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OTTAWA -- Is there such a thing as a soft underbelly on the back-to-back defending Olympic champions?You wouldnt think so when on Monday, the first day of World Cup of Hockey training camp for Team Canada, the fourth line had Claude Giroux between Matt Duchene and Joe Thornton.Thats right, fourth line.But Im here to tell you that losing defenseman Duncan Keith (right knee rehab) was a huge blow, no matter how skilled this team is. And not only because his stand-alone talent speaks for itself, but also because his absence puts more pressure on a Canadian left side on defense that isnt as deep as the rest of this otherworldly squad.Pretty nice luxury to lose a player like Keith and be able to replace him with a player with [Jay] Bouwmeesters international experience and ability, a Western Conference coach requesting anonymity said via text message. That said, they may miss Keiths offense; his puck movement from the left side of the ice and his ability to get up ice. I think Canada is going to face some teams who are really going to approach their games with a strong defensive approach and their D will be huge in countering that. Losing him on the power play may also force the coaching staff to be a little more creative, depending on what they were planning with setups and left/right shot combinations.And, frankly, thats putting it mildly. Next to Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Carey Price, Keith was on a list of about four or five players Team Canada would have considered irreplaceable, again in large part because of that left-right concern.Thats no disrespect to Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was outstanding at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and has continued to elevate his game ever since, but the reality is that Jake Muzzin is a newcomer to this stage and the respected Bouwmeester has some miles on him. As such, the drop-off from Keith is real. Whereas if Canada had lost Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty or veteran stud Shea Weber on the right side, there would have been replacement options such as P.K. Subban, Kris Letang or Brent Seabrook, such is Canadas ridiculous high-end depth on the right side.Which begs the question some Canadian hockey fans have had in the aftermath of Letang, Seabrook and Subban not making this team: Why does the left-right thing matter so much?Its just a simple thing, began Team Canada coach Mike Babcock on Monday before going on to answer the question in a complicated way.To quickly sum up the Canadian head coachs detailed, Xs-and-Os answer, the left-right balance matters to him greatly in the areas of puck possession and transition.It does make a huge difference, Doughty said Monday, echoing his coach. Most teams in the league will do the lefty-righty combo. Its really important to have.Except Team Canada might not get it completely in this tournament. There was Alex Pietrangelo on Monday, skating on the left side of fellow righty Brent Burns on what appears to be the third pairing.No big deal, insisted Pietrangelo.Its a bit of an adjustment, but when you have the quality of players we have, its not really an issue, shrugged the newly named St. Louis Blues captain. Pietrangelo said he played three or four games last season for the Blues on the left side.It was different, but it worked out, he said. I look at it this way: If I can be versatile and play on both sides, its like a switch-hitter in baseball, right? If you can play both sides, it should just benefit you.Babcock spoke with Pietrangelo a few weeks ago to see if hed be willing to try it. No sweat, said Pietrangelo.What it means is that Canada could open the tournament with four righties in the top six, which is not ideal. But the coaching staff might think thats what makes the most of the talent at hand. Keiths injury has had other repercussions: Vlasic played well with Doughty in Sochi but now finds himself at the start of camp replacing Keith and thus pairing with Weber, while Muzzin logically gets paired with his Kings pal, Doughty.Still, if Keith were here, I believe Muzzin would have been the seventh defenseman. Now hes in a top-four role -- just more domino effect from Keith being out.And while Pietrangelo downplayed his switch to the left side, its clearly a big adjustment for others.For me, if I have to go play on the left side -- not that Im bad at it -- but its definitely not as comfortable, said Doughty. And defensively, its different with your stick positioning on one-on-one, or even just exiting your zone or taking a D-to-D pass; youre looking at your partner rather than up ice right away. So its hard to play on your off side, but once you get used to it, its like anything else; once you keep practicing it and playing it, it gets easier. But if you basically havent played it in years and get thrown on the left side, its going to be a challenge.Added Weber: It seems like a simple thing [switching to the left side], but everythings different. Your body is accustomed to turning predominantly one way for the most part on the one side of the ice. It can be done -- guys are good players and can adjust -- but it does take a little bit of time to get used to it.In fact, Weber played on the left side when Seth Jones entered the league with the Nashville Predators.I would catch myself just drifting over to the right all the time because it was just an automatic, subconscious thing, said Weber. Theres an adjustment, for sure.If Pietrangelo can comfortably handle it, thats going to go a long way toward Team Canada having the kind of top-six blue-line machine that propelled the squad to an unreal defensive performance in Sochi.Still, Keith is a special player, as he showed in winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2015.Hes one of the best, man, Team Canada goaltender Corey Crawford, Keiths Chicago Blackhawks teammate, said Monday. He can make plays all over the ice. He just makes everyone better around him. Obviously, Canada wants a guy like that to be here. But it is what it is.Veteran head coach Ken Hitchcock, missing out on his first best-on-best tournament in a long time -- he was a part of the Canadian staff from 2002 in Salt Lake City through Sochi -- had a first-row seat to observe Keiths impact at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games.Duncan was never afraid of the stage, Hitchcock said this weekend. Bigger the game, better he played; he could play in all situations.Yes, Team Canada was able to overcome the injury loss of Steven Stamkos before the 2014 Olympics and of John Tavares during the tournament. But again, top-shelf forward depth is rarely an issue for Team Canada.Keiths injury could be more impactful.If Canada wins again, it will be a testimony to a great coaching staff and a defense corps that adjusts swimmingly.If the host team loses? Canadian fans will want to know why Subban or Letang wasnt on the team.The great thing about being in Canada, you can second-guess all the players, and theres always someone who got left off, said Babcock. What I find is, if you win, when you win, they dont ask you any questions. If you dont win, they ask lots of questions. Brent Barry Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Xavier McDaniel Jersey . 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The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. CHICAGO -- Anthony Rizzo caught the ball for the final out and Wrigley Field erupted.Im sleeping with this thing tonight, the Chicago Cubs first baseman told the pulsating crowd moments later, kissing the prized souvenir. Are you kidding me? Were going to the World Series.Cubs ... World Series? Yes, the Cubbies!Next up, Game 1 in Cleveland.With fans chanting, singing and waving those Ws, shaking the century-old ballpark and jamming the streets of Wrigleyville, the Cubs celebrated a moment many of their faithful wondered whether they would ever see.Kyle Hendricks outpitched Clayton Kershaw, Rizzo and Willson Contreras homered early and the Cubs took their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 Saturday night to win the NL Championship Series in six games.Listen to them. Outside before the game was crazy. Inside the game was crazy, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester said.These guys have done nothing but support us from Day One. Its been unbelievable to be here and be part of this. Words cant really describe where Im at right now, he said.Cursed by a Billy Goat, bedeviled by Bartman and crushed by decades of disappointment, those Lovable Losers now have a chance to win it all.Trying to win their first crown since 1908, manager Joe Maddons team opens the World Series against Cleveland on Tuesday night.The Indians havent won it all since 1948 -- Cleveland and Cubs have the two longest title waits in the majors.This city deserves it so much, Rizzo said. We got four more big ones to go, but were going to enjoy this. Were going to the World Series. I cant even believe that.All-everything Javier Baez and Lester shared the NLCS MVP. Baez hit .318, drove in five runs and made several sharp plays at second base. Lester, a former World Series champion in Boston, was 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers.The drought ended when Aroldis Chapman got Yasiel Puig to ground into a double play , setting off a wild celebration. And if they bring home the elusive championship?I may make the `W a tattoo, said chairman Tom Ricketts , who once lived across the street and met his wife in the bleachers.Deemed World Series favorites since opening day, the Cubs topped the majors with 103 wins to win the NL Central, then beat the Giants and Dodgers in the playoffs.The Cubs overcame a 2-1 deficit against the Dodgers and won their 17th pennant. They had not earned a World Series trip since winning a doubleheader opener 4-3 at Pittsburgh on Sept. 29, 1945, to clinch the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season.The eternal wait till next year is over. No more dwelling on a history of failure -- the future is now.Were too young. We dont care about it, star slugger Kris Bryant said. We dont look into it. This is a new team, this is a completely different time of our lives. Were enjoying it and our works just getting started.Hendricks pitched two-hit ball for 7 1/3 inninngs .dddddddddddd Chapman took over and closed with hitless relief, then threw both arms in the air as he was mobbed by teammates and coaches.The Dodgers sent the minimum 27 batters to the plate and no one got past first base.The Cubs shook off back-to-back shutout losses earlier in this series by pounding the Dodgers for 23 runs to win the final three games.And they were in no way overwhelmed by the moment on Saturday, putting aside previous frustration.In the 1945 Series, the Billy Goat Curse supposedly began when a tavern owner wasnt allowed to bring his goat to Wrigley. In 2003, the Cubs lost the final three games of the NLCS to Florida, punctuated with a Game 6 defeat when fan Steve Bartman deflected a foul ball.Even as recently as 2012, the Cubs lost 101 times.This time, no such ill luck.Bryant had an RBI single and scored in a two-run first . Dexter Fowler added two hits, drove in a run and scored one.Contreras led off the fourth with a homer.Rizzo continued his resurgence with a solo drive in the fifth.That was plenty for Hendricks, the major league ERA leader.Hendricks left to a standing ovation after Josh Reddick singled with one out in the eighth. The only other hit Hendricks allowed was a single by Andrew Toles on the games first pitch.Kershaw, dominant in Game 2, gave up five runs and seven hits before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth. He fell to 4-7 in the postseason.This day is never fun, the ending of a season, Kershaw said.The Dodgers havent been to the World Series since winning in 1988.Pitching on five days rest, Kershaw needed 30 pitches to get through the first. Fowler led off with a double against the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner, and Bryants single had the crowd shaking the 102-year-old ballpark.Fans had more to cheer when left fielder Andrew Toles dropped Rizzos fly, putting runners on second and third, and Ben Zobrist made it 2-0 a sacrifice fly.The Cubs added a run in the second when Addison Russell doubled to deep left and scored on a two-out single by Fowler.LINEUP SHUFFLEMaddon benched slumping right fielder Jason Heyward in favor of Albert Almora Jr.Kershaws pitching, so I wanted to get one more right-handed bat in the lineup, and also with Albert I dont feel like were losing anything on defense, Maddon said. I know Jasons a Gold Glover, but I think Albert, given an opportunity to play often enough would be considered a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder, too.Heyward was 2 for 28 in the playoffs -- 1 for 16 in the NLCS.SEENKerry Wood, wearing a Ron Santo jersey, threw out the first pitch and actor Jim Belushi delivered the Play Ball! call before the game. Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder and actor John Cusack were also in attendance. And Bulls great Scottie Pippen led the seventh-inning stretch. ' ' '