MONTREAL — Canadas junior team has been together since Dec.
[b]https://www.houstonfootballshop.com/92-Jersey[/b] . 11 and they all agree its about time to play a real game.Canada opens the world junior championships Friday night against Slovakia at what is expected to be a packed Bell Centre.Were all looking at beating up someone else besides ourselves in practice, said Canadian forward Curtis Lazar, who joined the team only on Dec. 19 on loan from the Ottawa Senators. Were excited to get this thing going.I know, for myself, I just got here recently and Im already sick and tired of it. I cant imagine about these other guys. Theyve been itching and ready to go for a while. When we hit the ice, itll be pretty cool.There are high expectations for Canada, which has been shut out of the medals the past two years and has not won gold in the past five.Lazar was part of a Canadian squad that finished fourth at last years event in Malmo, Sweden, but this team is felt to have more skill and depth. He is among seven returning players along with goalie Zach Fucale, who gets the start against Slovakia, defenceman Josh Morrissey and forwards Connor McDavid, Nic Petan, Frederik Gauthier and Sam Reinhart.It is quite motivating, said Lazar. I know it is for myself because I want to erase that memory from last year and overcome it with a result this year.I feel we have a great group and were going to be able to have success no matter who were playing against. Its a matter of executing every time we step out on the ice.For many, the 20,000-plus at the Bell Centre will be the largest crowd theyve ever experienced, which can add to the excitement but may also be intimidating— especially if the team struggles early and the crowd gets impatient.Were going to have to manage the crowd and get them behind us right off the start, said Lazar. If we can get that momentum going in the tournament, its going to be really beneficial to us. I mean, world juniors on Canadian soil, theyre here supporting us. Its a matter of us putting on a show.Defenceman Joe Hicketts, in his first world juniors, hopes to embrace the excitement.We look to take advantage of that atmosphere and energy that Canadian fans bring and use it to our advantage, he said. Not putting pressure ourselves, but using the crowd is an asset.Likely the most closely watched Canadian, along with local product and Montreal Canadiens draft pick Fucale, is 17-year-old McDavid, who is expected to be picked first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.McDavid is coming off a broken hand suffered in a fight in November but showed in pre-tournament games he has shaken off any rust and is close to top form.Its pretty exciting, said McDavid. World Juniors. Boxing Day. My childhood dream.To play in it last year was pretty good. To play here in Montreal, its going to be an awesome experience.In three exhibitions games, Canada lost in overtime to Russia and posted one-sided wins over Sweden and Switzerland. They had two days to practise and do last-minute team bonding heading into the first game that counts.One matter they went over in detail was the small differences between NHL and international rules. Games are called more closely in international hockey, but coach Benoit Groulx feels his team is ready for that.We dont have any guys on our team that want to go out there and do stupid things or take bad penalties, he said. Its more about controlling what youre doing, being in the right frame of mind. So far weve been pretty good about it, but now it starts for real. I think were aware of it and well do good.We want to put a fast game on the ice. We have to be a tough team to play against, whistle to whistle. We dont want to be part of those scrums at the whistle or anything like that. When you look at our team, we have a lot of skilled players that are not playing like that. I dont expect discipline to be an issue at all, to be honest.Canada plays again Saturday night against Germany. Groulx would not say if Fucale or his second goalie Eric Comrie will start that game.
[b]https://www.houstonfootballshop.com/20-Jersey[/b] . -- Navy football player Will McKamey, who has been hospitalized since collapsing at practice three days ago, has died while in a coma.
[b]https://www.houstonfootballshop.com/95-Jersey[/b] . The kind he has every so often. The kind he has when Dwyane Wade sits. James scored 43 points -- 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display -- and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.BASEL, Switzerland - Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic struggled for well over two hours Thursday before finally earning a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) win over Donald Young to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament.Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., could have closed out a straight-sets win in less than 90 minutes. Instead, Young claimed a tiebreaker to take the match into a deciding third set.There were there I have to do differently and not put myself in that situation, said Raonic, making his Basel debut. At the end of the day, the most important thing was to win, no matter how.Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil, semi-finalist a year ago against Roger Federer, fell 6-2, 6-2 in his second round match against fifth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.Grigor played well, I was not myself, it felt similar to last year, Pospisil said. Im just burned out mentally.It was a tough match, you cant take anything away form him. Ive had a heavy schedule. Since March Ive been home nine days.Federer, the tournaments top seed, had to fight back from a set down before beating Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. The Swiss star will face Dimitrov in the next round.Raonic now stands 45 points behind Andy Murray in the race to next months eight-man World Tour Finals in London, with the Scot also winning his second-round match in Valencia.David Ferrer, one spot behind Raonic, also produced a win in Spain as the chase tightens with this week and next at Paris Bercy to play.Even if I was counting the points, its irrelevant as everyone (in the race) is still playing, said Raonic, who served as a non-playing substitute in London a year ago. Theres not a lot I can do about it except to concentrate on my game.Raonic next plays Belgian David Goffin, who has risen to a 28th ranking with solid play all season. Raonic faced him in 2011 in a Wimbledon match which did not conclude as Goffin retired after losing the first set.Hes playing great tennis, he tries to move you around with forehand and backhand and he returns well, said Raonic, now 45-16 on the season. He does iit all well.
[b]https://www.houstonfootballshop.com/97-Jersey[/b]. Ill have to try and play as much on my terms as possible.Raonic took an early lead against Young, which held up as he won the opening set in less than half an hour.But standing two points from the win in the second-set tiebreaker, the 23-year-old committed a pair of errors which led Young back into contention at 5-all.The American took advantage of a Raonic error to earn a set point, then levelled at a set each when Raonics forehand went wide.In the third set, Raonic recovered from a double-fault and an error which sent him to love-30 in the 11th game, holding his nerve for a 6-5 lead. When Young sent that set into a tiebreak, it came down to Raonic to finish off the victory with his 22nd ace.I had a lot of tough moments to squeeze through, Raonic said. In the second set he fought hard and found a way. I had a few lucky breaks overall to win it.Federer struggled in the opening set, and even walked toward his chair early in the first game before realizing there was still a point to play.Istomin had taken just a set off Federer in five previous meetings, last year in Basel, but the Uzbekistan player took the lead after breaking in the sixth game.However, Federer fought back and took a commanding lead in the second set after breaking when Istomin hit a backhand long.Istomin battled to stay in the match and saved seven break points in the final set before finally succumbing to Federer in the third game and the second-ranked home favourite went on to clinch the match with a love service game.Eighth-seeded Ivo Karlovic also advanced after coming from a set down to defeat qualifier Kenny De Schepper of France 6-7
, 6-4, 6-3 in just under 2 hours.The Croatian will face Benjamin Becker in the quarter-finals. The German eased through after Mikhail Kukushkin, who had upset Stanislas Wawrinka in the opening round, retired when trailing 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-0.Borna Coric set up a quarter-final against childhood idol Rafael Nadal as the 17-year-old Croatian comfortably beat Andrey Golubev 6-4, 6-4.— With files from The Associated Press ' ' '
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