LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- Alex Harvey was the top Canadian on Saturday, finishing 16th in the 15-kilometre event at a cross-country skiing World Cup event. Harvey, from St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., finished the Nordic track filled with steeps climbs and fast descents in 35 minutes 50.2 seconds. "This is heavy racing right now being an Olympic year. Many of the Norwegians, Swedes and Russians are all fighting for spots at the Games so are skiing extremely fast," said Justin Wadsworth, the head coach of Canadas cross-country ski team. "Right now there is no Olympic pressure on us so we need to keep calm and stay focused on the process because you dont want to be going this hard this early in the game." Norways Paul Golberg won the mens classic ski race with a time of 35:00.0. Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan skied to the silver medal time at 35:14.2. Norways Didrik Toenseth was third in 35:15.5. Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., placed 35th at 36:23.6, Devon Kershaw (37:03.7) of Sudbury, Ont., finished 56th and Jesse Cockney (37:44.2) of Canmore, Alta., was 68th. "Obviously we are hoping for a bit better, but it is coming slowly," said Wadsworth. "This is all normal where nobody is feeling very good coming off such a high volume of training. It is just the way it is and we have to be patient." No Canadian women suited up on Saturday. Polands Justyna Kowalczyk won the womens 10-kilometre classic ski race with a time of 25:59.4. Kowalczyk finished 12.4 seconds ahead of Charlotte Kalla of Sweden. More impressively, Kowalczyk beat triple Olympic champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway by 25.6 seconds to send an early message ahead of the Sochi Games. Bjoergen finished third ahead of fellow Norwegian Therese Johaug. "My skis were perfect today and I was really good," the Polish skier said. "Its a really good feeling." Kowalczyk has now won 13 of the last 19 classical-style distance races on the World Cup. ------ With files from the Associated Press Hurricanes Jerseys 2021 . The Earthquakes (6-9-7) were coming off a 5-0 loss at home last Saturday to FC Dallas. Even with the draw, the Sounders (13-7-3) climbed back into a tie for both the Western Conference and overall top spot in MLS. Seattle, West co-leader Real Salt Lake and East leader Sporting Kansas City all have 42 points. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Canadiens at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio Montreal 690. The Calgary Flames will see if they can take their recent hot streak on the road when they shoot for a sixth consecutive win Monday night in Montreal. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Carolina Hurricanes Shirts . -- Jerome Williams glanced at Philadelphias schedule and realized he would be facing the Oakland Athletics yet again, with another new team. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys .com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South.BALTIMORE -- Orioles third baseman Manny Machado stated his case Wednesday for the reduction of a five-game suspension he received for intentionally throwing his bat on the field against Oakland on June 8. Now hes got to wait for the verdict, which will probably be rendered before the end of the week. "Were hoping we made a good case and we got it down," Machado said. Machado tossed his bat in the direction of third base during a plate appearance in which Oakland reliever Fernando Abad threw successive high-and-tight pitches. After the bat went soaring, both benches emptied. Machado and Abad were ejected. Abad was subsequently fined but not suspended. The bat throwing was an extension of a feud that began in the series opener two days earlier. Machado yelled in the face of Oaklands Josh Donaldson after the third baseman tagged him on the chest, knocking Machado off his feet. The dugouts also emptied after that confrontation, but no one was ejected. Machado was subsequently suspended and fined an undisclosed amount. He immediately appealed the punishment and has been playing for Baltimore since that time. Machado, his agent and Orioles executive vice-ppresident Dan Duquette spoke for about an hour Wednesday with Joe Garagiola Jr.dddddddddddd, senior vice-president of standards and on-field operations at Major League Baseball. The meeting took place at the warehouse behind Camden Yards. "We got it done," Machado said. "Now its just sit back and wait and see what is going to happen." He hoped to get a reduction of the suspension, and if possible, have it wiped out entirely. "At this point, theres nothing to talk about," Machado said. "Just wait and see how many games Im going to get suspended, hopefully I dont and just get fined." Asked why he was optimistic, Machado replied, "I didnt throw the bat at anybody. And thats it. All the other cases that have gotten suspended have been when they go ahead and intentionally throw the bat at the person. I dont want to jinx anything. I just want to try and get as least games as possible." If a suspension does occur, Machado and the Orioles hoped the decision would be rendered after Fridays split doubleheader against Tampa Bay. "Hopefully, it doesnt hurt the team that Im down with those two games," Machado said. ' ' '