JAY PEAK, Vt. wholesale jerseys . -- Canada kicks off the womens world hockey championship against defending champion U.S. on Saturday instead of waiting until the end of the tournament to face their archenemy. The International Ice Hockey Federation drastically altered the format of the womens championship this year to reduce embarrassing scores from the tournament. The IIHF intends to carry this format through to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The top four countries -- Canada, the U.S., Finland and Russia -- are in Pool A. The countries seeded fourth through eighth in Pool B are Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany. The top two teams in Pool A get byes to the semifinal. The bottom two in A meet the top two from Pool B in the quarter-finals, with those winners advancing to the semis. So the bottom two teams in B will play to avoid relegation. They wont play the best teams in the tournament at all. "The format was changed in order to create a stronger competition between the nations attending," said Tanya Foley, the IIHFs director of female hockey. "Having the teams ranked closest together playing in the round-robin pools battling for playoff spots gives every nation a much better ability to qualify for the playoff round but also to develop their program. "Closer competition will create an environment where every game could be decided in the final period and that experience is of great benefit to the growth of a young sport." Previously, the defending champion was in one pool, while the previous years runner-up and bronze medallist were seeded in the other. The significance for Canada under the new format is theyre virtually assured of playing the Americans twice -- in both the preliminary and playoff rounds. The two countries have met in the gold-medal game in all 13 previous world championships and are expected to do so again April 14. Canada may have beaten the U.S. for Olympic gold in 2010, but the Americans have won the last three world titles. Canada faces Finland, last years bronze medallist, on Sunday before concluding the round robin Tuesday against fourth-seeded Russia. "I like playing the U.S. twice," Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser said. "I think it showcases the best in womens hockey too. I do like the format. It makes the game more fun and keeps everybody engaged over the whole tournament I think. "Theres no building into the tournament." Canadas Dan Church thinks itll be easier to coach his team in the preliminary round now. Its easier to get the players attention when theyre not beating another country by a double-digit differential. "I think this format will help us get under pressure quicker and have to perform at a high level," he said. "I think last year we had some lulls in our schedule where you really have to stay on habits in games where youre up a lot. "I dont think well see that in the round robin portion. I think theyre going to be competitive games and when they devised this format I think that was the intent." Canada held their final practice at a mountain resort in northern Vermont before boarding the bus for Burlington, a university town on the east short of Lake Champlain. The Canadians play their round-robin games at Gutterson Fieldhouse at the University of Vermont. Wickenheiser will captain the womens team again with veterans Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford serving as assistant captains. Church says hell announce his starting goaltender on game day. How well the new format works in producing more respectable scores depends a lot on fourth-seeded Russia. The U.S. thumped them 13-1 last year in Switzerland. The Russian federation is finally investing in the womens team ahead of Sochi. This years tournament will indicate if theyve taken another step forward from last year. The Swedes finished fifth last year and are thus in Pool B, but captain Erika Holst is generally in favour of the new schedule. "The idea is really good not to have Canada and the U.S. play the seventh and eighth team, but unfortunately for us were in the wrong pool this time," Holst said. "Weve got to make sure were up in the top four." Slovakias goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova has mixed feelings on the possibility she wont get to play Canada or the U.S. at all. "Me personally. I would love to," she said. "Theres a lot we can learn from them but at the same time theyre at another level. From the perspective of us getting better, at this point theres not much those games can give us because were just going to get rocked." What the Bemidji State University goalie objects to is teams in Pool A wont ever have to play to avoid relegation to the second-tier world championship. Pool A teams can finish no worse than sixth. "To have the top group not being able to get eliminated I dont think thats really fair," she said. "Out of our group, theres going to be two teams that are going to fight (to avoid) elimination. The top four seeds are safe. I dont think thats a good thing. "Russia cant get eliminated. They played great at the last world championship and deserve the fourth place, but at the same time ... they dont have a chance to get eliminated, so theyre safe for next year." Notes(at) -- Canadian defencemen Lauriane Rougeau, Laura Fortino and Courtney Birchard will make their world championship debut Saturday as will forwards Vicki Bendus, Brianne Jenner and Bailey Bram . . . Players from Ontario dominate Canadas roster with 13 of the 23 from that province . . . Canadas average age is 24.2 years, the average height is five