TORONTO -- It was only 10 months ago when people were openly questioning?Sidney Crosbys status as the best player in the NHL.A slow start to last season opened the door for a narrative that now seems so ridiculous -- that at 28 years old, perhaps the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar had begun his descent from owning the sport.Hockeys a young mans game, the refrain went, and perhaps he has passed his peak.Or perhaps not.I think people can put that all to rest, Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky said with a hearty laugh Sunday morning. Hes proven over and over that hes the best player in the game today. And it seems like the more important the game, the more impact that he makes on a game. Hes a tremendous player, and great leaders are the guys who come through in the clutch -- and he comes through in the clutch quite a bit.Fresh off owning the Stanley Cup playoffs and picking up the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Crosby -- who turned 29 last month -- went to work Saturday night in Canadas World Cup opener and absolutely willed the Czech Republic into submission with a three-point, plus-4 performance that was as impactful at both ends of the ice.Hes an unbelievable player. Hes a world-class player for a reason, said Team Canada netminder Carey Price after the 6-0 crush job of the Czechs. He plays the game hard. He plays the game with a lot of pride. Thats the type of player that if youre a young kid watching how to play hockey, thats the way you do it. Thats all I have to say about that.Everyone will remember his play leading to three goals on this night, including his beauty of a bank shot to open the scoring. But for me, his first-period back check -- in which Crosby thwarted a Czech breakaway -- was just as memorable.That back check he had. ... For me, that was his best play of the night, which is pretty crazy because he made so many great plays, Team Canada forward Matt Duchene said Sunday. Hes not a guy who wins Selke Trophies, but he easily could be. I think that part of his game kind of goes under the radar.Just three months ago, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks were slashing and cross-checking away on No. 87 in a Cup finals that went Crosbys way in six games.On Saturday night, Crosby set up both Thornton and Burns for goals, and his backhand pass across to Jumbo Joe was absolutely sick.He was great. He was a leader, Burns said of Crosby after the game. Hes the best player in the world and he dominated tonight. That line was great, they were buzzing, they were working. Not just offensively, but defensively too. I mean, you have to do that to be the best in the world and thats why he is.Crosbys three-point output in the opener matched his entire production in six games during the Olympics in Sochi.Well, lets not get carried away. He was a star in Sochi. He was a star in Vancouver, said Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock after Saturdays win. What you saw tonight, though, is that he got points. I mean, everyone likes to get points.Canada had a whole different approach on the bigger ice in Sochi, where it focused on a defensive philosophy that was meant to keep the puck away from its opponents and play a low-risk game. Crosby was just as effective doing that too, which is what Babcock is saying when referencing that a player cant just be judged on offensive contributions.That two-way, monster game is also why Crosby deservedly won the Conn Smythe this past spring.Because of that very short summer and the intense minutes he played on the way to winning his second Cup that one wondered perhaps if fatigue would be a factor for Crosby at the World Cup. Instead, its as if he just kept his season going from June, and Saturday night was Game No. 25 of his postseason.I feel good, said Crosby. The fact that I played late into June and then stepped into this level, I think that helps kind of with adjusting. I think finding chemistry with us as a line really has helped. But with our team weve got so much speed, so much depth, that if we get things rolling everyone kind of helps each other.His line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand has been a thing of beauty since the first day of camp. Babcock decided months?ago, after the roster was completed, that he would put those three together.That old storyline from back-to-back Olympics -- of Babcock struggling to find linemates for Crosby -- appears to be a thing of the past. The line has looked unreal.I think the chemistry clicked right away, the three of us from day one, said Bergeron. Im just trying to read off what hes going to do, and hes usually always a step ahead of everyone, so its about reading that, and making sure Im in position to help him.For Crosby, this is a chance to add one more title to a trophy cabinet busting out. Theres still lots of hockey to be played, but a World Cup of Hockey championship would fit in nicely with his world junior gold, mens world championship gold, Olympic gold and Stanley Cup titles. The final check mark, if you will.And about that slump last fall?Everybody has a bad stretch in your career where you go 10 or 15 or 20 games where, for whatever reason, you dont have that extra gear, Gretzky said. But the good players battle through it and come out on top even better. Hes played a lot of hockey over the past years, and that can add up mentally and physically. It can take a toll. But hes got a lot of hockey left ahead of him and hell be fine. Doug Harvey Jersey . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Phillip Danault Jersey . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. 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Gareth Davies says Wales are determined to make it right on Saturday after their autumn Test series began with barely a whimper against Australia.The Wallabies Rugby Championship rivals Argentina are next up for Davies and company, arriving in Cardiff just a week after Wales suffered their heaviest home defeat since 2006.Wales are also reeling from five successive Test reversals - their worst results sequence since the 2012-13 season - and conceding 26 tries in losing to England, New Zealand (three times) and now Australia.Recent history suggests they will start as favourites against the Pumas, having won four of the last five meetings, but it is likely to be far from straightforward.Its been a tough couple of days in camp, said scrum-half Davies, who is set to replace an injured Rhys Webb when interim head coach Rob Howley announces his team on Thursday.Everyone came back in on Monday morning and weve been quite hard on ourselves. We are looking forward to the end of the week and hopefully putting things right against Argentina.Its nice to have a game so quickly, especially after that type of performance against Australia. We just cant wait to get out there and hopefully put things right.The Wales players have met and discussed what went wrong against Australia, and Davies added: The boys put their hands up, in fairness to them. It was an honest meeting. There were a few bad decisions made against Australia and a few mistakes in attack.Thats why the boys are itching to get back out there this weekend, to make it right. The tempo was a big factor going into the Australia game, but we couldnt get it going. We want to have a good tempo in thee game we play.ddddddddddddIt comes down to winning the collisions first, and then its down to me and the nines and 10s to take over and control the game. The speed of ball is massive.Davies proved a high-class replacement for Webb, who missed the tournament through injury, during last years World Cup, scoring five tries in five games as Wales reached the quarter-finals.He has not started a Test since Wales were beaten by England in the RBS 6 Nations Championship eight months ago, but is likely to be among a number of changes following the 32-8 Wallabies drubbing.Centre Jonathan Davies, lock Alun Wyn Jones and flanker Sam Warburton all seem poised for returns, while Liam Williams appears a probable back-three starter if he is fully fit after missing the Australia game through injury.If Williams is available, then that could mean Leigh Halfpenny moving from full-back to wing, and it might be Dan Lydiate who makes way for Warburton, with the Wales skipper packing down at blindside flanker, Justin Tipuric remaining at openside and Ross Moriarty continuing in the number eight role.Obviously, I am gutted for Webby, Davies said. He has had some bad luck with injuries over the last 12 months. But, hopefully, its an opportunity for me to get a bit of game-time and have an impact on the autumn series.I rate Webby, he is a great player, so its good to have competition in the squad - it keeps us on our toes. We have played our first game now, hopefully blown the cobwebs away, and on Saturday we can go out all guns blazing. ' ' '