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A season after every Canadian team was shut out of the NHL playoffs for the first time since 1970, two teams north of the border are off to strong starts.The Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers made major moves in the offseason that have panned out so far, helping them build the largest divisional leads in the league.Montreal began the season 9-0-1, creating a cushion in the Atlantic and re-establishing itself as a contender in the Eastern Conference. Edmonton won seven of its first eight, shooting to the top of the Pacific and making a rare appearance atop the Western Conference standings.Its great that weve created a buzz back in Canada, where hockey is the No. 1 sport, Oilers winger Milan Lucic told The Associated Press. Theres definitely a buzz in Edmonton, where its been a long time since fans have been able to root for a team that has won.Connor McDavid has made the Oilers relevant again, restoring pride to a five-time Stanley Cup-winning franchise that has endured a 10-season postseason drought. The 19-year-old center was named the NHLs first star in October after opening the season with three points in each of his first two games, scoring two game-winning goals and having 12 points in nine games.McDavid played in his 14th game of the season Tuesday night at Pittsburgh, a year after a breaking his left clavicle 13 games into his rookie season. He was out for nearly three months last season but didnt miss a beat when he returned, finishing with 48 points in 45 games.He draws attention from opponents like hes already a superstar and responds like a savvy veteran, giving up the puck to open teammates as he did to set up a winning goal Sunday night in Detroit. McDavid, the No. 1 pick last year, simply shrugs his shoulders and gives aw-shucks answers when asked to explain his knack for knowing when to shoot and when to pass.Ive done it my whole life, he said.Even though McDavid hasnt played an entire season yet, Oilers coach Todd McLellan doesnt hesitate to say hes one of the NHLs top players.The way teams are paying attention to him, checking him, and making him a focal point, I think that would indicate that a lot of the league agrees, McLellan said.McDavid cant win alone, though.Lucic has provided an instant return on the franchises $42 million, seven-year investment in him during free agency over the summer, giving the team an established veteran to lean on in his 10th season. Every good team needs at least a solid goaltender and the Oilers have one in Cam Talbot, who is in his second season with the team and fourth in the league.The Canadiens might have the best goalie in the world, and hes healthy again and so is the teams outlook. A blockbuster trade that went their way has helped, too.Price missed much of last year with a knee injury, tuned up for the season with a World Cup-winning performance for Canada and looks like he did when he won the Vezina Trophy two years ago.Shea Weber has never won the Norris Trophy, but this might be the year hes recognized as the leagues top defenseman in his 12th season after being acquired in a jaw-dropping deal with Nashville for P.K. Subban. Weber was named the leagues second star of October after leading all defensemen with 10 points, including a 10-day stretch in which he scored a league-high three game-winning goals last month.Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said Weber, changes everything, for the franchise.What he brings, you obviously see it on the ice, but off the ice, in the room, everywhere, its his attitude, his behavior, the little details that show hes a real leader, Bergevin said.SHARK ATTACKThe defending Western Conference-champion San Jose Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak by opening a six-game road trip with a 3-0 shutout of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. It was the kind of game coach Peter DeBoer wants to see from his team.Our foundation is being hard to play against and not giving up too much, DeBoer said. We havent scored, but we dont want to play a 6-5 game. I think even on the stretches where we didnt score last year, you could always rely on that foundation.GAME OF THE WEEKMontreal will get tested perhaps more than it has been this season Sunday night on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks, who have won six straight going into Wednesday nights game at St. Louis.---AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.---Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.twitter.com/larrylage Vapormax 97 Pas Cher . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Vapormax Pas Cher Destockage . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. http://www.vapormaxpascher.be/air-max-vapormax-flyknit-2-pas-cher.html .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Nike Air Vapormax Pas Cher . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Vapormax Plus Homme Solde . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season.Lewis Hamilton has admitted there is genuine friction between him and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. The Silver Arrows pair have repeatedly clashed over the last two years - most noticeably when they collided during the 2014 Belgian GP and when an emotional Rosberg memorably threw his cap at Hamilton following the US GP last year - after being pitched into an exclusive fight for the world championship courtesy of their field-leading machinery.Hamilton and Rosberg were boyhood friends but their relationship has buckled under the strain of their title battles and the reigning world champion has conceded the perceived antipathy between them cannot be dismissed as media invention. Asked by the official F1 website if the friction with Rosberg was reality or media hype, Hamilton replied: It is there. But it is a small fire that everybody pours a lot of gasoline on to make it bigger. And then, of course, also me and Nico, we unintentionally pour more gasoline on to the fire depending on who is winning a race.So it is real - a real competition. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton takes his dog for a walk in the paddock on a hoverboard But where is the line drawn between competition and conflict? Mercedes have already warned both of their drivers that unless they learn to co-exist then the team would have to consider changing their line-up. However, Hamilton and Rosberg may have additional motivation to forge a constructive working relationship in 2016: the anticipated surge from Ferrari. I hope it is not purely a Lewis and Nico show - I hope Ferrari gets involved in that show and that we will have fierce competition beyond me and Nico, said Hamilton. Ferrari have set the fastest time in the opening exchanges of winter testing while Mercedes have focused on strengthening the reliability of their new car. Many in the paddock believe Rosberg remains the dark horse in the championship battle having won the final three races of the 2015 season. But according to Hamilton, Rosberg had it good in the final month of the season when the world champion, by his own admission, switched off after securing his third title.I did not do the bare minimum, but I did what I needed to do to finish the year, reflected the 31-year-old. I didnt do what I had to do to win the championship because I already had won the championship. If you fight for the championship you have to bring that extra five or ten per cent - after I had bagged the title I didnt need that anymore. I used my energy elsewhere. But now my sole focus is again on winning the title - but Nico also has grown, so I have to accept that he is exceptionally fast and so I also have to lift my bar again. I dont know how - but that is my goal. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton completed 156 laps on day one of the first Barcelona Test, watch some footage of him on track in the W07 While the rest of the field has effectively been in hibernation over the winter, Hamilton has remained a high-profile figure on the front and back pages.dddddddddddd While bristling at the suggestion he should be considered a celebrity, Hamilton offered no objection to the observation that he is the only F1 driver to understand that the sport is part of the entertainment industry and made this fascinating reply when asked to identify the the crossover between the sporting and show business sides of F1.F1 is a show. Fans are fascinated by the energy of the fight, said Hamilton. Sure, they would also like to do what we are doing, but that is of course illusion - it is a bit like watching people in space: none of us will ever go to space. So where it meets is that we are still human beings - just like them - but in a way the projection is that we are some sort of higher species. That makes it a show. A lot of beautiful girls should be here, there should be music, and bands should perform. It should be a big spectacle just like the Super Bowl. Lewis Hamilton popped into the Sky Sports studio during the 3rd Quarter of the Super Bowl In addition to attending the Super Bowl, as well an exhaustive number of music and fashion award ceremonies, Hamiltons winter activities are understood to have including recording a music album. But the F1 world champion is adamant that Hamilton the musician is not set to overtake Hamilton the racing driver either in profile or priority. Let me say it bluntly: this here - F1 - is what I know how to do best, he said. Yes there are also other things that I do really well, but nothing compares to that. I know that and accept it. All the other things I enjoy. Who knows, if one day my stuff is good enough you will hear it. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here The first race of the 2016 F1 season, the Australian GP, is exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. The race in Melbourne starts at 5am on Sunday March 20. Also See: Watch: Lewis on a hoverboard! Watch: Hamilton in the W07 ' ' '