the first period when the Senators were outshot 9-5.Ottawa had two great chances t

SOCHI, Russia -- A Russia in search of global vindication kicked off the Sochi Olympics looking more like a Russia that likes to party, with a pulse-raising opening ceremony about fun and sports instead of terrorism, coddling despots and gay rights. And thats just the way Vladimir Putin wants these Winter Games to be. The worlds premier athletes on ice and snow have more to worry about than geopolitics as they plunge into the biggest challenges of their lives on the mountain slopes of the Caucasus and in the wet-paint-fresh arenas on the shores of the Black Sea. But watch out for those Russians on their home turf. A raucous group of Russian athletes had a message for their nearly 3,000 rivals in Sochi, marching through Fisht Stadium singing that theyre "not gonna get us!" Superlatives abounded and the mood soared as Tchaikovsky met pseudo-lesbian pop duo Tatu. Russian TV presenter Yana Churikova shouted: "Welcome to the centre of the universe!" Yet no amount of cheering could drown out the real world. Fears of terrorism, which have dogged these Games since Putin won them amid controversy seven years ago, were stoked during the ceremony itself. A passenger aboard a flight bound for Istanbul said there was a bomb on board and tried to divert the plane to Sochi. Authorities said the plane landed safely in Turkey. The show opened with an embarrassing hiccup, as one of five snowflakes failed to unfurl as planned into the Olympic rings, forcing organizers to jettison a fireworks display and disrupting one of the most symbolic moments in an opening ceremony. Some world leaders purposely stayed away, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and dozens of others were in Sochi for the ceremony. He didnt mention the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gay people. But IOC President Thomas Bach won cheers for addressing it Friday, telling the crowd its possible to hold Olympics "with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason." Also missing from the show: Putins repression of dissent, and inconsistent security measures at the Olympics, which will take place just a few hundred kilometres away from the sites of a long-running insurgency and routine militant violence. And the poorly paid migrant workers who helped build up the Sochi site from scratch, the disregard for local residents, the environmental abuse during construction, the pressure on activists, and the huge amounts of Sochi construction money that disappeared to corruption. For all the criticism, there was no shortage of pride at the ceremony in what Russia has achieved with these Games. The head of the Sochi organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, captured the mood of many Russians present when he said, "Were now at the heart of that dream that became reality." "The Games in Sochi are our chance to show the whole world the best of what Russia is proud of," he said. "Our hospitality, our achievements, our Russia!" The ceremony presented Putins version of todays Russia: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event. Putin himself was front and centre, declaring the Games open from his box high above the stadium floor. Earlier, he looked down as the real stars of the Games -- those athletes, dressed in winter wear of so many national colours to ward off the evening chill and a light dusting of man-made snow -- walked onto a satellite image of the earth projected on the floor, the map shifting so the athletes appeared to emerge from their own country. As always, Greece -- the birthplace of Olympic competition -- came first in the parade of nations. Five new teams, all from warm weather climates, joined the Winter Olympics for the first time. Togos flagbearer looked dumbstruck with wonder, but those veterans from the Cayman Islands had the style to arrive in shorts. Canada entered midway through the march. Womens hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser carried the Maple Leaf to lead representatives from Canadas 220-athlete team. Its Canadas biggest team ever assembled for a Winter Games. "To represent the best of Canada is such an honour, its chilling," Wickenheiser said. "There is so much excitement." Canada looked sharp in outfits designed by Hudsons Bay, featuring a red coat with toggle style buttons and a black stripe adorning the hip line. The women in the Canadian contingent wore black mock turtlenecks and wool V-neck sweaters, while the men sported a tailored white dress shirt, wool cardigan and red and white striped ties. Black bottoms rounded out the ensembles "I wish our Olympians the best of luck as they take on the world in Sochi," Prime Minister Stephen Harper posted on his Twitter account. Canadas target is to finish first overall in the medal count after finishing third with 26 medals at home in 2010. Not all of Canadas athletes marched into Fisht Olympic Stadium. The mens hockey team hasnt arrived yet, figure skaters are in the middle of the team competition and skiers and sliders are staying too far away from the host city. The smallest teams often earned the biggest cheers from the crowd of 40,000, with an enthusiastic three-person Venezuelan team winning roars of approval as flag bearer and alpine skier Antonio Pardo danced and jumped along to the electronic music. Only neighbouring Ukraine, scene of a tense and ongoing standoff between a pro-Russian president and Western-leaning protesters, could compete with those cheers. That is, until the Russians arrived. Walking in last to a thundering bass line that struggled to overcome the ovations from the hometown crowd, the Russians reveled in all the attention. Their feeling could perhaps best be summed up by Russian singers Tatu, whose hit "Not Gonna Get Us" accompanied them to their seats. Russians place huge significance in the Olympics, carefully watching the medal count -- their dismal performance in Vancouver four years ago is on the minds of many. These Games are particularly important, as many Russians are still insecure about their place in the world after the end of the Cold War and the years since that have seen dominance of the United States and China. International politics were never far beneath the surface. One member of the VIP crowd carrying the Olympic flag was Anastasia Popova, a young televison reporter with the state-owned Rossiya TV channel, best