What is the Olympic readiness of Canadas champions after their first Grand Prix event? Are they on track or in trouble early in this Olympic season? The results from Skate Canada International in Saint John, New Brunswick, though mixed, bode well and while we are still over three months out, there are some encouraging signs and lots of reasons for optimism heading to Sochi. Luke Jackson Jersey Braves . The one thing we know for sure is that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moirs new free dance has Olympics written all over it. Their music is by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov, who is described as a Romantic Classicist. It is an emotionally poignant and uplifting piece that plays to Tessa and Scotts strengths and is bound to captivate the Sochi audience. Last year, the reviews for their provocative Carmen free dance were mixed. The daring darkness of the dance brought either "love it or hate it" kind of reactions. The reviews of the new Olympic free dance have been universal in their praise. Artistically and creatively, it is a winner and a crowd pleaser that is vintage Virtue and Moir. The gold will demand endless hours now of drilling and refining in preparation for challenging U.S. rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The stage is set for an intriguing showdown. In an Olympic year, one cannot underestimate the value of a stable and supportive training environment and Patrick Chan has found that place in Detroit with coach Kathy Johnson. In his words, he is "happy" and it shows. He is patient and confident in practice, not perfect by any stretch but unfazed by any stumbles or jumping errors. In a warmup at Skate Canada, he had a jarring fall on a quad, shrugged, circled and did it again as it was intended. It was a decisive win at Skate Canada. His demeanour spoke of confidence, preparedness and experience, qualities that were missing heading into Vancouver. As he builds to Sochi and expectations rise and demands on him increase, it is the balance he has built in his life outside the rink and the foundation he has built in it that will, he hopes, make the difference. For Canadian pairs champions Meagan Duhammel and Eric Radford, it was a bit of a case of, youd better "dance with the one who brung you". In the past, it was their feisty ability to maximize technical risk and capitalize on it that got them to the world podium and it is the technical mark that let them down at Skate Canada International. In what Meagan called their lowest technical score ever, they dropped to third in their long program. Their focus in Saint John was on artistry and character development and, while they delivered emotionally charged performances, their new focus distracted them from what they do best and their challenge over the next few weeks will be to bring the old and new together. The one thing I know about these two is that they are fighters and, with the less than stellar start and their backs to the wall, they will come out swinging. Dont drop your hands, dont count them out. Just when Kaetlyn Osmond thought she could begin her Olympic quest in earnest, she suffered another setback. Having missed a number of weeks due to an injured foot heading into Skate Canada, Kaetlyn woke up after the short program with a sore hamstring and was unable to compete in the free skate. The word is, she has tears in two tendons in her hamstring and will see limited ice and training time for the next 7-10 days, at which time it is expected to have healed. It adds up to a lot of training missed and can set up the cycle of overtraining to catch up and then reinjuring. She is young and has a bubbly personality so it will be tough to contain her. Kaetlyn has three weeks until her next Grand Prix and it is their plan that she will compete. Other Canadian honorable mentions and notable performances were those of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje who finished second in the Ice Dance event, Amelie Lacostes short program and Eladje Baldes quad in the short. One of the most compelling performances for me at Skate Canada International was that of 28-year-old Akiko Suzuki from Japan, who critics often dismiss as being too old and past her prime. Her performances were captivating and her joy was palpable every time she took the ice. Watching her compete, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Elvis Stojko before one of his Olympic Games. When discussing dealing with Olympic pressure, he said, "I just want to remember why it is I love to skate and, if I can think of that, I will have the right frame of mind to compete." Canadas skaters would do well to take that phrase to heart. Through all the hype and the weight of pressure and expectations of an Olympic season, it is remembering the pure joy of skating that can keep things in perspective, calm the nerves and inspire break-out performances on the road to Sochi. Discount Jerseys . The thunderous cheers quickly changed to an appreciative chant: "Ma-son! Ma-son! Ma-son! Headed to New York with new life, Mason sure earned this curtain call. Greg Maddux Jersey Braves .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/phil-niekro-jersey-braves-105 . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.BOSTON -- Martin Perez put Bostons leadoff hitter on base in seven innings. Then the left-hander pitched Texas out of jams by getting five double plays. That helped the Rangers withstand a late rally and beat the Red Sox 10-7 on Tuesday night. The double play is "a pitchers best friend," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "They got on base, but he was able to eliminate them." Bostons five double plays were one fewer than the American League record for a nine-inning game shared by eight teams. The major league mark of seven was set by the San Francisco Giants in 1969. "Five double plays and we scored seven runs. Im sure thats pretty rare, too," Jonny Gomes said after Bostons fourth loss in five games. "If we can score seven runs with five double plays, I think were scratching the surface on the positive side." The Red Sox grounded into double plays by Dustin Pedroia in the first inning, A.J. Pierzynski in the second, Jackie Bradley Jr. in the third, Ryan Roberts in the fifth and Pedroia in the sixth. Perez (1-0) allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. "Im not a power pitcher," he said. "Im a groundball pitcher and when you throw good pitches down in the zone that happens." Robinson Chirinos started a five-run third inning with his first homer of the season and the Rangers led 9-1 through six. Boston scored three runs in the seventh and, after Michael Choice made it 10-4 with a sacrifice fly in the ninth, the Red Sox scored three times in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Gomes and a two-run double by David Ortiz against Joakim Soria. Mike Napoli, who had three singles for the second straight game, struck out to end it. The Rangers finished with 13 hits, the first time in six games that they had at least 10. And they were 7 for 15 with runners in scoring position one night after going 0 for 8 in a 5-1 loss in the opener of the three-game series. But designated hitter Adrian Beltre left in the sixth with tightness in the front of his left thigh and was to return to Texas to be examined. He was bothered by tightness on the side of that thigh in spring training. Babe Ruth Jersey Braves. "We had an 8-1 lead," said Washington, who didnt know how serious the injury was. "He aggravated it. I dont see why I should leave him in there." Texas won for the second time in five games as every starter reached base by the fourth inning. Chirinos second career homer broke a scoreless tie and began an inning in which the Rangers batted around against Felix Doubront (1-1). Shin-Soo Choo singled with one out and scored on a two-out double by Prince Fielder, who entered the game with four hits in 28 at-bats and just one RBI. The other runs scored on a single by Beltre, a double by Donnie Murphy and a bases-loaded walk to Chirinos. "Once were down five, even though we got a number of leadoff hitters on base, weve got to be a little bit protective of just giving away outs," Boston manager John Farrell said. "It was the groundball double play that snuffed everything out." The Rangers added three runs in the fourth against Burke Badenhop. Choo led off with a walk, went to second on a single by Elvis Andrus and scored on a single by Fielder. Beltre followed with a run-scoring double and Murphy made it 8-0 with a sacrifice fly. Boston scored in the fourth on a double by Pedroia and a single by Napoli. Texas got that run back in the fifth on doubles by Chirinos and Choo. Adding on runs at Fenway Park is important, "especially late in this ballpark," Washington said. "Those guys have taken a lot of ballgames away, so every time you get an opportunity to put a run on the board you want to do it." The Red Sox cut the lead to 9-4 in the seventh on an RBI single by Pierzynski and a two-run double by Bradley. NOTES: Andrus and Alex Rios have hits in all eight Rangers games. ... Roberts made his debut for Boston after signing as a free agent Monday. He spent last season with Tampa Bay and spring training this year with the Chicago Cubs. ... Robbie Ross (0-0) pitches for Texas against Jake Peavy (0-0) in the series finale Wednesday. ' ' '