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LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland - A dramatic season-ending crash for Maria-Hoefl Riesch on Wednesday denied Alpine skiing one of its two overall title duels at the World Cup Finals. Hoefl-Rieschs exit — from the downhill course into safety nets, then airlifted from the slope by helicopter — left Anna Fenninger of Austria favourite to win her first giant crystal trophy one month after becoming an Olympic champion. Fenningers sixth-place finish in the final downhill built a slim 11-point lead in the standings over the 2011 champion with three races remaining. Hoefl-Riesch will miss them all after sustaining upper leg, elbow and shoulder injuries on her left side. "Its tough," Germany womens head coach Thomas Stauffer said. "We were up and running for the World Cup all season and at the end you cant battle for it." Earlier, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway seized the mens overall lead from Fenningers teammate Marcel Hirscher, who skips downhill, in what also shaped as a back-and-forth duel this week on sunbathed slopes at Lenzerheide. Svindals fifth-place finish moved him only 41 points ahead and extended a series of results since the Sochi Olympics opened which left him just off the podium. The Olympic downhills proved a reliable guide Wednesday with mens champion Matthias Mayer of Austria repeating his gold-medal success in another tight race. Olympic silver medallist Christof Innerhofer tied for second with Ted Ligety of the United States, the Olympic giant slalom champion. They finished 0.11 seconds behind Mayers winning run of 1 minute, 29.99 seconds. Lara Gut of Switzerland, the downhill bronze medallist , delighted her home crowd with victory in 1:32.31. Runner-up Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was 0.05 back, and third-placed Swiss Fraenzi Aufdenblatten was 0.57 behind in her final World Cup race before retiring. Pre-race favourite Fenninger, trailing 1.07 behind Gut, failed to repeat her speedy training runs but 40 race points could yet be enough to clinch the sports most prestigious honour. "I hope Maria can race again," Fenninger said before the extent of her rivals injuries were known. "My focus is on the next two races. What she is doing, I cant change." Hoefl-Rieschs bitter-sweet day started atop the standings and got better minutes before entering the start house. Fenningers failure to lead assured the 29-year-old German of her first season-long downhill title after six years of domination by Lindsey Vonn, the injured and absent American. Hoefl-Riesch crashed midway down the bumpy course when her skis slipped beneath her at a sharp right-hand turn, sending her sliding off course. The downhill trophy ceremony was staged immediately after the race with an empty top step on the podium and the German anthem playing as the helicopter landed nearby. Hoefl-Riesch was driven to a nearby hospital for checks. Fenninger now leads Gut, a six-race winner, by 235 points and defending champion Tina Maze of Slovenia by 287. A maximum of 300 points are available in the final three races. Fenninger can secure the title outright by finishing first or second on Thursday in the super-G, in which she is Olympic champion. She also won Olympic silver in giant slalom, which is the World Cup season-ending race on Sunday. Svindal and Hirscher will both start in the mens super-G also scheduled Thursday. "If I had to put money on someone I have no idea who it would be," said Svindal, a two-time overall champion, of his contest with the two-time defending champion. "I used to be 1-2-3 every race, and now Im 4-5-6. But Marcel is too." Ligety is the super-G world champion and will be a contender on a steep slope that produces sharp-turning corners which suit his technical skills. "This is a hill I know I have a good chance on," said Ligety, whose career-best result in downhill improved on his fourth here in 2007. Bode Miller had seemed poised for victory Wednesday until going wide near the end of his run. He placed eighth, 0.62 behind Mayer, who got his first World Cup win. In a rare choice by World Cup race organizers, the men and women raced through the same gate-setting down the 2.3-kilometre (1.43-mile) Silvano Beltrametti course. Mayers time was 2.32 seconds ahead of Gut, who raced two hours later on a warm day. Gut had the 18th best time and was faster than two men who completed the course: Johan Clarey of France and Canadas Erik Guay. However, the woman who did not finish safely, Maria Hoefl-Riesch, left the most significant mark on the day. 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Connor McGovern Womens Jersey .One day after winning her record 63rd World Cup race, Vonn posted to her Facebook account Tuesday that she was happy Woods surprised her by coming to the race, and that she felt terrible that his tooth got knocked out. Troy Aikman Youth Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. ARLINGTON, Va. -- The U.S. hockey team has flipped the script since the last Winter Olympics. The Americans expect to be a favourite to win gold in six months at the Sochi Games after saying they were underdogs in 2010, when they won silver and were a goal away from knocking off the host Canadians. "The only people that thought we had a chance were probably the guys in the locker room, or our coaches and management of USA Hockey," Chicago Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane said Monday. "This time, its different." USA Hockey invited 48 of its top prospects -- including 16 players from its 2010 team -- for off-ice workouts and meetings at the Washington Capitals training facility. "Even though we invited 48 guys, I got calls from a few agents, Why not my guy? I get that," said general manager David Poile, whose day job is running the Nashville Predators. "We put some guys on the board that arent at this camp that we should be looking at. Were totally open-minded. "We have to take the 25 guys that give us the best chance to win." The players will get picked to play based on their body of work and how well they perform early in the NHL season. The final roster is expected to be announced on Jan. 1 after Detroit and Toronto play in the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. Brian Burke, the teams general manager in 2010, set up an advisory group to assemble the roster. Poile plans to follow the model over the next four months. NHL general managers Stan Bowman, Dean Lombardi, Dale Tallon and Paul Holmgren along with scout Don Waddell will assist Poile, Ray Shero, the teams associate GM, Burke, the teams director of player personnel and USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson. "Well have much harder decisions to make, picking this team than we had 2010," Burke said. "Thats what you want." The advisory group met for five hours on Sunday, spending some of that time on talking about a possible roster and some tough decisions it will have to make. "We have 16 returning Olympians that have a chance to make the team," Poile said. "Weve got way more depth, and way more quality than we had in 2010." Six goaltenders were invited to the camp, and three will make the trip to Sochi.dddddddddddd Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was named MVP of the ice hockey tournament at the Vancouver Games, but hes not a lock to keep his job because Los Angeles Kings star Jonathan Quick has been perhaps the worlds best at stopping shots the past two seasons. NHL goalies Jimmy Howard, Cory Schneider, Craig Anderson, along with 20-year-old prospect Josh Gibson, also are in the mix. Miller, despite his performance in 2010, was not named to the teams leadership group that includes defenceman Ryan Suter and forwards David Backes, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan and Zach Parise. While it would be a big surprise if any of those leaders didnt end up representing the U.S. in Russia, they dont have any guarantees. "Nobody has been given a position," Poile insisted. Twenty-four forwards and 18 defencemen are attending the pre-Olympic camp, some of whom, such as 18-year-old Seth Jones, are there simply to experience what it is like to be around the countrys best hockey players. Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, who succeeds Ron Wilson, said his job is to pass along some information and messages to the players over the course of a few days to get them ready for a quick turnaround at the Sochi Games. The NHL has some games scheduled on Feb. 8, and the Americans -- along with the other players in the league from other countries -- wont have much time to prepare for their first game. "We wont see these guys for another six months," Bylsma said. "Thats not comfortable for a coach." Bylsma, though, seems at ease with Team USA publicly liking its chances to win gold for the first time since the Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union in 1980. "Its a different expectation and different mindset," he said. "Four years ago, we were under the radar and it certainly was a younger team and didnt have those expectations. This is a team that largely was in Vancouver and was in the gold-medal game and was a shot away from winning a gold medal. "Now, the expectation is much different. Were going over to Sochi, Russia, with the mindset of winning a gold medal." ' ' '