Trombley stopped 20 shots in the Blades

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SOCHI — Hayley Wickenheiser not only will carry the Canadian flag in the opening ceremonies on Friday, the hockey legend also carries high hopes for a fourth-consecutive Olympic gold medal and for the womens game as a whole. Wholesale Cheap Jerseys . But before her work on the ice begins, shes going to savour a special moment at Sochis Fisht Olympic stadium on Friday. "Just going to enjoy it and take it all in and, you know, honour the fact that I have this opportunity and that my family is going to be in the building," said Wickenheiser, who hails from Shaunavon, Sask. "So its going to be a fun night, said the Olympic veteran," who will have 11 family members in Sochi. The 35-year-old Wickenheiser is well aware that if the womens tournament evolves as presumed with a Canada-United States gold-medal final on Feb. 20, the scrutiny will continue as to whether womens hockey belongs in the Olympics. But shes been around the international game for two decades, when she cracked the Canadian roster as a 15 year old in 1994, and she sees progress. Womens game in good shape “I always worry about the future of womens hockey, mainly because of the fact that most of the world pays attention to womens hockey only for two weeks out of every four years,” Wickenheiser said. “I dont worry about the womens game when I look at every game and what goes on internationally. “I look at Team Japan and what [current coach and former Canadian player] Carla MacLeod has been able to do to get that team to an Olympic Games, which is a huge accomplishment for a country. You look at Finland and how they centralize their under-18 and national teams. You look at Sweden and you look at Russia what Alexei Yashin [the teams general manager] has been able to do with his team.” Still, the Russians, Swedes, Finns and Swiss need to exhibit that they have closed the gap. But that wont be easy because Canada and the U.S. continue to elevate its level of play. “This is a dilemma womens hockey is always going to face. But the reality is were so much further ahead in this time span than say where mens hockey was in [after the first five Olympics]. I think the [womens] game has really come a long way in five Olympics.” Will this be Wickenheisers final Olympics? She wont decide on whether to continue or conclude her decorated career, that includes three Olympic gold medals, seven world championships and playing pro mens hockey in Finland and Sweden, until after the final buzzer sounds in Sochi. So what keeps Wickenheisers competitive clock ticking? “The No. 1 thing is a love of sport,” said the six-time Olympian said, who also competed for Canada in softball at the 2000 Sydney Games. “Ive loved hockey since the day I first put on skates when I was five years old. I have had a passion to play all these years. “I love being part of Team Canada and having the opportunity to win, and thats the main driving force now.” Nagano loss still hurts She forgot to mention that shes never been a good loser. At a team gathering on Monday evening, Wickenheiser and Hefford and assistant coach Daniel Goyette described the emptiness and hurt they felt when they finished second in 1998. “The worst thing in the world is to stand on the blue line with a silver medal around your neck,” she said. “It stays with you for a while.” There was some speculation that Wickenheiser wouldnt be around for the Sochi Games. There was some thought her game had dropped off and she was dealing with some injuries. “You battle injuries and you go through a lot of things as an athlete, but I could picture in my mind what I needed to do to get ready to play in these Games,” she said. “I guess its always a fragile existence as an athlete. Any day something can happen and your games are over, like we saw yesterday with the snowboarder (Norway slopestyle gold-medal contender Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone during a trail run). “Im very grateful to be sitting here … and to have had the longevity Ive had.” (With files from CBC Saskatchewan) NFL Jerseys From China . - The Raiders have released guard Mike Brisiel after two disappointing seasons in Oakland. Wholesale Jerseys . JOHNS, N. http://www.cheapnfljerseys.tv/ . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists.REGINA - Dyson Stevenson scored four goals as the surging Regina Pats rolled over the lowly Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-0 in Western Hockey League play Tuesday. Stevenson scored the first three goals of the game in the first period for Regina (35-22-6), which has won eight of its last 10 games. Patrick DAmico added two for the Pats, Braden Christoffer had a single and Morgan Klimchuk chipped in a goal and four assists. Pats goalie Dawson MacAuley stopped 29 shots. At the other end of the ice, Teagan Sacher and Jonny Hogue each allowed four goals for the league-worst Hurricanes (12-47-5). --- WARRIORS 5 BLADES 2 SASKATOON — The Warriors broke open their game against the Blades with three unanswered goals in the third period. Sam Fioretti, Josh Uhrich, Tanner Eberle, Alexey Sleptsov and Jesse Forsberg scored for Moose Jaw (16-37-9). Logan Harland scored twice for Saskatoon (16-42-5), which lost its third straight. Zach Sawchenko made 31 saves for Moose Jaw, while Troy Trombley stopped 20 shots in the Blades net. --- OIL KINGS 5 TIGERS 2 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Edmonton rallied from a 2-1 deficit with four unanswered goals against the Tigers. Ashton Sautner, Henrik Samuelsson, Riley Kieser, Mads Eller and Edgars Kulda scored for the Oil Kings (44-15-22). Wholesale NFL Jerseys China. Anthony Ast and Chad Labelle had first-period goals for Medicine Hat (38-22-3). Tristan Jarry stopped 19 shots for Edmonton, far less than the 36 saves made by Tigers goalie Marek Langhamer. --- ROCKETS 9 COUGARS 5 KELOWNA, B.C. — Tyrell Goulbourne had a hat trick as the league-leading Rockets romped past Prince George. Nick Merkley scored twice for Kelowna (49-9-4), while Damon Severson, Kris Schmidli, Marek Tvrdon and Justin Kirkland added singles. Sam Ruopp, Todd Fiddler, Klarc Wilson, Jordan Tkatch and Troy Bourke had goals for the Cougars (26-32-8). Rockets goaltender Jordon Cooke finished with 27 saves. 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