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Pelosi, Kiesewetter score as U.S. eliminates Canada from qualifying for Rio

SANDY, Utah — Marc Pelosi and Jerome Kiesewetter scored as the United States shut out Canada's under-23 soccer team 2-0 on Tuesday night in a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.

The loss eliminates Canada's chances of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The U.S. will face Colombia in a home-and-away series in March with the winner moving onto Rio.

The U.S. got on the board in the 69th minute after a corner kick went off a pair of players in front of the net before reaching Pelosi just outside the box. His shot was deflected off Canada's Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare and into the net.

Kiesewetter gave the U.S. a two-goal lead in the 84th minute when he was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down in the box by Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. Kiesewetter made no mistake — putting his shot into the right-hand corner of the net.

The United States pressured the Canadians for the majority of the match, forcing Canada to play some tough defence.

Canada went down a man in the 45th minute when Giuliano Frano received his second yellow card of the game and a subsequent ejection after a challenge on Pelosi.

Crepeau made some big stops in the 61st minute with the Americans pressing, coming out to poke the ball loose from U.S. striker Jordan Morris. Crepeau followed that up in the 81st with another nice save — punching a Pelosi shot over the net.

One of Canada's better chances in the second half came in the 55th minute when forward Michael Petrasso took on four Americans on the right wing. 

The Canadians reached the third-place game after falling 2-0 to Mexico in the semifinal. The Mexicans and Honduras guaranteed themselves a spot in next summer's Olympic Games as the tournament's top two teams. Mexico and Honduras played for gold later on Tuesday.

The Canadian Press

City Council working out Application for Peace River Agreement

B.C. court hears Harper ad concerns lawyer for mentally ill man who killed kids

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Stephen Harper made a mistake in an election ad when he linked criminality to a mentally ill man's actions, says the family of three children killed by their father.

But defence lawyers for Allan Schoenborn allege the Conservative leader's statement was deliberately scripted.

In the ad, Harper raises Schoenborn's case and says his party puts public safety first "in deciding how to treat criminals like that."

Schoenborn stabbed his 10-year-old daughter and smothered his eight and five-year-old sons at their Merritt home in April 2008.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in February 2010 that Schoenborn was "not criminally responsible" on account of a mental disorder.

Dave Teixeira, who speaks for Darcie Clarke, the children's mother, defended the minute-long commercial that aired last week while Harper was campaigning in B.C. 

"Certainly, the prime minister misspoke because Schoenborn is not a criminal," Teixeira said Tuesday. "He was found not criminally responsible."

The ad has drawn the ire of mental health experts, who say it stigmatizes mentally ill Canadians. They have argued that the new law, Bill C-14, would instead create new dangers by dissuading people from getting proper treatment.

Teixeira said the family is also against stigmatizing the mentally ill and they have no political leanings, but disagree Harper's tactics are political opportunism.

"It's not surprising any party would try to highlight the good work they have done."

Schoenborn's lawyers say Harper is using their client as a political pawn in the final stretch of a contested campaign.

"It's at best a very disingenuous position to take, and it's at worst a completely cynical manipulation of a very tragic case," Rishi Gill said outside court.

"He is not a criminal, although he committed a horrendous act. He is a mentally disordered offender and he should be treated as such."

Gill referenced the contradictory broadcast during a brief court hearing Tuesday. He told a judge that Harper's comments during an election show the case's "unique" importance.

"You don't need to make your arguments now," Justice Martha Devlin said. "I understand the significance of it."

The B.C. Review Board, which has custody of Schoenborn while he is being held in a psychiatric hospital, has repeatedly said public safety is its top priority in plans for his rehabilitation.

Officials for Harper did not reply to requests for comment.

The controversial radio ad was broadcast while court proceedings are underway that could block Schoenborn from receiving treatment deemed beneficial by his doctors.

The children's family opposes escorted day passes that an independent tribunal granted as part of Schoenborn's rehabilitation. 

Crown lawyers want to apply new Conservative legislation that would reverse the community outings, label the man a "high-risk" accused and lock him up indefinitely.

At the next court date scheduled for Nov. 4, Schoenborn's lawyers plan to argue that Bill C-14 should not apply to their client because it was passed more than four years after the verdict.

