VAL THORENS, France -- Canadian Marielle Thompson won the womens small final on Sunday to finish fifth at a skicross World Cup event and retain the overall leaders bib. Mel Ott Giants Jersey . Thompson, from Whistler, B.C., won the skicross World Cup opener in Nakiska, Alta., last weekend but she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the womens final on Sunday when she finished third in a stacked semifinal. Only the top two advance. West Vancouvers Georgia Simmerling and Kelsey Serwa, of Kelowna, B.C., were eliminated at the quarter-final stage, while the Canadian men were forced to watch from the sidelines after rapidly-changing course conditions saw many of the top racers eliminated during a wild qualification round on Saturday. "Its disappointing we didnt have a podium because we set the bar pretty high but Marielle was able to keep the overall lead," said coach Willy Raine. "To come away with the results we had, with the girls competing together in the bottom bracket, it was a good day." All four Canadian women qualified for Sundays round of 32 but Calgarys Danielle Sundquist was third in her heat and finished 19th overall. Simmerling advanced from the same heat but was third in her quarter-final -- behind Thompson and Swiss star Fanny Smith -- to finish 10th overall. Serwa, who is back in action following knee surgery, was skiing well Sunday but the start gate appeared to malfunction in her quarter-final and she was eliminated, finishing 15th overall. An official complaint was lodged but the results were not changed. "She will be able to keep training as she tries to peak for Sochi," said Raine of Serwa. Thompson was her usual dominant self in the early rounds but made a small error in her semifinal and Norways Marte Hoeie Gjefsen took full advantage to eliminate the Canadian by a matter of inches. "She missed it by an arms length at the finish line," Raine said. "She came out of it smiling and saying it was a great ski cross heat. There was passing and it was tight and everyone was close together." Switzerlands Katrin Mueller won the womens final, with her teammate Sanna Leudi finishing second and French veteran Ophelie David taking third. Hoeie Gjefsen was fourth. Sundays results mean Thompson leads the womens ski cross World Cup standings with 145 points. David is second with 120 and Smith is third (116). France leads the Nations Cup with 460 points, with Switzerland sitting second (405) and Canada third (298). Austrias Andreas Matt won the mens final, with Swedens Victor Oehling Norberg finishing second and Frances Jean Frederic Chapuis taking third. Lance Parrish Tigers Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Carlton Fisk White Sox Jersey . Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood launched himself down the touchline pumping his fists after Gylfi Sigurdsson completed a fight back from 2-0 down at home to Southampton to win 3-2. The victory kept Tottenham in touch with the Champions League places, with the London club six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.BOCA RATON, Florida - NHL GMs took part of the final day of meetings in Boca Raton, Florida to discuss the annual combine that runs in late May prior to the NHL entry draft in June. The event puts invited prospects through a serious of fitness tests and allows teams to interview targeted prospects to gain a further understanding into their psychological makeup. But some teams have run team specific combines in the past to further evaluate prospects, which has been seen by several teams as an unfair competitive advantage. As a result, the NHL is contemplating placing limits and restrictions on the amount of players that teams can assemble for further testing. "There was a discussion about that," said Commissioner Gary Bettman. "A change like that would require Board of Governor approval but I think that there was a sense in the room that it might be a good idea." Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray was the loudest proponent against these limitations. For the past three years, the Sabres have held their own combine; this past year bringing in over 75 players for a four day period for interviews and on ice work. "I come from a scouting background," said Murray, who has held scouting positions with the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. "I dont want to criticize the combine we have but I want to be able to supplement that with what I want to do. Im looking for athletes and there are certain tests (that we feel are important) versus strength tests." But despite his instance, Murray had little success in persuading his colleagues. "Some of the veteran guys said you fought a great battle but it was a losing battle," said Murray, who is the shortest tenured GM in the NHL right now. "It looks like the majority want to streamline it to one combine and not allow us guys that feel that doing a little more is a benefit. MacT (Oilers GM Craig MacTavish) said to me, it was a great battle, but you couldnt win." The NHL intends to consider options now to enhance the league-run combine in May. Gary Bettman also suggested incorporating an on ice component to the combine in the future would be explored. Other News From Commissioner Gary Bettman - On the potential impact of a weaaker Canadian dollar (currently at . Keith Hernandez Cardinals Jersey. 90 cents US) on the 2014-15 salary cap. "Im not sure that its a concern, it is what it is. The system accounts for fluctuations in currency which is why we do everything with the computations in US dollars. If the Canadian dollar goes down, then the cap goes down a little bit but the system contemplates that. Its not an issue, its not a problem. It is what it is." - On the projected $71 million cap that was suggested to the Board of Governors in September. "A lot of people were talking about the number that we showed the board in September; that was an illustration because it wasnt based on anything, we didnt have any revenues yet. We said after we get to the end of the regular season, we may be able to better project what it looks like. With the Canadian dollar where it is, maybe youre looking at a million or two million difference in the cap and based on where the cap is likely to be, its not that big a deal." - On penalties for removing helmets priors to fights due to visors and whether an alteration would be made given that visors are now mandatory for all players entering the league. "Wasnt discussed and its not more a problem than youve either perceived it to be or not to be. It wasnt an issue." - On cracking down on fights involving goaltenders. "The rules are what they are and from a whole variety of constituencies including the players, there doesnt seem to be any change in the consensus right now. To effectuate a change thered have to be a change among the constituent groups. Ive been told that if you ask the players, it would be 99-1 that you leave it the way it is. Its something will continue to look at but there is nothing to report." - On potential expansion announcements before the end of the season. "If there would be? I doubt it. Its not anything were contemplating. We have no expansion process that were going through. Its not something that we envision happening anytime soon, if at all. I know theres a lot of speculation and yes, theres a lot of interest, were getting a lot of interest from multiple parties and multiple places but its not anything yet that were prepared to deal with on a formal basis." cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
