r organization from bottom to top by supporting player devel

LEVI, Finland -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second to send an immediate message to her rivals ahead of the Sochi Games. The 18-year-old slalom world champion led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage, overcoming a mistake near the end to clock a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds. "Im really happy with how the day went and Im also really excited because it looks like there are some pretty fast girls in the back of the pack," Shiffrin said. "Im excited for the Olympics for sure but there are a couple of races between now and then, so hopefully I can just keep this going." Hoefl-Riesch, who was in a tie for third place after the first run, skied nearly flawlessly in the second but still finished 1.06 seconds behind in second place. Last years overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back. Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favourites for the Sochi Olympics. Her dominant display on Saturday did little to lower expectations on the teenager -- although Shiffrin thinks theres still plenty of room for improvement. "Every day there is something you can do better," Shiffrin said. "Im going to go back and study my skiing from today and study all the other girls to see who is doing what well and try to get better." Another 18-year-old also made a name for herself, as Christina Ager of Austria finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run -- in part because of favourable winds -- and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch has won three World Cup slaloms in Levi and made the podium for the seventh time here. "It was a great day for me. I had a good feeling in training already," she said. "Its always really special for me here because of my first win many years ago and because of my many good results here." Maze said she was happy to get back to skiing fast after the disappointing result in Soelden, where she struggled with the high expectations after her dominance last season. "I got a lot of pressure in Soelden race, it was the start of the season so it was not easy to handle all of this pressure so I felt really empty," Maze said. "But at the end I realized its nothing important, the only thing important is to ski fast." Marlies Schild of Austria, the slalom specialist who injured her knee in December 2012, returned for the first time since recovering fully but was already well behind Shiffrin in the first round by the time she missed a gate and skied out. Still, Schild was just happy to finally be able to ski without feeling any effects of the injury. "Of course I wanted to race a second run but yeah, its not so bad at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no pain anymore and thats very important for me and I just have to wait, I think, to get a good feeling." Four-time former overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the Levi meet and will make her debut in the speed events in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after recovering from a right knee injury sustained in a crash in February. "She is back and shes strong," Shiffrin said of her teammate. "Im impressed with how strong she is. ... I dont think anybody should count her out thats for sure." For Shiffrin, the Olympic gold medal is clearly main goal for this season, although she received another memorable prize on Saturday. In a first for this year, organizers presented the winner with a live reindeer from the local Lapland region. Shiffrin named the 6-month-old reindeer Rudolf, although she wont be allowed to take him home with her. "I scared him off a bit when I jumped off the podium to meet him but I think we will be getting along," Shiffrin said. "I hope that when he gets older and trained I can go for a ride on a sledge with him." Tyquan Lewis Jersey . Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Matt Slauson Colts Jersey . -- The road to the Masters got off to a bumpy start Sunday for Tiger Woods when he withdrew from the Honda Classic with what he said was a lower back injury. http://www.authenticfootballshopcolts.c ... ersey.html. With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. Josh Ferguson Colts Jersey . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Matt Slauson Jersey . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance.EDMONTON -- It seems Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz is throwing in the towel, on this season at least. In a letter to Oilers fans posted on the NHL teams website, Katz says its very likely the club will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for an eighth straight season. Katzs statement comes with Edmonton still having more than 30 regular-season games yet to play. However, Edmonton (15-30-6) certainly faces an uphill battle in its quest to return to playoff contention. The Oilers are last in the Western Conference standings, 23 points behind Minnesota (27-19-5) and Vancouver (25-16-9), who are both tied for seventh. "I know this will almost certainly be the eighth consecutive year since we made the playoffs," Katz wrote. " I hate that fact as much as anyone, but the reality is that this is only year four of the rebuild that started when we drafted Taylor Hall. "The good news, if you can call it that, is that other teams that committed to fundamental rebuilds went through the same kind of droughts over the same kind of time frames, or longer. That doesnt make it fun for anyone; it just means we have to stay the course." The Oilers struggles have prompted suggestions the team needs to make a big trade but Katz said the franchise isnt interested in mortgaging its future with a reactionary move. "But I can also tell you that we are not going to sacrifice the future by doing something short-term," he said. "Those days are over and theyre not coming back. "If were going to rebuild, we want to do it right and we only want to do it once." Katz also defended Kevin Lowe, the former Oilers standout defenceman who has steadily risen through the ranks of the organization despite the team not making the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2005-06. In the space of the last 15 years, Lowe has moved from assistant coach to head coach to general manager and is now the clubs president of hockey operations. "Kevin is a big part of our organization, and its not just the Oilers that value his knowledge and perspective," Katz said. "He is consistently chosen, year after year, to play a leadership role with Hockey Canada. "But when it comes down to it, this is Craig MacTavishs team. He is the GM. He makes the calls, and he is accountable for building a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup -- year in and year out for years to come. Thats our vision. We are committed to it -- and were confident that we are on the right track." And Katz asked Oilers fans to remain patient with the hockey club. "Our fans have been incredibly patient and supportive," he said. "At the same time, we know theres a lot of frustration and we are asking you to hang in there while we fight through this and put the next few pieces of the team in place. "Ill tell you this, despite everything, we all wear our Oilers colours with the same pride now as we ever have, and as we will when were back on ttop.dddddddddddd We hope youll do the same. " Daryl Katzs message to fans To Oilers Fans Everywhere: We all thought this was going to be the year the Oilers turned the corner. Obviously, that hasnt happened, and it hurts. Its frustrating – for all of us. For our fans, for our players and staff, and for everyone in our community who shares a common bond around a game, a team and a city that we love. I know this will almost certainly be the eighth consecutive year since we made the playoffs. I hate that fact as much as anyone, but the reality is that this is only year four of the rebuild that started when we drafted Taylor Hall. The good news, if you can call it that, is that other teams that committed to fundamental rebuilds went through the same kind of droughts over the same kind of time frames, or longer. That doesnt make it fun for anyone; it just means we have to stay the course. Yes, we hoped and expected to be better this year – theres no question about that. But weve also been more active than any team I can think of in rebuilding our organization from bottom to top by supporting player development in OKC and Bakersfield, revamping our scouting organization, naming a new GM and a new coach, signing free agents like Justin Schultz, Boyd Gordon, Andrew Ference, Anton Belov and Ilya Bryzgalov, and trading for players like David Perron, and now Ben Scrivens and Matt Hendricks. And were not done. But I can also tell you that we are not going to sacrifice the future by doing something short-term. Those days are over and theyre not coming back. If were going to rebuild, we want to do it right and we only want to do it once. I hear a lot from fans about accountability, so lets be clear. We are all accountable. That includes me, Kevin, Craig, Dallas, every player who wears our jersey, and every member of our staff. I know Kevin is the target of a lot of personal attacks right now, and thats really unfortunate. Kevin is a big part of our organization, and its not just the Oilers that value his knowledge and perspective. He is consistently chosen, year after year, to play a leadership role with Hockey Canada. But when it comes down to it, this is Craig MacTavishs team. He is the GM. He makes the calls, and he is accountable for building a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup -- year in and year out for years to come. Thats our vision. We are committed to it -- and were confident that we are on the right track. Our fans have been incredibly patient and supportive. At the same time, we know theres a lot of frustration and we are asking you to hang in there while we fight through this and put the next few pieces of the team in place. Ill tell you this, despite everything, we all wear our Oilers colours with the same pride now as we ever have, and as we will when were back on top. We hope youll do the same. We value our fans, we hear you, and we appreciate your support. 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