SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- A pair of quick wins for Canadas Rachel Homan at the Ford World Womens Curling Championship on Monday allowed the host country to both regain their confidence and conserve energy for later in the tournament. Allison Pottinger of the United States shook hands after just six ends when Canada held a commanding 9-3 lead. Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club team downed Denmarks Madeleine Dupont 8-4 earlier in a game than went eight ends. "Its definitely nice to get some rest after playing some shorter games," Homan said. "Its nice to get some extra rest when you can." Canada was tied for second at 4-1 with Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson behind unbeaten Binia Feltscher of Switzerland at 5-0. The logjam of countries at 3-2 included the U.S., Chinas Liu Sijia, Russias Anna Sidorova and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim. Scotlands Kerry Barr was 2-3 ahead of Denmark, Latvias Evita Regza and Germany Oona Lehmann at 1-4. The Czech Republics Anna Kubeskova was winless in five games. The top four teams at the conclusion of playoffs Thursday advance to the playoffs. Homan felt she had a read on the ice at Harbour Station by Monday night having played on all four sheets and in the morning, afternoon and evening draws. Another reason the abbreviated game against the U.S. on Monday evening was welcomed by Canada is because they are right back on the ice Tuesday morning against Latvia before facing Scotland in the evening. Homan, vice Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle won the bronze medal at last years world curling championship in Riga, Latvia, after starting 2-3 there. Monday was a big bounce for the Canadians after demoralizing loss to the Swiss the previous day, when it was Canada giving up four points in steals and shaking hands after eight ends. Homan felt their communication was missing in that game. The skip misread the ice early against the Americans, but the Canadians were able to solve it via discussion. "Lisa was missing a couple early and she said is it me? I said no, its completely my ice. So she believed in how she was throwing," Homan explained. "If we didnt have that communication, she would have tried to change the way she was throwing and Id give her more ice and shed miss again. "We made sure when we were missing we knew why and were communicating that to each other." Pottinger was born in Brampton, Ont., and learned to curl in Otterburn Park, Que., but the 40-year-old is representing the U.S. for the 11th time at the womens world championship. She won a silver medal playing third for Patti Lank, another transplanted Canadian from Midale, Sask., when the world championship was last held in Saint John, N.B., in 1999. "Everyone is always so nice when were here. A woman today brought me ketchup chips and Smarties," Pottinger said of two items that are difficult to find in the U.S. "Its terrific. I had them between games." Pottinger made a clutch raise against four Canadian stones in the third end to score a point and trail 2-1, but the fourth end was disastrous for the Americans. With Canada laying two, Pottinger ticked on a guard to let Homan add another counter to the rings. The American skip attempted to draw through a port to get to the four-foot rings, but was well short of the house. Homan had half the house for a target and drew in for four points and a 6-1 lead in front of 1,914 at Harbour Station. "We threw it pretty hard, but just out there in the frost it didnt have a chance," Pottinger said. "It never got there." The Americans got two back in the fifth, but called it a day when Homan collected another three in the sixth. "To get the two back was kind of nice, but at that point every end is the 10th end," Pottinger said. "You dont want them to get away from you and its hard to play five 10th ends against that kind of team." "That was so not good that I think its an off game and you forget about it. Chuck it in the bag." Homan and her teammates are all under the age of 28. Like the Brad Jacobs team that won the mens Olympic gold last month, theyre considered the new generation of Canadian curling stars. A year after graduating from the junior ranks, Homans team made the playoffs in their first national womens championship in 2011. They won the Canadian title last year by beating Winnipegs Jennifer Jones, now the reigning Olympic womens gold medallist after her unbeaten run in Sochi. Homan and company were considered a team to beat at Decembers Olympic trials along with Jones. Homan and her teammates either quit their jobs, took a leave or scaled back work hours in the months leading into those trials to prepare. They rented a suite in Winnipeg away from the MTS Centre so they could cook and eat their own meals during the competition. But Homan lost the semifinal 10-4 to Sherry Middaugh. Homans coach Earle Morris now wonders in hindsight if they "over-prepared" for trials. "I think what we did was we probably practised a bit too much," he said. "A couple of the girls quit their jobs, one of the girls took a leave of absence. They really made it a focused priority and maybe we focused too much on the trials. "We really tried to leave no stone unturned. Because it was our first trials, we prepared as best we could based on what we thought would be difference-makers. If we had to do it again, wed probably do it a little differently. Take maybe a more relaxed approach and not emphasize it too much." The best medicine for their trials disappointment was to participate in the Continental Cup in Las Vegas in January. They played with Jones, Jacobs and other top North American teams in a Ryder-Cup style competition against European curling teams. "We all re-connected with the sport," Miskew said. "It was really tough after the trials to feel a love for curling. "We were able to go out and enjoy the sport again. Before that, it was practising without much of a purpose because it feels weird after you put so much time into something. It changed when we went there and it felt better." That experience set the table for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal, where Homan went 13-0 en route to a second straight Canadian title and a return trip to the world championship. "Continental Cup was perfect," Homan said. "We played mixed, mixed doubles and it was just a lot of fun." "We definitely needed it. We got to press the re-set button and focus again for the Scotties." Cheap Nike Baseball Jerseys . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Nike Baseball Jerseys 2020 .Derrick Rose scored 23 points, and the Bulls pulled away from the Nets for a 105-80 victory on Wednesday night. Chicago held Brooklyn to 29 points on 26. https://www.fakebaseballjerseys.com/.J. - New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara left Monday nights game against the Indianapolis Colts with a torn biceps. Fake Baseball Jerseys . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham. Cheap Baseball Jerseys China . The eighth-year point guard played in his 500th career game on Sunday, a 98-93 win over the Orlando Magic. Does he feel like hes played in that many games? "No," he said initially, before reconsidering. OTTAWA – It was late November and Jake Gardiner was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. The 23-year-old wanted to pinpoint precisely what was keeping him from having success. "I obviously wasnt playing my best and wasnt really aware of what I was doing wrong," he told the Leaf Report ahead of a Saturday tilt with the Senators. So he decided to hit the tape. Gardiner pulled out his iPad and scrutinized video of his performance in the first round against Boston last spring. He watched clip upon clip of his shifts against the Bruins, keen on determining what gave him so much success. His performance then was electric. Gardiner scored a goal and strung together five points during an exhilarating six-game run. "I just wanted to figure out what I was doing differently in the playoffs, as opposed to now, because I wasnt happy with my game," he said of the video work. What Gardiner saw was an engaged defender who made quick decisions with and without the puck. The game seemed to slow down for the former Ducks first-round pick. He was assertive, unpredictable and dangerous on the rush and generally stable in the defensive zone. For the third-year Leaf, who has struggled with consistency this season, it was a helpful reminder of the player he had been not so long ago and the player he certainly had the potential to become once more. "It was nice to see what I was succeeding at then and try to replicate that now," Gardiner said. "Sometimes you get away from it and you dont know what the reason is." Gardiner was a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Nov. 27 in Pittsburgh. During the morning skate that day at Consol Energy Center, he engaged in a lengthy conversation with head coach Randy Carlyle, the former Norris Trophy winner advising on what hed seen and what needed to improve. Carlyle wanted Gardiner to make better decisions with the puck. He stressed that his young defender must move it faster, that he get his forwards involved more often and join the attack if and when the opportunity looked right.dddddddddddd Too often, Gardiner gathered from the conversation, was he holding the puck before eventually making a poor decision with it and a turnover often the end result. "I wanted to know what I was doing that they didnt see that they wanted to see," Gardiner said of his conversations with the coaching staff. "I think Ive been more aware of it now; trying to move the puck quick and obviously still stay solid defensively." Gardiner was an offensive force in his rookie season with the Leafs. He scored seven goals and posted 30 points, tops among first-year players at the position. He has yet to score this season, though, and has just seven assists in 28 games. But by skewering the tape and picking the minds of the coaching staff, he finally seems to understand why the offence hasnt been there. "Its almost the fact of just doing less with the puck," he said. "Im able to skate the puck a lot, but that doesnt necessarily mean offence. I dont have many points this year, so I think moving the puck quicker to the forwards and letting them do their work, [then] maybe Ill create more offence that way. Itll create fewer turnovers for me and less time in our zone." Gardiner has not yet rediscovered the performance that made him such an elusive force against the Bruins, but hes inching gradually in that direction. In beating the Stars on Thursday, he led the team with nearly 26 minutes – matching a season-high – and also paced the group in Montreal last weekend. His return to form would help stabilize an increasingly wobbly Toronto back-end. Armed with new (and old) information, Gardiner is doing his best to get there. "I just want to be able to help the team as much as I can," he said, "and those are things that help me as a player and help our team too." ' ' '