Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer gets the call in net as Canada opens up its World Championship group stage play on Friday against France. You can catch the action live on TSN at 9:30am et/6:30am pt. Coach Dave Tippett says he made the call of Reimer over Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens, Reimers former teammate, strictly due to seniority. Its expected that both goalies will split time at the tournament in Belarus with Scrivens likely seeing action in Canadas next game on Saturday against Slovakia. Reimer last played for Canada at the 2011 World Championships in Slovakia, posting a 4-0 record in the group stage. Jonathan Bernier, now Reimers teammate with the Leafs, was preferred for Canadas quarterfinal game and dropped a 2-1 decision to Russia. This is Scrivenss first time representing Canada at any level. Meanwhile, Kevin Bieksa was named Team Canadas captain on Thursday. Coach Dave Tippett said Bieksa got the nod because hes outgoing but also plays hard and with passion. Jason Chimera is one alternate because he brings the experience of winning at this tournament before and Kyle Turris is the other because he bridges young and old on the roster. One thing Canadas leadership group has in common is a love for keeping things light on the ice. Thats part of what Bieksa thinks his role is, but he also expects his teammates to take the tournament seriously. "Just to keep guys loose having fun and then focused for the games," the Vancouver Canucks defenceman said. "Everybodys coming over here for a purpose. We didnt fly all this way just to have a good time. We flew here to win games and to continue on the standard that Canada set at the Olympics. Were going to come to compete." At 32, Bieksa is the fourth-oldest player on the team, younger than only Chimera (35), Joel Ward (33) and Alex Burrows (32). There are also a handful of very young players, including Nathan MacKinnon (18), Sean Monahan (19), Jonathan Huberdeau (20), and Mark Scheifele (21). Bieksa is in charge of helping meld this diverse group together. "Its been pretty seamless so far. Everybody brings something to the table," Bieksa said after practice at Chizhovka-Arena. "The young guys are young and (add) a new perspective and energy and the older guys, theres some guys that have played in this tournament a few times and they know what to expect and you lean on them for some advice. Its a good mix." Chimera is Canadas only player with an IIHF World Hockey Championship gold medal, won in 2007 in Moscow. His message to a lot of his teammates is that they never know when theyll be able to wear the Maple Leaf again. That could be true of Chimera, too, and if it is the Washington Capitals winger is making sure he enjoys it. Even with two children at home, his wife was supportive of him coming to Minsk to play in his third world championship. "Hockey keeps you young," said Chimera, whos 4 1/2 years too young to be able to play without a visor. "Its just awesome, you see these young kids, how talented they are, they keep it light. A lot of them were pretty nervous coming over here, but I try to keep it as light as possible." Thursdays first practice in Minsk following an exhibition game against Switzerland in Zurich was light but up-tempo. Tippett and assistants Paul Maurice and Peter DeBoer had plenty of teaching to do a day before Canada opens the tournament against France. James Reimer will start against France, while Ben Scrivens is set to start against Slovakia on Saturday night. "It goes solely off seniority," Tippett said. "Scrivens was upset because he thought he shouldve got the call because he had 19 seconds longer than Reimer the other day (in the exhibition game)." Reimer is playing at the world championships for the second time after going 4-0-0 in 2011 before being replaced by now-Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Jonathan Bernier. With Scrivens -- whos now with the Edmonton Oilers -- on board this time, Reimer is sharing the net with a former teammate. Come the start of the 2014-15 NHL season, he very well could have another goaltending partner if the Leafs trade the restricted free agent. Reimers season in Toronto didnt go as he planned, and its only natural for him to think scouts and general managers will be watching him in Minsk. "I assume so. I think theyre scouting everyone," Reimer said. "I think everyones taking a peek at whoever might have a contract up or might not, thats what theyre here to do. Any time youre playing, especially in a different situation, theyre watching to see how you react and respond. But in every NHL game theres scouts and GMs watching, too. Its just one of those things wherever youre playing competitively, people will be watching." Theres plenty for Tippett to watch for early in this tournament that could affect his plan going forward. On Thursday he kept the top line of Burrows, Turris and MacKinnon together from Tuesdays exhibition game and tinkered elsewhere. Nazem Kadri centred Cody