Pädiatrie » Lightning LW Ondrej Palat and Panthers

XALAPA, Mexico -- Canadas womens basketball team took another step closer in its quest for a world championship berth. Kendel Ross scored 16 points to lead the undefeated Canadians to an 89-45 rout of Venezuela at the FIBA Americas Championship on Tuesday, assuring themselves a spot in the semifinals. But after three lopsided victories, Canada knows it faces a much tougher test Wednesday in Cuba for top spot in Group A. "They play hard when they need to and when they have a lead, they kind of coast," Canadas coach Lisa Thomaidis said of Cuba. "So we need to have some realistic impression of what theyre going to bring and overestimate what weve seen from them so far." Kim Gaucher, Kia Nurse, and Natalie Achonwa added 12 points apiece for Canada, while Tamara Tatham grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The world No. 9-ranked Canadians opened the tournament with a 75-37 win over Jamaica, then cruised past Chile 93-51. The 14th-ranked Cubans have won by similarly lopsided scores, while Brazil and Puerto Rico have dominated the other side of the draw. The Canadians shot 47 per cent from the field against Venezuela, outrebounding their opponent 52-25, and outscoring them 16-4 on second-chance points. Still, Thomaidis wasnt pleased with her teams performance. "We just werent very sharp, our offensive precision was not there. We didnt think we brought a lot of defensive energy," Thomaidis said. "Its one of those tough games, the result should be a foregone conclusion. However you still want to maintain that level of intensity and energy heading into our most important game, which is (Wednesday)." The lopsided games have allowed Thomaidis to rotate her roster, giving key players such as Gaucher and guard Shona Thorburn some rest. The team had talked before the tournament began about the importance of maintaining their focus when theyre not playing. "When were on the bench, you have to be engaged, whether youre bringing energy by talking to your teammates or just cheering your teammates on," Ross said. "Thats really what you have to do, you have to stay in the game, you cant just be on the bench kind of looking around wondering whats going on in Mexico. You really have to keep yourself focused and be ready for your number to be called." Canada is gunning for its third straight world championship appearance, and needs to finish top three in Mexico to earn a spot in the 2014 world tournament in Istanbul. The semifinals are Friday, with the medal games scheduled for Saturday. John Lackey Cubs Jersey . That Ginette Reno can sing. Kyle Ryan Jersey . -- When the Los Angeles Kings are on top of their formidable defensive game, they revel in the silence they can create in a frustrated road arena. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2250t-duane-un...ersey-cubs.html. Granada defender Diego Mainz barged into the back of Villa to send the Spain striker to the ground inside the area and Costa stepped up to the spot to score his 12th league goal in the 38th minute. Costa showed no effects of the news that his Brazilian citizenship may be revoked after he elected to play for Spains national team, as the forward was a constant threat for Atletico and forced several saves from goalkeeper Roberto. Manny Trillo Jersey . -- Mike Shanahan gave Robert Griffin III a rest, and may have turned up the pressure on himself, too. Larry Bowa Cubs Jersey . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night.A big night for a Predators defenceman, Leafs sniper, Sharks rising star and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Predators D Ryan Ellis scored a goal and two assists, then added the shootout winner, in Nashville’s 4-3 win at Arizona. Maple Leafs RW Phil Kessel scored a pair of goals and added an assist as the Maple Leafs won 5-2 at the Islanders. Kessel also had eight shot attempts (5 SOG). Sharks C Logan Couture scored a pair of goals and generated 10 shot attempts (8 SOG) in a 5-3 loss at Boston. Coyotes D Keith Yandle had a goal and an assist, generating 13 shot attempts (9 SOG) in Arizona’s 4-3 loss to Nashville. Vancouver’s top line – LW Daniel Sedin (17 shot attempts for, 0 against, 100.0%), RW Radim Vrbata (14 for, 0 against, 100.0%) and C Henrik Sedin (16 for, 1 against, 94.1%) – dominated play when they were on at even strength in the Canucks’ 6-3 loss in Dallas. The Panthers defence pairing of Dmitri Kulikov (26 shot attempts for, 6 against, 81.3%) and Willie Mitchell (26 for, 9 against, 74.3%) had a strong game for Florida in a 4-3 shootout win at Colorado. ZEROES Flames C Joe Colborne (3 shot attempts for, 16 against, 15.8%) and LW Curtis Glencross (4 for, 15 against, 21.1%) were buried in possession terms during Calgary’s 2-1 overtime loss to Tampa Bay. Canucks G Ryan Miller was pulled after allowing five goals on 13 shots in Vancouver’s 6-3 loss at Dallas. Islanders G Jaroslav Halak was pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots in a 5-2 loss to Toronto. Avalanche D Brad Stuart (8 for, 21 against, 27.6%), primarily matched against the line of Aleksander Barkov, Sean Bergenheim and Brad Boyes, was on the wrong side of the shot attempt battle versus Florida. NOTABLEE LINEUP CHANGES Pavel Datsyuk played his first game of the season for Detroit, and assisted on Henrik Zetterberg’s goal.dddddddddddd Hurricanes D Andrej Sekera returned to the lineup, after missing a week, and played a team-high 22:28. Antti Raanta, making his first start of the season in net for the Blackhawks, stopped all 32 shots he faced for the shutout. Devils D Adam Larsson made his season debut, playing 12:50, in place of Eric Gelinas. Maple Leafs D Stuart Percy returned to the lineup, playing 13:29 against the Islanders, as Toronto dressed seven defencemen. Sharks C James Sheppard made his season debut, playing 13:29 in Boston. FIRSTS Jets rookie C Adam Lowry scored his first career goal and led the team with five hits in Winnipeg’s 3-1 win over Carolina. Bruins rookie RW Seth Griffith, skating on the wing with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, scored his first NHL goal in a 5-3 win over San Jose. MORE: Predators D Shea Weber played 33:18. Since the start of last season, there have been 20 times in which a player had more ice time in a regular season game…Maple Leafs D Roman Polak played a team-high 22:46, scored a goal and had five hits. He’s tied with Islanders LW Matt Martin for the league lead with 34 hits…In addition to Ellis, Rangers D Kevin Klein, Lightning LW Ondrej Palat and Panthers RW Brad Boyes scored overtime winners Tuesday...Bruins C David Krejci had a goal and an assist, and had the best possession stats (23 shot attempts for, 10 against, 69.7%) in the game against San Jose. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '