Der Fremde » People say its a quarterback

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Jeff Skinner wasnt on the ice much, but made a huge impact in Canadas 2-1 win over the Czech Republic at the IIHF World Championship on Sunday. The Carolina Hurricanes forward scored on an end-to-end rush after weaving through the Czech defence and burying a wraparound behind goalie Ondrej Pavelec at 6:55 of the third period. His goal stood up as the winner as Canada (5-0-1) secured a quarter-final berth in the tournament. "Any goal when you play for your country is pretty cool," Skinner said. His eight minutes 48 seconds of ice time was the least among Canadian forwards Sunday as the 20-year-old from Markham, Ont., wears the Maple Leaf in his third world championship. His eighth career goal was a memorable one. "When I got over the red (line) I knew I didnt want to dump it in and when I was at the hash marks, I saw the goalie a little bit out and challenging the shot," Skinner said. "When he was cutting off my angle, I just tried to take it around the weak side and again, I think it sort of bounced off something. "I just sort of guessed and guessed right." Wayne Simmonds scored his first of the tournament for Canada, while defenceman Dan Hamhuis led all Canadian players in ice time and shifts despite joining the team the previous day. Mike Smith made 30 saves for his second win of the tournament and also picked up an assist on Skinners goal. "It was off my left pad and kind of kicked it into the corner," the Phoenix Coyotes goaltender said. "It was a well-placed rebound, lets say. It would have been nice to pass it, but Ill take it. "Skinny did the rest. The kid can skate pretty well, took it end to end and got a big goal for us." Petr Koukal replied for the Czechs (3-3-0), whose quarter-final prospects depend on beating Norway on Tuesday. The Czechs won the bronze medal the last two years. Pavelec, who plays for the Winnipeg Jets, stopped 23 shots in taking the loss in front of a crowd of 6,117 at the Globe Arena. "Im not very satisfied we only scored one goal in the game," Czech head coach Alois Hadamczik said via an interpreter. "This was the first time we really played our game at the tournament." The top four teams in each pool of eight advance to Thursdays quarter-finals, with one playing four and two playing three in each group. The United States, Russia and Switzerland also clinched quarter-final berths Sunday. The Americans beat Germany 3-0; reigning champion Russia beat Slovakia 3-1; and unbeaten Switzerland defeated Norway also by 3-1 to win its sixth game. Canada needed just a single point from the game to get in the quarter-finals, but three points for the regulation win means Canada will finish no worse than second in the Stockholm pool. At 16 points, the Canadians also kept the pressure on leader Switzerland with 17. Canada concludes the preliminary round against winless Slovenia on Monday, while the Swiss finish against Belarus on Tuesday. Host Sweden was third in their pool with 12 points and a game remaining. The Norwegians were fourth with nine. The United States is ranked first in the Helsinki pool with 15 points ahead of Finland with 14. Russia is third with 12 ahead of Slovakia and Germany, which are tied for fourth with seven points. Canada added Hamhuis following the elimination of his Vancouver Canucks in the first round of NHL playoffs. The 30-year-old played a regular shift from the opening faceoff Sunday. Hamhuis said he skated in the morning and intended to monitor his energy during the game and inform the coaches if he felt winded. But his full participation became necessary when defenceman Luke Schenn took a match penalty and was booted early in the second period. Hamhuis played 29 shifts and over 22 minutes. "The intensity of the game, when youre playing such a tight-checking game, you dont tend to feel as tired as you do if the score is lopsided," Hamhuis said. "With the type of game it was, it was a lot of fun to play out there." Canadian head coach Lindy Ruff joked wryly "we probably wouldnt have listened to him, especially after Luke went out" had Hamhuis asked to reduce his minutes. "Tonight, I thought some of our defencemen looked a little young," Ruff said. "Thats when you want the veteran guys to step up and pull through for you." Schenn was assessed a major and the match penalty for checking Zbynek Irgl from behind. Irgl suffered a bloody cut across the nose. Schenns match penalty comes with an automatic game suspension, so Canada will be down to seven defencemen again against Slovenia. "Refereeing is a giant black hole that I dont want to jump into," Ruff said. Hadamczik dove into that hole. His team took three minors in the second period and another two after Skinners goal that hurt their efforts to tie the game. "Both teams performed very well, but the referees did not," Hadamcik said. "They missed many calls on our side. Ive been to many world championships during my career and I never expressed this about the referees. This is the first time Im angry with the referees." A match penalty is automatically reviewed by the tournament disciplinary committee. Ruff hoped for no further sanctions on Schenn because the Philadelphia Flyers blue-liner is another big-minute man for Canada. The Canadians scored first for the fourth game in a row on a power-play goal from Simmonds in the first period. Canada scored once in five power-play chances and held the Czechs scoreless three times with an extra attacker. Koukal scored even-strength late in the first to pull the Czechs even. Notes: Eighteen of the Canadian players have an NHL teammate on the Czech team. ... Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec is expected to join the Czechs Republic. ... Russia added defenceman Nikita Zaitsvev and forward Yevgeni Kuznetsov to their roster Sunday. Air Force 1 Alte Nere . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Air Force 1 Mid Nere .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.airforce1outletitalia.it/scontate-air-force-1-sp.html . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Air Force 1 Alte Hand Wash Cold . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Air Force 1 Alte Special Field . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Trevor Siemian got the day off but only as a precaution.Rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch ran the Denver Broncos offense at practice Wednesday with Austin Davis also getting some work in while Siemian watched from the sideline and gave his bruised left shoulder another day to heal.With what we did today, I think the other guy needed all of the reps, coach Gary Kubiak said. Trevor didnt need those reps.Siemian said he hopes to practice Thursday and certainly plans to be under center Sunday when the Broncos (4-0) host the Atlanta Falcons (3-1).Ill see how I feel in the morning, he said.Kubiak is prepared to give Lynch his first NFL start if he has to, although hes said he would be OK with giving Siemian the nod even if he isnt able to practice during the week.Id take it all the way to game day. I trust Trevor, Kubiak said. He knows exactly what were doing and hes very bright. Hes on top of everything today. Hes a part of the walk-throughs and everything that were doing so hes on top of everything. Well just see where hes at physically.Lynch was impressive in relief Sunday, throwing for 170 yards and a touchdown in sealing Denvers 27-7 win at Tampa after Siemian got hurt.Siemian, the 250th overall draft pick in 2015, has outdueled top overall picks Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston along with Andy Dalton, a second-round pick, in his first month as Peyton Mannings successor .Siemian said hes seen the hit he got hurt on just before halftime but doesnt begrudge Buccaneers defensive tackle Clinton McDonald for flinging him to the turf.Hes bringing me to the ground and I just fell funny, Siemian said.Siemian said he figures hell have to work through both the pain and the physical limitations whenever he does return to the field.I feel better than I was yesterday, so I havent tried to do too much, Siemian said.Kubiak held a three-way QB competition this offseason but Siemian and veteran Mark Sanchez quickly separated themselves from Lynch, who slowly adjusted from the spread style he ran at Memphis to Kubiaks West Coast offense with is thick playbook that Lynch compared to a phone book.Hes much improved as far just handling himself, handling the huddle and those types of things, Kubiak said.dddddddddddd His confidence throwing the ball and stuff, hes always had that. Just handling all of the aspects walking in here today, getting a game plan thats different than the one he had last week. He adjusts a little quicker so I think hes just more confident in his ability each week to refocus, start over and get ready to play.Lynch said he figured hed get his shot to run the offense Wednesday.It feels good to get more reps, Lynch said. Im just doing the best that I can in case I do play on Sunday.Kubiak insisted he was preparing one game plan for whichever QB starts.You dont tweak game plans, he said. You plan to play.Running back C.J. Anderson said Lynchs growth over the last few weeks means coaches dont have to dial it down for him.You can just tell the preparation from OTAs and from training camp all the way to now that it gives us the opportunity to not go and be conservative, to go run our offense the way we want to run it, Anderson said. Thats probably the biggest area hes improved in. As far as all the intangibles, the arm strength and getting out of trouble with his feet, hes been born with those. His preparation and understanding the offense better you can actually see that.The Broncos dealt with musical chairs at quarterback on their way to winning Super Bowl 50, so this is nothing new.Were confident with anybody we got back there, Anderson said.The Broncos have won an NFL-best nine consecutive games and theyve done it while playing four QBs: Manning, Brock Osweiler, Siemian and Lynch.A great defense always helps, Anderson said, and then the 10 guys on offense doing their job to make the quarterbacks job easier. People say its a quarterback-driven league, and all our quarterbacks have played well with their opportunity. If we continue to do our job the way we know we can do it, it makes their job that much easier.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '