NEWARK, N.J. -- The Calgary Flames are in full rebuilding mode, and their three first-round picks could play a major role in that process. Thats their thinking after taking forwards Sean Monahan, Emile Poirier and Morgan Klimchuk in Sundays NHL draft. General manager Jay Feaster had opportunities to trade picks for immediate help, but it wasnt difficult to resist that. "At the end of the day for us there were guys that they were a year or two years away from unrestricted free agency," Feaster said. "Were committed to the rebuild, and we talked about it as a management group and said its not the right way to go about the rebuild in terms of moving the picks for guys that are going to be UFAs." Monahan, the centre Calgary took sixth overall, is most likely the closest of the three to being NHL-ready. Feaster has already had conversations with Monahan about making the team next season. "I want to play. Thats my goal," Monahan said. "I want to play this year, and I think I can. I want to make an impact and I want to be a reliable player out there, too." The Flames could use reliable players after trading winger Jarome Iginla and defenceman Jay Bouwmeester last season. Hes interested in trading Michael Cammalleri, too, and younger players are expected to fill those holes. Monahan was the captain and leading scorer of the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League, who went 16-46. He knows a thing or two about being part of a rebuilding effort like whats going on in Calgary. "Im looking forward to it," he said. "Its going to be a challenge and Im always up for a challenge. I think Im going to be a part of that team and help that team win, so its going to be a fun time." Feaster mentioned a desire to add more size throughout the organization, and the Flames did so in the six-foot-two Monahan, six-foot-one Poirier, the 22nd pick. Talent, not size, was the focus. "We didnt base anything on any of these three guys on size," director of scouting Tod Button said. "Size was an added bonus. Theyre all good-size kids. They all play the game properly. Theyre not shy, they play in traffic. So thats more important to us than their actual physical stature." Demeanour may have been a factor, too. Monahan and Klimchuk, the 28th pick, have proven to be focused individuals. "Theyre serious about being pro hockey players and for sure that helps," Button said. "We dont look at it as a negative if a kid has a little bit more of a loose side, but for sure Sean and Morgan are serious about where they want to go and what they want to be when they get older." Theres not much about the Flames that will be old next season, unless Feaster is unable to trade Cammalleri and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff decides to return. Right now the idea seems to be getting younger, and they did so with their first-rounders. "I think 20 minutes after the first round everybody comes away satisfied," Button said. "I dont think youll find anybody that says, I cant believe we took him. 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Replica Air Max 270 . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s.A cadre of attorneys and a flurry of lawsuits could certainly slow down the NBAs plan to force Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers over his recent racist comments, but legal experts say the league would likely prevail in the end. And that goes for Sterlings wife, Shelly, who has said shed like to keep her stake in the team even if her husband is ousted. The NBAs constitution, which Donald Sterling signed as controlling owner of the Clippers, gives its board of governors broad latitude in league decisions including who owns the teams. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is pushing for a swift vote against Sterling, which requires a minimum of three-fourths of the other 29 controlling owners to agree. Silver also has imposed a lifetime ban on Sterling and a $2.5 million fine. The ban does not apply to Shelly Sterling. SI.com and ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported Thursday that Sterlings lawyer, antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, wrote a letter to Rick Buchanan, the NBAs executive vice-president and general counsel, threatening to sue the league and saying Sterling will not pay the $2.5 million fine. "Sterlings own signature will come back to haunt him," said Michael McCann, founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire. "You agree to certain basic understandings. Thats what makes a sports league different from other businesses." The key to the NBAs authority, attorneys say, is Article 13(d) of the leagues constitution. That section says that, whether Sterling intended to or not, an owner cannot "fail or refuse to fulfil" contractual obligations to the NBA "in such a way to affect the Association or its members adversely." Theres plenty of evidence Sterlings comments, revealed in a recorded conversation with a female companion, affected the league adversely. They provoked threats of a player boycott, led sponsors to withdraw support and created a racially charged image problem in the midst of the NBA playoffs that even President Barack Obama remarked upon. If Article 13(d) was violated, the legal experts say the board of governors has solid grounds to force Sterling to sell the team along with any other owners, in this case his wife. As long as the NBA meticulously follows its own constitution and rules regarding the Clippers sale, it will be difficult for Sterling to find a legal theory that would stand up in court, said Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.dddddddddddd "This is not an antitrust issue. This is not a First Amendment issue," Lazaroff said. "Its a question limited to the interpretation of the NBA constitution and bylaws, and whether those terms are met." Another question involves California family law. Its a community property state, meaning spouses jointly own property they acquired while married. The Sterlings were already married when he bought the Clippers in 1981. Although a potential divorce could complicate the Clippers sale, McCann said the couples joint ownership actually works to the NBAs favour because — legally speaking — they are a single entity. So if the NBA forced Donald Sterling to sell, even under a divorce scenario, Shelly Sterling would have to sell, too. They have been married since 1955. "The NBA is well positioned to ultimately prevail," McCann said. For his part, Donald Sterling has repeatedly said he does not want to sell the Clippers. In his recent interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper, he cast doubt on going to court if the NBA governors ultimately do vote to force him out. "People want me to hire a wall of lawyers and them to have to hire a wall of lawyers and go to war," Sterling said on CNN. "I dont think thats the answer." Sterlings longtime attorney, Robert Platt, declined to comment when contacted Wednesday. Shelly Sterlings attorney, Pierce ODonnell, did not respond to email requests for comment from The Associated Press. But he has previously said she wants to remain a passive owner of the Clippers even if her husband is no longer involved. For now, the NBA has installed former Time Warner and Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons to oversee the teams business operations. Parsons said this week that a prolonged legal battle "is in no ones interest." "I would hope we could avoid that," he said. If he is forced out, Sterling still stands to reap a huge financial windfall in a Clippers sale. He bought the team for $12.5 million in 1981, and Forbes magazine recently placed its 2014 value at $575 million, or No. 13 in the NBA. Of course, there would also be a sizable capital gains tax bill for that. _____ Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt ' ' '