— Follow @TamsynBurgmann on Twitter

Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press

Cubs clinch post-season series at Wrigley Field for 1st time, beat Cardinals 6-4 to win NLDS

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs clinched a post-season series at Wrigley Field for the first time ever, getting home runs from Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez in beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 Tuesday to win the NL Division Series in four games.

A day after hitting a post-season-record six homers, the Cubs hammered their way into the NL Championship Series by taking the best-of-five set before a rollicking crowd.

Manager Joe Maddon's bunch of wild-card Cubs will face the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets matchup. The Mets took a 2-1 lead into Game 4 Tuesday night.

The Cubs last reached the NLCS in 2003, when they lost in seven games to the Marlins. Chicago dropped those final two at home, including the infamous Bartman defeat in Game 6.

Wrigley Field hosted its first Cubs game in 1916, eight years after they last won the World Series.

Andrew Seligman, The Associated Press

2 new films scrutinize Brazil’s World Cup legacy; both conclude event was harmful for Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO — Last year's World Cup in Brazil may have been the "cup of cups" for soccer fans, but for Brazilian taxpayers, who forked out some $11.5 billion for the month-long tournament, its legacy has proven negative, according to two new films.

"Brazil vs. Brazil" and "The March of the White Elephants" show the dark underbelly of the mega-event, which saw thousands of poor people removed from their homes and billions poured into state-of-the-art stadiums, some of which are now being used as parking lots or wedding venues. The critical documentaries, which screened at the Rio Film Festival that closes Wednesday, come as Brazil enters the final stretch before next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and amid an unfurling corruption crisis at World Cup organizer FIFA.

"I think it was terrible for Brazilians," said Laura Colucci, a Sao Paulo native who co-produced "White Elephants" along with her South African husband, Neil Brandt.

"They felt betrayed, they felt embarrassed, they felt defeated," said Colucci, adding that the harm wrought by the tournament has gone well beyond Brazil's 7-1 pummeling by Germany in the semi-finals.

In the year leading up to the 2014 tournament, many Brazilians were angered by the spiraling costs of preparations and the chronically woeful state of the country's public schools and hospitals. Thousands took to the streets in the biggest protests in a generation. Once the ball started rolling, however, most here left politics aside, embracing Brazil's five-time champion national team and the chance to host soccer's biggest event.

The documentary directors come from very different backgrounds. "Brazil vs. Brazil" is by celebrated Brazilian director Marcos Prado, who produced the 2007 police drama "Elite Squad," while "White Elephants" is by Australian documentarian Craig Tanner. However, both reach similar conclusions about what hosting the World Cup meant for Brazil.

Both films draw on interviews with similar sources, including anti-World Cup activists, academics, politicians and people who were forced out of their homes to make way for stadiums and other infrastructure.

Taxpayers, the films show, ended up stuck with the bill for stadiums that cost several times their initial estimates. Some were built in cities such as the remote agricultural capital of Cuiaba, which does not have a first-division soccer team. In some cities, including Rio, slum dwellers were pushed out of their homes, in principle to make room for parking lots or other facilities.

And with World Cup tickets out of the price range for most in this middle income nation, local spectators were overwhelmingly from the country's elite, exacerbating the divide between rich and poor in this most unequal of societies.

Today, without permanent tenants, those so-called "white elephant" stadiums are now playing host to the occasional wedding or are parking lots.

The only real winner from the 2014 World Cup, the films suggest, was FIFA. The Zurich, Switzerland-based not-for-profit posted revenues of nearly $5 billion off the Brazil World Cup.

FIFA didn't respond to a request for comment on the films.

Images of top Brazilian officials including President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Luiz da Silva, embracing FIFA head Josep Blatter and other FIFA top brass drew groans from the crowds at the Rio Film Festival.

Both the FIFA officials and the Brazilian leaders have suffered major reversals of fortune since the World Cup. Criminal probes on two continents into allegations of large-scale corruption helped forced last week's suspension of Blatter, who had reigned over FIFA for 17 years.

In Brazil, Rousseff's political future appears uncertain amid a tanking economy and a spiraling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant at Petrobras that's ensnared lawmakers from her governing Workers' Party.

"There is nothing in the film that's new — not one scrap of information in there that's not publically available with a Google search," said Brandt, co-producer of "White Elephants." ''But when you join all the dots together, that's the eureka moment."

