from a badly-broken hand suffered in a wipeout last year at the feared Teahupoo break.ddddddddddddIt was really tricky and tough for me to come back. I almost dropped off tour, he said.I worked really ha

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Keon Hatcher wasnt sure at first what to expect from an unplanned fifth season at Arkansas.However, whatever hesitation the wide receiver had about returning to the Razorbacks -- following a broken left foot that cost him most of last season -- has long since been put behind him.The 6-foot-2, 207-pound receiver has returned to his role as one of the top receiving targets for resurgent No. 17 Arkansas (3-0), a position he hopes to highlight on Saturday against No. 10 Texas A&M (3-0).Keon is definitely the glue that makes that group go, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. Hes a pretty intelligent, gifted wide receiver that, if he continues to play well, will be rewarded for a long time.Hatcher began last season as the unquestioned top receiver for the Razorbacks, a role he affirmed by catching 13 passes for 198 yards in the first two games. It was in that second game against Toledo, though, that Hatcher felt the break in his foot -- forcing him to miss the rest of the season and reevaluate his immediate career plans.Like many of his former teammates, including current Buffalo Bills running back Jonathan Williams, Hatcher expected to try his shot at the NFL after last season.It was a path he decided to put off for a year while rehabilitating from his injury, one that also meant he would be without many of the teammates and friends he began college with.It was very tough at first, Hatcher said. The guys that Im so close with, Sebastian (Tretola), (Williams), those guys, they all left and I had to come back. It was very tough, but it was a blessing.While Hatcher lost many of his closest friends, he returned in a leadership position his coaches wanted him to take advantage of.The first way wide receivers coach Michael Smith made sure Hatcher did just that was by making sure he stayed around his teammates while recovering following surgery.Through that whole process, he was always around, Smith said. The thing I wouldnt let him do is not be around the football team. The guys still have a lot of faith in his words, so its been an easy transition -- if it even was a transition.Hatcher also had to adjust to life with a new starting quarterback -- Austin Allen -- for the first time in three seasons.After an offseason of working together, its an adjustment thats gone just fine so far for both -- with Hatcher second on the Razorbacks in catches (11) and first in receiving yards (204) after three games. That includes a career-best 73-yard catch in Arkansas 42-3 win over Texas State a week ago, a play that capped a three-catch, 96-yard receiving first quarter for the senior.Keons been huge for us this year, just the way he handles his business and teaches the younger guys how to act like a professional, really, Allen said. Hes been through it all, and the way hes playing this year is all about the work hes put in during the summer and its really showing.Last weeks performance is one Hatcher hopes repeat this week against a Texas A&M team thats beaten the Razorbacks in each of Hatchers first four seasons, including the last two in overtime.Its time to get over the hump, Hatcher said. Discount Air Max Shoes . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. 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Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Tahitian surfer Michel Bourez has claimed his first Pipe Masters title, closing out the season by beating American rookie Kanoa Igarashi in the final.It was an unlikely final match-up, with Bourez upsetting world champion John John Florence earlier on Tuesday (AEDT) in the quarter-finals.Igarashi also claimed the massive scalp of 11-time world champion and seven-time Pipe Master winner Kelly Slater with a last-ditch semi-final win.Josh Kerr was the only Australian heat winner on a busy last day of competition when he took out his fourth-round contest.But Kerr was eliminated in the quarter-finals, while former world champion Joel Parkinson and newcomer Ryan Callinan had earlier bowed out in the fifth round.While Florence remains without a Pipe Masters title at his home break on the North Shore, by reaching the quarter-finals at Banzai Pipeline he claimed another win.The newly-crowned world champions result on Tuesday gave him the Hawaiian Triple Crown for the third time.It was also the only title for Bourez this year on the world tour and the first time he has taken out the Pipe Masters.Bourez was in disbeliief after the final, having come back from a badly-broken hand suffered in a wipeout last year at the feared Teahupoo break.ddddddddddddIt was really tricky and tough for me to come back. I almost dropped off tour, he said.I worked really hard at home and tried to stay positive the whole time ... this is huge for me.Bourez, now a three-time winner on the world tour, also relished dispatching Florence in the quarters.John is incredible - Ive lost the Triple Crown twice because of him so that was a little payback, he said.This is the biggest event to win for a surfer and I did it.It was a banner day as well for Igarashi, who starred in his Pipe Masters debut.The 19-year-old is the youngest surfer on the mens tour, but he kept his nerve to beat Slater in their semi.The surfing legend led throughout, before Igarashi nailed a 8.83 wave score in the last 30 seconds to beat him by just 0.5.Its his first time in the Pipe Masters and hes made the final, which is pretty sick, Slater said. ' ' '