feet, 6.5 inches and the average weight is 155.6 pounds. cheap nfl jerseys . -- American Chip Lutz carded a final round 4-under 68 on Friday to capture the 2012 Canadian mens senior championship at Golf Griffon des Sources. cheap jerseys from china . The right-hander was traded from Milwaukee to New York for cash on Wednesday, two days after the Brewers designated him for assignment. http://www.cheapnfljerseysdeals.com/[/... . The Incheon-based tea, of the Korea Baseball Organization said the deal for the 35-year-old Scott included a $50,000 signing bonus. Scott reached the major leagues with Houston in 2005 and hit 23 homers or more for Baltimore each year from 2008-10. [url=http://www.michaelkors-blackfriday2014.com/]Michael kors Handbags Black Friday . Andre Iguodala added 18 points and Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who improved to 11-2 at home this season after their eight-game winning streak at the Pepsi Center was snapped Thursday in a loss to Minnesota. nfl jerseys china . The Vishnevsky hospital said 26-year-old Alexander Galimov died of the severe burns that covered about 90 per cent of his body, despite the best efforts of doctors in its burn unit, considered one of the best in Russia. RIVERSIDE, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was arrested outside Kansas City over the weekend on charges of speeding and possessing marijuana, throwing his status for a pivotal AFC West showdown against the Denver Broncos into question. Bowe was pulled over for going about 48 mph in a 35 mph zone, police in suburban Riverside said Tuesday. Police said an officer smelled "a strong odour of marijuana from inside of the vehicle," and asked Bowe and two passengers to get out of the car. Police then used a dog to search for illegal substances and found a bag with Bowes wallet and two containers holding what the officer suspected was marijuana. One container held 6.6 grams of the substance, and the other had 3.8 grams, or about one-third of an ounce in all. Bowe was cited for speeding and possession of a controlled substance, police said. He posted $750 bond and is scheduled to appear in Riverside court on Dec. 18. Chiefs spokesman Ted Crews said the team was aware of the situation but declined further comment. Bowes agent, Todd France, did not return a message seeking comment. Its unclear whether Bowe will be available for Sundays game. While penalties have varied, Commissioner Roger Goodell historically has suspended players one game without pay and fined them an additional game check for possession of marijuana, once the case is finalized. Bowe was suspended four games in 2009 for violating the NFLs policy on performance-enhancing drugs after taking what his agent called an unapproved weight-loss supplement. But that policy differs from the NFLs most recent substance-abuse policy, which governs illegal drugs and alcohol abuse. The unbeaten Chiefs were off Tuesday before resuming preparations for their Sunday night game against the Broncos, who are a game back in the division standings. Its the first of two games that the longtime rivals will play in a span of three weeks. A passenger in the car was also arrested for possession of a controlled substance after the police dog found a backpack that contained 4.2 grams of suspected marijuana. Riverside is a community of about 3,000 residents located just north of Kansas City. Along with his previous suspension, Bowe mmade questionable comments to a magazine a few years ago about womanizing that allegedly occurred at team hotels. wholesale nfl jerseys. He then offered an apology that went awry when he referred to the Hunt family that owns the Chiefs as "the Clarks" -- a reference to Clark Hunt, who serves as the teams most visible face. People close to Bowe have said he started to mature after those incidents, though, and the result was the best stretch of his seven-year career. He caught a league-leading 15 touchdown passes in 2010, when he earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl, and a career-high 81 passes the following year. He was banged up most of last season and struggled in part because of a shaky quarterback situation, but still did enough to warrant a five-year, $56 million deal from the Chiefs new regime this past off-season. So far, hes struggled to live up to the new contract. Bowe has had trouble getting open in Reids offence, and has been subjected to constant double-teams. He has 33 catches for 369 yards and two touchdowns through the first nine games. The Chiefs returned to practice from their bye on Monday, and while there was no access to players, coach Andy Reid said on a conference call with reporters that everyone participated. "Everybody was back," Reid said, "which is a good thing." That presumably included Bowe, whom the Chiefs may have to find a way to replace when the team resumes practice on Wednesday. Theyre already thin at wide receiver, and Bowes absence would put more pressure on Donnie Avery and Dexter McCluster in the passing game. Avery, signed by the Chiefs this past off-season, has 27 catches for 396 yards and a touchdown. McCluster has 25 catches for 262 yards and a score. It would also put more pressure on running back Jamaal Charles, who has a team-leading 47 receptions while also leading the AFC with 725 yards rushing. The Chiefs already had been wary of using Charles too much during the first half of the season. "Well, knowing hes one of your more explosive players. Youre going to try and get him the ball as much as you can," offensive co-ordinator Doug Pederson said. "Thats just the nature of it." ' ' '