The host country faced criticism in the run-up to the games from miao1234's blog
In much the same way that Sidney Crosby reinforced his status as a No. Nick Mangold Jets Jersey . 1 overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 16-year-old phenom Nathan MacKinnon has a chance to strengthen his own case as the top draft-eligible player next summer when the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament kicks off next week. MacKinnon is one of 40 CHL players participating in a selection camp, which kicked off Friday in Toronto. Twenty-two players will be selected to participate in the annual Under-18 tournament - which will be the beginning of a special year that could capped with him being picked No. 1 in the 2013 NHL Draft. "Its really exciting, we have the best 40 guys in the country here and everybody is working towards putting that maple leaf on," MacKinnon told TSN Radio 1050. "None of us have represented the country internationally, so everyones really excited for it." MacKinnon and Crosby have been linked from an early age. Both are natives of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and have had similar junior careers thus far. Both played their minor hockey with the Cole Harbour Red Wings before moving on to Shattuck-Saint Marys prep school in Minnesota. And they were both taken with the first overall pick in the QMJHL Draft with immediate success playing junior hockey as 16-year-olds. When asked about the relationship he has with the Penguins captain, MacKinnon had nothing but positive things to say about his hockey hero. "Growing up watching him handle himself both on-and-off the ice, hes definitely really admirable," he said. "Ive got to know him on a personal basis too and my perception of him hasnt changed one bit - hes definitely someone you can look up to." MacKinnon is hopeful his all-around style of play will enable him to crack an NHL lineup as soon as possible. "For me to create offence, I need to get hard on pucks and go hard to the net, so I think I bring some grit to my game along with skill," he said. "Working on that complete package is something that everyone says, but obviously Im really trying to have a really translatable game to the NHL and making it as soon as I can." Despite the comparisons to his hero and all the hype about being a potential No. 1 overall pick, MacKinnon remains focused on making his first under-18 team. "With all the talk, it obviously comes up in my mind a little bit," he said. "But obviously Im not really worried about how high Im going to go. (Im) definitely focusing on one thing right now and thats making the Canadian U-18 team and hopefully getting our fifth straight gold medal." Canadas under-18 team will be led by Kingston Frontenacs head coach and former NHL defenceman Todd Gill. MacKinnon said he has been impressed with Gill so far. "He seems like a hard-nosed coach," MacKinnon said. "Definitely a lot of experience, definitely someone you can learn a lot off of and hopefully bring Canada gold this summer." A young 16-year old - born on Sept. 1 - he was barely 16 when he put up 31 goals and 78 points in his first season with the Halifax Mooseheads. Not much was expected of a young Moosehead team in 2011, but led by MacKinnons 13 goals and 28 points in 17 playoff games, Halifax advanced to the QMJHLs conference finals. MacKinnon is also excited for what the coming year has in store and is expecting the Mooseheads to build upon their success of last season. The Mooseheads are expected to contend for a Memorial Cup berth in 2012 and should they make it, MacKinnon will again be linked to Crosby - who also led his Rimouski Oceanic to the Memorial Cup in his second season of junior. "Were a young team with a lot of potential for this year coming up," he said. "We overachieved last year, so thats always fun – to prove a few critics wrong." Joe Namath Jets Jersey . A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in both 2006 and 2007, Wang spent most of this year at Triple-A for the Yankees and Blue Jays. The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 7. Jeremy Kerley Jets Jersey . A rare measured voice in the turbulent world of English football since arriving last year, Pellegrini finally lost his cool after Tuesdays 2-0 first-leg loss in the round of 16. City had been repelling Barcelona until the start of the second half when Jonas Eriksson sent off Martin Demichelis for fouling Lionel Messi, who then scored from the penalty spot.Sochi, Russia - The closing ceremony of the Sochi Games brought a flashy and tuneful end Sunday night to the most expensive Olympics in history. Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. They opted for human rings this time, the last one opening several seconds after the first four on the floor of the stadium. It echoed the hijinks from Vancouvers closing ceremony four years ago, when a leg of the cauldron that failed to come up during the opening ceremony was finally raised into place. Sundays ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium included a handoff from Sochi to Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Games. Near the end, the cauldron that was lit 16 days earlier by Russian Olympic greats Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina was extinguished after one of the games mascots, an animatronic bear, blew out a flame in the center of the stadium, a single tear dripping from its left eye. Earlier, after a childrens choir conducted by Valery Gergiev sung the Russian national anthem, flag bearers for each country entered the stadium together rather than country by country like in the opening ceremony. The athletes who stuck around for the festivities also came in together, as is customary for the closing ceremony. American ice hockey forward Julie Chu, who competed in her fourth Olympics, carried the U.S. flag. "So proud to represent Team USA (and) our amazing athletes. Humbled," Chu tweeted as she waited to enter the stadium. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, who won their second womens bobsled gold medal in a row, were co-flag bearers for Canada. Figure skater Maxim Trankov, a dual gold medalist in Sochi, carried Russias flag. Pop music played, but the ceremony also included a heavy dose of classical music and ballet like the opening ceremony, and a nod to Russian novelists and poets. All of it was done as temperatures hovered in the 40s, a cool close to the so- called Spring Olympics, where the weather was famously mild, with temperatures even climbing into the 60s on some days. That led to some strange scenes, including cross country skiers cutting the sleeves off their uniforms and American skier Julia Mancuso filming a surfing video for NBC on the Black Sea. There was a serious side to the warmer weather, of course, which wreaked havoc on some courses for the snow events. Snowboarders complained about slushy conditions on the halfpipe and the New York Times detailed a clandestine operation by organizers to purchase more salt needed to keep some courses properly iced. Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen set the all-time Winter Olympics record during the games by winning his 12th and 13th medals, both golds. But Russia led the overall medal count with 33, including 13 gold medals to fall one short of the Winter Games record of 14 set by Canada four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics. The U.S. finished second with 28 medals, nine fewer than the Winter Games record 37 they captured in Vancouver. Norway was third overall with 26 medals and Canada won 25, including 10 gold -- the last secured by the mens hockey team on Sunday in a win over Sweden. DBrickashaw Ferguson Jets Jersey. . The Russian anthem played for the last time at the closing ceremony during the medal ceremony for the mens 50-kilometer cross country race. Alexander Legkov led a Russian medal sweep of that event Sunday morning. Sochi organizing committee head Dmitry Chernyshenko called the games "a great moment in our history ... a moment that will never be forgotten." "This is the new face of Russia, our Russia," he said. "And for us, these games are the best ever." Russian President Vladimir Putins $51 billion Olympics were the subject of snickers early on when media and athletes arrived to find some accommodations lacking. Journalists relayed stories of unfinished rooms, broken door handles, missing shower curtains and even stray dogs in their media villages. One was told not to use the water in her bathroom, which was said to contain a dangerous chemical. U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn became an Internet sensation after tweeting a picture of his bathroom door, which he had broken through after becoming locked inside. The Twitter account SochiProblems had more than 330,000 followers by the time of Sundays closing ceremony, but the criticism so prevalent in the first days died down, giving way to wide praise of Sochis venues. IOC President Thomas Bach, presiding over his first games, said the athletes left a legacy of "peace, tolerance and respect" and urged, as IOC heads often do, that countries around the world follow the example. Bach thanked Putin for what he said was the Russian presidents "personal commitment to the extraordinary success" of the games. "We leave as friends of the Russian people," said Bach. News broke during the opening ceremony that a plane had been diverted to an airport in Turkey after a passenger on board allegedly issued a bomb threat and tried to have the aircraft redirected to Sochi. The incident further raised fears that Russias first Olympics in 34 years could be the target of a terrorist attack, but the games passed without any such incident. The host country faced criticism in the run-up to the games after passing laws last year aimed at keeping gay "propaganda" away from children, and officials remained adamant throughout that political protests should be kept away from Olympic venues. In the highest-profile incident of its kind, two members of the punk band Pussy Riot were among several people detained for several hours as they planned to film a protest video in Sochi. They set up a day later to film again, but were interrupted by Cossacks who attacked them with whips. The games went without a positive doping test until the final weekend, when there were six. In the last case, Swedish hockey star Nicklas Backstrom was scratched from the gold medal game Sunday after testing positive for a banned substance found in allergy medication his NHL team said he has been taking for seven years to combat severe allergies. The Washington Capitals said the medication was approved by the Swedish national team. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '
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