nd nine of their last 11 in Rexall Place in | Forum

 Its arguably the first marquee event of every Winter Olympics, and the mens downhill in recent Olympics has provided surprising storylines. Anton Stralman Lightning Jersey . “The one thing about the Olympics especially in the speed disciplines, it so very rarely goes to the favourite, the favourite has so much pressure, and the variables are greater in downhill,” says CBC alpine analyst Kerrin Lee-Gartner, a 1992 downhill winner. “ Its not to say its a flukey thing, its just that everything has to align right, its harder for the favourite to make it align right in downhill.” In the last 20 years there have been four Olympic downhill winners who had fewer than three World Cup victories before making history: Tommy Moe of the U.S., Frenchmen Jean-Luc Cretier and Antoine Deneriaz, and 2010 winner Didier Defago of Switzerland. The Canadian Cowboys - Erik Guay, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Jan Hudec - wouldnt qualify as surprise winners from an individual standpoint, but breaking a 20-year Olympic medal drought for the country in alpine skiing certainly would make fans take notice. No  Canadian man has ever won a gold or silver medal in alpine. Steve Podborski (1980) and Ed Podivinsky (1994) each won bronze in the downhill. Guay is the likeliest contender to break through. Hes achieved two of his three career goals after winning a Crystal Globe season title in the super-G in 2010 and winning a world championship in downhill a year later. The Mont-Tremblant, Que., native is only missing an Olympic medal, preferably gold, after three separate top five finishes at the Winter Games. Guay has battled back this season from a knee injury to break Podborskis World Cup podium record for Canadian men. He finished seventh in the opening training session on Thursday. Hudec, he of the seven knee surgeries and more recent back injury, has also reached the podium this season. The Calgary native took silver in the super-G in Val Gardena, Italy in December. Osborne-Paradis is waiting to take that next step. Since coming back in late 2012 from a knee injury, the North Vancouver native has had top 10 finishes, but has been unable to reach the podium. Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., finished second on a slightly different Sochi course two years ago, but hes struggled mightily this season.There are two strong international contenders to buck the recent trend of surprise Olympic downhill champs. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won a medal of every colour in Vancouver, has run his total of World Cup downhill wins to eight this season with a pair of victories. Bode Miller of the United States has wowed ski fans again this season, coming back at the age of 36 after more than a year off to reach the World Cup podium once each in downhill, super-G and giant slalom. Millers yet to win since his comeback, but coming up golden for a sixth career Olympic medal would be just his style. The following men would also not be surprise winners: Dominik Paris and Christof Innerhofer of Italy, Adrian Theaux of France and Patrick Kueng of Switzerland. Even 36-year-old Didier Defago put his name into consideration again after his first victory in over two years last month, a super-G at Kitzbuehel. The lengthy course has received mostly positive feedback from the skiers, with many remarking on the "big air" jumps. 2010 Olympic downhill: Didier Defago, Switzerland (G), Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway (S), Bode Miller, USA (B) Olympic alpine skiing schedule:   Sunday, Feb. 9: Mens downhill Monday, Feb. 10: Womens super-combined Wednesday, Feb. 12: Womens downhill Friday, Feb. 14: Mens super-combined Saturday, Feb. 15: Womens super-G Sunday, Feb. 16: Mens super-G Tuesday, Feb. 18: Womens giant slalom Wednesday, Feb. 19: Mens giant slalom Friday, Feb. 21: Womens slalom Saturday, Feb. 22: Mens slalom   Valtteri Filppula Jersey . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Jonathan Drouin Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. http://www.lightninghockeyshop.us/Ben-Bishop-Jersey/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win.EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks have learned the value of jumping on a team early, especially when it is a squad that is floundering as badly as the Edmonton Oilers. Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist and Joe Thornton had three helpers as the Sharks won their third straight on a five-game road trip, defeating the last-place Oilers 3-1 on Friday. "Coming off back-to-back nights, you want to get off to a good lead and we were able to do that with two early first ones," Thornton said. "We just kind of rolled on after that. It is always nice to get a 2-0 lead like that when you are playing back-to-back." Its been a positive trip for the Sharks who were 0-1-4 in their previous five games before winning three straight. "We feel good," Thornton said. "We werent playing bad, even if we had a few extra-time losses. Weve got points in nine of our 10 last games. We have a good team in here." Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said that Thornton continues to play a major role in determining the teams direction. "We know he can make plays and run the offence and all of that type of stuff, but it is the back check, the tracking, the defensive play, the face-offs and shot blocking that really fulfills his game," he said. "It is not always about the score sheet, it is about all the little things he does. "When he is doing them properly everybody seems to fall in line and follow." Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks (13-2-5) who moved one point back of the Anaheim Ducks for the Pacific Division lead. Nail Yakupov responded for the Oilers (4-15-2), who have lost six games in a row at home and have gone 1-9-1 in their last 11 games. Edmonton has been outscored 23-3 in their last six contests at home. The Oilers are a distressing 1-7-0 on home ice this season and have fallen into dead last place in the NHL, with the Buffalo Sabres defeating Toronto 3-1 on the night. "Im so tired of coming in here after games and giving a reason why we lost," said Oilers forward Taylor Hall. "You have to win. It doesnt matter how you win, if youre goalie stands on his head or you get lucky, you just have to win games. "Its been tough to do that this year. Were all trying really hard but were not winning games. Something is not clicking for us and we have to figure out what that is." Oilers forward David Perron added his frustration. "No one is going to feel sorry for us, its the NHL and were lucky to be in this position," he said. "If we cant get up to battle, we dont belong in this league. We have to find a way to come out flying like we did in the second and third, that was a lot better." Edmonton had a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come to start the game when Logan Couture rang a shot off the post just 10 seconds in. The Sharks got on the scoreboard with four minutes to play in the first period on a power-play goal. Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk got knocked out of position by Oilers defenceman Andrew Ference, allowing Pavelski to shoot his seventh of the season into the vacant cage. San Jose struck again just over a minute later as Thornton won a battle for the puck behind the net and fed it through the creasee to Hertl, who was able to redirect it into the Edmonton net for his team-leading 12th goal of the season. Jason Garrison Jersey. The Sharks had 14 first period shots, while Edmonton only put six on San Jose backup goalie Alex Stalock. San Jose took a 3-0 lead four minutes into the second frame as a poor pass back to the point by Oiler Luke Gazdic led to a three-on-two opportunity that Marleau converted with a shot to beat Dubnyk glove side for his 10th of the season. Edmonton had a glorious chance to end its lengthy home-scoring drought seven minutes into the second period as Ryan Smyth had Stalock cleanly beat on a wraparound attempt, but sent the puck through the crease and off the post. Oilers defenceman Philip Larsen hit a post on the next shift. The Oilers finally got a goal after being shutout in three consecutive home games -- and going 214 minutes and 52 seconds without a goal at Rexall Place -- with a power-play marker at the 12:48 of the second period. A big rebound came out to Yakupov, who wasted no time drilling a one-timer into the net for his third of the season. With the goal, the Oilers were able to avoid becoming the first team in 84 years to get shut out in four straight home games, a feat dubiously accomplished by the Chicago Blackhawks, who went an NHL record six straight from Feb. 10-28, 1929. The 1927 Montreal Maroons were the only other team to be blanked in four consecutive games at home. "Its always good when you score and you get points, but we only have four wins and weve played 21 games," Yakupov said. "I dont know whats going on, were a little frustrated about it. Were trying to get the two points, but we cant." San Jose almost scored another early in the third period when Couture was snake-bitten again, this time having a shot ring off the crossbar and then the post. "I think I had three posts tonight," Couture said. "I just couldnt buy a goal. It was a little frustrating, but it is nice to be getting the chances like that." The Sharks hit two more posts in the third. The Oilers make a quick one-game trip to play the Flames in Calgary on Saturday. The Sharks wrap up a five-game trip on Sunday in Chicago. Notes: It was the first of five games this season between the Pacific Division foes. The Sharks swept their three-game series with the Oilers in the strike-shortened 2012-13 campaign and came into the game having won five of six and nine of their last 11 in Rexall Place in Edmontona The Oilers made a couple of roster moves before the game, calling up young defender Oscar Klefbom and sending rookie forward Mark Arcobello to their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. Arcobello is tied for second in NHL rookie scoring with 12 points this seasona The rookie overall points leader is Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, who now has 12 goals and 18 points in 20 gamesa San Jose winger Brent Burns missed the game with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day. Out long term for San Jose are Adam Burish (back surgery) and Raffi Torres (knee)a The Oilers are inching their way back from a long list of early season injuries, now only without defenceman Justin Schultz (groin), forward Tyler Pitlick (knee) and goaltender Richard Bachman (groin). Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Authentic China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '