MINSK, Belarus -- Three-thousand kilometres from where he grew up in Toronto, Geoff Platt couldnt have felt more at home.
[b]Cheap Jordan[/b] . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Not long after, fans were chanting his name. "Its an emotion that Im not sure Ive achieved ever in my career, just because of the atmosphere and the electricity in the building," Platt said. "It just runs through your veins and grabs a hold of you." Along with goaltender Kevin Lalande, Platt is one of two Canadian-born players representing host Belarus at the world hockey championship and playing major roles in what might be the best international showing in the countrys history. Led by Canadian-born coach Glen Hanlon, Belarus is in the quarter-finals for just the third time and the first since 2009. This is the biggest event Belarus has ever hosted, so Minsk has been partying for two weeks. And this team is giving locals another reason to celebrate. "You have to understand the magnitude (of) what this means to them," Hanlon said. "Its bigger than just a game. This is their chance to show everybody." By show everybody, Hanlon means the city, which is decked out in IIHF signs welcoming the world and reminding them in the form of giant bison mascots that hockey is happening here. Inside the 15,000-seat Minsk Arena, home of the KHLs Dynamo Minsk, good hockey has been happening for Belarus. Lalande, a native of Ottawa who plays for Dynamo and gained citizenship, has been stellar and Platt has added timely offence. But the Canadian imports want the credit to go to leading scorers Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn. "Players are playing for this symbol, and it means a lot more to them to represent their country than probably a National Hockey League team or any club team around the world," Platt said, pointing to the Belarusian coat of arms on his chest. "Youre seeing that with Sergei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski just really taking their game to a level Im sure theyve almost never played at." Grabovski beamed with pride when talking about what this tournament means to him. Hes showing that to Hanlon, who first coached him as a 21-year-old at the world championships in Vienna in 2005. The Grabovski at this tournament is an other-worldly player. "I dont even look at Mikhail anymore because I know hes going to play great," Hanlon said. "I never get tired of saying, Good game, Mikhail." Hanlon is limited in what he can say to some of his players because of the language barrier. He understands Russian and Belarusian and is trying to learn to speak both languages, even though he doesnt have to. The former Washington Capitals coach and longtime NHL goaltender, whos in his second stint as coach of the Belarusian national team, has someone with him at almost all times who speaks English. At his news conferences with local media, the Brandon, Man., native answers in English, occasionally splicing in Belarusian words and pausing to let the interpreter next to him do his work. "Ive taken lessons, Ive done all of it," Hanlon said. "I have a better handle on it. Ive gone home here after every friendly tournament, so I take all my books, put them in my backpack like the college student on spring break and I end up dealing with my 12-year-old son and my wife and I sort of break away from it for a couple weeks." Hanlons wife and son still live in Vancouver, and because shes a teacher and hes a skier and hockey player they dont accompany him to Europe. "Hed rather play his own hockey than watch me coach," Hanlon said. Everyone in Belarus is watching Hanlon coach with keen interest. In Minsk, televisions all over the city have tournament games on, whether Belarus is playing or not. Inside Minsk Arena, one section is full of fans jumping up and down and doing chants normally reserved for soccer matches. Others whistle and fill the building with the kind of noise Lalande and Platt have no comparison for and Hanlon can only relate to the old Chicago Stadium. "When you go into somewhere like Bell Centre or Madison Square Garden, its pretty loud but it dies off after a while," Hanlon said. "Here its sustained for the whole 2 1/2 hours of the game. Im not kidding: You cant hear a word down there. Im screaming and Im yelling at my players whos up and everything. "From before the game starts till after its over, its like a festival." Its a festival thats special to the Belarusian players, whether theyre from Novopolotsk in the north like Dmitry Korobov, or Ontario like Lalande and Platt. How they got here wasnt a matter of having Belarusian ancestry. Anyone who plays for Dynamo Minsk for two seasons is eligible for citizenship. "I got to keep my Canadian citizenship, so there wasnt really any downside," said Lalande, who began the tournament as a backup but has played too well for Hanlon not to start him. "At first it just made the travelling a lot easier in Russia, I didnt need a visa and saved a couple pages in my Canadian passport. But when Glen was named the head coach, we had a couple conversations together. He made it clear from the start that he wanted me to be a part of this." "Whether Id play or not he didnt know, but hes been very supportive. I owe everything to him for this chance." Lalande and Platt each praised the local players for accepting them while also noting theres a comfort level in having each other and an English-speaking coach around for this run. But Hanlon, who previously coached the Slovak national team, learned from his season with Jokerit in Finland that having Canadians on his team isnt easy. "Being an import coach you want to go out of your way so that the Canadians are respected," he said. "The last thing you want to do is look like youre favouring them." "So you want them to work for everything that they get, and I try to keep my space from them. I dont want to give anybody any reason to think that these players are going to get special treatment from me." No special treatment, but this experience has been special for Platt and Lalande, even though theyre not playing for their home country. Platt, who played 46 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks, won a gold medal for Canada at the under-18 world championships in 2003. Platt hasnt represented Canada since and has moved on. "Not putting on the Canadian jersey now is just a chapter that sits in the past in my career," the 28-year-old said. "I was very fortunate to wear the Canadian jersey and win a gold medal at the under-18 level, and now this is a realistic goal to be playing with Belarus and to be competing at this level. Its really fun when were successful." Belarus was plenty successful in the preliminary round, going 4-3 to finish third in its group, ahead of Finland, Switzerland and Latvia and set up a quarter-final game against Sweden on Thursday night. Even if Sweden ends Belaruss run, the host teams performance wont be forgotten any time soon. When a victory over Latvia clinched a spot in the quarter-finals, Platt called it a "very rare opportunity for Belarusian ice hockey" that his teammates capitalized on. Lalande couldnt come up with words to describe his emotions. "We did it for ourselves because we believed," Lalande said, crediting fans who made a real impact on the team. "I think all of the Minsk and the whole countrys behind us right now. ... Were playing for us and were playing for them and its a tremendous feeling to be able to win in this fashion for them." Thats Hanlons priority, too. More than six years after being fired by the Capitals on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, he has no plans to return to coaching in the NHL and has invested a lot of time and energy on European hockey. Hanlon still keeps track of whats going on in North America and watches games because hes interested, but now the 57-year-old also checks on scores from leagues around Europe. Hes still a Canadian citizen, but the prospect of playing his native country doesnt mean anything to him anymore. "Whats special for me is winning for Belarus," Hanlon said. "Thats whats special."
