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SOCHI, Russia – If not quite the underdog, Drew Doughty believes, at the very least, that the Canadians are being overlooked, doubted and probably even overly dissected heading into Fridays semifinal matchup with the Americans. "I think a lot of people are counting us out," said Doughty. "If everyone wants to count us out, were going to use that as motivation." Doughty wouldnt go quite so far as to label Team Canada as the underdog, but its clear that the overwhelming degree of scrutiny has some members of the squad feeling as though theyve been doubted just a little too much. "We dont see ourselves as the underdog," Doughty said, the defender leading the Canadians with four goals. "I think both teams are really evenly matched. I dont know who Id give the upper hand to at this point. Im obviously more confident in my team than I am in theirs..." Like the Americans, Canada has yet to lose in these Olympics, but unlike their rivals to the south, they failed to exactly dominate in victory, scratching out close wins over the Norwegians (3-1), Finns (2-1 overtime) and Latvians (2-1), the last of which saw the two teams tied for most of the first 53 minutes of regulation. Head coach Mike Babcock has stressed that his team simply improves each and every day of the two-week tournament, pointing to Wednesdays struggle with the Latvians as a needed bit of adversity. Its evident, however, that the best of this Canadian team has yet to emerge. Whether it will in time for the 2010 gold medal game rematch remains in question. "Yeah were close," said Jonathan Toews after the quarterfinal win over Latvia, "not quite there yet though. Next game." Scoring concerns up front remain the most pressing issue. The Canadian forward contingent has combined for just six goals - or one more than Phil Kessel has all by himself here in Sochi - despite an overwhelming level of offensive talent. Wednesdays quarterfinal could be construed as a step in the right direction. Though they snuck just two by Kristers Gudlevskis, they managed nearly 60 shots and had numerous opportunities. Sidney Crosby, who had a breakaway in the opening minute, remains the most notable Canadian forward yet to score, but hes joined by Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Patrick Marleau, Chris Kunitz, Martin St. Louis, Matt Duchene, and Patrice Bergeron – essentially everyone but Jeff Carter, Jamie Benn, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Sharp. Symmetry appears to finally be forming though. Unlike the previous four games, which saw the lines differ just about every night, Babcock will keep his forward combinations intact for the tilt against the Americans – save for the injured John Tavares (leg) – hopeful that theyll translate into actual production with elimination on the line. "You can talk scoring chances till youre blue in the face, who cares? The score is on the board, and so weve just got to find a way to keep doing what were doing," said Babcock. "I think we like the fact that were getting a lot of chances in and around the net," said Crosby, who remains alongside Kunitz and Bergeron. "We trust theyre going to go in a little bit more if we keep getting those. I think we just try to stay the course and make sure that we focus on burying those." Theyll have to do so against the seemingly unflappable Jonathan Quick. A rock for the L.A. Kings in the postseason – he has a .940 save percentage combined in the past two springs – Quick has stopped 72 of 77 shots in three starts for Team USA, fronted by an offence thats managed 20 goals in four games. "When he gets hot, when he makes some big saves early, he seems to become unbeatable, said Doughty, who captured the Cup with Quick in 2012. "And thats why weve got to get one early on him. The only way were going to score on him is weve got to get pucks up high and weve got to get screens in front and tips." Countering Quick will be Carey Price – who has stopped 48 of 51 shots – and a stiff defensive Canadian unit thats yielded just two even-strength goals all tournament and average of fewer than 19 shots against. If theres been an obvious strength to Canadas game on the bigger Olympic ice, its been the ability to defend and defend by controlling the possession of the puck. Continuing that against an American attack fronted by Kessel, who leads the tournament with eight points, will be a new and far more difficult challenge. Crosby was among the group of Canadian players who took in the Americans classic tilt with Russia in the preliminary round and was struck, above all else, with just how fast they were as a group. He and his teammates believe theyre ready for such a fight though even if others arent quite so sure. "At this point whether we beat three favourites or zero, nobodys going to really think about that or talk about that if we get the result we want [Friday] and win the game," he said. "Our groups real confident," Babcock added. "We like what weve done. We like how our team is. We think were set up good right now. And that, to me, is the most important thing." Baker Mayfield Jersey . Saltalamacchia drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, Henderson Alvarez won for the first time in three starts and the Miami Marlins beat the Braves 3-2 on Thursday night. Nick Chubb Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (5) – He had a brilliant game; it was a huge response for his average games before. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Tyrod-Taylor-Jersey/ . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. E.J. Gaines Browns Jersey . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday. Damarious Randall Browns Jersey . The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating.The National Hockey League has been hit with another lawsuit filed by former players who charge the league markets and profits from extreme violence. The latest lawsuit, which also alleges NHL officials are aware of the dangers of head trauma but downplay those risks, was filed July 25 in New York. Former New York Islanders forward Chris Ferraro, who played 74 NHL games from 1996 to 2002, and Dan Fritsche, who played 256 games in the league between 2003 and 2009, are the only former players listed as complainants. The legal documents, however, say lawyers are seeking to pursue the case as a class action lawsuit and that there are more than 100 potential class members. The documents do not say how much money the players are seeking from the league, but outline that the case involves move than $5 million. Neither Bill Daly, the NHLs deputy commissioner, nor a lawyer for Fritsche and Ferraro, responded to emails seeking comment. The lawsuit is the latest of several filed by hundreds of former players against the NHL in recent months. The league met with lawyers for the players in St. Louis last week to discuss with a judge the appropriate venue for the litigation, which may be combined into one case. A judge will decide within a few weeks on a venue. The NHL wants the case to be heard in New York or Washington, while lawyers for some of the players prefer Minnesota, because they think they would argue their case in front of a more sympathetic jury there.dddddddddddd In the latest case, lawyers for Fritsche and Ferraro have asked that the NHL be ordered to introduce a medical monitoring program to care for former and current NHL players who will have lifelong health problems and risks because of the leagues alleged misconduct. "The NHL has intentionally created, fostered, and promoted a culture of extreme violence, including violence from fighting. The NHL has known that, due to such violence, head trauma to plaintiffs and the class has been and is imminent," the lawsuit says. "The NHL has known that head trauma to plaintiffs and the class has and will be devastating and long-term negative health effects. Despite this knowledge and to maintain its revenue stream from violent construct, the NHL has and does intentionally subject plaintiffs and the class to head trauma." The league has also allegedly failed to inform players about the scientific research on the negative health effects of head trauma and from 1997 to 2011, the league failed to disclose the results of its concussion study to players and others. The players claims have not been proven in court and the NHL has not yet filed a statement of defence in the case. 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