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CALGARY - This could be the year Mike McEwens curling team shakes the label as the best team never to play in a Brier.McEwen, third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld won six of eight events in the first half of the season, including wins over Olympic champion Brad Jacobs in the finals of both The National in November and the Canada Cup in December.McEwens Fort Rouge Curling Club rink from Winnipeg is running away with the No. 1 ranking on the World Curling Tour with $114,000 in prize money so far.A team at a crossroads in February after losing its fourth provincial final in five years — and falling one win short again of a trip to the Canadian mens championship — decided to remain intact for an eighth season and reinvent itself.Very slowly we kind of gathered our thoughts and decided what we had together as a foursome was still very strong and important, but we had kind of lost our way as far as growing as teammates and as athletes, McEwen said Thursday at the Continental Cup.We made a commitment to find how to do that again.The four men began working with the Canadian Curling Associations sports psychologist Kyle Paquette to heal the trouble spots in their game. They stepped up their physical fitness with a personal trainer.Theyve been a solid team on the WCT since their formation in 2007 and were among the eight Canadian mens teams who qualified for the 2013 recent Olympic trials.But winning Manitoba and representing the province at the Brier means beating world and Canadian championship Jeff Stoughton to get there.Stoughton eliminated McEwen from contention in four of the last five Manitoba provincials.We had too many weaknesses, McEwen said. We were good before but we had some things in certain situations that were cutting us off at the knees when we really needed to be our best.We had gotten really good and then kind of stopped getting better. Other teams are obviously pushing the limits and we hadnt figured out how to keep growing as a team.Under Paquettes guidance, McEwen says he and his teammates have forged a stronger team chemistry. Theyre committed to sticking to their plan, win or lose.His approach has made us really change how we think and how we operate as a team, McEwen explained. Hes really challenged us to be more accountable. Its really hard to re-wire the brain, but thats what weve been attempting to do.Were very much more supportive and understanding than we ever have been. Were more of a team now than we ever have been. We got a little individualistic at times and it hurt us.Youve got to look at your fitness, health, eating, physical training, mental focus and how you practise. Its like any other sport. Curling has grown into having a really high degree of professionalism. Just like hockey or anything else, if you leave holes you will get bit when maybe it really matters.The Manitoba provincial mens championship is Feb. 4-8 in Brandon. The winner advances to the Tim Hortons Brier from Feb. 28 to March 8 in Calgary at Scotiabank Saddledome.I dont want to just play in it. If Im going to the Brier, Im going there to win, McEwen said.Stoughton, a two-time world and three-time Canadian champion, will be in the field again in Brandon.There was a time when oh man, we have to play this guy or that guy but now I get more excited than ever to play a top team, McEwen said. Whether its Glenn Howard, or Brad Jacobs or Jeff Stoughton, now Im excited for the challenge more than I ever have been.McEwens team is part of the Canadian side at this weeks World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling in Calgary. Theyve substituted Ben Hebert in at lead as Denni Neufeld and his wife were expecting a baby this week.The Continental Cup is a chance for McEwen to have his wife Dawn as a Canadian teammate. She plays lead for Olympic champion Jennifer Jones.The tournament features Canada against Europe in a four-day competition of team, mixed doubles, hot-shots and skins games.Canada took an early five-point lead over Europe after three draws Thursday.In the third draw, McEwen edged Scotlands David Murdoch 5-4 in mens play, while John Morris led his rink past Norways Thomas Ulsrud 6-3. In womens competition, Jones and Scotlands Eve Muirhead tied 4-4. In Draw 2, Canadians Carter Rycroft and Lori-Olson Johns hammered Swedens Oskar Eriksson and Russias Ekaterina Galkina 10-3 in mixed doubles.Ryan Fry and Emma Miskew downed Swedens Niklas Edin and Russias Anna Sidorova 9-6. Rachel Homan and E.J. Harnden split a point tying 5-5 with Norways Torger Nergaard and Swedens Maria Pryz.In the morning team competition, Jacobs beat Edin 4-1, Homan picked up another point for Canada with a 7-2 win over Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson. Sidorova saved a point for Europe with a 7-2 win over Val Sweeting.The day after losing yet another provincial mens final to Stoughton on Feb. 2, McEwen flew to Sochi, Russia, to cheer on his wife and teammates en route to their gold medal. The couple were married in July of 2013.Dawn McEwen has noticed a change in her husbands body language at the rink this season.Hes definitely more confident, Dawn said. I can see it in him. Just the way he carries himself and how hes playing out there, hes definitely stepped up the confidence on the ice and off the ice as well.I think its amazing. Theyre a great team and theyre finally getting . . . in the curling world, their competitors know theyre a good team. Now the fans of the curling game are starting to see and recognize the team more.Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story. Torger Nergaard and Thomas Ulsrud are both from Norway, not Sweden as previously stated. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . 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Air Max Plus Uk .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their agreed-upon trade that sends former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins to the West Coast for a pair of minor league pitching prospects.Canadas freestyle ski team will have a decidedly different look this season. The likes of Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Dara Howell and Mikael Kingsbury will be there, but there was one glaring absence on the squad unveiled Wednesday. Two-time Olympic moguls gold medallist Alex Bilodeau retired after the last World Cup season, leaving a big hole on the team as it begins the long road to the 2018 Games in South Korea. Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil with his memorable victory at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, and he repeated the performance in Sochi earlier this year. Kingsbury, who battled Bilodeau for the last few years and finished second in Russia this winter, says he will miss competing against his rival. The first couple World Cups, Im going to miss somebody to look up to and to learn from. Hes been a great athlete, Kingsbury said on a conference call. He pushed me. Since I was very young, he was my role model. Kingsbury is a three-time overall World Cup champion, and while he and Bilodeau were friends away from the hill, they were fierce opponents on it. Im going to miss him in a way, but in another way he was one of the strongest competitors to have, said Kinsbury, a native of Deux Montagnes, Que. Im going to try to have new motivation, to continue to push and work hard to stay ranked first in the world. Kingsbury, who turns 22 next week, said Bilodeaus retirement doesnt open any doors because hes already had a lot of success in his young career. He was the star for sure. He won the Olympics in Vancouver -- first (Canadian) gold medallist to win on home soil -- and Sochi, Kingsbury said. He won the two days that he needed to win, but at the same time I dont think its my turn to shine because I won the Crystal Globe and he was there, I won the world championship and he was there. At the Olympics he did his run.dddddddddddd I tried everything I could to win but he had the run that he needed and he totally deserved it. Like the rest of the freestyle ski team, Kingsburys focus is primed on training for the coming season, with thoughts of the 2018 Olympics in South Korea also lingering. I just want to continue what Ive been doing, and not do more because Alex is not there, he said. If he would have continued I would have been super happy and still would have worked hard to win the gold medal in 2018. Thats my next plan. Its four years -- four years is long. Im going to be ready for 2018 but theres many things to come. Dufour-Lapointe won gold in Sochi in womens moguls, and will now take it one year at a time as she starts to build towards the next Games. The same is true of teammate Audrey Robichaud, who finished 10th in the womens moguls in Sochi. Personally I feel like Im still on a high from the Olympics, said Robichaud, a native of Quebec City. What keeps me going is I feel like I can still get better and theres room for improvement. Also headlining the Canadian team for the 2014-15 season is Howell, who topped the podium in womens slopestyle in Sochi, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe -- the silver medallist in moguls behind her younger sister at the Games -- and Kim Lamarre, who finished third in slopestyle. The other Sochi medallist on this years team is Mike Riddle, who took silver in halfpipe. The rest of the Canadian freestyle team for the upcoming year includes: aerial skiers Travis Gerrits, Olivier Rochon, Jean-Christophe Andre and Sabrina Guerin; halfpipe skiers Mike Riddle, Justin Dorey, Simon dArtois, Rosalind Groenewoud, Keltie Hansen, Megan Gunning; slopestyle skiers Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, Alex Bellemare, Evan McEachran and Kaya Turski; and moguls skiers Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Philippe Marquis and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '