They took away her ‘C, but they didnt take away her heart. [url=http://www.cheaplosangelesramsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-j ustin-lawler-jersey]Authentic Justin Lawler Jersey[/url] . Hayley Wickenheiser, the greatest womens hockey player ever, stole the show as Canada defeated the United State

They took away her ‘C, but they didnt take away her heart. Authentic Justin Lawler Jersey . Hayley Wickenheiser, the greatest womens hockey player ever, stole the show as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in a thrilling nail-biter preliminary game in Sochi Wednesday. Wickenheiser set up Canadas first goal of the game on a nifty pass to Meghan Agosta-Marciano and then scored her second goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics – the 18th of her Olympic career. Not only that, the 35-year-old Wickenheiser played a strong defensive game, too, shutting down Team USAs top scorers. It is no coincidence that in the dying seconds of the game, with the United States on the power play and its goalie on the bench in favour of an extra skater, Wickenheiser was one of the four Canadian skaters on the ice in pure defensive mode. The victory for Canada means it avoids a tough semifinal matchup against the pesky Finnish squad. Canada defeated Finland 3-0 earlier in the tournament, but didnt score until 9:27 of the third period. The Finns are capable of pulling off an upset in this years Olympics. Wickenheiser, a two-time Olympic MVP, had been the captain of the Canadas national team, but it was announced by Hockey Canada prior to the Olympics that Caroline Ouellette would be the captain in Sochi. Wickenheiser was named an alternate captain. There had even been some chatter leading up to the Games she might be cut from the team. Given how well she has played in Sochi, that would have been a dreadful mistake. Its a team game For Wickenheiser, it is all about the team. “Were so close,” she said of the bitter rivalry with the United States. “Sometimes it just comes down to the team that gets a break or has more energy. I liked the energy level and determination in our game [today].” On snapping the four-game losing streak to Team USA, Wickenheiser said, “Its a confidence booster. [Coach] Kevin Dineen has had some time to prepare for this game. He also needed time to get to know the players in our room; the strengths and weaknesses. We have all the confidence in him.” So, with the victory over the United States, is it advantage Canada moving into the medal round? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Bragging rights Certainly Canada has bragging rights following its win over Team USA. However, history has shown what happens leading up to the Games doesnt necessarily have anything to do with who wins the gold medal. In 2002, Team USA had beaten Canada 10 times in a row, but the Canadians shocked the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the gold-medal game at Salt Lake City. It is also worth noting prior to the last three Olympic Games, the United States won the world championship only to have Canada rebound to take gold at the Olympics. The United States certainly had a mental edge over Canada entering the game – the first time the teams had met in the preliminary round since 1998 – thanks to four straight victories over their rivals in a six-game exhibition series leading up to the Olympic Games. In 1998 in Nagano, Japan, Team USA beat Canada 7-4 in the preliminary round and 3-1 in the gold-medal game. At the very least, Canada now knows it can skate with and beat the powerful United States club. Doing it twice in a row will not be easy. “It felt so good,” said winning goalie Charline Labonte. “We have been struggling a bit the past couple of games against them. We have worked really hard to readjust and become a better team. They came out really strong, as expected, so I am really glad we came up with the win.” American scoring ace Amanda Kessel was understandably dissatisfied with the final result. "It hurts," Kessel said. "Every game matters. They didnt get to see how we can play." A lot has been made of the fact the two teams have an intense dislike for one another – as indicated by the two line brawls in the final few exhibition games leading up to the Olympics – and it was fully on display in Wednesdays preliminary match. Despite the fact bodychecking is illegal in womens hockey, players from both teams rode that fine line between handing out jarring hits, just hard and incidental enough so as not to cause Finnish referee Anna Eskola to penalize them. In that regard, Eskola did a fine job in allowing the game to be physical without getting goofy. "Both teams were aggressive," said American