MOSCOW - Russia ice hockey coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is leaving his job after the home teams disappointing quarterfinals exit at the Sochi Olympics. The International Ice Hockey Federation says Russia is looking for a new coach before the world championship in May in Belarus. The IIHF says Russian hockey federation officials agreed to Bilyaletdinovs departure after meeting with him on Wednesday. Russia lost 3-1 to Finland to miss out on an Olympic medal which was among the nations top priorities at the Sochi Games. Bilyaletdinov was appointed in June 2011 and led the team to be world champions the following year. As a player for the Soviet Union, he won gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and silver in 1980 at Lake Placid. Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets Jersey . -- James Harden scored 31 points, including 25 in the second half, and the Houston Rockets dug out of a double-digit, first-half hole to beat the Orlando Magic 101-89 on Wednesday night. Will Barton Nuggets Jersey . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/Malik-Beasley-Jersey/ . The three Calgary natives will compete after the sport was skipped by the Vancouver Games in 2010 but later included on the program for Sochi, Russia. The fight to include womens ski jumping prior to Vancouver went to the courts only to have the Supreme Court of Canada rule against the athletes appeal in 2009. Carmelo Anthony Nuggets Jersey . - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself. Michael Porter Nuggets Jersey . Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.WINNIPEG - Winnipeg Jets scoring leader Blake Wheeler was back on the ice Friday preparing for the teams final pre-season game against the Calgary Flames but with his sights also set on next weeks season opener.We want to get going, he said after an intense practice. Were getting excited, finally getting our group on the ice. It hasnt happened much over camp so I think tomorrow night will be a good time to get everyone kind of together for the first time for a little bit so it will be a nice moment.Injuries in camp have limited ice time for a lot of veterans, including Wheeler. Hes on a new line with sophomore centre Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane and admits they have a lot of work to do to get ready, something that wasnt helped by pre-season aches and pains.We need to get on the same page, he said. We need to play a little bit more simple. I think were trying to do all the right things but its tough. When you just kind of throw three guys together you know, sometimes its difficult, its not always instant magic.Weve got to work at it. Weve got to work at it in practice. Weve got to talk about it. We have the capability to create a lot of offence so I think thats going to come.Wheelers team-leading 69 points ranked him 21st on the NHL scoring list last season. The lanky 26-year-old from Plymouth, Minn., also had a career-high 28 goals.Most of the Jets veterans were back on the ice and coach Paul Maurice said the team was getting close to full health ahead of Saturdays pre-season finale against the visiting Flames. The Jets, who dropped a 4-2 decision in Calgary on Thursday, will try to improve on their 2-4 pre-season mark.Winnipeg will open the regular season Thursday at Arizona.Forward Dustin Byfuglien was back skating Friday but Maurice said he has likely missed tooo much ice time to play big minutes right away in Winnipegs top six as planned.ddddddddddddHe was originally tabbed to play on a line with team captain Andrew Ladd and centre Bryan Little.Byfuglien, who was not expected to play Saturday, said hes feeling pretty good but its hard to know when hell be back in top form.I could go out there and play a full game, like a normal game, I feel, he said. Would the legs and everything hold up? I dont know.Patrice Cormier and Eric ODell could return by mid-week. T.J. Galiardi was skating again after undergoing surgery to repair an eye injury suffered during practice a week ago.And then everybody else, if they heal the way theyre supposed to, Im hoping for a full crew on Monday, said Maurice.The Jets also placed forward Eric Tangradi on waivers Friday and will move him to their AHL farm team in St. Johns, N.L., if he clears.A bunch of guys are ahead of him, said Maurice.He said Tangradi came to camp in good shape and worked hard but the competition was tough with a lot of young talent.I dont think the role of in and out of the lineup was going to move his career along, he said. He either needs to get a fresh start with another team ... or get back to a game where he can play 18 or 20 minutes a night.Adam Lowry, 21, is one of those young players pushing the veterans at camp.The six-foot-five forward played just one season in the AHL but has looked pretty good in the pre-season. He doesnt know what his chances are of making the team.I think we still have quite a few forwards left in camp, he said. You cant look around and think too much about it. You kind of just have to focus on continuing to go out and continue to play well.If you take care of what you can do, its in managements hands whether I stay up or go down. ' ' '
