nior is prepared to return. Jeffs knowledge of the race car is priceless, and he can con

SASKATOON -- After watching his bloodied linemate helped from the ice, Chase De Leo did all he could to make one of his best friends feel a little better -- help the Portland Winterhawks make the semifinal at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. De Leo gave Portland the lead for good in the third and the Winterhawks scored three times in the period to defeat the Saskatoon Blades 4-2 in the tournaments final round-robin game. With the score tied 1-1 after two, De Leo jammed a loose puck past Blades goalie Andrey Makarov at 4:08 as Portland (2-1) now moves on to Fridays semifinal. After the game, thoughts on the Portland side quickly turned to Winterhawks right-winger Taylor Leier, who suffered what appeared to be a blow to the head on a hit from Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower just inside the Saskatoon blue-line in the first period. A bloodied Leier, who is from Saskatoon, stayed facedown for a few minutes before being helped off the ice and did not return. The was no penalty on the play, but the Canadian Hockey League said in a release after the game that it was reviewing the incident. "You dont want to see a teammate go down, especially one of my best friends and linemates. Its a scary thing," said De Leo, who now has two goals at the tournament. "Its not something you want to see and obviously the boys are going to get some energy and motivation to battle back for him." Not surprisingly, Winterhawks coach Travis Green and Blades counterpart Lorne Molleken had different interpretations of the hit. "Its pretty obvious where the shot comes. It hits him in the head and there is a jump to it as well. The video is pretty obvious," Green said. "We lost one of our better players to a hit that I thought should have been a major." Molleken, meanwhile, called the hit "unfortunate" but added that he thought Thrower caught Leier in the chest with his shoulder. Winterhawks players disagreed. "When you see a teammate go down like that youre not going to stand by and watch but at this point in the tournament and how big of a game it was, we cant take any stupid penalties," said Portland forward Ty Rattie, who scored his fourth goal. "(Leier) got his head hit. It was a hit to the head." The host Blades (1-2), who were swept out of the Western Hockey League playoffs in the first round and have never won a Memorial Cup, now have a tough task with three games in four nights. A win on Wednesday would have meant a bye to the final, but Saskatoon now faces a Thursday tiebreaker game against the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights (1-2). "Going through adversity is nothing new for this team. Weve had our ups and downs this year and were looking forward to proving ourselves again and taking the long way around," said Saskatoon overage forward Josh Nicholls, who had a goal and an assist. "This a typical Blades way of doing things -- taking that long way. Hopefully we get the job done and take three straight." The winner of the Saskatoon-London game will meet Portland in Fridays semi. With the Winterhawks victory, the Halifax Mooseheads (2-1) clinched a berth directly into Sundays final to decide the CHL champion. Derrick Pouliot and Brenden Leipsic had the other goals for Portland (2-1), which got 29 saves from Mac Carruth. Nicolas Petan added two assists for the WHL champions. Shane McColgan also scored for Saskatoon, while Makarov stopped 30 shots in taking the loss. "It was a big win," Green said. "I thought their team came out hard like we expected early, tried to be physical on us and we withheld and I thought we slowly took over the game." After De Leo scored to give Portland the lead in the third, Leipsic added an insurance goal for Portland at 6:27, ripping a shot from the slot into the top corner past Makarov. Rattie made it 4-1 with his fourth of the tournament at 10:16, beating Makarov to the glove side off the rush. "We knew it was going to be hard and to get three quick bingos like that was big for the boys," Rattie said. "(It) gave us a little bit more confidence and a little bit more leeway on defence." Nicholls scored at 16:27 to cut the deficit to two, but the Blades would get no closer. "Portland did a good job against us in a lot of areas but these teams are all skilled teams and when we get into that game its going to be difficult on us so we have to play a simplified game," Molleken said. "We have to play a north game and make sure our forecheck is good but tonight we let Carruth handle far too many pucks." Following a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in the second. Pouliot opened the scoring at 6:44 after jumping on a Blades turnover and firing a shot from the sideboards that fooled Makarov through the five-hole. Saskatoon got a 5-on-3 power play later in the period and didnt generate much of anything until McColgan, who hit the post moments earlier, fired a shot past Carruth that deflected in off a Winterhawks player in front with a second left on the second penalty to tie the score at 11:20. Portland had a golden opportunity to retake the lead when Blades left-winger Michael Ferland took a double minor for high sticking with just over four minutes remaining in the period. Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 1 ranked North American skater according to NHL Central Scouting ahead of Junes draft, had a good chance off the rush but fired wide as the Blades weathered the storm and were saluted off the ice by a standing ovation from the crowd of 9,239 at the Credit Union Centre. Coming off Sundays emotional 5-2 victory over Halifax, the Blades said prior to the game that their focus would be to get on the body early and they did just that, hitting the Winterhawks at every opportunity in the first period -- including Throwers crushing blow on Leier. The Blades, who have had their share of doubters this season, dont have much time to refocus ahead of Thursdays tiebreaker. "Things are just going to increase in tempo here. It all counts now because lose and youre done. There is no tomorrow anymore so weve really got to strap up and put our work boots on," defenceman Duncan Siemens. "Were a hard-nosed team. We have some skill up front but the majority of team is meat and potatoes. Weve got to go to those hard areas and score those greasy goals." Notes: The Winterhawks have won two Memorial Cups (1983, 1998). The Blades have never won a CHL title. ... Former NHL tough guy and Blades alumni Joe Kocur was in attendance.Cheap Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys China . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. http://www.cheaphurricanesjerseys.com/ . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Cheap Adidas Hurricanes Jerseys . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence.Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR. This week, we hit Joe Gibbs Racing, solutions for Indy and the mystery surrounding the 88 car:Turn 1: How could Joe Gibbs Racing get this far ahead in what is supposed to be the most competitive era of NASCAR?Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: They have the strongest rotation in NASCAR. You have two former champs in Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch, while Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards have come within a whisker of a title. Combine that with a concentrated effort that Toyota created to push quality over quantity, and Joe Gibbs has the potential to lead this sport for the next five years.Ryan McGee, ESPN.com: Well, having a crazy-talented group of drivers helps, especially the one in the 18 car [Busch]. But what were seeing is also the payoff for a decade of work by Toyota. All along theyve told us they were working on a long-term vision and process, and here they are. All this being said, these things run in cycles; the edge can be lost in a hurry, especially these days. It was only a little over a year ago when we asking what was wrong at JGR.John Oreovicz, ESPN.com: The credit goes to Toyota for creating a five-car super team and the most powerful engine in NASCAR. At Indianapolis, a leading Chevrolet driver said he believes the Toyotas have a 15-horsepower advantage right now, and when coupled with a driver lineup that doesnt really have any weaknesses and more young talent in the pipeline, the Gibbs team is in a dominant position.Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: Toyota. The car manufacturer appears to put more money into NASCAR per team, especially considering its engine development program. Money buys speed, and while it appears Toyota didnt get its moneys worth in 2014 and for the early portion of 2015, it has gotten its moneys worth since then.Turn 2: Is it time to rethink the annual Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? If so, what would you suggest?McGee: You cant drop it. Its still a marquee event for teams when it comes to sponsor activation, and its still a crown jewel in the eyes of the competitors. I say shorten it. Move it back to Saturday, run a pair of full-field shorter races and call it an homage to the Indiana short-track tradition. Make it feel way different than the Indy 500.Oreovicz: Id move it to the fall and make it a Chase race -- ideally a cutoff race between rounds. That would at least inject some urgency into the event and make it more worth watching or attending. To make it a more entertaining car race, Id run the event on the IMS road course.Pockrass: Anyone who isnt worried about the Brickyard attendance needs a shovel to get their head out of the sand. That being said, if Tony George can come back as the chairman of the race track, then anything is possible. Continuing to explore tire/aero combinations should remain a priority for Indy. Also making it a Chase race might work -- as long as the Colts arent home that day.Craven: This race is important to the competitors, the owners and even the identity of NASCAR. While I will agree that the racing at IMS for these cars is poor, its still identified as a member of the big four, along with a Coke 600, Southern 500 and, of course, the Daytona 500. With the TV package that exists, I feel certain the track still makes money for the event. While the seats will never be as full as they are in May (not even close), I cant imagine the race disappears from the schedule.Turn 3: Is there any good reason why the Xfinity and Truck series shouldnt run Lucas Oil Raceway (fondly known as IIRP) at Indy?Oreovicz: Im among those who would like to see the Trucks and Xfinity cars back at IRP, whether in replacement or in addition to the Xfinity race at IMS.dddddddddddd The locals loved the Xfinity/Truck event at Indys other track, making it one of the summers toughest tickets. Competitors loved it too and one great way NASCAR could reconnect with fans it has lost would be to allow itself to go down market to grassroots venues like LOR.Craven: Perhaps the Xfinity race (with its TV revenue) helps justify the entire NASCAR weekend. Would IRP produce a more entertaining race? Hell yes! And for all three divisions. I can think of another half-dozen short tracks I would like to see us compete at. It still amazes me that we have only one short-track race in the 10-race Chase.McGee: Good reason? No. They let the sponsors force their hand and it sucked a lot of the fun out of the week. They need to restore the entire USAC/Trucks/Xfinity tripleheader at IRP. Return some of that citywide festival-of-speed feel from the original Brickyard weekends and run Eldora the week before or after. Own the summer! But they wont do any of that. Big swings at the schedule dont seem to be their thing. Unless you count later start times as a big swing -- but thats a whole other discussion, isnt it?Pockrass: Nope. Its understandable that IMS wanted an Xfinity race to try to boost the weekend ticket. The Kid Rock concert that followed Saturday appeared to have more fans, so maybe Xfinity can work just as a support event for the concert. But NASCAR should take trucks and Xfinity to IRP on the Indy 500 pole weekend in May. The racing was too good at IRP for NASCAR not to go there, and NASCAR needs to find a way to make it work.Turn 4: If Dale Earnhardt Jr. cant go at Watkins Glen, who should get in the No. 88 car?Craven: Jeff Gordon should be the driver of the 88 until Junior is prepared to return. Jeffs knowledge of the race car is priceless, and he can contribute to the organization perhaps more than any driver available. Jeff is also the right driver in terms of not putting too much pressure on Dale Jr. to return too quickly. Its the equivalent of having Joe Montana or Tom Brady as your sub.McGee:?Yep. The guy they already have in there is pretty good.Oreovicz: Getting back into the rhythm of road racing would be a tougher task for Gordon, but hes still the logical choice if hes willing to do it. It would be interesting to see one of the Chevrolet-affiliated IndyCar drivers get a chance, but their contracts with Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing would probably prevent the cream of the crop from running for a competing NASCAR team like Hendrick. Sam Hornish Jr. is a capable road racer and he obviously did a great job filling in for the JGR Xfinity team earlier this year, winning at Iowa.Pockrass:?Gordon would be fine if he wants to risk his back for the sake of making his 800th start. If not, former Cup rookie of the year Andy Lally knows how to wheel it on a road course. But with IndyCar coming there four weeks later, it would be cool to see an IndyCar driver in that ride. James Hinchcliffe, being from Canada, would be a neat choice for a race that attracts many from Canada. But since hes a Honda guy, it might not be able to happen. Any of the Penske stable of Chevy IndyCar drivers -- Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves?or Josef Newgarden -- would be exciting to watch. ' ' '