forward Hilary Knight. Youll get our top game when we play one another and thats a great thing. We are both good teams and we are competitive." Canada matched USAs speed and demonstrated a penchant for driving hard to the net from start to finish. If there was a concern for Canada it was the ineffectiveness of its power play. Canada entered the third period a mere 1-for-10 with the man advantage throughout the tournament. It was zero-for-three in the first 40 minutes. However, Agosta-Marciano accepted a perfectly-placed pass from Wickenheiser and scored with Americas Brianna Decker in the penalty box to tie the game 1-1 with a much-needed power-play marker. Decker had been sent off for tripping Wickenheiser. The quarter-finals will be played Saturday and Canada will play in the semifinal Monday. Wholesale Rams Jerseys .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. Authentic Robert Woods Jersey . Levante, which had lost five straight including a Copa del Rey game last weekend, fell behind at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium when Ionut Sapanura opened the scoring for Elche in the 26th minute. http://www.cheaplosangelesramsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-ethan-westbrooks-jersey .com) - Stephen Currys jumper with 3.The Montreal Canadiens may be among the best teams in the NHL this season, but its certainly not due to their power play. Theyre hoping a 40-year-old can fix it. Sergei Gonchar may make his Canadiens debut tonight when they try to match their longest winning streak of the season by beating the Boston Bruins again. Montreals 23 points trail only Anaheim, Vancouver and Tampa Bay, and getting its power play clicking should keep it among the NHLs elite. The Canadiens power play ranks 28th, converting just 3 of 42 chances, and one was an empty-netter by P.A. Parenteau in a 6-4 win over Boston on Oct. 16. P.K. Subban had Montreals last goal with the man advantage on Oct. 18, and the Habs are 0 for 22 since. Carey Price overshadowed those struggles Tuesday, making 29 saves in a 3-0 win over Winnipeg for his first shutout of the season. Montreal (11-4-1) struck a deal prior to the victory to address the units woes, acquiring Gonchar from Dallas in exchange for left wing Travis Moen. Hes a guy who has made a career out of his work on the power play, coach Michel Therrien told the teams official website. Well see how things play out, but hes definitely a guy with a lot of experience who has always been known for his vision and quick thinking on the power play. We have to work as a unit of five. Communication is important. Gonchar had one assist in three games with the Stars after returning from an ankle injury. However, 14 of his 22 points in 2013-14 came on the power play, and his 798 points rank 16th all-time among defensemen. The move shouldnt surprise anyone because weve struggled a little bit on the power play, said defenseman Andrei Markov, Gonchars teammate on various Russiia national teams. Authentic Troy Hill Jersey. Hes a great player for it. Hes a great player all around. Hopefully, hes going to help us move forward with the power play, and move forward in everything else. Price is practically doing it on his own, winning his last two starts while stopping 59 of 60 shots, increasing his save percentage from .907 to .918. He had 25 saves against the Bruins (10-7-0) last month, beating the Original Six rival for the fifth time in six home meetings - including the playoffs - with a 1.49 goals-against average. I cant score on him in practice, and it really hurts my self-esteem, defenseman Mike Weaver joked. Hes there for every key save out there. Hes able to stop the best goal scorers out there. The Bruins issues went beyond scoring in Wednesdays 6-1 loss to Toronto that ended a season-high five-game winning streak. We just stunk the joint out, coach Claude Julien said. Weve got a game (Thursday night in Montreal). You certainly cant cut down your bench when you play the next night, and even if I did, I dont think I wouldve been able to put anybody out there that deserved to be out there. That included Tuukka Rask, who was pulled early in the second period after giving up four goals on 16 shots. Its unclear if hell be back in net since hes 3-11-3 with a 2.80 GAA in 18 career regular-season meetings with the Canadiens, surrendering five goals on 23 attempts before being lifted in the third period last month. Carl Soderberg was held without a point Wednesday after getting six over the previous five games. The center, who is tied with Patrice Bergeron with a team-high 13 points, has a goal in each of his last two regular-season visits to Montreal. 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