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Jeff Stoughtons 11th Canadian mens curling championship is a bit of a homecoming. Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. He has won twice since -- the last in 2011 -- and is a two-time world champion. "Its kind of special being able to come back after so many years to a place with some great memories," he said in an interview. "Its pretty cool and the team is really looking forward to getting on with the week." The Brier starts Saturday and runs to March 9. Last year Stoughton lost the Brier final in Edmonton 11-4 to Brad Jacobs and his Northern Ontario rink. Stoughton had a disappointing 3-4 finish at the Olympic Curling Trials in December, as Jacobs went undefeated in claiming the right to wear Canadas colours in Sochi. Stoughton had lots of company. No one could slow the juggernaut from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.. "There was only one happy team coming out of those trials and that was obviously Jacobs," said Stoughton. "We just sort of decompressed for a few weeks and then got right back at it, had a great Skins Game, great fun Continental Cup with the guys, and then just carried right through to the Safeway championship in Winnipeg." In this years Brier field -- with both Jacobs and Alberta veteran Kevin Martin absent -- Stoughton and Albertas Kevin Koe are favourites. Manitoba has a record 27 wins at the Brier, followed closely by Alberta with 25. Koe is representing Alberta this year for the third time, after beating Martin 7-5 to take the provincial title. Koe won the Brier in 2010, his first appearance, and went on to win a world championship. Just getting out of Alberta is tough for Koe, who curls out of Calgary. "Youve got to get through one of the top teams in the world in Kevin Martin and its definitely not realistic to think you can do that every year," he said. He recognizes hes going to be one of the favourites along with Stoughton but says thats no different than any other year and the rest of the field may be deeper than some suspect. "Theres quite a few teams that a lot of people dont know about that I think will do pretty good, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, maybe even the Territories. I think its a pretty tough field actually." Theres maybe a little family pride creeping in there. For the third time in five years, hell be joined at the Brier by brother Jamie, who skips the Northwest Territories-Yukon entry. Jamie Koe is making his eighth appearance. In 2012, the brothers met in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff. Kevin won and Jamie later lost to Manitobas Rob Fowler in the bronze-medal match but it was still a strong finish for a Territories team. Saskatchewan is led by 2003 World Junior champ Steve Laycock, back for his second appearance as skip at the Canadian championship with a new team of Kirk Muyres, Colton Flasch and Dallan Muryes. Jean-Michel Menard is back for his eighth try after becoming just the second skip from Quebec to win the championship in 2006. His lineup consists of Martin Crete, Eric Sylvain and brother Philippe Menard. One of the only new faces this year is Ontarios Greg Balsdon, who stopped Glenn Howard from making his ninth straight appearance at the Brier. "I dont want to say we lucked out because weve had good games but theyve obviously beaten us more than weve beaten them," Balsdon said of the final, that saw Howard miss with his last rock and give up the winning point. Balsdon is new to the Canadian mens championship. He was part of the Cory Heggestad-led team that won the 2013 Canadian Mixed, but he says this feels bigger. "It feels just amazing. I dont think well truly appreciate it until were there," he said. Another team that has the chops to run with the best is also the hometown favourite -- John Morris and his B.C. rink, that features former skip and Kamloops native Jim Cotter at third. "Its exciting," says Cotter. "I think back 18 years ago when it was in Kamloops and Barry McPhee was the hometown team and I remember watching in the crowd there and I was pretty excited for those guys. . . Here we are 18 years later and Ive got the same opportunity." They made it all the way to the final against Jacobs at the Olympic Trials by beating Martin. After a disappointing loss, they took a few weeks off during the holidays to regroup but Cotter says they took good things out of the trials into the provincial finals in B.C. The addition of the veteran Morris, now curling for his third province, has made a huge difference, Cotter says. "We really have clicked. Johns just a phenomenal guy on and off the ice." Jacobs, meanwhile, is still celebrating his Olympic gold-medal win. The schedule made it virtually impossible to compete for a berth in this years Brier, although starting in 2015 the previous years winner will get an automatic berth, something the women already do. With Jacobs out of the mix, 1996 Canadian junior champ Jeff Currie was able to shift the Northern Ontario title from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay with his team of Mike McCarville, Colin Koivula and Jamie Childs. Former Olympic champ Brad Gushue from Newfoundland and Labrador is still the headliner out of the Atlantic provinces and James Grattan is making his 11th appearance for New Brunswick. Eddie MacKenzie has led Prince Edward Island to the Brier for three of the last four years and Jamie Murphy is back after also representing Nova Scotia at the 2012 championship. Brier finalists each receive $40,000 in prize money, the bronze medallist gets $30,000 and the $20,000 goes to the fourth-place team. Edrice Adebayo Jersey . Summers has seen scant playing time with the Coyotes since being selected 29th overall