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Follow Jenny Barchfield on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jennybarchfield

The Associated Press

Video surfaces in abduction of Canadians in Philippines

Two men who identify themselves as Canadians taken hostage last month in the Philippines have appeared at gunpoint in a video that is circulating online.

One man introduces himself as Robert Hall who says he is OK, but in grave danger.

Another says he is John Ridsdel and urges the Canadian government to help the hostages.

Canadians Hall and Ridsdel, a Norwegian man and a Filipina woman were taken hostage by gunmen from the Holiday Ocean View Samal Resort on Samal Island in the Philippines in September.

Another man identifies himself in the video as the Norwegian hostage while the woman doesn't say a word.

All four are surrounded by masked men armed with guns and machetes.

The two Canadians appeal to the Canadian and Philippine governments to stop military operations.

One masked man says he wants the Canadian and Philippine governments to stop the bombings before negotiations can begin.

The masked man did not identify himself or say which group he was with.

The abductions last month from the southern Philippine resort were a reminder of the long-running security problems that have hounded a region with bountiful resources, but hamstrung by poverty and an array of insurgents and outlaws.

Among the suspects were the Abu Sayyaf group, a brutal al-Qaida-linked organization that has pulled off mass kidnappings for ransom in the last 15 years.

The Deparment of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa says it is aware two Canadians were taken hostage in the Philippines and that Canadian officials are in contact with Filipino authorities.

 

The Canadian Press

Police seek mother, son in Dodger Stadium fight that critically injured fan

LOS ANGELES — Two people suspected of critically injuring a man outside Dodger Stadium are believed to be a mother and son, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday.

Police declined to release the ages of the mother and son or discuss what precipitated the fight on Friday night, but Beck said detectives were reviewing video that captured the assault in hopes of tracking the pair down.

The man injured in the fight was in critical condition at a hospital. Detectives were hoping to interview him Tuesday for more details about what happened, Beck said.

The fight happened in a stadium parking lot after the Dodgers lost the opening game of the National League Division Series to the New York Mets, 3-1. It began with an argument and quickly escalated into violence, police said.

Beck declined to discuss whether the injured man and the suspects knew each other, or whether they were rooting for opposing teams.

Beck called the assault very unusual, saying that stadium security has been significantly enhanced since a 2011 beating that left San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow with brain damage.

"Anyone who goes to games now sees uniformed officers inside the venue as well as outside the venue, particularly for championship games or key rivalries," Beck said. "But it is a big facility, and you can't be everywhere all the time."

Beck urged anyone who saw or recorded the incident to contact police.

Should the Mets return to Los Angeles for a Game 5 on Thursday, Beck said police will have a strong presence at the stadium, "particularly with the tensions between the two teams right now, and the fans obviously."

"There's been a significant amount of rivalry here — a lot at stake," he said.

Police said fan expulsions were higher than usual at Friday's game though they didn't have specific figures.

Dodger spokesman Steve Brener said Tuesday that the team had no comment.

Security at Dodger Stadium came under national scrutiny after a 2011 attack in the parking lot on opening day left Stow with brain damage. Two men — Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez — pleaded guilty in the beating and went to prison.

Stow sued the Dodgers and their former owner Frank McCourt, blaming them for the attack because of insufficient security and lighting. A jury faulted the team, along with Sanchez and Norwood, and awarded Stow nearly $18 million after a six-week trial in 2014.

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Amanda Lee Myers, The Associated Press

Dawson Creek RCMP respond to several vehicle thefts

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos quiet on Don Cherry’s MLB conspiracy theory

TORONTO — Alex Anthopoulos is always grateful for Don Cherry's support, but the Blue Jays general manager was reluctant to second Cherry's belief that Major League Baseball is conspiring to keep Toronto out of the post-season.

Cherry spoke at length on Saturday during his Coach's Corner segment of Hockey Night in Canada about officiating and game operations decisions made by MLB that he believed were biased against the Blue Jays.

"Can't say enough good things about (Don Cherry)," said Anthopoulos at Rogers Centre on Tuesday. "We'll let him have his opinions. The guy's earned the right to think or say whatever he wants. He's certainly earned that right.

