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Nov 5 '16 | By mary123 | 127 Profile Views | support user content | Comments: 0
SOCHI, Russia – If not quite the underdog, Drew Doughty believes, at the very least, that the Canadians are being overlooked, doubted and probably even overly dissected heading into Fridays semifinal matchup with the Americans. Chris Kaman Jersey . "I think a lot of people are counting us out," said Doughty. "If everyone wants to count us out, were going to use that as motivation." Doughty wouldnt go quite so far as to label Team Canada as the underdog, but its clear that the overwhelming degree of scrutiny has some members of the squad feeling as though theyve been doubted just a little too much. "We dont see ourselves as the underdog," Doughty said, the defender leading the Canadians with four goals. "I think both teams are really evenly matched. I dont know who Id give the upper hand to at this point. Im obviously more confident in my team than I am in theirs..." Like the Americans, Canada has yet to lose in these Olympics, but unlike their rivals to the south, they failed to exactly dominate in victory, scratching out close wins over the Norwegians (3-1), Finns (2-1 overtime) and Latvians (2-1), the last of which saw the two teams tied for most of the first 53 minutes of regulation.  Head coach Mike Babcock has stressed that his team simply improves each and every day of the two-week tournament, pointing to Wednesdays struggle with the Latvians as a needed bit of adversity. Its evident, however, that the best of this Canadian team has yet to emerge. Whether it will in time for the 2010 gold medal game rematch remains in question. "Yeah were close," said Jonathan Toews after the quarterfinal win over Latvia, "not quite there yet though. Next game." Scoring concerns up front remain the most pressing issue. The Canadian forward contingent has combined for just six goals - or one more than Phil Kessel has all by himself here in Sochi - despite an overwhelming level of offensive talent. Wednesdays quarterfinal could be construed as a step in the right direction. Though they snuck just two by Kristers Gudlevskis, they managed nearly 60 shots and had numerous opportunities. Sidney Crosby, who had a breakaway in the opening minute, remains the most notable Canadian forward yet to score, but hes joined by Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Patrick Marleau, Chris Kunitz, Martin St. Louis, Matt Duchene, and Patrice Bergeron – essentially everyone but Jeff Carter, Jamie Benn, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Sharp. Symmetry appears to finally be forming though.  Unlike the previous four games, which saw the lines differ just about every night, Babcock will keep his forward combinations intact for the tilt against the Americans – save for the injured John Tavares (leg) – hopeful that theyll translate into actual production with elimination on the line. "You can talk scoring chances till youre blue in the face, who cares? The score is on the board, and so weve just got to find a way to keep doing what were doing," said Babcock. "I think we like the fact that were getting a lot of chances in and around the net," said Crosby, who remains alongside Kunitz and Bergeron. "We trust theyre going to go in a little bit more if we keep getting those. I think we just try to stay the course and make sure that we focus on burying those." Theyll have to do so against the seemingly unflappable Jonathan Quick. A rock for the L.A. Kings in the postseason – he has a .940 save percentage combined in the past two springs – Quick has stopped 72 of 77 shots in three starts for Team USA, fronted by an offence thats managed 20 goals in four games. "When he gets hot, when he makes some big saves early, he seems to become unbeatable, said Doughty, who captured the Cup with Quick in 2012. "And thats why weve got to get one early on him. The only way were going to score on him is weve got to get pucks up high and weve got to get screens in front and tips." Countering Quick will be Carey Price – who has stopped 48 of 51 shots – and a stiff defensive Canadian unit thats yielded just two even-strength goals all tournament and average of fewer than 19 shots against. If theres been an obvious strength to Canadas game on the bigger Olympic ice, its been the ability to defend and defend by controlling the possession of the puck. Continuing that against an American attack fronted by Kessel, who leads the tournament with eight points, will be a new and far more difficult challenge. Crosby was among the group of Canadian players who took in the Americans classic tilt with Russia in the preliminary round and was struck, above all else, with just how fast they were as a group. He and his teammates believe theyre ready for such a fight though even if others arent quite so sure. "At this point whether we beat three favourites or zero, nobodys going to really think about that or talk about that if we get the result we want [Friday] and win the game," he said. "Our groups real confident," Babcock added. "We like what weve done. We like how our team is. We think were set up good right now. And that, to me, is the most important thing." Blazers Jersey .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. Ed Davis Blazers Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human.http://www.theblazersteamshop.com/brandon-roy-blazers-jersey/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter.MONTREAL -- On a night when Andy Murray stumbled and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a scare, Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic rose to the fore at the Rogers Cup. Pospisil was overcome with emotion after he came out on top of a tight match with fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych to win 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5) before a roaring crowd of supporters on Thursday at the US$3.49-million hardcourt tournament. Raonic, meanwhile, didnt even break a smile after an ill-tempered 7-5, 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, the Argentine veteran who was coming off a victory last week in Washington. The wins over players ranked in the worlds top-10 put two Canadians in the quarter-finals of Canadas biggest tournament for the first time since Andrew Sznajder and Grant Connell made it in 1989. If one wins, he will be the first Canadian in the semifinals since Mike Belkin in 1969. The last Canadian to win the tournament, then called the Canadian Open, was Robert Bedard in 1958. But if both win, they will face each other in the semifinals on Saturday. "Its great," said Raonic. "Im happy to have gone through. "I was able to watch a lot of Vaseks match. He seemed to be playing confident and well. It was big he battled out the ending of that match. Its good for him." While Canadians revelled in the home court support, it was a tough day for top players other than fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal, who downed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-4. He next plays qualifier Marinko Matosevic, who outlasted Benoit Paire 7-6 (7), 6-7 (10), 6-3. Murray was knocked out of his first tournament since his stirring Wimbledon title with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to unheralded Ernests Gulbis, who will play Raonic in the quarter-finals on Friday. Djokovic needed to work hard for his 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, which stretched his Rogers Cup winning streak to 12. The Serb has a quarter-final meeting with Richard Gasquet, who ousted ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Pospisil will play Nikolay Davidenko, who beat fellow Russian Alex Bogomolov 6-4, 6-3. Raonic needed courtside treatment for an inflamed muscle that was pinching a nerve in his neck and causing a "dead feeling" in his right arm. He was down for about 10 minutes, but got up and played, although he winced in pain on some shots. He hopes it will feel better after a nights sleep and he expects to be able to finish the tournament. "Tomorrows another day," Raonic said. "I could sleep well and it could be something really good, or I could have a bad sleep." Del Potro was not happy when Raonic touched the net with his hand on break point in the eight game of the second set and didnt call the foul on himself after the umpire missed it. He stood for a long moment staring up at the umpires chair. Raonic said it was too important of a point to call a foul on himself, adding that the neither player was in top form. "I think both of us were not 100 per cent," the Thornhill, Ont., product said after his first win of the year against a top-10 player. "Obviously he was also far from that. "I sort of stuck to it, played aggressive and just tried keeping points short. He was a little bit limited from what I could tell on his rotation. He wasnt able to pass as well as he normally would, or serve as well." The 11-seeded Raonic reached the quarter-finals for a second year in a row. Pospisil was thrilled with his first-ever win against a top-10 player. After Berdych hit wide on match point, the 23-year-old flung his hat on the ground and held his head in happy disbelief. The crowd packed into the National Bank court seats saluted the win with the "Ole Ole" song usually reserved for the NHLs Montreal Canadiens. "That was the best match in terms of atmosphere at the end that Ive ever played," said Pospisil. "That and the doubless in Davis Cup (a win over Italy this year) were pretty even in terms of atmosphere. Authentic Clyde Drexler Jersey. "They were both amazing. But that was definitely the most emotional ending and best match of my career, without a doubt. If I can keep playing the way I am now, at least Ill give myself an opportunity." The six-foot-four native of Vernon, B.C., is coming off a win last week in a Challenger series event in Vancouver. Nadal improved to 45-3 this year -- best on the ATP Tour --with his win over six-foot-eight Janowicz. He is 7-0 on hardcourts this year. The Spaniard has seven tournament wins this year, including his only previous hardcourt event at Indian Wells. The centre court stands looked half empty during Murrays listless loss to Gulbis, who he had beaten all five of their previous meetings. Many of the fans had gone to the adjoining National Bank court to watch Pospisil. Murray was in his first tournament since becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years. He looked sharp beating Marcel Granollers in his opening match Wednesday "I actually hit the ball better today than I did yesterday," said Murray. "I just got broken at the end of both sets. "There are obviously some things for me to work on, but I think that will come with playing matches." Gulbis said his previous losses to Murray were ancient history. "I looked on this monitor that I lost to him five times, but honestly I just remember the last match we played in Cincinnati," said Gulbis. "It was a really tough match, but it was in 2010. "It was a really long time ago. I was a different person, he was a different player. When I play against Nadal, honestly I dont care that I lost to him six or seven times. Every match is like a new thing. Lets delete all the past. Lets start from zero. So Im 1-0 with Murray." In the first match of the day on centre court, Janowicz used a service break to take a 6-5 lead, but Nadal broke back with a sweet cross-court return on game point. He trailed 5-2 in the tiebreak and won that as well. Janowicz, a semifinalist at Wimbledon, won the first three games of the second set, only to see Nadal fight back again, break service for a 5-4 lead and then serve out the match. Nadal said Janowicz has the tools to become a top-5 player on tour. "I had a very good victory today against a very difficult opponent," said Nadal. "I did a few things well during the match, a few things that I need to improve a little bit more. "His serve is huge. His forehand and backhand can be very dangerous. When he plays with a little bit of regular shots, he will become a very difficult player to beat. If he is able to maintain the right level during whole match he will be a player that will be in the very top positions." After ousting Canadian Frank Dancevic in the second round, Janowicz felt he couldve given Nadal more of a battle had he served better. "Actually Im upset a little bit," he said. "Im still quite happy I was able to get three matches here." "Thats most important for me, to get as many matches as possible before the U.S. Open. Nadal won the Rogers Cup in 2005, his first hardcourt victory, and in 2008. Bosnian-born Australian Matosevic celebrated his 28th birthday with his win over Paire. "Unbelievable match," said Matosevic, who caught a break in the second round when his 10th-seeded opponent Tommy Haas retired with a shoulder injury. "I knew it would be a special win on my birthday." But up next is Nadal, who beat Matosevic 6-1, 6-2 on clay in Monte Carlo this year. "Im not happy about that after playing two-and-a-half hours," said Matosevic. "Im sure hell make me run." Matosevic also reached the quarter-finals last week in Washington, where he beat Raonic in the third round before losing to Dmitry Tursunov. Wholesale Jerseys China ' ' '

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