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CALGARY -- Jeremy Wotherspoon remains committed to an Olympic comeback in speedskating despite a setback. The four-time Olympian from Red Deer, Alta., missed qualifying for Canadas World Cup team in the 500 metres Thursday In his first races since the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Wotherspoon needed a top-five result at trials to represent Canada in World Cup races this fall, but he finished 11th. The 36-year-old will race the 1,000 metres at the Olympic Oval on Friday, but the 500 metres is his specialty. Wotherspoon still holds the world record of 34.03 seconds set in Salt Lake City in 2007. The Olympic trials for Canadas long-track speedskating team are Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. Wotherspoon believes thats enough time to get his race legs back and compete for a medal at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. "As much as Id like to do 500-metre World Cups, its not my main goal," he said. "My goal is to build and build towards the Olympics. "I know theres still a couple of months before the Olympics trials. After that, theres a month and a half before the Olympics so, itll come quick, but its still a lot of days for me to focus and lot of days for me to build up to that competition." Wotherspoon announced in June he was coming out of retirement for another shot at Olympic glory. Hes earned more World Cup medals than any other man with a career 67. Wotherspoon won three 500-metre world titles and another in the 1,000, plus four world sprint championships during a career that spanned a decade and a half. He was inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame last year. Wotherspoons Olympic silver medal in the 500 metres in 1998 is overshadowed by an absence of medals at three subsequent Winter Games. He was the favourite to win the 500 in 2002, but stumbled and fell. Wotherspoon was ninth in the 500 in both 2006 and 2010. When Wotherspoon announced in March, 2010, that he was done racing, he said then it would take a while to get used to the idea. The lure of competition and the desire to race for a medal in the Olympics continued to call to him while coaching in Inzell, Germany, the last three years. "I missed that feeling of excitement and adrenaline and then the relaxation you get after a competition," Wotherspoon explained. "Its a nice type of feeling to have. At the same time, Im committed to being the best I can at Sochi. I dont want to go there as a tourist getting experience because I have that experience. "I want to go there and be able to compete. If I feel theres no way I can go and compete, I dont want to take that spot away from someone else who could gain valuable experience." The mens 500-metre rankings were determined by the combined time of two races, but Wotherspoon stepped to the start line three times Thursday He was given a re-race of his opening 500 metres because the other skater in his pairing, Patrick Marsh, blocked him on the backstretch during the lane change. So after posting a time of 35.43 seconds in his second race, Wotherspoon skated alone in his re-race for a time of 35.69. "It was a tougher day than I expected," he said. "Its not a normal competition feeling when youre by yourself at the end. It feels a bit like the competition is over. "Its a good test, a good mental test. Even though Im old and experienced, it was a new experience. It was a good test to try and perform well under difficult circumstances." Edmontons Jamie Gregg, Calgarys Gilmore Junio, William Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., and Alexandre St-Jean of Quebec City finished first to fifth in the mens 500 metres. The Canadian trials continue Friday until Sunday. The top five racers in all distances qualify to race the first four World Cups of the season with the exception of the mens 5,000 and 10,000 metres, in which only three skaters will be named to the Canadian team. The World Cup season opens Nov. 8-10 in Calgary followed by stops in Salt Lake City, Astana, Kazakhstan, and Berlin, Germany. Olympic 1,000-metre champion Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., has already qualified to race the 1,000 and 1,500 metres. She won the 500 metres Thursday. Reginas Marsha Hudey, Wotherspoons sister Danielle from Red Deer, Calgarys Kaylin Irvine and Winnipegs Shannon Rempel were second to fifth respectively. Ottawas Ivanie Blondin won the womens 3,000 metres ahead of Winnipegs Brittany Schussler, Ottawas Lauren McGuire, Brianne Tutt of Airdrie, Alta., and Edmontons Nicole Garrido. Saskatoons Lucas Makowsky was the fastest in the mens 5,000 metres. Torontos Jordan Belchos finished second and Mathieu Giroux of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., was third. The top 500-metre men in the world currently includes 24-year-old Tae-Bum Mo of South Korea, 27-year-old Michel Mulder of the Netherlands and 28-year-old Joji Kato of Japan. Wotherspoon turns 37 later this month. Canadas Clara Hughes won an Olympic bronze medal in the 5,000 metres at age 37 in 2010, but distance racing favours older athletes because of the years it takes to build up a big aerobic engine. Sprinting requires fast-twitch muscles and explosive training on and off the ice. "Time will tell, but I dont think Ive lost my ability to move fast," Wotherspoon said. "I feel like I just need to get it back." Wholesale Jordans China . Rockhold." Known as an aggressive striker, Belfort (23-10) instead paced himself as the engaged in the early going and showed restraint by not overcommitting against the larger Rockhold (10-2). 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The 29-year-old has 20 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season, his first with Tampa Bay.TORONTO – He deftly bounced the Tyler Bozak feed off his left skate and onto the blade of his stick before beating a flabbergasted Craig Anderson with the eventual game-winner, and third goal of yet another scorching night. It was the summation of the fifth career hat trick and fifth career 30-goal season for Phil Kessel – he also added an assist – whose scorching play continues to lead a burning Leafs run, one that reached nine wins in 11 games at the ACC on Saturday night. “Its fun to watch,” Nazem Kadri said of Kessels play after a 6-3 win over Ottawa, the 23-year-old catching fire himself in recent weeks. “Hes making plays out there left, right and centre so well just keep letting him do what he does.” Kessel has mesmerized with his electric production amid the Leafs charge – which has them three points back of Tampa for second in the Atlantic division – totaling 10 goals and 23 points in the past 12 games. He has vaulted into fourth in league scoring with 61 points, now trailing only Alex Ovechkin with 30 goals – the fourth time hes reached that mark in five seasons with the Leafs, the lockout-shortened 48-game season the lone exception. The 26-year-old, set to join Team USA for the second time at the upcoming Olympics in Sochi, appears well on his way to eclipsing a career-high of 37 markers and could very well challenge the 40-goal plateau for the first time. “Its hard to really put a limit on him,” said Bozak, who had a goal and an assist and now has 29 points in 33 games this season. “He can get so streaky. Three goals tonight, who knows next game. You never know with him. I definitely wouldnt doubt him getting 40 goals by any means.” Kessel is on pace for 43 goals and 88 points, both of which would prove career-highs. Toronto is 16-3-3 when he scores this season and 26-6-4 when he records a point. Five Points 1. Kessel vs. Ottawa With their third win in three tries against the Senators this season, the Leafs have now beaten their Ontario rival nine times in the past 10 meetings. Much of that success is owed to their leading scorer, who toys with Ottawa like no other. Kessel has 18 goals and 35 points versus the Senators in 25 games as a Leaf and more career goals (25) and points (46) against them than any other team. 2. Kessels All-Around Game Though his performance is aptly judged on the level of offence he produces, Kessels all-around efforts and competitiveness have notably risen during the Leafs sizzling run, which sees them with 66 points on the year. Pointing first to the deadly shot and skating ability of his teammate, Joffrey Lupul observed that “you know when [Kessels] really playing well because of how hes competing on pucks down-low in the offensive end – turning his back, protecting the puck – and hes been doing that for a while now. It makes him really effective down there.” Added Randy Carlyle: “Hes been classified as this one type of player and we think that hes got more of an all-around ability too because he can distribute the puck, he can pass the puck, he can find people, he can do a lot more things than just shoot.” Kessel has 13 assists during the 12-game run. 3. Secondary Hot Streak Kadris hot streak also kept marching on against the Senators. The 23-year-old set up Lupul for the Leafs second goal – which erased a 2-0 deficit – infuriating the Ottawa bench as he did so. Aggressive on the forecheck, Kadri connected with rookie defender Cody Ceci from behind before digging out the puck and feeding his teammate, who was all alone parked in front. The visitors believed a penalty should have been called on the hit from behind and the goal waved off. “I think he turned just to try and give himself a little more room,” Kadri said of Ceci. “At that point Im just fully committed to hit and I just finished my check. To be honest, I did let up a little bit and the puck was laying there and I just put it in front.dddddddddddd” Kadri, who played over 23 minutes (nearing a season-high), also added an empty-netter and has 14 points in the past nine games. He is up to 40 points in 53 games this season. 4. Back on Track In a stretch of 20 games between November and December, Joffrey Lupul failed to find the score-sheet 16 times, producing points (10) in just four games. Bouncing between left and right wing, Lupul played with a rotating cast of centres that included everyone from Jay McClement to James van Riemsdyk to Peter Holland and Trevor Smith. “You would like to stay on one line the entire year because that means, for me youre staying healthy first of all, and having success with your linemates,” the 30-year-old told the Leaf Report late last month. “But weve had so many guys in and out of the lineup – myself included, Clarkson, Kulemin, Bozak, everyones been out – theres been nothing really set in stone other than Phil and JVR together, thats been pretty much the only thing.” Entrenched with the same linemates – Nik Kulemin and Nazem Kadri – for the past eight games, while back at his preferred left wing, Lupul is finding a more consistent offensive touch. He scored his 17th goal against the Senators and now has eight points in the past eight games, totaling 33 points in 48 games this season. “Hes a different player on the left side,” said Carlyle. 5. Riellys Improvement Questioned on where he had improved most from the start of his first full NHL training camp, 19-year-old Morgan Rielly pointed to the defensive end. “Id like to think there are a few things Ive improved on,” he told the Leaf Report. “I would say playing defence in my own end. I think thats an area of the game that as a team weve been trying to improve. I think as we kept practicing that and keep talking about it I think that Ive been able to improve at that. But I think I can keep working at it.” More specifically, Rielly said hes improved in his ability to close out on opposing forwards, sealing them against the glass and thus more quickly erasing offensive opportunities. “Just trying to end plays,” he said. “I think that in the past I was just trying to keep them outside. I was a bit too cautious. I think Ill get stronger at just closing in on them and just trying to end the play.” Now paired with Tim Gleason, Riellys defensive assignments are getting tougher and included Ottawa captain Jason Spezza on Saturday evening. Stats-Pack 23 – Points for Phil Kessel in the past 12 games, totaling 10 goals in that span. 14 – Points in the past nine games for Nazem Kadri. 8 – Times in the past nine games that Kadri has registered at least a point. 6 – Consecutive wins for the Leafs at home, the first time theyve accomplished that feat since Mar.6 – Apr. 7, 2007 (9-game streak). 26 – Power-play goals for the Leafs at home this season, most in the NHL. 16-3-3 – Leafs record this season when Kessel scores a goal. 18 – Goals for Kessel in 25 career games as a Leaf against Ottawa. 3:43 – Ice-time for Greg McKegg in his NHL debut. 10-10 – Toronto penalty kill in the past three games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-5Season: 22.7% (3rd) PK: 2-2Season: 78% (28th) Quote of the Night I “Its a new one for me. To me, its crazy. A guy wears a new pair of skates in the morning, plays the game that night and the next morning hes got lace bite. Go figure. Im at a loss to explain it.” -Randy Carlyle, on the injury which kept Peter Holland out of Saturdays lineup. Quote of the Night II “Hes talking. Four points and he talks.” -Tyler Bozak, upon seeing the media-relunctant Phil Kessel speaking with reporters. Up Next The Leafs head south, visiting the Panthers in Sunrise on Tuesday before taking on the Lightning in Tampa on Thursday. 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