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Guy Boucher is anxious to face the chemistry-building challenge that is the Spengler Cup.The former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach will be on Canadas bench Friday when it opens the annual Christmas event in Switzerland against host team HC Davos.It begins an intense stretch for the Canadians and five other competing squads, as the tournament champion will be crowned Dec. 31.Compounding the task for Boucher is having to build his team from scratch to compete against others that have been together this season. The Canadian squad will practise as a unit for the first time Thursday.Oh yes, its a challenge but to be honest thats what I love about it, Boucher said with a chuckle via telephone from Switzerland. Its one of those things where its all thrown at you and you have to react to it and find solutions real fast.The quality of the teams in the tournament is really high and theyve been together for months whereas Canada, in one day, has to come up with a roster and gameplan thats going to beat that. In that regard I think thats the toughest thing to do, getting the chemistry on and off the ice in that short amount of time . . . but my expectation is always to win at whatever I do.Its a challenge Canada has often met, having appeared in 10 of the last 13 Spengler Cup finals and winning in 02, 03,07 and 12. Overall, Canadian teams have captured this event 12 times since first taking part in 1984.Canada will play in the Cattini Group with HC Davos and KHL club Medvescak Zagreb of Croatia. Defending champion HC Geneve-Servette of Switzerland, Finlands Jokerit Helsinki and Russian KHL side Salavat Yulaev comprise the Torriani Group.Canada went 1-1 in the preliminary round last year to finish behind Davos in Group B. The Canadians beat the AHLs Rochester Americans 6-3 in quarter-final action before dropping a 6-5 semifinal decision to Geneve-Servette. Geneve-Servette beat CSKA Moscow 5-3 to claim its first-ever tournament title. The Spengler Cup, held annually since 1923, is the worlds oldest pro international hockey event.In Switzerland, its like the world juniors back home, Boucher said. Its part of the tradition of Christmas . . . its a big thing, its THE Christmas tournament here.Boucher, 43, a native of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Que., coached Tampa Bay from 2010-13 but is familiar with the nuances of European hockey on the wider, longer ice surface. Hes currently coaching SC Bern in the National A League in Switzerland and has been behind the bench internationally for Canada numerous times.Boucher served three seasons as an assistant with Canadas under-18 program, winning gold in 08. The following season he was an assistant with the Canadian junior squad that won a record-tying fifth straight gold medal.Bouchers roster, unveiled Tuesday by Hockey Canada, features eight returnees from last years squad (defencemen Micki Dupont, Joel Kwiatkowski, Jim Vandermeer and Derrick Walser and forwards Colby Genoway, Alexandre Giroux, Brett McLean and Byron Ritchie) and five who represented Canada at the world junior hockey championship (forwards Chris DiDomenico, Curtis Hamilton and Jeff Tambellini and defencemen Steve McCarthy and Ryan Parent ).Canadas lineup features 14 Swiss League players, including four from Bouchers Bern squad (forwards Ritchie and Bud Holloway, defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani and goalie Nolan Schaefer). Veteran AHLer Drew McIntyre of the Charlotte Checkers is the other goaltender.The combination of a condensed schedule and precious little practice time forces Boucher and his coaches to formulate a gameplan thats simple enough for the players to pick up on the fly but is still effective against more established opposition.A key is to try and put guys in roles right away because you dont have time to change roles four, five times in the tournament, Boucher said. You really have to make sure the same guys are out there on the power play, the first PK (penalty kill), play against the first line and are double-shifted.I think thats the big thing we did, working on whod play the power play and where, who had played together before so we can create chemistry right away and keep it very simple.Boucher said depth will be important for Canada in the tournament.Its a big ice surface, its geared towards speed and is a real up-and-down game, Boucher said. It really makes for a high-paced game that is very difficult to play if you dont go with four lines.You have to go with four lines, thats something I had to learn myself. As an NHL coach or AHL or junior coach back home, sometimes you play with three lines, you double-shift some guys and shorten your bench. If you do this here, your guys are dead at the end of the game.Theres also the matter of re-educating North American-based players on the European game and showing them the tricks of effectively playing Canadas brand of hockey on the larger ice surface.Even if youve got your systems, the gap inside defensively (on larger ice) is the most important thing, he said. Its very difficult to get accustomed to for defencemen because with the width of the ice you have a tendency to play on the perimeter because you feel you have more time, which is a mistake.You really want to play inside the faceoff circles because thats the same distance as back home . . . thats one thing we need to make the players understand, that we dont want to become perimeter players. Canadians are good inside, we force ourselves in, were shot blockers, were a pay-the-price type of country in terms of hockey and thats something thats got to be at the top of our list regarding what we want to show. Cheap Tom Seaver Jersey .com) - Bradley Beal deposited a season-high 33 points and John Wall posted another double-double as the Washington Wizards went on the road and beat the Houston Rockets, 104-103. Cheap Reds Jerseys China . 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Cheap Barry Larkin Jersey .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Brayan Pena only wanted to spark a rally. He wound up deciding the game. Penas second career pinch-homer started Cincinnatis big eighth-inning rally and swept the Reds over the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3 Thursday night. The Reds hit three homers in all as they pulled within 6 1/2 games of the NL Central leaders. Tucker Barnhart led off the fifth with his first career homer. Todd Frazier added a two-run drive in the sixth off Marco Estrada, who gave up six hits and four walks in six innings. Pena had homered during a 9-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. He batted for Bailey with the score tied at 3 in the eighth and connected on the first pitch from Jim Henderson (2-1) for a two-run homer. "I was just thinking about driving the ball and hitting it hard somewhere," Pena said. "He got a pitch up and I was able to take advantage of it. I wasnt expecting a homer, but Ill take it." Cincinnati sent 11 batters to the plate while scoring five times during the inning against a bullpen that entered the series with the fourth-best ERA in the league. It had one very bad inning. "Theyre going to happen, no doubt," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Weve been good down there. We just werent good tonight." Homer Bailey (2-2) allowed eight hits in a season-high eight innings, finally returning to form after missing much of spring training with a strained groin. "This game was good for all of us," Bailey said. "Were fixing to turn things around. Weve had a lot happen already this year. This one showed were starting to come together as a group." Milwaukee has lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season. The Brewers havent dropped more than two in a row. Cincinnati opened the four-game series with another injury. Leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton sprained knuckles on his left hand while making a diving catch in centre field and will miss a few games. Hamilton stretched all out to reach Carlos Gomezs line drive that opened the game. He grimaced and flexed his left hand and wrist as he gott up.dddddddddddd Chris Heisey hit for him in the bottom of the inning. Hamilton hurt the middle finger on his left hand while sliding into base during the opening week of the season and missed two games. "Unfortunately, its the same hand that he hurt in New York," manager Bryan Price said. "Were optimistic that hell only miss a day or two, but we wont know for a day or two." Gomez stole a hit from Joey Votto in the bottom of the first, catching his fly at the top of the wall in centre. Votto pointed two fingers toward Gomez, who also stole a potential go-ahead homer from him for the final out in Milwaukees 4-3 win last July 8. Jean Segura singled in a run in the second, and Gomez doubled home a pair of two-out runs to tie it 3-all in the seventh. Milwaukee got two players back in the lineup, but outfielder Ryan Braun missed his fifth game because of a strained oblique. Braun is expected back this weekend. Segura returned at shortstop after being out of the starting lineup for four games because of an injury to his face. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez was back after missing two games with a sore left elbow and went hitless, extending his slump to 0 for 25. Outfielder Logan Schafer is eligible to return from the disabled list on Saturday, recovered from a strained right hamstring. For now, Roenicke is using Mark Reynolds in right field, a position the infielder played during spring training. NOTES: RHP Wily Peralta (3-1) faces RHP Mike Leake (2-2) in the second game of the series. ... The Brewers called reliever Rob Wooten. Milwaukees bullpen has thrown the fifth-most innings in the majors. Utility player Elian Herrera was optioned to Triple-A. ... The Reds put LHP Tony Cingrani on the DL with a sore pitching shoulder. Reliever Curtis Partch was called up from Triple-A. ... Closer Aroldis Chapman made his first rehab appearance, throwing one inning and fanning two batters at Class A Dayton. Hes recovering from a line drive off the forehead on March 19. He could be activated by the end of next week. 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