by the club in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, having played in 47 career NHL games. Cheap Miami Heat Jerseys ., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979. http://www.authenticbasketballshopheat.info/dion-waiters-heat-jersey/ .2 million deal for the upcoming season with right-hander Garrett Richards.The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the announcement hadnt been made. Udonis Haslem Jersey . - A late-game interception by defensive back Malcolm Butler saved the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. Shaquille ONeal Jersey . Gauteng High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled Tuesday that South African media houses will be allowed to install three remote controlled cameras in court for the Olympic athletes trial starting next week to capture images that likely will be seen by millions around the world.NEWARK, N.J. -- Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils took a lot of grief considering his scored the first of his career-best three goals just 12 seconds into a crucial game against the Florida Panthers. "He could have had a hat trick in the first 10 minutes, if he paid attention to the puck," quipped linemate Jaromir Jagr, who added a goal and three assists in a wild 6-3 victory over the Panthers on Monday night. "He missed the net twice. "He should not have had to wait until the third period. He could have celebrated after 10 minutes. He likes it the hard way, I guess." Veteran forward Dainius Zubrus yelled across the Devils locker room to Zajac that he probably should have had five goals. He then quickly pointed out that he once scored four in a game. It was a rare fun night for the Devils, who are hoping a late-season rally can get them into the playoffs. New Jersey has seven games left. "All we care about is wins at this point," said Zajac, who added an assist in matching his career high with four points. "The wingers were on it. They were getting me the puck. I think I have more chances this game than I ever had." Besides right wing Jagr, Zajacs left wing Ryane Clowe added a goal and two assists before leaving the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Zajac opened the barrage against Dan Ellis and then netted his second of the night midway through New Jerseys three-goal first period. He completed the hat trick by putting a rebound past Ellis at 9:37 of the third. Jacob Josefson scored the other Devils goal, and Cory Schneider stopped all 13 Florida shots he faced after replacing Martin Brodeur in the second period when New Jerseys lead was cut to 4-3. Brodeur stopped only six of nine shots, but was credited with the win. Devils coach Pete DeBoer didnt blame him. "We needed a wake-up call, and I didnt feel a timeout would be enough of a jolt for us," he said. Dmitry Kulikov, Brad Boyes and Brandon Pirri scored for Florida, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Ellis faced 32 shots, including 18 in the first period. "I expected 60 minutes, and we obviously were not ready to play," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. "The Zajac-Jagr line scored five of the six goals. I asked them to be aware of where they are on the ice and what was going on, and we turned pucks all over the ice and were not ready to play. &quoot;Right from the beginning we put ourselves behind the 8 ball and it was 3-0.dddddddddddd Youre not going to win too many games that way against a team fighting for the playoffs." The Devils started as if they were carrying a grudge from their last meeting in Florida, when they blew a 3-1 lead and lost 5-3 on three third-period goals. That led to losses in four of five games. Zajac got the Devils going in this one right after the opening faceoff. Defenceman Mark Fayne took a shot from the point, and Zajac put in the rebound after Jagr touched it. The Devils record for fastest goal is 8 seconds by Kirk Muller and Alexander Semak. Jagr made it 2-0 with a snap shot from the right circle for his 24th goal of the season and 705th of his career. His three assists gave him 1,047, two behind Gordie Howe for eighth in NHL history. The blowout seemed on a little more than two minutes later when Zajac scored during a power play. Things got worse for the Panthers when captain Ed Jovanovski was given a four-minute roughing penalty for taking out his frustration on Ryan Carter with 4:14 left in the period. However, that woke up the Panthers. Kulikov scored a short-handed goal on a nice setup by Nick Bjugstad at 17:22. Boyes cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the second by outfighting Fayne along the boards and beating Brodeur with a top-shelf backhander from the right circle. Clowe restored the two-goal lead a little more than two minutes later by converting Zajacs pass, but Pirri -- standing high in the slot-- deflected a shot by Dylan Olsen past a startled Brodeur to make it 4-3. Devils coach Pete DeBoer then pulled Brodeur -- who seemed blameless on the goals -- in favour of Schneider. He stopped eight shots the rest of the period, including a power-play breakaway by Scottie Upshall. Jacobson restored the Devils two goal lead with a short-handed goal at 4:02, and Zajac capped his big night with his 16th of the season. NOTES: This is the Panthers final road trip of the season. They will play the New York Islanders on Tuesday and then return home for their final five games. ... Florida G Roberto Luongo missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. ... Devils rookie D Jon Merrill sat out after being hit in the cheek with a puck on Saturday. Adam Larsson was recalled from Albany (AHL) to replace him. Defencemen Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov sat out with lower-body injuries. ' ' '