It might have taken an extra week but the finals are finally upon us, and Gill McLachlans plan to give the top eight teams a week off before September action begins could work in the favour of a couple of injury-ravaged sides.After finishing on top of the ladder after Round 23, the unkillable Sydney Swans top ESPNs Power Rankings heading into the first week of finals - the combination of their finals experience and lead-in form being too good to ignore, especially considering theyre facing first-time finalists Greater Western Sydney in the first week.West Coast are the major surprise packet. Theyre ranked second after winning nine of their last 10 matches, including impressive victories over reigning champions Hawthorn, Adelaide in South Australia and GWS in Sydney, and should be considered a smokey to make the big dance if their stellar form continues.Geelong, too, shouldnt be taken lightly. Although they may feel aggrieved at having to play their home qualifying final at Hawthorns home ground, the Cats finals prowess and great form against fellow top eight sides has been well noted.Meanwhile, Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson will be hoping the week off has given his side a chance to regroup after a patchy run home, in which they lost to the Eagles and Melbourne, and scraped past Collingwood by just one point.Further down the rankings is finals debutant GWS, as well as the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne. Both of those Victorian sides face tough road trips in their elimination finals; the Dogs have never won a final interstate, while North Melbourne has not beaten Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in its three attempts.What would give fans of these teams some confidence, however, is the week off has given up to five Bulldogs a chance to prove their fitness, while a week rest could be just the tonic for North Melbournes ageing list.LegendForm: The higher the number, the better a teams form from its last month.Health: Determined by the number and quality of fit players available. A list in good shape is ranked around a 7; a list missing three or four best-22 players might be considered a 3 or 4.X-Factor: The number and quality of genuine match-winning players.vs. top 8: The higher the number, the better the team has performed against other top eight sides in season 2016.vs. opp @ venue:?The higher the number, the better the team has performed against their opposition from their last three matches at the given venue.Finals experience: The higher the number, the more experienced a team is in a finals matches played.Bartolo Colon Jersey . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. John Wetteland Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/612h-jeff-russell-jersey-rangers.html . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. Buddy Bell Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Willie Calhoun Jersey . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August.Four more years.The Hockeyroos long wait to add to their three Olympic gold medals just got longer.Australias 4-2 belting at the hands of New Zealand in the quarterfinals of the womens hockey competition ended a campaign that never really got going.The result also means Australia will head to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics having not won a Games medal since their gold at Sydney in 2000.Captain Madonna Blyth, Australias most-capped female player with 342 appearances, announced shortly after the match this would be her final Olympics.The 30-year-old from Brisbane stopped short of declaring her retirement, but admitted even the Commonwealth Games in 2018 on the Gold Coast would be a stretch.I put everything I had over the last six months into the lead-up to Rio, always knowing that this would be it, Blyth said.Its a little bit of a disappointing way to go out, but thats just the way it goes sometimes, you cant always have the fairytale finishes when you want them.The world No.3 Hockeyroos were behind after seven minutes when Anita McLaren struck for the Black Sticks Women before Kelsey Smith deflected in from a penalty corner to give New Zealand a 2--0 lead at halftime.ddddddddddddAustralia got one back through Kathryn Slattery in the third quarter which was quickly cancelled out by Gemma Flynn before Charlotte Harrison hit the back of the net for the world No.4 side just before the end of the term.Slattery scored a late goal to give her a double in hot conditions in Deodoro.Its very disappointing for our girls considering we played some really good hockey but when it comes down to these games, youve got to be at your best or you get punished, Blyth said.Coach Adam Commens, who announced before Rio he was stepping down from the role for family reasons, said the early goal was crucial.The scoreboard pressure changes the game. The Kiwis got their first chance ... it was a penalty corner, and they put it away, he said.The coach believes the future is bright for the Hockeyroos who had 12 debutantes in Brazil.I was hopeful theyd be able to do it in Rio but we were probably found a little bit short against a little bit more experienced New Zealand side, he said. ' ' '