Vorstellung » "You have to stay focused

Mike Babcock was a man with a plan on Saturday. The Canadian mens Olympic hockey team head coach arranged to take in some mens curling with a bunch of players before shuffling off to the nearby Bolshoy Ice Dome to scout the Russia-United States mens hockey game. Sometime in the evening he planned to assemble goalkeepers Roberto Luongo and Carey Price to inform them who would start in Canadas game against Finland on Sunday. Babcock would not reveal at his noon-hour (local time) press briefing whether it would be Luongo, the incumbent, or Price, who has been more consistent this season and played better in the games leading to the Olympic break. But the Canadian coach did remark that he arrived in Sochi with a plan — and nothing transpired in the wins over Norway and Austria to alter his blueprint. "Ive had lots of time,” he said. “We as a management team, and a coaching staff, we watched the NHL all year and we picked the two goalies that we think have got an opportunity. We brought [Mike Smith] to be in the role [of third goalie] and now well just go from here and watch. “We did the same thing last time. We had a plan. We understand and I said this a number of times you get one change in this tournament and you can still win." Like in Vancouver four years ago. Babcock chose veteran Martin Brodeur to be No. 1, but after he faltered in Canadas third game of the tournament — a 5-3 loss against the United States — Roberto Luongo moved in to win four games in a row to help Canada strike gold. Luongo or Price isnt the only entry on Babcocks checklist. There has been some clamour to find captain Sidney Crosby some new linemates. Chris Kunitz, who plays on the left side with Crosby in Pittsburgh, hasnt exhibited much in his first tour-of-duty with the Canadian Olympic team. "The first line in the last two games has generated a ton of scoring chances, point-blankers, they havent gone in,” Babcock said. “Do we worry that much about that or do we just know good players score in the end? "Lots of times in the Stanley Cup playoffs your team goes a ways and your best players have no points in the first round. Someone else picks them up, but by the time its all over theyre leading the thing in scoring. Its not about that, its about finding a way to be the best team." Babcock gave his players Saturday off to recharge. The 25 of them already played a combined 1,392 NHL games this season before landing in Sochi. The coaching staff put them through three long practices before the Olympic tournament opener against Austria on Thursday, so they needed a break. “A big part of it was the NHL schedule,” Babcock said. “You can just imagine the amount of meetings with their own NHL teams to prepare for each and every game. I just know from our team it seems like we played every single game. It was exhausting. “Then you travel over here. Then you jam in all the information and then we practiced them hard. We practiced for 56 minutes the day before our first game. That would never happen in the NHL. “Everybody needs to breathe.” Another adjustment has been the late starting times for Canada – 9 p.m. Sochi time. “We tried to turn 9 oclock into 7 oclock over here,” Babcock said. “But its 2:30 in the morning and youre sitting around every night. I saw [Canadian defenceman] Duncan Keith this morning and Dunc said he had to race over to McDonalds to get an egg mcmuffin. So he had to get up early. Priorities, right?” Womens Air Max Outlet . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. Cheap Air Max Online . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. http://www.airmax2018outlet.us/. -- During a players meeting following the All-Star break, Jermaine ONeal promised his teammates to play the rest of the regular season like he would never play again -- because he very well might not. Wholesale Air Max 95 . -- Jane Kish stopped all 25 shots she faced as the Weyburn Gold Wings blanked the Sudbury Lady Wolves 3-0 on Friday to advance to the gold-medal game at the Esso Cup. Black Air Max 90 .One day after winning her record 63rd World Cup race, Vonn posted to her Facebook account Tuesday that she was happy Woods surprised her by coming to the race, and that she felt terrible that his tooth got knocked out. BOSTON -- The Washington Wizards didnt get flustered when they trailed by 18 points. The Boston Celtics couldnt hold a big lead for the second straight game. Trevor Ariza scored 27 points capped by a 3-pointer that highlighted a fourth-quarter run as the Wizards rallied for a 106-99 victory Saturday. "We dont let anything rattle us too much," Ariza said. "We just play and chip away and know things are going to happen. Its a long game. We know teams can go on runs. They went on a run and we did, too." After Jeff Greens layup with 6:14 left gave the Celtics a 92-84 lead, they went nearly six minutes without a field goal. Meanwhile, the Wizards were going on a 14-1 run that Ariza started with a jumper from the right corner. John Wall had five of his 20 points in the surge, which was interrupted only by a free throw by Jared Sullinger that gave Boston a 93-91 lead with 3:39 remaining. "It was just, Ok. We fought back. Lets get some stops here and keep going. Keep stepping on them and lets runaway with this one," Ariza said. Nene tied it with a short baseline jumper and Wall gave the Wizards their first lead, 95-93, with a 20-footer with 2:51 to go. Marcin Gortat then blocked Sullingers shot and Ariza hit his 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining to put Washington ahead 98-93. The Celtics had led 32-14 early in the second quarter. But in the last six minutes of the game, they were outscored 22-7, committed four turnovers and had two shots blocked. "They came out and punched us right in the face in the first quarter," Washington coach Randy Wittman said, "but I never saw any downness from our guys." Avery Bradley, an outstanding defender, scored 18 of his 26 points for Boston in a span of 8:01 in the second half. He started with a layup with 4:01 left in the third quarter that gave the Celtics a 66-59 lead and ended with a jumper with 8:00 left in the fourth that made it 88-82. Bradley then went to the bench and the Wizards began their comebacck.dddddddddddd "He had a good roll," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "His effectiveness on the offensive end is just going to continue to improve." Washington (12-13) won its third straight game, all on the road. It started the day in fourth place in the Southeast Division but has a better record than Boston (12-16), which entered the game in first place in the Atlantic Division. Nene, Gortat and Kevin Seraphin scored 13 points each for the Wizards. For the Celtics, Sullinger had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Green added 13 points. Three days after squandering a 21-point lead and losing to Detroit 107-106, Boston wasted lost another big cushion. "You have to stay focused," Celtics guard Jordan Crawford said. "Youve got to step on the pedal when you have them down." The Celtics led 51-44 at halftime and 62-53 five minutes into the third quarter. But Washington tied it at 74 on a 3-pointer by Martell Webster with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. Then the Celtics took a two-point lead on Bradleys jumper from the top of the key with 3.9 seconds left in the period. "Avery had an amazing second half," Webster said, "but we were resilient on the defensive end." Boston got off to its second straight strong start and led 30-14 after one quarter. On Wednesday night, it outscored Detroit 42-23 in the first. The Celtics scored the first seven points of the game, took a 22-8 lead on Sullingers 3-point play with 4:07 left in the period and finished it by scoring the last five points. A layup by Gerald Wallace gave the Celtics their biggest lead, 32-14. Then Boston collapsed in the last six minutes. "We settled a lot for shots," Wallace said. "We had some bad turnovers." Notes: The Wizards had at least 30 points in each of the last three quarters after scoring 14 in the first. ... The game was the opener of an NBA-NHL doubleheader at TD Garden. The Boston Bruins played the Buffalo Sabres at night. ' ' '