TORONTO -- Canada and Russia will meet in the semifinals of the World Cup of Hockey on Saturday. The hopes of many fans in these parts were dashed Thursday when the Russians calmly disposed of Finland 3-0 in their round-robin finale.The victory lifted Russia to the same 2-1-0 record as North America, but the 23-and-under kids did not advance thanks to the Russians victory over?Connor McDavids crew in round-robin play.A Finland victory Thursday would have sent North America into a semifinal against Team Canada, a matchup that had many people salivating given its unique nature. The 23-and-under North America team was half-composed of Canadians, and the idea of seeing McDavid versus Sidney Crosby just too much fun.Instead, well have to settle for another round of Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin, which is always intriguing although very much one-sided in the Canadian superstars favor.Crosbys Pittsburgh Penguins have twice eliminated Ovechkins Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup playoffs, including last spring, and a Crosby-led Team Canada crushed Ovechkin and Russia in the 2010 Olympic quarterfinals at Vancouver, the last time both countries met in best-on-best hockey. And Crosbys Canadian squad even beat Ovechkins Russian side at the 2005 world junior championships for gold.So perhaps this is Ovechkins chance, finally, to get his pound of flesh -- and on Canadian ice, no less. This is Russias first trip to the semifinals of a best-on-best event since the 2006 Torino Olympics, where Ovechkin and the Russians lost in the semifinals to Finland.Full credit is due to Russia for advancing to the semifinals here after a disappointing quarterfinal exit in its own Olympics in Sochi in 2014. In that game, the Finns beat Russia 3-1, so this was sweet revenge.Ovechkin made a brilliant play Thursday to set up Vladimir Tarasenko 3:42 into the middle period to open the scoring, and it was all the offense the Russians would need. Russia played a strong defensive game and very much limited Finlands opportunities. Finland, back-to-back Olympic bronze medalists, bows out with a 0-3-0 record, disappointing for sure by its own high standards. A lack of offense in this tourney -- ?the Finns scored only once in three games -- would be the teams downfall.Three Stars1. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, Russia: The St. Louis Blues star was flying in this game, nearly scoring from the high slot in the opening period and then finishing off Ovechkins pretty feed in the second period.2. Alex Ovechkin, LW, Russia: The captain wasnt going to let his team bow out early again in a best-on-best tournament. His creativity on the opening goal was vintage Ovechkin.3.?Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Russia: The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder wasnt overly tested but looked poised. The former Vezina Trophy winner looks to be in fine form. Shane Greene Jersey . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Ralph Garr Jersey . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. https://www.cheapbraves.com/343o-phil-niekro-jersey-braves.html . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Wholesale Braves Jerseys . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Adam Duvall Braves Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Mark Sutton talks ESPN through his favourite shots from the dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix.Collision courseCamera - Nikon D5 body | Lens - Nikkor 200-400mm F4 ?| Shutter speed - 1/1000th of a second | Aperture - F5.6 | ISO - 1600I was at Turn 10, the hairpin, but I kept seeing people crash and thought Im in the wrong place here. So I moved up the circuit and its honestly mindblowing how quick they are going in the rain, pulling out of the spray of other cars. I was just photographing the photographers standing trackside and then saw Massa have a moment at the top of the corner. He clipped the barrier and I just kept shooting -- I had the 400 on so it was a bit tight. When he hit the barrier it was more frontal, so it was a bit of the front wing came off. I didnt really see what happened after that -- I just knew I had to get the wide angle on for the next shots of him getting out of the car.Massas final farewellCamera - Nikon D5 body | Lens - 70-200mm F2.8 | Shutter speed - 1/500th of a second | Aperture - F5.6 | ISO - 1600This was a walk of emotion, coming out of the car and waving to the crowd over the barrier. Then one of the marshals gave him a flag and I thought well, thats the shot, as he walked away. I couldnt get any closer because that was the track, he actually shouldnt have been where he was but it created a great picture. I could see the flag was floating above his head so I was waiting for a shot of when I could see his face. When I first sent these back at the media centre I was in such a rush I dont think I sent the best shot from this sequence, I sent one where you cant see his face.I was changinng lenses in the rain and it was a rush, to be honest.dddddddddddd Youre waiting for those moments to happen and when they do you have a smile on your face in the background, you just go with it. There was still the rest of the race to finish so you have to focus on your job. nRain delayCamera - Nikon D5 body | Lens - Nikkor 70-200 F2.8 | Shutter speed - 1/320th of a second | Aperture - F11 | ISO - 1600The rain delay made for a chaotic afternoon. The race was on-again off-again several times and it made it chaotic. One good shot to come from it was the train of cars behind the safety car. Its not often you get this sort of shot in a race -- theres obviously the formation lap, but this had the added benefit of the spray, creating a good picture.Because of the chaos of the race I missed Marcus Ericssons crash as I had been positioned elsewhere on the circuit.20 down, one to goCamera - Nikon D5 body | Lens - Nikkor 200-400mm F4 | Shutter Speed - 1/640th of a second | Aperture - F6.3 | ISO - 1000This was a good shot between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on the podium. Often in these last few years we havent seen much between them in the last few seasons when theyve been up there, its often tense and they sometimes act like the other one isnt there. This has been the story of the season, theyve been fighting all year. I think whoever wins they will hug each other and shake hands and say the best man one. I think theres more respect evident between them this year than in previous years. ' ' '