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TORONTO -- Much of the chatter heading into Saturday nights World Cup of Hockey semifinal (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and WatchESPN) is over whether Russia has the goods to upset Canada.The question itself underlines how much the rivalry between the two countries has changed over the years. The mere suggestion that Russia beating Canada would be deemed an upset -- well, 25 years ago that would have been blasphemy.Russia still produces great players, but its day as the top threat to Canada for world supremacy in the sport has long passed. Of course, a win by Alex Ovechkin and his Russian side on Canadian ice Saturday night would go a long way toward reversing that slide.And yes, it would be an upset by any definition of the word. Team Canada went a perfect 3-0-0 in round-robin play, trailing in a game for only 89 seconds, outscoring the opposition 14-3 and running its best-on-best winning streak to 13 games going back to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.It has been one of the most dominant stretches for hockeys birth nation in modern history.Thats all great, but that doesnt matter going into tomorrow, Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby said on Friday. Its all about the next one. I think the trust and belief is there. Its nice to have that; its good to have that experience with guys and the belief you can play different kind of games and overcome things. But its only as good as what you do with it. Tomorrow is a big one, and none of the [previous] games really matter.Russia went 2-1-0 in round-robin play, a closely contested 2-1 loss to Sweden its only blemish, and is playing a much better team game than it did when it crashed and burned in the quarterfinals of the Sochi Olympics.Best playersRussia:?Evgeny Kuznetsov has only one point in the tournament, his electrifying goal against North America, but hes been very noticeable throughout. Put on a line between Ovechkin, his?Washington Capitals teammate, and Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues for the round-robin finale against Finland, Kuznetsov looked very comfortable and creative. KHLer Ivan Telegin, property of the Winnipeg Jets, scored a beauty against Finland on Thursday and, despite being a fourth-liner on this team, has had an impact in his limited role. Ovechkin has been dynamic in every game -- no surprise there. And finally, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has been outstanding in this tournament, which is no doubt encouraging for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hope to see him return to this Vezina Trophy ways. Hes stopped 91 of 96 shots in the World Cup for a sparkling .948 save percentage.Canada: So spread out are the contributions on his ridiculously deep team that 12 skaters have at least two points through three games for Team Canada. But theres no question that Crosby is leading the way. The best player in the world has been just that in this tournament -- on both sides of the puck. His line, with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, has been both an offensive and defensive juggernaut. John Tavares has three assists and has been a force every game. Fourth-liner Matt Duchene had the big game against Team USA and has been terrific overall, given his role. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty has been all that. Netminder Carey Price is back to being Carey Price after missing most of last season with a knee injury.Matchup to watchSidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. Well of course, right? Team Canada has last line change, and the two most logical options for coach Mike Babcock when it comes to matching up to Russias top line of Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Tarasenko are either Crosbys unit or the one centered by Jonathan Toews between Logan Couture and Steven Stamkos. Both options are solid. Crosbys line never seems to spend any time in its own zone in this tourney. Thats one way to defend.PredictionIts one game, which means Russia absolutely can win. And it can especially win if two things happen: Bobrovsky steals the game and Canada gets into penalty trouble, just as it did in the pre-tournament finale between both teams. Russia hasnt scored on the power play in three tournament games, but I wouldnt want to test the limits on that given the talent on those units.Yeah, you dont want to get into penalty trouble against them, Crosby said. With their power play and the guys they have out there, we have to make sure we find a way to stay out of the box, try to hold onto the puck as best we can and force them to take penalties.Anything can happen, but logic dictates that Canada has everything going for it. It has four forward lines creating massive puck pressure in the offensive zone, and once the Canadians have the puck, they keep it for long stretches. With Price the last line of defense on top of that, the back-to-back Olympic champions should prevail.?Canada wins 4-2.Wholesale NHL White Jerseys . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Wholesale Stitched Jerseys . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. http://www.nhlcheapjerseysauthentic.com/ . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Jerseys Wholesale . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Youth NHL Jerseys China . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half.The Heart of Dallas Bowl will be a rematch between two teams that played in October -- and one of them is heading into the game with a 5-7 record.Unusual? Yes. But scenarios like this simply come with the territory now.With 80 bowl spots to fill, some postseason games ended up with odd matchups this year. North Texas will play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after going 5-7, and the game will be a rematch against an Army teams it met six weeks ago. Mississippi State is also going to a bowl at 5-7. The Bulldogs face Miami (Ohio) in the St. Petersburg Bowl.Were fortunate to have the opportunity, North Texas coach Seth Littrell said. At the end of the day, we didnt even feel like we could get in this way, but we did, and so were going to take it.Hawaii is also heading to a bowl with a losing record. The Rainbow Warriors (6-7) will play in the Hawaii Bowl against Middle Tennessee. The reason some sub-.500 teams were given a reprieve is because there werent enough eligible teams to fill all the spots.That shortage also allows Army (6-5) and South Alabama (6-6) to go to bowls even though both have multiple wins over FCS schools. Teams are only supposed to count one FCS win for bowl eligibility purposes, but since there were openings, the Black Knights and Jaguars are in.South Alabama faces Air Force in the Arizona Bowl. The Jaguars were supposed to play LSU in November, but that game was canceled when the Tigers needed to play a rescheduled game against Florida. South Alabama played Presbyterian instead and won, so that switch may have been the difference between reaching a bowl and missing the postseason.There were sub-.500 teams in bowls last season too, so this may be the new normal in college football. Last season, Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State were 5-7 going into their bowls, and all three of them won.North Texas and Mississippi State werent exactly apologizing Sunday. The Bulldogs Twitter account boasted that Mississippi State is one of only five Southeastern Conference schools to reach a bowl every season this decade.Since the Academic Progress Rate playss a role in which sub.dddddddddddd-500 teams play on, coaches can take pride in that.This is a great opportunity for one of the winningest senior classes in school history and for our program to build momentum for 2017, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said in a statement. It also speaks volumes of our student-athletes for their commitment in the classroom to qualify for a bowl based on our successful APR.North Texas lost four of its last five games in the regular season, but reaching a bowl -- no matter how it happened -- is still a big step forward after the Mean Green went 1-11 in 2015.North Texas won 35-18 at Army on Oct. 22. Regular-season rematches are rare in bowls, but there are some positives for the Heart of Dallas Bowl in this matchup. The bowl was supposed to match Conference USA against the Big Ten, but with one Big Ten team in the playoff and three more in New Years Six bowls, there werent enough left for every bowl with ties to the league.We know that Army is going to bring a large contingency because the Texas area is one of their hotbeds, said Brant Ringler, the bowls executive director.North Texas in Denton, of course, isnt far from Dallas. Ringler said that was appealing as well.In the past couple years, you probably have noticed, the Conference USA championship has occurred, we received usually the champion or the runner-up, and it was probably going to look to be that way possibly this year as well, Ringler said. But when we had an opening in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl game that we also control, we did work out an agreement with Conference USA to have (runner-up Louisiana Tech) play in the Armed Forces Bowl. Therefore, it allowed us to be able to slide in the University of North Texas into the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which is a win-win for all of us all around.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '