News » by Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Ph

SOCHI, Russia – When the Canadian management team, headed by executive director Steve Yzerman, gathered in recent months to evaluate the crop of players that would be selected to play for Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics two central attributes emerged above all else. There was the requisite hockey sense demanded from the countrys very best and of equal importance, if not more so, was the ability to burn up and down the ice, the latter of significant consequence on the generally unfamiliar international ice surface. "I think we have a really good mix of players here that bring a lot of elements," said Doug Armstrong, the Blues GM and a member of Team Canadas management team, "but the one element they all have is skating ability." Its likely why someone like 34-year-old Joe Thornton – a member of the gold medal winning squad in 2010 and top point producer again this season, but certainly not the fleetest of foot – was not named to the team this time around, replaced by explosive types such as Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn. In fact, the Canadian roster in Vancouver featured a number of players who were probably never be described as quick – Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, Dany Heatley, Eric Staal – but could get around just fine, at that point in their respective careers, on the NHL-sized ice. "I think you see some players that can play on the North American ice [that are] not quite as fleet of foot, but the space they have to get to they can get to quicker and hold it longer. From the corners to the front of the net the distance isnt as great. I think its a different style," Armstrong said. "A bigger man can have success maybe in the North American game thats a little harder to have here." Absent is a single player on this roster who cant get up and down the ice effectively. Quickly adjusting to the larger international ice surface – 15 additional feet wide – will be among the greater challenges facing the Canadians as they look to become the first back-to-back gold medal winning squad in the NHL era of the Olympics. All of which explains why swiftness on skates – not to mention the ability to move the puck with equal speed and precision – was such a fundamental asset in the selection process. Canada managed to win its first gold in 50 years on the Olympic size ice in Salt Lake City, but fell badly short four years later in Torino – they finished a distant seventh. Though other gold medal hopefuls face a similar challenge – with the vast majority of talent migrating to Russia from the NHL – the Canadians (and Americans certainly) will be required to climb a somewhat higher hill, having only played on the 200 by 100 foot surface sparingly. "Theres no question," said head coach Mike Babcock, "when youve grown up your whole life playing on one surface youre probably pretty comfortable with that surface. I know we are in North America. So theres a little adjustment, well get it worked out." One adjustment Babcock will seek is shorter shift lengths: from the NHL standard of 45 seconds down to 40 seconds with more space to cover and ground potentially to protect. He and the coaching staff, which includes big ice expert and former Swiss National Team coach Ralph Krueger, will also stress the need to attack inside on the offensive end, rather than linger on the perimeter as an opponent would prefer. "As much wider [as] the rink is you still want to play an up and down, north and south game and I think its the strength of our team to be able to play at a high speed, high tempo, all four lines," said John Tavares, who played on the bigger ice in Switzerland during the last lockout. "I think thats where were going to be at our best." Other immediate challenges facing Canada (and just about every country) include the required role alterations demanded of NHL stars and energy-sapping jet lag, an adjustment most countries will face in some way or another. "We can talk about the size of the ice surface," said Yzerman, "but I think its adjusting to playing a lesser role. Youve got forwards that are used to playing 21-22 minutes a game that are going to play 10 and 11 and defencemen that are used to playing 27 playing 18. Thats a huge adjustment for them all." Stars and scoring champs are fighting for even the slightest bit of ice-time. Martin St. Louis was the oldest Art Ross winner in NHL history last season (he was 37) and has kept the Lightning afloat save the injured Steven Stamkos again this season, but he finds himself grinding amongst 14 forwards for an opportunity. He and Duchene, a fellow first-timer were on the outside of the forward lines on the opening day of practice at Bolshoy Ice Dome. "When I talked to St. Louis in Tampa I told him he was one of 14 forwards and that he has to grab his piece," said Babcock. "Thats what weve told everyone; theyve got to find a way to grab their piece." Babcock was flipping through lineups and line combinations from the triumphant experience in Vancouver alongside assistant coach Claude Julien and came to a very simple conclusion: things can change in a hurry. Mike Richards for instance, rose from the 14th forward to a key member of an effective trio which included Jonathan Toews and Rick Nash. "Its a competitive environment and we expect our guys to compete for their ice-time," Babcock said. The Canadian head coach got creative in his attempts to quell the effects of jet lag. Players were given a special package for the plane ride over to Sochi, a kit that included eye covers, ear plugs, melatonin, vitamins, and compression socks to reduce the possibility of swelling in the feet. They were also told to sleep no longer than four hours (some did anyway) and stay up until midnight if possible. All to curtail the effects of the drastic change in time zones. "Keep the players up," Babcock said of his goals for a practice that begin at 8pm local time. "We thought if we got some exercise at this time of night we had a better chance of staying up til midnight." Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . Granlund scored 2:04 into the first period. Max Reinhart, on his first NHL shift of the season, neatly stripped the puck from Zack Smith at the Senators blue-line. As he moved in, his attempted shot deflected into the slot where Granlund buried a shot past Craig Anderson. Sam Bradford Jersey . Coetzees finish, with six birdies and no bogeys, took him to 19-under 268 overall and past South African compatriots Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters, the overnight co-leaders. Coetzee was flawless on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to clinch his maiden title after 24 top 10 finishes. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/brice-butler-cardinals-jersey-78/ . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. Sam Bradford Cardinals Jersey .The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia.Letestu had three goals and two assists in nine games before being injured in late October.The 29-year-old has 54 goals and 65 assists in 273 career NHL games, including 39 goals and 51 assists in 188 games with the Blue Jackets. Benson Mayowa Jersey . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price.Wayne Simmonds and Steve Mason came up big with the Flyers season on the line and forced a Game Seven. Scott Cullen has notes on Simmonds, Mason, Lundqvist, Giroux, Hagelin and more. LETS GO SEVEN Wayne Simmonds scored a hat trick and Steve Mason stopped 34 of 36 New York Rangers shots as the Philadelphia Flyers won 5-2 in Game Six, forcing a Game Seven to decide the series Wednesday night. Simmonds, who scored a career-high 29 goals and 60 points during the regular season, erupted for three goals, all from within a few feet of the net. Officially, Simmonds three goals traveled a total of 20 feet, but thats not unusual -- among players with at least 20 goals, Simmonds average shooting distance of 26.0 feet during the regular season ranked 15th, so he makes his bones as a presence in front of the net. In addition, or at least underlying his three-goal performance, Simmonds generated 11 shot attempts in only 12:50 of ice time. While Simmonds was cleaning up the scraps around the Rangers net, Mason was taking care of business in the Philadelphia net, making quite a few high-quality saves to preserve the Flyers lead, even though the Rangers carried a lot of the play (and before score effects kicked in). Mason has stopped 92 of 98 shots that hes faced (.939 SV%) since joining the series in Game Three. Thats better than usual from Mason, who has a career save percentage of .907 and a .920 mark in 68 games with the Flyers, but Philadelphia needs him to continue at that level for one more game to get through this series. Flyers D Erik Gustafsson, replacing Hal Gill (who was replacing Nicklas Grossman) in the lineup, scored a goal on a breakaway coming out of thhe penalty box and had solid relative possession numbers.dddddddddddd For the Blueshirts, Henrik Lundqvist comes with the much higher pedigree, but after allowing four goals on 23 shots in Game Six (before getting pulled in favour of Cam Talbot), his save percentage in the series has dipped to .892 (132 saves on 148 shots). Lundqvist has a .920 career save percentage in both the regular season and playoffs, over a span of 647 games. That track record ranks him among the elite puckstoppers in the league, but its imperative for the Rangers that Lundqvist bounce back in Game Seven. Its not just Lundqvist that needs to be better, though. The Rangers power play is in a 0-for-20 streak since Benoit Pouliots goal in the first period of Game Two. While RW Rick Nash has yet to score a goal in the series, hes put 25 shots on goal and has the best possession numbers for the Rangers in the series. Flyers C Claude Giroux contributed a goal and two assists to the cause, his goal coming into an empty net with 4:11 remaining in the third period, giving him six points through six games. Rangers LW Carl Hagelin scored a goal, but created many chances in Game Six, registering nine shot attempts in 14:50 of ice time and rookie J.T. Miller had an assist for the second straight game since being inserted into the lineup. No team has won back-to-back games in this series, so perhaps that favours the Rangers going into Game Seven, though owning the possession battle would be more relevant. 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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