CINCINNATI, Ohio -- No champagne. Nick Bosa Super Bowl Jersey . No curtain call in front of joyous fans. No celebrating at all, really. The Cincinnati Reds clinched a playoff spot with hardly any notice. If anything, they were a little bummed out. Shin-Soo Choo drove in the winning run with a single off the wall in the 10th inning, and the Reds secured their third playoff spot in four years shortly after beating the New York Mets 3-2 on Monday night. They want a whole lot more than the wild card thats already in hand. "Were excited, obviously," shortstop Zack Cozart said, looking over a clubhouse where the only visible celebration was the image of Pittsburgh Pirates spraying each other on television. "Thats not our goal. Were in the division hunt. Were not happy with a wild card." The Reds clinched theirs after Choos drive smacked high off the wall in left-centre field. Eight minutes later, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-3, clinching an NL wild card for Pittsburgh. Bummer. The Reds were pulling for first-place St. Louis to lose. Instead, the Cardinals retained their two-game lead over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the NL Central. "I was pulling for the Nationals to win, get a step closer to the Cardinals," manager Dusty Baker said. "Weve still got five games to go. A lot of baseball." The Reds kept pace with St. Louis despite squandering plenty of chances to end it early. They wasted a chance in the ninth, when David Aardsma pitched out of a bases-loaded threat by retiring Todd Frazier on a fly out. Greg Burke (0-3) gave up a one-out single to Devin Mesoraco in the 10th, and Derrick Robinson singled him to third. Choo followed with his third hit of the game, off left-hander Sean Henn, a drive high off the wall in left-centre. Choo headed for the dugout after crossing first base. Manny Parra (2-3) allowed one hit in the 10th. It was a notable win for the Reds -- their 90th of the season, the third time in the last four years that they have reached the mark under Baker. They havent had so many 90-win seasons since the Big Red Machine of the 1970s. Johnny Cueto made a second solid start since coming off the disabled list, an encouraging sign for Cincinnatis post-season plans. The right-hander has been sidelined three times by soreness near his shoulder. He gave up two runs -- one earned -- on Lucas Dudas sacrifice fly and solo homer, which snapped an 0-for-17 slump. In two starts, Cueto has allowed eight hits and one earned run in 12 innings. Cuetos 99-pitch outing was the most encouraging part of the night for the Reds, who could have their ace back for the playoffs. "He was excellent," Baker said. "Hes getting ready. Each time he goes out, he gets his endurance up." The Reds got two runs in six innings off Aaron Harang, who made his third start for the Mets. Choo singled home a run in the second and Joey Votto got one of his career-high five walks with the bases loaded. Harang is 3-0 in four career starts against the Reds, including a 4-2 victory with Seattle on July 5 at Great American Ball Park. The Mariners later released him with a 5-11 record. The Reds sustained their hopes of another division title by winning another long game -- they are 13-9 in extra innings. Last September, Baker was in a Chicago hospital getting treated for an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke when the Reds clinched the NL Central title. They made a video of their spray-away celebration and wished for another when he returned. It didnt happy. Cueto had to leave the opening game of the playoffs at San Francisco after only eight pitches because of a strained muscle in his right side. With their rotation in flux, the Reds lost the five-game series. This season, the Reds have stayed in contention despite losing Cueto, setup relievers Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton, and cleanup hitter Ryan Ludwick for most of the season. Ludwick tore cartilage in his right shoulder while sliding into a base on opening day and was out for more than three months. They were six games out on Aug. 9, in danger of falling out of the divisions three-team race. They regrouped and have taken the race down to the final week by winning 12 of their last 17. NOTES: New Yorks David Wright had his hitting streak ended at eight games. ... Billy Hamilton got in as a pinch-runner in the eighth and stole second, leaving him 13 for 13 in attempts. The Mets called for a pitchout but Frank Francisco threw it over the plate. ... Votto has walked 132 times this season, tying Joe Morgans club record from 1975. The five walks also tied a club record. ... RHP Mike Leake (14-6) starts for the Reds on Tuesday against LHP Jonathon Niese (7-8). Jerry Rice Super Bowl Jersey . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. Jason Verrett Super Bowl Jersey . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. http://www.49ersofficialfanshop.com/kwon-alexander-jersey.html . Terry came from Boston along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce but has appeared in just 35 games after a knee injury, averaging 4.5 points on 36 per cent shooting. Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games.Im not sure when I feel worse for the coaches I know. When they get fired, and take temp gigs on our TSN panel. Or when they get re-hired, and start peeling more years off their lives with the relentless stress and scrutiny of an NHL head-coaching job. I saw it in Paul Maurices eyes as he stood at the podium Monday in Winnipeg, answering a question about accountability on his team. Maurice is one of the best men Ive met in hockey, and might be the single most polished media presence there is in the NHL coaching ranks. But as that question was asked, he swallowed hard, the veins bulged a little in his neck, and he answered, I could f----- make you cry in that room. You could see him catch himself after he said it, and moments later he would apologize for the profanity. But he meant it. It was raw, real, and...understandable from a coach of a struggling team, whose collective character was being called into question. Mos blue moment spoke volumes. No matter how cool and composed you are, coaching in the NHL in 2014 can make you lose your f----- mind.* (*I wrote flippin Mom. Promise. The editors just dashed it for effect.) We used to get 20 games before we had to deal with the real pressure, but now these guys are feeling it three or four games in, says longtime NHL coach Marc Crawford, who is currently coaching in Zurich in the Swiss-A League. I think its because of the increased intensity of the coverage, especially in Canadian markets, and the parity in the league. A week into the season and if you arent doing well, everything gets questioned — coaching, goaltending, captaincy. Ive faced a lot of scrutiny in my time, but Ive never seen it at this level. On the second day of training camp, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle was asked if he thought Phil Kessel hated him. Before his team had played a single pre-season game, he was listed as the Vegas odds-on favourite to be the first NHL coach fired. People speculate endlessly about Mike Babcock coming to Toronto next year like there is already a vacancy. You feel like Carlyle should be over in the corner jumping up and down waving his arms yelling, Hello!?! Over here! Still the Leafs coach! Just sayin! Ive come to expect the unexpected in this market, Carlyle told me back at training camp. The most trivial things somehow become stories. It bothers me that my friends are upset by it, that my family gets upset. He maintains he doesnt get upset. I dont believe him. When you guys are ranking the top five coaches on the hot seat before the season starts, I think its just the stupidest thing in the world, says Crawford. Where else in society do we do this? Do we list the top five teachers to be fired, the top five executives? NHL coaches get paid very well and no one is going to feel sympathy for us, but lists like the ones you do are ridiculous. Err...Well this is awkward. That weird section of the column where you use a Marc Crawford quote saying youre part of the problem that youre writing about. I suddenly feel like Leo DiCaprio when he realizes hes the insane killer at the end of Shutter Island. Oopsie. Crows right. The panel, The Quiz, Sportscentre — its all part of this Godzilla of scrutiny the coaches have to deal with when theyd rather just be playing with their whiteboards, designing new breakouts. Crows also right when he says they wont get sympathy from most. As toough as the gig has become, Crawford and every other ex-NHL coach would kill to get back in the league, and be stuck in the middle of this media mayhem again. Kendrick Bourne Super Bowl Jersey. Such is the drug. But I do feel for them. Mostly because Ive seen what theyre like when they arent coaching: relaxed, stress-free, excited as kids at a birthday party when their pizza arrives at intermission. By my count, weve had a full rosters worth of ex-NHL coaches on our panel over the years — Maurice (twice), Crawford (twice), Ron Wilson, Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette, Tom Renney, John Anderson, Craig MacTavish, Andy Murray, Bobby Francis, John Tortorella, Mike Keenan, Joel Quenneville and Claude Julien (both for just one Tradecentre appearance), Kevin Constantine, Mike Milbury, and Pierre McGuire. Only McGuire and Milbury were content being full-time broadcasters. The rest were between jobs, and the panel is a decent place to watch a lot of hockey, and maybe keep your name fresh on the mind of the next general manager who decides a change of direction is needed. I still get asked all the time, What is (insert coach/panelist here) really like? The answer is almost always the same: Really nice guy. In other words, not at all like the guy you see ripping the reporter in the post-game scrum, trying to climb over the partition to get at the opposing coach, or grabbing certain body parts (that have to be pixeled out on Sportscentre) to make his feelings clear to an official. General television/life rule: when we have to pixel out your junk, youve had a bad day. I get asked about Tortorella more than anyone else. He is the poster boy for how opposite a personality a man can have when he isnt in front of the microphones every night defending his power play. When he was at TSN, Torts was church-boy polite. Shy almost. He would struggle not to doze off during the double-headers because his usual bedtime is 9pm. Our top-ten lists show the one or two short clips when he got angry on the panel, ripping Sean Avery and The Quiz. The endless replays of those brief soundbites warp everyones memory of the five months Torts spent with us. Reality is, he was mostly calm and quiet (to a fault for television), and said almost nothing controversial. Then he got the back behind the bench in New York, and later Vancouver, and...well we all watched it. I checked in on Torts this week. He sounds happy (if you can actually sound something in a few texts), spending most of his time keeping up with the careers of his two grown children, and working with his wife on animal welfare causes (they have a house full of rescued dogs). I tried to ask a couple of hockey questions, but he chose not to answer, opting instead to just ask about my kids...and dogs. Wounds still too fresh, I assume. Peter Laviolette is another of my ex-panelist favourites - smart as a whip with a dry sense of humour. Hes off to a great start in Nashville and will likely be there a long time. But Lavy is also acutely aware of the tenuous position of the NHL head coach - always just one long losing streak away from...another potential panel temp job. I reached him the other night, looking for some insight on Filip Forsberg, the young Swede who is off to a great start with the Predators. He gave me a couple of quotes about what a good young player Forsberg is, then began the following text exchange: ' ' '