TORONTO -- Memory remains a curious, dimly lit thing, as mysterious as the universe. Why some mundane memories wait within easy reach, why critical parts of our lives sometimes vanish, what gets stored and where -- centuries of research and decades of lobotomies have given us a still-incomplete understanding of how our brains retain the moments that make up our lives. Our brain just does or doesnt do its work, and none of it is really up to us. Were beholden to an automated system that is both a miracle and prone to breakdown.There are nine players on Team USAs entry at the World Cup of Hockey who were part of the 2010 team that lost the Olympic gold medal to Canada in Vancouver. For Canadians, Sidney Crosbys overtime goal is remembered as a great, unifying moment in national history. Not surprisingly, those nine American players have different memories of it.I just remember us sitting there, not believing it was over, Jack Johnson says. It was a tough pill to swallow at the time. It was a tough way to win a silver medal.We came out for overtime and got quite a few chances, Joe Pavelski says. Id just come off a shift. Id just had a chance. I got back to the bench and remember saying, Oh, that was almost there. Twenty seconds later, the game was over. There was a feeling with that team that you didnt think it would end that way. When it did, its just tough.What could have been definitely haunts a lot of us, Erik Johnson says. It could have gone either way. You never know how many chances youll have to put on the USA jersey and get the job done for your country.Athletes talk all the time about the gift of a short memory, how they almost train themselves to forget. They cant allow a bad performance to stick. They cant be burdened by the accumulation of failures that professional athletes, that all of us, endure.Ryan Suter, who was on the ice for the goal, has never watched footage of it. When he searches for his memory of it, its not nearly as clear as it is for teammates who had a far worse vantage point. He has questions about it.The role of Canadas Jarome Iginla in the play, his pass from the boards, doesnt exist for Suter. Crosby was going up the wall with [Brian] Rafalski, maybe? he says uncertainly. And he stopped, grabbed it, and took it to the net and put it 5-hole. Suter has no recollection of Crosbys frantic cry of Iggy! for the puck, either. He has managed to edit out frames of the film.Different parts of the moment have disappeared for his teammates.I dont really remember the noise, Jack Johnson says. When he replays the moment in his mind, its a silent movie.Pavelski cant remember how he felt physically immediately after: Im not sure you have a lot of feeling right then, to be honest.But perhaps the most interesting and instructive facet of Team USAs collective memory of 2010 is the lesson the players now are choosing to take from it. Going into Tuesday nights must-win against Canada, the Vancouver Nine have somehow decided to put a positive spin on that heartbreaking defeat. They dont remember how close they came. They remember how close they came.Those experiences give you a little bit of confidence, David Backes says. That gold-medal game was an overtime game. We had a few chances early, but they were able to find one that goes in the back of the net and win the gold medal. Those types of experiences tell us that were able to beat this team.It was a great experience to start off your Olympic career, Patrick Kane says. Playing as an American in Canada, a hostile environment, pretty much everyone rooting against you, being able to play at that level in that competition was very special. The Canadians wanted one thing, and that was the ice hockey gold medal, and we were one goal away from taking that away from them. I have a lot of good memories from that tournament.I thought about it for a long time, one goal away from a gold medal, Jack Johnson says. But you come to appreciate that silver medal. That tournament was the best hockey experience of my life.Its an experience that you lean on when times are tough, Ryan Kesler says. You remember those feelings. In that case, you strive not to feel it again.We might not have much control over what we remember. But if Team USAs players have taught us anything about the science of memory, if there is one truth about memory that they have to believe, its that we do have a choice about what we do with the information that our minds have determined to keep.We can choose to see the night we lost the gold medal as the night we won silver. We can choose to see our scars as wounds or badges. We can wonder about what might have been or marvel at what was.We can forget and focus on our breakdowns. Or we can remember our miracles. Air Jordan 5 Retro NZ . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Air Jordan 5 Wholesale NZ . 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. http://www.cheapairjordan5nz.com/ . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Cheap Air Jordan 5 For Sale . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Cheap Jordan 5 NZ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. HOUSTON -- In its first test since star closer Aroldis Chapman was traded, the New York Yankees bullpen came through just fine.Austin Romine hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning to make a winner of Michael Pineda, and the Yankees held off the Houston Astros 2-1 on Monday night.Hours after New York shipped Chapman to the Chicago Cubs, All-Star relievers Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller closed out Houston to help the fourth-place Yankees (51-48) move three games above .500 for the first time this season.Youre not asking a young kid to maybe step into something that hes never done before, manager Joe Girardi said. We still have a lot of experience down there; the bridge becomes very important. Obviously we didnt need it tonight, but that becomes very important.Betances struck out the side in the eighth before Miller, back in the ninth-inning role following Chapmans departure, earned his eighth save. The fired-up lefty pumped his fist when he got Carlos Gomez to ground into a game-ending double play with two on.A frustrated Gomez spiked his helmet and kicked at the ground after he was out at first base.Obviously, hes pretty good at what he does, so were going to have to find a way to fill the hole that he leaves, Miller said about Chapman. Weve got talented guys who are capable of stepping up, and its up to them to do it. I think they will.Pineda (5-9) pitched seven strong innings to beat Yankees nemesis Dallas Keuchel (6-10), last years AL Cy Young Award winner.I didnt want to make any mistakes because I knew this team is aggressive for the first pitch, Pineda said. I threw my best pitch for the first pitch.George Springer hit a leadoff homer and Luis Valbuena had three hits for Houston, which had won four straight. Top prospect Alex Bregman went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his major league debut.Romines double to deep center field scored Chase Headley, who singled to start the eighth.Hes done a really good job all around, Girardi said about Romine. This is a kid thats really persevered. Hes really fought to get to this spot and hes had a really good year.Headley singled in the fifth to drive in Didi Gregorius, tying it at 1.Pineda allowed five hits and struck out eight in his second straighht solid outing after throwing six scoreless innings Wednesday against Baltimore.ddddddddddddhe big right-hander retired 14 of 15 during one stretch, but ran into trouble in the sixth. He loaded the bases with two outs before Bregman flied out to the right-field warning track.Springers fifth leadoff home run of the year was the 11th for the Astros this season, surpassing the previous club record of 10 set in 2001.Keuchel gave up two runs and six hits with five strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. He has allowed two runs or fewer in four straight starts.The left-hander retired 13 of his first 14 batters. The only hit he gave up was Romines single in the third until Gregorius double in the fifth.I felt like today was the first time even through this whole stretch that I was able to command both sides of the plate, Keuchel said. Fastballs to both sides. The only thing lacking were a few sliders to Romine.BIG DEALChapman was sent to the Cubs for pitcher Adam Warren and three minor league prospects.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: INF Marwin Gonzalez sat out after spraining his left ankle in the fifth inning Sunday. Hes doing OK, manager A.J. Hinch said. We are keeping him out of some baseball activities to monitor his ankle. Well give him the day off, but I would really like him to play tomorrow if hes capable.A-ROD OPTIMISTICYankees DH Alex Rodriguez was out of the lineup for a third straight game. Rodriguez, who is 4 for 31 with one home run in July, is batting .206 this season with nine home runs and 29 RBI, but hes optimistic after speaking to the Yankees sabermetrics department. Theres no question that for the first two months, my mechanics were out of whack, Rodriguez said. I think I found something, and Im excited to put it into play.UP NEXTYankees: LHP CC Sabathia (5-8) will start his 18th game of the season Tuesday. Sabathia has allowed 31 runs -- 29 earned -- in his last 35 innings, spanning six starts.Astros: RHP Doug Fister (10-6) will make his 20th start of the season and look to follow up one of his best outings of the year when he threw seven scoreless innings Wednesday at Oakland. ' ' '
