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MINSK, Belarus -- Wanting Team Canada to improve game by game at the world hockey championship, coach Dave Tippett thought the quarter-final effort against Finland was the best yet. It was also the last, as a couple of third-period mistakes led to a 3-2 loss Thursday at Chizhovka Arena and Canadas elimination from the tournament. "I use a phrase all the time that every play counts," Tippett said. "Every play counts and unfortunately we had a couple go against us." The play that counted the most for Canada was a turnover by defenceman Tyler Myers, who tried to pass it off the wall to Kyle Turris. Jori Lehtera got in the way, setting up Iiro Pakarinen for the game-winner with just 3:08 left. A downtrodden Myers said everyone saw what happened and didnt feel he needed to explain. Turris, who scored Canadas first goal, took the blame. "I was yelling at him, Im open in the middle, Im open in the middle, and when he passed to the middle, the guy stepped in between," Turris said. "It was my fault. I was yelling at him to move it to me, and the guy stepped in the way and went the other way. I should have had it." It was a game that Canada felt it should have had. Holding a 2-1 lead after two periods on goals by Turris and Mark Scheifele, the Canadians were in control despite a strong game from Finnish goaltender Pekka Rinne. One bad bounce 28 seconds into the third changed everything. Finlands Juuso Hietanen let a slapshot fly that hit Ben Scrivenss right arm, the back of his blocker, and then the shaft of his stick before trickling over the goal-line. "Its a terrible goal to give up," said Scrivens, who stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced. "Its deflating for the team. Thats squarely on me. Its really tough to swallow right now." This was the fifth straight year Canada lost in the quarter-finals at this tournament. Making it more difficult to accept was that this squad of NHL third-liners and potential stars of the future bounced back perfectly from an opening shootout loss to France. Six straight victories followed. The Finland game easily could have been one, too. "We still had our shifts in their end, our chances," captain Kevin Bieksa said. "We had a couple breakdowns. We knew going into this game that the Finns were a team that would sit back and capitalize on our mistakes, and they made us pay tonight." Tippett addressed his players after the loss but couldnt offer much in the way of an uplifting sentiment. "Its a tough situation for everybody," Tippett said. "Its not the result you want. We came here to win, we didnt come here to lose in the quarter-finals. Theres not much to say. We didnt accomplish what we wanted to accomplish." All because of a few bad breaks. Finlands first goal 6:06 in, which came on the power play with Myers in the box for roughing, happened after an attempted point shot deflected off penalty-killer Joel Wards stick and right to Olli Palola for his third of the tournament. That didnt deflate Canada, which kept putting pucks on Rinne, who finished with 36 saves on 38 shots. The attempts came from everywhere and almost everyone, as 17 of 20 skaters had at least one on net. "I thought we played some really good hockey throughout the whole game," Myers said. "I think we were right there. It was our game to lose. Its never a good feeling to have it happen like that." One problem was going 0-for-5 on the power play. Had Canada buried a couple of those chances, like Brayden Schenns shot very early that hit the crossbar, it would have been a very different game. Canadas players and Tippett were quick to credit the Finns, who played their brand of hockey well and pounced on mistakes. "We worked extremely hard (for) 60 minutes," Hietanen said. "We knew that we were going to get our chances and now we scored a couple goals." Finland coach Erkka Westerlund was proud of how his team responded and came back from the 2-1 deficit. "In (the) third period we showed the mental strength," Westerlund said. "We call it in Finland sisu." The third period was Canadas weakest of the game. "Its frustrating. I thought we had a great first two periods, we were outshooting them badly, had great opportunities," Turris said. "If we played the way we did in the first two to finish the game, I think we would have come out with a better outcome." Instead, Scrivens lamented Finlands goaltending being better than his and not holding up his end of the bargain to teammates. And Myers was left with the same feelings he had much of this NHL season with the Buffalo Sabres. "Its never fun losing," Myers said. "I did too much of that this year." This wasnt a loss that had Canadas players wondering about their overall play. But that was no consolation. "Its just the way it is," Tippett said. "We played a good game tonight. Unfortunately, we lost." Notes: Alex Burrows returned to Canadas lineup after missing the final two preliminary-round games with a leg injury. Burrows was the 13th forward and played just 4:11 with no shifts in the third period. ... Finlands roster features just three NHL players: Rinne, Olli Jokinen of the Winnipeg Jets and Erik Haula of the Minnesota Wild. Hoby Milner Jersey .com) - Jeff Teague had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 90-85 on Saturday night. Tyler Glasnow Rays Jersey . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1636i-na...ersey-rays.html. The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. Mike Brosseau Jersey . More importantly, he is trying to show his young teammates the Colorado are still post-season contenders. He hopes winning a series at home was a fresh start. Andrew Kittredge Rays Jersey . Replay backed him up. Adeiny Hechavarria immediately followed the ruling with a go-ahead sacrifice fly for the Miami Marlins, who held on to beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Sunday completing a three-game sweep.Albuquerque, NM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Texas-El Paso Miners and the Utah State Aggies will clash head to head in the ninth-annual New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 20, at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. UTEP started the 2014 season a bit slow, limping to a 2-3 record before the Miners won three straight games to get back on the winning side. They finished the regular season with wins in two of their last three games, including a season finale victory over Middle Tennessee, 24-21. Utah State enjoyed a strong season under second-year coach Matt Wells, who drove the team to a 9-4 campaign which included a 6-2 mark in Mountain West Conference play. The Aggies had a five-game win streak snapped, however, in their regular season finale clash against Boise State, 50-19. This will be the third time these two programs have ever met on the football field before. The other two meetings both went to Utah State, the first in the 1960 campaign (20-7) and the next a year later in 1961 (21-6). Utah State played dominant defense all season long, but the teams offense consistently stepped up when it was needed. And that was after the Aggies were forced to throw in their fourth-strong quarterback later on in the schedule after season starter Chuckie Keeton went down. It was Kent Myers who was the most recent man under center, and the signal caller completed just shy of 70 percent of his pass attempts for 798 yards and five touchdowns. Although the quarterback position was a rocky one for Utah State this season, Hunter Sharp always provided a solid outlet as a pass catcher. The receiver caught 63 passes this season for 918 yards and seven touchdowns - all team highs. Jefferson Court was the next closest to Sharps touchdown total, adding three receiving scores this season. The run game for the Aggies was primarily by committee, which was led by LaJuan Hunt (524 yards, 40.3 rushing ypg average) and Joe Hill (457 yards, three touchdowns). The run game, which averaged 172.5 ypg, helped the Aggies to gain 381.2 total offensive ypg and score 27.4 ppg. Defensively, Utah State had plenty of stellar moments this season. In the teams five-game win streak toward the end of the campaign, Utah State never allowed an opponent to score more than 21 points. In fact, the Aggies held three of those challengers to 14 points or less. Utah State brings in a 20.8 ppg allowed average to the New Mexico Bowl. Look no further for individual defensive production than the top of Utah States season stat sheet. Zach Vigils 145 tackles were by far the most for the Aggies, as the linebacker also registered 19.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, five quarterback hurries and three pass breakups. Then check brother Nick Vigils line. The linebacker accumulated 116 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, seven sacks, six quarterback hurries and five forced fumbles in 12 games played. Against a strong UTEP run game, both will need to be actiive once again.dddddddddddd Were very excited to accept this invitation to go play a very good UTEP team down in Albuquerque at the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Wells said. Im very happy for our players that were able to reach this goal that weve had as a program to continue to play in bowl games. Obviously, we want to win them and this is our chance to go win our third straight bowl and set another school record. Its a tremendous challenge, as well as a motivating factor for us. UTEP is 5-8 all-time in bowl games. The Miners will be hoping a strong offensive attack, led by a running game that averages 212.7 ypg, will be the deciding factor. Aaron Jones was stellar all season long, rushing for 1,233 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games, averaging 112.1 ypg on the ground. Nathan Jeffery (513 yards, five touchdowns) and quarterback Jameill Showers (four rushing touchdowns) have contributed heavily throughout the season to a very effective run game. Showers under center has been the leader and effective passer a team would hope for, completing 55.7 percent of his pass attempts for 1,732 yards and 12 touchdowns against just five interceptions. With a strong run game, Showers was simply asked to get the job done, and he did by leading his team to a solid 28.3 ppg average. There really was no go-to receiving threat for UTEP this season. Instead, Showers spread the wealth around to top targets such as Autrey Golden (263 yards, two touchdowns), Jones (284 yards, three touchdowns) and Ian Hamilton (500 yards, two touchdowns). Only Hamilton gained more than 40 receiving ypg on average, but as a unit the Miners still managed 357.0 total offensive ypg. Especially early in the season, the teams defense struggled to keep opponents out of the end zone. In consecutive weeks against Kansas State and Louisiana Tech, the Miners allowed the Wildcats to rack up 58 points and the Bulldogs to score 55. But toward the end of the season things came together, and UTEP enters this clash allowing 28.7 ppg to opponents. Wesley Miller tops the team in tackles this season with 74 on the year, and has been a menace to try and throw on. The defensive back has seven pass breakups and an interception , which are both tied for the team leads in each category. Roy Robertson-Harris, the big 6-foot-7 defensive lineman, will need to be active in this contest after racking up 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks on the season - both team highs. But with just 19 total turnovers gained this season, the Miners will need a strong effort defensively to hang with the Aggies. Our senior leadership is why we are in the bowl game this year, head coach Sean Kugler said. It was a group of young men who came together in January, right after last season and decided they were going to stop the bleeding on eight straight losing seasons. They made a commitment to each other and they fought through some adverse situations this year. ' ' '