"I just appreciate that he's a big fan of the team, I really do. I think it's great for us."

Cherry spoke on Saturday night after the Blue Jays were defeated 6-4 in 14 innings the Texas Rangers in Game 2 on Friday.

"I think they're getting stiffed. Nobody will say it," Cherry said before specifically pointing out the fact that Roger Centre's retractable roof remained closed for Game 1 despite fair weather in Toronto. Cherry also made note of home plate umpire Vic Carapazza's controversial strike zone.

Cherry also had an issue with a replay review that was upheld in the 14th inning that eventually led to Texas' winning run.

Replays showed that Toronto shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had applied a tag to Rougned Odor as the Rangers second baseman slid back in to second base. But Odor's foot appeared to bounce off the bag as Tulowitzki tried to get his glove down. Whether or not Odor got his foot back on the bag fast enough or if Tulowitzki tagged him in time was debatable.

"The guy off second base, he's off that far," Cherry said, motioning a couple of inches with his fingers. "They go and look at it and they say it's all right.

"We're getting stiffed. You know why we're getting stiffed? Because they do not want a Canadian team in the final. That's my opinion."

When asked if he believed in such conspiracy theories, Anthopoulos deflected the question.

"Well, I can say I love Don Cherry. Big fan," said Anthopoulos. "I thought what he did for Josh Donaldson (supporting his MVP candidacy) was tremendous. I don't follow a ton of hockey but if it's a Saturday night and I'm at my in-laws and Coach's Corner is on, I want to watch."

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Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

Confident, not cocky: Blue Jays’ Stroman ready for Game 5 start against Rangers

TORONTO — There's no room for doubt in Marcus Stroman's mind.

The 24-year-old will start for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wesnesday in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers. Stroman, who missed the majority of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, is very sure of himself headed in to the biggest game of his young career.

"I would say I'm confident. Some people may call it cocky. It is what it is," said the five-foot-eight Stroman on Tuesday afternoon. "It's something that my dad kind of raised me with, a huge chip on my shoulder. I'm not scared to say that, I'm extremely confident. That's something that I pride myself on, that's the reason I'm at where I'm at.

"Something my father kind of raised me on. He always told me I'm going to be the smallest guy in the room so I have to be the most confident and that's something that I kind of pitch with today."

That self-confidence has not gone unnoticed by his teammates in Toronto. Manager John Gibbons loves Stroman's attitude and is pleased to put the pitcher in the decisive game of the best-of-five ALDS.

"His parents did a tremendous job with him," said Gibbons. "He's smart, intelligent, he's got everything going. But he's cocky. He's one of those guys, you know, you think OK, he believes he can do it but let's see it."

Stroman exceeded all expectations and returned to the Blue Jays' starting rotation in early September after injuring his knee at spring training. He won all four games he started in September with 18 strikeouts and a 1.67 earned-run average. He was solid in his only post-season start, giving up four runs — three earned — and striking out five over seven innings of work in Toronto's 6-4, 14-inning loss in Game 2.

He said that being put in this kind of situation, with the Blue Jays' season on the line, is exactly what he used to motivate himself during his rehabilitation process at Duke University in North Carolina.

"Obviously it's a perfect situation that kind of played out in my head," said Stroman at a news conference in the bowels of Rogers Centre. "And it's happening, and I mean, I get the chills even just thinking about being in the position that I am now, just coming from where I came.

"I'm so ready and just thankful for everybody in my corner who's helped me along the way."

Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello, who befriended Stroman in the minor leagues, loves the energy the young pitcher brings to the mound.

"Stro just exudes greatness, confidence, belief, whatever word you want to use to describe him, he's all of that," said Colabello. "Watching him pitch brings energy to the fans, brings energy to us. He is who he is for a reason."

Left-hander Cole Hamels gets the start for Texas on Thursday and is the opposite of Stroman in terms of experience. The 2008 World Series MVP has started in 14 post-season games with a 7-4 record, 83 strikeouts and a 3.08 ERA. Thursday will be Stroman's second career post-season start.

"His record and resume kind of speaks for itself," said Stroman of Hamels. "He's special, he's an elite talent, he's done it in the playoffs. He's proven and he's nasty, he's got some unbelievable stuff as a lefty. So it's going to be a battle the whole game for us.

