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LAS VEGAS -- We talk easily of the sacrifices players make when it comes to things like the Olympics or the World Cup of Hockey. Wholesale Authentic Jerseys .Its a term that rolls easily off the tongue. My good pal Pierre LeBrun recently wrote about how?Matt Duchene played through a separated shoulder and helped Canada earn its third consecutive championship in best-on-best hockey.But what if the notion of sacrifice means something else -- like, say, the sacrifice of choosing not to play for your country? Does it mean the sacrifice is any less meaningful? Or difficult?Just ask Jamie Benn about these matters. The Dallas Stars captain won an Olympic gold medal with Canada in Sochi in 2014 and was one of the first 16 Canadians named to the World Cup roster back in early March.But as he was recovering from offseason core muscle surgery, Benn realized that he could not do what would be expected of him -- and what he would expect of himself -- at the World Cup and then still be the captain he is expected to be -- and that he expects himself to be -- when the NHL regular season began. So he stayed home.It was disappointing, but I think youve got to look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture was being ready for this year with the Stars, said Benn recently. Obviously, we want to make another long run and build off last year. I think I did the smart thing by not jumping into it and going to the World Cup and risking further injury. Its disappointing, but I made the right decision and I feel good right now.It was the second summer in a row that Benn has undergone an offseason procedure. The issues havent been serious, relatively speaking, but Benn has planned the procedures so he would not miss time during the regular season. That said, Benns summers have been spent rehabbing and resting, as opposed to doing normal summer activities.I couldnt golf, Benn said. I didnt get a round of golf in this summer. So that sucked.Even in the best of times, however, Benn admits that hes not an accomplished golfer. Im not that good, he said with a laugh.But dont look for Benn to make up for lost golf time during the season. Golf is for the summer, hockey is for the winter, he said.This is a crucial year for the Stars. Because so much of Dallas success runs through Benn, it is a crucial year for the 27-year-old Victoria, British Columbia, native too.There are a handful of players in the NHL who can impose their will on a game, said longtime NHL executive and analyst Frank Provenzano. Benn is one of them.Benn takes wearing the C seriously, says Provenzano. There is no doubt this is his team and his room, Provenzano said of Benn. I think his decision to forego the World Cup in order to be ready for the season opener is proof of that.The Stars are coming off a surprise Central Division crown and a trip to the second round of the playoffs. But in the end, injuries and suspect goaltending let Dallas down in its seven-game series loss to the St. Louis Blues.I think we got a little bit of an eye-opener just at the end of last year, Benn said. We found out that its not easy just to get through two rounds. We got through one but couldnt make it through the second, so we know that it takes that much more effort. It takes a whole team effort.Benn is coming off a career-best 41-goal campaign and a career-best 89 points in 2015-16. And while the Stars are as deep as they have been since their glory days in the late 1990s, Benn is the emotional fulcrum of the team. I think Im learning to be a better player, better captain every time I come to the rink, Benn said.And heres the thing: It doesnt get any easier. Not if you want to take those painful last few steps to a championship. Many players and teams never make it.I think that hes been the model of trying to lead the team and play the game the right way, said Stars head coach Lindy Ruff. First you do it on the ice. Hes a big believer in what were doing. And when he goes out and does it, hes a guy the players love to follow.With that respect, comes added responsibility.He understands with the success or where we finished last year comes more pressure this year to try to duplicate where were at, Ruff added.The Stars will begin the season with some uncertainty because of injuries to key personnel, including Tyler Seguin, who also missed the World Cup of Hockey. Sequin suffered a hairline fracture of his heel during pre-tournament play. Winger?Ales Hemsky suffered a groin injury during the World Cup and is still rehabbing. Mattias Janmark and Cody Eakin are also unlikely to be in the opening-night lineup on Thursday.If there is a constant, though, its Benn and his place in the lineup.Very proud of him and not surprised, said GM Jim Nill. Hes stayed true to his foundation, hes stayed true to his roots. When hes got something to say he says it. But other than that hes a very personable guy, very humble. But he knows now that when theres a time to step up, hes got to step up, and hes taken that upon himself. Soccer Jerseys China . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. China Cheap Jerseys .ca. Kerry,  Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count?  All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. http://www.wholesalejerseysforchina.com/ . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged.Sky Sports coverage of the Scottish football season reaches a climax on Scottish Cup final day. Its live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 2pm on Saturday. Presenter David Tanner looks forward to the final, and also the arrival of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic... The city of Glasgow never tires of talking football. On the evidence of my strolls along Sauchiehall and Buchanan Streets this week, the volume of the chatter has reached levels not heard for years. Celtic fans told me of their excitement about Brendan Rodgers coming to town. I could only agree! Others were sad that Neil Lennon wasnt being welcomed back; I agreed with them, too. Discussions tended to move onto thoughts about whether the new boss should worry about the return of the other half of the Old Firm to the Premiership. Meanwhile, the blue half of town is all over the Scottish Cup final. As is the green end of Edinburgh! It struck me that this week might prove to be a watershed for Scottish football and for the fans in the countrys biggest city. This is the time when football people appear to me to have started looking forward with anticipation and excitement, rather than looking back in anger. The events that have unfolded at Rangers since 2012 - and the fiscal arrangements which preceded them - have dominated and soured many discussions about Scottish football for way too long. Without the Old Firm going head-to-head to provide the entertainment, fans of the great rivals have been left to argue the toss about tax schemes and other legal complexities. And youd be amazed how many tax experts there are out there now! Everybody has their own truth on this subject. The discourse of discontent can hopefully be drowned out now. Mark Warburton and Alan Stubbs will go head-to-head at Hampden Park Celtic have shown huge appetite and ambition in their pursuit and capture of Rodgers (there were so many fantastic options available to the champions this time!) and there is clearly about to be substantial investment in human resources at Parkhead. The personal intervention of Dermot Desmond in the recruitment process excites me; it sends out a strong message that wasnt there when he took a back seat when the unfathomable appointment of Ronny Deila was made two years ago. Id argue that these great Glasgow clubs exist primarily to beat the other one! Trophies and European runs are an added bonus! As a Celtic supporter, Brendan will understand this but only to a degree... as he becomes immersed in Celtic and the Old Firm, hell soon discover more about the unique culture of bedlam! Hell find Glasgow to be more intense than Liverpool. I believe that prospect will excite him! Luke Shanley tells us Brendan Rodgers is the big-name manager Celtic wanted Before Brendan experiences the Old Firm clash next season - remember, all of the meetings in the Ladbrokes Premiership will be live on Sky Sports - theres a William Hill Scottish Cup final involving Rangers and another big city club, Hibernian, to look forward to.The word from inside Hampden Park is that demand for cup final tickets outstrips even that for the colossal Old Firm semi-final! Hibs and Rangers fans are noticeably looking forward to this game more than they have any other in recent years.  McCann: Stubbs tactical edge Neil McCann is backing Rangers to prolong Hibernians Scottish Cup misery this weekend... Why is there such a final frenzy? First and foremost, both sets of fans know that their favourites can win it. For much of this season, it was difficult to separate the clubs in the league - it was two home wins apiece. The years of mayhem at Rangers and, similarly, Hibernians slide into the Championship - and their extended stay there - means the cup final has additional... well... everything! Despite their Championship status, Hibs managed to reach the final of the League Cup. But that good work seemed to be unravelled by the nature of the late defeat to Ross County at Hampden, coupled with a complete collapse in the league. The form slump led to a new phrase entering the Scottish football dictionary... Hibernian will look to end a run of 10 Scottish Cup final defeats stretching back to 1902 when they play Rangers on Saturday Hibsed it (phrasal verb) - to lose a football game, usually near the end, when victory would seem like the easier option. Hibs have Hibsed it again.Dont dare say those words within earshot of Alan Stubbs. The Hibernian manager knows only too well that if his team dont Hibs it against Rangers and actually win the cup for the first time since 1902, then the phrase can be removed from the footy lexicon as quickly as it appeared there - and sports most enduring hoodoo will also have been ended. Hibernian were victorious the last time the sides met, defeating Rangers 3-2 at Easter Road Cup finals are usually decided by courage. Cheap World Cup Jerseys 2018. The team that shows the most of it has a habit of winning. In recent years, though, theres been an additional influencing factor in finals.Since the introduction of the divisional play-offs by the old Scottish Football League, the three divisions below the Premiership have all completed their 36-game season some weeks before the top leagues 38-game campaign has ended. This has presented a problem for the lower-league sides: how to rest the players without letting them switch off. Sky Sports pundit Neil McCann is expecting the Scottish Cup final to be a tight match This years is the fifth final since 2006 that teams from outside the Premiership have featured. A decade ago, the then Division 2 winners Gretna lost on penalties to Hearts; since then Division One/Championship Queen of the South, Ross County and Falkirk have all tried to take the final step. All have failed, despite some having engineered some big cup shocks along the way.And that could be where Hibs have the edge in this unprecedented all-Championship final. Their season was extended beyond the end of Rangers campaign by their participation in the play-offs. The last competitive game for Stubbsy and co - one that ended in late defeat in the play-off semis against Falkirk - was just eight days before Hampden. Wallace: Time to deliver Lee Wallace will get the chance to lift his first major trophy as a Rangers player on Saturday... Rangers, on the other hand, havent played a game with anything riding on it since the Old Firm semi-final FIVE weeks ago! Mark Warburton will have had sleepless nights worrying about the after-effects of winning the title so early and the cold storage which followed it.Will Rangers be rested or ready? Will Hibs be sore or stimulated? Is momentum more powerful than inertia? Answering those questions with me in the studio will be a panel of multiple cup winners: Scotland manager (and Hibs fan!) Gordon Strachan, former Hibs and Rangers manager Alex McLeish and Skys Neil McCann, a five-time cup winner. Former Hibernian defender John Brownlie and former Rangers winger Willie Henderson look ahead to Saturdays Scottish Cup final Make sure you tune in from 2pm to enjoy the full live build-up from Hampden - well have exclusive interviews with the Rangers squad and management, Hibs and Scotland midfielder John McGinn tells us about his Hampden hopes and theres my sit-down with Alan Stubbs, a thought-provoking chat about how a cup final drugs test saved his life. So, years of adversity have given the Hibees and the Bluenoses a renewed hunger for success. Saturday May 21 will be the day the good times return - for one set of fans.  Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs says his side are determined to win the Scottish Cup final against Rangers Next season, Brendan Rodgers Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts will all invest to meet the changes in the landscape brought about by Rangers winning promotion. The fixtures for 2016/17 will be announced by the SPFL on Sky Sports News HQ on June 17, so the excitement starts early! Mark the date in your diary... Brendan certainly will!I was asked this week what my personal ambitions are and, without hesitating, I instinctively said: to be in the studio the night Scotland finally qualify for a major tournament! Scotlands World Cup qualifiers are live on Sky Sports next season. Thats something else to look forward to in what will be a outstanding season for the game here.The campaign which ends this weekend has been one in which more of the matches that mattered in Scotland have been live on Sky Sports and its been a pleasure and a privilege to cover them for you. See you next season for even more big games and, as Celtic have now shown us, big names! Enjoy the cup final! Also See: Celtic appoint Rodgers Sky Live: Scottish Cup final Rodgers can make Celtic great Hughes leaves Inverness ' ' '