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MINSK, Belarus -- In winning its group at the world hockey championship, Team Canada beat goaltenders Jan Laco, Jakub Kovar, Patrick Galbraith, Daniel Bellissimo, Anders Nilsson and Steffen Soberg. None of them are Finlands Pekka Rinne, who stands as Canadas biggest challenge in Thursdays quarter-final round. Even while a young Finnish team has struggled with penalties, turnovers and a lack of offensive depth, Rinne has been a rock with a 1.65 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and two shutouts. "Pekka is our most important player -- absolutely," coach Erkka Westerlund said Wednesday. "We built our whole system so that goalkeeping is No. 1, and then we try to build the strength (of) defence in front of him. Thats how it is, (how) hockey works." Westerlund said he was not yet satisfied with his teams defensive play but expects improvement. Even if that doesnt happen, Finland has a good chance in Canada if for no other reason than Rinne. Fortunately for the Finns, Rinne is not experiencing any injury problems after missing four months of the Nashville Predators season with a hip infection. Naturally, it took a while for him to get back to feeling right. "Its a process, and I think even when I came here (to Minsk) I thought that hopefully I can improve all the time and I didnt maybe feel 100 per cent," Rinne said. "But now I do, and Im really happy and I feel like my game has been getting better and (Im) just feeling more comfortable." Rinne is playing with confidence and instilling it in his teammates, only six of whom are back from the Sochi Olympics, where Finland won a bronze medal. Tuukka Rask and Kari Lehtonen were the goalies then, but as former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov pointed out, the best thing about his country is knowing there will always be great goaltending. Still, this isnt the Olympics. "Its a different roster, its a different tournament," said Komarov, who repeated his desire to return to the NHL last season. "Its a new day, a new life." But the same, old, reliable Rinne. Canadian defenceman Ryan Ellis knows all about that from parts of three seasons as a Predators teammate of Rinnes. Unlike a lot of other goaltenders, Ellis said Rinne doesnt let game action detract from his practices. "Every day, every practice its like a game," Ellis said. "He tries so hard in net in practice. I remember by first couple years there, I dont think I scored him in the first 10 or 15 practices. And then every time I did, I was pretty impressed with myself, pretty happy." Ellis said Canada was less concerned with how they were going to score on Rinne and more worried about his puck-handling thwarting attack time. "Hes active back there with the puck, so I think the biggest thing that were focused on is keeping the pucks away from him on dumps and stuff," Ellis said. "He gets out to play them a lot. Getting them in the glass and try to get them out of his reach." Thats especially important to a Canadian team that tries to play a hard, North American style on the bigger, international ice surface. Canada has succeeded at holding on to the puck to create chances and through seven games has averaged 34 shots a game. The strategy against Rinne is the same as many other elite goaltenders. "Were going to have to get pucks and traffic to the net," Ellis said. "Its tough for goalies when they get that kind of presence in front of him. Weve got some big guys, so hopefully we can get those guys going." Whether that happens or Rinne keeps rolling will go a long way to determining whether Canada has a date with the United States or Czech Republic in Saturdays semifinals. Westerlund said the Finns "dont have pressure (because) we are underdogs." Thats true. But Rinne still displays big-game confidence. "Im feeling good and Ive been enjoying hockey," Rinne said. "I think thats the biggest thing, when youre just having fun and just letting it go. Just dont think about anything, just play, and I feel like Ive been doing that." . -- Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone above his left eye but has no other serious injuries after being hit in the face by a line drive in a spring training game. . -- The Phoenix Coyotes have won three in a row for the first time in 4 1/2 months, and theyve done it just in time for the stretch run to the playoffs. http://www.diamondbacksapparelsshop.com ... rsey-c-11/. Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. . Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, and San Antonio rolled to a 110-82 victory over Milwaukee that kept the Bucks winless in the new year. . Villar connected off Joe Saunders (11-14), sending a drive well over the left-field fence for his first career homer. The Astros scored six times in the first three innings to chase Saunders.Each week, TSN.ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen and NFL Editors Ben Fisher and Mike Hetherington discuss three hot fantasy football topics. After their Week 1 performances, can either Tony Romo or Robert Griffin III be trusted as a QB1 this year? Cullen: Trust is a tricky thing and while Romo or Griffin could be legitimate Top 10 quarterbacks this season, its hard to trust that will be the case. Given his longer track record, which includes four 4,000-yard seasons, I might be inclined to ride longer with Romo but, right now, going with either one as your starting QB requires a leap of faith. Fisher: A three interception night from Romo barely phases me these days. Fantasy players that own Romo expect that to happen a couple times over the course of a season but in return they usually get a lot of passing yards and a high number of touchdowns. Romo threw for 281 yards and a TD against the 49ers too so his fantasy performance wasnt nearly as bad as his real life performance in Week 1. I still have Romo as a low-end QB1. Griffin on the other hand, hasnt really shown us much since his great rookie season. The farther removed he is from his brutal knee injury, the less we can blame that for his troubling performances. Or maybe thats just what he is now: a once very promising QB before injuries dropped him to a QB2. Hetherington: I believe Tony Romo still remains a low-end QB1. Its hard to believe hell have another three interception performance like Sunday and the Cowboys remain a questionable team on defence, meaning Romo should get plenty of passing opportunities in shootout games. RG3, on the other end, is not a QB1 you should count on this year. Griffin has yet to show the electrifying playmaking ability he did in his rookie year – when he 20 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores - prior to his devastating knee injury. Griffin is a strong QB2 and bye-week replacement, but relying on him to carry your offence is inadvisable strategy. Cordarrelle Patterson has carried his strong 2013 finish into this year, how high in the WR rankings can he go this year? Cullen: As great as Pattersons Week One performance was, Im hesitant to get too high on a wide receiver after three catches for 26 yards. Its easy to get seduced by a 67-yard touchdown run, or Pattersons averaging over 17 yards per carry to this point in his career, but if Im counting on big production out of a wide receiver, it needs to come in the passing game. Thus, I would be good to start Patterson, with the idea that a 1,000-yard season is possible, but Im skeptical that he can get above a WR2 in standard formats. Fisher: I understand the hesitancy to buy into Pattersons big Week 1 performance; hes a receiver first and foremost and only had three catches for 226 yards. But why Im big on Patterson and think hell be a star, both in fantasy and in real life, is that hes a playmaker. Guys liike that always seem to find a way onto the highlight reel.dddddddddddd He should get enough touches each week to make a few big plays and put up strong fantasy numbers. Hetherington: Patterson will only go as far as his quarterback will take him. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, that quarterback is the unreliable Matt Cassel, who threw for just 170 yards in the Vikings 34-6 rout of the Rams on Sunday. Forgotten in Pattersons big fantasy stat line is just 26 of his yards came in the passing game on three catches. The explosive wide receiver racked up his fantasy points in the run game, including a 67-yard touchdown, leaving one to wonder if defences will be more prepared for those rushes going forward. I see Patterson as a boom-or-bust, low-end WR1 or top-tier WR2, meaning hes a risky but must start WR each week. At best, Patterson could crack the top-eight receivers in fantasy this season. At Worst, Cassel is benched after multiple ineffective weeks and the Vikings put Teddy Bridgewater under centre. Such a scenario could drop Patterson out of the top-15 WRs and leave him to struggle for targets in the Vikings run-first offence. Patterson could be a sell-high trade option for cautious owners. Can Julius Thomas overtake Jimmy Graham as top fantasy TE this year? Cullen: Sure, if Peyton Manning decides that Thomas is his guy, maybe Thomas makes a quantum leap, but its really hard to make the jump from where Thomas was all the way to Grahams level because Graham is practically in a league of his own – his only reasonable tight end competition over the past three seasons has been Rob Gronkowski, when Gronk isnt hurt. While Im throwing some water on the idea of Thomas surpassing Graham, I do view Thomas as the most likely candidate to join Graham and Gronk on the top tight end tier. Fisher: I still think Graham is the Saints top red zone target by a good margin while Thomas will likely have to share more of his red zone targets with other Broncos receivers, namely DeMaryius Thomas. If the Broncos score at the rate they did last year, there may be enough targets for Orange Julius to take over as the top fantasy TE, but the Saints offence isnt that far behind Denvers and over the course of the year I still think Graham ends up on top. Hetherington: After his three touchdown performance, Thomas has put himself in the conversation at the very least. If Thomas establishes himself as Peyton Mannings top red-zone target this season, the fourth-year tight end could lead the entire league in touchdowns, which would likely put him ahead of Graham in fantasy points. Graham will be the more reliable play each week as he has all but guaranteed receptions from Drew Brees, but its not hard to imagine Thomas finishing the season as the top point-getter at fantasys weakest position. Fantasy Football Report powered by Coors Light ' ' '