Finland had more than enough offensive talent to overcome its slow start against Austria, even with Teemu Selanne back in the dressing room. [url=http://www.cheapasics.us/]Asics Shoes Sale Online[/url] . Jarkko Immonen and Mikael Granlund scored two goals apiece as Finland opened preliminary-round Oly

Finland had more than enough offensive talent to overcome its slow start against Austria, even with Teemu Selanne back in the dressing room. Asics Shoes Sale Online . Jarkko Immonen and Mikael Granlund scored two goals apiece as Finland opened preliminary-round Olympic play with an 8-4 victory over Austria on Thursday. Jussi Jokinen and Petri Kontiola each had a goal and an assist for the Finns, who put 52 shots on beleaguered Austria goalie Bernhard Starkbaum despite playing the final two periods without Selanne, their captain and the leading scorer in Olympic history. The 43-year-old "Finnish Flash" had an assist in the first period of his record-equaling sixth Olympics before sitting out with an upper-body injury. Selanne should be fine for the Finns next game, team spokesman Janne Lahti said. "Hes an old man, so he needs some rest, more than the other guys," Kontiola said. Sami Lepisto and Olli Maatta also scored for Finland, which has never lost to Austria at the Olympics. Granlund had a three-point game and defenceman Sami Vatanen had three assists in their Olympic debuts. Selanne got just eight shifts before apparently having problems with his neck or shoulders. Finlands trainers massaged Selanne on the bench late in the first period, and he didnt return from the first break. "Maybe he got the bad pillow!" said Sami Vatanen, Selannes teammate with the Anaheim Ducks. Even with Selanne ailing, Finland took control with two goals in 8 seconds during the final minute of the first before taking a four-goal lead in the second. "Its tough to see him get injured, but hell be OK," Olli Jokinen said of Selanne. "Hes a big part of this team, and hes our leader. Its never easy when you lose a guy like him." Finns recover The Finns also survived a shaky Olympic debut from Tuukka Rask, the vaunted Boston Bruins goalie who yielded four goals on just 20 shots. "The first goal, everybody was caught sleeping there," Rask said. "After that second goal, everybody kind of woke up and got back to playing again." Michael Grabner had three goals in his Olympic debut for Austria. The New York Islanders forward scored 36 seconds into the first period, and Austria had two early leads before Finland took control. "In case we didnt know what we were up against, we got a reality check," Austrian forward Thomas Vanek said. "Youve got to play a certain way, and I think we didnt do it. Our goalie needs to be our best player, and we need to help him more." Finland is the most consistently successful Olympic nation of the NHL era while winning medals in four of the last five Olympics overall. The Finns have a solid shot at medals again despite placement in Canadas preliminary-round group, and an eight-goal performance in their opener will help their cause. Austria, which qualified for its first Olympics since 2002, surprised the Finns in the opening minute when Grabner converted a cross-ice pass from Michael Raffl. Granlund got Finlands first goal on a play set up by Selanne, who took Vatanens outlet pass and fed Granlund while screening Starkbaum. Austria went back ahead when Thomas Hundertpfunds shot from behind the net went off Maattas skate in front and beat Rask, but Lepisto equalized 2:04 later. Maatta put the Finns ahead with a vicious slap shot from the blue line with 35 seconds left in the first period — and Immonen scored 8 seconds later. Six Austrians are back from their Salt Lake City team along with the Olympic debuts of Grabner and Vanek, his Islanders teammate. Grabner added two goals in the third period for his hat trick. "I like the big ice, and I just tried to get into open space for my teammates," Grabner said. "Against a good team like Finland, its tough to come back." Cheap Asics Shoes Sale . Better still, its in the same team and there are 13 races left for it to develop. Asics Shoes Discount . Jurrjens signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati in May, and was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA at Triple-A Louisville. He has a 53-37 record with a 3.63 ERA in seven major league seasons, including five with Atlanta. http://www.cheapasics.us/ . "It feels good, Ive never had one before, not even in College," Hagelin said after the Rangers outgunned the Jets 4-2, behind some solid goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist following a pretty wide open first period.CALGARY – Inside the Boston Bruins locker room, its not uncommon to hear winger Milan Lucic referred to as "Bob." As in Bob McKenzie. Apparently the NHL power forward and NHL on TSN Hockey Insider have a lot in common. "Oh yeah, yeah, its something thats very well known in our room," said a smiling Brad Marchand, who, like Lucic, was invited to this weeks Hockey Canada orientation camp. Lucic has earned the comparison for a number of reasons. For one, he seems to have a scouting report on every player in the league filed away in his brain. Also, he is knowledgeable about the history of the game. But, mostly, he can recite statistics on command. "I think [Bruins coach] Claude [Julien] may even throw some statistics out, which Looch corrects him on," said Marchand. "He knows everything and you just dont want to argue with him when he speaks." "He loves stats – and not just in hockey," said Julien. "Its in football, its in baseball. He just really likes stats. Every once in a while, you kind of look at him after you say something stats-wise to see if hes disagreeing or agreeing. Its almost like the [Dustin Hoffman character in the 1988 movie] Rain Man." "Hes so funny," said teammate Patrice Bergeron. "If you say a stat about the score ending up being 6-4, you better have it right because hell let you know and tell you it was 6-5 and, This guy actually scored with 1:18 left, or whatever it was. Hes very good with numbers, actually impressive with numbers. I dont know how he does it." Yes, how does Lucic explain it? "I was always good at math in high school and thats why," he said with a shrug. Bergeron has a different theory. "I guess we all know what he does with his spare time," he said in an accusatory tone, "going online and trying to memorize the scores." Lucic insists thats not true. "I dont actually," he said. "I look at it once and usually remember it." You dont have to be a mathematician to see Lucic is facing an uphill battle to make the 2014 Canadian Olympic team. The competition in Sochi will be on a larger surface and Lucics size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), which makes him a menacing force in the NHL, may be considered a weakness overseas. Although the Vancouver native doesnt see it that way. "The way that I played has got me here, right? And I think if you ask all the guys here, the main focus going into this season is not to try out for Team Canada, its to be your best for the team youre playing for. I have to play the way that the Bruins expect me to play and the way I expect me to play. If I do get chosen for the team, I do have to play a certain way and Im sure Ill be put in a role that suits my game the best." Lucic has an advocate on the Canadian coaching staff as Julien will serve as an assistant to head coach Mike Babcock. "In Milans case, once he gets going hes a pretty good skater," said Julien. "I think the question mark has always been him having quick feet from the get-go. On the big ice, for the most part, we plan on having our guys moving their feet, keeping their feet moving, dont plan on having them standing still too much. For him, it gives him a better opportunity. Like I said, once he starrts to skate, hes not a bad skater. Wholesale Asics Shoes. Youve seen him beat guys to the net with speed. Youve seen him on the forecheck beat guys to the puck because of his speed. His biggest deficiency is when hes not skating, standing still, thats where hes got to improve. Hes got an opportunity to do that, this first half of the season, prove that he can play on the big ice." Lucic has helped his cause by staying in great shape throughout the off-season. He took just one week off after the crushing Stanley Cup loss to Chicago before starting his workouts. "The main thing for me was, I felt really good about myself and my game with how things ended and how I played throughout the playoffs so I didnt take much time off and I wanted to kind of keep that going and keep that high, you know?" Lucic hasnt gained any weight during the off-season and is feeling much healthier overall. "I had some things that were kind of bothering me that werent allowing my body to train as hard as I used to and Ive rectified a couple of those problems and its starting to feel better in the gym," said Lucic, who refused to elaborate on what was plaguing him earlier. Lucic is also mentally refreshed after what was, at times, a trying year. The playoffs marked the high point after he endured a hellish regular season, which actually saw him end up as a healthy scratch at one point. Looking back on that now, Lucic actually believes it was something he needed to experience. "I had a million meetings [when things were going wrong]. Obviously, there was a lot of honesty in a lot of them, but also I thought there was a lot of faith from the people I was talking to as I was trying to get myself back on track and that gave me a type of confidence. One of my assistant coaches said, Just go back to playing reckless, and thats what helped me the most. "Sometimes you have to go through what I went through during the season. Sometimes it lights that fire up again. You need that to rejuvenate yourself. I think thats what happened last year. Hopefully I can start the way I ended last year." Lucic had just seven goals and 20 assists in 46 regular season games. In the playoffs, though, he had seven goals and 12 assists in 22 games. "Im a positive-minded guy so you kind of try to focus more on the positives than the negatives. Obviously, team-wise it was a disappointment with how it ended, but personally there were a lot of positives I could take out of the way I played in the playoffs." Lucic loves numbers and one hes well aware of is 25, his age. Hes in the prime of his career and realizes his Olympic window may be closing. "You never know when you can have this opportunity again and when that next opportunity arises. Im 29 by [the next Olympics] and who knows what kind of beating my body could take in the next four years." Lucic also notes there is no guarantee NHL players will be taking part in the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. But for now, hes focused purely on this season. "Its definitely a great opportunity to look forward to and, like I said, you want to go back to your hockey club and your organization and play the best you can for them and I think thats going to give you the best chance to fulfill your dream of playing for Canada." China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '