Kritik und Anregungen » Vancouver Canucks both take aim at thei

TORONTO -- The World Cup of Hockey will return, without a doubt, and avoid another 12-year break.NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr both confirmed for The Associated Press on Friday that they expect the next World Cup of Hockey to be in 2020.It is much less certain whether the best players will go to South Korea to participate in the 2018 Olympics.International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel told the AP on Tuesday the odds of NHL players going to the Pyeongchang Games were 50-50, a slight upgrade from his forecast in May.Later the same day, Daly said he felt more negative, about the chances the leagues players will be in a sixth straight Olympics due to the International Olympic Committees decision to not pay for NHL players travel and insurance as it has in the past.Fehr, who represents players who have made it clear they want to be in the Olympics, said hes more optimistic than pessimistic a deal will get done.The union head insisted he isnt concerned about the IOCs stance.Everybody understands that nobodys going to risk their career and future earnings and all the rest of it in return for no compensation and no coverage, Fehr told the AP. No one will do that. They understand that. Thats been a given for a long, long time. If it plays out that way, which I do not expect it to play out that way, well deal with it.The IOC isnt buying the banter.I think both sides are playing poker, president of the International Ski federation Gian Franco Kasper, who represents winter sports on the IOC executive board, said Friday in an interview with the AP.The IOC does not want to continue its past practice of paying for NHL players travel and insurance because it doesnt want to have to do the same for athletes in other sports.Fasel said it is his job to raise the money needed, which he estimates to be about $10 million. Fasel said he plans to beg, for the funds from national Olympic committees and hockey federations. He acknowledged using some of the $40 million the IOC gives the IIHF to fund its programs, including development opportunities for boys and girls, could be used to bring the best hockey players to South Korea.Daly said the NHL would like a final decision to be made by the end of the year so that it can set the 2017-18 schedule with or without a break midway through the slate for the Olympics.The World Cup of Hockey, which the NHL and NHLPA teamed up to bring back for the first time since 2004, does not conflict with the leagues schedule because the games were played during training camp and early preseason games.Playing hockey in late September, however, is not an ideal time to draw TV viewers in the U.S. in part because of interest in the NFL, college football and baseball.Game 1 with Canada and Team Europe in the World Cup finals on Tuesday night -- without direct competition from football -- drew 494,000 viewers on ESPN, then only 296,000 watched Game 2 on Thursday. In Canada, Game 2 had an average audience of 2.27 million viewers on Sportsnet.Daly acknowledged it was a challenge, to engage Americans enough to watch the event. It did not help that the U.S. and North American Under 23-teams didnt make it to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament.It was also, surprisingly, difficult to fill seats at the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs despite being in hockey hotbed even though the league said ticket sales went very well. It seemed many more people were interested in attending Toronto Blue Jays games when world-class hockey matchups and playoff-push baseball games were played at the same time.The level of hockey, at times, was impressive. And, the atmosphere was electric when Canada rallied from a one-goal deficit in the final few minutes Thursday night to beat Europe 2-1.During many stretches of play, however, the World Cup of Hockey didnt do enough to fire up fans in attendance.Days before Canada beat Europe 2-0 in the best-of-three series to win the World Cup, Canadian coach Mike Babcock seemed to sum up the situation best.The World Cup is great. Its not the Olympics, Babcock said in an unsolicited comparison of the two events. Lets not get confused.---AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lageShoes Wholesale China Free Shipping . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Cheap Clearance Shoes Online . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. http://www.shoeswholesale.us/ .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Shoes Wholesale Online Store .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena.How would the standings look if regulation wins were worth three points?Heres a snapshot as of Dec. 1, using the 3-2-1-0 system (most recently discussed by ESPN.coms Pierre LeBrun):Three points for a regulation winTwo points for an overtime or shootout winOne point for an overtime or shootout lossZero points for a regulation lossOne important caveat as you consider these: These are a strict conversion using the above formula, and this does not take into account the altered incentive that teams would have tto win games in regulation if this system were in place.dddddddddddd Put another way: Under the current system, teams might play for overtime, whereas theyd be more aggressive to get a winning goal in regulation if they were awarded an extra point for the effort.Note: Each teams points using the current system is listed in the Pts Now column.Eastern ConferenceWestern Conference ' ' '