MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have moved into the home stretch of their search for a head coach and Cincinnati defensive co-ordinator Mike Zimmer has emerged as a favourite. James White Jersey . John Wooten, the executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, said in a phone interview on Monday that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told him last week the teams plan was to contact finalists for the job by Tuesday. According to an NFL Network report on Saturday, Zimmer was scheduled to travel to Minnesota on Monday and meet with Vikings officials for a second interview Tuesday. The alliance, based in Washington, is designed to promote candidate development for coaching, front office and scouting jobs in the NFL. The FPAs strategic efforts include advocacy for and marketing of the hiring and promotion of minorities among NFL teams, and one of Wootens protegees is Arizona defensive co-ordinator Todd Bowles, another strong candidate for Minnesota. Bowles spoke with Spielman in Arizona last week, and Wooten said Spielman told him the interview went well. "He was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed. Thats the way I would describe it," Wooten said. Wooten said on Monday afternoon that he had not yet heard from Spielman about a second interview for Bowles. The Vikings began the week one of four teams left without a head coach, joining Cleveland, Detroit and Tennessee. The Lions, according to Wootens conversation with general manager Martin Mayhew, were also moving toward a conclusion, with a similar plan to invite finalists to Michigan on Monday or Tuesday for further talks with team brass. Another candidate working with Wooten is former Indianapolis coach and current Baltimore offensive co-ordinator Jim Caldwell, who has previously interviewed with the Lions. "We think that Jim is right in the thick of this thing," Wooten said. One of Spielmans favourite terms is "due diligence." His public declaration when the process began was that he wouldnt let a particular category, circumstance or deadline limit his options for Leslie Fraziers successor. Spielman, though, said his preference was to make the hire prior to the Senior Bowl, a prime period of draft prospect evaluation for coaching staffs around the league. Practices for the annual college all-star game in Mobile, Ala., begin next week. The Vikings arent publicizing any information about the search. Zimmers agent, David Dunn, didnt immediately return messages left on Monday. Theyve already interviewed, according to various reports: Seattle offensive co-ordinator Darrell Bevell, Seattle defensive co-ordinator Dan Quinn, Cleveland defensive co-ordinator Ray Horton, San Francisco offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman and San Francisco defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, in addition to Bowles and Zimmer. With the Seahawks and 49ers playing this Sunday for the NFC championship, the Vikings couldnt talk to any of those four candidates again until next week. Joe Thuney Jersey . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Irving Fryar Jersey . 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/Elite-Andre-Tippett-Patriots-Jersey/ . But Paul Osbaldiston, Hamiltons assistant special teams and kicking coach, said the team still relished the championship game workout.DENVER -- Moments after deflecting in the winning goal, Colorados Tyson Barrie did a little dance. Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. "That was a heck of a goal," Avalanche forward Matt Duchene said. The pass was pretty good, too. Duchene dribbled the puck into the corner and sent a sharp pass at Barrie, who was standing in front of the net and tipped it past goalie Eddie Lack. "I was fortunate," Barrie said. With that, the Avs are on the verge of sewing up their first post-season appearance since the 2009-10 season. There was a scenario in which Colorado could have wrapped up a spot on Thursday, but Phoenix prevented that by beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a road shootout. Colorado also remains on the heels of the Chicago Blackhawks for second in the Central Division. The Avs trail the Blackhawks by one point. "We want to finish as high as possible," said Duchene, who also scored a goal. "We arent giving anybody a break coming in." The game had a playoff feel with all the fights, thrown shoulders and scuffles in the corner. With good reason: The Canucks are trying to scratch and claw to remain in the post-season picture. Struggling just a few weeks ago, the Canucks earned a valuable point and are now five points behind Phoenix, which holds the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. But time is quickly running out for the Canucks, who have seven games remaining. "Were right there. Were still in it," said Canucks coach John Tortorella, whose team had its three-game winning streak snapped. "Were fine. Were fine in our room. Were going to keep on playing. "No bad news from me here." Daniel Sedin recorded his 800th NHL point with an assist in the first period. His twin brother, Henrik, reached that milestone on Oct. 15 at Philadelphia. Henrik didnt make the trip bbecause of a leg injury. Drew Bledsoe Jersey. The Canucks showed no signs of fatigue despite playing on back-to-back nights. Vancouver kept up with the high-flying Avalanche most of the game, especially in the third period. "We were in their end zone quite a bit," Tortorella said. "We grinded. Thats a skilled team. Its a very quick team. I thought we did a really good job through the neutral zone to slow them down." Gabriel Landeskog missed a wide open net early in the second period, only to atone minutes later when he lifted a shot over the shoulder of Lack to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. The Avalanche captain has scored three times in two games. The Canucks tied it at 18:38 when Zack Kassian stopped a puck headed for the corner with his right skate, quickly corralled it and poked the puck past a sprawled-out Varlamov. Things got a little testy in the second period. It started early when Patrick Bordeleau and Tom Sestito fought. Duchene and Ryan Kesler later began shoving each other behind the Vancouver net. On the next shift, Jamie McGinn got into it with Kesler, as well. When the giant video board showed Kesler sitting on the bench, the Canucks centre made a kissing motion at the screen, drawing loud boos from the crowd. "They were playing hard," Duchene said. "They played a great game, and Varly played outstanding as usual." Yannick Weber staked Vancouver to a 1-0 lead in the first when he lined a shot past Varlamov for a power-play goal. It was his fifth goal of the season. Late in the opening period, Duchene tied it by knocking a rebound past Lack, who played for a second straight night. NOTES: Canucks F David Booth had an assist on Kassians goal, giving him four points in three games. ... Avs D Erik Johnson played in his 400th NHL game despite having the flu. ... It was Barries third OT goal of the season, tying the franchise record set by David Jones in 2010-11. ... Varlamov earned his 36th win of the season, the fourth most in franchise history. 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