Willkommen » (listed at 6-foot-5) and offensive handiness to make any scou

SOELDEN, Austria -- Tina Maze has improved one place on the womens overall World Cup each year -- from fourth in 2010 to winning it last season. Is there a way she could top it this season? There is; a first Olympic gold medal. Main rivals label the outspoken Slovenian as the undoubted favourite for the overall title again, two days before the ski season gets underway with Saturdays giant slalom on Rettenbach glacier, where four-time former overall champion Lindsey Vonn will be missing. "Its going to be difficult," Maze said. "Last season, I didnt focus on the points (total) or the number of podiums. I just focused on racing and thats what I want do again this year." Maze, who turned 30 in May, won 11 races last season, taking the GS and super-G titles, and racking up a record points total of 2,414. She also became only the sixth female skier to win events in every Alpine discipline, with Vonn the only other active achiever. Maze capped her season by winning super-G gold and two bronze medals at the world championships in Schladming, Austria. "Not for Lindsey or for Maria (Hoefl-Riesch, the 2011 overall champion), but it was important to me that I showed who is the best skier," she said. "Still, you can always do better." Her rise to the top started in 2008 by starting her own independent team, led by her Italian coach and partner Andrea Massi. The team lost long-term coach Livio Magoni, who joined the Italian womens team in the off-season. He has been replaced by Walter Ronconi, who previously worked with GS specialist Massimiliano Blardone. The change initially unsettled Maze, Massi said. "When Walter came, communication was difficult," he said. "For Tina it was not easy to have new people in the team. She needs continuity. Tina always wants brief information. When she won her first medal (at the worlds) in 2009, I said four words to her and that was enough. Some coaches speak too much about the weather, the turns, the position on the skis. You need to be brief." Massi said the situation "is better now" and that it didnt affect Mazes preparation too much as "we stuck to the same schedule as last year but started two weeks later to have more time for regeneration." The pair used the extended break for a 10-day trip to the Maldives, though Maze said "living without sports made me nervous. But my body needed the rest." Training during summer included practice sessions with the Austria mens speed team and with Marcel Hirscher, the two-time mens overall champion. "I always learn from people who are better," Maze said. "There are many things the men do better. They take more risks, they are more consistent, without feelings or too many emotions." Last season, Maze succeeded Vonn, who had won the overall title four times in five years. The American has recovered from her season-ending right knee injury at the worlds in February, but said she didnt feel ready to race again, postponing her return for another month. "It was her own decision," U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser said. "Shes experienced enough to know what she can do and what she cant. ... If you want to race, you want to be competitive. She knew that shes missing training days -- everybody knew." Vonn returned to Colorado in Wednesday and will resume training there ahead of the first speed events in late November. Vonns teammates Julia Mancuso and Mikaela Shiffrin, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the overall standings last season, hope to gain ground on Maze, starting with Saturdays GS. "Tina is definitely favourite," Mancuso said. "We had the big rule change on GS skis last year and she proved to have figured it out. She is right there and the person to look out for and try to beat." Shiffrin, coming off her breakthrough year which included the slalom World Cup and world championship titles, said shes been "working hard on my GS and I feel like Ive made a lot of improvements, so its just a matter of racing now ... I dont have any expectations." Hoefl-Riesch was Mazes closest challenger last season, finishing runner-up but trailing the Slovenian by a massive 1,313 points. "After last season, who else could be favourite?" the German said. "Her strength was her consistency, which really lasted for the entire season. It wont be easy for her to repeat that." Melker Karlsson Jersey . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. Custom San Jose Sharks Jerseys . LOUIS -- The St. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/evander-kane-jersey/ . On Tuesday, the star questioned whether that was still the case. Speaking to reporters at a charity event, Johnson said: "I just kind of wonder sometimes: Is this still the place for me?" Johnsons comments came after he was asked why he recently skipped a voluntary minicamp. San Jose Sharks Jerseys .com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. Logan Couture Jersey . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto.TORONTO - Joe Colborne believes he is at last ready to be a regular in the NHL. "But its one thing to feel it and its another thing to go out and show it," said the now 23-year-old prospective Leafs centre. "And I realize that." Colborne has had a few cups of coffee with the big club in Toronto over the course of two-plus seasons in the organization – 16 career regular season games – but has yet to stick the landing for good. Inked to a one-year, one-way contract this past summer, he is staring hard at perhaps his final shot with the Leafs. With opportunity there for the taking, he knows no better time than the present to pronounce himself ready. "The only way you can do that is to come out and actually do it so thats what Im happy to do, come out and prove to people that Im an NHL player," Colborne said, acquired from Boston in the Tomas Kaberle trade of February 2011. "Doesnt mean anything if I think it, it has to be the coaching staff and the management." With a first round pedigree (2008), Colborne has long had the raw potential to make an impact in the NHL, what with the lofty stature (listed at 6-foot-5) and offensive handiness to make any scout scribble furiously in a notebook. Thicker these days at 220 pounds and now boasting an improved arsenal which includes increased speed – following continued work with Leafs skating consultant Barb Underhill – and an obvious infusion of confidence, its clear that Colborne is in position to put it all together. "He looks like hes grown into his body a little bit more," observed Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. "Hes a bigger man, thicker man. He seems more confident out there; hes handling the puck with more confidence. Hes a young player trying to cut his teeth." After tiptoeing into the Leafs lineup for Games 6 and 7 against the Bruins late last spring, Colborne returned home to Calgary this past summer where he could thankfully shoot pucks in the old barn with a clean bill of health. Memories of the previous summer still seem to sting. After he and the Marlies were thwarted by Norfolk in the Calder Cup Final in June, Colborne underwent wrist surgery that would force him to the sidelines for nearly all of the offseason. "In a word, it was frustrating," he recalled of the summer of 2012. "I felt like I was just spinning my wheels the whole time just sitting there. I couldnt do a lot of things. I couldnt be out shooting pucks in the old barn that we have out back that Ive done since I was little. I couldnt get on the ice until a week before camp [started]. "I rode the crap out of the bike and that was about all I could do." Forced to near-dormancy for most of the warmer months, Colborne arrived at Marlies training camp that fall with a swagger set at low, the effects of the wrist injury still lingering following an offseason seemingly wasted.dddddddddddd "My one arm was so much skinnier than the other," he recalled. In spite of the surgery, the wrist still gave him trouble. He had difficulty shooting the puck, the result a lost first half of one goal in 25 games. Then one night a scary hit rocked Colborne, one that "actually scared me pretty bad". There was a "big pop" and from it the lengthy Boston draft pick believed hed reinjured the wrist. He returned to the bench in anger, slamming his stick to mark the frustration. "I kind of freaked out," he remembered with a grin. But after about a minutes worth of time the sting was gone and Colborne realized that he could move the once tender zone of his wrist better than he had since the injury first occurred. The results followed. Over the final 37 games, Colborne would tally 12 goals and 32 points before joining the Leafs towards the end of the year. "It was a tough situation," he reflected of the two-faced 2013 season, "but definitely something you learn from and I made sure I made up for it this summer." This fall represents perhaps the best chance for Colborne to finally realize his NHL potential with opportunity there for the taking in the bottom half of the Leafs forward ranks. Failure to land a spot might spell the end for him in Toronto. Colborne now requires waivers to return to the AHL and considering his age and talent package, its likely he would be lost to another club if they tried to pass him through to the Marlies. "I just want to go out and show that I can work well in both ends," Colborne said, stressing the importance of proving his worth in the defensive zone under Carlyle. "Its finding the right balance that the coaching staff wants me to have and pretty much playing whatever role they tell me to do and Ill go out there and do it to the best of my ability. Just show that I can play in a defensive role if they want me and in an offensive role [too]." "Anytime you have that kind of intangibles as far as size and skill and speed the skys the limit," Carlyle noted. "Itll be up to him to continue to show growth and take the next step and itll be us to provide him with the strong environment that he can do that." Now is the time for Joe Colborne and he knows it. "This year, knowing that I put in the work this summer I know I can come and I can handle the bag skates and I can handle all those other things," he said. "Its just now about going out there and making sure I go play the way I know I can." Authentic Steelers Jerseys Authentic Cowboys Jerseys Authentic Raiders Jerseys Authentic Chiefs Jerseys Authentic Eagles Jerseys Authentic Redskins Jerseys Authentic Falcons Jerseys Authentic Ravens Jerseys Authentic Browns Jerseys Authentic Cardinals Jerseys Authentic Bills Jerseys Authentic Panthers Jerseys Authentic Bears Jerseys Authentic Bengals Jerseys Authentic Texans Jerseys Authentic Broncos Jerseys Authentic Lions Jerseys Authentic Packers Jerseys Authentic Jets Jerseys Authentic Dolphins Jerseys Authentic Patriots Jerseys Authentic Jaguars Jerseys Authentic Titans Jerseys Authentic Chargers Jerseys Authentic Giants Jerseys Authentic Saints Jerseys Authentic Buccaneers Jerseys Authentic 49ers Jerseys Authentic Seahawks Jerseys Authentic Rams Jerseys Authentic Vikings Jerseys Authentic Colts Jerseys ' ' '