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BALTIMORE -- Dave Dombrowski was chatting with a reporter in the left-field grandstand at Fenway Park before a recent game when a fan in a tour group stopped to thank him for putting together a likable Boston Red Sox team that, oh by the way, is contending for a playoff spot.Dombrowski says he gets that a lot. Thursday marks one year since he was hired to run the Red Soxs baseball operations, and apparently, the honeymoon is not over. He claims to not look at Twitter or listen to talk radio, the outlets that give a voice, if not a name, to the loudest critics. But when he stops for his morning coffee or goes for a jog, he insists the reaction he gets has been largely positive.Its not that everything Dombrowski has touched has turned to gold. Far from it. He persuaded principal owner John Henry to spend $217 million on free-agent left-hander?David Price, and Price has a 4.29 ERA that ranks only slightly better than the league average of 4.47. He traded four prospects for closer Craig Kimbrel, who is having the worst statistical season of his career. And he drew criticism last month for dealing touted 18-year-old pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to the San Diego Padres for largely unproven lefty Drew Pomeranz.But with a group of young All-Stars -- shortstop Xander Bogaerts, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and MVP candidate right fielder Mookie Betts -- who were drafted or signed mostly by former general manager Theo Epstein and developed under his successor, Ben Cherington, the Red Sox are enjoyable to watch again. And Dombrowskis moves have put them in position to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2013 World Series championship.People are usually pretty friendly, Dombrowski said. Somebody might say, This guys a bum. Why did you get him? But most people are welcoming. They say, Hey, I really like the club. Appreciate what youve done. Thats more the comments.Dombrowski, 60, brought strong credentials with him to the Red Sox. He built winning teams in Montreal in the late-1980s, took over the expansion Florida Marlins in 1992 and led them to a World Series title in only their fifth year in existence and turned the Detroit Tigers from a 106-loss laughingstock in 2002 to a five-time playoff team and a two-time AL pennant winner.It didnt take long, though, for Dombrowski to realize that Boston is unlike any place he has worked. The Red Sox are an institution, a passion and a soap opera rolled into one. It has been said that the Sox dont play a 162-game season so much as they play 162 one-game seasons. The daily scrutiny heightens what already is an unforgiving eight-month grind from the beginning of spring training through the season finale.I think probably the daily aspect that goes into every game that you play is somewhat unique here, Dombrowski said. Its very emotional. If you win, youre the greatest. If you lose, youre not really good. And I think you really have to work on keeping an even-keel perspective in some ways. Youre not going to change that emotion, but when you work with the team, you need to realize that if a guy has a bad outing, it doesnt mean hes a bad pitcher. If a guys in a 1-for-27 slump, it doesnt mean hes never going to hit again.It can be grueling in every market, but it gets more attention here. I think thats been the biggest difference for me.Indeed, it can take time to get comfortable in Boston. And if Dombrowski feels that way, he can only imagine what it must be like for the players.Take Price, who hasnt pitched to his or anyones expectations. Despite leading the league in innings (163?) and ranking third in strikeouts (167) when the week began, he also has allowed at least five earned runs in six starts, and the Red Sox are only 12-13 when he takes the ball.But leave it to agent Scott Boras, who doesnt represent Price, to put the aces struggles into perspective. During a recent series at Angel Stadium, Boras remarked to Dombrowski that Price looked like himself the night before in shutting out the Los Angeles Angels for eight innings of an eventual 2-1 loss.He was saying, Gee, Dave, Price was great. His changeup was fantastic, Dombrowski recalled. I said, Yeah, hes finally starting to find it. And he says, Dave, remember -- now, this is Scott saying this -- those first three, four months for a free agent, a big name, is tough. A lot of times they dont find their ground right away.I do think that happens, and maybe even a little more so here [in Boston].Several months ago, Dombrowski and his wife, Karie, bought a six-bedroom house in Brookline, Massachusetts (Epsteins hometown, coincidentally). But with their son and daughter going to school in Michigan, they didnt move in until mid-July, leaving Dombrowski to live in a hotel a few blocks from Fenway.The solitude gave him a chance to immerse himself in his work. Initially, that meant getting acquainted with as many people as possible in the front office. Dombrowski promoted Mike Hazen to general manager, retained embattled manager John Farrell after his battle with cancer and kept most of the baseball operations staff that worked under Cherington, decisions that fostered continuity. He also enlisted longtime aide Frank Wren to work at his side again.In building the roster, Dombrowski acted swiftly and decisively. Last winter, he identified three primary needs -- an ace starter, power-armed late-inning reliever and reserve outfielder -- and acquired Price, Kimbrel and Chris Young during a 25-day span in November and December. Last month, he made three trades in eight days, beefing up the bench with righty-hitting infielder Aaron Hill, the bullpen with right-hander Brad Ziegler,?and the starting rotation with Pomeranz.Dombrowski could have gone for broke, too, in the final season for retiring franchise icon David Ortiz. But contrary to his reputation for tearing apart a farm system in the interest of winning now, he stuck with top prospect Yoan Moncada, prized pitcher Michael Kopech, touted third baseman Rafael Devers and 2015 first-round pick Andrew Benintendi, who has emerged as the everyday left fielder after getting called up two weeks ago.I have the utmost respect for David Ortiz, but you wouldnt do something to hurt your franchise in the long run if you didnt think it was the right thing to do. You just wouldnt do that, Dombrowski said. And [Ortiz] wouldnt ask you to do that. He wants to win, but its also within reason.A couple of times when we talked, he would say, What about this guy? And I said, Well, this is what they want, and he said, Oh, I would never make that trade. That type of thing.Perhaps most significant, Dombrowski established a culture of accountability by empowering Farrell to make lineup decisions based on merit, not contracts. After being outplayed in spring training, $95 million third baseman Pablo Sandoval and $72.5 million outfielder Rusney Castillo began the season on the bench. Castillo later was outrighted off the 40-man roster and buried in Triple-A.Now, though, with the non-waiver trade deadline having passed, Dombrowskis heaviest lifting is finished. It will be up to the players to emerge from a three-way fight with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East crown or a wild-card berth. And generally speaking, Dombrowski said he is satisfied that the moves he has made will put them in position to do so.I think so, he said. People forget, we didnt have winning records the last couple of years. Were in a whole different spot. Were in a pennant race. Now, I dont know if were going to win or not. But were in the race, and thats what you try to do every year. I like our club. I think we have a real shot.But I think when you say that, the results of how we perform on the field is how other people will look at what weve done. Weve got a good team. How good well be will be determined.For now, the lions share of the criticism has centered on Farrell, whose job security is a daily topic of conversation. But if the Red Sox prove to not be good enough, Dombrowski knows he will hear it, too. Some of the biggest admirers in his neighborhood coffee shop are liable to become less friendly.I think its great. I love the passion, Dombrowski said. This is what baseballs all about. Its a daily passion here. Its a very enjoyable experience and for somebody whos spent their whole life in baseball.This is what you strive to be part of. Archie Manning Youth Jersey . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. 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He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars both seek better performances in their game Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas, but do so for different reasons.Edmonton (9-8-1) lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at Staples Center, and Oilers coach Todd McLellan kept his focus simple during a Friday morning practice in Anaheim prior to his team hopping a plane for Dallas.We worked on fundamental skill development, plays in and around the net, McLellan said. I thought it was good for our group. Hopefully it carries forward into a game situation.McLellan said the Oilers could get injured forward Matt Hendricks (lower body) back for Saturdays game and that injured defenseman Kris Russell (undisclosed), a former Star, could also play in Dallas this weekend.Should Edmonton, who is 5-4-1 on the road, get both Hendricks and Russell back, the man behind the Edmonton bench has no doubt about what sort of jolt of positive energy that could give his club.It should provide an energy boost, it should give us a different look and it should create a competitive environment within the team right now for ice time, McLellan said.Dallas (7-6-5) edged the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday at home, but all three Stars goals came in the first period, and coach Lindy Ruff was none too pleased about how his team performed over the games final 40 minutes.We got smoked in chances, we got smoked in zone time, Ruff said of Thursdays win after practice on Friday. I said to the team there was three things I liked. I liked our goaltending, I liked our discipline inside the game when it came to the differential in penalties, and I liked the little man that came in the dressing room after the game that the players spent some time with. That for me brought a smile to my face.The Staars got injured center Cody Eakin, who had yet to play this season due to a knee injury sustained in preseason, back on the ice against Colorado.ddddddddddddAnd on Saturday, it appears veteran forward Patrick Sharp could return to the lineup for the first time since sustaining a concussion in an October game against the Kings.Yeah, it feels great. Joined the team last week on the road. I think that was good for me, being out for a couple weeks to be around the team and get a few practices in, Sharp said after practice on Friday. Body feels great, I feel like Im past the injury, I feel like Im in great shape and ready to get back in there when the coach wants.Ruff now has the luxury of picking between two veteran goaltenders in Kari Lehtonen, who was strong in Thursdays win and the man reason Dallas won, and Antti Niemi, who played equally well in a 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.Lehtonen was first off the ice at practice on Friday, but that might not mean anything.Still, Ruffs focus isnt on which netminder hell go with on Saturday; its more centered around bigger-picture sort of things.I think that my focus right now is to get all areas of our team going well. Ruff said. We got to get firing on all cylinders. Thats our top-end forwards, got to get them playing well and producing. Theyre playing well defensively and right now the goaltendings been going good, our special teams has gone in the right direction, four or last five on the penalty kill side have been clean and weve pushed the differential in our favor. Now its time to build a little momentum.Dallas will be playing game three of a four-game homestand. ' ' '