TORONTO -- The NHL has gotten almost everything it hoped for so far at the World Cup of Hockey.In holding the first World Cup since 2004, the league and players wanted a festival of hockey that showcased the its best players. Two losses and an early exit by the United States isnt what anyone wanted for the sake of interest, but the 23-and-under Team North America put on a show and captured the attention of fans, coaches and players around the tournament.Team North America and the U.S. are out, with Canada and Russia meeting in one semifinal Saturday night and Sweden and Team Europe in the other Sunday afternoon. The quality of play has already been Olympic-level high and should only get better with at least four and potentially five games left.The winners here have been the fans, North America coach Todd McLellan said. Theyve watched some really good hockey in September and that doesnt happen very often.The NHL was panned initially for the North American and European all-star teams, but the youngsters speed, skill and scoring won so many people over that merchandise bearing the NA logo was almost entirely sold out at Air Canada Centre. Europe won people over by winning, beating the U.S. and the Czech Republic to advance.Two-time Olympic champion Canada has rolled, going 3-0 and outscoring opponents 14-3 along the way, and Sweden has leaned heavily on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. North Americas games against Russia and Sweden were two of the most exciting end-to-end games in recent international history.Commissioner Gary Bettman is proud of how the NHL and NHLPA revived the World Cup in world-class fashion.Its been sensational. Its exactly what we expected, Bettman said. We wanted this to feel like and be a major event. We predicted that the competition would be better than any international tournament to date, that it would have a big-event feel.The World Cup achieved big-event status in Toronto, with a mostly full arena and buzz around the city. The same cant be said on U.S. TV, as ESPN reported that approximately 770,000 people watched Canada beat Team USA on Tuesday night, the most watched game so far.Executive vice president of programming and scheduling Burke Magnus called the Americans disappointing showing a lost opportunity.Thats the beauty of live sports, Magnus said by phone Thursday. Thats what makes sort of the unscripted nature of what we do so much fun. We obviously were counting on them to get out of pool play, but they werent able to do it. But this is the best players in the world.Canada looks like it still has the best collection of players in the world, even without North Americas Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, who orchestrated a magic show on ice. Even the most grizzled old-school fundamental hockey people had to appreciate the way McDavid, MacKinnon, 2016 top pick Auston Matthews and Co. played.McDavid said North America definitely turned heads. Canada coach Mike Babcock called it a great way to showcase the NHL of the future.The North American kids have been a home run for the NHL, Babcock said. This North American team is a pump in the arm for hockey. Its fantastic.Here are some other things we learned in round-robin play at the World Cup of Hockey:U.S. CANT SCORE: In two games before being eliminated, the U.S. scored a total of one goal. Even with Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski and Zach Parise on the roster, the Americans failed to generate scoring chances and general manager Dean Lombardi and coach John Tortorella had to answer for why they chose size and physicality at the expense of more skill.From the staff right on through, (we) did not get the job done, Tortorella said. You need to accept that and we need to take the medicine.3 AND OH CANADA: The Sidney Crosby-led Canadians looked so good in their first game that American Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano tweeted to cancel the rest of the tournament and give them the trophy. Goalie Carey Price is on, and Canada looks unstoppable as usual.We feel like we can improve, said Crosby, who has won 22 consecutive games with Canada. I think its just probably just consistency in every area, just making sure that were sharp, that we make the plays we need to make.HOW SWEDE IT IS: Lundqvist stopped 81 of 85 shots in two games and is the top reason Sweden can win this. Ten years after leading the Swedes to gold at the 2006 Olympics, the King has one last crack at another international title.Hes been our MVP, forward Carl Hagelin said. I didnt expect anything else from that guy.A MIGHTY CONTINENT: Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Austria and France all likely wouldve been three and out at this tournament, but with players from those eight countries, Team Europe showed it can hang with the big boys. Its the World Cups Cinderella in the Final Four after creating its own September madness, and coach Ralph Krueger beamed about Europes underdog spirit.FROM RUSSIA WITH GOALS: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and the Russians used quick-strike offense to set up a rivalry showdown with Canada. A win on Canadian ice would go a long way toward moving past the home-ice failure in Sochi.Its going to be like Russia when we play Olympic Games, Ovechkin said. Everybody going to be crazy. Atmospheres going to be unbelievable.---Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno . Authentic Salomon Shoes Cheap . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. 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Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have been making a lot of noise this season and are tempting their long-suffering fans again with the possibility of a winning season for the first time since rookie Gerrit Cole was still in diapers. Francisco Liriano took a shutout into the seventh inning, and Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Gaby Sanchez homered, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night. "It was awesome just to be able to do that, and we had a lot of fun doing it," said McCutchen, who ended a homerless drought of 98 at-bats. "This is the way we should come out and play every day. We dont have to depend on just one or two guys. Everybodys coming through. To have a complete lineup like that from top to bottom is always fun." Liriano (6-3) allowed a run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out six and walked three. The Angels run came in the seventh, when rookie J.B. Shuck hit a ground-rule double just inside the right field line and Mike Trout drove him in with a two-out single on the left-handers 104th and final pitch. Liriano has allowed fewer than three runs in seven of his nine starts after missing the first 35 games of the season because of broken bone in his non-throwing arm. The victory put the Bucs a season-best 15 games over .500 (45-30). After 75 games last season they were 40-35, but finished with a losing record for an unprecedented 20th straight year. Jerome Williams (5-3) gave up five runs -- four earned -- and eight hits over six innings in his eighth start of the season and first since June 12. The right-hander took over the rotation slot vacated by lefty Jason Vargas, who was placed on the disabled list Friday because of a blood clot under his pitching arm. "He made really good pitches in the first inning, and he really made some really good pitches throughout the game," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "But in that three-run inning he gave up the home run to Alvarez, and that was just a good piece of hitting. All of his mistakes were up in the zone and they capitalized on them." Alvarez has homered in three consecutive games. The Bucs added two more that inning on an RBI single by No. 9 hitter Jordy Mercer and a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin. One of the runs was unearned, the result of a fielding error by third baseman Alberto Callaspo on a slow-hit grounder by Marte that kept the inning alive. "Actually, if Williams threw the whole game the way he did in the first inning, it would have been complicated foor us," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.dddddddddddd. "Hes pitched extremely well for them, and this was probably not normal for what theyve seen from him this season. There were mistakes he made tonight and we were able to do something with those mistakes. A lot of balls were elevated." Travis Snider extended the margin to 4-0 in the fourth with an RBI single after a leadoff double by Neil Walker. McCutchen added his eighth homer in the fifth, and Sanchez capped the scoring in the eighth against Michael Kohn with a homer off the left field pole, his sixth this season and second in his last 44 games. After striking out four of his first five batters, Liriano found himself in a jam with runners at the corners in the third inning before retiring Albert Pujols on a grounder to second base. The three-time NL MVP is 1 for 15 against Liriano. "His fastball was 92, 95, and had good movement," Iannetta said. "He had a really tight slider tonight and a very good changeup. That was his equalizing pitch, and we swung through it a lot." Howie Kendrick, hitting at a .381 clip over his previous 35 games, legged out a double to right-centre with one out in the Angels fourth and was thrown out at the plate as left fielder Starling Marte charged Erick Aybars sharp single and made a one-hop peg to Martin. "I knew he was out right when they sent him home, because I know he has a cannon," McCutchen said. "When that ball was coming to him and I saw (third base coach Dino Ebel) waving, I was like, Hes out. Hes not a typical left fielder because he has the arm of a right fielder. So when he threw that ball, I knew he was toast." NOTES: Shuck started in RF in place of Josh Hamilton, who missed his second straight game with a sore right wrist. Hamilton is batting just .207. ... Hurdle, whose only season as the Texas Rangers hitting coach coincided with Hamiltons 2010 AL MVP campaign, had a chance to reconnect with Angels slumping right fielder during this series. "It was an extremely good visit," Hurdle said. "I think theres a lot of challenges, and hes in a challenging place. I reminded him of the strengths and the skills he does have, and also that he cant do it alone. Theres some other pretty talented people in that clubhouse and on that ballfield." ... Hurdle played in 18 games at Angel Stadium with the Kansas City Royals when it was still known as Anaheim Stadium, and was 10 for 46 lifetime. ... Liriano is 2-4 with a 5.82 ERA in eight career starts against the Angels. ' ' '