Its arguably the first marquee event of every Winter Olympics, and the mens downhill in recent Olympics has provided surprising storylines. “The one thing about the Olympics especially in the speed disciplines, it so very rarely goes to the favourite, the favourite has so much pressure, and the variables are greater in downhill,” says CBC alpine analyst Kerrin Lee-Gartner, a 1992 downhill winner. “ Its not to say its a flukey thing, its just that everything has to align right, its harder for the favourite to make it align right in downhill.” In the last 20 years there have been four Olympic downhill winners who had fewer than three World Cup victories before making history: Tommy Moe of the U.S., Frenchmen Jean-Luc Cretier and Antoine Deneriaz, and 2010 winner Didier Defago of Switzerland. The Canadian Cowboys - Erik Guay, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Jan Hudec - wouldnt qualify as surprise winners from an individual standpoint, but breaking a 20-year Olympic medal drought for the country in alpine skiing certainly would make fans take notice. No Canadian man has ever won a gold or silver medal in alpine. Steve Podborski (1980) and Ed Podivinsky (1994) each won bronze in the downhill. Guay is the likeliest contender to break through. Hes achieved two of his three career goals after winning a Crystal Globe season title in the super-G in 2010 and winning a world championship in downhill a year later. The Mont-Tremblant, Que., native is only missing an Olympic medal, preferably gold, after three separate top five finishes at the Winter Games. Guay has battled back this season from a knee injury to break Podborskis World Cup podium record for Canadian men. He finished seventh in the opening training session on Thursday. Hudec, he of the seven knee surgeries and more recent back injury, has also reached the podium this season. The Calgary native took silver in the super-G in Val Gardena, Italy in December. Osborne-Paradis is waiting to take that next step. Since coming back in late 2012 from a knee injury, the North Vancouver native has had top 10 finishes, but has been unable to reach the podium. Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., finished second on a slightly different Sochi course two years ago, but hes struggled mightily this season.There are two strong international contenders to buck the recent trend of surprise Olympic downhill champs. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won a medal of every colour in Vancouver, has run his total of World Cup downhill wins to eight this season with a pair of victories. Bode Miller of the United States has wowed ski fans again this season, coming back at the age of 36 after more than a year off to reach the World Cup podium once each in downhill, super-G and giant slalom. Millers yet to win since his comeback, but coming up golden for a sixth career Olympic medal would be just his style. The following men would also not be surprise winners: Dominik Paris and Christof Innerhofer of Italy, Adrian Theaux of France and Patrick Kueng of Switzerland. Even 36-year-old Didier Defago put his name into consideration again after his first victory in over two years last month, a super-G at Kitzbuehel. The lengthy course has received mostly positive feedback from the skiers, with many remarking on the "big air" jumps. 2010 Olympic downhill: Didier Defago, Switzerland (G), Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway (S), Bode Miller, USA (B) Olympic alpine skiing schedule: Sunday, Feb. 9: Mens downhill Monday, Feb. 10: Womens super-combined Wednesday, Feb. 12: Womens downhill Friday, Feb. 14: Mens super-combined Saturday, Feb. 15: Womens super-G Sunday, Feb. 16: Mens super-G Tuesday, Feb. 18: Womens giant slalom Wednesday, Feb. 19: Mens giant slalom Friday, Feb. 21: Womens slalom Saturday, Feb. 22: Mens slalom China Shoes . Both sides came closest to scoring in the first half, when Roma had a goal from Mattia Destro waved off for offside and Inters Rodrigo Palacio headed high. "A draw was a fair result. Neither squad had many chances," Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. China Shoes Wholesale .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005. https://www.chinashoes.us/ . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada. Air Max From China . After overcoming a three-goal deficit the Senators forced the game to overtime only to watch it slip away as Seth Jones scored the winner 3:49 into the extra period as the Nashville Predators defeated the Senators 4-3 Monday night. China Shoes Store .Mack, a reserve guard who came in averaging 3.8 points, made all six of his 3-pointers as the Hawks went 16 for 28 from behind the arc.Trailing 50-38 midway through the second quarter, Atlanta outscored Cleveland 89-48 the rest of the way and sent the Cavaliers to their largest loss of the season.Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron, San Jose Sharks forward Brent Burns and Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith have been named finalists for the 2013-14 NHL Foundation Player Award, presented to "an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community." The 30 NHL clubs each submitted a nomination for their team and the finalists were selected by a judging panel. Bergerons community intitatives include “Patrices Pals,” a program that provides children from various youth organizations the opportunity to watch Bruins home games from a luxury suite. Among the charities that have participated are Boston Childrens Hospital, Defending the Blue Line, Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Franciscan Hospital for Children, The Jimmy Fund, The Home for Little Wanderers and Massachusetts General Hospital. Burns has donated more than $1 million to Defending the Blue Line, which provides children of military families the opportunity to play hockey.ddddddddddddHe hosts guests in the “Burnzies Battalion” suite at SAP Center each season and his hockey equipment drives at Sharks Ice at San Jose are the organizations most lucrative fundraisers each year. Burns also shaved his infamous long hair and beard to raise $24,000 for DTBL and the Katie Moore Foundation this season, established by close friend and former teammate Dominic Moore to help those suffering from rare cancers. Keiths impact in the Chicago community is felt through his charity, Keith Relief. Keith and his wife assist others by alleviating some of the financial and emotional burdens of families and individuals during times of medical crises. Keith Relief has raised more than $250,000 through benefit concerts since 2012, with all proceeds benefiting the organization as well as Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. ' ' '