eir quarter-final matches Friday at the US$3.49-million tournament, continuing a rare run of success for homegrown players at the countrys biggest tennis event. They will face each other Saturday with a berth in Sundays final on the line. Pospisil became the first Canadian since Mike Belkin in 1969 to

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Phil Kessel returned to work on Friday hoping to talk about his blessedly short summer after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup in June.Instead, the forward ended up walking back a critical tweet about Team USA following its disappointing performance in the World Cup of Hockey. Kessel, the leading scorer for the Americans during the 2014 Winter Olympics, was not invited to join this time. While he said all the right things last spring after getting passed over, his frustration bubbled up while watching the U.S. lose to Canada on Tuesday.Just sitting around the house tonight w/my dog, Kessel posted on his account. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldnt put my finger on it.Kessel didnt delete the tweet even after some members of the U.S. team took exception. But he made clear on Friday, as the Penguins reported for training camp, that it wasnt a personal attack on the group that went winless in three games and failed to advance to the medal round.Obviously I meant no disrespect to any of the players, Kessel said. I have a ton of respect for all those guys there. I played with a lot of those guys. Theyre great players and great guys. I know this game is hard. I know its not an easy one to play.Kessel would rather focus on the 2016-17 season as the Penguins try to become the first team in nearly 20 years to repeat as champs. Hell spend the early days of camp seeing how his surgically repaired hand is responding after undergoing a minor procedure in July.Just going to take some time here, he said. Just kind of get back into it.Pittsburghs summer lasted all of 103 days, barely enough time to make sure everyone involved with the teams six-game victory over San Jose in the Stanley Cup Final got to enjoy some one-on-one time with their sports most valuable hardware.Its like we never left each other, defenseman Trevor Daley said. Looking around, didnt we just see each other the other day?Not that Daley is complaining. Theres a sweet reason for the short break, after all.Were the champs, obviously, Daley said with a laugh.Ones who insist theyre just as hungry as they were last spring, when they raced through the playoffs behind a mixture of speed, grit and the precocious goaltending of rookie Matt Murray. Pittsburgh did little to mess with its formula in free agency, keeping the core intact for what it hopes is another season that bleeds from spring until the edge of summer.Coach Mike Sullivan, however, is taking great pains during camp to keep his squad from getting complacent. He divvied the players into three groups hoping to keep things fresh.I think we have competitive guys by nature, Sullivan said. I think they like to compete. Its our job as coaches to put them in an environment where theyre allowed to compete. It took a lot of players for us to go through the playoff run that we did.Captain Sidney Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin are still in Toronto competing for their native countries in the World Cup. The two will meet in the semifinals on Saturday and are unlikely to return to their regular gig until the middle of next week. Their absence, however, will give others an opportunity to impress Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff.Whats exciting from our standpoint is that we have the type of depth that we have and we have players that are competing for jobs, literally, Sullivan said. Thats going to keep everyone at their best. That internal competition is a critical component to drive our team to the level that it was at last year.Pittsburgh opens the preseason on Tuesday in Detroit. The Penguins exhibition home opener is next Friday against Chicago. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Wholesale Jerseys . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. http://www.wholesalejerseysquality.com/ . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Wholesale China Jerseys . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.MONTREAL -- Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil are headed to a semifinal showdown at the Rogers Cup. Canadas top two mens singles players won their quarter-final matches Friday at the US$3.49-million tournament, continuing a rare run of success for homegrown players at the countrys biggest tennis event. They will face each other Saturday with a berth in Sundays final on the line. Pospisil became the first Canadian since Mike Belkin in 1969 to reach the final four of the event when his opponent Nikolay Davydenko retired due to illness. The Vernon, B.C., native led 3-0 in the first set. Raonic, the 11th seed, rode the spirited support of the centre court crowd for a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who had taken out second-seeded Andy Murray on