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MINSK, Belarus -- From a disallowed goal to a penalty kill in the final minutes, Team Canada didnt enjoy a lot of easy moments in beating Norway 3-2. But thats exactly how coach Dave Tippett wanted it, as his team got the regulation victory it needed Tuesday to finish first in Group A at the world hockey championship. "We played well, and I like that we got pushed right to the end," Tippett said. "If it wouldve been a 5-1 or 6-1 game, maybe you get into bad habits, you just kind of float through it. This pushed us as a team, and the harder you get pushed as a team the better you get in a short amount of time. I like the fact that we won the game, obviously, but I like the fact that it was a close game." It was close because Norway took the lead, and then Canada had a would-be goal by Kevin Bieksa waved off for goaltender interference because Jonathan Huberdeau had his stick in the crease. And it remained close even after Joel Ward scored the second of his two goals, the eventual game winner, midway through the third because Norway didnt go away. Canada outshot Norway 42-16 and only beat goaltender Steffen Soberg three times, on Wards two on the power play and Mark Scheifeles at even strength. Meanwhile, James Reimer gave up goals to Anders Bastiansen and Mads Hansen that came about from defensive miscues but still improved to 3-0-1 in the tournament. "This is one of those games where you really just have to grind it out and battle because they protect so well, they collapse so well, and sometimes you just pass the puck around the outside but you cant really get to the good scoring areas," Reimer said. "I think were just happy to grind this one out." Canada, which finished the preliminary round with 18 points and a 6-0-1 record, will face Finland in Group B in the quarter-final round Thursday. Along the way, the Canadians outscored opponents 28-13, and their only blemish was a shootout loss to France. Tippett seemed pleased with his teams progression to this point. "Most of our players didnt play for three weeks and as you get back into game shape, your game starts to elevate," he said. "Every game our players continue to pick up a step." Finishing first in the group assured Canada of avoiding powerhouse Russia until a potential gold-medal game Sunday. The United States, led by Tyler Johnson and Seth Jones, could wind up on Canadas side of the bracket, pending the result of Russia-Belarus on Tuesday night. The chance to pass Sweden for first place almost slipped away Tuesday against Norway at Chizhovka-Arena. Canada fell behind on a power-play goal by Bastiansen and then had to overcome some frustration later in the first. It looked like Bieksa scored a power-play goal at the 15:01 mark, but it was waved off apparently because Huberdeau had his stick in the crease. Tippett said the referee wouldnt come over to explain the decision, which seemed to stem from the IIHF rule that an attacking player cannot have even his stick blade in the crease when the puck goes into the net. "I didnt think my skate was in the crease. I guess it was the stick," Huberdeau said. "I dont know the call, but it was the call and you cant do anything. Its not a big deal." It wouldve been a much bigger deal had it cost Canada the chance to win in regulation. But with seven power plays, including five after Bieksas goal was disallowed, there were plenty of opportunities to keep it from being the reason for a loss. "We were not going to let one call ruin the whole day for us," said Ward, who now has six goals and is tied with teammate Cody Hodgson and Frances Antoine Roussel for second in the tournament behind Russias Viktor Tikhonov. Canada managed to grind away at Norway enough, and Tippett had special praise for the fourth line of Ward, Scheifele and Sean Monahan. "We had lots of opportunities, but (the Norwegians) kept the game very tight," Tippett said. "They did a good job penalty-killing against us, and I was proud of our guys to just keep pushing, not get frustrated and hopefully wed find the chances we needed to win." Once they did, the Canadians could start to look ahead to elimination play. "Get some playoffs going here," Reimer said. "To get going to the quarter-finals here, I think were jelling well as a team. We have some good chemistry. Hopefully things bode well in the playoffs." NOTES -- Alex Burrows missed his second straight game with a charley horse suffered in a knee-on-knee hit Friday against Italy. Tippett said he skated each of the past two days, would practise with the team the next time it was on the ice and would be ready to play in Thursdays quarter-final game. ... Reimer approached Soberg, who made 39 saves on 42 shots, after the game to ask why he wasnt playing in the NHL. Soberg was a 2011 fourth-round pick of the Washington Capitals and refused to come to North America to play for the WHLs Swift Current Broncos, opting instead to continue playing in Norway. The Capitals lost Sobergs rights last summer, making him an NHL free agent. Dallas Cowboys Tony Pollard Jersey . Halak, 28, split his eighth NHL seasons between the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, compiling a 29-13-7 record in 52 games. Dallas Cowboys Trysten Hill Jersey . -- The Denver Broncos locked up a shutdown cornerback, only his name wasnt Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. http://www.cowboyscheap.com/94d-cheap-connor-mcgovern-jersey-cowboys.html . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Wholesale Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . The world No. 1 had one of the most dominating performances in a final and was on his way to a possible shutout on Sunday until the third-seeded Berdych broke the super Serbs serve in the 12th game of the match. Authentic Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011.A ton of Premier League football and a partridge in a pear tree. In reality, it’s three games in just seven days as the fixtures come fast and furious over the festive season. Christmas provides an appropriate break to reflect upon what’s transpired. My gift for you this holiday season: 12 Premier League thoughts before Christmas. Season’s Greetings. 1) Goal scorers and attacking players largely get the majority of acclaim for top performances. In a season marked by porous defending, it’s worth noting few players have been better than Chelsea’s John Terry. The 34-year-old’s playing future was questioned two years ago, relegated to a reserve role. Jose Mourinho entrusted Terry with the responsibility to lead from back upon the Portuguese return to Stamford Bridge. The importance of the move, symbolic and practical, cannot be understated. The Captain has started every Premier League match this season, scoring his first of the domestic campaign on a vintage Terry powerful header in the 2-0 victory at Stoke City. He has now scored in 15 consecutive seasons. Terry’s defending has been top notch and is still keeping up with the pace of the neck-break speed of the game. He has played every minute (1530) of the season, has won 68 per cent of tackles and 74 per cent of aerial duels while only committing three fouls, and has a 91 per cent pass accuracy. Terry is worthy of being in the mid-season discussion for Player of the Year. 2) Terry doesn’t get all the credit for Chelsea’s top defensive record (13 GAA). While I continue to preach about the importance of consistency across the back line (Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have started every match), the midfield presence of Nemanja Matic makes for as good a ‘back three’ as any in European football. Matic basically sits on top of the centre back pairing in defensive positions. The towering presence of the Serbian is as intimidating as it is calming. His composure is top rate, protecting from vulnerability from attack down the middle. It also allows his partner in the pivot, Cesc Fabregas to move forward and get more involved in the attack. Fabregas has a league best 12 assists on the season, four better than anyone else. Matic allows for that to happen. He is third in the league in tackles won (46) and successful passes (931). As long as the trio of Terry, Cahill, and Matic stay in tact, there is little to suggest Chelsea’s shape will bend. And neither will team form. 3) Chelsea are only three points ahead of Manchester City heading into Christmas. Logic suggests the title race is far from settled. History would suggest otherwise. Chelsea have gone on to win the Premier League the last three times when atop the table at Christmas. And manager Jose Mourinho has won the league all seven previous times when leading the league at this stage. Mourinho and Chelsea are methodical in approach. Consistency and buy in to system is what makes them great. It’s just three points, but the gap seems much greater. 4) The performance of the weekend came from the team most desperate. Martin Skrtel’s 97th minute equalizer while bleeding from the head gave Liverpool a well deserved 2-2 draw with Arsenal. If it were not for Fabio Borini’s mindless sending off, Liverpool could very well have pushed on for even more. A draw is a win for Liverpool, who move up to 10th place. The stat sheet for the overall team play in recent weeks has read well. Defensive miscues and inability to score goals have been reason for the steep decline. These areas are in desperate need of improvement. At this point, Brendan Rodgers is grasping at straws. He can turn to the Arsenal match as one to build from. A +20 shot advantage, 64 per cent of possession and consistently superior interplay than the visitors bodes well. Best news for Liverpool is a relatively soft schedule lay ahead. They don’t play a top seven team in the league until January 31st. The next month will determine whether Liverpool has enough to make a push towards European competition, and whether Rodgers stays employed. 5) It has become undeniable Arsenal cannot effectively function without Laurent Koscielny. I’ve been critical about Koscielny’s decision making in previous seasons. But perhaps that has more to do with the average defensive talent around him than anything else. Per Mertesacker has always been a step slow and a notch below what can be considered a solid Premier League defender. The onus on keeping it tidy at the back falls on Koscielny’s shoulders. The Frenchman has only started eight of Arsenal’s 17 matches. The Gunners have picked up 15 points when he starts, conceding just seven goals in those games. Without Koscielny, Arsenal have earned just 12 points and given up 14 goals. Koscielny missed out earlier in the season with tendonitis and now through a muscle injury. Of all the walking wounded at the Emirates, Koscielny’s absence cuts the deepest. 6) I never thought I’d see the day James Milner would lead a forward line. Milner not only did that, but did it well, moving up into an advanced role in Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace. Manuel Pellegrini out of desperation turned to a Spain-circa-Euro 2012 ‘false nine’, not having a true out-and-out striker available for selection. Although desperation was the motive, the design was impressive. After not registering a shot in the first half, the team grew in fluidity and systematically broke down Palace. Milner would start high, but in fairness, it was the attacking savvy of David Silva and Samir Nasri that provided the threat. Silva and Nasri have so much intelligence in finding space and moveement off the ball.dddddddddddd The complimentary industry from the wing-backs, particularly Pablo Zabaleta in getting up the field overwhelmed the visitors. City showed they can play with a false nine, if need be. A truer test of the formation will be against better competition. Better teams will punish City with so many players in advanced positions. Boxing Day will prove a more tricky test against West Brom, a team well-versed in dangerous counter-attacking play. 7) Wayne Rooney cannot play central midfield. In an advance midfield role? Absolutely. But not the deep lying position he took up in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. Rooney had a game high 107 touches and completed an impressive 94 per cent of passes. He looked good pinging around the ball around with beautifully weighted passes. Yet through it all, Rooney did much of nothing. The passes went nowhere decisive, failing to threaten a five man back line. Even worse, Rooney didn’t get past anyone on the dribble and failed to get up into the play into goal scoring positions. It is an absolute waste of Rooney’s ability as one of the most predatory attacking players in the game. Instead, Rooney completed passes in a pedestrian manner, slowing down the game when United needed to attack with pace. The Rooney experiment in central midfield has to end. United’s top need in the January transfer window is a centre-midfielder who can play alongside Michael Carrick. Daley Blind may be that player, but is unfit. United need better and more. They currently have a void in the most influential position on the pitch. 8) The same match provided a glimpse of what Radamel Falcao can be. Falcao’s headed goal was a bit of class and his emotion indicative of how much a run of good form will mean for him. It was never going to be easy coming back from a torn ACL. Falcao’s early season touch on the ball was heavy; his play hesitant. The goal makes back-to-back tallies in consecutive starts. The Colombian needs a run of starts to find a rhythm. And his teammates need to get him involved. Falcao suffered the same plight as Robin van Persie, with his teammates not finding him with the ball. The running off the ball was good. A striker as such needs touches and needs to be rewarded. The Falcao experiment at Old Trafford is far from over. 9) The Canadian story of the weekend is Canadian defender Doniel Henry set to make a January move to a top four team. Henry has been granted a work permit and will join West Ham United in January. It is a dream move for the former Toronto FC Academy player and a testament to the program he has come out of. The Brampton native, 21, fits the mild of a big, strong and athletic defender manager Sam Allardyce desires. There will certainly be a learning curve, but the future is bright for the defender, especially with Winston Reid out of contract at season’s end. The fast pace game will not faze him as much as the challenge of proper distribution and timing of tackles. Congrats to Doneil for this outstanding achievement. 10) The Tyne-Wear derby was decided by a decision gone-wrong by the losing manager and positive indecision by the winning manager. Late in the match, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew chose to substitute off Cheick Tiote in favour for Papiss Cisse; an aggressive decision taking off a defensive midfielder in preference of a striker in a 0-0 game. All the meanwhile, Sunderland manager Gus Poyet changed his mind based upon Pardew’s gamble, choosing to keep Adam Johnson on the field rather than his initial instinct to take off the player. Newcastle predictably lost their team shape, culminating in Johnson scoring the 90th minute winner. It was these two decisions that settled the match, showing how delicate the line between victory and defeat can be between two rivals with very little to separate the sides. 11) Charlie ‘Automatic’ Austin became the first QPR player to score a Premier League hat-trick since 1993 in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over West Brom. Austin has been a revelation on the season, scoring or assisting on 65 per cent of QPR’s goals and currently the highest scoring English player (11) in the Premier League. With Austin leading the charge and Harry Redknapp having other creative attacking players in his team, QPR seem to have more than enough quality in attack. Where they desperately need help is on the back-end. The team is horrendous defensively. Robert Green has been the busiest goalkeeper in the league, making the most saves (54) despite conceding a league worst 32 goals as a team. Hopes of survival hinge on bringing in proper defensive replacements in January. 12) Forget Charlie Austin. It’s Harry Kane who has grabbed the hearts and minds of the nation. The Spurs forward scored again in a 2-1 win over Burnley, his 14th goal in all competitions. Kane is all the rage; the hype out of control when it comes to his potential to be England’s “next one”. Photoshops and meme’s have surfaced, depicting the 21 year old as Jesus. It’s crazy stuff. Make no mistake, there is a lot to like about Kane. He’s athletic, shifty and crafty from open play in front of goal. But we’ve seen this song and dance before. The English media finds there new sweethearts and grab ahold, lavishing too much praise, too soon on young players. He need look no further than young teammates Andros Townsend and Kyle Walker as potential cautionary tales. Injuries have played a part, but young players as such are propelled into the spotlight and fail to live up to the lofty billing. Spurs supporters need proceed with caution. As does Mauricio Pochettino. 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