CALGARY -- Unlike her two previous Olympic Games, Mellisa Hollingsworth heads to Sochi, Russia, less of a favourite and more an underdog. Shes fine with that. Hollingsworth, from Eckville, Alta., joined Sarah Reid and John Fairbairn of Calgary and Eric Neilson of Kelowna, B.C., as the first skeleton racers named to Canadas 2014 Olympic team Wednesday. Another man and woman may be added to the skeleton team in January. Reid, Fairbairn and Neilson are Olympic rookies. The 33-year-old Hollingsworth says her third Winter Games will be her last and she does not intend to bow out quietly. "Im definitely ready to step up to the plate," she declared. "Im still striving. Im not there to participate, Ill tell you that." Hollingsworth owns over 30 world championship and World Cup medals. The last time many Canadians saw her, Hollingsworth was tearfully apologizing on national television for finishing fifth in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Hollingsworth won a bronze medal in 2006, so the pressure to win a medal at home was enormous. Heading to Sochi, shes felt empowered by Canadians reactions to her public despair almost four years ago. "I feel a lot stronger from that experience," she said. "A lot of that has come from Canadas support of people not throwing me under the bus for not winning a medal at those Olympics. "That was a big eye-opener to know people are still behind you because of your character and not necessarily your result. Thats my definition of success right there." Hollingsworth was informed Sunday by head coach Duff Gibson, the 2006 Olympic mens champion, that she was going to Sochi. She won silver at the 2012 world championship, but felt short of the criteria for automatic nomination to the 2014 Olympic team. Reid and Neilson both met the standard of four top-six World Cup results last season and in the first half of this season. Fairbairn earned Canadas second male spot because he is currently Canadas top-ranked male in the spot. Hollingsworth ranked No. 2 among Canadian women behind Reid to earn the second female berth. "Sure, its not the way I came in every other Olympic year kind of on fire and leading the World Cup standings, but then again at those Olympics Games I didnt achieve what we thought I could," Hollingsworth explained. "I won an Olympic medal in Torino, but I was expected to win gold. Same thing in Vancouver." Canada had to rank among the top two countries in womens skeleton and in the top three in mens skeleton on Jan. 19 in order to qualify a third sled for both sexes. Defending Olympic mens champion Jon Montgomery was not among the group introduced Wednesday at a Calgary mall theatre. The Russell, Man., slider faces an uphill climb to claim the third mens berth should Canada get it. Montgomery took the 2011-12 season off from racing to build a new sled from scratch, but has yet to adjust to it and his results have suffered. Cassie Hawrysh of Brandon, Man., and Robynne Thompson of Calgary are in the running for the possible third position on the womens team. Reid, a bronze medallist at the 2013 world championship, and the experienced Hollingsworth are Canadas best chances to continue the countrys run of Olympic medals in the sport. Hollingsworth also tried a new sled this season that did not work for her. She didnt qualify at fall selection trials for Canadas World Cup team and opened the season on the secondary Intercontinental Cup circuit. When she had the opportunity to race a recent World Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., Hollingsworth got back on the sled shed been on for a decade and a half and finished eighth. "I was doing everything possible to get on some new equipment and get onto that state of flow on a new sled and it just did not work for me," she explained. "I spent 15 years of my life learning the ins and outs of that sled that its become an appendage, another part of my body. I went to Lake Placid and felt like me again. This is the first time since the world championships in 2012 that Ive been this confident or this comfortable on my sled." For that reason, shes hoping to build momentum in the four World Cup races before the Sochi Games in February. "Im the strongest and the fastest Ive ever been," Hollingsworth said. "Im pushing a sled very, very well and now Im confident in my sled that I have, the old sled and knowing it can still go fast. "Ive got four more opportunities to see where things can go result-wise, but it really doesnt matter. What matters is Sochi." wholesale jerseys stitched . -- Patrick Reed followed a big win with a bold comment. wholesale jerseys . LUCIE, Fla. http://www.wholesalejerseysstitched.us.com/ . On the same day Steven Stamkos announced he is ready to return to the lineup, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded Martin St. wholesale jerseys china . -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon. wholesale jerseys free shipping . Andres Ambuhl scored the winning goal late in the third period as host HC Davos beat Canada 3-2 Saturday.NEW YORK – Jonathan Bernier had one thing running through his mind amid an avalanche of shots in what was a wildly tilted second period for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. "I thought Bernie stood on his head and gave us a chance to steal another point," said Randy