TORONTO -- The World Cup of Hockey trophy, whatever the heck they call that monstrosity of an award that goes to the winner of the event, will be in the Air Canada Centre Thursday night as Canada tries to lock down its third consecutive best-on-best championship when it faces Team Europe.Theres no question that the air has gone out of this tournament somewhat in recent days -- especially after Team Europe upended heavily favored Sweden in the semifinals, giving Canada what most believed would be an easy path to a tournament title in the best-of-three finals.Of course, Team Europe had other plans and played a near-perfect game in the opening title of the finals on Tuesday night before ultimately falling 3-1. Europe head coach Ralph Krueger and his players were defiant in the wake of the loss, insisting that they took no moral victories from essentially playing Canada to a standstill before losing because of a couple of defensive breakdowns.The problem for the Europeans is that Canada played its worst game -- not just in this tournament, but dating all the way back to early in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Canadas head coach, Mike Babcock, wasnt happy with his teams performance, and its a good bet that Canada will come with a lot more jump and be a lot less mistake-prone on Thursday. The question will be whether the Europeans can handle early pressure -- they allowed a goal by Brad Marchand on Canadas first shot on goal Tuesday -- and then counterpunch with the kind of persistent forecheck we saw for much of Game 1.In the end, it wont matter if Team Europe cant solve Canadas goalie,?Carey Price, who was tested more on Tuesday than he had been by any other team in this tournament. For Team Europe, that means capitalizing on odd-man rushes and getting its power play, which is currently 0-for-15 with the man advantage, to click. Its a tall order, to say the least, but nobody should be taking the plucky Europeans lightly after Game 1. The question is whether theyve got enough in their toolbox to send this tournament to one final, deciding game Saturday. Our guess is that the strange-looking trophy gets handed out Thursday night.Line match:?If the World Cup does end Thursday night, it will be our last last look at what has been the most dominant forward combination of this tournament -- and maybe any best-on-best tournament in recent memory. Could?Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Marchand reunite in two years if the NHL returns to the Olympics in South Korea? Theres no reason they wouldnt, as all three are still in the prime of their careers.But if were talking about a four-year gap until the next World Cup, well, thats a little different story. By then Crosby will have more than done his duty, winning two Olympic gold medals and likely a World Cup, plus at least two Stanley Cups, and Bergeron will be 35. But it has been fun -- especially given how often in the past Babcock has been forced to tinker in an effort to find effective linemates for Crosby.How good has this unit been? Crosby, Bergeron and Marchand are the top three scorers in the tournament, and have combined for 10 goals and 12 assists. The line scored more goals in the tournament than did Team USA, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland. And unless Team Europe can come up with an answer for the line, itll all be over Thursday night.Stan Smith Shoes NZ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Adidas NMD R2 NZ . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/ . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. NMD R2 Sale Womens . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Adidas Y3 NZ .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N.JOLIET, Ill. -- Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman left a NASCAR-mandated meeting Friday insisting their dustup last weekend is behind them and no apologies are needed.The former teammates laughed and joked while addressing reporters outside the NASCAR hauler at Chicagoland Speedway. They met for about 35 minutes with NASCAR executives after Stewart wrecked Newman late in last Saturdays race at Richmond.Weve been friends for a long time so, yeah, it was important for us to be in there and talk about it, Stewart said.It marked the second straight week the volatile Stewart has wrecked another driver. He took out rookie Brian Scott at Darlington on Sept. 4.The latest incident ended Newmans faint hopes of reaching the Sprint Cup playoffs. He blistered Stewart after the race, calling him bipolar and bringing up the 2014 incident in which Stewart fatally struck a sprint car driver in New York. I guess he thought he was in a sprint car again and didnt know how to control his anger, Newman said then.Newman said Friday he doesnt have any regrets for what he said.Its just words, right? I think more often than not were men of action, Newman said. Its all about going out there and doing our job. We all know it can be frustrating at times, whether its intentional or not.ddddddddddddStewart, who did qualify for the Chase in what he says will be his final season before retirement, declined to say whether he wished he had raced Newman differently.Id love to be able to be perfect and do everything right 100 percent of the time, Stewart said.When Newman was asked if he had apologized, he said no and was then interrupted by Stewart.You have to remember, weve been teammates, Stewart said. Weve known each other since long before either one of us ever got an opportunity to come to NASCAR.Stewart had said the meeting was likely because NASCAR didnt want a repeat of last years Chase feud between Joey Logano and Matt Kenneth that ended with Kenneth wrecking Logano to end his championship hopes. He targeted the media, saying reporters are trying to keep the issue alive.Thats where it makes it equally frustrating across the board, he said. Its like youre being laid on a table and dissected and everybody is trying to pick your brain. Its a deal where weve had a week to think about it, weve had a week to get over it. Weve been in the trailer and talked about it. As far as were concerned, its over. ' ' '