Thursday. It will be the first meeting between Raonic and Pospisil in an ATP Tour tournament. Pospisil holds a 3-1 edge in their four meetings in lower level events, but Raonic took the most recent match in 2010. They first played each other in an under-14 tournament in Edmonton. "Exciting match," said Pospisil. "Two Canadians in the semifinal, one guaranteed to be in the final. Its a historic moment for tennis in Canada. "We obviously know each other very well. Since we were little kids. Youve got to give the edge to Milos, for sure. I have the edge in terms of head-to-head (matchups), but things have changed in the last two years. My run here doesnt change anything here in terms of that. But well see how it goes." Raonic disagreed. "I dont think that matters -- we both start at 0-0 when the match comes," he said. "I think it means a lot, not just to us, but to Canadian tennis. "Its an opportunity, a great, great moment. At the same time, its another tennis match. That doesnt change." Top seed and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia met little resistance in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet, stretching his Rogers Cup winning streak to 13. Djokovic will face fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain. Nadal beat Australias Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-4 to advance. It is the first time in the Open Era that two Canadiens have met the semifinals. The last time a Canadian was in the final was 1958, when Robert Bedard won the last of his three titles. "Fantastic news for Canadian tennis at the .rogerscup as (at)MilosRaonic and (at)VasekPospisil have reached the semis. Lets bring the cup home," tweeted Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In the past two years, the hard-serving, 22-year-old Raonic has risen to No. 13 in the world rankings, a record for a Canadian. He may jump a few more places when the next rankings come out Monday. He had on-court treatment in his third round win over Juan Martin De Potro for an inflamed neck muscle that led to his right arm numb, but said the arm was fine against fellow big-server Gulbis. The keey was at 4-4 in the third set when he fought off a break point to win.dddddddddddd "I was expecting it to be very difficult," Raonic said. "He had a great win yesterday. "Hes especially dangerous when he gets matches under him and hes feeling well. He wasnt really making many errors." The 23-year-old Pospisil has taken a slower path than Raonic, but is on a roll of late. He won a Challenger series tournament last week in Vancouver, then kept it going with wins over John Isner, Radek Stepanek, fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych and Davydenko, a former world No. 3 who is now ranked 47th. The run included his first win over a player ranked in the top 20 in Isner and his first over a top-10 player in Berdych. Not bad for someone who needed a wild-card entry to get into the tournament because he wasnt ranked high enough for direct entry. He is already assured of winning $128,960 and gaining at least 360 points, which will take him from 71st in the world into the top 50. One benefit is that he already has an exemption into the main draw of a tournament in Cincinnati next week. "The moneys nice, but its not about that," said Pospisil. "I set goals for myself. "Im thinking bigger picture. This is a huge week for me points-wise. Im going to make a really big jump regardless of how the match goes (Saturday). Im excited and Ill try to use the confidence I have and keep playing well." The 20-minute match against Davydenko was ideal for Pospisil, who didnt get a lot of sleep while getting from Vancouver to Montreal and then had to grind through some tough matches. Heading into the quarter-finals, he had played the longest match of the week against Berdych and the third-longest against Isner. "It came at a perfect time to have a bit of rest," said Pospisil. "Even those three games (against Davydenko) I was trying to catch my breath. "I had sore legs and was a little tired, but I was hitting the ball well. Ill try to rest up." After the match, Davydenko said he has been battling bronchitis since Monday. With Pospisil playing well and battling hard for every point, he felt he didnt have the energy to continue. "I just want to see how he will play," the 32-year-old said. "But the second game was very tough for me. He played long rallies and I could not hold this level." He was not sure if he will be fit enough to play in Cincinnati, but expects to be ready for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 26 in New York. Gulbis called it a successful tournament despite the loss as he faced seeded players three days in a row. "Game-wise, I dont think it was the best match because neither of us gave the other any rhythm," he said. "Hes serving big, Im serving big. "At 4-4, break point, if I start to make those passing shots Ill start to win against these guys." Cheap Stitched Jerseys China NFL Jerseys White Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Gear Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys ' ' '