Continuing what was started yesterday, here are thumbs up and down to certain teams and individuals in the NHLs Western Conference, whose play should make them and their fans feel good and bad. Some choices arent so obvious, while others are. Thumbs up to the feel-good team(s) in the West - to avoid angry feedback from two of the three Canadian cities, and because it is almost a dead heat, those teams are the Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames. If forced to rank them, Ill do so in that order. The Canucks get the highest marks because they are a new team from president Trevor Linden to general manager Jim Benning to coach Willie Desjardins to forward Bo Horvat - rookies at every level. There should have been a learning curve, but, for the most part, none was evident. The Jets are in a fight for a playoff spot, and a chance to win the first playoff game in the history of the franchise that began in Atlanta in 1999 would represent obvious success in Winnipegs fourth year. Coach Paul Maurice aims higher, Im sure, and at their best this season, the Jets allow him to do that. The Flames seemed on the verge of collapse until their unexpected comeback win at Los Angeles recently. Known forevermore as the Johnny Hockey Hat Trick game, it reminded the rest of the West not to write off Calgary. The obvious feel-good team in the West? The Nashville Predators. The team that couldnt score can score. The team that could always defend can still defend. Thumbs up to the feel-good player in the West - St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko. He doesnt just score goals, he scores Sportscentre goals. Tarasenko hardly came from nowhere to reach this seasons success - he was a first-round draft selection in 2010 and he scored 21 times last season, but this is different. Or the same, if you will. Tarasenko has matched last seasons goal total already. One note of caution: Tarasenko was at his best when Jaden Schwartz was his linemate. Schwartzs absence was felt almost immediately when he left the lineup with a foot injury. The obvious feel-good choice? Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators. The NHLs highest-scoring rookie is also the leagues plus-minus co-leader. Feel-good indeed for the Predators, quite the opposite for the team that gave up on Forsberg much too soo - the Washington Capitals. Thumbs down to the feel-bad team in the West. Lets just skip to the obvious choice, shall we? And past the obvious choice, so we dont have to dwell on the Edmonton Oilers. You can only feel so bad for so long. The other obvious choice is Colorado, or maybe Arizona, or Dallas, or Minnesota. Many feel-good teams naturally equals many feel-bad teams. Thumbs down to the feel-bad player(s) in the West, Oilers notwithstanding. The choice is Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks. Similar to yesterdays choice in the East, David Krejci, Sharp is a big scorer on a contending team who hasnt played often enough or well enough to score big this season. Unlike Krejci, Sharps difficult season has not hampered his team. And it says something about the Blackhawks when they can see their top goal scorer of last season click only five times and still contend for the league lead. Vince Carter Jersey . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance. OG Anunoby Jersey .Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90 on Tuesday night.Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters. https://www.cheapraptors.com/343a-muggsy-bogues-jersey-raptors.html .C. -- Eric Staal kept his focus after his apparent breakaway goal was waived off early in the third period. Mark Jackson Jersey . They all do actually — Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 22, 2014There is no confirmation that the date is actually happening, but that didnt stop Embiid from getting dressed up. Fresh cut..... Getting ready for dinner http://t.co/NNIfKyZQzx — Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 23, 2014 Almost 930.. Toronto Raptors Store . "Youre next." Hardly. Iguodala tormented his former team with a game better than any he ever played in eight seasons with the 76ers.HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard is happy and healthy in Houston, and coach Kevin McHale is pleased with how his superstar centre has played so far this season. Howard scored 23 points, James Harden and Chandler Parsons each had 19 and the Rockets used a big third-quarter run to pull away for a 109-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. "Hes just got a nice rhythm," McHale said of Howard. "When he goes fast there is a reason to go fast. When he goes slow, hes setting guys up. Basketball is such a game of rhythm and hes in a nice flow right now." Howard joined the Rockets in July after one tumultuous season with the Lakers. He said hes feeling good, but has been spending extra time after practice working on his post moves in an attempt to improve. "I love it here," he said. "Its a great place to be. Were having some early success, but were not happy with where were at. We want to continue to get better. We dont want to get satisfied." The Rockets are 17-9 and in second place in the Southwest Division behind San Antonio. The Bulls trailed by three with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third before their offence went cold. Houston took advantage of the scoring drought, using a 15-1 spurt to make it 83-66 entering the final period. "That was tremendous," Harden said. "Weve been striking out these last couple of games in closing quarters and Coach has been preaching to us to make sure we go on a little run to close every quarter out. Tonight we did it and weve got to be consistent with that." Chicago missed six shots and had five turnovers in that decisive stretch, while Omri Casspi scored seven points to power Houstons offence. The Rockets picked up the victory in the return of McHale, who had missed the previous three games following the death of his mother. Jimmy Butlers 20 points tied his season high and led the Bulls, who have dropped three in a row and 12 of 15. "Were losing, so mentally its tough," Chicagos Joakim Noah said. "When you lose, its not fun but we have to keep battling. The games keep coming and nnobody feels sorry for us and we cant feel sorry for ourselves.dddddddddddd" Harden started despite spraining his left ankle Sunday night. He had scored at least 25 points in five consecutive games. Harden said he got stepped on again on Wednesday night and was very sore after the game. He figures hell feel worse on Thursday. "Probably," he said. "I try not to think about it. Well wait until tomorrow and see how it feels." Howard had nine rebounds and Harden had six assists and three steals. Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich missed his third consecutive game because of back stiffness. D.J. Augustin, signed on Friday, made his first start for Chicago in Hinrichs place. He finished with eight points and nine assists. Luol Deng scored 18 points for Chicago. Carlos Boozer had 17 and Taj Gibson added 14. "At the end of the day it comes down to the fact that we have to get guys healthy," Boozer said. "It seems like we are always missing somebody, but well do the best we can to fight through it." With 11 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Deng scored Chicagos first basket since there were more than 5 minutes left in the third. Casspi scored four points soon after that to extend Houstons lead to 89-70. Patrick Beverley had 15 points, Casspi added 11 and Terrence Jones had a career-high six assists for Houston. The Bulls used a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 68-65 with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the third. Augustin scored five points in that stretch and Butler added a 3-pointer. Casspi ended the run with a 3 and Howard tacked on a dunk a minute after that to start Houstons big surge. Deng got Chicago within eight points late in the second quarter, but Beverley extended Houstons lead to 57-46 at halftime when Deng fell down and he sank an off-balance 3 at the buzzer. Officials at first said it didnt count, but a review showed he got it off in time. NOTES: Houston PG Jeremy Lin missed his second straight game with back spasms. ... Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he doesnt expect Hinrich to be out for an extended period. ' ' '