EASTBOURNE, England -- Top-seeded Richard Gasquet celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday by beating Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Aegon International. The Frenchman, who won the event in 2005 and 2006 when it was held in Nottingham, has struggled with a back injury and is playing only his third tournament since losing to Roger Federer in Miami in March. After missing the entire clay-court season leading into the French Open, he reached the third round in Paris before losing his opening match on grass last week in Halle. Tomic hit 16 aces, but he converted just one of 10 break points. Defending womens champion Elena Vesnina of Russia was beaten 7-5, 7-6 (9) by American Madison Keys, while defending mens champion Feliciano Lopez beat German qualifier Tobias Kamke 7-6 (10), 7-5. Second-seeded Petra Kvitova defeated American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-4, and sixth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy fell to British wild-card entry Heather Watson 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2. Former champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark eased into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over American Sloane Stephens. "I played well out there," Wozniacki said. "Sloane, especially in the second set, played really, really well, and really went for her shots. Didnt make it easy for me to finish it off. I held my composure and I served well. I got a lot of returns deep." Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany saved two match points to overcome Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (3) in 2 hours, 26 minutes, and Camila Giorgi of Italy struggled to follow up her defeat of former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, taking just 10 minutes less and saving a match point to defeat British wild card Johanna Konta 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. Mens No. 4 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain was defeated 6-2, 7-5 by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, and other winners included Martin Klizan of Slovakia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Ken Dryden Canadiens Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Mats Naslund Canadiens Jersey . Russia has spent about $51 billion to deliver the Sochi Olympics, which run Feb. 7-23, making them the most expensive games ever, even though as a winter event it hosts many fewer athletes than summer games do. http://www.canadienssale.com/authentic-doug-harvey-canadiens-jersey/ .ca. Kerry, I hope you address Ron MacLeans comment during the second intermission of Game 4 in Montreal-Tampa series. Basically, he suggested that the NHL should not have used a referee from Quebec, following the Game 3 disputed non-goal, because the referee could be biased towards Montreal. Joel Armia Jersey . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Howie Morenz Jersey .J. -- Kevin Gilbride retired Thursday as offensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants.BOCA RATON, Florida - NHL GMs took part of the final day of meetings in Boca Raton, Florida to discuss the annual combine that runs in late May prior to the NHL entry draft in June. The event puts invited prospects through a serious of fitness tests and allows teams to interview targeted prospects to gain a further understanding into their psychological makeup. But some teams have run team specific combines in the past to further evaluate prospects, which has been seen by several teams as an unfair competitive advantage. As a result, the NHL is contemplating placing limits and restrictions on the amount of players that teams can assemble for further testing. "There was a discussion about that," said Commissioner Gary Bettman. "A change like that would require Board of Governor approval but I think that there was a sense in the room that it might be a good idea." Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray was the loudest proponent against these limitations. For the past three years, the Sabres have held their own combine; this past year bringing in over 75 players for a four day period for interviews and on ice work. "I come from a scouting background," said Murray, who has held scouting positions with the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. "I dont want to criticize the combine we have but I want to be able to supplement that with what I want to do. Im looking for athletes and there are certain tests (that we feel are important) versus strength tests." But despite his instance, Murray had little success in persuading his colleagues. "Some of the veteran guys said you fought a great battle but it was a losing battle," said Murray, who is the shortest tenured GM in the NHL right now. "It looks like the majority want to streamline it to one combine and not allow us guys that feel that doing a little more is a benefit. MacT (Oilers GM Craig MacTavish) said to me, it was a great battle, but you couldnt win." The NHL intends to consider options now to enhance the league-run combine in May. Gary Bettman also suggested incorporating an on ice component to the combine in the future would be explored. Other News From Commissioner Gary Bettman - On the potential impact of a weaaker Canadian dollar (currently at .dddddddddddd90 cents US) on the 2014-15 salary cap. "Im not sure that its a concern, it is what it is. The system accounts for fluctuations in currency which is why we do everything with the computations in US dollars. If the Canadian dollar goes down, then the cap goes down a little bit but the system contemplates that. Its not an issue, its not a problem. It is what it is." - On the projected $71 million cap that was suggested to the Board of Governors in September. "A lot of people were talking about the number that we showed the board in September; that was an illustration because it wasnt based on anything, we didnt have any revenues yet. We said after we get to the end of the regular season, we may be able to better project what it looks like. With the Canadian dollar where it is, maybe youre looking at a million or two million difference in the cap and based on where the cap is likely to be, its not that big a deal." - On penalties for removing helmets priors to fights due to visors and whether an alteration would be made given that visors are now mandatory for all players entering the league. "Wasnt discussed and its not more a problem than youve either perceived it to be or not to be. It wasnt an issue." - On cracking down on fights involving goaltenders. "The rules are what they are and from a whole variety of constituencies including the players, there doesnt seem to be any change in the consensus right now. To effectuate a change thered have to be a change among the constituent groups. Ive been told that if you ask the players, it would be 99-1 that you leave it the way it is. Its something will continue to look at but there is nothing to report." - On potential expansion announcements before the end of the season. "If there would be? I doubt it. Its not anything were contemplating. We have no expansion process that were going through. Its not something that we envision happening anytime soon, if at all. I know theres a lot of speculation and yes, theres a lot of interest, were getting a lot of interest from multiple parties and multiple places but its not anything yet that were prepared to deal with on a formal basis." ' ' '