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The comparisons are inevitable. Connor McDavid understands it. So does Sidney Crosby.Franchise centers dont come along very often. Particularly ones with the skill set McDavid seems to share with the player he grew up idolizing. The footwork. The soft hands. The relentless energy. The ability to see something before it happens and the talent to make it so.A decade ago, it was Crosby who took the NHL by storm. Now its McDavids turn. A year removed from an injury-marred rookie season in Edmonton, the 19-year-old will get a chance to face Crosby for the first time on Tuesday when the Oilers visit the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.Both players, as is their habit, are trying to downplay the meeting. Still, Crosby has a keen sense of where McDavid is at in his blossoming career and the weight placed on his shoulders. Back in 2006, Crosby was trying to do for the Penguins what McDavid is trying to do for the Oilers: lift a once proud team back to relevance, one highlight-reel play at a time.Listen to Crosby rattle off the things that impress him about McDavid, and the two-time Hart Trophy winner might as well be describing himself.I just think his speed stands out the most, Crosby said. It allows him to do so many other things. He sees the ice really well. Hes so strong on the puck. His hockey sense and his speed are the things that stand out the most.Theyve been on display with regularity so far for Edmonton, which sits atop the Pacific Division, a solid start for a team trying to end a playoff drought that stretches back to when McDavid was still in elementary school. McDavid is tied for fourth in the NHL in points (14) and seventh in assists (nine), including a patient, heady dish to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the power play on Sunday that turned into the winning goal in a 2-1 victory in Detroit.Hes obviously one of the bright young players in the league, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. Im sure that team has taken another step and hes a big reason why.Just dont expect Sullivan do his part to make sure Crosbys No. 87 ends up in the faceoff circle with McDavids No. 97. (Oh, theres another similarity: both players using the year of their birth as their respective jersey numbers).I dont really think too much about drama, Sullivan said.Besides, Crosbys return to the lineup after a concussion that sidelined him for a few weeks last month has made the environment in Pittsburgh decidedly drama-free. The Penguins havent lost in regulation since Crosby came back (5-0-1), and the player who loves nothing more than to set up a teammate has suddenly become a little selfish, in a good way.Crosby has eight goals in six games, including two each in the final two games of a road swing through California.Nothing surprises us, Sullivan said. Hes just a great player. I dont know how else to say it. I think weve grown to expect it out of him and hes done it each and every night. I really admire his consistency of play.And that more than anything else may be what McDavid wants to emulate about Crosby above all else.Hes the best player in the world and if you can take anything from his game, obviously thatll help, McDavid said.Though theyve run into each other occasionally in random places, Crosby hasnt gone out of his way to reach out and give McDavid advice. Crosby doesnt want to overstep, pointing out the Oilers have veterans to help guide McDavid as he navigates his first full season after a broken collarbone limited him to 45 games as a rookie.Still, if there was one piece of advice Crosby will impart, its this: tune out the hype and just do what you do.The biggest thing is learning on the fly, see what works for you, Crosby said. Just remember what got you to this point and try to continue that success.---AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report. Cheap Hockey Jerseys China . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Authentic Hockey Jerseys . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Custom Hockey Jerseys . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Cheap Hockey Jerseys . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. GENEVA -- After declaring FIFAs image crisis over four months ago, questions are being raised about Gianni Infantino as he heads to world soccers next big election.The FIFA president will be a guest in Athens on Wednesday as his former UEFA colleagues vote to replace Michel Platini, who was ousted after the FIFA ethics committee banned him for taking a $2 million payment from Sepp Blatter.The favorite to become the next UEFA president is Aleksander Ceferin of Slovenia, who was so little known before the campaign that many wonder if Infantino and his staff have intervened to support him. Ceferin will be up against UEFA vice president Michael van Praag of the Netherlands, an outspoken critic of Blatter in recent years.I am neutral. The FIFA president is neutral in any election at confederation level, Infantino said. This is very clear.Infantino said his staff also has not acted, dismissing reports in Dutch and Scandinavian media that one of his FIFA advisers, who is from Norway, has lobbied for Ceferin. Van Praag reportedly sought a meeting in May in Milan to ask Infantino if he had chosen sides.Ceferins campaign for UEFA president emerged in May, soon after Infantino joined his former UEFA colleagues on a trip to Slovenia to open a national soccer center. Weeks later, FIFA appointed Tomaz Vesel as an independent auditor overseeing its billion-dollar annual income -- and Infantinos salary and bonuses. Vesel is also from Slovenia and plays on a veterans soccer team with Ceferin.Mark Pieth, a former FIFA reform adviser, said he was skeptical of claims that Infantino has changed the FIFA culture after years of scandal and murky decision-making.There is no `new FIFA, Pieth told The Associated Press. Its a bit of a variation on what we have been used to. Here, its blatant cronyism.UEFA is the richest and most influential of soccers six continental bodies. It organizes the Champions League, which showcases most of the worlds best players. The European Championship draws a global TV audience for the final that is more than double that of the Super Bowl.The next UEFA president will serve the final 2+ years of Platinis term. The winner also becomes a FIFA vice president, helps shape strategy in the FIFA Council, and supports Infantino in urgent rulings made by the connfederation heads.ddddddddddddInfantino came to power after a cycle of turmoil that started in May 2015 when American and Swiss federal authorities revealed an investigation into bribery and corruption. A generation of FIFA leaders were removed from office, including Blatter and one-time protege Platini.Van Praag, a former club president of four-time European champion Ajax, is an election veteran compared to Ceferin. He opposed Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2015, defying a UEFA strategy to unseat the incumbent but struggled to get support from his colleagues. He withdrew days before the vote, leaving Prince Ali of Jordan as the sole challenger.Ceferin, a criminal lawyer, joined the board of Olimpija Ljubljana before being elected Slovenian soccer federation president in 2011. He later joined the FIFA disciplinary committee.The 48-year-old Ceferin is untainted by FIFAs past excesses, but his clear link to Vesel, the governing bodys new audit and compliance committee chairman, has caused concern.FIFA rules state the job of overseeing how it earns and spends its World Cup revenue can only go to a person with no material financial relationship to a member federation. It was done until May by Domenico Scala, a pharmaceutical industry executive who resigned amid disputes with Infantino, including a no-bonus rule for the president.Vesel, however, could within days be responsible for setting the FIFA salary of his teammate on the soccer team in the Slovene capital.Pieth, a compliance expert, said the Slovenia link was less camouflaged than in the Blatter era.There is a personal friendship, Pieth told the AP. Theres not a general rule against that kind of thing but its simple patronage. Its clear.Infantino dismissed such doubts when asked if the institutional independence of Vesel, Slovenias state auditor, could be compromised by his connection to Ceferin.Everyone plays football, everybody loves football, Infantino said last week. Its good that people (who) love football work in football as well.I just hope that the one who will be elected will work in a positive way with me as well, Infantino added. A strong FIFA needs a strong UEFA. ' ' '