SOCHI — Hayley Wickenheiser not only will carry the Canadian flag in the opening ceremonies on Friday, the hockey legend also carries high hopes for a fourth-consecutive Olympic gold medal and for the womens game as a whole. But before her work on the ice begins, shes going to savour a special moment at Sochis Fisht Olympic stadium on Friday. "Just going to enjoy it and take it all in and, you know, honour the fact that I have this opportunity and that my family is going to be in the building," said Wickenheiser, who hails from Shaunavon, Sask. "So its going to be a fun night, said the Olympic veteran," who will have 11 family members in Sochi. The 35-year-old Wickenheiser is well aware that if the womens tournament evolves as presumed with a Canada-United States gold-medal final on Feb. 20, the scrutiny will continue as to whether womens hockey belongs in the Olympics. But shes been around the international game for two decades, when she cracked the Canadian roster as a 15 year old in 1994, and she sees progress. Womens game in good shape “I always worry about the future of womens hockey, mainly because of the fact that most of the world pays attention to womens hockey only for two weeks out of every four years,” Wickenheiser said. “I dont worry about the womens game when I look at every game and what goes on internationally. “I look at Team Japan and what [current coach and former Canadian player] Carla MacLeod has been able to do to get that team to an Olympic Games, which is a huge accomplishment for a country. You look at Finland and how they centralize their under-18 and national teams. You look at Sweden and you look at Russia what Alexei Yashin [the teams general manager] has been able to do with his team.” Still, the Russians, Swedes, Finns and Swiss need to exhibit that they have closed the gap. But that wont be easy because Canada and the U.S. continue to elevate its level of play. “This is a dilemma womens hockey is always going to face. But the reality is were so much further ahead in this time span than say where mens hockey was in [after the first five Olympics]. I think the [womens] game has really come a long way in five Olympics.” Will this be Wickenheisers final Olympics? She wont decide on whether to continue or conclude her decorated career, that includes three Olympic gold medals, seven world championships and playing pro mens hockey in Finland and Sweden, until after the final buzzer sounds in Sochi. So what keeps Wickenheisers competitive clock ticking? “The No. 1 thing is a love of sport,” said the six-time Olympian said, who also competed for Canada in softball at the 2000 Sydney Games. “Ive loved hockey since the day I first put on skates when I was five years old. I have had a passion to play all these years. “I love being part of Team Canada and having the opportunity to win, and thats the main driving force now.” Nagano loss still hurts She forgot to mention that shes never been a good loser. At a team gathering on Monday evening, Wickenheiser and Hefford and assistant coach Daniel Goyette described the emptiness and hurt they felt when they finished second in 1998. “The worst thing in the world is to stand on the blue line with a silver medal around your neck,” she said. “It stays with you for a while.” There was some speculation that Wickenheiser wouldnt be around for the Sochi Games. There was some thought her game had dropped off and she was dealing with some injuries. “You battle injuries and you go through a lot of things as an athlete, but I could picture in my mind what I needed to do to get ready to play in these Games,” she said. “I guess its always a fragile existence as an athlete. Any day something can happen and your games are over, like we saw yesterday with the snowboarder (Norway slopestyle gold-medal contender Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone during a trail run). “Im very grateful to be sitting here … and to have had the longevity Ive had.” (With files from CBC Saskatchewan) Stitched Tennessee Titans Jerseys . His fellow Finn, 21 years his junior, had just arrived in Anaheim and was hoping to stick with the Ducks. Tennessee Titans Jerseys Outlet . Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night. http://www.titanscheap.com/. -- Ben Bishop had a milestone game against one of the NHLs greatest goalies. Wholesale Tennessee Titans Jerseys . Go to turbozone.ca to see more of his epic work and you can follow him on twitter (@Turbo_Zone). Gaurav Shastri - A tribute to the amazing fan base who stand outside during games at "Jurassic Park" and an unbelievable shot of Paul Pierce fearing a Raptor. Cheap Tennessee Titans Gear . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros.LOS ANGELES -- Big Apple equals big prices when it comes to buying a Stanley Cup final ticket on the secondary market. SeatGeek, an aggregator for the secondary ticket market, reports a "very high" demand for tickets in both Los Angeles and New York. "But theres a huge difference between the two cities," SeatGeek spokesman Connor Gregoire said Tuesday from New York. "Its much more a sellers market in New York." The average ticket price for Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles is about US$800, with the cheapest going for $400, according to Gregoire. In New York, the average price for Games 3 and 4 is $1,800, with the cheapest at $1,000. "Its actually cheaper, say youre a Rangers fan in New York, for you to book a last-minute round-trip flight to L.A., stay in a hotel, buy two tickets to Game 1 or 2," said Gregoire. "Youd actually save money doing that versus buying two tickets in New York." Cameron Papp, a spokesman for ticket reseller StubHub, quoted an average price for Game 1 in Los Angeles at around $760 with Game 3 in New York at about $1,500. "New York actually hasnt seen a title in a while," he said from San Francisco. "A lot of fans are excited about it and thats whats driving up demand for this Stanley Cup final." Seeing the Rangers is a tough ticket during the regular season. Add pent-up demand due to a 20-year absence from the Cup final and New Yorkers desire to see a winner and you have a recipe for a sticker shock. Plus there are sports fans with some deep pockets there. They need them. Face value for most Rangers Cup final tickets start at $450 with an average of $750, according to Gregoire. Ice-level seats at Madison Square Garden can exceed $1,000. Rangers forward Derek Stepan says the good news for him is that most people understand that he cant help them with tickets. "Theres not too many people that are reaching out because they know that in this situation, that its going to be family only," he said. "It is crazy though," he said of the demand for tickets. Would he pay $1,800 for a ticket? "Me? I love the game," he said. "Id pay for it." SeatGeeek, established in September 2009, has only seen one event with more ticket sizzle -- the Super Bowl earlier this year in the New York/New Jersey area.dddddddddddd The average price for that Super Bowl on the secondary ticket market was $2,500. "So youre getting pretty close to that stratosphere," Gregoire said, referring to the Cup final. He believes this Cup final could equal that Super Bowl mark if the Rangers have a shot at closing out the series in Game 4 or 6. "Youre going to see a huge spike in prices," he said. And Game 6 tickets are already averaging $2,300. "Its pretty much there, at Super Bowl levels already." As of Tuesday afternoon, StubHub had 2,750 seats on offer for both Game 1 in Los Angeles and Game 4 in New York, with the number going down. Gregoire said usually 20 to 25 per cent of the arena is available on secondary outlets. The SeatGeek spokesman says if you have the cash and the desire to go to the final, dont wait. "Normally tickets on the secondary market come down in price, especially the last day of the game when sellers are happy to take whatever they can get for their tickets. But in the Stanley Cup finals or championship series in any sport really, theres so much demand ... fans are sort of out of luck if theyre hoping to score a last-minute bargain-basement deal." The Rangers are always a good draw, says Papp. This year, they were third behind the Blackhawks and Bruins on the StubHub sales table. "Its a pretty hot ticket, especially when the Knicks arent doing so well," he added. The Kings have also proved to be popular. Papp says two years ago Game 4 in Los Angeles Staples Center was StubHubs highest-selling Stanley Cup game of all-time. "Were going to see some demand from Los Angeles too. I just think its a little early." In other words, Kings fans are coming off their Game 7 win in Chicago while Rangers fans have had time to mull over buying tickets since eliminated the Canadiens late last week. As for StubHub, its hoping for a long series. "We always like more games," Papp said with a laugh. "Hopefully its going to be a great series." 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