KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- A stolen deuce in the ninth end was the back-breaker for Saskatchewan Tuesday night at the Canadian mens curling championship, as Alberta claimed a share of the lead going into the home stretch. But Saskatchewan (4-2) skip Steve Laycock says they had no one to blame but themselves at the Tim Hortons Brier. "Odds were still stacked against us even tied up coming home," he said after losing 8-6. "The real problem was we had lots of chances in that ninth end to set up a two and just heavy on a few hit and rolls and taps and stuff." Until then it had been a horse race, although Laycock was clearly the underdog. "We expected a close game all the way," said Koe, who advanced to 6-1 along with John Morris of B.C. "I was a little surprised with that steal of two in nine." Perhaps he shouldnt be, since hes at the top of the list when it comes to shotmaking by skips at this event, although Brier rookie Greg Balsdon of Ontario sits just below him with the same overall percentage of 86. Balsdons numbers got a big boost Tuesday night Eddie Mackenzie from Prince Edward Island (3-4) didnt bother to throw his last rock in the eighth end as he dropped 8-3 to Ontario (4-2). Balsdon is still very much in the hunt but knows he has his toughest games ahead. "Weve got a tough stretch coming up," he said. "Weve got Johnny Mo (Morris), Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba our next four games. If we could even split those games and end up 6-4 going into the last draw I think wed take it." Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec (3-3) was down early, came back and forced an extra end, but still lost 10-8 to James Grattan of New Brunswick (2-5). Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories-Yukon (2-4) defeated winless Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia 7-4. Laycock says theyd be satisfied just to know theyre in the playoffs, but theyre not giving up hope of finishing in the top group. "We know we can beat these teams when it comes crunch time, weve just got to play better than we did tonight." Koe says it would be nice to stay on top of the leader board instead of having to work his way into the final through the 3-4 game. "Im not too worried about who were tied with at the top as long as you keep going and start looking at who plays who and probably where youre at Thursday." Manitobas Jeff Stoughton was another favourite heading into the Brier and he recovered from a 9-7 loss in the morning Tuesday to steal one in the 10th and beat Nova Scotia 8-6 in the afternoon. But a clutch shot through a narrow port even had his own team covering their eyes. Nova Scotia skip Murphy was light on his last-rock draw attempt to force an extra end. The Manitoba skip agrees he and third John Mead havent been as sharp as they need to be. "Both John and I need to make better shots," Stoughton agreed. "Weve just got to clean up the little mistakes." He says their draw weight is good but their hits and peels are a little off. "Were really close and were working hard." Newfoundland and Labradors Brad Gushue retained at least faint hope of making the playoffs with an 8-5 win over Grattan. But after dropping a morning game 7-6 to Saskatchewan, the 2006 Olympic champion said there is no room left for more losses if they want to stay alive. "Yeah, that fourth loss this morning was a punch in your gut," said Gushue. "You know your backs against the wall and you cant afford to lose any more. And its not only winning for more in the round robin, its probably winning a tiebreaker, the 3-4 game, semifinal and final against some world-class teams." The odds are long and it may not be entirely up to him, he admits. "Ive seen 7-4 get in the playoffs, Ive seen 6-5 get in the playoffs. But most of the time it probably doesnt. 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College Tom Brady Jersey . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday. Sale Michael Jordan Jersey . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury.EDMONTON -- The Vancouver Canucks may have brought in goalie Ryan Miller in the off-season, but Eddie Lack isnt ready to hand over the starting goalie reins just yet. Lack had 21 saves and Alexander Edler had a goal and an assist as the Canucks came away with a 2-1 road win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. Nick Bonino also scored for Vancouver, who improved to 4-2-0 in pre-season play. Teddy Purcells goal was the only one Lack has allowed in just over two full games worth of pre-season play, stopping 57 of 58 shots faced. However, the 26-year-old Swedish goalie was the first to admit that stats from before the regular season can be misleading. Its just the pre-season, so you cant read too much into it, said Lack. I think I let in five goals every game in the last pre-season. Im just trying to focus on what I can do here. Im just looking forward to the regular season now. Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said Thursdays game was more competitive than the ones that preceded it, offering a welcome test for his team with the regular season on the horizon. I thought there was bit more intensity out there, said Desjardins. I know we wanted to play with more intensity. I thought our battle level was a little higher, which was good to see. Purcell was the lone scorer for the Oilers, who dropped to 4-3-0 in exhibition action. It started off intense right off the bat, Purcell said. I learned pretty quick that this is a heated rivalry. Its good to show some emotion in pre-season, both teams are still trying to get the rust off and learn the systems and stuff, but it was good to see that emotion early. You can tell there is a strong dislike there. Edmonton took a 1-0 lead with 1:19 left in the first period. Jesse Joensuu followed up on a two-goal night against Arizona the night before by showing some solid hustle to fight off two defenders in a race to the puck along the boards. Joensuu fed it to Purcell, who scored his first goal as an Oiler since coming over in a trade with Tampa Bay this summer. Purcell beat Canucks goalie Eddie Lack with a backhand in tight. Lack was shaken up by a collision on the play, but was able to continue in net. I made a save and I kind of got stuck and he ran me over, Lack said. It wwas just black and all of a sudden the puck was in the net.dddddddddddd I think I was more scared than anything. I am fine now. Joensuu also looked strong in the pre-season last year when he had three goals and an assist in three games, but a back injury was at least partially to blame in a poor regular season where he had just five points in 42 games. To be honest, Im happy for every healthy day, that was my focus this summer, he said. I feel like Ive performed well and Ive enjoyed playing tones and playing more minutes than maybe what Ive played last season. Its been fun and Im happy. It was a feisty affair with several fights, punctuated by a brief stretch early in the second that saw Cal OReilly drag down Edmontons Nikita Nikitin, forcing him from the game with an ankle injury. Vancouvers Tim Sestito then took a run at Oilers goalie Viktor Fasth, earning the ire of rookie defenceman Darnell Nurse and later a fight with Kevin Westgarth. Vancouver tied the game 11 minutes into the second period with a short-handed goal as Edler made a long feed to Bonino and he beat Fasth with a quick shot. The Canucks went up 2-1 with five minutes left in the second while the teams were playing four men a side as Niklas Jensen fed a wide-open Edler in the slot and he blasted it into the Edmonton net. There was no scoring in a largely uneventful third period. The two teams will close out the pre-season with a rematch in Vancouver on Saturday night. Notes: Canucks forward Bo Horvat left the game in the first period with an upper body injury and did not return?? Vancouver and Edmonton met five times in the regular season last year, with the Canucks winning three of the five outings?? The Canucks iced a largely veteran lineup, however their top line remained at home as the Sedins and linemate Radim Vrbata did not play. Also unavailable due to injuries were Brad Richardson, Frank Corrado and Zach Kassian?? The Oilers re-assigned goalie Laurent Brossoit and defenceman David Musil to Oklahoma City earlier in the day, but still had 32 players in camp heading into Thursdays game?? Out with what are reported to be minor injuries for the Oilers at the moment are defencemen Andrew Ference and Jeff Petry and forward David Perron. ' ' '