BARCELONA, Spain -- Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 to reach the Barcelona Open final on Saturday, as his Spanish rival suffered a letdown after ousting top-ranked Rafael Nadal. Tremaine Edmunds Jersey . Giraldo will face fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan after he beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal on the red outdoor clay. Almagro slumped to his first loss in six meetings with Giraldo, a day after one of his biggest wins when he upset eight-time winner Nadal at the Real Club de Tenis. "Yesterdays game doesnt serve as an excuse," Almagro said. "Giraldo grazed perfection today, above all in the first set, and I couldnt find the answer." The unseeded Giraldo will be playing for his first career title on Sunday after he saved six of seven break points and finished the match with an emphatic ace. "I have always dreamed of reaching the top spots of the ATP ranking and tomorrow is a first step," Giraldo said. "But I am staying calm. I will keep to my routine and tomorrow will be a day to enjoy and play the best tennis I can." Giraldo prevailed in a match that featured several long rallies by proving more precise with his long groundstrokes. The first set was heading for a tiebreaker until Giraldo snatched it away by breaking Almagros last service game when he swatted a forehand return by the feet of the last years finalist. Almagro got an early break in the second set, but Giraldo won it right back and took control as Almagros nerves frayed with the match slipping away. "He believed more in his tennis, in how he had to play, and he barely made any mistakes," Almagro said. "I committed errors when I could have gone in front. That was the key." Earlier, Nishikoris faster movement overcame Gulbis big serve. Down a set, ninth-seeded Gulbis saved seven break points in the second before finally ceding his serve and losing the match. Nishikori will be seeking his second title of the season and fifth in his career. Jeremy Kerley Jersey . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted. Josh Allen Bills Jerseys .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. http://www.officialauthenticbillsshop.com/authentic-marshall-newhouse-jersey.html . And by all indications, the team is expected to select phenom Connor McDavid with their selection. The Buffalo Sabres, who were knocked down to the second overall pick after finishing with the worst regular season record, are expected to take the other generational player in Jack Eichel.CHICAGO - All those talented forwards are back. Same for Duncan Keith and the bulk of Chicagos solid defence. There is even a group of intriguing prospects waiting in the wings.The Blackhawks are one confident bunch of the eve of a new NHL season.We feel were deep in a lot of areas, coach Joel Quenneville said. Our guys are at a relatively young age and they should be getting better in their individual games and collectively we should be looking to be better than we were.And they have been really good for years.Led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and again in 2013. They made it all the way to the Western Conference final a year ago, where they dropped a classic seven-game series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings.The price of that success reached a new level in July, when Toews and Kane each finalized an $84 million, eight-year contract extension that kicks in for the 2015-16 season. The twin deals could force general manager Stan Bowman to make some difficult decisions down the road, adding to the pressure on the current group of Blackhawks for this year.Bowman still has to make at least one more move to pare about $2 million from this years payroll before the Oct. 9 season opener at Dallas.Even with the sticky salary-cap situation, the Blackhawks did manage to sign veteran Brad Richards to a $2 million, one-year contract over the summer. The team is hoping Richards can centre the second line a€” a longtime issue for Chicago a€” and the combination of Richards, Kane and Brandon Saad looked good in the preseason.Here are other things to watch this year for the Blackhawks:THAT THIRD LINE: The top two lines should be among the best in the league, but its the third line that really could separate the Blackhawks from the rest of the NHL. Bryan Bickell was noticeably lighter when he showed up to training camp this year. The bruising winger is hoping for a better start than last season, when he had just one assist in his first seven games and finished with 11 goals and four assists for the year. Kris Versteeg also looked sharp in the preseason, and pesky centre Andrew Shaw set career highs with 20 goals and 19 assists last season. Versteeg prepared himsself for this year to get back on track where hes a top forward, Quenneville said. Taron Johnson Bills Jerseys. Hes been good for us.THAT POWER PLAY: Chicago converted 19.5 per cent of its power-play opportunities last season, an improvement from 16.7 per cent for the shortened 2012-13 campaign and good enough for 10th in the NHL. New assistant coach Kevin Dineen, who played with Quenneville on the Hartford Whalers and was hired to replace Jamie Kompon in July, is expected to play a prominent role in this years power play. Richards also could help the efficiency of the unit, where any increase in scoring for the already potent Blackhawks could pay huge dividends.FORK IN THE ROAD: Its a pivotal year for defenceman Nick Leddy, who begins the season with 258 regular-season games and another 54 post-season appearances a€” at just 23 years old. Leddy is one of the fastest skating defencemen on the team, but hes also an occasional visitor to Quennevilles doghouse. He was benched for a playoff game last season against Minnesota. The Kings winning goal in Game 7 in June went off Leddys upper body and then past goaltender Corey Crawford. Leddy could blossom into one of the teams top defencemen, or the Blackhawks could decide to trade him away for salary-cap space.BOSS HOSS: Marian Hossa shows no signs of slowing down heading into his 17th NHL season. The rugged winger had 30 goals and 30 assists in 72 games last season, in addition to his terrific defence. But Hossa missed a couple weeks in March with an upper-body injury and turns 36 in January. Any significant injury for the forward could hurt the Blackhawks in the competitive Central Division.ANTTI MATTERS: Backup goaltender Antti Raanta is heading into his first full NHL season. He made his debut last November and went 13-5 with a 2.71 goals-against average in 25 games, including 22 starts. Raanta played sparingly in the last part of the season, and Crawford figures to get the lions share of the action once again. How Quenneville divides the time in goal will provide an indication of how he feels about the 25-year-old Raantas development.___AP freelancer Matt Carlson contributed to this report.___Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Cheap Chargers Hoodies Cheap Browns Hoodies Cheap Texans Hoodies Cheap Ravens Hoodies Cheap Panthers Hoodies Cheap Jets Hoodies Cheap Titans Hoodies Cheap Chiefs Hoodies Cheap Bills Hoodies Cheap Colts Hoodies Cheap Cardinals Hoodies Cheap Buccaneers Hoodies Cheap Rams Hoodies Cheap Jaguars Hoodies Cheap Falcons Hoodies Cheap Bengals Hoodies ' ' '