BARCELONA, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles worsened Friday as his 41-match winning streak at the Barcelona Open ended with a three-set loss to Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. Chuck Foreman Womens Jersey . Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer. Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadnt lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final. The 20th-ranked Almagro converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over his fellow Spaniard on the 11th try. "I had a lot of opportunities in the second set," Nadal said. "I didnt take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him." After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadals streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament. Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match. Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position. Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagros backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadals long return set up the second match point. Nadal hadnt been eliminated this early in back-to-back clay-court tournaments since 2004, when as an 18-year-old he also failed to get past the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Bastad. "This is an important win for my career," said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Santiago Giraldo in Saturdays semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. Earlier, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia overpowered opponents to set up a semifinal meeting. The fourth-seeded Nishikori continued his good run since returning from a groin injury with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia, while the ninth-seeded Gulbis dismissed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis saved all five break points against Gabashvili, who had knocked out the fifth-ranked Ferrer. Adam Thielen Jersey . With the win, the Marlies complete a three-game series sweep of the Admirals and move on to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. T.J. Brennan added an empty netter with less than 25 seconds remaining for his second of the playoffs. Adrian Peterson Jersey . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Randy-moss-vikings-jersey/ . -- Miami Dolphins defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyle defended the management style of coach Joe Philbin in the wake of the teams bullying scandal.The Vancouver Canucks have named former captain Trevor Linden as the teams new president of hockey operations and alternate governor. “Today is a real honour," Linden said. "I came to Vancouver 26 years ago and I have never left. I love this city. It is my home and the Canucks have always been part of my family." "Im passionate about the Canucks and I want to win – just like the Canucks fans do," he added. "I believe Im ready for this challenge. Im passionate about this team and I want to win." Francesco Aquilini, chairman of Canucks Sports and Entertainment offered glowing praise of the captain-turned-president. "We believe in Trevors leadership abilities," he said. "His 20 years of NHL experience including seven as team captain, his role as NHLPA President, community leader and businessman offers a very special skill set; one that will positively shape the direction of this club in the future." Speaking on the succession plan for replacing Mike Gillis, who was dismissed as general manager on Tuesday, Linden said that he has a multitude of options to explore and has already begun looking. "Thats a process that I have to thoroughly evaluate," Linden said when asked about the GM search. "We will do a general manager search from both within and outside our organization." With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Canucks announced that Gillis was fired after the team was officially eliminated from postseason contention. The Canucks were also eliminated in the first round in each of the last two seasons after falling one win short of a Stanley Cup in 2011. "I have a profile of a general manager that I would like," Linden said Wednesday. "Now its about putting a candidate list together. Thats a critical path." He would add that he will operate with "full autonomy" as Canucks president and will make all decisions on hockey operations. Linden also expressed his intention to have a new general manager in place by the 2014 NHL Draft, scheduled for June 27-28 in Philadelphia. Under first-year head coach John Tortorella, they sit 11th in the Western Conference. And as for Tortorellas future with the Canucks, Linden said theres no hurry to decide. "Any sort of coachinng decision will be made in due time, after a thorough evaluation," he said at Wednesdays introductory news conference. Chuck Foreman Jersey. Aquilini elaborated on the need for a new man at the top of the Canucks hockey department. "We came from within one game of winning a Stanley Cup [in 2011], and it was time for a change," he said. Aquilini added that he would not stop short of pointing the finger at his recently-dismissed GM and his current coach. ""Mike (Gillis) hired Tortorella and Im responsible for that and thats why we have a change in direction today," he explained. Linden would not offer up any theories as to what led to the Canucks failure to make the playoffs this season, but pointed to the timing of the decision as beneficial to getting answers. Linden said hed use this coming week to talk to coaches and players and conduct a "thorough review" of the season. "Ill reserve comment until I have more detail," Linden concluded. Gillis came to the organization in April of 2008, taking over for the fired Dave Nonis. He turned a club which had missed out on the postseason in two of the previous three seasons and built them back up into a contender, snagging five straight playoff berths, five Northwest Division titles and two straight Presidents Trophies (2011, 2012). "On behalf of my entire family, I would like to sincerely thank Mike Gillis for his hard work and the many contributions he made on and off the ice during his tenure," said Aquilini in a statement on Tuesday. "The Vancouver Canucks had success under Mikes leadership, and we nearly reached our ultimate goal; but I believe we have reached a point where a change in leadership and new voice is needed. "I also want to thank our fans for their support for the Vancouver Canucks through a difficult and frustrating season," continued Aquilini. "We havent met their expectations or ours. We are committed to bringing the Stanley Cup to Vancouver for our fans and we will continue to do everything possible to reach that goal." Linden played 16 seasons with the Canucks and is the franchise leader in games played. As team captain from 1991 to 1997, he helped lead the Canucks to their second-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup final in 1994. ' ' '