Hodgson and Troy Brouwer, while Philadelphia Flyers teammates Brayden Schenn and Matt Read skated with Huberdeau. Chimera and Capitals teammate Ward remained together, and Tippett said hell keep an eye on having either Scheifele or Monahan between them. Because this tournament is such a "scramble" with so little preparation time, Tippett is just trying to get create some chemistry before the first puck drop. "Youve got to get your players in roles early," he said. "Always subject to change, but I think one of the most important factors of a tournament like this is you try to get everybody in their spots as quick as you can." That starts with establishing Bieksa as captain. Burrows voiced support for that choice because his Canucks teammate is good at bringing people together. "He keeps it fun, he likes to have a good time," Burrows said. "But at the same time when its time to work and do the right things, hes the first one to lead the way." Jarrett Stidham Youth Jersey . LeBron James leads the Miami Heat in a quest for three consecutive championship titles, while Tim Duncan looks to add his fifth ring with the San Antonio Spurs when the series tips off with Game 1: Miami @ San Antonio on Thursday, June 5 at 9 p. Drew Bledsoe Patriots Jersey .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Sony-Michel-Inverted-Jersey/ . Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study. Andre Tippett Womens Jersey . The German has taken the pole for three straight races -- winning the first two. Hes aiming for a third consecutive win at the Yeongam circuit and, most importantly, a fourth consecutive F1 championship. Jarrett Stidham Womens Jersey . The 27-year-old forward has informed the Leafs that he will be unable to play in Monday nights home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.If you go back over the past five seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the top home run slugging teams in the American League. Part of that is due to talent and part is due to the ballpark they play in. Yet, despite being right up there with home run leaders every season over that span, they havent been able to end their post-season drought that extends back to their last appearance in 1993. Since 2009, the Blue Jays have finished in the top five in home runs every season. 2009 was the peak year for round-trippers over the last five seasons in the junior circuit with 2,560. The Yankees led the league with 244 homers, well above the league average of 183 per team. The Blue Jays finished with 209. 2009 was the only season in the last five that the team with the most homers in the American League won the Fall Classic, as the Yankees beat the Phillies for their fifth title in 14 seasons. The Yankees also led in 2011 with 222 homers and 2012 with 245. They also hit over 200 homers every season in the last five except 2013, when they were devastated by injuries. Over the last five years, the Blue Jays have hit 209 homers in 2009 (4th), 257 in 2010 (1st) , 186 in 2011 (5th), 198 in 2012 (5th) and 185 in 2013 (4th). One team that has benefitted a little bit from a power surge has been Oakland. In 2011, the As only hit 114 homers. In 2012, they jumped to 195 (6th) in the A.L. and followed that by climbing to third in the league last season with 186. Of course, they won the American League West each of the last two campaigns. I guess what Im trying to say is that the Blue Jaays could and should sacrifice some of their power to boost the starting rotation.dddddddddddd Under new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, the Jays are going to attempt to use the whole field and just drive the ball into the gaps as opposed to just trying to pull the ball for home runs. Trying a different approach and attempting to cut down the strikeouts cant hurt. There has been a lot of talk about home runs diminishing over the past few years. As I mentioned off the top, in 2009 there were 2,560 home runs hit. The next year, the total dropped off to 2,209 - a decrease of 351. From that point on, though, over the past three seasons, home runs are on the rise again. In 2013, the total was 2,504 in the American League - just 54 off the 2009 total. There is another pitcher out there on the rumour mill that the Blue Jays might take a run at. The Chicago Cubs are reportedly trying to get right hander Jeff Samardzijas name on an extension but if he balks, they could consider dealing him over the winter since he could become a free agent after 2015. Samardzija is a bit of a late bloomer at 28 years old. In just his second year as a full-time Cubs starter in 2013, he went 8-13 on a bad ball club with a 4.34 ERA. But hes got what everyone is looking for; durability - 213.2 innings last season - and ability to strike guys out with 214 against just 78 walks. The trouble for the Jays is that Arizona, Washington and the Pittsburgh are also rumoured to be after him, and all three appear to have deeper farm systems flush with the kind of talent the Cubs would want in return. ' ' '