CHICAGO - Whether hes out on the town or simply checking messages, general manager Rick Hahn can sense the excitement and optimism surrounding the Chicago White Sox. Cheap Shoes Black Friday .The voice mails in the middle of the night have changed in tenor, which is nice, he joked Saturday at the teams fan convention. Thank you.Its been a big off-season on both sides of the town with the Cubs and White Sox making a series of moves that have their fans believing years of losing are just about over.The White Sox think theyre in position to compete for the AL Central championship after a dizzying off-season in which they made key additions to their lineup, rotation and bullpen.Now, there is a decidedly different vibe. While Hahn insisted the work is not finished, what was done is extensive.Chicago added some left-handed pop by signing Adam LaRoche and bolstered its rotation by trading for right-hander Jeff Samardzija with one year left on his contract.The White Sox also signed closer David Robertson and outfielder Melky Cabrera, along with reliever Zach Duke. With ace Chris Sale and AL Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu back, hopes suddenly are soaring around a team that finished fourth in the division at 73-89 last season after winning just 63 games in 2013.Everybody cant have a $200 million payroll, manager Robin Ventura said. You have to be able to be in that transition. You know youre going to take your lumps. We also knew there would be a point in time where were going to be aggressive and go out and fill some needs. The last couple years were tough. However, that has gotten us to this point.Where they go from here still remains to be seen. But the White Sox at least made their intentions clear this off-season. And the questions from fans were nowhere near as testy as they were during last years session with Hahn and Ventura.They were lighter. They were specific about the roster.One fan asked if the White Sox were maxed out payroll-wise and if they might try to sign James Shields, a 14-game winner for World Series runner-up Kansas City last season.Vince Coleman is your only news right now, Hahn said, referring to his announcement moments earlier that the White Sox hired the six-time NL stolen base champ as baserunning instructor. Are we maxed out? Lets put it this way: Ive gone back to that well a few times and Ive gotten yeses each time.This is my 15th season with the club. Every time weve been in position to contend and missing a piece come June or July and weve gone with a sensible acquisition, the expenditures been improved. Ive been told a target. I know where we are vis-a-vis that target. I (should say its) the third target since Ive moved past the first two.Hahn recalled chairman Jerry Reinsdorf giving the green light to kick the reconstruction into a higher gear during three days of meetings with team executives, the manager and pitching coach Don Cooper. Shortly after that, Hahn said he contacted Oakland about Samardzija — a White Sox fan growing up near Chicago in Indiana who later played football at Notre Dame and pitched for the Cubs.He thought that trade would be completed during the general managers meetings. It wasnt finalized until the winter meetings. Hahn said he hated to give up infielder Marcus Semien in that deal, but it was a price he had to play to add an All-Star between Sale and Jose Quintana in the rotation.About the same time that trade went down, the White Sox agreed to a $46 million, four-year contract with Robertson. Hahn said they were not the highest bidder for him.He also said Abreu was onboard with the LaRoche signing right from the start even though it meant bringing in another first baseman, a Gold Glove winner with Washington in 2012. Hahn said he discussed the possibility with Abreu before that deal was finalized.Within 45 seconds of me laying it out, hes like I got it, I got it. Yeah, absolutely. Makes us better, do it, makes us better. What are we gonna do about the pitching? Hahn said. Discount Shoes Black Friday . The motion to expand the stadiums capacity passed through by a count of 39-3, with Toronto mayor Rob Ford being among those in opposition. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . - This win was more the New Jersey Devils style.The Minnesota Wild surprised the heavily-favored Chicago Blackhawks with a shutout victory in Game 3. The Wild hope to repeat that success and tie the Western Conference semifinals at two games apiece when they host the defending Stanley Cup champions in Fridays Game 4 from Xcel Energy Center. Watch the game on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. After losing the first two games of this best-of-seven set in Chicago by a combined 9-3 margin, Minnesota answered with Tuesdays 4-0 victory on home ice. Game 3 was scoreless after 40 minutes, but the Wild rode a strong third period to their first win of the series. Minnesota was able to get in the win column thanks to third-period goals from Mikael Granlund -- who scored twice -- Zach Parise and Erik Haula. Ilya Bryzgalov also made 19 saves for his first playoff shutout in eight years. "Happy to get the win and happy for a lot of our guys," said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. "Whether its Bryz, whether its our big guys, they all did well tonight and its good to see. Now we need to build on this and even the series." Minnesota is in the second round of the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history. The club made it to the Western Conference finals in 2003, then lost its next three postseason series before downing Colorado in seven games in this springs opening round. The Wild have won three straight home games and are 4-1 as the host this postseason. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, hope to bounce back in Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series. A victory tonight for Chicago would give the club a chance to close the set out Sunday on home ice. Corey Crawford gave up three goals on 17 shots for the Blackhawks, who had won six straight games before Tuesdays setback. Chicago had been perfect since falling behind 2-0 to St. Louis in the opening round. "I didnt mind our first 40 minutes, but when they got that goal to start the third it got the crowd electrified," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. Buy Shoes Black Friday. "We played the right way but theyre as tight a defensive team as were going to play here. Chances are going to be low and we have to work with that." The game was scoreless going into the third, but the Wild struck quickly to take a 1-0 lead. Haula scored off a nice saucer pass from Justin Fontaine at 1:41 of the third. Granlund scored his first goal less than three minutes later. The score stayed 2-0 until Parise tallied on the power play with 2:35 left. Granlund followed with an empty-netter with 1:17 remaining to seal the victory. "It was a tough game because were playing a really good team," said Granlund. "After the first goal things seemed to open up a bit. Its a new series again. Well enjoy this and come back ready for Friday." Bryzgalov only had to make four saves in the third for his fourth playoff shutout and first since May 7, 2006 with Anaheim. Minnesota expects to get Matt Cooke back for Game 4 as the controversial forward has completed a seven-game suspension for delivering a knee-on-knee hit against Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie in Game 3 of the opening-round series. Cooke had one assists in three games before getting punished for the hit, which knocked Barrie out for the remainder of the playoffs. In injury news for Chicago, center Andrew Shaw has missed two straight contests after exiting Game 1 with a lower-body injury and will sit out Friday as well. Jeremy Morin replaced Shaw in the lineup for Game 2, but was a healthy scratch on Tuesday when Brandon Bollig skated in his place. Defenseman Nick Leddy was a healthy scratch in Game 3 when veteran Sheldon Brookbank took his place in the lineup, but Leddy will be back on the ice Friday. ' ' '