TORONTO - The Toronto Marlies have hired Ben Simon as an assistant coach. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 .Simon will work with head coach Gord Dineen and associate coach Derek King behind the bench of the Toronto Maple Leafs American Hockey League affiliate for the 2014-15 season.Simon, 36, served as head coach of the ECHLs Cincinnati Cyclones last season. Under his direction, Cincinnati finished the regular season fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-23-4-4.The Shaker Heights, Ohio native led the Cyclones to the Kelly Cup Final where they were defeated by the Alaska Aces in six games.Prior to joining Cincinnati at the start of the 2013-14 season, Simon served as an assistant coach for two seasons with the AHLs Rockford IceHogs.As a rookie head coach in 2010-11, Simon led the Sheffield Steelers to the Elite Ice Hockey League Championship in England.During his playing career, Simon played in 81 NHL games, registering four points and 47 penalty minutes with the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets.Simon was originally drafted in the fifth round, 110th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 draft.Simon also appeared in 44 regular-season games with the Marlies in 2009-10, collecting eight points and 51 penalty minutes. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Discount Shoes Black Friday . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week. http://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15.PORTLAND, Ore. -- There was some shouting going on in the Trail Blazers locker room after they fell behind by 10 points at halftime to the Rockets. Up 2-1 in their first playoff series since 2011, the Blazers didnt want to mess up Game 4, especially in front of their hometown fans. "In the words of Chuck -- Charles Barkley -- we were playing like wussies," Portland guard Wesley Matthews said. "That was the message to each other." Whatever was said, the Trail Blazers pulled out of their funk and went on to defeat the Rockets 123-120 in overtime Sunday night to take a 3-1 advantage in the series that moves to Houston on Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the first win for the home team in the series, while Nicolas Batum added 25 points. It was the third game in the series decided in overtime. The Blazers havent advanced out of the first round since 2000. Portland also hasnt held a 3-1 advantage in a series since the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against Utah, which the Blazers won 4-1. James Harden had 28 points and Dwight Howard added 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets. "The playoffs are a grind," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Its a different game than the regular season. Youve got to be built for the grind." Portland trailed by as many as 11 points, but rallied in the fourth quarter. Mo Williams 3-pointer put the Blazers in front 105-104 with 18.9 seconds left. Dorell Wright missed the first of two free throws, making it 106-104 with 8.3 seconds to go. Howard dunked off a feed from Harden with 3.6 seconds left to tie it and Williams missed a 3 at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Chandler Parsons was hit with a flagrant foul on Aldridge, who made both free throws to give the Blazers the lead to start off OT. Batum scooped up a layup before adding a 3-pointer and Damian Lillard made a layup to put Portland ahead 117-110. Houston rookie Troy Daniels nailed a 3 and Harden landed a jumper to narrow it to 119-117, but Lillard made free throws to extend the lead to four points with 17 seconds left. Aldridge missed a pair of free throws and Daniels was fouled by Wright on a 3-point attempt and made all three shots to narrow it to 121-120 with 8.9 seconds left. After a Portland timeout, Mo Williams made free throws for the final margin. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping. "It was tough," Aldridge said. "I thought it was a gut-check by everybody. I thought our guys took on the challenge." Aldridge opened Portlands return to the playoffs with a franchise post-season-best 46 points in the Blazers 122-120 overtime victory in Game 1, then followed it up with 43 points in the 112-105 win. The Rockets won the third, 121-116 in overtime on Friday night at the Moda Center. McHale again started Omer Asik in place of Terrence Jones. Asik had success against Aldridge in Game 3, helping to hold Portlands All-Star to 23 points. The two teams played closely for most of the first quarter, but the Rockets took a 29-22 lead after an 11-4 run highlighted by two straight 3-pointers from Daniels. Daniels, who spent time in the D-League this season and only made his NBA debut on March. 5, was the unlikely hero of Game 3 when he drained a 3 with 11.9 seconds to go in OT that proved to be the winner. Houston led 61-51 at the half, led by Parsons with 19 points. The Rockets maintained the lead through the third quarter and Hardens jumper from the top of the key stretched it to 92-84 with 8:31 left. Portland got within 94-91 on Batums layup with 6:35 left. Lillards 3-pointer tied it at 94, but Harden answered with his 3 for the Rockets. Aldridge made a layup to put Portland up 102-97, but Howard made three of four free throws to narrow it before making two big blocks. Harden hit free throws to tie it at 102 with 1:11 left. Aldridge missed a layup and Harden hit another two foul shots to give the Rockets back the lead. Parsons finished with 26 points for the Rockets. "Everything you do is magnified and all the little things that were not doing cost you ... and were down 1-3 because of it," Parsons said. NOTES: Houston guard Patrick Beverly did not participate in the shootaround because he wasnt feeling well, but he started the game. .... NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was at the game but he was not available to the media. Silver is facing a storm of controversy surrounding racist comments purportedly made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. ... The Blazers all wore black socks in solidarity with the Clippers. "I wanted to do something to support our brothers," Aldridge said. ... It was the Blazers 100th overall playoff victory. ' ' '