CALGARY – Nearly six months remain until the chase for gold begins anew in Sochi, but for members of Team Canada the work has already begun, much of it hinging on perhaps the biggest adjustment required for a repeat of gold in 2014. "I like the big ice," grinned Rick Nash, who is among 46 players on hand in Calgary for a brief, three-day orientation camp ahead of the 2014 Olympics in February. The Canadians emerged with gold for the second time in three Olympics on home turf in Vancouver. However, their most recent bid for a medal on international ice was an all-out dud, a seventh-place finish in Turin, Italy in 2006. Mindful of that stinging experience and its breadth of lessons on the larger ice surface, Team Canada is taking steps to ensure that a repeat failure isnt in the cards in Russia. Start with the hiring of Ralph Krueger, the former Oilers coach and longtime leader of the Swiss National program. "We brought Ralph on board because he knows way more about the big ice than we do," Canadian head coach Mike Babcock said of Krueger, who steered the bench in Switzerland for upwards of a decade, finishing a surprising sixth at the most recent games in Vancouver. Joining a staff that already includes Lindy Ruff, Claude Julien, and Ken Hitchcock, Kruegers expertise was already being put to use early on Sunday morning, as the Winnipeg native fielded a query from Julien in regards to a penalty killing tactic, of which the latter will lead for the Canadians. "No one knows better than him," Babcock said of Krueger. "Thats why Ralphs with us. Hes going to do a lot of work in advance for us." Beginning with a meeting on Sunday evening, the coaching staff plans to make good use of their short window with players this week, introducing "details" and "terminology" of the system to be employed in Sochi, walking through such systems on a boarded ice surface at the Markin MacPhail Centre on Monday morning. "What you do in the next three days, weve learned over time, really matters," said Hitchcock, who has served as an associate coach for Canada at the past three Olympics. "Because all of us, at the end of this event, we get onto our own [NHL] teams and we dont think about [the Olympics] until we get on the plane [to go to Russia]." "Were going to get our team prepared here," Babcock added, stressing the importance of players becoming familiar with one another along with a need to understand the preparation, pressure and expectations demanded of those that make the team. "A lot of the details are going to be put into place here, just for spacing, for understanding what your job is, and how you have to play. And then when we arrive there we can hit the ground running as we reintroduce our terminology and reintroduce our program." Of the mindset the coaching staff will try to instill this week as it relates to the increased dimensions of the international rink – 15 feet wider than the NHL surface – Krueger suggested a need to remain glued to the "Canadian game and not adjust to some of the spaces that suddenly arise". "You need to make sure that you dont change your game or make too many adjustments that will weaken what makes Canada strong," said Krueger. "I think the sucker play is that you have more space [and] you have more time so the tendency is to take more time," added Hitchcock, expanding on the ideas offered by Krueger. "Its the big mistake. To me, when we play well as Canadians we play fast defensively and faster offensively. "Thats what were emphasizing here with the players in the next three days is we cant lose perspective of how we play." Mindful of the big ice and its required adjustments, Canadas brass is open to making considerable changes from the squad that won gold in 2010, open to the idea of a different-looking team in 2014. Kevin Lowe, the assistant executive director of the unsuccessful squad in Italy and a member of the current management group, noted the need for players who can move their feet and the puck with swiftness and precision. "There could be a number of changes from the goal-medal team in 2010 in Vancouver," he said. But as Steve Yzerman, the executive director of the program, was quick to note, the top players wont be overlooked if theyre simply not the fleetest of foot. "Were not just going to take the 14 fastest forwards and the eight fastest defencemen," said Yzerman, who took gold home as a player with Team Canada in 2002 and then again as the executive director in 2010. "Theres going to be some players on this team that are just simply too good to leave off and you wouldnt consider them race-horses." Without actually hitting the ice per se, those players on hand for the camp will do their best to soak up details of the game that will define the Canadian squad in Russia, a slightly different style perhaps from the one that captured gold in the rear-view mirror of Vancouver. "I guess the obvious answer is just the space out there," Sidney Crosby said of perspective adjustments. "But other than that I dont think you change a whole lot. I think that if anything you have a little bit more time to make decisions and things are typically a little bit slower, but I think for the most part you try not to change too much." "Like Sid said, theres just small things," concluded Nash, who tasted disaster in Turin and bliss in Vancouver. "Its different angles, its a bit more skating – you can drift to the outside a little more if youre not careful. But for me personally, Ive played a lot on the big ice and I enjoy it." Hector Herrera Jersey . UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Jesus Molina Jersey . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/guillermo-ochoa-mexico-jersey/ . The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Diego Reyes Jersey . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said. Hirving Lozano Jersey . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres.LEVERKUSEN, Germany -- Bayer Leverkusen fired Sami Hyypia as coach Saturday after an alarming mid-season slump and turned to the Finns former coaching partner Sascha Lewandowski to secure Champions League qualification. The Bundesliga club said in a statement that the former Liverpool defender Hyypia was being released "with immediate effect" following Fridays 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Hamburger SV. Lewandowski stepped back to resume coaching Leverkusens youth side after securing Champions League qualification with Hyypia last season. He has been charged with securing at least fourth place in the Bundesliga to repeat the feat this time around. "He helped us out in a critical situation once before when he worked alongside Sami Hyypia following the release of Robin Dutt," Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller said. "Were firmly convinced he will succeed again." Leverkusen previously drew with bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig and is in danger of losing fourth place, with both Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach in a position to overtake on Saturday. "This decision was more than difficult because Sami did a brilliant job over the last two years," Voeller said. Leverkusen was second at one point in the Bundesliga but had a severe change in fortune after the winter break with only three wins from 12 league games this year. IIt has also endured humiliating losses to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup.dddddddddddd "What he and his coaching staff achieved with the team in the first half of the season was well beyond expectations and earned him praise from all sides," Voeller said. "Thats why the current slump is even more painful for us. The dramatic events of the last few weeks leave us no other choice but to bring about a separation. We want to and have to try everything to save the season." Assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte was also released. "Its not an easy situation for me now to take Samis place," Lewandowski said. "We had responsibility for this team together for more than a year. So you cant take over without regret that the former partner couldnt realize his dreams." Kicker magazine said that Thomas Schaaf (former Werder Bremen coach), Markus Weinzierl (Augsburg), Armin Veh (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jos Luhukay (Hertha Berlin) are all possible candidates to take over from next season. Hyypia is the seventh coach to lose his job in the Bundesliga this season, following the dismissals of Bruno Labbadia and his successor Thomas Schneider at Stuttgart, Thorsten Fink and his successor Bert van Marwijk at Hamburger SV, Michael Wiesinger at Nuremberg and Mirko Slomka at Hannover. 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