Willkommen » a pair of buckets, but the Pacers netted the final five poi

TORONTO -- Brayden Point is banking on the second time being the charm. The Moose Jaw Warriors forward is again at the Canadian under-18 national hockey teams training camp. Last year as an under-age player he was with the squad through its final exhibition game in Sochi, Russia -- scoring twice in regulation and once in a shootout in a 5-4 victory over Czech Republic -- before being released and returning home. Adding insult to injury for Point, the Canadians went on to win the tournament for the third time overall but first since 2008. Canadas victory also snapped the United States run of four straight gold medal finishes. "It (being released) was tough but it was an older team and there was a lot of good players," Point said following Mondays practice at the Mastercard Centre. "I understood and was just thankful to get the experience. "Meeting the Hockey Canada guys and getting to know them over the course of the trip last year was great so now its a lot more comfortable and I feel a lot more confident." The five-foot-nine, 160-pound Point was the Warriors leading scorer this year with 91 points (26 goals, 55 assists). He played in all 72 of his teams games and finished the season with an impressive 12-game point streak. The 18-year-old Calgary native has recorded 149 points (61-88) in his three seasons with Moose Jaw. He also took part in the 2014 CHL Top Prospects game. Point does have previous national under-18 experience. He was a member of the Canadian squad that won gold at the 13 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament, registering a goal and three assists in five games. And although he wasnt a part of last years under-18 world championship squad, Point is well aware of what the expectations are for this years team. "No matter what Hockey Canada event you go to, the expectation is always gold," he said. "That never changes no matter what the previous team did. "But being able to play exhibition games last year over there was an awesome experience. I think I can take the pace of the game from that experience and hopefully translate it into my game this year." Point is among 22 players who were invited to the camp -- eight from both the WHL and OHL, six from the QMJHL. Thirteen participated in last years under-17 world hockey challenge in Quebec while eight played in this years under-17 event in Cape Breton, N.S. Point is one of nine players on the roster who helped Canada win gold at the Ivan Hlinka event last summer in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. But what stands out most to head coach Kevin Dineen is the sheer size of his squad, with 14 players in camp standing six feet or taller. "I cant believe the size of these guys and when you look at their bios they were playing midget just a couple of years ago," said Dineen, the former head coach of the NHLs Florida Panthers. "But not only are they big, theyre skilled with talent. "That makes it enjoyable having guys who are able to play the game anyway we need to have success." But Dineen, who played 19 NHL seasons and led Canadas national womens team to Olympic gold in Sochi in February, has also been impressed with his players hockey smarts. "Were certainly not going to compromise and dumb things down for this group," he said. "That wouldnt be fair to them because that wouldnt be making them live up to their potential and by no means are we doing that. "Its a pretty smart, cerebral bunch and I like the chemistry . . . one of our players missed the first day and didnt understand the drill we were doing so one of his teammates said, Here, hop in and Ill show you what we have to do. Theres a little bit of that going on which were really trying to encourage." And with good reason. Dineen faces the challenge of having to mould 22 players into a team less than two weeks before the start of the world championship tournament in Lapeenranta and Imatra, Finland. "Many teams were going to face have a real advantage because theyve been centralized like the U.S. team out in Ann Arbor, Mich., and many of the European players have played together for a while and were just putting this together," Dineen said. "But for me I love this kind of stuff, its so much fun. "This is such a good bunch to be around. Theyre enthusiastic, theyre talented, theyre nervous, its the whole package. Weve all felt each other out here for the last few days. Yes, there are challenges. Weve got to gel and find some chemistry in a pretty timely manner but its a really fun group to work with and theyre very sharp kids." Canada will conclude its training camp sessions Tuesday and play exhibition games against Finland and Denmark before opening the under-18 tournament April 17 against Sweden. Wholesale Tigers Jerseys . Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. Detroit Tigers Gear .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 and the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game, 93-92 over Philadelphia on Friday night, sending the Sixers to their 23rd straight loss. Tigers Jerseys 2020 . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Detroit Tigers Store . Tyrell appeared in seven games with the Lightning this year, he had no points in those appearances. The 24-year-old has seven goals and 17 assists in 132 career NHL games, all coming with the Lightning. He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2007 draft.The Indiana Pacers struck first in their Eastern Conference Finals series with the Miami Heat and theyll go for a commanding lead tonight when the two sides meet for Game 2 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Watch the action unfold live on TSN and TSN GO at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. The Pacers took Game 1, 107-96, Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis in a rematch of last years East Finals. The Pacers made six of their first seven shots from beyond the arc and shot 59.5 percent in the first half en route to a 55-45 cushion at the break. Indiana built its advantage up to as many as 19 in the third quarter and staved off every Heat push down the stretch in the wire-to-wire win. For the game, Indiana shot 51.5 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long range. "We played a pretty good basketball game. I think we can play better," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after practice Monday. "I think were going to need to play better because I think Miami is going to come back and play a more complete basketball game so we have to elevate our level." The Heat lost only their second postseason game, but are staring in the face of something unprecedented. Since the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh descended upon South Beach, the Heat have never gone down 0-2 in a series. "We had a couple of breakdowns. In the Eastern Conference Finals, you cant have that many breakdowns," James said after practice. "It wasnt a bad game at all. We scored 97 points, we got 54 points in the paint, we had 23 assists, only 11 turnovers. But we had some breakdowns defensively that allowed them to get some good shots." Paul George led the way for the Pacers with 24 points and seven assists. Indianas entire starting five scored in double figures and it moved to 6-0 this postseason when Roy Hibbert scores 10-or-more points. He finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. David Wesst tallied 19 points and seven boards, Lance Stephenson posted 17 points, eight assists and four rebounds and George Hill added 15 points for the Pacers, who improved to 4-4 at home in the playoffs after going an NBA- best 35-6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse during the regular season.dddddddddddd Wade netted 27 points, while James supplied 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals for Miami. Chris Andersen finished with 14 off the bench and Ray Allen added 12. Indiana raced out to a quick 7-0 start after Hill hit a quick 3-pointer and sunk a pair of free throws before Stephenson nailed a step-back jumper. The Pacers led 30-24 following a quarter of play. It was their first 30-point opening frame since Feb. 27. James cut Indianas gap to 50-45 following a pair of buckets, but the Pacers netted the final five points of the half. The Pacers piled it on in the third. George capped an 8-0 burst with a layup to extend the margin to 69-52 just before the midway point of the stanza. Two Hibbert free throws made it 81-62, but James layup concluded an 8-0 Miami flurry to get the two-time defending champs within 81-70. Wades layup pulled Miami within 83-74 early in the fourth, but the Pacers responded with six straight and the Heat never got the deficit below double digits again. "We played with a great energy," George said. "Thats been an area where we lacked this postseason. Being consistent with our energy and urgency to start games off. I thought we brought that." Indiana finished the season 7-9 and limped through the playoffs, at times looking brilliant, and other times, inconsistent. Miami has looked generally brilliant during the playoffs, and despite never falling down 0-2, this incarnation of the Heat has won all four series in which they lost Game 1. The home team in this matchup is on a nine-game winning streak. Game 3 will be Saturday night in Miami. ' ' '