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TORONTO – Dave Bolland did not hesitate when asked who would win on Friday. "Canada," Bolland said with a smile. "Is that a question?" One day earlier, though, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri wasnt so sure his home and native land could pull off the win against the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament. "I want to say Canada, but to be honest with you, the U.S. looks better," Kadri, a native of London, Ont., said. "We dont know if Naz is Canadian or American," Bolland, from Mimico, Ont., said with a chuckle. "We dont know what he is or who hes cheering for. He could be cheering for the Belarusians." Roommate Turmoil The North American rivalry has many fault lines throughout the Leafs dressing room even though a vast majority of the players – 20 in total – are Canadian. The issue: two of the key players on Team USA are also two-thirds of Torontos top line: Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk. The man who centres that line in the NHL, Reginas Tyler Bozak, may be the Leaf who is most torn. After all, Bozak is close friends with Kessel and actually lives with the Leafs leading scorer. "Thats a tough question for me to answer," Bozak admitted when asked where his loyalties lie. "Ive got my two wingers on the U.S. and Im Canadian so I guess Im cheering for both. I just hope Phil and JVR play really well and maybe Canada wins. I dont know. "Its going to be an exciting game to watch, for sure. I really cant make any predictions. I dont know. The U.S. has been playing great. Canadas kind of snuck by with a few wins, but every games different and it should be a fun one to watch." Another set of roommates are also at odds over the game and are actually putting their money where their mouthes are. Defencemen Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, from Vancouver and Minnetonka, MN respectively, have placed a friendly wager on the game. "I cant tell you what it is," Rielly said. "Hes overconfident. I think Team Canada will be fine." Most Leafs, however, were trying to take the diplomatic approach with head coach and Sudbury, Ont. native Randy Carlyle, acknowledging the semi-final showdown "was pulling your heart strings in different directions." The Diplomatic Approach "We hope and wish our players all the luck in the world as far as an organization," said Carlyle, "but I am Canadian." "I hope that Phil and JVR do well," said captain Dion Phaneuf, who hails from Edmonton and was invited to Hockey Canadas orientation camp in the summer, "so Im in the middle, thats for sure. Any time you have teammates competing, you want them to do well, but Im Canadian and I have lots of respect for Hockey Canada." What everyone can agree on is that Kessel and van Riemsdyk are having a much better Sochi experience than Nikolai Kulemin, who was the other Leaf taking part in the Winter Games. "Nobody asks questions about how youre going to feel about Nikolai Kulemin coming back and thats a tough one," said Carlyle. "Host country and the way their tournament unravelled, hes part of our hockey club and weve got to find a way to build him back up and get him going again." Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping .C. -- The Steve Smith era in Carolina is over. Basketball Shoes Sale . Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie. https://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.com/. Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period after the Red Wings had miscues on the ice and Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout, giving Boston a 3-0 win over the Red Wings and a 2-1 series lead in their first-round series. Discount Basketball Shoes . LOUIS -- To stay a step ahead of goaltenders, T. Cheap Basketball Shoes China . -- Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event. Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford skated into second place following the pairs short program of the inaugural figure skating team event Thursday in Sochi, Russia. The Canadians finished with a score of 73.10, using precision timing and solid jumping. Reigning world champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia nearly broke their own world record after a superb short program. The Russians took a sizeable lead over Duhamel and Radford with 83.79 points. Chinas Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang are third with 71.01 points. Every first-place finisher of the four disciplines - men, women, ice dance and pairs - receives 10 points, second place gets nine, third earns eight, and so forth. After the mens and pairs short programs, Russia leads with 19 points, followed by Canada (17) and China (15). Duhamel and Radford, the 2013 world bronze medallists, fed off the crowd and their teammates. Skating to music composed by Radford as a tribute to late coach Paul Wirtz, the Canadians opened with a strong throw triple twist before Duhamel nailed a throw triple jump later in the program. Duhamel, of of Lively, Ont., and Radford, of Balmertown, Ont., ended with a death spiral to the delight of their compatriots, which inclluded Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.dddddddddddd But the day belonged to Volosozhar and Trankov, who sent their Russian fans into a frenzy with a brilliant performance. The highlight came in the opening moments as they delivered a perfect throw triple twist that generated mesmerizing height. The pair also converted all of their jumps. In the mens short program, Torontos Patrick Chan struggled to a third-place finish. The three-time world champion looked shaky during his program and finished with a score of 89.71. Japanese sensation Yuzuru Hanyu had a near-flawless routine, earning a score of 97.98 to take first place. Russian Evgeni Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist, sits in second with 91.39 points. Each country gets a chance to switch up two competitors between the short and long programs, which may mean Chan would give way to Kevin Reynolds after the short, while Dylan Moscovitch and Kirsten Moore-Towers may replace Duhamel and Radford. Next up in the team event are the ice dance short, ladies short and pairs free programs on Saturday. The event wraps up Sunday with the mens and ladies free programs, followed by the ice dance free, which will determine the medallists. ' ' '