[b]Cheap Jordan From China[/b] . Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project.
[b]Fake Jordan[/b] . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace.Alec Martinez scored 5:47 into overtime of Game Seven, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, capturing the Western Conference crown. Martinez doesnt play a lot, playing more than 18 minutes once in the past 11 games, but hes been remarkably effective. In the series against the Blackhawks, during 5-on-5 play, Martinez was on the ice for 115 shot attempts for and 74 against (60.8%). He now has four goals and nine points in 21 games during this years playoffs. Mr. Game Seven, Justin Williams, contributed a goal, as well as setting up Martinez for the winner. Williams now has 18 points in the postseason, ranking fifth, behind Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Patrick Kane and Marian Gaborik. Over the past three years, Williams ranks fourth in playoff scoring, with 42 points in 59 games. Kings rookie RW Tyler Toffoli continued to produce, picking up a goal and an assist in Game Seven, giving him six points (4 G, 2 A) in the series. He was also strong in terms of puck possession, on the ice for 59.9% (112 for, 75 against) of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Kings captain Dustin Brown had a productive game, with two assists giving him six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past four games after he had one point in the previous eight. Something about playing with Anze Kopitar works for Brown. Brown also registered a game-high eight hits and 13 shot attempts in Game Seven. Kings LW Dwight King had a couple of assists in Game Seven, giving him five points (1 G, 4 A) in the series. He had three points in 14 games through the first two rounds of the series. Chicago jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and it looked like their big guns were firing. Kane had a couple of assists, giving him 10 points in the past four games and a team-leading 20 points in 19 playoff games. In the last six seasons, there have been two players to score at least 14 points in four different playoff years; one is Kane, the other is teammate Marian Hossa. Kanes linemate, LW Brandon Saad, had a goal and an assist in Game Seven, giving him nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the series. In the last six games, Saad was on for 62.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Blackhawks LW Patrick Sharp was dangerous in Game Seven, more than most if not all of this years playoff games, scoring a pair of goals. It was a rough postseason for Sharp, who finished with 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in 19 games and was on the wrong end of the possession game, 39.
[b]Cheap Air Jordan Online[/b]. 4% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts in the series. This was quite a series, played at a very high level, yet undermined at times by subpar goaltending. Blackhawks G Corey Crawford had an .878 save percentage, stopping 187 of 213 shots, in the series. Three of the goals against in the series-deciding game were the result of ineffective blocked shots by Chicago defenders, so blame cant be pinned solely on Crawford, but its tough to win stopping under 88% of the shots faced. Its not as though Jonathan Quick was dramatically better in the Kings net. Quick had an .889 save percentage (184 saves on 207 shots against), leaving him with a .906 save percentage in this years playoffs. The series was also a survival of the fittest and it was clear, in Game Seven, that there were individual players that couldnt be entrusted with ice time. For the Blackhawks, that included LW Brandon Bollig and RW Kris Versteeg, both on for zero shot attempts for and six against in limited ice time, under four minutes each, while C Michal Handzus was only on for two for and nine against in a little under seven minutes. The Kings had their own liabilities. LW Kyle Clifford was on the ice for zero shot attempts for and 10 against, in less than three minutes of ice time, and RW Trevor Lewis was only slightly better (three attempts for, 12 against) in under six minutes of ice time. They were the only Kings forwards to go scoreless in the series. It has been anything but easy for the Kings, who have won three straight seven-game series, but they will be favoured against the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final. As the leagues top puck possession team, its fair for the Kings to hold favoured status, but they will need Quick to play better than he has in the playoffs -- and most definitely better than he did against Chicago -- in order to win the Cup. Theres more to break down before that series starts, so lets give credit to the Kings for their hard-fought win over Chicago. It was a memorable series played between two outstandin teams and the victors ought to be applauded. Scott Cullen can be reached at
Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
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