deficits and have this playoff year,"

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MONTREAL — Not many get a second chance at a job theyve turned down once before, but Hockey Canada officials felt Benoit Groulx earned it.And theyve put the 46-year-old into the most pressure-packed job in all of junior hockey — head coach of Canadas team at a world junior championship to be played on home ice in Montreal and Toronto.Groulx, the dome-topped coach of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was named as national junior coach in 2009 only to walk away when an offer came to guide the Florida Panthers farm team, the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.It wasnt a missed opportunity, it was just the wrong timing, Groulx said this week. I was (coaching) in juniors for seven or eight years and I had this chance from (Panthers ex-general manager) Jacques Martin in Florida and for me, it was just natural to move up the ladder and try that.Now I feel Im privileged to be coach of this team because you dont get that second chance often in your career. When I came back from Rochester, I thought Id like to have a shot at this team again. But I know there are phenomenal coaches in junior hockey, and thats why I feel privileged to have a second chance.His return began a year ago when he was named as an assistant to head coach Brent Sutter for the world junior championship in Malmo, Sweden, where Canadas second-youngest team ever finished out of the medals in fourth place.This years squad has seven returning players, including the gifted 17-year-old Connor McDavid, and captain Curtis Lazar, who was playing in the NHL until last week when he was loaned for the tournament by the Ottawa Senators.It is an older team with more skill up front than a year ago. Going without a medal, as Canada has done the last two years, is out of the question. For fans and hockey officials, the real task is to end a five-year gold medal drought.Groulx understands the pressure, but his message has been to embrace it and thrive off it.We want to play a fast game. Fast on the forecheck, fast with the puck, fast at getting the puck back, he said. Were working on it.You can tell that its not a habit yet on our team, but were showing video to our guys, were talking to them on the ice. Were trying to have it in our drills so our guys can integrate that into their style and have more cohesion on the ice.Groulx is said to be a tough, no-nonsense coach, but also one who excels at making in-game decisions from the bench.Hes been very direct with us, said goalie Zach Fucale. Very honest every time. Hell always tell us the truth, if its at a practice or a game. He really wants us to be at our best.Aside from endorsing Canadian-style, forechecking hockey, Groulx has international experience to enhance his qualifications for the job.As a player, he was a scoring centre for the defunct Granby Bisons of the QMJHL and then learned much about the European game playing 11 years of pro hockey in France.He returned in 2000 and spent a year as assistant coach of the Shawinigan Cataractes before landing the head coaching job with the Hull (now Gatineau) Olympiques. His teams won championships in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He was the QMJHL coach of the year in 2004.He also served as assistant to Dave Cameron on a world champion Canadian under-18 squad in 2004, and was an assistant to Sutter for Canadas 7-0-1 dominance of Russia in the 2007 junior Super Series.Groulx was a natural for the head coach position for the 2009 world juniors in Ottawa, but the chance to get on the ladder toward an NHL coaching job proved more attractive.His two years in Rochester were quiet. He missed the playoffs the first year and made them the second. Then Ted Nolan was named vice-president of hockey operations. The two didnt see eye-to-eye and Groulx opted to leave with a year left on his contract and return to Gatineau, his hometown.I learned that when youre going to pro hockey, youre hired by a group of people, and when that group is not there anymore, philosophies change and either youre part of it or you dont fit in, he said. I just thought it was not a good fit and I decided to go back to junior hockey.Also, I had a young kid at home (son Benoit-Olivier, now a promising bantam player) and it was difficult for me to be away from him. The best thing was to go back to junior. If it would have been somewhere (other than Gatineau), I probably would have stayed one more year in Rochester, but having the chance to come back home made the decision easy.It took a few years to get back in the world junior picture, but Hockey Canadas management team decided he deserved another look.When he turned it down, at the time it was disappointing, said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canadas vice-president for national teams. But at the end of the day, hes a good coach.Hes been back in the league and proved himself again, so we welcomed him back last year and this year hes the head coach.Theres still a good chance that Groulx will end up as an NHL coach, but he doesnt want to talk about that with the world juniors about to begin on Boxing Day.Right now my focus is not there at all, he said. Im enjoying this tournament.My goal was to come here, put the best team together, work at it every day and enjoy the process. After this, Im going back to Gatineau and were going to have to get our team better and try to have a long run in the playoffs. I dont look further than that. Renato Sanches Jersey . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. Beto Jersey . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. http://www.soccerportugalshop.com/world ... ll-jersey/. -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Jose Fonte Jersey . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees. Vieirinha Jersey . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.NORFOLK, Va. -- St. Johns can sit back and relax for a while if it can win Game 5 of its American Hockey League Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday in Norfolk. The IceCaps got first-period goals by Carl Klingberg and Jason Jaffray in coasting to a 5-1 win Monday over the Admirals and hold a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal series. St. Johns added goals from Jerome Samson and Eric ODell in the second period and another by ODell in the third, moving into position to win the series Tuesday and advance to the Eastern final while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence decide the other finalist. That series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 set for Wednesday. "We talked about having a killer instinct at the start of the playoffs," said Jaffray, the St. Johns captain. "If you get a chance to finish off a team, youve got to jump all over them. Weve got a chance (Tuesday). "As much as we enjoy playing in front of our home fans at Mile One Centre, any chance to send a team packing is a huge opportunity." St. Johns, which finished fourth in the East during the regular season, is the highest-seeded team left in the conference after all three division winners-- Manchester, Binghamton and Springfield-- were ousted in the opening round. The IceCaps goals Monday looked familiar. Klingberg set up shop in front of the Admiral net, screening goalie Brad Thiessen in position to tip in a shot from the blue line by Josh Morrissey to earn a 1-0 lead with only 4:11 played in the opening period. The play replicated one that earned St. Johns two goals only two nights earlier in Game 3. Jaffrays goal came when he was at the net to tip in a shot by Morrissey with 14:39 played. "Youve got to make it tough on any goalie you play against," Jaffray said. "Any scouting report is going to say get traffic, put rebounds uppstairs and get the dirty goals.dddddddddddd Weve got a lot of them in the last couple of games." The antidote to St. Johns scoring from in front of the net is clear. "Were just not blocking enough shots," Norfolk coach Trent Yawney said of the IceCaps getting the puck to the net in the first place. "The bottom line is that they blocked more shots than we did. When theyve got people standing in front of the net, and were not filling shooting lanes, were not doing a good enough job." Jaffrays goal was the IceCaps fourth with a man advantage in the past three games. It was scored against what was the AHLs best penalty-killing unit during the regular season, but one which has struggled during the playoffs. Samson scored from the right faceoff circle to make it 3-1. He had the winning goal in Game 3 from the same spot. ODells first goal came when he managed to nudge the puck through a seven-player pileup in the crease that included Thiessen. ODells second goal was easier, scored after Thiessen rejected a shot by Jaffray, but left the puck on the doorstep. ODell skated past, stopped and reached back to tap it into the net. St. Johns goalie Michael Hutchinson gave up only a second-period goal to Norfolks Andre Petersson, while turning away 28 shots for the win. Thiessen made 23 saves in defeat. "A lot of teams have come back from 3-1 deficits and have this playoff year," Yawney insisted of his players. "They can be a part of that group, or they can be part of the group that says theyve had enough. Well see (Tuesday). But Im not giving up." Thats something St. Johns expects after its first really easy game of the playoffs. "Were expecting a huge push from them," Jaffray said. "Theyre playing for their season." The IceCaps are playing for a little extra rest. Cheap Jerseys 2018 China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys China China NFL Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '