NEWS » Center.Its a very different sensation, Ren sai

What do you need to know about last nights games? Joe McDonald gives us his take on the biggest and best performances. This is where we say, Morning, Joe.Double trouble: The Montreal Canadiens began last season 9-0-0. Defenseman P.K. Subban was on that team. After a 3-0 win Wednesday over the Vancouver Canucks, the Canadiens have begun this season 9-0-1. Subban is not on this team. He was traded during the offseason to the Nashville Predators straight up for defenseman Shea Weber. Records aside, this version of the Canadiens is much better than last seasons. Weber brings a different dynamic both on and off the ice, and the back end is more stable. Weber has four goals and six assists for 10 points in 10 games, and is a plus-14. Hes averaging more than 25 minutes per game. For the Predators, Subban has two goals and three assists for five points in nine games. Hes a minus-6 and is averaging 24 minutes per game. With a healthy Carey Price, who made 42 saves in the shutout against the Canucks, along with Webers play and leadership, the Canadiens will be atop the Atlantic Division for the majority of this season. Weber is a major reason that this team is legit.Louis better than this: After he signed a six-year deal worth $36 million with the Canucks, veteran forward Loui Eriksson was expected to have an immediate impact while playing on the same line with Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. The Swedish trio played together during the World Cup of Hockey and their evident chemistry was a good sign of things to come for the Canucks. It hasnt continued into the NHL season. Canucks coach Willie Desjardins has moved Eriksson off the top line, and after a 3-0 loss Wednesday to the Canadiens, Eriksson remains without a goal and has only four assists in his first 10 games for the Canucks. Eriksson is not alone in his scoring drought: Vancouver has scored just 17 goals in 10 games. Eriksson is a world-class player and was one of the Boston Bruins best players. He will break out -- it wont be long before he finds his game and is reunited with the Sedins.Merry Kris-mas: After missing five games with an upper-body injury, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang?scored a goal, added an assist and was a plus-3 to help his team to a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night. Hes as important to Pittsburghs success as any player in the lineup, including the best in the world, Sidney Crosby. In fact, Letang was a close second to Crosby for the Conn Smythe after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup over the San Jose Sharks in June. Letang scored an incredible goal that proved to be the winner in Pittsburghs 3-1 win in the deciding Game 6 victory. The Penguins potent offense begins with its defense, and Letang leads the way. When he has the puck, good things happen. Last season, he had a career-high 67 points, and he has not skipped a beat on his return. Oh, and by the way, Penguins Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray made his first start of the season on Wednesday after breaking his thumb during the World Cup of Hockey for Team North America. He finished with 32 saves. Cheap Air Max Canada . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Buy Air Max . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. http://www.airmaxcanada.com/ . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Nike Air Max Canada .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Nike Air Max Canada Cheap .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. RIO DE JANEIRO -- China has its next diving superstar.Actually, two of them.Fifteen-year-old Ren Qian captured another diving gold medal for China on Thursday, producing five nearly flawless efforts off the womens 10-meter platform to beat her 17-year-old teammate, Si Yajie.Ren finished with 439.25 points, while Si settled for silver at 419.40 in a back-and-forth duel that wiped out any would-be contenders.I focused on each individual dive. I focused on my own routine, Ren said through a translator. I was thinking about my movements, my dives. I didnt overthink about the final score.Early on, a pair of Canadians, Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, along with American Jessica Parratto managed to stay close to the mighty Chinese teenagers.By the end, Benfeito was the only one anywhere close, grabbing the bronze at 389.20. Filion dropped to sixth and Parratto botched two straight dives, plummeting all the way to 10th.As for the Chinese, they never wavered.Theyre the best at the sport, Benfeito said. Theyre born to dive. I really admire them. I love diving against them and trying to push them even harder.Seamlessly filling the void left by two-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin, Ren and Si took turns seeing who could out-do the other. Their spins were quicker than anyone elses. Their twists and turns were graceful and elegant, yet showed stunning athleticism. And when they sliced through the water, they barely left a ripple.Ren never received a mark lower than 8.5, and her final two dives produced three perfect 10s. Hardly looking her age, she was simply unflappable in her first appearance on the Olympic stage.Actually, I was feeling quite calm when I was doing the dives, Ren said. I wasnt feeling nervous.Si led the way in both the preliminaries and the semifinals, but she finally wobbled a bit in the fourth round. She was slightly off on her toughest dive -- a back 3+ somersaults with a tuck -- and wound up with scores ranging from 7.0 to 8.0.To be honest, my teammate is a better diver, Si said, according to a translator. I think that she really deserved the gold.Ren was nearly perfect when she did the same dive in the third round, receiving aa total of 94.dddddddddddd5 -- her highest single score by any diver in the competition. Sis marks computed to 79.20, which essentially accounted for the margin between the two.Actually for the fourth dive, I felt OK, Si said. I felt that I opened my body at the right moment. But perhaps the control was a little bit over the top.Ren claimed the sixth gold in seven diving events for the Chinese at these games. If they can win the final event, mens platform, it would match their best Olympic performance ever.China also won seven of eight events at Beijing in 2008.For Benfeito, it was the best individual showing of her career. The 27-year-old won bronze in synchronized platform at both London and Rio.It does feel a lot different, she said. To come out with an Olympic medal means even more.North Koreas Kim Kuk Hyang won gold in this event at last years world championships, with Ren taking silver and Si only managing a fourth-place showing. With that experience under their belt -- and Kim stunningly failing to advance out of the prelims in Rio -- the teenagers shined on the even bigger stage at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center.Its a very different sensation, Ren said, looking down at the gold medal around her neck.Parratto finished second in the semifinals -- behind Si and just ahead of Ren -- but she couldnt duplicate that performance when it really counted.Theyre amazing divers, Parratto said. Theyre pretty much flawless.The morning semifinals were held in bright sunshine, only to have the skies turn gray and threatening when the divers returned for the afternoon finals.The forecast for rain didnt pan out, however, so there were no weather-related issues at the first Olympic diving competition held outdoors since 1992.Si And Ren were already looking ahead to Tokyo Games in 2020.I really had high hopes and expectations for the gold medal, she said. I will see you in four years time.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '