasnt going to be easy, but we knew we would try our hardest to do it as quickly as possible.” The two Tims had formed a relationship when the younger version was working in the MLS office. When David Beckham was with LA Galaxy and needed to arrange a training stint at Tottenham to stay fit, Bezbatchenko was the man who coordinated that for the league. He did the same for Leiweke when Landon Donovan spent time on loan at Everton. "The job was a great opportunity for me. I spoke to people around me, including the commissioner, but the moment we visited Toronto as a family it wasnt a hard decision." Why Not Zlatan? Bezbatchenko was the longest name on the list of candidates, but it wasnt the only one. However, it was the name at the top of Leiwekes list. When convinced he would take the job, Leiweke sat him down and started to pick his brain. "He wanted to know who I would want to sign as a DP, who would be a good target. I remember thinking ‘Wow, he really wants to get into this, so I brought up (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic. Look, I knew he wasnt available and was happy at PSG, but he is someone for me who is the perfect DP and when you think of a traditional DP and what it means in Tims world, because it has been diluted since, Ibra checks all the boxes for what a DP originally meant to be - skill, panache, bigger-than-life mentality, scorer of amazing goals and some controversy, too." Bezbatchenko had no idea if Leiweke even knew of the Swedish striker, but it didnt matter. He was asked to go back and prepare more names for potential DP signings. Bezbatchenko decided to go one better. "I wrote a plan. It included history of TFC, a look at decisions that were emotionally based, a lack of a plan, too many changes with no basis for them and, then, I got analytical with the budget and got into what player values were and should be." This was Bezbatchenkos wheelhouse. At the University of Richmond, he was the star on a college soccer team that was a mid-major in the national championship. He was obsessed with the sport from childhood and still has all of the 1994 World Cup matches on VHS tapes at his parents house. In his senior year, he did his thesis on MLS player wages and whether they were artificially suppressed by looking at how much players were paid proportionate to gate revenue. At the time, he still had a dream to become one of those players himself, but months later he would go undrafted at the 2004 MLS Superdraft. "MLS had contracted to 10 teams, so it was harder to get into and, in my mind, there is that part, but looking back I know I just wasnt good enough, you know?" He went on to play two years in the USL with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, winning the championship, went to law school and worked at an attorney generals office in Virginia where he mastered the anti-trust laws that interlock sports and law so often. "It helped shape me. I saw the DC sniper (John Allen Muhammad) on death row and got to walk and talk to other people on death row and saw a different side of life that keeps perspective on what we are doing here on a day-to-day basis." His law working experience taught him a lot about working under stress, reading people and books. A lot of books. "You have to read a lot at all sorts of hours of the day when people are tired and you cannot miss anything. I learned a lot about professionalism, how to be detail-orientated and it changed the way I approached problems and conflict resolution." MLS Two years later, a job was posted at the MLS player development department for a lawyer, who also had playing experience, and after not getting in as a player, he finally found his role. Immediately, Bezbatchenko cherished his surroundings despite facing challenges. "When I walked in there, back in 2010, there wasnt one PDF file about players contracts. It was all in binders." Six years earlier, as a student, before "Moneyball" was written, he had already put them in a system himself from his house. He was the perfect candidate to move MLS forward. His first assignment was to help expansion cities Vancouver and Portland construct their rosters. Thats when he started to learn how to navigate the rules of MLS, how to build a squad, be budget-compliant and how to sign players. Its also where he got to know a lot about Toronto FC, which helped him prepare the documents that impressed Leiweke so much when he was hired. TFCs representative at MLS HQ to help them finish their deals was Bezbatchenko. He was the key witness to all of the clubs past mistakes. The GM, understandably, is hesitant to critique former employees of TFC, but does clarify what his roles were and how it convinced him that one day he could do the job. “You have to understand that we have to make sure that no one can ever use the league as the reason for their failures, "Bezbatchenko explains. "However, when you are on the phone everyday with different GMs, going through their decision-making and when they start asking you for advice and your opinion, then inevitably, you can calibrate what you think of the game and whether it would actually work, how you would do things differently, and you start to think I could do it, although I never imagined it would come so early!” Project: Defoe Bezbatchenkos reports impressed Leiweke, but when he arrived he knew already that the number one target was Jermain Defoe. “We went over on the trip and it was larger than life for everyone, even Tim (Leweike,)" Bezbatchenko recalled. "No one in MLS has ever gone after a DP like the way we went after Jermain Defoe, except for David Beckham, which was a little different, and it felt great because it was like we were coming in and we were going to get what we want. I got to know Ryan (Nelsen) and Tim really well, wed stay up late and talk soccer. I knew my place. I know how to create a vision and how to get people on board for that. Ryan could speak about the league and wanting to play for us, not going to a club battling relegation. What a big name can do for a club and a business, thats Tim, the whole idea of building a club that is built on a DP super club, he has the blueprint for that.” By next summer, at least two-thirds of these amigos will be gone, but the one remaining believes he is ready to lead with or without Defoe, who he says he wants to keep if he wants to be here. “Tim and I have a roadmap for success and we will work on that until he leaves, but I firmly believe now, a year in, that I can execute that," he said. "Personally, I feel I have connected with Jermain and his family. There is a relationship beyond the locker room and I know, despite all the reports, we want him on the pitch for us. We are firmly set on making the playoffs, we made that commitment to the fans and it wasnt about taking the money. This year, he has been frustrated and unsettled because of his injuries, but we have his flight booked to return and he is ready to come back.” Having Defoe and Michael Bradley at the club meant expectations have increased inside it. Bezbatchenko admits that such players made a difference at how he monitored everything. On a recent conference call about Defoe he said: "We have a committed player. He was frustrated with the course of our team, no doubt. That was one of the reason we made the (coaching) change.” He told me: “Throughout the season, Michael and Jermain held me and everyone to a higher standard. Its a measurable – you have to evaluate your work. Its up to me to measure our progress and one of them is always ‘Are the players responding and how are they responding? I attended training and talked to the players and that, along with a number of factors, primarily results, led to the change.” It is no secret that former head coach Ryan Nelsen had a good relationship with Defoe, but Bezbatchenko said he spoke to the English striker for 30 minutes this week about returning and the former Tottenham man never brought up Nelsens departure in the conversation. Despite the way their professional relationship ended, Bezbatchenko enjoyed working with Nelsen, even though they werent always on the same page. “We worked hard talking about players constantly and about what our needs were," said Bezbatchenko. "There would be different ways that we would go about trades. One can be the coaching staff saying we dont need this player, so I call around and see what his value is, whether he is an asset, and other times, I would offer opportunities to coaches by knowing other GMs and what they need. We all have to be on board on all these deals. I know as a GM, I am not the coach, so I am not going to tell them how to play or do a coaching session, but long-term, my vision has to be consistent with my coach and there were times, when looking at potential deals, that we werent always on the same page and so it didnt get done. Thats why I brought Greg (Vanney) in, because we share the same vision, starting from a youth standpoint and how wed like our first team to play.” And with that Bezbatchenko leaves the interview because he has a reservation at a nearby restaurant. “Early anniversary dinner with the wife?” I ask. “No, I have a meeting with the clubs supporters group, the Red Patch Boys,” he smiles. Make no mistake, after a year on the job, this is now Tim Bezbatchenkos Toronto FC. Cheap Jordan 11 Gym Red . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue. Real Jordans For Cheap Prices . 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Cheap Authentic Air Jordan Retro 11 For Sale . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday.Tyler Seguin thought the Dallas Stars couldve been a contender. They still might be, but itll take some work.More than a quarter of the way through the regular season, the Stars are 11th in the competitive Western Conference and five points back of a playoff spot. Along with the successes of the Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens, the Stars struggles have been among the biggest surprises in the NHL so far.Weve lost games we probably shouldve won, general manager Jim Nill said recently. But its that old analogy: When you dig a hole, it takes more dirt to fill it in. Were finding more dirt right now.Seguin said before training camp that Dallas was ready to contend with the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, the top teams in the West. A trip to the playoffs last season, even though it ended in the first round at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks, infused plenty of belief in the Stars, and off-season additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky added to that.(Being a contender is) something earned more than just given, and I think we did that last year, Seguin said in September. But thats one year. We want to be a consistent team.Consistent, the Stars have not been. Coming into Tuesday nights game at the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas is 3-4-1 in its past eight games.Starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen (.905 save percentage) hasnt played well, and backup Anders Lindback — whose struggles in replacing Ben Bishop for the Tampa Bay Lightning last spring all but handed a first-round victory to the Canadiens — has been worse with a goals-against average of 4.63 and save percentage of .861.A young, unproven defence hasnt helped, so Nill changed up his blue-line by trading veteran Sergei Gonchar to Montreal for forward Travis Moen and Brenden Dillon to San Jose for Jason Demers. Kevin Connauton was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and call-up John Klingberg (three goals and five assists in 10 games) has been better than advertised.Up front, the Stars are without winger Valeri Nichushkin until March after he had hip surgery. And Hemsky still hasnt panned out with just a goal and five assists in 23 games.Weve had a lot of guys on our team (who) just havent clicked, Nill said.The opposite is true for the Predators, whose 34 points through 23 games were tied for tops in the league pending the Lightnings game Monday night at the New York Rangers. Nashville has gotten superb goaltending from Pekka Rinne, who leads all starters with a 1.82 GAA and .933 save percentage.Theres no question that psychologically you probably play a little bit different with Pekka in net than we did last year for 51 games that he wasnt there, GM David Poile said. Its a good difference and its a big difference and its one of the huge factors of why were winning more games than were losing right now.Rinne missed much of last season with a hip injury and an infection.dddddddddddd He returned for the end of 2013-14 and starred for Finland at the world championships.Now that hes in a groove again on a winning team, Rinne said, Its great to be back.The Predators are back in contention under new coach Peter Laviolette thanks in large part to some new additions. Twenty-year-old Filip Forsberg is Nashvilles leading scorer, and his linemates — free-agent signee Mike Ribeiro and trade acquisition James Neal — have produced plenty, as well.We believe that we have a good team here and we can compete against any team, Ribeiro said. Obviously we have one of the top goalies, the defence corps, and if we can play well defensively and be able to score two to three goals, it gives you a chance to win with the goalie that we have.Goaltending has been crucial to the early success of three Canadian teams: Ryan Millers Canucks, Jonas Hillers Flames and Carey Prices Canadiens.Miller (2.42, .911) has stabilized the position in Vancouver after a few years of drama surrounding Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo. After shutting out Columbus last week, Miller said hes still building the right kind of game to play with this team.So is Hiller, signed to be the Flames starter after getting pushed out by younger depth in Anaheim. He and Karri Ramo have been excellent in Calgary, and defensive scoring has gotten GM Brad Trelivings team into a playoff spot in the early going.Early on it was our goaltender making a bunch of saves and our defence scoring, Treliving said. We needed more than that to have sustained success. Weve got a lot of season. Were encouraged of how were playing and where we are, but we theres a lot to clean up and a lot to get better in. For me its encouraging that were having some success.Coach Bob Hartley is up there with Laviolette among early Jack Adams Award candidates, but Treliving didnt want to comment on a possible extension. This was supposed to be another rebuilding year for the Flames, which also means they wont be hard-core buyers at the trade deadline, even if this kind of winning continues.Were still looking at this as taking a long-term view, Treliving said. Were not going to give up young assets, long-term assets for something thats going to help us for two weeks.Montreal GM Marc Bergevin has already been making moves, specifically to add depth on defence and free up cap space in 2015-16. In addition to turning two more years of Moen into one of Gonchar, Bergevin sent Rene Bourque and his contract to Anaheim for Bryan Allen and his expiring one.Second in the Atlantic Division to the Lightning going into Mondays action, the Canadiens have relied on Price (2.34, .922) in a major way.Obviously goaltendings been very good, Bergevin said. Overall I think our compete levels been there most of the year, and when you compete and you have good goaltending, youll win your share of games.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '