Basisphilosophie » also a Montreal Canadiens

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Glen Metropolit hasnt played an NHL game since 2010, but on Thursday, the oldest player on Canadas Spengler Cup roster showed why hes the captain of the Canadian squad. After nearly scoring on his first shift of the game, the 39-year-old Metropolit -- whos played for Lugano in the Swiss league the past two seasons -- picked up a goal in the first period and assisted on Derek Walsers game winner in the third as Canada opened up the Spengler Cup with a 5-4 victory over the HC Vitkovice Steel of the Czech Republic. "Even at his age, on the blue-line and in the offensive zone, hes still one of the best players in the game in Switzerland so thats where hes going to be really good for us," head coach Doug Shedden said. "Hes played for me before and thats why I made him captain. This could be his last Spengler Cup and his children are here visiting from Florida. "Its just something that gets him excited about playing." Byron Ritchie, Micki DuPont, and Alexandre Bolduc also scored for Canada in a back-and-forth offensive game that saw leads slip away between both teams four times. Rudolf Huna, Peter Huzeka, Roman Szturic and Lukas Kucsera scored for Vitkovice. Vitkovices Filip Sindelar was the busier of the two goaltenders, stopping 37 of 42 shots in the losing effort. Canadas Chris Mason made 18 saves. "We were outshooting them pretty good all night," Shedden said. "We really carried the play against them." Ritchies goal tied the game at 4-4 at 7:58 of the third period, and Walser beat Sindelar off passes from Anthony Stewart and Metropolit at 13:47 to pull Canada ahead for good. Bolduc opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 2:30 of the first period, but Kucsera responded with a goal for the Czech club team less than two minutes later. Canada took the lead again on Metropolits goal, and Vitkovice replied to take a 2-2 tie into the first intermission. The second period proved costly for Canada when a turnover gave Vitkovice a 4-3 lead 11 seconds after DuPont tied the game 3-3 on a power play. Shedden said the mistake could be chalked up to unfamiliarity between his players, whove had just one practice and one morning skate together before their first game. "The problem was we gave up some easy scoring chances off some miscues and thats going to happen with guys who havent played together, and it happens every night anyway if you have played together." Shedden said. "I thought their goalie really kept them in it because we really crashed the net all night, and it showed the heart of the Canadians. "We were down going into the third period and we thought we were playing well enough, we just had to keep at it and we did that. You work hard enough eventually youre going get rewarded with a couple goals." Canada plays host HC Davos on Saturday. Kevin Connauton Jersey . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. Dylan Strome Jersey . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-jakob-chychrun-coyotes-jersey/ . PAUL, Minn. Jason Demers Jersey . The unrestricted free agent agreed to terms with the club on Thursday on a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000. Teppo Numminen Jersey .Fucale will not only be one of the local boys, he is also a Montreal Canadiens draft pick and will have a huge cheering section when Canada opens the tournament Dec.BALTIMORE – The Blue Jays entered play Sunday with a team batting average of .209, a team on-base percentage of .283 and a team on-base plus slugging percentage of .643. Make what you will of a small sample size, the market will surely correct itself, but slugger Jose Bautista acknowledges that change must come soon and he identifies one stat in particular: the teams .157 batting average with runners in scoring position, entering Sundays game. "I think, obviously, you can not necessarily get on base a whole lot and not out-hit the other team but if you get the timely hits when you need them, youre still going to win as long as youre getting good pitching and defence, which we have been getting," Bautista told TSN.ca on Sunday morning. Bautista points the finger at himself. Through a dozen games, hes been up nine times with runners in scoring position. He has one hit, a home run, two RBI, has walked three times and struck out on three occasions. "Ive gotten my fair chances of driving in runs in different situations and I havent been able to come through so Ive got to focus a little bit better, I think, and just figure out a way to execute no matter what the circumstances are," he said. While Bautista is willing to first look at himself, which is admirable, its difficult to point the finger at him. While his batting average was only .200 entering Sunday, his on-base percentage of .451 (attributable to his major league-leading 16 walks) and slugging percentage of .571 (four of his seven hits have been home runs) constitutes significant production in a dry lineup. The problem is Bautistas getting on base and nobodys taking advantage of it. Hes scored only six times so far on plays that arent a result of his home runs. The main culprit is Edwin Encarnacion, who entered Sunday with a .174/.240/.261 slash line, no home runs and he was still looking for his first RBBI.dddddddddddd. The consensus on Encarnacion is that its merely a timing issue. Hes not been a slow starter in either 2012 or 2013, his two breakout years, hitting eight and nine home runs, respectively, in the opening month of those seasons. "I dont know if he feels that way but it certainly seems that way from my perspective where he just hasnt found his rhythm yet," said Bautista of Encarnacion. "That being coupled with the way they pitch to us, being so different and so difficult, its easy to kind of get back into rhythm when you see a 2-0 fastball and you can place your bet on that but he doesnt see that very often." Bautista wonders if, maybe, theres something about the way Encarnacion is being pitched. Encarnacion, with two straight big seasons, now is an established superstar. Its similar to what Bautista went through a couple of years ago. "I saw a huge difference after 2011," said Bautista. "Not so much after 2012 but after 2011 it was just a night and day difference on how people were pitching to me. The amount of breaking balls in hitters counts and Ive seen pitches in hitters counts, first pitches, even in 3-0 counts, I was seeing some stuff that Im like, Im not even swinging and Im getting sliders and changeups." The great hitters learn to be patient. They have to be. "Can you lay off of those borderline and bad pitches consistently?" said Bautista of the question that plagues the games elite hitters. Toronto entered Sundays play with a 3.88 starting staff ERA, on track for a great improvement over 2013, and a .993 team fielding percentage, which tied the club for second in baseball. "Were more concerned about more consistently putting a good effort forward and weve done that with every aspect of the game except for the offence," said Bautista. "Were obviously working to get better at that." 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