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KEARNS, Utah -- Skaters know theyre not going to be posting the same times early in the ISU World Cup season as they will later on, but theres the hope of getting off to a good start. Richard Dent Jersey .The United States had three men and three women advance to the elimination rounds of the ISU World Cup short track speed skating session Friday.Last week, I really wanted to be top 16, and it went way better than that, said two-time Olympic medalist Katherine Reutter. This week, I think I can be a little more hopeful. Id be really happy if I was in the top eight, but I wouldnt be upset if I was in the top 12. ... Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake.The season is long. ... The way you race in November may have almost nothing to do with how you race in March. ... I know things can come and go really quickly.Keith Carroll Jr. moved on to the semifinal in the 1,500 meters (2:13.153) and 1,000 despite being taken out in the 1,000. Carroll Jr., however, fell during the 5,000-meter relay to take the U.S. out of contention. Teammate John-Henry Krueger advanced in both 1,500 divisions.Being here at home, I want to have a good showing, Carroll said. The relay event, I definitely feel like were one of the faster teams. We can keep up with anyone. It was really disappointing to go down in the first round like that.Individually, my No. 1 goal is always try to get through this first day and qualify for the World Cup round. ... Saturday and Sunday will be ultra-competitive. I just want to have a really good showing.Reutter starred for the women by qualifying in both the 1,000 (1:31.166) and 1,500 (2:25.940).Kristen Santos also qualified in the 1000, and Ryan Pivirotto and Jessica Kooreman both qualified for the 1,500 semifinals.China, South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan and Canada all had strong days on the mens side; the nations advanced in the 5,000 relay and had all four members of the team move on in at least one other event.Today went pretty decent, U.S. mens coach Anthony Barthell said. Had a couple guys that I thought would make it through the first round, but didnt make it. But it was a good learning experience.[The goal was] to try to have as many people in the quarterfinals and semis as possible. Right now, were on track for four. So thats good.The Chinese and Canadian women both advanced in the 3,000 relay and had each member advance in at least one other event.This event is the second of six ISU World Cups this season. Mike Ditka Bears Jersey . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Khalil Mack Jersey . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Dick-Butkus-Jersey/ . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No.The Chicago Blackhawks stunned the Boston Bruins, scoring twice in the final 1:16 to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win in decisive Game Six for the Chicago Blackhawks, giving Chicago their second Stanley Cup in four seasons. With their backs against the wall, Boston dominated play early, outshooting Chicago 12-6 (32-8 in shot attempts) in the first period, but only held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, on a goal by Chris Kelly. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews evened the score in the second period and the Blackhawks started to turn the momentum. Despite Chicago holding a shooting edge in the third period, Bruins LW Milan Lucic broke the tie with 7:49 left in the third period and, at that point, it was looking like the series could be heading back to Chicago for Game Seven. With the game on the line, Toews and Patrick Kane created a scoring opportunity, with Toews feeding Bryan Bickell across the crease and Bickell fired it home to tie the game. Bickell, who had nine goals in 48 regular season games, scored his ninth goal of the playoffs in his 23rd game. Scoring with just more than a minute remaining sure made it look like overtime was coming, but the Blackhawks didnt get the memo. They quickly entered the Bruins zone and Dave Bolland banged in a rebound to suddenly flip the script. Bolland, who has been a stellar playoff performer in previous seasons, struggled at times in this playoff season as he was coming back from injury, scoring one point in his first dozen playoff games, then added five points in six games in the Stanley Cup Final. As the playoffs wounds down, it became a war of attrition between Boston and Chicago as injuries started to affect player availability and performance. Bruins RW Nathan Horton was playing with chronic shoulder injury that limited his effectiveness and had two assists and seven shots on goal in six games against Chicago. In Game Six, Bruins RW Jaromir Jagr was limited to just 6:27 of ice time, while C Patrice Bergeron, who left Game Five early, played 17:45 with a broken rib, torn cartilage and a separated shoulder. In Bergerons absence, David Krejci, the playoffs leading scorer with 26 points in 22 games, played 23:37 to lead all Boston forwards. Chicago had their own injuries to deal with. Toews was held out of action in the third period of Game Five, due to a suspected concussion, but he was vital to the Blackhawks effort in Game Six, playing 20:12 and scoring a goal and an assist to lead all Chicago forwards. Marian Hossa, who was playing in his fourth final in six years, missed Game Three of the Final before returning to play in a diminished state for the rest of the series despite a disc in his back pushing against a nerve, leaving his foot numb when he played. Then there was Bickell, who suffered a Grade Two knee sprain late in the Western Conference Final against Los Angeles, and injury that under normal circumstances might cause him to miss three-to-four weeks of action. Bickell, who had been a playoff beast, didnt record a point in the firsst three games of the Final, but contributed four points in the last three games. Richard Dent Bears Jersey. Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane, who had 19 points and a plus-7 rating, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as Playoff MVP, but there were no obvious choices on the Blackhawks side. Bickell had 17 points and was plus-11, Patrick Sharp had a playoff-leading 10 goals and 16 points and D Duncan Keith had 13 points and a plus-10 rating. G Corey Crawford probably had the best claim to the award among Blackhawks, with a .932 save percentage in the postseason. Even though the Bruins didnt win, G Tuukka Rask and his .940 save percentage would have been an entirely justifiable selection, as would Krejci, who was seven points clear of any other scorer in the postseason. Bruins LW Milan Lucic had 19 points, was plus-12 and led the playoffs with 102 hits. Bickell was second with 85. Part of the story for the Blackhawks were the contributions they received from players like Michal Handzus, the 36-year-old cast-off from San Jose who scored 11 points and had a plus-7 rating filling a second-line centre role for Chicago, while playing with a broken wrist and torn MCL. Michael Frolik (10 points) and Andrew Shaw (nine points) were also effective forwards on the lower half of the Blackhawks depth chart. Boston had contributions from the likes of Dan Paille (nine points) and received 17 goals from their defenceman, led by Johnny Boychuk with six (Boychuk scored one goal in 44 regular season games). At the same time, the Bruins needed more from offensive performers like Jagr, who had zero goals (and 10 assists) on 58 shots in the playoffs and Tyler Seguin, who set up Bostons first goal in Game six, but managed one goal and eight points in 22 playoff games. Its not that Jagr and Seguin didnt play well, both had shots and good possession numbers, but at some point, the shots have to turn into goals if its going to make a difference in playoff results. Toews, Hossa, Keith and rookie Brandon Saad were among those leading the Blackhawks in possession metrics for the postseason, and Toews could have been lumped in with Jagr and Seguin, except that Toews found the net in two of the last three games of the postseason, scoring a total of five points. Its such a thin line between winning and losing that a goal or two from underperforming players could have shifted the balance in the series. The Blackhawks got those goals and the Bruins didnt. In the end, the Blackhawks were the best team in the regular season and earned their favourite status going into the Final with excellent possession stats. In a series which had three overtime games and no game with a margin greater than two goals, Chicago outscored Boston 18-14 over the six games, for a well-deserved and hard-fought victory, if perhaps shocking in its sudden swerve ending. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '