and theyve maintained their rivalry even after Nebraska leaving the Big 12.They are two programs | Forum

TORONTO -- One by one, the Canadian players strolled into the media room at Air Canada Centre on Thursday afternoon for an off-day availability at the World Cup of Hockey. Air Max 2018 Shoes .The teams semifinal opponent had yet to be decided so questions and answers were broad in nature. There was talk about the process, doing the little things right, and sticking to what has worked in three straight round-robin victories.The Canadians have been playing so well, it really seems as if it is up to the opposition -- it ended up being Russia in the semifinals -- to figure out a way to beat them rather than the opposite.That went unsaid Thursday, but the numbers speak for themselves.Canada (3-0-0) is the only team with a perfect record. It has allowed just three goals overall, controlled the play for extended stretches and is averaging almost five goals and over 43 shots a game.The Russians were in control of their own destiny entering play against Finland on Thursday. A 3-0 victory assured them of second place in Group B and eliminated North America, the speedy squad of players age 23-and-under from Canada and the United States.There are several reasons why the reigning Olympic and World Cup champions are favored to win again. Canadas goaltending has been strong, the team rolls four strong lines and the defense is tight.The Russians, meanwhile, have a solid netminder in Sergei Bobrovsky and are anchored up front by forwards Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. There will be no shortage of motivation on Saturday night for a team eager to eliminate Canada on home ice.The opportunity is huge, Ovechkin said. They have a pretty good team with solid players. We just have to match it.The Canada-Russia semifinal offers a renewal of a classic hockey rivalry, though fans will likely be disappointed they wont get to see the Canadians take on the highly skilled young guns on North America.It made no difference to Team Canada.Were more focused on playing our game, our system, Canadian forward Brad Marchand said. You might have to tweak a couple things here and there but for the most part, were more concerned about how we play. Our style, how our effort is. Just working hard and normally when you do that, good things can happen.Head coach Mike Babcock said his lineup will be announced after practice Friday. Ryan Getzlaf, Shea Weber and Carey Price are good bets to return after getting a rest Wednesday night in a 4-1 win over Team Europe.Canadas offensive depth has been on display throughout the tournament.The top line of captain Sidney Crosby, Marchand and Patrice Bergeron shone in a 6-0 rout of the Czech Republic last Saturday. The fourth line of Joe Thornton, Matt Duchene and Ryan OReilly was strong in a 4-2 win over the United States a few days later.Assistant captain Jonathan Toews took a turn in the spotlight with a three-point night against Team Europe. The offense has been in top form even though star forwards Steven Stamkos, John Tavares and Getzlaf are still looking for their first goals of the tournament.Russia finished round-robin play with a 2-1 record, scoring eight goals while giving up five against.Its going to be a great, great challenge and we accept it, Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov said.Team Europe will play Sweden in the other semifinal Sunday. The best-of-three final series begins Tuesday night. Wholesale Air Max Store . -- 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. Black Air Max 90 2018 . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. http://www.cheapairmax90.net/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Three repeat visitors from last season -- Nebraska, Minnesota and Texas -- and one very, very familiar presence -- Stanford -- make up the volleyball final four this year. Heres a look at whos headed to Columbus, Ohio, and what well see this week from the best of the best.1. Stanford: Doing Stanford stuff againTheres no debate which school has had its hand prints on the NCAA tournament the most throughout the events history: Stanford is in the final four for the 20th time. The sixth-seeded Cardinal upset No. 3 Wisconsin on the Badgers home court in the Madison Regional final.Stanfords first final four was in 1982, the second year of the NCAA tournament, and the Cardinals first national championship was in 1992. But its been 12 years since the last of the Cardinals six NCAA titles. And in that time, Penn State passed Stanford for the most with seven, with six of them coming between 2007-2014.In the past decade, in fact, Stanford has dealt more with big disappointments in the NCAA tournament than big celebrations:Three consecutive NCAA final losses from 2006-08.One national semifinal loss.Two down-to-the wire fifth-set losses in the elite eight.Three losses in the second round, including last year to Loyola Marymount.The Cardinal were without 2014 first-team All-American Inky Ajanaku last year because of a knee injury, and despite still having a strong senior presence, fell short of repeating their 14 final four trip.This season, Ajanaku was back as the den mother to a team loaded with freshman talent.The Cardinal were the highest-seeded Pac-12 team in the NCAA field, despite not winning the league title. Yet it looked like another tough ending for Stanford when it fell into a two-set hole at UW Fieldhouse, where Wisconsin had lost just once (to Minnesota) all season. Somehow, though, when their backs were really up against the wall, the Cardinal just started playing freely. They climbed all the way back to stun the Badgers 15-9 in the fifth set, and in doing so, brought the West Coast back into the final four. Last year, all four teams were from the Central time zone for the first time, and the same would have been true this year if Wisconsin had won.Now, Ajanaku, who had 20 kills and 11 blocks against Wisconsin, gets her second trip to the final four with lots of help from youngsters like Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Kathryn Plummer.The Cardinal face Minnesota in the semifinals, a rematch of the teams early-season meeting at Stanford on Aug. 28. Stanford won that one 3-1.2. Minnesota: Gophers on the prowlNo. 2 seed Minnesota is the only final four team that has not won an NCAA title; this is the Gophers fifth time making it this far. The closest theyve come to the pinnacle was a 3-0 loss to Stanford in the 2004 final.But if you were going to pick a favorite just based on the four teams regional performances, it might well be the Gophers. They beat No. 15 seed Missouri, the SEC co-champion, 3-1. Then the Gophers faced No. 10 UCLA, which tied for second in the Pac-12 with Stanford.Minnesota started the first set slowly, trailing the Bruins 6-0, and then took off. They prevailed in a sweep and now have won 14 matches in a row, the longest current winning streak of any of the final four teams.The Gophers had five different players who had double-digit kills against Missouri, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Sarah Wilhite, and the attack was also pretty spread out against UCLA. With the Big Ten Setter of the Year, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Minnesota is a really difficult team to defend because there are so many options.Last year, the Gophers won the Big Ten title and then fell in the national semifinals to Texas, 3-1. That was a growth experience for Minnesota under coach Hugh McCutcheon, who is in his fifth season in Minneapolis and has built up quite a powerhouse.I was extremely proud of our athletes for the way they responded to the different style of play we got to see from UCLA, McCutcheon said. A lot of defensive discipline on their part.For what its worth, the Gophers national semifinal opponent, Stanford, lost both of its Pac-12 matches this season to the Bruins, 3-1 at UCLA and 3-2 at Stanford. Those are the Cardinals only llosses since mid-October. Cheap Air Max 90 2018 Purple. .3. Texas: Longhorns here againThe bully of the Big 12, Texas finally got knocked of its conference perch for the first time since Nebraska left the league in 2011. Kansas won the league, with Texas second. A new sheriff in town?Well, not exactly. Nothing can take the league title from the Jayhawks, of course. But in the NCAA tournament, its the same old story: Fourth-seeded Texas is in the final four. The Longhorns advanced there for the fifth season in a row and for the eighth time in the past nine years. (Kansas went to the final four as well last year, but was upset in the second round this season by Creighton, the same team that Texas swept in the regional final.)The problem for Texas, though, has been finishing the job once it gets this far -- which perhaps isnt a fair way to look at it.Yes, Texas has just one title in recent years -- in 2012 -- to add to the one the Longhorns won way back in 1988. But this current streak of success means theyve reached the final four both in years where theyve been a truly great team and in years when they overachieved.Such was the case last year, in fact, when injuries left them a bit less talented -- but even more determined. Texas got to the 2015 NCAA final, but at that point was overpowered by Nebraska, 3-0.This season, they faced the Huskers in August on a neutral court in Eugene, Oregon, and were swept again. In Big 12 play, Texas fell to Kansas and to Iowa State.And the Longhorns almost stumbled in the regional semifinals, losing a 2-0 lead and facing two match points in the fifth set before a dramatic rally to beat BYU. That close call was followed up by the exact opposite kind of match: a 3-0 statement over Creighton.So if youre not sure exactly what well see from the Longhorns in Columbus, the truth is that they might not be sure, either. But these things are certain: They have an extremely experienced setter in senior Chloe Collins, and three hitters with great ability to put the ball down: Paulina Prieto Cerame, Ebony Nwanebu and Micaya White.This team has been up and down this entire year, Collins said. To go and achieve [the final four] is something special for us, because we know all the obstacles weve been through this whole season.4. Nebraska: Seeking a repeatThe Huskers saw their season flash before their eyes Friday afternoon, facing two match points against Penn State. But such is the nature of volleyball that momentum can turn on the proverbial dime -- and when it does, it can be breathtaking to behold.So close to elimination -- and the end of their dream of repeating as NCAA champions -- the Huskers scored four consecutive points to win the third set. With a new life, they didnt squander it: Nebraska beat Penn State in five sets, and then looked like a favorite to win it all after dominating Pac-12 champion Washington in the final.There are no doubts about Nebraskas strengths: experience and chemistry. Kadie and Amber Rolfzen are both playing at a high level, and fellow seniors Justine Wong-Orantes and Andie Malloy have also been key contributors. Briana Holman, a transfer from LSU, has helped solidify Nebraskas block, and pulling it all together is setter Kelly Hunter.The pressure on the Huskers last year to win the title in Omaha, Nebraska, was extreme, and accomplishing that no doubt helped steel them for their tougher moments this year.However, there werent a lot of those. The Huskers let a 2-0 lead get away at Minnesota in late November and found themselves in a five-set match they lost to the Gophers. They fell short in that test but didnt in their five-setter Friday with Penn State.The Huskers and Longhorns have a very long history -- the Big Red leads the series 32-21 -- and theyve maintained their rivalry even after Nebraska leaving the Big 12.They are two programs -- and two coaches in Nebraskas John Cook and Texas Jerritt Elliott -- that have carried the torch for collegiate volleyball for a long time. And the fact that they keep running into each other in big moments is a testament to both. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '