They took away her ‘C, but they didnt take away her heart. Hayley Wickenheiser, the greatest womens hockey player ever, stole the show as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in a thrilling nail-biter preliminary game in Sochi Wednesday. Wickenheiser set up Canadas first goal of the game on a nifty pass to Meghan Agosta-Marciano and then scored her second goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics – the 18th of her Olympic career. Not only that, the 35-year-old Wickenheiser played a strong defensive game, too, shutting down Team USAs top scorers. It is no coincidence that in the dying seconds of the game, with the United States on the power play and its goalie on the bench in favour of an extra skater, Wickenheiser was one of the four Canadian skaters on the ice in pure defensive mode. The victory for Canada means it avoids a tough semifinal matchup against the pesky Finnish squad. Canada defeated Finland 3-0 earlier in the tournament, but didnt score until 9:27 of the third period. The Finns are capable of pulling off an upset in this years Olympics. Wickenheiser, a two-time Olympic MVP, had been the captain of the Canadas national team, but it was announced by Hockey Canada prior to the Olympics that Caroline Ouellette would be the captain in Sochi. Wickenheiser was named an alternate captain. There had even been some chatter leading up to the Games she might be cut from the team. Given how well she has played in Sochi, that would have been a dreadful mistake. Its a team game For Wickenheiser, it is all about the team. “Were so close,” she said of the bitter rivalry with the United States. “Sometimes it just comes down to the team that gets a break or has more energy. I liked the energy level and determination in our game [today].” On snapping the four-game losing streak to Team USA, Wickenheiser said, “Its a confidence booster. [Coach] Kevin Dineen has had some time to prepare for this game. He also needed time to get to know the players in our room; the strengths and weaknesses. We have all the confidence in him.” So, with the victory over the United States, is it advantage Canada moving into the medal round? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Bragging rights Certainly Canada has bragging rights following its win over Team USA. However, history has shown what happens leading up to the Games doesnt necessarily have anything to do with who wins the gold medal. In 2002, Team USA had beaten Canada 10 times in a row, but the Canadians shocked the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the gold-medal game at Salt Lake City. It is also worth noting prior to the last three Olympic Games, the United States won the world championship only to have Canada rebound to take gold at the Olympics. The United States certainly had a mental edge over Canada entering the game – the first time the teams had met in the preliminary round since 1998 – thanks to four straight victories over their rivals in a six-game exhibition series leading up to the Olympic Games. In 1998 in Nagano, Japan, Team USA beat Canada 7-4 in the preliminary round and 3-1 in the gold-medal game. At the very least, Canada now knows it can skate with and beat the powerful United States club. Doing it twice in a row will not be easy. “It felt so good,” said winning goalie Charline Labonte. “We have been struggling a bit the past couple of games against them. We have worked really hard to readjust and become a better team. They came out really strong, as expected, so I am really glad we came up with the win.” American scoring ace Amanda Kessel was understandably dissatisfied with the final result. "It hurts," Kessel said. "Every game matters. They didnt get to see how we can play." A lot has been made of the fact the two teams have an intense dislike for one another – as indicated by the two line brawls in the final few exhibition games leading up to the Olympics – and it was fully on display in Wednesdays preliminary match. Despite the fact bodychecking is illegal in womens hockey, players from both teams rode that fine line between handing out jarring hits, just hard and incidental enough so as not to cause Finnish referee Anna Eskola to penalize them. In that regard, Eskola did a fine job in allowing the game to be physical without getting goofy. "Both teams were aggressive," said American forward Hilary Knight. Youll get our top game when we play one another and thats a great thing. We are both good teams and we are competitive." Canada matched USAs speed and demonstrated a penchant for driving hard to the net from start to finish. If there was a concern for Canada it was the ineffectiveness of its power play. Canada entered the third period a mere 1-for-10 with the man advantage throughout the tournament. It was zero-for-three in the first 40 minutes. However, Agosta-Marciano accepted a perfectly-placed pass from Wickenheiser and scored with Americas Brianna Decker in the penalty box to tie the game 1-1 with a much-needed power-play marker. Decker had been sent off for tripping Wickenheiser. The quarter-finals will be played Saturday and Canada will play in the semifinal Monday. Nike Air Max Tn Sverige . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland. Nike Air Max 270 Sverige . Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide. http://www.reaairmaxsverige.com/air-max-95-rabatt/max-95-dam.html . Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest. Nike Air Max 720 Rea . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Nike Air Max 95 Rabatt . What they did need, the Devils got from Patrik Elias. Elias scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.TORONTO -- She has successfully defended her Olympic gold medal and plans to compete in the 2018 Games, but Kaillie Humphries still has her sights set on achieving yet another goal in bobsleigh: having women take part in the four-man competition. Humphries said she plans to make a proposal this summer to her sports international governing body. The Calgary athlete hopes to help lead the charge by seeking to train and compete with men as the pilot of a four-person sled. "Women dont have four-man -- yet," Humphries said in an interview Friday, sporting her gold medals from the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics. "Were in a situation where women for a lot of years in our sport have always been told that were not as good a pilot, or were not as strong. And I think were at a point where women are proving now that we are just as good.... Were competing on the same level. And so its got to start somewhere. "Were still very much an all-boys club, and were still fairly new," she added, noting that women first competed in Olympic bobsleigh at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. "But at the same time, youve got the chicken and the egg. Youre not going to get more girls coming in unless you have more events. At the same time, theyre saying you cant have more events until you have more girls." Humphries said if women arent allowed to start competing in four-man bobsleigh, then maybe she can "join the guys." "Ill definitely have to have three men behind me in order to be competitive at all, but I feel like that could be a start and a step in a right direction towards encouraging women to come out to the sport, which will hopefully raise the profile a little bit more. And from there, we can hopefully get four-man started (for women)." The 28-year-old acknowledged that it will be an uphill climb, saying shell have to attend driving school and qualify "just like any other mens team would," adhering to both the Canadian system and international rules. "It will be a long process, it will be a hard one, one that I know Im going to get a few battles over and slack over for sure -- but one that Im willing to face. "I feel like Im a great person to at least get the ball rolling. Whether itll happen while Im still in sport, I dont know -- but its got to start somewhere." So could Humphries foreseeably see herself piloting both two-man and four-man sleds in the future? "I wouldnt go forward with it if I wasnt super passionate about it and didnt see it happening," she said. "Its just whether the federation and everybody else is ready for that to take flight yet. So thats what Ive got to do my best to convince people of." Humphries is still revelling in the golden glow of earning back-to-back Olympic titles with brakeman Heather Moyse of Summerside, P.E.I. The duo capped off their victory with yet another honour: being chosen as Canaadas flag bearers for the closing ceremony.dddddddddddd. Humphries mom, Cheryl Simundson, was able to attend the Games as part of the "Thank You, Mom" program spearheaded by Procter & Gamble Co., which sponsors the bobsleigh champion. The program honours the role mothers play in helping children achieve their dreams. Simundson became emotional recalling the nail-biting two-minute wait to see Americans Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams complete their run following the Canadian team. In the end, Humphries and Moyse eked out a victory by a tenth of a second. "We knew that it was close. We knew that they had finished their fourth run and that it was possible, that it was up to Elana to take it or lose it," Simundson recalled, as her eyes began to fill with tears. "It was all about consistency. At that moment, we knew that they had done their best." Humphries admitted the pressures were greater heading into the Sochi Games, but said she couldnt approach the event any differently than other competitions. "I try and keep all my races as simple as possible," she said. "I push as hard as I can and I drive that track the very best that I can, and all my energy and focus goes into that. "If I think about it as the Olympics and your life is built up to this, four years is about this moment its too much." As has become customary, the heavily tattooed athlete plans to add new ink in commemoration of her Sochi victory just as she did after Vancouver. She plans to have a design of her newest medal tattooed with art from Sochi blended into one piece. Despite thriving under the intense spotlight of competition, Humphries admitted carrying Canadas flag with Moyse at the closing ceremony was fraught with a fresh set of jitters. While no one offered any guidance on how to carry the colours, she recalled a tip she received from British flag bearer Lizzy Yarnold that didnt quite work out as planned. "She said: I think you wave it like a figure eight. So I started doing that as I walked out, and I started hitting other peoples flags and I was like: This is an epic fail. OK, dont do that. Thanks, Lizzy," Humphries recalled, laughing. Still, the moment in Fisht Stadium was one to remember. "To know that we had our whole country behind us that just completely supported us and to hear it and to feel it from back home ... it was unbelievable." Humphries said while her biggest goal now is "just trying to live in the moment," her plan is to compete at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, with hopes of once again piloting to victory -- and the top of the podium. "Of course, if Im going in, Im going all in, 100 per cent. It will be sights set on another gold medal. "I cant do things halfway because I know its going to be that much harder. I mean, two is hard, but three, its really unbelievable, and again, never been done." ' ' '