Gäste Forum » cost the diving powerhouse a chance to sweep all

TORONTO -- Canada is turning to Carey Price to start the World Cup of Hockey.Coach Mike Babcock designated Price as Canadas starter Saturday night against the Czech Republic .Price has always been the presumed No. 1 for Team Canada. The lone question was the 29-year-olds readiness after a long layoff. He started and completed two of Canadas three exhibition games, including his first game action in nearly 10 months last week.He looked predictably rusty in that 4-2 loss to the Americans, allowing three goals on 24 shots. Babcock said the performance wasnt Carey-like for obvious reasons: Price hadnt played since late November after a knee injury cost him nearly all of last season with the Montreal Canadiens.Babcock was satisfied with Prices second start, against Russia. The 2015 Vezina Trophy winner stopped 24 shots in a 3-2 overtime victory.Its just about getting minutes played and getting a few shots and getting the tempo of the game going, Price said Friday.His backup for the opener will be Corey Crawford, and not Braden Holtby, the 2016 Vezina Trophy winner.More pressing for Babcock in the waning minutes of training camp, however, were matters up front and on the power play.Babcock was happy with how John Tavares looked alongside Ryan Getzlaf during training camp, but was still debating whether Steven Stamkos or Corey Perry was a better fit at right wing. A prospective top unit of Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand looked good in exhibition play, as did the pairing of Jonathan Toews and Logan Couture.The Canadians looked dominant in winning two of their three tournament exhibition games. They had a 129-74 shots edge, including 99-52 at even strength. Canada fired more than 40 shots twice, including a 48-shot barrage against Russia in the pre-tournament finale.Still, the games were tight and Babcock said he believes that is how the tournament will be, too.Weve got nothing to lose, Czech forward Michael Frolik said. Just play hard, make sure were ready and go after them.Canada is seeking its second straight World Cup title, albeit 12 years after the last one in 2004.Tomas Plekanec led the Czechs with three goals in three pre-tournament games. Ondrej Palat, Michal Kempny and Ales Hemsky each had three points.With Canada there is going to be lots of pressure on them for sure, defenseman Roman Polak said. Home building and everything, in Toronto. Theyre going to be desperate to win. If (we) have a good start and maybe we score a goal (early), it could be a different story.Jaromir Jagr declined an invitation and Tomas Hertl and David Krejci are sidelined by injuries.Were more confident than we were at the beginning when everybody was saying that were underdogs, Polak said. We could be a good surprise in the tournament and we can start tomorrow against Canada.Game notesCanadian defenseman Shea Weber sat out the final practice Friday but is expected to play against the Czechs. ... Czech forward Vladimir Sobotka was expected to be available after injuring his shoulder in a loss to Russia in the pre-tournament opener.Kolby Allard Jersey . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. 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The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Looking to bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on a synchronized diving medal, Jennifer Abel of Canada led the way in the preliminaries of womens 3-meter springboard Friday.Abel topped the favored Chinese with a five-round score of 373.00 points. He Zi was right behind at 367.05, followed by teammate and reigning world champion Shi Tingmao at 357.55.The top 18 advanced to Saturdays semifinals, where the field will be culled to 12 divers for the final.Abel had a shot at a synchro 3-meter medal, but a botched final dive left the Canadian team less than a point off the podium.Shes looking forward to challenging the mighty Chinese.I know I can do it, Abel said. Ive competed with these girls many times, and I know what Im capable of.The Chinese are hoping for a rebound of their own, having settled for bronze in the mens springboard synchronized event. That cost the diving powerhouse a chance to sweep all eight events.China has won womens 3-meter spriingboard at seven straight Olympics, one short of the eight consecutive titles won by the United States from 1920-56.ddddddddddddHe is taking Abels challenge seriously.All of the divers from other countries are improving really fast, she said. This creates healthy competition, which is a positive thing for us. It gives us the urgency to train harder.A morning practice session was called off so officials could work to clean the green-tinged water. The color appeared closer to normal during the competition but was still a bit murky.Italys Tania Cagnotto, coming off the first medal of her long career, ranked fourth at 347.30, followed by Australias Esther Qin (347.25) and Abby Johnson of the United States (333.60).---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '