general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League te

CHICAGO -- SK Telecom T1 has been here before; whether its Los Angeles, London, and now Chicago, the two-time World Champions have been surprised by no quarterfinal opponent, no matter where they were and who they facied. But that changed as the group of five walked into the historic Chicago Theatre, where they met Chinas Royal Never Give Up.Much of the audience and analysts thought that the Korean giants are going to slaughter their opponents, walking away unscathed and moving on to Madison Square Garden next week.Those fans were wrong, at least at the onset.Royal Never Give Up came out electric. The arena and the press room, which is filled with Chinese media, lit up as RNG slowly beat SKT T1. The game ended after a 47-minute battle and the Koreans walked away after their first loss to a Chinese team in the tournament.But unlike most teams, SKT T1 was ready to bounce back. With substitute jungler Sungu Blank Kang getting the call to step in, he locked in Zac, the bouncing blob of goo who has seen a lot of play within the past month. On the back of Blank, the rest of SKT T1 came back and put down RNG methodically. Its just par for the course for SK Telecom, says AD carry Bae Bang Jun-sik.Before the game started [against Royal Never Give Up], we were pretty confident that we were going to win, Bang says. But after losing our first game, we gained more confidence because looking at back Game 1, we were really behind in the early game and we were able to catch up and drag it to late game; we had a chance to come back, even though we lost. But after having that Game 1 experience, we thought that if we just made [fewer] mistakes and have a better early game, we can definitely win the whole series.Bangs team took the next two games following their first win, securing their ticket to New York and eliminating Royal Never Give Up, 3-1.For legendary jungler Bae Bengi Seong-ung, who has been with SK Telecom T1 in both of their previous successful Worlds campaigns -- where they took first and won the Summoners Cup and $1 million twice -- he says using Blank has been good for the team, particularly to fill the gaps left by his own weaknesses.I feel that this year, Ive not performed at my best and Ive shown some weaknesses, Bengi says. Blank is able to fill those weaknesses for our team so thats what I think about -- sharing the role. Blanks strength is that hes younger and he has very good mechanics. Secondly, he also communicates really well. Hes more active with talking to the teams and generally a lot of communication amongst the team.While SKT T1 moves on to their third Worlds semifinals, this one comes after one of their arguably shakiest seasons. The team didnt qualify for Worlds normally, they qualified via championship points during their impressive spring campaign, mixed with their placement in summer playoffs.I admit that we werent playing that well during [League Champions Korea] summer, but through enough time of preparation, we were able to once again get back to our original game style, says Bang. Even though we werent playing at our best conditions, I think we are playing okay compared to other teams.Moving forward, the team will meet the winner of rival ROX Tigers and EDward Gaming. For Bang and Bengi, they prefer different opponents. Bang tells ESPN hed like to meet EDward Gaming, because of his friendship with rival AD carry Kim Deft Hyuk-kyu. For Bengi, hed rather meet ROX Tigers, who SKT T1 has played consistently for the last two years and even met in last years Worlds final.I personally want to play against EDward Gaming in the semifinals, Bang explains. One, theres a lot of pressure playing against another Korean team (ROX Tigers). Im personally really good friends with Deft so I think itd be a really good matchup to play against Deft.That friendship with Deft comes as both players (Deft and Bang), compete for the title of best AD carry in the world. Deft, who plays in China but once played for Samsung Galaxy Blue in Korea, has had a dominate year as EDward Gaming went undefeated in Chinas League Pro League. Bang, for the past two seasons, has had great success on SK Telecom.The last time they met, at the Mid-Season Invitational in 2015, Deft got the better of the two as EDward Gaming shocked the world with a victory in Tallahassee, Florida. But Bang says hes not concerned about a potential rematch.Im not afraid of Deft, he says. Even though he might be a bit better than me, it wont be a crucial factor to decide the game just because of the ADC difference. I think the skill gap is really small, but in the end, I think Im better.If they beat EDward Gaming or ROX Tigers, the team will have their third shot at winning a World Championship, previously winning in 2013 and last year in 2015. Both Bang and Bengi are confident they can do it again and hoist their second and third Summoners Cup respectively.We have so much potential to win the Summoners Cup once again, Bang explains. Comparing our performance to other teams, we are never intimidated; we always think were either better or at the same skill level. We always have a chance to win.But can SK Telecom do the unthinkable and make history again?Of course I do, Bengi says. Cheap Warriors Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Cheap Swingman Warriors Jerseys .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseysstore.com/ . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Jacob Evans Jersey . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Warriors Jerseys Authentic .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J.New Zealand look the complete one-day outfit under the inspirational leadership of Brendon McCullum, says Mark Butcher. The Black Caps got their World Cup campaign off to an emphatic start with a 98-run victory over Sri Lanka at Christchurchs Hagley Oval on Saturday.McCullum plundered 65 off 49 balls to set the tone for a dominant batting display, putting on 111 with Martin Guptill for the first wicket before Kane Williamson (57) and Corey Anderson (75 off 46 balls) picked up the big-hitting mantle. A half-century from Corey Anderson helped New Zealand to a 98 run win over Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup. But it was McCullum who caught the eye of former England opener Butcher, who said: He has such self-belief, such self-confidence. The pitch was meant to be a little bit tacky. There had been some rain around, the weather was bad.He just decided OK, there’s a length that I dont want Sri Lanka to bowl and if they bowl it there, Im running at it and attacking it.Lasith Malinga was a little of colour because he’s been out of the game for a long time but McCullum gives the bowlers nightmares because you know that if you let that ball go and it doesn’t go exactly where you want it to, he’s going to punish you.The way he captains the team is fabulous as well - he must instil so much confidence in his players because he always backs them to do the aggressive thing.New Zealand have got the bases covered so well. Anderson is left-arm, medium quick – he perfectly complements the likes of Tim Southee. Watch this stunning one-handed catch from a fan during the Sri Lanka v New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup.dddddddddddd They’ve got the left-armers of Trent Boult, they’ve got off-spin in Nathan McCullum if they choose to pick him. The evergreen Daniel Vettori is bowling brilliantly again.They look the complete outfit at the moment. There were questions, I suppose, about how they would handle being fancied as opposed to being dark horses. On the evidence of their win over Sri Lanka, it isn’t bothering them one bit.Anderson was named man-of-the-match after adding figures of 2-18 to his brutal innings, which featured eight fours and two sixes.Sky Sports pundit Bob Willis hailed his contribution, saying: He’s an extraordinary player. He’s just appeared on the scene out of nowhere. It was only that incredible innings by AB de Villiers in Johannesburg that deprived Anderson of the fastest century in one-day international cricket. There’s nothing to say that he won’t beat that in this competition. He’s a superb all-round cricketer, particularly in the one-day format.You’ve got to remember that New Zealand’s cricketers are all the time in the shadow of the All Blacks rugby team – it’s much more difficult to express yourself as a cricketer.But hats off to Brendon McCullum. You don’t have to think back too far to the disarray that New Zealand were in with Vettori giving up the captaincy and Ross Taylor being given the job and that being taken away from him.So it was a very, very delicate situation when Brendon McCullum came in and tried to galvanise this team with all the distractions of T20 cricket going on around the world.Watch New Zealand take on Scotland in Mondays Group A clash at 10pm on Sky Sports World Cup. Dont miss our live preview show before then, starting at 9pm. ' ' '