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TORONTO -- Team Canada fought off its poorest performance of the World Cup of Hockey and found a way to edge Europe 3-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-three final Tuesday night.A masterpiece this was not.Whether it was because the Air Canada Centre was lifeless and the players got spooked, or perhaps the Canadians had trouble getting fired up to face a Europe team that had never existed before this tournament, the Olympic champions looked unmotivated at times, were sloppy with the puck, and lacked the kind of four-line cohesion we had seen since the start of the tournament.And yet perhaps it just goes to show the disparity in talent between these two teams: Europe played a strong game Tuesday night, while Canada played well below its potential -- and still the result went in favor of the favorites.Carey Price had something to do with that. The 2014-15 Hart and Vezina Trophy winner made a number of difficult saves to keep Europe at bay.Its a also a reminder of how daunting it is to beat this Canadian side, which has now gone 11-0 since the start of the 2014 Sochi Olympics (and won 15 consecutive games in best-on-best hockey dating back to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010). Even when a team is able to finally wrestle the puck away from Team Canada and generate chances, like Europe did plenty of times on Tuesday night, it finds the best goalie in the world waiting for them. Its almost not fair.Brad Marchand and Steven Stamkos scored in the opening frame for Canada, but Europes?Tomas Tatar?made things interesting with a second-period goal for Europe.Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock looked none too pleased as the second period played itself out, Canada easily playing its worst 20 minutes of the tournament.Bergerons third-period tally -- how great has that Sidney Crosby unit been? -- ended the suspense.The crowd certainly didnt help. There were empty seats throughout the rink even though officially it was a sellout, which means lots of people paid for tickets but had better things to do on this night. Its worth noting the Toronto Blue Jays, trying to cement a wild-card spot in the final week of the baseball season, were opening a series with AL East rival Baltimore just down the street.The point was hammered home during a TV timeout when the giant scoreboard in the Air Canada Centre showed Mario Lemieuxs winning goal from the deciding game of the 1987 Canada Cup final, the crowd at Copps Coliseum that night in Hamilton absolutely delirious. It was electric.You got absolutely none of that on this night in the opening of this World Cup final. Perhaps that has to do with the opposition. Team Europe is a terrific story, but lets not kid ourselves, its hard for Canadian hockey fans to muster much animosity for a team that didnt exist before this tournament.Of course, had Europe prevailed on this night, that might have added all kinds of intrigue in this final. Maybe the Europeans can pull it off Thursday night in Game 2. But I suspect Team Canada, after a talking-to from Babcock, will be much better and energized to end the tournament.Three stars1.?Carey Price, G, Team Canada: Rarely during this Team Canada run that dates back to Sochi has the Montreal Canadiens star had to make the difference, but he certainly did on this night. Canada needed him. And he delivered with his usual poise and confidence.2.?Anze Kopitar, C, Team Europe: The Los Angeles Kings captain was all over the puck, having an impactful night that gave Canada fits.3.?Patrice Bergeron, RW, Team Canada: Had a beauty of an assist in setting up the opening goal and then scored the back-breaker midway through the third period to cement the win. Jack Fox Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Tyreek Hill Jersey . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.cheapchiefsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-breeland-speaks-jersey .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Derrick Thomas Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. DMontre Wade Jersey . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said.MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrei Kirilenko is opting out of the final year of a contract that would have paid him $10 million next season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, making him a free agent. Kirilenko made the decision on Saturday, the deadline that was written into the two-year, $20 million deal he signed last summer, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person requested anonymity because an official announcement has not been made. In turning down the final year of his contract with the Timberwolves, Kirilenko is instead hoping to get a little extra security with a longer term deal when the market opens at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on July 1. The versatile forward is coming off a rejuvenating year in which he averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game for the Wolves, his best season in the league since 2005-06. The 32-year-old had more spring in his step after spending the lockout year playing at home in Russia, and he flourished in Rick Adelmans free-flowing system. But Kirilenko also missed 18 games with assorted injuries, one of a number of Timberwolves players who missed significant time last season, the ninth straight year they have missed the playoffs. Kirilenko was largely responsible for the Wolves dramatic improvement on the defensive end, with Adelman enjoying the luxury of being able to put him on every position besides centre, depending on who was the biggest threat on a given night. His ability to pass and move without the ball also made him ideal for Adelmans offence, and the veteran was superb in helping fellow Russian Alexey Shved make the transition to Minnesota for his rookie season last year. New Timberrwolves President Flip Saunders started getting an inclination that Kirilenko could opt out at least a week ago, and he made some plans for such a scenario.dddddddddddd The Wolves acquired swingman Shabazz Muhammad in a draft-night deal with the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in part to give them some depth at small forward. They also have Derrick Williams on the roster, though he has shown in his first two seasons to be a more natural fit at power forward and could be on the move himself. The Wolves could try to negotiate a longer term deal -- perhaps two or three years -- at a reduced salary to bring Kirilenko back. Or they could use the $10 million theyre saving on his contract to help pay restricted free agent centre Nikola Pekovic, who is expected to get a significant offer on the open market that the Wolves will have the option of matching, and add a veteran shooting guard to a team that finished last in the league in 3-point shooting last season. Kirilenkos decision could leave the Wolves with about $7 million to spend on free agents. O.J. Mayo, Kyle Korver, Kevin Martin, J.J. Redick and Marco Bellinelli all could be free agent targets for the Wolves. They also want to re-sign unrestricted free agent forward Chase Budinger, who would help fill in for Kirilenko. If Kirilenko does go elsewhere, he will undoubtedly be a sought-after veteran. He proved last season that he still had plenty of good bask