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MINSK, Belarus - When Troy Brouwer returned from a vacation during the NHLs Olympic break, he tuned in to the final few games of Team Canadas run to gold in Sochi. Understandably, he liked what he saw. "I think the Olympic team did an absolutely amazing job at showing how Canadians play hockey," said Brouwer. Brouwer wasnt the only one. Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett saw not just a winning style of hockey but something to emulate. As coach of Canadas team at the world championship, he wants to follow the path blazed by Mike Babcock and the stars who went undefeated at the Olympics. "I look at the blueprint from a few months ago in Sochi, the way Canada played: A hard, Canadian style of hockey," Tippett said in a recent phone interview. "If we can go and try to continue that mindset for our team, I think that would be something that would be crazy not to look at." It would be crazy to think any team can duplicate that effort in perfect fashion. Canadas team for the IIHF world hockey championship wont have any players from Sochi and this is a different tournament altogether. Most of the other countries are in the same boat, absent the top-end NHL talent from the Olympics, save for Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Bobrovsky returning for Russia after its disappointing run and others like Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic and Gustav Nyquist of Sweden also going to Minsk. But that doesnt change Canaadas plan for this tournament, which begins with Fridays opener against France. Kyle Turris isnt Sidney Crosby, Morgan Rielly isnt Shea Weber and neither James Reimer nor Ben Scrivens is Carey Price, but the hope is that talented NHL players in their own right can get the same job done. "I think your team has to have its own identity, but you look at what that team did and the success it had on the big ice and with NHL players, theres certainly some things that you can use on our team," Tippett said. "The team that played in Sochi, you could say was one of the best teams in the history of the game, the way they played. You realize we dont have that same team, but the way they played and their commitment to playing as a team was as strong as anything weve seen in a long time. That part of the game can certainly translate into our team." The first steps are there. General manager Rob Blake along with assistant GMs Ron Hextall, Brad Treliving and Brad Pascall, like Steve Yzerman and his management team several months ago, looked for forward pairs to put together. Tippett, like Babcock, believes in having a left- and a right-handed shot on each defensive pairing. In terms of selecting the roster, Blake reiterated the obvious: that unlike the Olympics, an event every healthy player called wants badly to play in, the world championship is more selective. It has been a long NHL season and its too much of a grind to expect Sochi Olympians to jump at the chance to play three extra weeks in Minsk. "You go down to the tier of the younger guys and you get your commitments," Blake said in a phone interview. "You kind of work around. But Ron Hextall, Brad Treliving and Brad Pascall, the one thing they were pretty passionate about from the beginning is the guys that want to be there, those are the ones that you want." That group includes three Maple Leafs: Reimer, Rielly and centre Nazem Kadri, who played on the wing in Canadas exhibition game Tuesday in Zurich. It also includes in defenceman Braydon Coburn and forwards Brayden Schenn and Matt Read, three Flyers who just wrapped up a seven-game series loss to the Rangers. The crown jewel of the roster might be one of the final additions: Colorado Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon, the likely Calder Trophy winner who impressed in his first season and first Stanley Cup playoff series. MacKinnon is on the team at age 18 like Crosby was in 2006, when the Penguins star had eight goals and eight assists in nine games. Even before MacKinnon it was a young team thanks to defencemen Erik Gudbranson, Ryan Ellis, Tyler Myers and Rielly and forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Sean Monahan and Mark Scheifele. Jason Chimera of the Washington Capitals, who won gold at the 2007 worlds in Moscow, is Canadas oldest player at the age of 35. Chimeras Capitals teammates Brouwer and Joel Ward are also on the roster. Chimera, a candidate to be captain, is important to Tippetts plan for the tournament because he knows what its all about. "The importance of the players who have been over there before and their experiences, especially relating that to our younger players that havent had that experience, is going to be a very important part of our preparation," Tippett said. The one thing about Canadas relative international inexperience is that its not a rarity here. Aside from Norway, Switzerland and Latvia, which feature national teams with major Sochi flavour, most teams have significant turnover from the Olympics. Tippett didnt see that as something Canada can take advantage of. From his experience as an assistant in this tournament, he knows what it means for European players and countries. "For the players that play in those leagues over there, this is their Stanley Cup playoffs," Tippett said. "If they win, their country puts a lot of onus on this tournament, and even though the players on our team would look at the Stanley Cup as the greatest thing to play for, you almost have to have that mind-set that the world championships, for a lot of these players over there, thats their Stanley Cup. "Well make sure that our players know the importance it is to those other teams to win and our competitiveness should be at the same level if were going to have a chance to win." --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Ron Duguay Rangers Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. Joe Kocur Jersey . Modin, 36, tallied seven goals and three assists in 36 games with the Thrashers this season. The Sundsvall, Sweden, native has posted 232 goals and 230 assists in 894 career NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Los Angeles and Atlanta and has appeared in 57 post-season contests, helping the Lightning capture the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. http://www.rangershockeyonlineshop.com/vladislav-namestnikov-hockey-jersey/ . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form. Walt Tkaczuk Jersey . The Brazilian driver had the second-best time in last months tests at Jerez and said the "good start" could play to his advantage when the season gets underway in Australia in March. Phil Esposito Rangers Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers try to start a new winning trend when they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to Rip City Sunday night. The Blazers had their season-high nine-game winning streak stopped in Fridays 112-99 loss to the NBA-best Memphis Grizzlies at the Moda Center. Wesley Matthews scored a team-high 26 points, Damian Lillard added 20 and nine assists, and LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double. Chris Kaman came off the Portland bench to record 16 points and 11 boards. Memphis overcame a 12-point deficit in the first quarter and shot 53.6 percent, while the Blazers made 40.2 percent of their shots. Its tough, especially when youre playing against a good defensive team, Lillard said of how to attack Memphis. You cant get in there and get the shots that were used to getting. Portlands nine-game win streak was two shy of the teams longest of 11 in 2013-14. It finished with 22 assists, extending the streak of at least 20 assists in a game to all 16 games this season. The Trail Blazers, who lost for the first time since Nov. 8 against the Clippers, are 8-2 at home and 10-1 when scoring 100 or more points. They are seventh in scoring with 104.1 ppg and 3-0 against Northwest foes. Minnesota opened a three-game western jaunt with Fridays 120-119 viictory over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and is 2-5 on the road.dddddddddddd Thaddeus Young made the go-ahead foul shot with 2.8 seconds remaining and finished with 22 points. Zach LaVine netted a career-best 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while Mo Williams scored 25 to go with 11 assists for the Timberwolves, who snapped a three-game skid and moved to 4-10 on the season. It was Minnesotas second win in the past 10 games. You can go right down the line, we had a lot of offense, Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said. We had 37 assists, which means we moved the ball. Even though were undermanned, we fought to the last second. Bryant scored 26 points and missed a desperation shot for the Lakers, who made 53.9 percent. The Wolves were slightly better shooting and hit 57 percent from the field. They are now 1-10 when allowing 100 or more points. Wolves rookie Andrew Wiggins had only three points in almost 30 minutes. The T-Wolves are still without guards Kevin Martin (wrist surgery) and Ricky Rubio (ankle sprain), and center Nikola Pekovic (wrist/foot) is doubtful Sunday. Minnesota will visit the Clippers on Monday and went 1-3 against Portland a season ago. The Trail Blazers have won 25 of the last 29 meetings with the Timberwolves, including five straight and 16 of the last 17 games at home. ' ' '