LEVI, Finland -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second to send an immediate message to her rivals ahead of the Sochi Games. Felix Potvin Maple Leafs Jersey . The 18-year-old slalom world champion led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage, overcoming a mistake near the end to clock a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds. "Im really happy with how the day went and Im also really excited because it looks like there are some pretty fast girls in the back of the pack," Shiffrin said. "Im excited for the Olympics for sure but there are a couple of races between now and then, so hopefully I can just keep this going." Hoefl-Riesch, who was in a tie for third place after the first run, skied nearly flawlessly in the second but still finished 1.06 seconds behind in second place. Last years overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back. Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favourites for the Sochi Olympics. Her dominant display on Saturday did little to lower expectations on the teenager -- although Shiffrin thinks theres still plenty of room for improvement. "Every day there is something you can do better," Shiffrin said. "Im going to go back and study my skiing from today and study all the other girls to see who is doing what well and try to get better." Another 18-year-old also made a name for herself, as Christina Ager of Austria finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run -- in part because of favourable winds -- and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch has won three World Cup slaloms in Levi and made the podium for the seventh time here. "It was a great day for me. I had a good feeling in training already," she said. "Its always really special for me here because of my first win many years ago and because of my many good results here." Maze said she was happy to get back to skiing fast after the disappointing result in Soelden, where she struggled with the high expectations after her dominance last season. "I got a lot of pressure in Soelden race, it was the start of the season so it was not easy to handle all of this pressure so I felt really empty," Maze said. "But at the end I realized its nothing important, the only thing important is to ski fast." Marlies Schild of Austria, the slalom specialist who injured her knee in December 2012, returned for the first time since recovering fully but was already well behind Shiffrin in the first round by the time she missed a gate and skied out. Still, Schild was just happy to finally be able to ski without feeling any effects of the injury. "Of course I wanted to race a second run but yeah, its not so bad at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no pain anymore and thats very important for me and I just have to wait, I think, to get a good feeling." Four-time former overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the Levi meet and will make her debut in the speed events in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after recovering from a right knee injury sustained in a crash in February. "She is back and shes strong," Shiffrin said of her teammate. "Im impressed with how strong she is. ... I dont think anybody should count her out thats for sure." For Shiffrin, the Olympic gold medal is clearly main goal for this season, although she received another memorable prize on Saturday. In a first for this year, organizers presented the winner with a live reindeer from the local Lapland region. Shiffrin named the 6-month-old reindeer Rudolf, although she wont be allowed to take him home with her. "I scared him off a bit when I jumped off the podium to meet him but I think we will be getting along," Shiffrin said. "I hope that when he gets older and trained I can go for a ride on a sledge with him." Grant Fuhr Maple Leafs Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Mats Sundin Maple Leafs Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.http://www.leafshockeyfanstore.com/Leo-Komarov-Jersey/ . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros.(NLL) - One day after re-signing Matt Vinc and Sid Smith to multi-year deals, the Rochester Knighthawks re-signed forward Dan Dawson to a seven-year contract on Thursday. Dawson, who could have tested the open market as an unrestricted free agent, decided instead to remain a Knighthawk for the remainder of his National Lacrosse League career. "It allows me to play for (Knighthawks owner) Curt (Styres) and play out my career in Rochester," said the 31-year-old Dawson. "When you have a leader and an owner that cares about his players more so off the floor than on the floor, it really makes your decision to sign and end your career under Curt that much easier. It is truly an honor playing for him and I am excited to make a serious run at the championship this year." By re-signing Dawson, Rochester retains one of the most prolific scorers and playmakers in NLL history. The Oakville, Ontario native stands seventh on thhe NLLs all-time assist (577) and points (946) lists. Custom Maple Leafs Jersey. He also has 369 goals in 187 career games. In the NLL Playoffs, he is second in assists (73), fourth in points (118) and seventh in goals (45). The Knighthawks acquired the seven-time NLL All-Pro and former NLL MVP in a six-player, two draft pick deal with Philadelphia on December 14, 2012. The trade, which also sent his brother Paul to Rochester, rejuvenated his career. Last season, the veteran completed his 12th season in the NLL with his first NLL Championship. Dawson finished the regular season second on the Knighthawks in points (75) and assists (52). He was equally as dangerous in the playoffs, as he led Rochester in goals (six) and finished tied with Cody Jamieson with 14 points in three games. 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