The NCAA drops the puck today on their mens hockey tournament and there will be no shortage of Canadians on the ice as 16 teams try to make their first step to becoming National Champions. Josh Allen Jersey . The tournament includes a total of 109 Canadian players. There are 35 players from Ontario, 35 from British Columbia, 18 from Alberta and seven each from Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Many of those players are trying to follow in the footsteps of several successful Canadian NHLers who went to college, including four members of the gold-medal-winning Sochi Olympic team: Jonathan Toews (North Dakota), Martin St. Louis (Vermont), Patrick Sharp (Vermont) and Chris Kunitz (Ferris State). "I think that if more Canadian families were exposed to what college can do — as parents for your kid socially, athletically and academically ... I think more people would be doing it," said University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery, a Montreal native who went to Maine and ended up playing 122 NHL games. Among the 945 players to see NHL action this season, 100 were Canadians who played at a U.S. college. Naturally, many went the more traditional road, through the QMJHL, OHL or WHL. But the NCAA is slowly becoming another acceptable way to get there. "Theres no wrong path," Phoenix Coyotes assistant general manager Brad Treliving said. "I think as a Canadian guy you grew up and youre around major junior hockey more, so ... youre closer to it than you are U.S. colleges, but, jeez, theres no wrong answer. Its an individual choice and theres benefits to both." Treliving said major junior hockey is the "quicker" path to the NHL because it has more of a pro-style schedule and grind. But others point to colleges 40-game season as a better chance for some players to develop. Theres more opportunity to lift weights and practice. "Theres the Sidney Crosbys and the Ovechkins and the Malkins of the world that could grow under a rock and are going to play in the NHL," Montgomery said. "Theres other perfect examples — elite players like the Paul Kariyas of the world. Those are the ones everyone knows but its like, did he really need to go to college? Well, Paul Kariya needed to go to college because he was 155 pounds and in 18 months of college he was 175 pounds ready to play against 30-year-old men that are 225 pounds. "It teaches you how to be a man quick." Perhaps some notoriety can come from watching this NCAA tournament. Boston College defenceman Michael Matheson (Pointe-Claire, Que.) is a first-round pick and top prospect for the Florida Panthers, while Quinnipiac has Connor and Kellen Jones (Montrose, B.C.) and Matthew Peca(Petawawa, Ont.). Wisconsin goaltender Joel Rumpel (Swift Current, Sask.) has been one of the best in the country this season and could soon follow in the footsteps of other recent Canadian college players like Matt Read, Ben Scrivens and Cory Conacher who have signed NHL contracts. Hamilton brothers Greg and Matt Carey recently signed deals with the Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively, after playing at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. Greg Carey came away satisfied with his direction, which was only possible because playing tier-2 junior hockey opened him up to the world of U.S. colleges. "You have friends, older friends on your team who have the ability to go and to head down to the States and play and it looks like a lot of fun," Carey said in a phone interview. "And then you get to go on your visits and you get exposed to this world that you really dont see as a Canadian kid growing up. We see a lot of the major junior with the Dub and the O and the Q and the NHL is right there, front and centre, so we dont really get the NCAA." Looking at the tournament from an NHL draft perspective, the top eligible player in the tournament, according to Craig Buttons rankings, is Boston Colleges starting goalie Thatcher Demko. Demko posted a .921 save percentage and 2.13 goals against average in 21 starts this season. Trent Murphy Bills Jersey . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Russell Bodine Bills Jersey . None of them was better than playing with LeBron James again. http://www.authenticbillsfanatic.com/c-90-bills-aj-mccarron-jersey.aspx . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant.LONDON, Ont. -- The London Knights elimination from their third straight Memorial Cup stung because it was their earliest exit of the three. The host team of the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup was a true contender among the four teams in it. With seven Knights forwards who helped the Knights win the last two Ontario Hockey League championships and with a team that scored over 300 goals this season, London was a threat to win the Cup on their third try in as many years. But the hosts were eliminated by the Guelph Storm in a 7-2 loss Wednesday. The Knights went 0-3 through the preliminary round and needed a win against their OHL rival to get into a tiebreaker game. "We thought for sure wed have a better chance of winning it this year," Knights forward Josh Anderson said. "We didnt have the bounces we wanted. Its too bad it had to end this way. "We wanted to have the Memorial Cup championship. I thought our organization really deserved one after the hard work weve been putting through these past three years. Looking at it now, Im glad I got the opportunity to come here and play for the London Knights." The Knights lost the 2012 final 2-1 in overtime to the host Shawinigan Cataractes. They fell in last years semifinal to the Portland Winterhawks in Saskatoon. The Storm were the first team since the Windsor Spitfires in 2010 to go 3-0 through the preliminary round. The OHL champions had already secured a berth in Sundays championship game after their second win. "It gives us confidence to know we can beat every team in the tournament," Storm forward Scott Kosmachuk said. The Val-dOr Foreurs, 2-1, and the Edmonton Oil Kings, 1-2, meet in Fridays semifinal in a clash of the Quebec and Western league champions. The winner faces the Storm for the Cup. Kosmachuk is a Winnipeg Jets prospect and led Guelph with a hat trick. Detroit Red Wings draft pick Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice. Marc Stevens and Dallas Stars prospect Jason Dickinson added a goal apiece for an explosive offence thats churned out 18 goals in three games in the tournament. The Storms Justin Nichols held off London when they pressed late in the first period and midway through the second. He made 45 saves for the win. Anderson, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, and Brett Welychka replied for the Knights. London mustered just four goals in three games. Two were scored by defencemen. The Knights were stopped on two penalty shots in the tournament and they scored once on 12 power-play chances. London outshot the Foreurs 51-28 in the first game of the tournament, but lost 1-0. Josh Allen Bills Jersey. "Its a bad time to get cold for offence and for scoring goals," Knights forward Max Domi said. London goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 14-of-17 shots and was replaced by Jake Patterson early in the second when he inadvertently kicked the puck into his own net. Patterson allowed four goals on 21 shots. Guelph also ousted London from this years OHL playoffs on Apr. 11. The Knights had five weeks without a game, which may explain their lack of touch around the net. "Its not easy being off for that long and coming back and playing at the high level these guys have been playing through the whole thing and winning championships," Knights forward Bo Horvat said. "Weve been practising the whole time, but theres no excuses." Londons goaltending felt unsettled as well. Because of an eight-game playoff suspension in March, Stolarzs hiatus prior to the Cup was even longer. In his first game in seven weeks, he made 27 saves in the loss to Val-dOr. But the Philadelphia Flyers prospect was replaced by Patterson both Wednesday and after two periods of Sundays 5-2 loss to Edmonton. Wednesdays round-robin finale featured a pair of frightening knee-on-knee collisions, although the players in each case escaped major injury. Storm assistant captain Zack Mitchell was tossed at 6:56 of the first period for kneeing London defenceman Dakota Mermis. The CHL suspended his Storm teammate Chadd Bauman for the rest of the tournament Wednesday for the same hit on Val-dOr defenceman Guillaume Gelinas on Monday. Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov took a tripping minor in a second-collision with Bertuzzi, who limped off the ice. But both Mermis and Bertuzzi stayed in Wednesdays game, whereas Gelinas was unable to play the following night against Edmonton. Londons frustration boiled over in the final minutes and Stevens scored Guelphs fourth power-play goal of the game on a two-man advantage at 17:14. The Windsor Spitfires of 2010 went 4-0 en route to the Cup that year. But the Spitfires opened the 2009 tournament with a pair of losses and ran the table to claim the trophy. For that reason, Guelph wanted London gone so the Knights couldnt come back to haunt them Sunday. "This team is a team that once they get this city and this building behind them, they can really do some damage," Guelph captain Matt Finn said. "We didnt want to let them back in because theyre a dangerous team. "We wanted to be the team that was 3-0 and knock London out of this tournament." Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '