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Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin have counselled Australia against excessive sledging in the forthcoming Test series against South Africa, querying whether recent efforts to puff chests out detracted more from the teams performances than having any impact on the opposition.The Australia ODI team engaged in numerous verbal battles with South Africa over the course of a 5-0 series defeat on their recent tour, which followed captain Steven Smiths assertion that a quiet team needed to show more energy in the field. While Clarke and Haddin were both known for numerous verbal stoushes over their careers, they agreed that forcing the issue verbally would do more harm than good.Im probably contradicting the way I captained, because I loved that aggressive approach and while there was a line, I always liked the team I captained to head-butt that line, not overstep it but head-butt it. Thats how I thought we played our best cricket, Clarke told ESPNcricinfo. But the more I experienced got I believed it wasnt what you said it was what you did, so your performance wasnt dictated by your mouth.Im probably contradicting myself and my captaincy style because there were a couple of occasions where I did open my big mouth. The reason I did that with James Anderson was to stick up for George Bailey and the Dale Steyn one was sticking up for James Pattinson as well. But I shouldnt have said a word, in both situations there was no need for me to say anything.Clarke noted that numerous players from past eras were particularly talkative on the field because it is what worked for them, not because they felt compelled to do so out of some idealised image of the Australian cricketer. I think you need to do whats comfortable to you, he said. The team I grew up playing in that Australian team, they had Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Shane Warne, these guys liked and enjoyed that verbal competition.That helped them perform. So if that helps you, as long as you dont overstep that mark, then go for your life. Theres a number of players around the world that enjoy that. I remember Kevin Pietersen loved that challenge against Mitchell Johnson or Shane Warne, whomever it was.So if it helps your game, do it, but I dont think you should force it. I think thatd be like me trying to bat like Ricky Ponting. The guys have got to work out what they feel is best for them individually and as a team and go for it. But if it doesnt suit your personality then I wouldnt try to be someone Im not. Haddin expressed the view that teams could make life uncomfortable for opponents without resorting to verbal abuse. Areas like aggressive fielding, running between the wickets and banter among team-mates - sometimes referred to as talking across the batsmen - could have the same effect without becoming a distraction from the primary goal - to win the game.I dont think its about what you say on the field, Haddin said. The best Australian teams Ive been a part of have been able to create an uncomfortable environment for the opposition with your body language, your movements around the game, and creating an atmosphere with each other where the opposition feels like theyre the only two people out there, or he [the batsman] feels like hes stuck out there by himself.Its the environment youre trying to create with your presence. That can be having the most athletic fielding team so the opposition feels uncomfortable there. Its about creating the environment to make the opposition feel they cant play their best. The best way you can do that is to create an environment where the opposition try to do something they dont normally do.Sometimes the best form of that is not to say anything - you wouldnt say anything to a Kevin Pietersen for example because hed dig his heels in and start taking it personally to hit us all around the park. One of the best things for him was to stay away from him.Conversely, Haddin felt that talking too much to opponents invariably led to a change in the power dynamic, as the sledgers revealed more about their own discomfort than those they were targeting. Talking too much to the opposition ... youve got to earn the right to play the way you want to play, Haddin said.Sometimes if youre just focusing on talking and trying to get a reaction it can have a negative effect on your team. The reason you create that uncomfortable environment there is to make the opposition do something they dont want to do. If it starts detracting from what youre trying to do then thats a problem.Asked to provide an example of a player who struck the right balance, Haddin mentioned Andrew Symonds. Andrew was one of the best team men I ever played with, he said. He didnt say a lot to the opposition, but his presence in the covers or when he had the ball he was always up for the contest.You knew if Andrew was there, the way he dived in the field and chased, the tempo he set running between the wickets, the opposition could look at him and says Hang on, the Australians are up for the fight today and that then puts doubt in their change room. Custom Golden Knights T-shirts . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Custom Golden Knights Jersey China .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. http://www.customgoldenknightsjersey.com/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Custom Marc-Andre Fleury Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Wholesale Custom Golden Knights Shirts . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. The nickname for the new Las Vegas franchise will be announced on Tuesday, so its as good a time as any to look at some of the decisions ahead for other teams as they strategize for Junes expansion draft.Teams can either protect 7-3-1 (seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie) or eight skaters and a goalie. Teams also must expose a minimum of four players (two forwards, one defenseman, one goalie) who meet the games-played and contractual requirement.I looked at four teams that will likely have to make decisions, both in terms of where things stand today as well as what might have to happen before the expansion draft. Keep in mind that there will be lots of moving parts between today and June. But lets have some fun with this now:Anaheim DucksMany rival executives point to the Ducks as having to make some interesting decisions before the expansion draft. Thats a compliment, in part because it means they have drafted and developed players so well that they just cant keep everyone.Four Ducks have full no-movement clauses who must be protected: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa. The contract of the veteran Bieksas could be an issue. I think the Ducks are going to need to do something with him in order to protect all the defensemen they want for the expansion draft.If Anaheim protects eight skaters and a goalie, its protection list would look like this: Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler, Rickard Rakell,?Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Josh Manson and John Gibson. (Promising young defensemen Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour are exempt from the expansion draft because they are second-year players on entry-level contracts.)First, the 4-4-1 list I picked would mean the Ducks found a way to get Bieksa to waive his no-move for a trade or to be exposed in the expansion draft. The other option would be to buy out Bieksa, who has one more year left on his deal, at $4 million next season. (Some league executives werent sure if buyouts would be allowed before the expansion draft, but a league source confirmed on Monday that they would be. So that could be interesting on several fronts.)Theres also the Fowler factor. The top-four blue-liner will be one year away from unrestricted free agent status. If the Ducks cant sign him to an extension, I wonder if they wont once again listen to trade offers for him after the season. That would either allow Bieksa to be kept on board in Anaheim or for the Ducks to go 7-3-1 on their protection list.Going with the 4-4-1 plan would mean that good forwards?Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano are among those left exposed for Vegas.No matter how you spin it, the Ducks have some juggling to do between now and next June.Chicago BlackhawksNo team will likely have more players on the leagues protected list than Chicago. Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford?-- count them, eight! -- all have no-movement clauses.Of course, its pretty likely the Blackhawks would have protected those players anyway, right? The reality is that Chicago is in pretty good shape in terms of the expansion draft. And heres a nice break for the Blackhawks: Scoring winger Artemi Panarin is exempt from the expansion draft as a second-year pro, so Chicago doesnt even have to add him to its list. First-year blue-liners Gustav Forsling and Michal Kempny are also exempt, as are all the Blackhawks rookie forwards.The big question mark will be forward Marcus Kruger, who has two more years on his deal after this season at a $3.08 million cap hit. Kruger is a very good penalty killer, yes, but is he a guy Chicago would really protect? Because remember, they have to come up with at least four players to expose who meet the criteria, and Kruger would perhaps fit the bill as one of their two forwards. As it stands, I think?Trevor van Riemsdyk?will be the defenseman left exposed.Regardless of the Kruger decision, the Blackhawks will need to sign and/or trade for another forward or two who meets the exposure criteria (or extend some of their own expiring unrestricted free agents, such as?Andrew Desjardins and/or Jordin Tootoo). They cant currently fill the exposure requirements.Same goes for goalies. Scott Darling doesnt qualify because he will be a UFA on July 1. So either Chicago signs him expressly for that purpose or goes elsewhere to find that exposable goalie. Lots of teams are in the same boat, in terms of not having four players who meet the criteria that they can exposure in the draft. And since there is plenty of time between now and June, and these arent difficult moves, its really just housekeeping for the Blackhawks.Detroit Red WingsThe Red Wings havve only one player with a full no-move, and thats Frans Nielsen?-- so hes automatically on their protection list.dddddddddddd As a second-year player, forward Dylan Larkin is exempt from the expansion draft.I see the Wings going with a 7-3-1 protection list because they have so many forwards eligible for the expansion draft, even with Larkin exempt. Forward?Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, for example, are eligible for the expansion draft as third-year pros, so the Wings have to either protect them or expose them.Detroit has tough choices up front. Lets assume they protect Nielsen, Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan.?That leaves them with one spot, for either Mantha, Athanasiou, Darren Helm or Luke Glendening. Three of those guys will have to be exposed.On defense, its more obvious, where the Wings will protect?Danny DeKeyser?and Niklas Kronwall and then one of the following:?Mike Green,?Alexei Marchenko, Jonathan Ericsson, Xavier Ouellet or?Ryan Sproul.Now, let me throw this out there: If youre the Red Wings, do you consider exposing aging stars Zetterberg or Kronwall? Zetterberg is 36, with four more years on his deal after this season at a $6.08 million cap hit. Kronwall, 35, has two more years at a $4.75 million cap hit. Would Vegas take them? And regardless of that decision, is it too delicate for the Wings to even consider, given what these two legends have done for the franchise??Either way, I predict the Wings will try to beef up their blueline before March 1 -- because thats been a goal for a while anyway -- and trade away a forward or two in doing so, which obviously will influence their expansion-draft decisions.In goal, the Wings must decide whether to protect?Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek. A year ago, that would have seemed like an easy choice, as Howard wasnt on top of his game. But Howard has been terrific this season, which has spiced up that decision. Detroit also has minor-league options, so trading one of its NHL goalies before the expansion draft is another potential route.Montreal CanadiensThe Canadiens have only two players on the NHLs protection list, I believe, in Carey Price and Jeff Petry. So the Habs arent too hamstrung at all by no-move clauses.But Montreal will still have very interesting decisions to make, and Im ready to be a little bold here. Im predicting that the Canadiens will go with a 7-3-1 protection list: pending UFA Alexander Radulov (whom I think theyll re-sign), Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Shea Weber, Nathan Beaulieu, Petry and Price.OK, theres lots to chew on here. First, these decisions mean they would expose two veterans in center:?Tomas Plekanec (one more year at $6 million) and defenseman Alexei Emelin (one more year at $4.1 million).I know it seems crazy to protect unheralded guys such as Danault and Byron over Plekanec, but I also think that teams are going to have to gamble a bit with this process. Would Vegas want to bring in a 34-year-old center in Plekanec making six bills when hes not really producing much offense anymore?Now, Vegas has a minimum cap floor total to reach, so maybe it would take Plekanec. And if so, that would create $6 million in cap room for Montreal, which the Canadiens can use moving forward, for sure.The debate on defense for me was between Beaulieu and Emelin -- and again, I went with the younger, cheaper guy, although Beaulieu will be a restricted free agent and will need a new contract. And who knows, really, what his future is long-term with Montreal? In the meantime, I think the Cup-contending Habs will try to upgrade their top four on defense before March 1. And if they do, it might be that the player acquired needs protecting for the expansion draft, which would mean exposure for both Emelin and Beaulieu. Again, who knows?It should be noted that youngsters Charles Hudon and Jacob De La Rose are among those who are not exempt for the expansion draft because theyre third-year pros. So the Habs must either protect them or expose them (or use them as trade chips this season).Montreal, by the way, doesnt currently have a goalie to expose in the expansion draft since backup Al Montoya will be a UFA on July 1, and minor-leaguers Charlie Lindgren and?Zachary Fucale?are exempt as second-year pros.So either the Habs will extend Montoya just for that reason or redo the contract of veteran farmhand Yann Danis, who is currently Montreals AHL backup but on a minor-league deal. It would be an option to sign him to an NHL deal and expose him. ' ' '