SOCHI, Russia – It was late August at the Olympic orientation camp in Calgary, more than five months from the official start of the Sochi Olympics, and Canadian head coach Mike Babcock delivered a message for those players not invited to take part. “Do something about it,” Babcock said defiantly. “The great thing about life is you get to control what happens to you the majority of the time. Do something about it if youre not here.” Jamie Benn was not among the 25 forwards selected to participate in that late summer camp, but it was the 24-year-old from Victoria B.C. who managed to emerge in Canadas tournament-opening win over Norway. Though he played just under nine minutes in his first Olympic game – a team-low – Benn turned in the eventual game-winner and made himself a noticeable presence alongside John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron on an energetic Canadian fourth line. He beat out 12 of the aforementioned forwards for the opportunity in Sochi, including the impressive likes of Claude Giroux, James Neal, and Eric Staal. “It was just motivation,” Benn said of not being selected to the orientation camp, which saw 47 players gather in Alberta for a brief three-day meet-and-greet. “Obviously Canada can put some pretty good teams together and every guy that went to the orientation camp deserved to be there. It just gave me a little bit more motivation coming into this year.” The first-year captain of the Dallas Stars, Benn totaled 22 goals and 51 points in the first half, his tantalizing combination of size, speed, grit and skill too appealing for Steve Yzerman and the Hockey Canada brass to pass up. “I just went out there in the first half and focused on the Dallas Stars and what I had to do to win hockey games over there,” said Benn, a fifth round steal in the 2007 draft. “I didnt change anything. I didnt try to impress.” Upon arrival in Sochi, Babcock stressed that opportunity and ice-time would be earned amongst his 14 forwards. And though Benn didnt play a lot against Norway he did more than enough to get noticed, most notably in a dominant second frame of Canadas 3-1 win. It was Benn who drew a penalty in the offensive zone just moments before Shea Weber scored the first Canadian goal, a blast that eased some tension from a jittery first frame. And then it was Benn just a few minutes later – he was nearly rocked by Ole-Kristian Tollefsen moments earlier – making no mistake on a terrific cross-ice feed from the intuitive Bergeron. “Benn can skate and hes hard, shoots the puck,” said Babcock, who raved about Benn, Bergeron, Tavares and Martin St. Louis, the bottom group of Canadian forwards on this night. “It was a key for us to win our shift each and every time we went out there,” Benn said. “Its taking a hit or getting a hit to get in it and I think thats what happened in the second there.” One of eight Canadians making their debut on the Olympic stage on Thursday, Benn said whatever nerves may have been there in the furious buildup to a hard-fought match against the Norwegians disappeared quickly. 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She joins Switzerlands Denise Biellmann as this years inductees to the Hall, based in Colorado Springs, CO.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Peyton Manning was disgusted with the Denver Broncos offence after the first of three practices with the Houston Texans. "I thought our offence stunk today," Manning said after Tuesdays two-hour practice in shells and shorts. "I thought their defence totally kicked our butt." And when the five-time MVP isnt happy, nobodys happy. "I dont feel like we had our best day as a group, especially on the offensive side of the ball," Demaryius Thomas said. "There were a lot of penalties, not converting well, I dont think I had one of my best days." Asked specifically what had set him off, Manning stared at a reporter like he had stared down receiver Bubba Caldwell after a poorly run route or two an hour earlier. "Were you watching?" Manning retorted. What observers saw, actually, was a Broncos offence that produced its share of big plays in both 7-on-7 and team drills against a Romeo Crennel-designed 3-4 defence led by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney but also some sloppy moments less than 48 hours after a chest-thumping 34-0 shutout of the San Francisco 49ers. The Texans had an extra days rest, having played Atlanta on Saturday night. "They executed better than we did," Manning said. "They just did their jobs a lot better." Denvers starters have looked solid in preseason wins over Seattle and San Francisco, games in which Manning has completed 22 of 27 passes for 182 yards and a TD, leading some to suggest the Broncos are ready for the regular season right now. "I think that story ought to die pretty quickly after todays performance out there," Manning said. He said there was no ulterior motive to his harsh assessment, denying that he was just trying to light a fire under his team so it didnt start to feel like the next two weeks didnt matter. "I kind of call it like I see it. When you have a pretty below-average practice, youve got to call it a below-average practice," Manning said. "So, I think this team does a pretty good job staying pretty even-keeled. I dont think anybody is overly excited about beating a San Francisco team that didnt have Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, that didnt blitz us one time, playing kind of a pretty vanilla scheme. They will be a different animal when we play those guuys in the regular season, trust me.dddddddddddd" The Broncos will also see the Seahawks again in September, but after Saturday nights game against Houston, they wont see the Texans again this season unless they meet up in the playoffs. Manning said hes thrilled to get three workouts in against the Texans and Crennel, who is in his first season as Texans defensive co-ordinator, having joined the staff after another former Bill Belichick disciple, Bill OBrien, was named head coach. "Romeo Crennel is one of the best coaches out there," Manning said. "Overall, it will be a good week for us. But weve got to do better than we did today on offence." While the Texans, who went 2-14 last year, talked all about how beneficial it was facing the defending AFC champs, it was the Broncos who were talking up the Texans. Thomas said the Texans had plenty to do with Denvers discombobulated performance that so upset Manning. "They came in and did what they were supposed to do. They put pressure on us. They stopped us on a couple of third downs, fourth downs and two-minutes," Thomas said. "They get a lot of credit." To be sure, Denvers defence also got the best of Houstons offence. "I feel like we had a pretty good practice," Von Miller said. "Today had a game-type atmosphere. We still made some errors. Thats what practice is for, you just go out there and try to smooth everything out." The teams will suit up in full pads Wednesday. That, combined with Manning calling out his teammates, promises to ratchet up the intensity. Notes: Watt said hed like a new contract soon, but hes not stressing over it: "I get paid to go after quarterbacks. There are people who get paid to decide how much I get paid to go after quarterbacks," he said. ... Texans RG Brandon Brooks participated in his first practice after missing camp with an undisclosed injury and CB Johnathan Joseph is back after missing all of camp following off-season toe surgery. ... WR Andre Johnson, RB Arian Foster and LB Brian Cushing, who didnt play against the Falcons, ramped up their workload Tuesday. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ___ Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '