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MONTREAL -- It isnt often a Quebec rink gets to play at home in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts but thats what skip Allison Ross of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979. The opening ceremonies and the first two draws are set for Saturday at the 4,000-seat Maurice Richard Arena, normally the training base for Canadas short-track speedskating team. "For us its going to be really fun," Ross said Friday. "Were really a team that likes to have the crowd support. "We respond well to that. Its a bit more pressure, for sure, a bit more media attention, but we are a team that likes it. We are enjoying every minute of it." Interest is likely to be lower than usual with the tournament schedule overlapping the Feb. 8 start of the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. But holding it in a city not known as a curling hotbed and far from the sports heartland in western Canada, is seen as a chance to grow the game. Kruger, which produces Scotties paper products, has its head office in Montreal, also worked in its favour as well. "This will be a wonderful platform to get (curling message) out here," said tournament director Francine Poisson, who played in three Canadian championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Weve had a lot of French media this week, so its breaking the (notion) of curling being an English sport. "Its very exiting. The visibility of curling has never been as great as it is now. People are watching. Now its time to translate eyeballs into people playing in curling clubs." Next years tournament will return to curling country in Moose Jaw, Sask. Facing the likes of defending champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa, the Ross rink wont be among the favourites after going 3-8 at last years Scotties in Moncton, N.B. "We are hoping for a better result than last year," said Ross. "Last year we had three games that came down to last rock. "We could have had six wins instead of three. We take a lot of what we learned last year and come back a lot stronger this year." It isnt home for Homan, but Ottawa is just a two-hour drive or train ride away and shes also expecting some extra support as she defends her title. "Its nice for us," said Homan. "We drove here and a lot of friends and family will be coming up to support us and share the experience with us. "Obviously, there wont be as many fans here as there would be out west, but its good for our friends and family." Its an unusual Scotties in many ways, so perhaps there will be surprises on the ice. For one, Jennifer Jones rink from Winnipeg wont be around because shell be in Sochi. Instead, Chelsea Carey will make her Scotties debut for Manitoba. In 1979 in Montreal, British Columbia won the tournament led by Lindsay Sparkes. This time, B.C. will be led this time by 22-year-old skip Kesa Van Osch of Victoria. She wont be the youngest skip on the ice. That honour goes to 20-year-old Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse. The Yukon/Territories skip is the youngest ever to compete at the Scotties and the first player to skip at both the Scotties and Canadian junior championship in the same year. The favourites include Val Sweeting of Alberta, who is in her second Scotties, and Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan, who is at her third. The veterans are skip Heather Strong of Newfoundland, who is in her 11th Scotties, and Kim Dolan of P.E.I., who is in her 10th. "The transition is certainly happening," said Dolan. "There a lot of young teams and new faces, which is great to see. "Womens curling is in a great place, so these new young ladies are keen. That only entices other people to play and go after their dreams." The Ontario team is skipped by Allison Flaxey while Nova Scotia has Heather Smith at the helm and Andrea Crawford will carry New Brunswicks colours. Jeremy Walker Braves Jersey . -- The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Sidney Rice have agreed to terms on a deal. Brian McCann Braves Jersey . Icardi is living with the ex-wife of former teammate Maxi Lopez, and the Sampdoria forward refused to shake Icardis hand before kickoff. Walter Samuel and Rodrigo Palacio also scored for Inter while Lopez had a penalty saved. https://www.cheapbraves.com/923o-rico-ca...sey-braves.html. Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. Hoyt Wilhelm Jersey . -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. Stitched Braves Jerseys . Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes.While the chance to be a star in the Octagon was over before it started for an overwhelming majority of people, EA Sports and UFC have combined to at least give you a taste of what life could have been like in a three or five-round contest. This past week marked the release of EA Sports UFC, the latest video game to capture what fighting is like in the world of mixed martial arts and more specifically the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The game follows the UFC Undisputed series of games that were produced by THQ and EA Sports MMA, a non-UFC mixed martial arts game released by Electronic Arts in 2010. Though, according to EA Sports UFC Creative Director Brian Hayes, this game is an entirely new product. “We designed, coded and created this game from scratch,” Hayes told TSN.ca Prior to the creation of the game and due to the schedule of the development, fighters were not consulted on their attributes which, as it has in other sports video games, could lead to disagreements down the road. Hayes has his bases covered though when it comes to where he and his team got the final numbers for most of the competitors in the game. “I expect there to be lots of feedback from fighters on what their ratings are, but thankfully we got aa lot of those numbers directly from UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby.dddddddddddd” One non-UFC name you will find in the game is martial arts and action star Bruce Lee who was added to the game as a bonus for those who purchased early or complete certain goals in the game. 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