Chat-World » nament, other than Crosby, who has a World

TORONTO -- Sidney Crosby and the Canadians look as if they cant be stopped.Canada has won 14 straight games in best-on-best hockey tournaments since losing to the U.S. in the preliminary round of the Vancouver Games in 2010.Like the Americans in Olympic basketball, the Canadians simply seem as if theyre on another level against the rest of the world.Team Europe, though, hopes to spoil Canadas plans to celebrate a World Cup of Hockey title on home ice.The eight-nation European team and the one country that everyone else is trying to catch will face off Tuesday night in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.Europe advanced to the finals by beating Sweden 3-2 in overtime Sunday.It opened the event created by the NHL and NHL Players Association by stunning the U.S. and beating the Czech Republic before losing to Canada 4-1 in the preliminary round.Theyre a great story, and shame on us if we dont take them serious for what theyve done to this point, Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said.The surprise team of the tournament is made up of NHL players, many of them stars, who wouldnt have much of a shot to beat the best hockey teams in the world if they were playing for their individual countries: Slovakia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, France, Norway and Denmark.Id like to begin by thanking the NHL and the NHLPA for creating Team Europe and for giving us this opportunity, said Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger, whose day job is being the chairman of an England-based soccer team in the Premier League. The second organization I need to thank is Southampton Football Club.The Canadians earned a spot in the finals by beating Russia 5-3 on Saturday night.Canada coach Mike Babcock, who leads the Toronto Maple Leafs, has seemed to make all the right moves during the team during its stretch of dominance in this decade.His job will be to make sure the favored and host Canadians do not underestimate a team theyll be expected to beat if not rout.You put all those countries together, theres lots of good players there, Babcock said. I like their backend, I like the goaltending. I think theyve done a real good job through the middle of the rink with their team. Theyve got a good-looking team. Thats why you play these games. All the experts can predict what they want, but you got to play the games and decide.Some critics thought it was a joke to put a team together with players from eight nations instead of picking two of them, perhaps Slovakia and Switzerland, to round out the eight-team tournament.No one seems to be saying that anymore.Canada appears to have a clear edge with its skaters, a slew of star forwards and defensemen, but the goaltenders seem to be evenly matched. Hockey is a sport in which one player -- if hes in net -- can neutralize a superior team.Slovakian and New York Islander goalie Jaroslav Halak has been as impressive as any player in the tournament, other than Crosby, who has a World Cup-high seven points.Canada will counter with Carey Price, who has overcome concerns about his right knee injury that kept him of the Montreal Canadiens lineup for much of last season. Price was the No. 1 goalie for the Canadians when they repeated as Olympic champions two years ago.I dont want to say rivalry, but both guys know whos at the other end, said Armstrong, the St. Louis Blues GM, who used to have Halak on his team. Were very comfortable with our goalie, and I know theyre very comfortable with their goalie, so it should be very interesting.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage Mike Gartner Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Christian Djoos Capitals Jersey . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. http://www.officialcapitalsfanstore.com/ .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Braden Holtby Capitals Jersey . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Jaromir Jagr Capitals Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. All members of the Pakistan cricket team are safe in Nelson after an earthquake of high intensity hit New Zealand, their manager Wasim Bari has confirmed. Pakistan were in Nelson to play a three-day tour game before the first Test, scheduled to begin in Christchurch on November 17. The epicentre of the quake was 200km away, also on the South Island, but it was so strong - 7.5 on Richter Scale - that tremors were felt across the country.The Pakistan womens team, who are also touring New Zealand, was even closer, staying on the 13th floor of a hotel in Christchurch. Basit Ali, their manager, told Geo News that they were all safe but still scared.The earthquake struck late on Sunday evening. We felt the first tremors around 11.30pm, Bari, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, told ESPNcricinfo. Some of the boys were in prayer, some were watching the India-England Test on TV when we felt the windows shake. The whole room began to shake. We were on the sixth and seventh floor, and evacuated immediately. The hotel staff was very helpful. We are all safe.By around 1am on Monday morning, having walked around outdoors for a bit, the team moved back to the receptiion.dddddddddddd They had not yet got the clearance to go back up to the higher floors. There have been aftershocks too, Bari said.The east coast of New Zealands South Island is on a tsunami alert with people being asked to move either inland or to higher buildings if they cant travel inland. Nelson is at the northern tip of the South Island, but the Pakistan team remains aware of the tsunami risk.Pakistan were supposed to travel to Christchurch on Monday, but their plans are now uncertain. This being the middle of the night, there had been no communication between the Pakistan team and the NZC, but NZCs liaison officer has been with the team through the ordeal, Bari said.The epicentre of the earthquake was at a depth of about 5km, about 40km from the town of Amberley, which in turn is only about 90km north-north-east of Christchurch, which was devastated by an earthquake in 2011. Whether the city will be able to host the Test beginning on Thursday will only be known once the damage is assessed properly on Monday morning. ' ' '