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MINSK, Belarus -- Three-thousand kilometres from where he grew up in Toronto, Geoff Platt couldnt have felt more at home. Patrick McCaw Jersey . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Not long after, fans were chanting his name. "Its an emotion that Im not sure Ive achieved ever in my career, just because of the atmosphere and the electricity in the building," Platt said. "It just runs through your veins and grabs a hold of you." Along with goaltender Kevin Lalande, Platt is one of two Canadian-born players representing host Belarus at the world hockey championship and playing major roles in what might be the best international showing in the countrys history. Led by Canadian-born coach Glen Hanlon, Belarus is in the quarter-finals for just the third time and the first since 2009. This is the biggest event Belarus has ever hosted, so Minsk has been partying for two weeks. And this team is giving locals another reason to celebrate. "You have to understand the magnitude (of) what this means to them," Hanlon said. "Its bigger than just a game. This is their chance to show everybody." By show everybody, Hanlon means the city, which is decked out in IIHF signs welcoming the world and reminding them in the form of giant bison mascots that hockey is happening here. Inside the 15,000-seat Minsk Arena, home of the KHLs Dynamo Minsk, good hockey has been happening for Belarus. Lalande, a native of Ottawa who plays for Dynamo and gained citizenship, has been stellar and Platt has added timely offence. But the Canadian imports want the credit to go to leading scorers Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn. "Players are playing for this symbol, and it means a lot more to them to represent their country than probably a National Hockey League team or any club team around the world," Platt said, pointing to the Belarusian coat of arms on his chest. "Youre seeing that with Sergei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski just really taking their game to a level Im sure theyve almost never played at." Grabovski beamed with pride when talking about what this tournament means to him. Hes showing that to Hanlon, who first coached him as a 21-year-old at the world championships in Vienna in 2005. The Grabovski at this tournament is an other-worldly player. "I dont even look at Mikhail anymore because I know hes going to play great," Hanlon said. "I never get tired of saying, Good game, Mikhail." Hanlon is limited in what he can say to some of his players because of the language barrier. He understands Russian and Belarusian and is trying to learn to speak both languages, even though he doesnt have to. The former Washington Capitals coach and longtime NHL goaltender, whos in his second stint as coach of the Belarusian national team, has someone with him at almost all times who speaks English. At his news conferences with local media, the Brandon, Man., native answers in English, occasionally splicing in Belarusian words and pausing to let the interpreter next to him do his work. "Ive taken lessons, Ive done all of it," Hanlon said. "I have a better handle on it. Ive gone home here after every friendly tournament, so I take all my books, put them in my backpack like the college student on spring break and I end up dealing with my 12-year-old son and my wife and I sort of break away from it for a couple weeks." Hanlons wife and son still live in Vancouver, and because shes a teacher and hes a skier and hockey player they dont accompany him to Europe. "Hed rather play his own hockey than watch me coach," Hanlon said. Everyone in Belarus is watching Hanlon coach with keen interest. In Minsk, televisions all over the city have tournament games on, whether Belarus is playing or not. Inside Minsk Arena, one section is full of fans jumping up and down and doing chants normally reserved for soccer matches. Others whistle and fill the building with the kind of noise Lalande and Platt have no comparison for and Hanlon can only relate to the old Chicago Stadium. "When you go into somewhere like Bell Centre or Madison Square Garden, its pretty loud but it dies off after a while," Hanlon said. "Here its sustained for the whole 2 1/2 hours of the game. Im not kidding: You cant hear a word down there. Im screaming and Im yelling at my players whos up and everything. "From before the game starts till after its over, its like a festival." Its a festival thats special to the Belarusian players, whether theyre from Novopolotsk in the north like Dmitry Korobov, or Ontario like Lalande and Platt. How they got here wasnt a matter of having Belarusian ancestry. Anyone who plays for Dynamo Minsk for two seasons is eligible for citizenship. "I got to keep my Canadian citizenship, so there wasnt really any downside," said Lalande, who began the tournament as a backup but has played too well for Hanlon not to start him. "At first it just made the travelling a lot easier in Russia, I didnt need a visa and saved a couple pages in my Canadian passport. But when Glen was named the head coach, we had a couple conversations together. He made it clear from the start that he wanted me to be a part of this." "Whether Id play or not he didnt know, but hes been very supportive. I owe everything to him for this chance." Lalande and Platt each praised the local players for accepting them while also noting theres a comfort level in having each other and an English-speaking coach around for this run. But Hanlon, who previously coached the Slovak national team, learned from his season with Jokerit in Finland that having Canadians on his team isnt easy. "Being an import coach you want to go out of your way so that the Canadians are respected," he said. "The last thing you want to do is look like youre favouring them." "So you want them to work for everything that they get, and I try to keep my space from them. I dont want to give anybody any reason to think that these players are going to get special treatment from me." No special treatment, but this experience has been special for Platt and Lalande, even though theyre not playing for their home country. Platt, who played 46 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks, won a gold medal for Canada at the under-18 world championships in 2003. Platt hasnt represented Canada since and has moved on. "Not putting on the Canadian jersey now is just a chapter that sits in the