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SOCHI, Russia – Mike Babcock has to hope the constant tinkering is just about done. The Canadian head coach has been shuffling his deck of impressive cards from the moment his team touched down here in Russia, searching for the right mixture that will yield a second consecutive gold medal. Babcock will employ his fourth different set of forward combinations at Wednesdays quarterfinal against Latvia. Only one line gained any kind of traction during the preliminary round, a trio that includes Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter and Patrick Marleau. "Weve changed our lines, in my opinion – same at last Olympics – too much," said Babcock. Stingy in their defensive game in wins over Norway, Austria and Finland, the Canadian squad has not been the potent offensive machine one might expect with such an overwhelming talent base. In fact, the defence, led by the polished Drew Doughty with four goals, actually outscored the forwards – only three of whom have scored – in the preliminary round. All of which explains the continued juggling. And unlike say the American team, who has thrived behind the work of Toronto linemates, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, Canada has not yet benefited from any of the NHL pairs it brought to Sochi. Though reunited once more, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz have failed to establish their Pittsburgh connectivity. Toews and Patrick Sharp landed together for one largely quiet game. And the scary Anaheim duo of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf has just a single goal and will try its third left winger in Jamie Benn against the Latvians. "Were just trying to find some ways to have better execution and generate some more chances," said John Tavares, likely to be paired with a mix that includes Sharp, Rick Nash and perhaps Martin St. Louis. "When we get our chances, weve got to put them in. Were not giving up a whole lot and we are controlling the game so I think those are good signs. I think that will lead to good things, especially with all the talent we have and the ability to create chances that we have." As promised – and perhaps to the recent chagrin of Babcock, based on the above remarks – Canada has not remained patient with any of the combinations it blended up. Carter, for instance, played one subpar game with Crosby and was promptly the 13th forward at the outset of game two. With talent bursting at the seams of the roster, the rationale behind shuffling what doesnt appear to work is understandable. "I think the one thing weve learned over time is if its not there, chemistry-wise, move," assistant coach Ken Hitchcock said before the tournament began. "Dont sit there and wait on it because [if] its not there early it aint there later." The challenge, of course, is that chemistry can take time to develop, but in a tournament that numbers two weeks, waiting really isnt an attractive option, though in some cases may be warranted. Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin, as fearsome a twosome as imaginable, remained together for each of Russias four games despite combining for just two goals. They did, however, see a new left wing in their qualification round match against Norway with Alex Semin replaced by Alex Popov. Whether that patience will be rewarded remains to be seen. In the case of Crosby, who has just two assists with a rotating cast of linemates, part of the fallout would seem to stem from the absence of Steven Stamkos, projected to be Ovechkin to Crosbys Malkin here in Sochi. The Canadian captain has played with eight different line combinations in 11 Olympic games dating back to Vancouver in 2010. "I think youre always aware of who youre playing with and what their strengths are," said Crosby, "but I dont think it changes what you do out there. I dont think you really have a chance to over-think too much. As far as what youre doing individually, its more your game plan as a team is whats going through your mind, rather than who youre necessarily playing with. All the guys here are so good, I think you can just read off each other, no matter who youre playing with." Babcock is betting on that being Kunitz, who rejoins Crosby and Patrice Bergeron against the Latvians. "Obviously I love playing with him," said Kunitz. "I have the tendencies and the chemistries when we play together in the NHL. We still have to go out and execute better … We have to make sure we go out and produce offensively. We have to make sure we go out and produce offensively, but make sure were working every shift, getting that momentum going forward every time somebody else gets on the ice." Outside of re-adjusting various combinations, Babcock is also pushing his group to attack the front of the net and middle of the ice with more regularity. They were largely held to the perimeter by a savvy Finnish squad in the final game of the preliminary round – all part of the ongoing adjustment to the international ice surface. An emphasis among players also centered around more puck possession and less of the dump-and-chase game preferred in much of the NHL. "It hasnt been easy to get to the front of the net, but weve controlled the play," said Tavares. "Theres been some times where teams are trying to slow us down and make it tough for us to get there." Handed just four power plays in three games, the Canadians are also hunting for more opportunity with the man advantage. Unlike the forward combinations, the defence pairings have remained rock-solid thus far and considering how well Canada has played overall defensively, with almost no chances against in the 2-1 overtime win against the Finns, a huge injection of offence might not be necessary to repeat with gold. 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At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study.TORONTO -- Canadian Rory (Ares) MacDonald will have to go through former Strikeforce champion Tarec (Sponge) Saffiedine to continue his run at the UFC welterweight title. The UFC announced Thursday that the two will meet Oct. 4 in the main event of a televised UFC card at the Halifax Metro Centre. MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., now fighting out of Montreal, is ranked No. 2 among UFC 170-pound contenders. Saffiedine, a Belgian based out of the U.S., is ranked 10th. The 25-year-old MacDonald has won seven of his last eight bouts and is 8-2 in the UFC since making his debut in the organization in January 2010. His lone UFC losses have come at the hands of (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler, at UFC 167 last November, and Carlos (The Natural Born Killer) Condit, at UFC 115 in June 2010. Lawler went on to lose a decision to Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks to decide who would take over the title vacated by Georges St-Pierre, who trains with MacDonald. Hendricks won by decision, with Lawler earning another title shot after disposing of Matt (The Immortal) BBrown on the weekend.dddddddddddd The six-foot MacDonald is coming off an impressive win over No. 4 Tyron Woodley at UFC 174 in June in Vancouver following a decision over jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia at UFC 170 in February. MacDonald (17-2) is a rangy well-rounded fighter who can do damage from the outside with an effective jab. But he is also dangerous in close, able to slam opponents and punish them on the ground. The Canadian will have a six-inch advantage in reach and two inches in height on Saffiedine. Saffiedine (13-3) has won five straight since dropping a decision to Woodley in Strikeforce in January 2011. His last outing, which was his UFC debut, was a decision win over Hyun Gyu Lim in January. The 27-year-old Belgian, who won eight of his last nine fights, is a former kick-boxer with a black belt in karate and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. MacDonald is a black belt in BJJ. A win over Saffiedine would be MacDonalds fourth over a top-10 welterweight fighter. The Halifax show marks the UFCs first in Nova Scotia. 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