known for her reporting in Syria. Putin and Russian state media have stood strongly behind Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Popovas coverage laid the blame for the Syrian civil war squarely on Syrian rebels. But back to that Russian pride. As Churikova rallied the crowd to scream "louder than ever," she told the fans in their cool blue seats their keepsakes from the night would last 1,000 years. When explaining the show would be hosted in English, French and Russian, she joked that it didnt matter, because in Sochi, everyone "speaks every language in the world." The moment of high pride came at the end, when Russian hockey great Vladislav Tretiak and three-time gold medallist Irina Rodnina joined hands to light the Olympic cauldron. Hes often called the greatest goaltender of all time by those who saw him play, she won 10 world pairs figure skating titles in a row. That was how it ended. At the top, the show -- and the Games -- easily avoided talking about prickly issues even when the women in Tatu took the stage. The duo, who put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick, merely held hands during their performance on this night, stopping short of the groping and kissing of their past performances. This time? Their lead-in act was the Red Army Choir MVD singing Daft Punks Grammy-winning "Get Lucky." Cheap Basketball Shoes Store . With the Nets winning streak in jeopardy, Williams scored 23 points, 11 in the final six minutes, to lead Brooklyn to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Discount Basketball Shoes .com) - Virginia is for loving Latrell Scott. http://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.net/. "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping . - Young and old. Cheap Nike Chris Paul Basketball Shoes China .com) - The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics both entered Wednesday nights game riding lengthy losing streaks.OTTAWA - Some nights are just more fun — and this was one of them for Craig Anderson.The Ottawa Senators goaltender made 34 saves to blank the Minnesota Wild 3-0 Thursday night to pick up his second shutout of the season and 28th of his career.Anderson, who earned the win Tuesday against Detroit as well, has looked relaxed of late and was often seen laughing and smiling after whistles as he spoke with teammates.Its easier to smile when youre winning by three goals, said Anderson. When things are going well and youre winning (its fun). The team just seemed to be throwing a lot of pucks at the net and you get a lot of whistles and freebie shots.The Senators (7-3-2) got offensive contributions from Mike Hoffman, who scored twice, and Clarke MacArthur.Niklas Backstrom made 14 saves in the loss for Minnesota (7-5-0).The Senators remain the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss on home ice — which is impressive considering how much Ottawa struggled on home ice last season. The Senators are 4-0-2 on home ice.We definitely have more confidence at home, said MacArthur. Whether were feeding off the crowd or were making good plays. Were playing the way we should play at home and winning games at home is going to be big for down the stretch.Once again the Senators got some big contributions from its kid line — the trio of Hoffman, Mark Stone and Curtis Lazar.Shh dont tell anybody, joked Senators head coach Paul MacLean when asked about the lines success. I thought again they provided a lot of energy and obviously they provided offense and lets just keep putting them out there.The young line enjoys playing together and has been one of Ottawas most consistent since being formed late last week.Since game one we feel like we clicked and we feel good playing with each other, said Hoffman. Moving forward here we want to continue to improve and obviously the chemistry is there and I dont think teams really expect it too much so we kind of catch them a little bit.The Wild have outshot their opponents in all 12 of their games this season, but have lost their past two.Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said not much should be made of that stat.I think that our team game gives us a chance to do that, said Yeo. I do feel that there are some guys that are going right now and I do know that there are some other guys who could give us more.dddddddddddd I feel like there are some guys that are doing the minimum, the minimum as far as playing the system. Youve got to do those things that are expected of everybody, but then youve got to bring a little something extra on top of that and I think thats one thing thats missing right now.Hoffman made it 3-1 at 2:06 of the third period with his second goal of the night in front of 16,867 at Canadian Tire Place. Stone, who extended his point streak (2-3) to five games, found Hoffman all alone and he fired a shot that easily beat Backstrom.Despite just four shots on goal in the second the Senators managed to score on two of them.MacArthur scored his team-leading seventh of the season on the power play at 2:23 to open the scoring. Erik Karlsson found Bobby Ryan down low and he made a quick pass to MacArthur, who beat Backstrom short side from just outside the crease.Just over two minutes later Ottawa made it 2-0 as Backstrom allowed Hoffmans shot to trickle through his pads.The Wild had a number of chances, but Anderson was unbeatable. The Senators goaltender made two huge saves on the same power play, Jason Zucker hit the post on what would have been a sure goal and then Anderson made a glove save on Thomas Vanek.Andy played great for us, said MacArthur. We tried to give him a couple, but he was there to make some good saves in the second and in the third too he made a couple great saves.Anderson was just as good in the first period when the Senators were outshot 9-5.Ottawa had two great chances to open the scoring as it had back-to-back power plays, but was unable to register a single shot on goal on either opportunity.Notes: The Senators will be without D Marc Methot (back, indefinite) and D Chris Phillips (lower body, day-to-day). RW Erik Condra and LW Colin Greening were healthy scratches for Ottawa. The Wild were without LW Zach Parise (lower body, day-to-day), LW Matt Cooke (lower body, indefinite), D Jared Spurgeon (shoulder, indefinite), D Keith Ballard (flu, indefinite). D Jonathan Blum was a healthy scratch. RW Justin Fontaine celebrates his 27th birthday Thursday. ' ' '