'Mehdi Kaan' alias Kai Schumann » TIPS 4 AMERICANS 2 KENNEWICK,

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Canadas womens hockey team didnt play its best game in its Four Nations Cup opener, but it was enough to beat Finland 3-1. Rebecca Johnston, Natalie Spooner and Vicki Bendus scored for Canada, which is playing this tournament without star forward Hayley Wickenheiser and five other veterans. Canada scored two goals in 1:34 in the first period and wound up outshooting Finland 39-23. "We were a little soft," said forward Meghan Agosta-Marciano, who assisted on Spooners goal. "We need to be able to chip the puck a little more, come out of the zone together and come with speed, and thats something that we kind of lacked a bit tonight. Thats not the best hockey that were going to be playing this tournament." Coach Dan Church praised his teams adjustments in the third period but said the consistency needs to be better. "Finlands a tough team to play against because they clog the neutral zone and theyre very good at their neutral-zone forecheck," he said. "We didnt make an adjustment in the second period, but I thought the third period we did a good job." Finlands only goal came in the third period, when Tea Villila scored on the fifth of six power plays to make it 3-1. Canada took seven minor penalties but Johnstons goal, from Haley Irwin and Brianne Jenner, came on the power play. Goaltender Charline Labonte stopped 22 of the 23 shots she faced. "Charline had a solid game in net for us, turned aside a bunch of shots and was consistent back there," Church said. In addition to Wickenheiser, Canada is without experienced forwards Caroline Ouellette and Marie-Philip Poulin and defencemen Meaghan Mikkelson, Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino, who are getting a rest. Church wants to win the Four Nations Cup, but this tournament is also about evaluating players for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. "Its a prestigious tournament, and its an important step on the road to Sochi. But there are things that we need to do to build our team," he said. "We brought 21 players here that are going to play all four games, and thatll be an important process for us selecting our team down the road, leaving some players behind in Calgary." Those in Lake Placid, N.Y., have their sights on winning now and worrying about Sochi later. "When I think Canada I think winning every single opportunity we have in any game or any tournament," Agosta-Marciano said. "Its great tournament to kind of see where everybodys at, and at the end of the day we want to come out of this on top." Canadas next game is Wednesday night against the United States, which it has already defeated twice recently. This is a renewal of that rivalry, even with some of Canadas best players not participating. "I think itll be good to see some of our younger players, having some of our more experienced veterans at home in Calgary, its an opportunity for them to step up," Church said. Michael Raffl Jersey . Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better. Nolan Patrick Jersey . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. http://www.officialflyersfanstore.com/au...-flyers-jersey/. Goodell said in an ESPN Radio interview Monday (http://es.pn/1gkbauy ) that participants played harder and made the game very competitive. Goodell says he had fun watching the game Sunday and thinks fans did, too. Christian Folin Jersey . Canada will host the second stop on the circuit, the 2014 Skate Canada International in Kelowna, British Columbia from October 31 - November 2, 2014 at Prospera Place. Cole Bardreau Jersey . Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest.PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Leon Draisaitl had two goals and two assists as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the Calgary Hitmen 5-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League action. Collin Valcourt, Josh Morrissey and Mackenzie Stewart also scored for the Raiders (32-30-5), who moved within two points of Brandon for the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, and Sawyer Lange chipped in with two assists. Jake Virtanen scored both goals for the Hitmen (44-17-7), who have dropped back-to-back games. Nick McBride made 32 saves for Prince Albert while Calgarys Chris Driedger stopped 23-of-27 shots in defeat. --- WARRIORS 6 BLADES 1 SASKATOON -- Dallas Valentine had a pair of goals as Moose Jaw handed the Blades their seventh straight defeat. Scott Cooke, Brayden Point, Tanner Eberle and Bryson Gore also scored for the Warriors (19-40-6) while Gore tacked on two assists for a three-point night. Moose Jaws Zach Sawchenko made 25 saves for the win. Ryan Graham scored the lone goal for Saskatoon (16-46-5). Troy Trombley allowed four goals on 22 shots before giving way to Brandon Kegler, who stopped 11-of-13 shots in one period of relief. --- OIL KINGS 6 WHEAT KINGS 3 BRANDON -- Curtis Lazar and Mads Eller each scored twice and Tristan Jarry made 26 saves as Edmonton doubled up the Wheat Kings. Brandon Ralph and Reid Petryk also scored for the Oil Kings (47-17-3) and Brett Pollock had two assists. Brandon (31-28-9) got goals from Ryley Lindgren, John Quenneville and Rihards Bukarts. Curtis Honey gave up three goals on eight shots for the Wheat Kings and was pulled after seven minutes of play. Jordan Papirny stopped 28-of-31 shots in relief. --- ICE 5 TIGERS 2 CRANBROOK, B.C. -- Jaedon Descheneau had two goals and an assist as Kootenay beat Medicine Hat for its first win in three games. Zach Franko, Tyler King and Jagger Dirk also scored for the Ice (38-25-4). Tommy Vanelli and Curtis Valk supplied the scoring for the Tigers (41-23-4). Mackenzie Skapski made 30 saves for Kootenay. Marek Langhamer allowed five goals on 27 shots in 41 minutes of action before Nick Schneider took over for the rest of the game. Schneider made three saves in relief. --- PATS 5 HURRICANES 2 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Dawson MacAuley made 30 saves and Dyson Stevenson had a goal and two assists as Regina toppled the Hurricanes. Colby Williams, Logan McVeigh, Boston Leier and Braden Christoffer also scored for the Pats (38-24-6). Josh Derko scored both goals for Lethbridge (12-51-5), which has dropped 10 games in a row. Teagan Sacher turned aside 39-of-44 shoots for the Hurricanes.dddddddddddd --- REBELS 4 BRONCOS 1 RED DEER, Alta. -- Wyatt Johnson and Aspen Sterzer each had a goal and an assist as the Rebels beat Swift Current. Conner Bleackely and Adam Musil also scored for Red Deer (33-30-5) and Patrik Bartosak made 33 saves for the win. Graham Black scored for the Broncos (34-25-9), who lost in regulation for the first time in seven outings. Eetu Laurikainen stopped 20-of-24 shots for Swift Current. --- WINTERHAWKS 7 THUNDERBIRDS 3 PORTLAND, Ore. -- Brendan Leipsic had two goals and two assists as the Winterhawks toppled Seattle. Matthew Dumba also scored twice for Portland (49-13-5), Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists and Chase De Leo and Anton Cederholm added the others. Ryan Gropp, Shea Theodore and Russell Maxwell had a goal apiece for the Thunderbirds (39-21-6) and Mathew Barzal had two assists. Adin Hill made 11 saves for the victory after replacing starter Corbin Boes, who gave up three goals on 16 shots in 27 minutes for the Winterhawks. Seattles Taran Kozun stopped 33-of-40 shots in defeat. --- CHIEFS 4 COUGARS 2 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. -- Mike Aviani scored twice as Spokane came from behind to defeat the Cougars. Keanu Yamamoto and Adam Helewka also scored for the Chiefs (37-24-6), who trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, while Reid Gow tacked on three assists. Todd Fiddler extended his point streak to 19 games with a goal and Troy Bourke also scored for Prince George (26-35-8), which dropped its fourth game in a row. Garret Hughson made 34 saves for Spokane as Ty Edmonds turned away 25-of-29 shots in defeat. --- SILVERTIPS 4 AMERICANS 2 KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Austin Lotz turned away 32 shots as Everett downed Tri-City for its seventh win in its last eight games. Ivan Nikolishin, Logan Aasman, Matt Fonteyne and Brayden Low scored for the Silvertips (35-23-9). Lucas Nickles and Justin Gutierrez responded for the Americans (28-31-8), who hold down the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Tri-Citys Eric Comrie made 34 saves in a losing cause. --- ROYALS 5 BLAZERS 1 VICTORIA -- Ben Walker set up four of his clubs goals as the Royals downed Kamloops for their fourth win in a row. Travis Brown, Jack Walker, Brandon Magee, Axel Blomqvist and Brett Cote scored for Victoria (46-17-4) and Patrik Polivka made 17 saves for the win. The Blazers (13-50-5) got their lone goal from Ryan Rehill. Bolton Pouliot turned away 35-of-40 shots for Kamloops, which is just the second team to hit the 50-loss mark this season along with Lethbridge. ' ' '