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MONTREAL -- Theyve composed chants just for Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard, roared for her until they went hoarse, and toasted her wins by fudging their way through "O Canada." Meet the "Genie Army" -- a dozen boisterous Aussies who, despite boasting zero connection to Canada, have become Bouchards unofficial cheerleaders at the Australian Open. Members of the weeks-old squad have jumped, danced and serenaded their way into an unmistakable grandstand presence during the Montreal teens impressive run at the event, where she has earned a semifinal spot Thursday. The devotees, mostly men in their 20s, have also fashioned red-and-white T-shirts that spell out Bouchards name, flapped banners for her during matches, and lobbed plush animals -- each of them native to Australia -- to her on the court following each of her victories. Though they have had little face-to-face interaction with Bouchard, they have certainly commanded her attention in Melbourne. "The crowd here has been ....., especially the Genie Army," Bouchard, 19, said Tuesday during an on-court interview after beating Ana Ivanovic. She then pointed up to her noisy, personal cheering section. "Ive had so much fun. Thank you guys." The inspiration behind a brigade dedicated to Bouchard came after a bunch of Australian buddies watched her upset Ivanovic last year at Wimbledon, said one of the Army members. In December, as the Australian Open approached, Jacob Wright said the crew decided to become her own booster club, so they started making shirts and penning Bouchard chants. The Genie Army was born. "Shes just a great tennis player," Wright, 20, told The Canadian Press in a Skype interview from Melbourne. "Obviously, shes a good-looking .................................... as well, and were young guys, but she is a really good tennis player. Its really, really good fun to watch." Their movement has had nothing to do with patriotism, either. When asked whether any of them had a connection to Canada, he replied: "None of us." Wright said they caught Bouchards attention during her first-round match, which was held on a more-intimate court that brings fans closer to the players. Six of them showed up for the event and were lucky enough to have their photos taken with Bouchard, get her autograph, and exchange a few words with their favourite player after the victory. The Genie Army nation was thrilled, Wright added, when Bouchard later told an interviewer she hoped they would show up for her next match. They havent missed one since -- and their ranks have doubled to about 12. Wright said it has been a bit of a give-and-take relationship, with Bouchard thanking her believers in interviews and by making gestures, such as posting a couple of photos of them on her Twitter feed. The connection likely hit its only bumpy patch on Tuesday when she was asked in a post-match interview about who she would like to date, if she could choose anyone in the world. An embarrassed Bouchard, who appeared to be taken off guard by the question, blurted out the name of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. In TV footage, members of the Genie Army were shown waving off her choice. They remain committed, however, to backing Bouchard for the long haul, even if they initially didnt expect it to last. Wright admitted they never predicted Bouchard, the tournaments 30th seed, would advance to the semifinal, but theyve enjoyed the longer-than-expected ride. Bouchard, in fact, became the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in 30 years. "My voice doesnt usually sound like this, Im pretty husky from a week of just full-on yelling as loud as I can," said Wright, who was wearing a white T-shirt with a red Maple Leaf and a Bouchard autograph. "But yeah, weve just been yelling, chanting -- and overall the response from the crowds been really good." He said group members have also been surprised by the notoriety theyve amassed throughout the tournament, growing so big that they have been interviewed by media outlets and have frequently been asked to pose for photos with other fans. "Well be standing there for 20 minutes or something (after matches)," said Wright, whose group has an online presence on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, where .GenieArmy was trending after Tuesdays win. "Its getting really full of fun." But their primary mission has not changed since Day 1: support Bouchard. During her matches, the crew can be heard belting out custom chants from the bleachers, including a fight song usually reserved for when she first steps onto the hardcourt. "We are the Army, the Genie Army, and we are mental, and we are mad," a clapping Wright chanted as he began a demonstration of the mantra. The gang has even sung the Canadian national anthem, though Wright admits only a couple of them know the words. The first time they attempted "O Canada," he said they received some welcome help from Canadian fans in the crowd. "We started it off, but then we had a lot of Canadians around us, so they sort of finished it off for us," Wright said. "It wasnt a very good rendition." Roberto Firmino Jersey .S. - Nova Scotias Mary Fay guaranteed at least one more match and a shot at the Canadian junior curling championships final on home ice. Steven Caulker Jersey . Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan said Thursday that Edler, who played Tuesday in Nashville, is out indefinitely. http://www.liverpoolsoccerpro.com/Authe ... Jersey/.ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers. Daniel Sturridge Liverpool Jersey . His Chicago Blackhawks teammates werent shocked when he found it. Kanes career has been defined by his brilliance in the Blackhawks biggest moments, and his tiebreaking goal with 3:45 to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will rank among the best. Ryan Fulton Jersey . - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humour.COLUMBUS, Ohio - Just getting to the .500 mark might seem like a minor accomplishment to many teams. For the injury-ravaged Columbus Blue Jackets, however, it means the world.Kevin Connauton had a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Wednesday night.Its a credit to the guys, coach Todd Richards said after the Blue Jackets improved to 16-16-3 after a horrific 6-15-2 start, when they were without as many as nine top players. Where we were a month and a half ago, that was a big ...................... To get back to .500 is a good spot considering where we were. But we cant be satisfied with it.Columbus scored a power-play goal at 5:57 of the third with the score tied at 1. Cycling the puck, Connauton slid a pass to David Savard at the top of the left circle. His hard one-timer beat goalie Darcy Kuemper stick side inside the near post.Ryan Johansen added an empty-netter for his first goal in 12 games.We made our mistakes and Bob made some big saves, said Johansen. It wasnt the prettiest win, but well take it.Brandon Dubinsky had two assists for Columbus, which went 10-1-1 in December. It was the third time in franchise history that the Blue Jackets won at least 10 games in a month.Hockeys a game where when things are going well, (they) sort of (come) in bunches, said Connauton, a waiver pickup from Dallas on Nov. 18 who has been an important part of the clubs turnaround. Were just on one of those .... streaks right now and we just have to keep working on it and the good things will keep happening.Zach Parise scored a power-play goal for the Wild, whove had 11 of their last 14 games decided by one goal.The Wild, near the bottom of the league on the power play, had two chances with a man advantage in the opening period and scored on the second.With James Wisniewski off for holding, Thomas Vanek carried the puck from behind the Columbus goal cage and fed Mikko Koivu iin the right circle for a quick pass to the right doorstep for Parises one-timer that beat Bobrovsky inside the near post.dddddddddddd It was Parises 14th goal of the season.Bobrovsky had earlier stymied Koivu on a weakside one-timer.Johansen had a prime chance late in the first but Kuemper deflected the point-blank shot with his shoulder.The Blue Jackets evened things on a relatively innocent play with 46 seconds left in the second period.After a scrum in front of the net, the puck ended up at the short boards on the left wing and Kuemper ended up without his stick. Connauton fired a low shot that sliced past two defenders and eluded Kuemper.I dropped my stick on the save before and the puck got shot into the corner, said Kuemper, who had 23 saves. It shot right out to a guy for a one-timer.It was deflating for the Wild.We should have gone into the third period up 1-0, said Parise. Its tough when you give up one in the last minute of a period. It gets them excited and gets the crowd excited.The Wild havent won a second straight game since Nov. 20.We cant get on a roll, said coach Mike Yeo. Its disappointing. That was a game that was there for us. But we didnt dig in deep enough to get it.NOTES: During pregame warmups, Columbus announced it had extended the contract of left wing Nick Foligno through the 2020-21 season for a reported $33 million. ... Foligno was playing in his 500th career NHL game. ... It was the Wilds first road game on New Years Eve in eight years. ... The Blue Jackets placed RW Cam Atkinson on the injured list on Tuesday (shoulder). Hes expected to miss a week or two. ... The Wild reassigned G John Curry to Iowa (AHL) earlier in the day and activated starting G Niklas Backstrom, who had missed the last three games with an illness. ... Minnesota came in having lost 86 man games to injury; Columbus had lost 223.___Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '