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CALGARY - The Calgary Flames wont make the NHL playoffs this season, but that sure hasnt deterred their effort. Karri Ramo had 33 saves in regulation plus three more in the shootout and red-hot Mike Cammalleri scored the winning goal as the Flames won 2-1 over the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Scoreless after two shots each, Cammalleri moved in from off the right wing and went short side on Alex Stalock, setting off a roar from the Scotiabank Saddledome crowd announced at 19,289. Cammalleri entered the night tied with Jarome Iginla for the most goals since the trade deadline (9) and tied with Tyler Seguin for the most points over that same period (15). It then came down to Karri Ramo, who thwarted James Sheppard to clinch it. That coming on the heels of stops against Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. "We played the total team game. I know that Karri Ramo played well, brought us some big saves at the right time, but to pick one player of the game tonight, we could have a long list. I felt that it was a real solid team effort," said Flames coach Bob Hartley. Joe Colborne scored in regulation for Calgary (30-35-7). The Flames have won 10 of their last 13 on home ice. "Lets play well at home, lets get a swagger in this building," said Hartley. "I think the fans are unbelievable, theyve been behind us since the start of the season. The way were playing right now is maybe a small way to say thank you for all our great support." It was also Calgarys league-leading 43rd one-goal game. Thats two away from the club record of 45 set in 2005-06. "Its a tough test whenever San Jose comes in and the fact that we were able to match them and pull one out in the shootout is pretty special," said Colborne. "We hope to be battling them for a divisional or a conference lead sooner rather than later so its a huge experience for us." Sheppard scored in regulation for San Jose (46-18-9). Its his second goal in as many games for Sheppard, matching his output from the seasons first 56 games. Despite having their four-game road winning streak come to an end, the point was enough for the Sharks to clinch a playoff spot for the 10th consecutive season. "It was probably an inevitability but there is satisfaction in clinching," said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. "That was one of the goals that we set out to do and theyve accomplished that. It wouldve been nice to get the two points, obviously were in a heck of a race for other things so thats a little bit disappointing, but we have to move on." The Sharks lead atop the Pacific Division increases to two points over Anaheim, but the Ducks hold two games in hand. "We were going to clinch no matter what. It was just a matter of time," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton. "Weve just got to continue to get points. It wouldve been nice to get two but well take the one." San Jose wraps up its short two-game road trip in Edmonton on Tuesday night. After being outplayed much of the first period, Calgary had a much better second. Early on, Stalock had to be sharp, throwing up his blocker to deny Sean Monahan from the slot and stopping Kris Russell from in close after he was set up neatly by Kenny Agostino. The Flames kept up the pressure and it eventually paid off on Colbornes ninth goal at 18:00, the result of a heady play by rookie defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon. Playing his 10th NHL game, the 21-year-old faked a shot and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Colborne, alone at the side of the net, who buried it over Stalock as he desperately slid across. "Thats an all-star play right there," said Colborne, who has five goals in the past 11 games. "Not too many guys can fake a shot, head up, and find me back door — flat pass through the seam. That was an all-world play." After missing six weeks with a knee injury, Ramos first two starts since his return have been excellent. Saturday night he stopped 24-of-25 in the Flames 8-1 win in Edmonton. One area he had struggled in were shootouts going 0-3 and stopping just 6 of 14 shots coming into Mondays game. "Its a tough situation. Its something that I have to better at, I need to make more saves," said Ramo. "We took a look at the shootouts when I had a little bit of time off so we decided to change some things and work on that and today it worked and that was a good thing, it gives you confidence." Ramo improves to 13-10-4. Stalock had 26 saves in regulation. He hasnt lost in regulation in his last six starts (4-0-2) and is 11-4-2 on the year. "A point in any game in this league is good, especially on the road. Two points were right there. It wouldve been huge, obviously, for the race for the Pacific," Stalock said. "Obviously our goal was to make the playoffs but everybody in this room knew that we should make the playoffs. Its an honour to make the playoffs. Not everyone can. Now the last nine are about positioning." Notes: San Jose D Brad Stuart (upper body) returned after missing 13 games...San Jose owns the fourth longest playoff streak in professional sports (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB). They trail Detroit Red Wings (22), San Antonio Spurs (16) and Denver Nuggets (10). Jim Plunkett Jersey . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Otis Sistrunk Jersey .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. http://www.authenticraiderspro.com/Tim-brown-raiders-jersey/. The Boston Celtics hadnt played since the All-Star break. So the Suns 100-94 victory over Boston Wednesday night was an uphill affair, with Phoenix relying on balance rather than its trademark high energy. Oakland Raiders Jerseys . Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. Jerry Rice Jersey . Both moves were announced Tuesday. The Titans had waived Matthews on Saturday when they promoted wide receiver Michael Preston from the practice squad.The night sky was so bright it could have been during the day. Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. The first snowfall of winter came hard and while most of my neighbours would wake up to it I hadnt slept yet. It was 3am and the World Cup draw was today. The office Christmas party had wrapped up an hour earlier and my drive home needed to be done without tired eyes. Thankfully, I was too excited to be tired. Eight months earlier I had won the World Cup lottery. Well, a pair of tickets to three matches in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, to be precise. C1 vs C3, E2 vs E4, and G2 vs G4 were about to mean so much more. Letters would turn into teams and with it the evolution of a true World Cup would be born. I would advise every fan of this sport to be involved in a World Cup lottery once in their life. There is a true uniqueness to it, a special feeling of anticipation knowing you will be parachuted amongst yet to be determined cultures to watch their teams play on the greatest stage of all. That is what millions of people will be thinking this Thursday night ahead of the draw in Brazil on Friday. If you are not one of the lucky ones to have tickets to the event there are still reasons to be very excited ahead of the draw with many things to look out for. With that in mind here are five things for you to watch out for during Fridays draw in Brazil. Location, location, location “Im more concerned by the venues than by the teams we draw,” said England boss Roy Hodgson on Monday. “There are venues in Brazil that will be harder to play in than others.” This a World Cup for the country of Brazil and organizers have ensured the travelling circus goes all over the vast land. For the third straight World Cup, one country is hosting the event but it will feel like more. In 2006, the distance between the most northern host city to the furthest southern host city (Munich to Hamburg) was less than 800 km, or eight hours in a car. In 2010 that distance (Polokwane to Cape Town) was 1,700 km. In Brazil the distance between Manaus in the Amazon northern region of Brazil to the southern city of Porto Alegre is a staggering 4,700 km. It is the equivalent of taking a trip from northern England to southern Turkey. With that comes massive climate differences. Twelve different cities will host games and many teams on Friday will be desperate to be given games away from the tropical North East cities of Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador. Five of the eight seeded teams will play games in this region including G1 who will play all three matches in the very hot and humid territory where temperatures will be in the high 20s. The four seeded European teams – Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium – will be desperate to avoid G1 and hope to get one of C1, F1, or H1 to stay away from the intense heat, where many games are expected to start in the afternoon. For the 24 teams not seeded, there are exactly one third of the slots available for them to hit that gives them favourable draws with the climate– B3, B4, E2, E4, F4, H2, H3, and H4. The true premium slots to hit, particularly for European teams, are in fact B4, E4 and H2. These are the three spots Hodgson will be dreaming about on Thursday night as they will become the three teams who get to play two out of their three group games in the two southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba, where average temperature is a very comfortable 19 degrees. Remember, H stands for happy when it comes to teams desperate to avoid the hot climate. It is the only group that doesnt play a single game in one of the five northern cities. The slots teams will be desperate to avoid, which include at least two games in the sticky North, are A2, A3, A4, C2, C3, C4, D2, D4, G2, G3 and G4. A3, D4, and G4 are officially the three slots that would give Hodgson and his fellow managers nightmares as all three games are played in the North. A3 not only has to do this but also must play Brazil! Being drawn with a weaker seed If things do not go well climate-wise for Hodgson and England they will certainly be hoping to get Switzerland or Belgium. There has been a lot written as to why these countries are seeded over teams liike Italy and Netherlands.dddddddddddd This has nothing to do with FIFA bias. It is based around their world rankings and teams who missed out on being seeded this time should do better at arranging more competitive games next time in the build up to a World Cup draw. However, no one will tell you that Switzerland and Belgium are better than the Italians and, maybe, the Dutch. Currently they are teams everyone wants to be drawn against in Brazil. The last time a World Cup winner didnt win their group was 1982. With four teams from South America along with Germany and Spain seeded, the other two represent a real chance at giving other teams an opportunity to win the group. Since the World Cup went to 32 teams in 1998, 23 of the 32 seeded teams have won their group but in each of the last three World Cups at least two of the seeds havent. Two talented but young European sides playing in South America look the likeliest seeds this time around to not win their group. Avoiding Braaaaaa-Zill Brazils rapid rise from a team the nation was disgusted with to World Cup favourites has been remarkable. The pressure on Neymar and his mates will be incredible but will only intensify as the tournament goes on. In the group stages the team will play without fear, determined to show the world what they can do, and that is very dangerous for any opponent drawn in group A. Not only is group A a difficult one for climate reasons, it is also a group with a host nation that absolutely will qualify for the last 16, leaving the three drawn into it fighting for one spot. Group A is a group teams will want to avoid. The position of the seeded teams The 24 non-seeded teams are not the only ones who will look to stay away from the hosts. The assigning of groups for the seeds will be the first thing that takes place during the draw and it happens fast. It is also the part of the draw that most just ignore, wanting for the other teams to be drawn as quickly as possible. Dont make that mistake. The last non-seeded team to win the World Cup was Argentina in 1986. Most of these seeds demand your attention as true World Cup contenders and where they are placed in the tournament-style bracket after the groups is crucial. For example, group winners of B, D, F and H go on the opposite side of the draw to the winners of group A, likely Brazil. Teams like Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, and Germany will certainly be looking to get in one of those groups to stay away from Brazil until the final, and if they dont the stories of potential Uruguay or Argentina vs Brazil matchups will be written well before a ball is kicked. Seeded in F or H is ideal for a European powerhouse like Spain or Germany because they would avoid Brazil and the heat. Why Brazil would want to be given a stern test from a team like England or Portugal As much as no one will want to play them, Brazil will be better off if a good team is placed in their group. It may look great to be handed three easy games but past World Cups have shown this is not good for a team when it comes to the knock-out games. Spain was tested early in 2010 with a loss to Switzerland, while other teams like Argentina and Brazil cruised in their groups only to suffer later. Like Spain in 2006, Italy had a very competitive group while Brazils game against Turkey in 2002 helped them significantly later in the tournament. France in 1998 cruised in their group but were very poor in their last 16, taking 113 minutes to score against Paraguay. From the 24 teams not seeded, Brazil would likely get one team from Africa and one team from either CONCACAF or Asia that they wouldnt struggle with, with one preferably being given A2 to take the pressure off Brazil in the opening match. That leaves Europe as being the likely confederation that could give Brazil a team that would provide the host nation with a game that could test them, although Mexicos style of play against South American teams could do that if they get their acts together. Italy and perhaps the Dutch would be considered a little too strong for Brazil at that stage but a game against Portugal or England would be ideal for the host nation. And if they are given A3 and forced to play all of their games in the heat, even better. 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