HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard is happy again. Jack Doyle Jersey . He says he has put his disappointing and drama-filled season in Los Angeles behind him. He seems ecstatic about joining the Houston Rockets and helping the young team compete for a championship -- and maybe, just maybe, he will return to form as the NBAs most dominant big man. "Im in a better place mentally, physically and spiritually now," Howard said. His delight is evident in watching him interact with his new teammates. He wears a broad smile and fits of laughter are common as he chats with his fellow Rockets. Howard spurned the Lakers to sign an $88 million deal with Houston, joining James Harden and a team that made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009. He wouldnt get into specifics about the problems in his short stint with the Lakers after he was traded there in August 2012 from Orlando as part of a four-team trade. But most agree that he had a strained relationship with Kobe Bryant in a season where he has admitted that he wasnt having fun at times. The Lakers struggled all season and was swept in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers could have offered him a five-year contract worth $118 million, but he chose to make the move to Houston with a four-year deal. "The situation in L.A., what happened is over with," Howard said. "It didnt work out on both sides. So we have to move on. It happens in everyday life. People decide to do different things with their lives. Its just that when youre NBA and at the top of your game everybody wants to know what youre doing." Howard lights up when asked about his new teammates and talks endlessly about the fun theyve had in bonding both on and off the court. When asked if that aspect of the move was the most important to him after last season, his response was telling -- even if he wouldnt specifically address the Lakers. "For any team to be successful you have to have a great environment," he said. "You dont want to work in a bad place." Whether simply perception or reality, his feud with Bryant had some wondering if he was the problem. There were questions if he might mess up the chemistry of a team that made marked improvement in the first year with James Harden on the roster. The Rockets brushed off that notion, and everyone has raved about Howards personality and work ethic. "Dwights a great guy," coach Kevin McHale said. "Plays hard, likes to have fun, so its just been pretty seamless to add him to the team." Harden, who was the fifth-leading scorer in the league last season, rolled his eyes when asked if hed be able to coexist with Howard when Bryant couldnt. "Its my job to make it work," the 24-year-old Harden said. "Hes going to teach me some things that I dont know and Ill teach him some things he doesnt know. Thats the kind of partnership and friendship were going to have in order to be successful. Thats the only way you can be successful is if you be 100 per cent with each other." Howard struggled last season after back surgery. He now knows that he came back too soon and said he never felt like himself. An entire off-season of rehabilitation and training has him feeling like the player he once was. He wasnt as dominant in 2012 as he has been, but still averaged more than 17 points per game and led the league in rebounding with 12.4 an outing. Though hes left L.A., he knows that the glare of the spotlight probably wont dim much with the expectations surrounding the Rockets. Thats OK with him. After last year, hes more equipped to deal with it. "If you get caught up in the good, bad and the ugly, it messes you up as a person and as a player," he said. "I think some of that happened with me last year. I allowed the bad stuff that happened to really sit in my head, push myself away from people in different situations and thats not who I am. So you have to step away from all the negativity or whatever it might be and just focus on the task at hand." Howard is just 27, but hes one of the older players on a Houston team that was the NBAs youngest a year ago. He enjoys the energy of his younger teammates, but joked that when theyd want to play 10 or 12 pickup games in a row, hed beg them to slow down. "Im like, Guys, Im almost pushing 30. I need a break," he said. "But I love it." Howard stayed away from talking Lakers, but he couldnt stop talking about his other former team, the Magic. He referred to Orlando often when discussing why he likes the Rockets and how theyve made him feel at home. Howard specifically talked about the bond he and his Magic teammates had in 2009. "Theyre full of life and after practice everybody is together talking and I just love that feeling," he said of the Rockets. "It reminds me of the team in Orlando when we went to the Finals -- we were always together. Everything that we did was together. It really makes the team better on the floor when you have that great chemistry off the floor." Now, hes made the Rockets contenders after several lean years for the first time since Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were on the roster. "Were goofy. We have fun, but we like to work," Harden said, referring to himself and Howard. "Thats the most important thing. Were not going to be all strict, were young. We like to have fun. When its time to get serious and when its time to win, well be focused." Christine Michael Sr Jersey . To get things started, heres a little photo tour to get you acquainted with all the main characters. Marvin Harrison Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) - Simply put, Lundqvist was brilliant. http://www.coltsfansshop.com/Colts-Reggie-Wayne-Draft-Jersey/ . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night.LONDON, Ont. -- The Guelph Storm want to eliminate the real possibility that the London Knights could come back to haunt them at the Memorial Cup. The Ontario Hockey League champion Storm insist theyre the ones with ample motivation to beat the host Knights on Wednesday, even though Guelph is already assured of a berth in Sundays final with a 2-0 record. Londons motivation doesnt require explanation. At 0-2, they must win the final game of the preliminary round in order to get into a tiebreaker game Thursday. If they dont, the hosts will be eliminated by the same team that knocked them out of the OHL playoffs April 11. A change to the MasterCard Memorial Cup schedule has made the improbable more possible. A day of rest between the semifinal and the final was incorporated into the tournament in 2007. Thats helped teams that have had to take the long way to the title. Twice in the last five years, a team that opened with two losses ran the table to win the Cup: the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2012. Both clubs staved off elimination in their final round-robin game, tiebreaker and semifinal en route to claiming the title. "Teams have done it and I think we have a team thats special like that and is able to achieve things like that," Knights captain Chris Tierney said. "Everyone is confident we can pull it off." Because of that extra day of rest, the bye to the final is not the nearly airtight advantage to winning the Cup it once was. Guelph doesnt want to face London on Sunday in their home rink riding the momentum of three wins in a row, including one against them. "We dont want to let these guys get back in the tournament and see them in the final if they get on a little roll here," Storm forward Zach Mitchell said. "Were going to try and put them out here. We dont want to let them hang around." The Storm relish having the upper hand against the Knights. London won the OHL championship in both 2013 and 2012, while Guelph was eliminated in the first round those years. "Back-to-back champions, you give a lot of beatings," Storm captain Matt Finn said. "The London Knights did that for a couple of years. "To be able to knock them out in the playoffs was great for us. To have a chance to knock them out of the Memorial Cup while theyre hosting is something we want to do because of the history." As explosive as the Storm are with 11 goals in two games, the Knights are also capable of pouring the puck into the net. Darius Leonard Jersey. London and Guelph both scored over 300 goals in the regular season. But the Knights have just two goals in two games and both were scored by defencemen. The Knights have been stopped on two penalty shots and are 0-for-8 on their power play. London has certainly had scoring chances, but havent yet recovered their touch around the net. "We looked at the first two games a little bit and we actually did outchance the teams in both games," forward Max Domi said. "It comes down to the details in terms of finishing around our own net, sharpening up our passes, making better decisions with the puck in terms of getting it in deep and being more disciplined. All that stuff kind of adds up to winning or losing hockey games." Theres also Londons unsettled goaltending situation. Anthony Stolarz was in net for the 1-0 loss to the Val-dOr Foreurs to open the tournament. He allowed three goals in two periods against the Edmonton Oil Kings, before he was replaced by Jake Patterson in a 5-2 loss. Head coach Dale Hunter had yet to inform his goalies Tuesday afternoon which would start in Wednesdays crucial game. Stolarz, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, opened last years Memorial Cup in Saskatoon, but Patterson was in net for the semifinal loss to the eventual champion Halifax Mooseheads. Londons lineup features seven forwards from the team that both lost 2-1 in overtime to host Shawinigan in the 2012 final and suffered last years semifinal loss. "Nobody wants to feel that again," Knights defenceman Zach Bell said. "Everybody wants to be able to play some more junior hockey. They dont want to end it on a bad note." The Storm ousted the Knights in the second round of playoffs in five games. Stolarz didnt play in the series because he was serving an eight-game suspension handed down in the first round. Guelph and London were 3-3 against each other in the regular season. In seven of their 11 meetings so far this season, the winner has scored six or more goals. The Storm are comfortable in the role of villain at Budweiser Gardens and are ready to embrace that again Wednesday. "This city doesnt like us too much, especially after knocking them out in the playoffs," Finn said. "Theyre going to be looking to get one back on us. We dont want to let them back in. Theyre a team that can put the puck in the net. We need to limit their chances offensively and frustrate them." Cheap Nuggets Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Warriors Jerseys Cheap Clippers Jerseys Cheap Lakers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Cheap Mavericks Jerseys Cheap Rockets Jerseys Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Pistons Jerseys Cheap Team USA Basketball Jerseys ' ' '