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MONTREAL – Professional athletes tend to best remember the teams with which they win a championship. A bond is forged for life. A group gets together, slogs through the adversity of a long season, plays its best when the games matter most and shares the glory of its achievement. The 1994 Montreal Expos didnt win the World Series. Nobody did. A players strike saw to that. But theres this lingering feeling among the nearly two-dozen players and coaches who gathered to celebrate their special team that they would have been champions, that the 1994 Expos would have secured a third-consecutive world championship for a Canadian-based team. “I think thats the one thing that sticks around too much,” said Cliff Floyd. “If youd played it out, youd feel better about it. If we lost you still feel better about going and getting the opportunity to play. When you dont play it out you wonder what if wed gotten the opportunity to play in the playoffs.” “We built a special bond in 1994,” said Marquis Grissom, a two-time All-Star in a 17-year career. “It didnt just start in 94, it started in 1990, in 1989-1990 when we were all in spring training trying to make the team. It just festered all the way up to 94 to where we all came together for one common cause and that was to win a World Series. We didnt expect to do anything less.” Championship baseball teams need a lot to go right. They must do the obvious, like outpitching and outhitting and outscoring their opponents on more nights than not. Emerging clubs - that Expos team was still so young - must also experience breakthrough moments. Floyd, a rookie that year who would go on to play 17 seasons in the big leagues and make an All-Star Game, provided such a moment. It was June 27. The Expos were hosting the then-National League East-leading Braves. Floyd blew open a close game with a two-out, three-run home run in the seventh inning off of future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux. Montreal won the game and closed to within a game-and-a-half of the division lead. By the time the strike started a month and a half later, the Expos led the Braves by six games in the standings. “I think about that a lot,” said Floyd. “I think about when I walked up to the plate that day. I think about what was on my mind that day. I just told myself get a good pitch to hit. The type of team we had then, the expectations and what I did in the minor leagues, they were showcased in 94 but I just said if I can just help us go out and win some games, you dont know what games or how important theyre going to be when you do it but that was one of the biggest moments of my life was for me to get that home run.” Felipe Alou pulled the strings from the dugout. Hell be 79 in May and he speaks of the 1994 team like a proud father. He is, in a literal sense, because his son, Moises, was among the clubs many young stars. Charged with cultivating that entire unit, two decades later Alou marveled at the talent the franchise had assembled. “The 1994 club was hard to compare with anybody because we had three closers, we had incredible starting pitching and we had speed, power and defence,” he said. “Not too many teams can say that and they were young. They were getting better.” Surely the manager deserves some credit? “Anytime you have a team like that youre a good coach,” said Alou. Much has been theorized about the breakup of the team in the aftermath of the strike. Larry Walker, a could-be Hall-of-Famer whos yet to be voted in and would like an Expos cap on his plaque if the day comes, didnt want to leave. He signed with Colorado when the strike ended and embarked on a tremendous 10-season run with the Rockies before wrapping up his career in St. Louis. “There wasnt a contract on the table for a lot of us and the game kind of dictates that and you move on,” said Walker. “Its the nature of the game. I didnt leave because I hated anybody or hated the city or anything crazy like that. I know theres been some dumb stuff written about it from what Ive been told but I was just another ballplayer trying to win. We had a winning franchise that got broken up.” Grissom insists a group of top-end players went to ownership to try to persuade the group to keep the young core together. “We took it upon ourselves to try to go upstairs and tell them, hey, well take less money to stay together,” said Grissom. “We dont know how much less that would have been but, really, the strike took effect on us and there wasnt anything we could do. Even if wed taken less money I still dont think we would have stayed here.” There are more gray hairs. In some cases, the bellies are bigger. But the memories came flooding back, the reunion a chance to ask the “what if?” question one more time. If this weekend accomplishes nothing else, its reminded the powers of Major League Baseball that Montreal is a baseball town. Right now theres no ownership and no stadium for the franchise pipe dream but at least one man is hoping that the energy that still surrounds the 1994 Expos will contribute to the momentum to bring a team back to Montreal. “I believe that if we ever get a team back here it will be because of the 1994 team,” said Alou. “That is what the people in these communities, Montreal, Laval, the cities around here, they are holding on to the 1994 club. They believe that this memory, they talk about it. We are here, the 1994 team. Its not the 1993 or the 1995, its the 1994. The people hope and I hope that that club that was so good will help bring baseball back to this city.” Air Max Italia .Y. -- Major League Soccer has agreed to new measures to protect gay players from discrimination and harassment as a result of meetings with New Yorks attorney general. Air Max Outlet Italia . Blatter also told reporters Saturday after meeting with Qatars emir that the decision to award the tournament to the desert nation is "not reversible." There have been calls to move the tournament because of Qatars intense heat. http://www.italiaairmax.it/. Jacobs scored two in the first end, but Jahr briefly took charge with two in the second end and two more in the third. Jacobs, from Sault. Marie, Ont., gave Canada some breathing room, following his big fourth end by adding two more points in the fifth to go up 7-4. Scarpe Nike Air Max Scontate . The Extreme Heat Policy was enacted at Melbourne Park just before 2 p.m. Thursday, suspending all matches on outer courts until the early evening and requiring the closure of the retractable roofs at Rod Laver and Hisense arenas before play could continue on the show courts. Air Max Scontate Online . Bozak and Clarkson suffered the injuries in pre-training camp workouts, according to Carlyle, who said they made "small amounts of improvement" from Friday to Saturday. After the players were deemed less than 100 per cent by doctors after Thursdays medical testing, the Leafs held them out of on-ice testing and are being cautious.KINGSTON, Ont. - Lawson Crouse had hat trick to pace the Kingston Frontenacs to a 5-0 win over the Kitchener Rangers on Friday night in Ontario Hockey League action.Juho Lammikko and Corey Pawley each had a goal and an assist for the Frontenacs (10-9-3). Ryan Kujawinski added three assists to snap their three-game losing streak.Lucas Peressini made 31 saves for the shutout. Dawson Carty started in net for Kitchener (12-6-6), stopping 22-of-27 shots in 40 minutes. Matthew Greenfield played 20 minutes of relief making nine saves.Kingston went 2 for 5 on the power play while the Rangers were scoreless on three chances.---STING 2 ATTACK 1SARNIA, Ont. — Patrick White scored at 7:44 of the third period as the Sting edged Owen Sound.Brandon Lindberg had Sarnias (11-11-2) other goal for its third-straight win.Jeffrey Gilligan found the back of the net on the power play for the Attack (12-7-5).---SPIRIT 4 GREYHOUNDS 3 (SO)SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Artem Artemov had the only goal of the shootout as Saginaw downed the Greyhounds.Connor Brown struck twice for the Spirit (11-12-2) in regulation to snap a three-game losing streak. Dylan Sadowy had the other goal.Bryan Moore, David Miller and Kyle Jenkins responded for Sault Ste. Marie (18-5-1). The loss ended the Greyhounds eight-game winning streak.---OTTERS 3 KNIGHTS 2 (SO)LONDON, Ont. — Nick Betz scored the deciding goal in the shootout as Erie beat the Knights.Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Pettit supplied the rest of the Otters (21-3-1) offence as they won their fifth straight game.Drake Rymsha and Mitchell Marner each had goals for London (15-9-1).---STEELHEADS 3 BULLS 2MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Josh Burnside had the game-winning goal at 6:16 of the third period as the Steelheads edged Belleville.ddddddddddddMichael McLeod and Jimmy Lodge also scored for Mississauga (10-12-1).Chad Heffernan and Matt Luff chipped in for the Bulls (12-12-2), who lost their seventh straight game.---67S 2 PETES 1 (SO) OTTAWA — Brendan Bell and Nathan Todd both had shootout goals as the 67s beat Peterborough.Travis Konecny scored in regulation for Ottawa (12-8-2), which has picked up a point in each of its last eight games.Josh MacDonald responded for the Petes (8-11-4).---STORM 5 WOLVES 3SUDBURY, Ont. — Jason Dickinson had two of Guelphs four first-period goals en route to a win against the Wolves.Tyler Bertuzzi, Pius Suter and Chadd Bauman rounded out the Storm (14-9-1) attack. It was Guelphs four-straight victory.Nathan Pancel struck twice to lead Sudburys (4-20-0) offence. Brody Silk added the other.---ICEDOGS 4 GENERALS 1OSHAWA, Ont. — Carter Verhaeghe had a pair of empty-net goals to help secure Niagaras victory over the Generals.Mikkel Aagaard scored the go-ahead goal for the IceDogs (8-16-0) with Anthony DiFruscia also scoring.Michael Dal Colle supplied the lone goal for Oshawa (19-3-1), which lost for the first time in eight games.---SPITFIRES 5 WHALERS 4WINDSOR, Ont. — Jamie Lewis scored the game-winning goal for the Spitfires in their victory over Plymouth.Logan Brown, Hayden McCool, Aaron Luchuk and Cristiano DiGiacinto supplied the rest of the Windsor (8-15-1) offence. The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Spitfires.Mitch Jones, Francesco Vilardi, Matt Mistele and Sonny Milano found the back of the net for the Whalers (10-13-2).--- ' ' '