who jabbed hard to get a thick edge to Raval at second sli

TORONTO -- Watching grim-faced Team USA players Zach Parise, David Backes, Kyle Palmieri and Derek Stepan walk into the media center at the World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday afternoon was reminiscent of a Sean Penn scene from the movie Dead Man Walking.Dead team walking. Thats pretty much Team USA at this tournament as the Americans prepare for a final, meaningless preliminary-round game against the Czech Republic on Thursday night.The outcome may be meaningless, but the flameout of this team in this best-on-best tournament has created a cottage industry of USA Hockey-bashing that may be unrivaled for the sport in the age of social media.Less than 24 hours after the Americans 4-2 loss Tuesday night to Canada, which eliminated the U.S. from playoff contention, USA Hockey was in retreat mode rather than meeting the issue head-on.Team USA officials initially tried to shut down any media access to the team on Wednesday, but after pressure from reporters and tournament organizers the team made four players available.GM Dean Lombardi is expected to speak to the media Thursday after the teams morning skate. Team USA head coach John Tortorella presumably will as well.But since the questions about the construction of the team, the lineup decisions, and the overall mindset of USA Hockey regarding international tournaments were still burning in the hours after their fate at the tournament was sealed, its inexcusable that those four American players were hung out to dry.And lets take a moment to acknowledge that the players would rather have been anywhere else than surrounded by dozens of reporters and cameras and being forced to answer questions about whether Phil Kessel was ripping them on Twitter after the loss to Canada on Tuesday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins winger wasnt selected for the U.S. World Cup team.Its disappointing, said Backes, a two-time Olympian, when asked about Kessels tweet. Its almost to say we were coasting or dont care or werent representing our country as well as we could have. For other guys who have worn the jersey, its disappointing.I understand theres hard feelings if you werent picked for the team or whatever, but the comments are, I think -- as a team guy and a guy who stands by my teammates win, lose or draw -- its a little distasteful and aggravating.And dont expect Backes, the longtime St. Louis Blues captain who is now a member of the Boston Bruins, to forget about the dig.Those comments dont get lost in the fray, and those comments are there and have been read and I think will be remembered when whatever happens going forward, he added.Parise, another two-time Olympian who was the captain of the U.S. squad at the Sochi Olympics, asked aloud whether Kessel would have been able to play in the tournament considering that he suffered a hand injury during the playoffs.Didnt he just have surgery? I thought he did, Parise said. His tweet didnt really make sense. Regardless, I dont really care what Phil said.Regardless of Kessels health, the goal scorer was ignored by Team USAs management team, as were ?Tampa Bay Lightning? center Tyler Johnson and ?Buffalo Sabres? power forward Kyle Okposo along with offensive-minded defensemen Justin Faulk, Kevin Shattenkirk and Cam Fowler.After Tuesdays game, Tortorella insisted that he wouldnt change the roster, which was outscored 7-2 in these first two games. One suspects that was an impulsive response rather than one based on reason.Of course, since no one from USA Hockey or team management was available on Wednesday to address the implications of this disastrous showing, ? it was left to the designated players to answer the hows and whys of this tawdry tale.And really, how fair is it to put players in the position of having to address whether they should have been selected to represent their country? Not very.Again, our job as players is to play, not pick teams, said Parise. I dont know what goes into how they pick teams and thats none of my business. Our job is to play. I dont plan on getting in the managing business.The players control only the moments on the ice.They werent in charge of organizing a tournament that denied both Canada and the United States access to top players under the age of 24. Those players formed the entertaining Team North America entry, which is still in the running.The U.S. players didnt pick the team or the coaching staff. They played and they accepted that what they did here in Toronto was not nearly good enough.Theres a different look, perhaps, if everyones available, said Backes, who admitted that if every American player had been available to Team USA, maybe he wouldnt have been on the roster. Perhaps a gut check for everybody whos on this team to evaluate what they were able to give or what they gave for the red, white and blue, those colors they wear so proudly.Thats something, no matter what jersey youre in, the pride as a competitive athlete should be that youre giving everything you got, every shift, every period to help your team win, and we didnt play near well enough.Something this ugly doesnt get resolved in one day. Or two. Or three.There are organizational issues at play here, philosophical ones with hard questions aplenty. If there isnt a lot of soul-searching going on at USA Hockey about how this smoking crater came to be, there should be. And in a hurry. Shaquille ONeal Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. 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"Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. New Zealand 104 for 3 (Raval 55*, Nicholls 29*) trail Pakistan 133 (Misbah 31, de Grandhomme 6-41, Southee 2-20) by 29 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was a tale of two debutants on a fascinating day of Test cricket where ball dominated the bat. Although the final analysis of 13 wickets for 237 runs would suggest a menacing surface, the truth was that a lot of batsmen, especially from Pakistan, were out poking or trying to play expansive drives. New Zealand fared much better with the bat, and held the aces as the first Test moved forward at a breakneck speed despite an entire day being washed out by rain in Christchurch.Colin de Grandhomme, the Harare-born Auckland allrounder who had previously taken just one five-wicket haul in 83 first-class games, had the best figures (6 for 41) by a New Zealand debutant. It meant Pakistan, sent in to bat, were rolled over for 133. Misbah-ul-Haq, captaining his country for the 50th time, top scored with a typically feisty 31 off 108 deliveries during the course of which he proved it was the top orders impatience and not a menacing Hagley Oval green top that contributed to their downfall; no other batsman crossed 20.In reply, Jeet Raval, the other debutant, replacing Martin Guptill, overcame a testing new-ball burst to finish 55 not out as New Zealand recovered from early losses of Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to end on 104 for 3, trailing by just 29 runs. Playing late and committing himself wholeheartedly to his strokes, both off the front and back foot, he picked off seven boundaries and looked at ease even as his partners largely struggled; particularly against Mohammad Amir in a probing opening spell that read 6-2-6-1.Things could have been much worse for New Zealand had Henry Nicholls, replacing Luke Ronchi, not substituted flamboyance for grit and patience to finish unbeaten on 29. The fourth-wicket pair added 64, but in blunting out 19.4 overs, they ensured New Zealand had limited the new-ball damage to potentially make run-scoring a lot easier on the morrow.The surface demanded patience which Pakistan clearly lacked, as their top order crumbled after a solid 31-run opening stand that frustrated New Zealand. In trying to bowl full and swing the ball late, their new ball pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult either slipping the ball down the leg side or bowl it full and wide in the first hour as Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali went iinto their shell, seemingly happy to blunt the new ball.dddddddddddd Then Williamson turned to de Grandhommes seam-ups over Neil Wagners bustling pace, and the move worked immediately. After two poor overs in which he sprayed the ball, de Grandhomme broke through when he scythed through Azhars defence with an in-dipper. The old adage of one brings two ensured when Southee, brought back form the other end, sent back Aslam, who jabbed hard to get a thick edge to Raval at second slip.Babar Azam was reprieved on 4, but couldnt curb his instincts of trying to drive on the up as he was also pouched in the slips. When Younis Khans flashy cover drive to a delivery he could have left alone off de Grandhomme was pouched by Raval in the cordon, Pakistan had sensationally slipped from 31 without loss to 56 for 4.Pakistan slowly rebuilt through a 32-run stand, but the lunch break came to New Zealands rescue as Asad Shafiq, demoted to No. 6 after a fruitless stint at No. 3 in the UAE, poked one to gully. Sarfraz Ahmed tried to unsettle the bowlers by walking outside the crease, giving bowlers the charge and play a typically aggressive game. Not even being hit on the helmet by a steep bouncer altered his approach. Eventually a tame waft resulted in a simple catch at gully to a relieved Todd Astle, who put down a chance earlier in the day.Watching the carnage unfold, Misbah continued to bat on in the hope that he would find some support from the tail. But such was the nature of Pakistans collapse that Williamson resisted temptation to give his faster men a break, and go for the kill. Boult and Southee overcame insipid starts to finish with two wickets apiece.For a while it looked like New Zealands top order would match Pakistans indiscretions. After Tom Latham was lbw to Amir, Williamson, in particular, fell tamely when he pushed away from the body - neither attempting a punch nor a full-blooded cut shot - to be caught at slip. Ross Taylor, all at sea against Sohail Khans late away-swing, was snaffled down leg side to extend his lean patch to 10 innings now to open up the game.With over 25 overs left, two more wickets then may have tilted the scales Pakistans way. That it didnt was largely due to Ravals steadfast determination and Nicholls grit that capped off an eventful day. ' ' '