Carlyle after the 2-1 shootout defeat, the teams 10th loss in the past 11 games on the road. Nudging a puck past the pads of rookie Cam Talbot, Nazem Kadri evened the score at one with less than two minutes to play in regulation. His efforts would have been for not if it wasnt for the sterling play of the 25-year-old between the pipes. The Rangers outshot the Leafs 22-5 in a penalty-filled second frame, firing 18 shots in a span of just 12 minutes. "We had a bit of a rough stretch there," Kadri said, "but thats why weve got great goaltenders. We werent worried because we know Bernie can hang in there and make some big stops for us. Obviously weve got to find a way to tone that down, but he gave us a chance to win the game." Toronto goaltending has been that kind of rock through hard times all season, the lone bit of solace amid continued spurts of inconsistency. The bookends of Mondays performance were solid for the Leafs, nearly undone though by a second frame under siege. "Im just trying to keep it close," said Bernier of the experience in the second. "I know were going to score one goal and Im just trying to do my job and go shot by shot." It was the fourth 40-plus save performance for Bernier in 22 starts this season. He now boasts a .929 save percentage on the year, good for seventh-best in the NHL. But the Quebec native wouldnt go so far to say hell stole a point for his team. In fact, he couldnt help but lament the two goals that snuck by in the shootout. "I didnt steal one," he said. "I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." Five Points 1. Bernier Shootout Struggles Bernier dropped to 3-8 lifetime in the shootout and 2-4 this season. His career .500 save percentage is amongst the worst of any active goaltender (tied for 68th in a class of 77). He was beaten on this night by Mats Zuccarello, who flipped a shot over his left shoulder, and Derek Stepan, who potted the eventual winner. "I thought the first two I was a little bit impatient," said Bernier. "Ive got to go get that extra point for my team." 2. Road Woes The road has offered nothing but misery for the Leafs since the start of November. With Mondays shootout defeat, theyve now dropped 10 of the last 11 games away from the ACC (1-6-4), outscored 36-20 in that span. Their lone victory in that stretch came on Dec. 7,, a 4-3 shootout triumph over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.dddddddddddd Now 6-8-4, the Leafs have the fourth-worst road mark in the Eastern Conference. 3. Means to Victory Saved often by the efforts of Bernier and James Reimer, the Leafs now sit 13-1-2 on the year when theyve yielded two goals or less. Conversely, their record is just 5-15-3 when theyve allowed three goals or more. 4. Christmas Break "This is the dog days of hockey when you get close to the 40-game mark," said Carlyle. And with a three-day break lying in wait for the holidays, he and the Leafs are just hoping to reset with an increasingly taxing second half ahead. "Its been a real hectic schedule here for the last three weeks, Ill tell you that," Carlyle said of a stretch which saw his team play 12 times in 23 days. "It seems like we play every second day and theres no relaxing time and then theres very limited practice time." With just one regulation victory in the past 18 games, theyll need to find a path towards improvement. "You just cant look at all the negatives," said Kadri, who scored his 11th goal of the year in defeat. "Youve got to look at the positives. I know thats a bit cliché, but its the right thing to do. You also point out the negatives and you go to the chalkboard and you work on it. But I think a few of those games weve played some of our better games of the year and still come out with losses. Thats just how this league works." 5. Lengthy Shift For one stretch in the Rangers dominant second frame, Dion Phaneuf was caught on the ice for a taxing two minutes and 56 seconds. New York fired five shots on goal before Peter Holland was finally whistled for roughing, the first of four penalties for the Leafs in the period. "Not very good," said Phaneuf, asked how he felt during the near-three minute shift. "When you get stuck out that long its tough. "I was trying to change obviously. I wouldve liked to not get stuck out there for that long, but its part of what happens. Sometimes teams are able to hem another team in and thats what happened tonight." Stats-Pack .929 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier this season, seventh-best in the NHL. 3-8 – Career record in the shootout for Bernier. 1 – Regulation victory for the Leafs since Nov. 19. 1-6-4 – Leafs record on the road in the past 11 games. 5-4 – Shootout record for the Leafs this season. 13-1-2 – Leafs record when yielding two goals or less this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 22.4 per cent (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 78.4 per cent (26th) Quote of the Night "I didnt steal one. I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." -Jonathan Bernier, following his 42-save performance. Up Next The Leafs are off three days for the Christmas break, returning to host Buffalo on Friday night. cheap nfl jerseys authentic wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys authentic jerseys nfl wholesale wholesale jerseys stitched ' ' '