"Our guys are going to have to step in the box, and really grind out some tough at-bats. And I'm going to have to do everything in my power to keep their lineups in check."

Gibbons said ace David Price is "not here to be abused" and that he wouldn't count on the star lefty being available for Game 5 at Rogers Centre. Price, who was Toronto's Game 1 starter, was used as a reliever in Game 4's 8-4 victory on Monday, coming in after knuckleballer R.A. Dickey pitched 4 2/3 innings.

Without Price, Aaron Loup would be the only left-hander available out of the bullpen. Loup, however, is away from the Blue Jays right now as he attends to a personal matter.

"It's a family matter, it's a delicate thing for us to even talk about it," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "We're there to support him with whatever he needs."

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Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had Game 5 on Thursday instead of Wednesday.

Suspect in liquor store robbery arrested again

Blame game already on as Canada-U.S. softwood deal expires; no talks on horizon

VICTORIA — Officials on both sides of the border are blaming each other for the failure to renegotiate a softwood lumber agreement between Canada and the United States before it expired Monday.

American industry groups have long claimed Canada subsidizes its lumber production and the trade agreement regulated Canadian softwood exports to the United States.

The 2006 agreement ended five years of court battles and returned $4 billion in duties collected by the United States that had been imposed on Canadian producers, with more than half — $2.4 billion — returned to British Columbia companies.

U.S. Lumber Coalition spokesman Zoltan van Heynigen says Canada continues to stay away from the table, but B.C. Premier Christy Clark says it is the Americans that have refused to negotiate despite two years of a requests.

Clark has said the importance of a renewed lumber deal will be her first topic of discussion with the new prime minister following next week's federal election.

The expired agreement includes a standstill clause that prevents the United States from launching any trade action against Canadian producers for one year.

 

 

The Canadian Press

Croatia qualifies for its 4th consecutive European Championship with help from Italy

ROME — With some help from Italy, Croatia qualified for its fourth consecutive European Championship after a 1-0 win at Malta on Tuesday.

Croatia claimed second place in Group H after Italy came from behind to beat Norway 2-1.

Alessandro Florenzi scored one goal and set up another for Graziano Pelle as the Azzurri overturned a 1-0 halftime deficit in Rome.

Ghana-born midfielder Alexander Tettey scored with Norway's only shot of the first half.

"We did what we had to do," Italy coach Antonio Conte said. "We didn't deserve to lose. I always want this intensity and this nastiness. We're on the right road. It's important to have this approach, whether you win or lose."

In Ta'Qali, Ivan Perisic scored midway through the first half for Croatia.

Italy won the group with 24 points and Croatia —which had a point deducted for a swastika that was painted on the pitch before a match against Italy — finished second with 20.

Norway took third place with 19 points, sending the Scandinavian squad to the playoffs.

"They were much better than us in the 90 minutes and they of course deserved to win," Norway coach Per-Mathias Hogmo said.

Croatia's best performance at the Euros was reaching the quarterfinals in 1996 and 2008. Coach Ante Cacic, who was hired last month, has several strong forwards to choose from with Perisic, Mario Mandzukic — who is currently injured — and Nikola Kalinic, who recently scored a hat trick for Serie A leader Fiorentina against Inter Milan.

Italy stretched its unbeaten streak in European Championship and World Cup qualifiers to 50 matches, extending back to a 3-1 loss to France in September, 2006.

Conte was without several key midfielders, with Daniele De Rossi suspended and injuries to Andrea Pirlo and Marco Verratti.

Still, the Azzurri were able to take control and create several chances before Tettey, who plays for Norwich City, gave Norway the lead.

Tettey used one touch to drive a powerful effort from the edge of the area past outstretched goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

A header from Graziano Pelle just a few meters (yards) out went wide in the 35th for Italy's best chance of the half.

Roberto Soriano then had a long shot pushed wide by goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.

A superb Nyland also negated efforts from Pelle and Florenzi late in the second half, before Florenzi's equalizer arrived in the 73rd.

Substitute Sebastian Giovinco crossed from the left and Haitam Aleesami attempted to stop the cross with his chest, leaving it for Florenzi to poke in.

Less than 10 minutes later, Giovinco was again involved as Pelle finished off a counterattack following a cross from Florenzi.

Norway ended with only one shot on target — Tettey's goal.

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(An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the Norway scorer. The correct spelling is Tettey)

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Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press

Canadian women’s hockey team to break in new goalies at Four Nations Cup

CALGARY — Canada will be green in goal at the Four Nations Cup women's hockey tournament.

Hockey Canada has announced the country's 22-player roster for the tournament Nov. 4-8 in Sundsvall, Sweden.

Canada is the defending champion having beaten the U.S. women 3-2 in a shootout in last year's final in Kamloops, B.C. Finland and Sweden round out the tournament field.

Canadian goaltenders Emerance Maschmeyer of Bruderheim, Alta., and Erica Howe of Orleans, Ont., have fewer than five career starts for the national team between them.

"We know what we have in some of our other goalies, but it's important to give some of these young players an opportunity to see what they can with the senior team," head coach Laura Schuler said Tuesday.

Shannon Szabados, Canada's winning goalie in both the 2010 and 2014 Olympic finals, is playing men's pro hockey for the Southern Professional Hockey League's Columbus Cottonmouths.

Maschmeyer, 21, was the winning goalie in two preliminary-round games last year in Kamloops. She dressed for two games in April's women's world championship in Malmo, Sweden, but did not play in the tournament.

Maschmeyer and Howe, 23, may be short on national-team starts, but they've played international games for Canada's under-22 and under-18 teams and both have played in an NCAA Frozen Four final, points out general manager Melody Davidson. 

"While on paper it might seem they're inexperienced, they definitely have pretty good pedigrees, both of them," Davidson said. "We need to see if what they bring on all the other levels, they bring at the senior level as well."

In non-Olympic years, the world championships and Four Nations Cup are the only two major international tournaments for the Canadian women.

The 2016 women's world championship will be March 28 to April 4 in Kamloops. The Americans are the defending champions after beating Canada 7-5 in Malmo.

Canada's Four Nations roster includes seven players who won Olympic gold in 2014 in Sochi, Russia: Marie-Philip Poulin, Meghan Agosta, Natalie Spooner, Jennifer Wakefield, Rebecca Johnston, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau.

Those players minus Agosta, along with forwards Jillian Saulnier, Bailey Bram, Jessica Campbell, Emily Clark, Sarah Davis and defenders Courtney Birchard, Brigette Lacquette and Halli Krzyzaniak, all won a silver medal at the world championship.

Defencemen Renata Fast of Burlington, Ont., and Sarah Edney of Mississauga, Ont., as well as forwards Sarah Lefort of Ormstown, Que., Sarah Nurse of Hamilton and Sarah Potomak of Aldergrove, B.C., will make their national-team debuts in Sweden.

So Schuler can get the attention of a quarter of her team in Sweden by shouting just one name.

"Isn't that funny?" Davidson said. "I said (to Schuler), if you get in trouble, you can just yell 'Sarah' from the bench."

Agosta, Canada's leading scorer and tournament MVP at the 2010 Winter Olympics, returns to the national team after taking police training in Vancouver last winter.

Left off the Four Nations roster were Sochi veterans Hayley Wickenheiser, Haley Irwin, Jocelyne Larocque, Brianne Jenner, Melodie Daoust, Tara Watchorn and goaltender Charline Labonte. Those players participated in the national team's September camp.

Davidson said Wickenheiser (foot) and Jenner (abdomen) need more time to rehabilitate from surgeries they had earlier this year, while Irwin is dealing with hip issues.

The Canadian roster includes 13 players from the Canadian Women's Hockey League and seven from the NCAA.

"This roster is by no means necessarily our roster for the world championship," Schuler said. "This is an opportunity to see what we have and where is our depth?

"The players we have selected, there's a reason why we selected them. They're performed in the past and done well and now it's an opportunity to see what they can do at that next level."

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

Blue Jays draw monster ratings for Game 3 of American League Division Series

TORONTO — An average of 4.17 million people watched the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers on Sunday in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, Rogers Sportsnet said in a release.

According to Numeris, a peak audience of 5.45 million viewers were tuned in when Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning to put the Blue Jays up 5-0.

As of Sunday, it was the most watched broadcast in Sportsnet's history.

The network said over 9.4 million Canadians watched some part of the game.

Sportsnet and Numeris did not yet have ratings for Game 4, which the Blue Jays won 8-4 to force Game 5 Wednesday at Rogers Centre.

Game 2 drew an average audience of 2.4 million people and a peak of 3.98 million.

The Canadian Press

Study suggests 2014’s EV-D68 not more severe than other cold bugs, but jury out

TORONTO — The respiratory bug known as enterovirus D68, which caused clusters of children in Canada and the U.S. to get sick in late summer-early fall last year, does not seem to have increased the need for ICU care or the risk of death compared to other cold-causing viruses, a Canadian study suggests.

That's the conclusion drawn from a study of 87 children treated at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, who tested positive for EV-D68, and 87 other kids who had a different virus causing their cold symptoms.

There are more than 100 enteroviruses, the second most common cause of the common cold after rhinoviruses. EV-D68 tends to cause symptoms in the lower part of the respiratory system, putting children with asthma or wheezing at greater risk of developing more acute illness from the infection; most cold viruses typically affect the upper airways.

The study found that children who turned out to be infected with EV-D68 were more likely to be in respiratory distress when they were seen in the emergency department and more often required hospital admission, compared to kids infected with other enterovirus or rhinovirus strains.

"However, they were not significantly more likely to require admission to the pediatric critical care unit or to die," said lead researcher Dr. Dominik Mertz, medical director of infection prevention and control at Hamilton Health Sciences.

"We didn't find any evidence that they were worse off than children infected by the other strains of the common cold," Mertz said Tuesday from Hamilton.

The study, published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found 23 per cent of children infected with EV-D68 needed to be cared for in intensive care, with or without a ventilator to assist their breathing. For kids with a different cold virus, 15 per cent needed ICU admission.

That difference, the researchers concluded, is not what's called in medicine "statistically significant."

"So even those with the normal strains, one in seven kids ended up in the ICU," he said. "And I think that's something some people underestimate, the fact that with what is perceived as the common cold, some children can get severely sick from that as well and it doesn't need to be EV-D68."

Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an infectious disease specialist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control who was not involved in the study, said "it's important and interesting to see the Canadian experience with the enterovirus D68 event last season."

But Skowronski questioned the researchers' conclusion that EV-D68 was not associated with greater risks of admission to a critical care unit or death, suggesting that the number of patients in the study may not have been large enough for such an assertion.

"For me, the risk of further severity — in other words, admission to ICU or death — is really an issue of sample size and needs to be resolved," she said from Vancouver.

After examining the data presented in the paper, Skowronski said she would have been more cautious about drawing a similar conclusion "on the basis of these results."

"But I still think their paper is a welcome addition to the body of knowledge around D68 and other enteroviruses generally. And I think enterovirus D68 last year opened our eyes to the severe end of the clinical spectrum."

The EV-D68 outbreak was also associated with neurological symptoms in some children, including a condition called acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), which is characterized by extreme muscle weakness. The enterovirus family — which includes polio — is known to be linked with such neurological complications as AFP, meningitis and encephalitis.

But during the 2014 outbreak, not all children who developed AFP tested positive for EV-D68, suggesting that another enterovirus may have contributed to the development of paralysis symptoms in children, suggests an accompanying CMAJ editorial.

"Further studies are needed to define whether EV-D68 is truly a more severe pathogen than other enteroviruses and rhinoviruses for all patients, or whether there are certain populations at increased risk of severe disease," write Drs. Michelle Science and Upton Allen of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

"Such research should also address whether there are factors that are related to viral or patient genetic variation that might be associated with disease severity."

Skowronski added that future research needs to look at both hospital-based and community-based patients to determine the overall prevalence of EV-D68 "to better reflect the full spectrum of illness."

"Hospital-based clusters are important signals, but we shouldn't hang our hats on them in terms of risk assessment. For that we need much broader community sampling."

 

Follow @SherylUbelacker on Twitter.

Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press

De Bruyne, Mertens on target as Belgium beats Israel 3-1 to top Group B and FIFA ranking

BRUSSELS — Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens both scored a goal and provided an assist to help Belgium secure top spot in Group B and first place in the FIFA rankings with a 3-1 victory over Israel in their European Championship qualifier on Tuesday.

Victory meant that the 2-0 win of runner-up Wales over Andorra had no impact on the final standings. In a head-to-head for a third-place playoff spot, Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Cyprus 3-2 to give the 2014 World Cup finalist a shot at a second straight major tournament from the playoffs.

In Brussels, Mertens broke the deadlock in the 64th minute on an assist by De Bruyne, finishing off with a low shot. Manchester City's De Bruyne scored with a 25-meter free kick in the 78th before Eden Hazard added a goal in the 84th leaving Israel with no more than a last minute consolation goal from Tommer Hemed.

"I am super pleased. Yes! No. 1 in the world," said Mertens on Belgium's unlikely run from 71st place in 2007 to sweeping past Germany and Argentina over the past weekend to top place.

Israel knew what opposition it faced and fell back in defence even if it needed victory for a shot at advancing to the playoffs.

Before a raucous crowd of 42,000 at the King Baudouin stadium, it fell to Mertens to break the deadlock. As so often, Belgium then pushed through in the final stages of the match.

"Whatever happens, we get through it," defender Vincent Kompany said.

In a seesaw cliffhanger in Nicosia where the lead changed three times, it was finally Bosnia which pulled through to reach the playoffs, based largely on a brace of first time goals from Deportivo La Coruna's Haris Medunjanin.

In Cardiff, it was another player in Spanish employ, Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, who was celebrating. With the last goal of Wales' successful campaign, he set off the party for the team's first qualification for a major tournament since 1958 after Aaron Ramsey had scored the opener.

Belgium finished top of the group with 23 points, two more than Wales. Bosnia finished with 17 for the playoff spot while Israel was fourth with 13 points, one more than Cyprus. Andorra had none.

Raf Casert, The Associated Press

Elections Canada estimates more then three million voted at advance polls

Netherlands loses 3-2 to 10-man Czech Republic, fails to qualify for European Championship

AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands squandered its last chance of reaching the playoffs for next year's European Championship in a humiliating 3-2 defeat by 10-man Czech Republic on Tuesday.

The debacle in Amsterdam came in sharp contrast to the celebrations of Group A rival Turkey, which beat Iceland 1-0 to take the automatic qualifying place for Euro 2016 as the best third-place finisher.

The Dutch had started the match two points behind Turkey, but also behind on the teams' head-to-head record. It meant that Turkey only needed to avoid losing to Iceland to at least qualify for the playoffs and condemn the Dutch to missing the European Championship for the first time since 1984.

In the end, the Turks beat Iceland with a late goal and the Dutch torpedoed their own playoff hopes with another display of hapless defending and hopeless finishing — just over a year after finishing third at the World Cup in Brazil.

Following a promising start that saw winger Anwar El Ghazi draw a save from Petr Cech in the first minute, the Netherlands lapsed back into the sort of ponderous build up play that plagued the team's qualification campaign.

That allowed the Czechs to seize control of the match and the visitors took a deserved lead in the 24th minute when Jiri Skalak laid off the ball to right back Pavel Kaderabek who drilled the ball into far corner past Jeroen Zoet.

Josef Sural doubled the Czechs' lead when he easily shrugged off Virgil van Dijk and poked the ball in at Zoet's near post 11 minutes later.

Coach Danny Blind again left the Netherlands' all-time top scorer Robin van Persie on the bench, but introduced the veteran of 101 internationals before halftime as he went for all-out attack.

Marek Suchy helped the Dutch cause when he brought down Memphis Depay just before half time and was sent off.

But even against 10 men, the Dutch struggled and after Van Persie headed in a 66th-minute own goal the home fans stopped jeering their team and some started heading for the Amsterdam Arena exits instead.

The supporters who stuck around saw Klaas-Jan Huntelaar peg back the lead with a 70th-minute header and — with the Dutch fielding a five-man attack — Van Persie score at the correct end to make it 3-2 with seven minutes to go. Less than a minute later, Van Persie was booked for diving as he tried to win a penalty and that was as close as the Dutch got to scoring again.

Selcuk Inan scored an 89th minute goal to give Turkey a win that meant the Czechs won Group A from Iceland in second. Kazakhstan beat Latvia 1-0 in the group's other match.

Mike Corder, The Associated Press