Termine » ble as England sought to chisel away

TORONTO -- Greatest hockey team ever?Let the argument begin.With apologies to the great Soviet national teams of yesteryear that were simply outstanding but didnt get to regularly test themselves against NHL players, Team Canada circa 2014-16 might go down as the most dominating squad to ever hit the ice in the modern era.A perfect 12-0-0 between the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey?-- with Thursday nights thrilling 2-1 victory over Europe at Air Canada Centre as the finishing touch -- is a stretch of hockey we wont soon forget.Its pretty special, said World Cup MVP Sidney Crosby. Its not easy to do, and for a good chunk of us, a lot of us were together there in Russia.Everyone understands playing for Team Canada, youre willing to do anything to win.And with three straight wins in best-on-best hockey when including Canadas gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, its first time thats happened since Canada took home three straight Canada Cups in 1984, 1987 and 1991.And again, the Soviet national teams from the 1950 to 1990 won a million world championships and Olympic gold medals but didnt have to play the very best of the NHL in those tournaments.What stands out in this 12-0-0 run by Team Canada, in which it outscored the opposition 41-11, is that it has come against the very best players in the world, and at no time in either tournament did anyone feel like the result was in doubt.Its impressive to see how dominant Canada have been in the last two big tournaments, the great Nicklas Lidstrom, an adviser to Sweden, said via email on Thursday. Theyve been able to win games even when they havent played their best, and that really shows how strong of a team they have been in these best-on-best tournaments.And thats just it. They won ugly in Game 1 of the World Cup finals and needed a late rally to finish the job Thursday night over a plucky Europe squad. But find a way to win, no matter how they play, is what this Team Canada has done.The 1-0 semifinals win over Team USA in Sochi was close in score only. Canada owned the puck all game long.Team Canada played keep-away with the puck on the bigger ice in Sochi, outscoring the opposition 17-3. Here on the smaller NHL ice at the World Cup, Canada played its more natural game -- a smothering, four-line attack that forced turnovers and created all kinds of zone time and scoring chances en route to outscoring teams 24-8.Its a good group of players right now; just look at the names they leave off. and then [coach] Mike [Babcock] just does a really, really good job of preparing them and getting them ready, and no matter how much each guy is playing, everyone is buying in, Steve Yzerman, architect of the 2010 and 2014 Canadian Olympic teams and now looking on from the outside, said on Thursday. You also have to really credit Hockey Canada from the top on down and how they do things.We wanted to talk ourselves into thinking Sweden or Team USA had a chance to dethrone the champs. But really? Team Canada is a team with the best player in the world in World Cup MVP Sidney Crosby, the two best two-way forwards in the world in Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron, arguably the best defenseman in the world in Drew Doughty (Erik Karlsson might have a say in that) and certainly the best goalie in the world in Carey Price.Isnt that just the kicker with this team, right? When the opposition finally gets a hold of the puck for the odd scoring chance, whether that was in Sochi or here at the World Cup, the last guy standing in its way is Price, whose demeanor is perfect for this team.He gives your group confidence and an aura of calm like no one Ive ever been around, Babcock said of Price.And what of Babcock, arguably the best coach in the game? He has been behind the bench for two Olympic gold medals and now a World Cup championship. He has sold a game plan. And once again, he got a complete buy-in from some of the very best players in the world. Zero pushback. Thats the respect and trust he has built up with these studs.Team Canada had pretournament injury withdrawals from Duncan Keith, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Jeff Carter ... and didnt blink.Enter Jay Bouwmeester, Logan Couture, Ryan OReilly and Corey Perry.The next time Team Canada laces up for a best-on-best tournament, whether thats the 2018 South Korea Olympics or the next World Cup, Connor McDavid will be front and center. So its not as though Team Canada as a powerhouse is going away.Its such a good group of players, that whole age group, and theres more young ones coming along now that should keep it going for a while, said Yzerman.But one day, this unbelievable stretch will end. Canada will actually lose a game in best-on-best hockey. It will lose a tournament. Team USAs next generation of stars is at hand, a rival of equal footing perhaps soon enough.So to my fellow Canadians, make sure to fully absorb what has happened here during this era. It wont always be this way. Dont take this for granted.This was, by any measure, an unparalleled era of success. Jan Vertonghen Jersey . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Leander Dendoncker Jersey . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Eden-Hazard-Belgium-Jersey/ . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Simon Mignolet Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Thorgan Hazard Jersey . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. England 328 and 88 for 4 (Bairstow 14*, Ballance 4*, Yasir 3-15) trail Pakistan 542 (Younis 218, Shafiq 109) by 126 runs Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJonny Bairstow led Englands rearguard on the fourth morning at the Kia Oval, batting with intent and determination to reach 70 not out from 94 balls, but two big wickets in the course of the morning session meant that Pakistan, still leading by 20 runs, went to lunch needing four more wickets to set up a series-squaring victory in the fourth Test.For the best part of an hour, while Moeen Ali was bedding in alongside Bairstow in a brisk 65-run stand for the sixth wicket, England were able to revive some timely memories of the match-turning alliance that the same pair had produced from a similarly dicey position in the third Test at Edgbaston.However, with five minutes to go until the interval, Yasir Shah popped up with the vital scalp of Moeen for 32, to add to Sohail Khans earlier extraction of Gary Ballance for 17, to leave Englands fortunes hanging by the slenderest of threads. Bairstow and Chris Woakes have the calibre to carve out a lead of some description, but Pakistans determination to secure a share of the series has been palpable throughout this contest. It would be an astonishing turn-around from here.In spite of their precarious situation, England batted with confidence from the outset, with Bairstow especially belligerent as he resolved to play his natural attacking game. After taking a handful of overs to find his range, he laid into a slightly subdued Pakistan attack with three rifled drives for four off Amir and Wahab Riaz, whose fierce initial pace was tempered when Oxenford handed him his second warning for following through down the pitch. One more transgression and he will be removed from the attack.ddddddddddddIt was the less ferocious wiles of Sohail that finally prised the opening, as Ballance - who had been lining up the left-armers with confidence as they angled the ball back into his pads - found the right-armers seam and swing less easy to comprehend. Sohails fourth delivery of the morning was a triumph of line and length, as he pitched the ball on the left-handers off stump, found a modicum of movement off the seam and some steepling extra bounce to take the edge and climb through to Sarfraz Ahmed.Moeen, coming off the back of a brilliant first-innings hundred, immediately got off the mark with a flicked four off the pads and he too resolved to remain as fluent as possible as England sought to chisel away at their deficit.Yasir, whose confidence appeared to have been restored by his three-wicket burst on the third evening, struggled at first for the same impact and Moeen cashed in with a yawning straight six over long-on. But, having begun to find a decent rhythm from around the wicket as he targeted the rough outside the left-handers off stump, Yasir claimed the big breakthrough with the one that went straight on. Anticipating the spin, Moeen was instead suckered by extra bounce, and Sarfraz behind the stumps took a sharp edge with a hint of a juggle.Bairstow remained unmoved, and in the course of his innings, he became only the second player, after VVS Laxman in 2002, to score 900-plus runs in a year batting at No. 6 or lower. But hell need to take that tally considerably closer to 1000 to give England a chance in this contest. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '