TORONTO -- There were moments in this World Cup of Hockey semifinal game when it looked like Russia was writing the right script to eliminate powerhouse Team Canada. Russian goalie?Sergei Bobrovsky?was making highlight save after highlight save. Canada was outshooting Russia at a nearly 3-to-1 rate, yet the Russians were the ones getting timely goals.But when the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby, is playing at the level he is right now, there is no beating Team Canada. No such script exists.Crosby opened the scoring, assisted on two Brad Marchand goals and led Team Canada to a 5-3 win over Russia to advance to the World Cup finals. Canada will play the winner of Sundays semifinal between Team Europe and Team Sweden.This game was billed, as it always tends to be when theyre sharing a sheet of ice, as Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin.It was no contest.While Crosby was a dominant player on both ends of the ice, Ovechkin was invisible. Ovechkin didnt get his first shot on goal until the third period, while?Nikita Kucherov and Evgeny Kuznetsov did the scoring for the Russians.Shea Webers strong play against Ovechkin deserves notice, but the best way to shut down a great offensive player is to force him to defend -- and Canada did that exceedingly well against Ovechkin. Its hard to score goals when youre on the wrong side of the ice, and Canada spent long stretches in the offensive zone, keeping Ovechkin and the dangerous Russian forwards a safe distance from goalie?Carey Price.They were guilty of over-passing at times, but the line of Steven Stamkos, Ryan Getzlaf and John Tavares played a strong game, keeping Bobrovsky busy, and got rewarded in the third period with a goal that came on a Tavares wrister through traffic. It was the best game of the tournament for that line.But it continues to be the trio of Crosby, Marchand and?Patrice Bergeron?that opposing teams cant answer.Crosby has picked up right where he left off in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he won the Conn Smythe, and is now two wins away from another championship.He has to wait a day to find out the opposing team, but with the way hes playing, it might not matter.Three Stars1. Sidney Crosby, C, Canada: The golden goal on Ryan Miller during the 2010 Olympics will always be Crosbys signature moment for Canada, but hes turning in a signature tournament at the World Cup. This game was Crosby at his best on both sides of the ice, a captain willing his team to advance. He was great.2. Brad Marchand, W, Canada: Marchand has absolutely capitalized on the opportunity to play with Crosby in this tournament, scoring two more goals in this game. He scored Canadas third goal of the game and it came just seconds after Bobrovsky made one of the prettiest glove saves of the tournament on a Marchand tip.3. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Russia: Bobrovsky allowed five goals, but he was the only reason this game wasnt a blowout. He made 42 saves, many of the acrobatic variety. It just wasnt enough. Air Max 90 Wholesale Uk . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Air Max 90 Cheap Uk . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. http://www.airmax90outletuk.com/ . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Air Max 90 Outlet Uk . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Wholesale Air Max 90 . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. NYON, Switzerland -- The Champions League final could be contested outside Europe for the first time, new UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said Thursday.In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Ceferin said he will revive an open bidding process for the right to host the climax to the European club season and is open to the game being staged in New York.Iit might be an idea in future but we have to speak about it, Ceferin said, highlighting how travel times across Europe can be as long as flights to the United States. To go from Portugal to Azerbaijan for example is almost the same or the same as if you go to New York. For the fans its no problem but we should see. Its a European competition so lets think about it.UEFA could gauge the appetite for taking its major finals beyond Europe by first experimenting with the less-regarded Super Cup, which is played in August between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.UEFA has until now been awarding the honor of staging its showpiece finals without any tendering process, with stadium hosts decided in secret by the leadership.The bidding process should be very clear because if you get the Champions League finals or Europa League finals as a political favor then its not OK, Ceferin said. With a clear bidding procedure I will protect also the administration and myself because whoever tries to call us, to push us, to ask us for such a favor we will have a clear answer, `Sorry, there are clear rules we cannot do it.In his first major interview since succeeding Michel Platini as UEFA president last month, Ceferin displayed a willingness to innovate while not damaging the organizations lucrative competitions.The Champions League is the best sporting product in the world, Ceferin said at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on the banks of Lake Geneva.And the former Slovenia federation president will not sacrifice the success of the competition by shifting kickoff times to pander to expanding soccer markets in Asia just to sweep up more television viewers or sponsors in the region. Games are always played in the evening in Europe, when much of Asia is asleep.From a financial point of view its not ideal, Ceferin said. We should think also about other markets, but how to do it exactly Im not sure yet. China is financially interesting and the U.S. is not just financially interesting, but football is growing there.Only the final is played on a Saturday, but one option would be to also move the semifinals from their current midweek slot.There are some ideas about that because then China is not asleep because its Saturday and theyy can watch, said Ceferin, whose presidential term runs until 2019.ddddddddddddBut there are many problems concerning that with the calendar of the leagues. National leagues are too important.You have the Premier League which is very strong. Its an idea (semifinals at the weekend) that came out but its too early to say anything concrete on it.While mulling modifications to the Champions League, Ceferin is also involved in talks on whether to expand the World Cup. In his first FIFA Council meeting last week since becoming one of the governing bodys vice presidents, Ceferin heard President Gianni Infantino propose boosting the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams.We didnt want to vote on it as it was too early, Ceferin said. We simply didnt get any information about it. Nothing. Just shall we expand or not. We said we cannot say.Ceferin is awaiting proper analysis on the merits of such a significant overhaul of the tournament. He is already certain Europe should gain a fair share of the additional 16 places rather than expansion being used to correct disparities between how the slots are currently split between the six confederations.Thirteen teams qualify for the World Cup from the 55-nation UEFA region and Ceferin believes that fans in North America and Asia prefer to watch our teams.If you put it to a vote (on the number of additional UEFA places) we might lose but we are the strongest confederation, nobody should forget that -- strongest in quality and all other aspects, Ceferin said. We have the best national teams. So I doubt they will outvote us.Ceferin said UEFA doesnt want to hurt the other confederations but sees additional European teams as adding to the quality of the World Cup.I know everyone is afraid of playing Europe in the playoffs, he said. I can understand them but if you are afraid of playing someone that team is probably better so that team deserves to go (to the World Cup).UEFA has already ceded ground on the 2026 World Cup, with Ceferin approving FIFA blocking Europe from bidding given the 2018 tournament is in Russia. North America is now the favorite to host the event for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in the United States.It would really be hard for me to say it would be good if it goes to North America or Africa, Ceferin said. But given the infrastructure possibilities, probably Africa will have a hard time to place a serious bid.---Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports ' ' '
