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 Cheap New York Jets Jerseys China .The 24-year-old quarterback spent four seasons at Northern Illinois and in 2013 was a finalist for the Heisman, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in U. Cheap New York Jets Jerseys . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. http://www.cheapjetsjerseyselite.com/.Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90 on Tuesday night.Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters. Wholesale New York Jets Jerseys . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.CINCINNATI – Theres a lot to say about what happened at Great American Ballpark on Friday night but Erik Kratz needed only three words to aptly describe a 14-9 Blue Jays win over the Reds. "It was awesome," he said. Coming off an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Toronto found itself in a deep hole early after the Reds put an eight spot up on starter Liam Hendriks (six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched) and Todd Redmond in the second. All seemed lost, but then the offence, relatively dormant in a stretch of nine losses in 12 games, came to life. As it is with these Blue Jays, as it seems it must be, home runs played a significant role in the comeback. Edwin Encarnacion hit two. The first was the most important. Encarnacion took Mat Latos deep for a three-run shot in the third, a comparatively meek answer to Cincinnatis eight runs the half-inning prior, but the Jays were on the board nonetheless. Brett Lawrie hit a one out homer in the seventh to cut the deficit to 9-6. Three batters later, pinch hitter Juan Francisco hit a two-run shot off journeyman Reds reliever Jumbo Diaz. The score was 9-8, officially nail-biting time for the 33,103 predomiantly Reds fans in attendance. Encarnacion sealed the deal with another three-run home run in the ninth. By that time the Jays were ahead and the second deck shot extended the lead to 14-9. Suddenly, Encarnacion is baseballs leader with 23 home runs. He has three in two games, a sign hes coming out of his slump. "I think we got the emotion back," said Encarnacion. "Everybody in the dugout felt very happy. We felt we could come back." Starting catcher, Dioner Navarro, hit a two out, game-tying double off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth. His replacement in a double switch, Erik Kratz, hit the go-ahead double off flamethrower Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. That Jays put up runs on Cincinnatis formidable one-two bullpen punch (Broxton had a 0.40 ERA entering the game, Chapman a 0.98 ERA) was a feat in itself. "His ball, it comes out of a different slot, too," said Kratz of Chapman, who consistently throws a fastball harder than 100 miles per hour. "Hes coiled up and he comes at you with the noise and thats why hes had so much success." Adam Lind contributed a pinch hit RBI single. Jose Bautista walked four times. Brett Lawrie, who missed Thursdays game in New York with a bruised hand, returned and had three hits. Lawrie was one of six Blue Jays who registered a multi-hit performance. "Yeah, wed lost three in a row," said Kratz. "Yeah, we had lost three in a row but I dont think anybody was sitting here, like, Uh, are we going to win another game? Just like when we had won nine in a row but nobody ever said we had to win 20 in a row. We tried to win our 10th in a row and I think thats something the team does incredibly well. You saw tonight, grinding ouut each at-bat.ddddddddddddEach at-bat that we grind out is just the way were going to play the game. We cant beat anybody tomorrow but we can beat them today." Manager John Gibbons wasnt aware of the specific details but hes been around long enough to know these types of comebacks are historic. "I may never see another game like that, you may never see another game like that so enjoy it and hope it leads to better things," said Gibbons. The eight-run comeback marked the second largest deficit the Blue Jays have overcome in the franchises 38-year history. Long-time fans, certainly those old enough to remember, will recall June 4, 1989 with fondness. The Jays trailed the Red Sox 10-0 at Fenway Park and rallied for a 13-11 win in 12 innings. VOTTO TALKS ENCARNACION Toronto-born Joey Votto is taking it in from a distance. Hes enjoying the success his former teammate and good buddy, Edwin Encarnacion, is enjoying in Vottos hometown. "Hes a teammate that I really am very fond of and Im very proud of him, how well hes done," said Votto. "There are some guys you tune into and you almost, I dont want to use the word awe but you watch and you think to yourself, what do I have to do to get my swing to that point? That May stretch certainly was like that and he and Bautista are two really fun guys to watch." Encarnacions 23 home runs lead Baltimores Nelson Cruz (22). His 62 RBIs also lead the Majors. So enamored was Votto with Encarnacions 16-home run month of May, he sent Encarnacion a text on the afternoon of May 29. Votto admitted the message was profanity-laced and jokingly disparaging. He called upon Encarnacion to hit two home runs in the Jays game against the Royals that night. Encarnacion did just that. "He didnt answer me back until the second home run in the seventh inning," said Votto. "He responded back that night and I asked for some hitting tips. He was kind of coy about it." Encarnacion and Votto were teammates in Cincinnati from the time Votto broke in to the big leagues, in 2007, until Encarnacion was traded to the Blue Jays in 2009. BAUTISTA AND TWITTER Jose Bautista is amongst the major leaguers most active on social media. He has accounts on Twitter and Instagram (@joeybats19) and maintains Facebook and Youtube pages. "Its part of being an athlete today," said Bautista. "If youre not taking advantage of social media and using it to interact with your fans and giving them a sneak peak into your personal life and how you prepare and what youre about then shame on you." If you give Bautista a Twitter follow, chances are hell follow you back. Bautista is closing in on 514-thousand followers. He follows almost 230-thousand accounts. "Im glad Ive been able to use it in the right way I believe," said Bautista. "Just connecting with the fans and giving them the access that theyve wanted for so long." 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