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. Claudio Marchisio Italy Jersey . "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." Roberto Baggio Jersey . It was almost exactly like the way Babcocks Team Canada won gold at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The result was a 2-1 Red Wings victory on Swedish Olympian Gustav Nyquists rebound goal with 28 seconds left in overtime. Mattia Perin Italy Jersey . The stadium gasped. Reliever Drew Storen, already with men on first and second with none out in the seventh inning of a tie game, was on the ropes. Then Storen threw Stanton a slider. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Momentum shifted. Two popouts later, the inning was over with no damage done, and the Washington Nationals scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins.The International Scouting Service (ISS) has released its first set of rankings for the 2013 NHL Draft and highly touted CHL stars Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones find themselves in the top two spots. The 17-year-old MacKinnon has solidified his position at the top of the list with a quick start to his 2012-13 season, recording 11 goals and 17 points in 10 games with the QMJHLs Halifax Mooseheads. MacKinnon is the leading scorer on a Halifax team that sits first overall in the Quebec Major Junior league. Playing in his first season in the Western Hockey League, Jones sits one spot behind the Canadian-born centre. A 6-foot-4, 206-pound deffenceman from Plano, Texas, Jones has recorded two goals and six points in 10 games this season, leading the Portland Winterhawks to first place in the U. Alberto Aquilani Jersey. S. Division of the leagues Western Conference. The top-ranked European skater is centre Aleksander Barkov of Tappara of the Finnish Elite League. Ranked third on the ISS list, the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder recorded seven goals and 16 points in 32 games with Tappara as a 16-year-old last season. He is now in his second year in Finlands top league. Rounding out the top five are forwards Sean Monahan of the OHLs Ottawa 67s and Curtis Lazar of the WHLs Edmonton Oil Kings. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '