CALGARY -- The Canadian womens hockey team will attempt to reclaim the Four Nations Cup without Hayley Wickenheiser. Tuukka Rask Jersey . The five-time Olympian and Canadas captain was among six players head coach Dan Church left off his 21-player roster for the annual international womens tournament starting Tuesday in Lake Placid, N.Y. "Were going to take an opportunity to give her that little bit of a break," Church said Monday from Lake Placid. "Theres no question we know what she can do on the ice and that she can contribute in big games. "A lot of it has to with making sure she has a good recovery week here and is ready for the final push towards the Olympics." Wickenheiser, 35, is Canadas all-time leading scorer and has played in 14 Nations Cups during her career. The Four Nations is important preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics for Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden. Assistant captain Caroline Ouellette and forward Marie-Philip Poulin as well as defencemen Meaghan Mikkelson, Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino also remained in Calgary, where the Canadian team is based this winter. Wickenheiser, Ouellette, a three-time Olympian, Poulin, who is recovering from an ankle injury, and Mikkelson were on the team that won the gold medal in 2010 in Vancouver. Fortino and Rougeau have been on the national womens team for two years. "No one is guaranteed a spot in Sochi," Church said. "Some players are obviously a little more secure in their spots, so there were some decisions around that. We also have to look at the overall training plan. "Some of the veteran players do need a bit of a break and this is really our only opportunity within our schedule to do that." The performances of the players he did choose for the Four Nations will help Church determine who he wants on the Olympic team that will attempt to defend the gold in Sochi, Russia, in February. There are 27 women in Calgary trying out for the squad expected to be named in late December. Three forwards and three defencemen will be released. Poulin scored both goals for Canada in a 2-0 win over the U.S. in the 2010 Olympic final, but hasnt played a game since September because of a high ankle sprain. "We were hoping she would be available for this tournament, but she just needs about another week," Church said. Canada opens the Four Nations against Finland on Tuesday before facing the host Americans the following day and Sweden on Friday. The two teams with the best records after the preliminary round meet in Saturdays final. The U.S. is the both the defending womens world champion and Four Nations champion, having won the latter tournament two years in a row. The Americans edged Canada 3-2 in Ottawa in April to win their fourth world title in five years. Canada and the U.S. have already played two of six exhibition games scheduled for this winter with the Canadians winning 3-2 in Burlington, Vt., and 6-3 in Boisbriand, Que., in October. Goaltenders Shannon Szabados, Charline Labonte and Genevieve Lacasse made the trip to Lake Placid. Jocelyne Larocque, Brigette Lacquette, Courtney Birchard, Catherine Ward, Tessa Bonhomme, and Tara Watchhorn were the defenceman named to the team Monday. The forwards will be Gillian Apps, Meghan Agosta-Marciano, Rebecca Johnston, Jennifer Wakefield, Melodie Daoust, Jayna Hefford, Bailey Bram, Jenelle Kohanchuk, Brianne Jenner, Hayley Irwin, Natalie Spooner and Vicki Bendus. While the point of a spending several months together prior to the Olympic Games is to build a cohesive team, it is never far from the Canadian players minds that theyre competing against each other for spots on the team. "Its something thats always there all year long, but were also a team," Apps said. "We fight hard against each other in practice every single day when we come to the rink to make each other better. "Theres six people in this group that wont be on the final roster and thats tough. It is in the back of peoples minds and thats just kind of the nature of the situation." A CBC online story in October questioned whether Wickenheiser would be Canadas captain at the 2014 Winter Games. Shes worn the C for Canada at every major tournament since 2007. "I dont know who will be the captain in Sochi," Church answered. "Hayley is definitely one of the ones were considering. Shes part of our leadership group that weve established. "It could be reading too much into it in terms if its jeopardy. We want a team with a lot of good quality leaders in it and whether people wear Cs or As theyre going to do a good job." Wickenheiser told The Canadian Press on Monday she was not available for an interview. Church has rotated his letters between different players this winter. "If you think you have leadership completely where it should be and you dont pay any attention to it, thats when things go wrong," Church said. "You always have to work on that aspect of your team. "Especially coming out of Ottawa and the results we had there and what we want to do, we want to build a team that has a lot of leaders in it that can step up at different times." Hefford will be Canadas captain in Lake Placid with Ward and Irwin her assistants, said Church. The absence of Wickenheiser, Ouellette, Mikkelson and Poulin at the Four Nations will force inexperienced players to shoulder more responsibility, he added. "Theres a huge opportunity for the players that are here this week to rise to the occasion," Church said. "There are big expectations on them to carry the load here without having that safety net. Thats a good thing for our younger players to experience." The Four Nations will also be Canadas first look at Finland and Sweden since the world championship. The Finns were the Olympic bronze medallists in 2010, but were beaten by the Russians for bronze in Ottawa. The Swedes, the surprise Olympic silver medallists in 2006, dropped to seventh at the world championship. The four remaining exhibition games against the U.S. women are scheduled for Dec. 12 in Calgary, Dec. 20 in Grand Forks, N.D., Dec. 28 in St. Paul, Minn., and Dec. 30 in Toronto. Adam Oates Jersey . - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Gerry Cheevers Jersey . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. http://www.bruinsauthority.com/authentic-paul-postma-bruins-jersey/ . The Braves optioned outfielder Jose Constanza to Triple-A Gwinnett. As expected, the Braves also called up right-hander Julio Teheran from Gwinnett to start Sundays game and optioned backup catcher J.NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez expanded his assault on the baseball establishment with a lawsuit accusing the Yankees team physician and a New York City hospital of mishandling his medical care during the 2012 AL playoffs. In a suit filed late Friday in New York Supreme Court in the Bronx, lawyers for Rodriguez say he was given an MRI on Oct. 11, 2012, that revealed an injury to his left hip joint. The suit said that Yankees physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad did not inform him of the tear and cleared him to continue playing, and accused them of medical malpractice. As a result, the suit claims, Rodriguez further injured himself and also "sustained great pain, agony, injury, suffering, disability, hospitalization, as well as mental anguish and emotional distress." The suit also names New York-Presbyterian Hospital as a defendant. "We are not commenting due to pending litigation," hospital spokeswoman Myrna Manners said Saturday. Ahmad did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment. The hospital and Ahmad may claim that the proper forum for Rodriguezs complaint is either Workmans Compensation or the grievance process of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The union is attempting to overturn the 211-game suspension given to Rodriguez by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of its drug agreement and labour contract. The penalty was stayed pending a grievance filed by the union, and a hearing began Monday before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, who is chairman of the three-man arbitration panel that includes a representative of management and the union. Barring a settlement, a decision is not expected until winter. Also Saturday, The New York Times reported on its website that Rodriguezs lawyers at Reed Smith sent a letter to the players association General Counsel David Prouty on Aug. 22 asking that a union lawyer be replaced as his representative in the grievance by one of his personal attorneys. The lawyers also criticized union head Michael Weiner, who is battling a brain tumour, for comments he made about the case. Rodriguez hit .120 (3 for 25) with no RBIs during the 2012 post-season, then had left hip surgery in January that kept him from rejoining the Yankees until August. One of Rodriguezs lawyers, Joseph Tacopina, said in August that the Yaankees "put him out there in that condition when he shouldnt have even been walking, much less playing baseball. Jaromir Jagr Jersey. " The Yankees maintain that Rodriguez had been complaining at the time only of a problem with his right hip, not the left one. Rodriguez had right hip surgery in 2009. Rodriguez filed the medical lawsuit a day after suing MLB and baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, accusing them of orchestrating a "witch hunt" intended to force him out of baseball as part of its investigation of the now-closed Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic in Florida. Both suits came during the first week of hearings on a players association grievance seeking to overturn the suspension. Thirteen other players accepted suspensions this summer, including former NL MVP Ryan Braun, who was suspended for Milwaukees final 65 games of the regular season. The August letter from Rodriguezs lawyers to the players association accused the union of failing to "fairly represent his interests" and said it "made matters worse by failing to protest MLBs thuggish tactics in its investigation." A-Rods lawyers were critical of Weiner for saying in an XM Radio interview in August that he advised Rodriguez to accept a suspension of a certain length -- less than MLB was willing to settle for. They said in the letter that Weiners statements could "irretrievably corrupt the arbitration process" and "are clearly inconsistent with the MLBPAs duty to fairly and ardently represent Mr. Rodriguez." MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred represents management on the arbitration panel and Prouty represents the players association. Rodriguez spokesman Ron Berkowitz declined comment on both the latest lawsuit and the letter. Tacopina said in a statement Saturday that Selig and MLB have an "inexplicable personal animus toward Alex Rodriguez" and called former Biogenesis head Anthony Bosch "a witness under federal investigation for dealing performance enhancing drugs to minors." "Every player in the league, every fan who spends money on MLB tickets and gear, and every team whose money is being spent on this witch hunt should be asking Selig to explain and justify his actions," Tacopina said. 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