past in my career," the 28-year-old said. "I was very fortunate to wear the Canadian jersey and win a gold medal at the under-18 level, and now this is a realistic goal to be playing with Belarus and to be competing at this level. Its really fun when were successful." Belarus was plenty successful in the preliminary round, going 4-3 to finish third in its group, ahead of Finland, Switzerland and Latvia and set up a quarter-final game against Sweden on Thursday night. Even if Sweden ends Belaruss run, the host teams performance wont be forgotten any time soon. When a victory over Latvia clinched a spot in the quarter-finals, Platt called it a "very rare opportunity for Belarusian ice hockey" that his teammates capitalized on. Lalande couldnt come up with words to describe his emotions. "We did it for ourselves because we believed," Lalande said, crediting fans who made a real impact on the team. "I think all of the Minsk and the whole countrys behind us right now. ... Were playing for us and were playing for them and its a tremendous feeling to be able to win in this fashion for them." Thats Hanlons priority, too. More than six years after being fired by the Capitals on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, he has no plans to return to coaching in the NHL and has invested a lot of time and energy on European hockey. Hanlon still keeps track of whats going on in North America and watches games because hes interested, but now the 57-year-old also checks on scores from leagues around Europe. Hes still a Canadian citizen, but the prospect of playing his native country doesnt mean anything to him anymore. "Whats special for me is winning for Belarus," Hanlon said. "Thats whats special." Jodie Meeks Jersey . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to terms with safety Brock Vereen and QB David Fales on four-year contracts. Tracy Mcgrady Raptors Jersey .Y. -- Cory Schneider has to make the most of his opportunities to guard the New Jersey Devils net to earn more playing time. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/Authentic-OG-Anunoby-Jersey/ . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A smattering of boos cascaded down on the Green Bay Packers at the half, trailing by double digits on a bone-chilling afternoon at Lambeau Field. This wasnt a good sign for a team that hasnt played well late in games, especially without injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Coach Mike McCarthy went into the locker room wondering how much energy his players had with the teams playoff prospects in jeopardy. Green Bay responded with its most complete performance in weeks. Matt Flynn threw for 258 yards and a maligned defence forced a key fourth-quarter turnover in a 22-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday that ended a five-game winless stretch. "Good to win, its been a while. Forgot what it felt like," McCarthy said. "But Ill say this -- I really like the football team, particularly at halftime, coming in, getting booed at home, and just the energy in the locker room. They never blinked, they stayed the course," said the even-keeled coach. It came down to defence in the final few minutes of a nail-biting fourth quarter. Mike Neals sack forced Matt Ryan to fumble, and defensive lineman Johnny Jolly scooped up the loose ball and celebrated with a little belly dance. Four plays later, Flynn found Andrew Quarless for a 2-yard touchdown pass for the 22-21 lead for the Packers (6-6-1) with about 12 minutes left. "We needed to have fun. Thats what we did today," Jolly said. "We went out there and left everything that we had and made plays and had fun." Quarless TD completed a comeback from an 11-point halftime deficit and whipped the bundled-up fans into a frigid frenzy. It was 9 degrees when the game started, with a wind chill of minus-1. The stadium looked as if it was encased in a snow globe at times with much of the game played while light, powdery snowflakes gently fell to the worn turf. Atlanta kicker Matt Bryant missed a 52-yard field goal attempt into the wind with 6:42 left. The Falcons (3-10) got to the 33 with 2 minutes left, but Tony Gonzalez dropped a short pass from Ryan under tight coverage by Jarrett Bush. The Falcons, who play home games at tthe Georgia Dome, didnt think weather was as much of a factor as the missed opportunities. Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey. "We cant talk about one specific play that was the difference," coach Mike Smith said. "We had our chances to make some plays in all three phases and we didnt." Flynn finished 24 for 32 with an interception in his second start for Rodgers, who has been out since fracturing his left collarbone during a 27-20 loss to the Bears on Nov. 4. Its been a struggle ever since for Green Bay, which fell from first place in the NFC North to fighting to stay in the playoff chase. "We played our best football in the second half, and as a coach thats what you look for in your football team," McCarthy said. It didnt look so good for Green Bay after linebacker Sean Weatherspoons 71-yard interception return with 23 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave the Falcons a 21-10 lead and prompted some fans to voice their displeasure. A pass from Flynn appeared to carom off linebacker Paul Worrilows shoe and chest and into the hands of Weatherspoon. He slowly trudged his way back up the field past Packers who thought the ball touched the ground. Packers offensive lineman T.J. Lang whiffed on a tackled around the 22. From there, the 6-foot-2, 244-pound Weatherspoon got a slow-motion escort into the end zone. "It was a great play and something that sparked us, but we came out a little bit lackadaisical on defence if you ask me in the second half," Weatherspoon said. Ryan finished 20 of 35 for 206 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while Steven Jackson had 71 yards rushing on 15 carries. Otherwise, a Green Bay defence that had allowed more than 200 yards rushing in each of its previous two games bounced back. NOTES: Mason Crosby kicked three field goals, including a 25-yarder late in the third quarter to get Green Bay within 21-16. ... Packers RB Eddie Lacy had 65 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run on 20 carries. He returned in the second half after twisting his right ankle. ... Falcons S Thomas DeCoud left with a head injury on Lacys score at the end of the first quarter. ' ' '