News » during the upcoming World Cup of Ho

The World Cup of Hockey begins Saturday, Sept. Nike Sko Vapormax . 17, from Toronto when Team USA faces Team Europe in group play at 3:30 p.m. ET?(ESPN2).?Its time to stop worrying about who isnt on this team -- therell be plenty of time for recrimination and finger-pointing after the tournament for ignoring?Phil Kessel, Tyler Johnson, Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk if things dont go the Americans way during the upcoming World Cup of Hockey -- and focus on who is on this hard-working, hard-nosed team.Team USA GM Dean Lombardi, head coach John Tortorella and their highly efficient staff have assembled a surprisingly fast, very physical squad that will try to dictate pace of play with a vigorous forecheck and a game that hopes to be strictly north-south -- although the teams two pretournament games against Canada have shown that is still a work in progress.How Team USA could winFirst and foremost, alternate captain Patrick Kane is going to have to have the kind of tournament he hoped to have in Sochi at the 2014 Olympics but didnt. Kane is the defending NHL MVP and scoring champ, and Tortorella has put him in a leadership role that will up the ante for the?Chicago Blackhawks?star. If Kane is going -- and by extension that will mean the U.S. power play, which has been under the tutelage of associate coach and Hall of Famer?Phil Housley, is going -- that will take some of the pressure off the rest of the forwards.That said, Max Pacioretty, Blake Wheeler and Zach Parise?will have to find a gear they didnt hit during Team USAs two-game split with Canada during the warm-up last week. The Americans arent likely to get a ton of offense from the back end, but watch for Dustin Byfuglien, who has one of the hardest shots in the game, to keep opponents off-balance with his forays into the offensive zone. Jonathan Quick is the U.S. No. 1 because of his résumé, which includes two Stanley Cup rings, and his stellar performance in leading the U.S. to a victory over Canada last Friday. If Quick is on his game, anything is possible for this group.How Team USA could loseErik Johnson and Jack Johnson were repatriated from the 2010 U.S. Olympic team that earned a silver medal in Vancouver, and Matt Niskanen was added to the group ahead of more offensive-minded players such as Shattenkirk, Faulk and Cam Fowler, all of whom were in Sochi. Was Niskanen the right choice? Were about to find out.The U.S. looked disorganized in its own zone for long stretches against Canada. So trying to exploit its blue line, which doesnt appear to be as mobile as the Canadians, Swedes or Team North Americas defensive corps, will likely be the plan for opponents when the tournament starts. The Americans opted for more grit up front in the form of Justin Abdelkader, Brandon Dubinsky and David Backes. If the Americans get behind, though, they lack the explosiveness of a Russia or Sweden or Canada to erase deficits -- and that could be a fatal flaw.What to watch for: Beat Canada, or bustRight from the get-go, Tortorella and his staff opted to go with having Joe Pavelski play down the middle with Kane, even though Pavelski played on the wing with Joe Thornton at center in San Jose all last season. No one wins the World Cup without going through Canada at some point, and the teams will have played three times by the time the finals arrive (twice pretournament and once in the round-robin), so there will be familiarity and bad blood aplenty if we get a repeat of the classic 96 finals. Vapormax Norge . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Vapormax Flyknit Herre Norge . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. http://www.vapormaxnorge.com/vapormax-da...ax-flyknit.html .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup.COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- The Colorado Rapids have turned around their season. Quite a change from June 23 when they were 5-7-5, in the midst of a painful slide. "We kept putting in hard work and kept believing in what we are doing in our training," Colorado coach Oscar Pareja said. "The most important thing is the group is convinced and committed with the club." Hendry Thomas scored in the 41st minute and the Rapids shut out the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 Saturday. Dillon Powers added a goal and an assist for Colorado (9-7-7). The Rapids beat the Galaxy for the first time in seven meetings and had been 0-5-1 over that span. Colorado is unbeaten, 4-0-2 in its past six games after going through a 0-4-1 stretch. "This team knows that no one is bigger than the club and they play as a team," Pareja said. "That is the key." Thomas found space between two defenders when Powers lined up for a corner kick. Powers put the ball right on the head of Thomas, whose header sailed past goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. "Dillon has given us so much in his area of the field," Pareja said. "I thought he has really matured." Los Angeles (10-9-3) was looking for its fifth win in seven matches. The Galaxy were shut out for the sixth time this season in falling to 1-6-0 in their past seven road games. "We played very well in the first half," Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said. "We had a mental lapse for thee goal. Nike Vapormax Billig. That was it." Colorado added a goal in the 47th minute when Edson Buddle found Powers in stride just over the midfield stripe. Cudicini came out to stop the shot, but Powers got the ball under the lunge of Cudicini. The Galaxy were without Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. Donovan missed his fifth straight game due to service with the U.S. national team while Keane sat out with a left hip flexor strain suffered the previous weekend. Hector Jimenez found an opening in the 15th minute, but fired a shot over the crossbar for Los Angeles. Juninho barely missed with a shot from 30 yards in the 22nd minute. His shot grazed the left post. Irwin caught a shot from the left wing by Todd Dunivant at the close of the half in added time. Referee Juan Guzman issued three yellow cards in the first half. Thomas drew a yellow card for upending Juninho in the ninth minute. Thomas will serve his second suspension of the season when the team plays Aug. 3 against Real Salt Lake. Juninho and former Colorado midfielder Pablo Mastroeni received theirs moments apart after disputing non calls. Juninho was hauled down by Shane ONeill in the 30th minute. The Galaxy didnt test Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin. Irwin produced his eighth shutout of the season. "That goal at the end of the half was unacceptable," L.A. forward Gyasi Zardes said. "Our team is better than that and we will bounce back when we play again." ' ' '