CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Phil Kessel returned to work Friday hoping to talk about his blessedly short summer after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup in June.Instead, the forward ended up walking back a critical tweet about Team USA following its disappointing performance in the World Cup of Hockey. Kessel, the leading scorer for the Americans during the 2014 Winter Olympics, was not invited to join this time. While he said all the right things last spring after getting passed over, his frustration bubbled up while watching the U.S. lose to Canada on Tuesday.Just sitting around the house tonight w/my dog, Kessel posted on his account. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldnt put my finger on it.Kessel didnt delete the tweet even after some members of the U.S. team took exception. But he made it clear on Friday -- as the Penguins reported for training camp -- that it wasnt a personal attack on the group, which went winless in three games and failed to advance to the medal round.Obviously I meant no disrespect to any of the players, Kessel said. I have a ton of respect for all those guys there. I played with a lot of those guys. Theyre great players and great guys. I know this game is hard. I know its not an easy one to play.Kessel said he would rather focus on the 2016-17 season as the Penguins try to become the first team in nearly 20 years to repeat as champs. Hell spend the early days of camp seeing how his surgically repaired hand is responding after undergoing a minor procedure in July.Just going to take some time here, he said. Just kind of get back into it.Pittsburghs summer lasted all of 103 days, barely enough time to make sure everyone involved with the teams six-game victory over San Jose in the Stanley Cup finals got to enjoy some one-on-one time with their sports most valuable hardware.Its like we never left each other, defenseman Trevor Daley said. Looking around, didnt we just see each other the other day?Not that Daley is complaining. Theres a sweet reason for the short break, after all.Were the champs, obviously, Daley said with a laugh.Champs who insist theyre just as hungry as they were last spring, when they raced through the playoffs behind a mixture of speed, grit and the precocious goaltending of rookie Matt Murray. Pittsburgh did little to mess with its formula in free agency, keeping the core intact for what it hopes is another season that bleeds from spring until the edge of summer.Coach Mike Sullivan, however, is taking great pains during camp to keep his squad from getting complacent. He divvied the players into three groups hoping to keep things fresh.I think we have competitive guys by nature, Sullivan said. I think they like to compete. Its our job as coaches to put them in an environment where theyre allowed to compete. It took a lot of players for us to go through the playoff run that we did.Captain Sidney Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin are still in Toronto competing for their native countries in the World Cup. The two will meet in the semifinals on Saturday and are unlikely to return to their regular gig until the middle of next week. Their absence, however, will give others an opportunity to impress Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff.Whats exciting from our standpoint is that we have the type of depth that we have and we have players that are competing for jobs, literally, Sullivan said. Thats going to keep everyone at their best. That internal competition is a critical component to drive our team to the level that it was at last year.Pittsburgh opens the preseason on Tuesday in Detroit. The Penguins exhibition home opener is next Friday against Chicago. Shoes Ireland Free Shipping . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Shoes Ireland From China .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/ .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Buy Shoes Ireland .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Wholesale Shoes Ireland . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tahjere McCall sank a jumper in the final seconds to put Tennessee State up 72-71 over Lipscomb Saturday.McCalls winning bucket came with nine seconds to play after the Tigers (7-1) had fallen behind by one with 1:06 remaining. Delano Spencer got the rebound after Lipscombs Eli Pepper missed a jump shot with 23 seconds left, setting up McCalls jumper.Wayne Martin scored 16 points with 12 rebounds for the Tigers who had six players in double figures and three with double-doubles including Jordan Reed with 11 pooints and 14 rebounds and McCall with 10 points and 11 rebounds.dddddddddddd KenDarrius Hamilton added 13 points and Darreon Reddick and Christian Mekowulu had 10 points apiece.Tennessee State trailed 28-21 with 7:16 to go in the first period but the Tigers surged 14-0 after that to take a 35-28 lead with 3:19 left and they led 41-36 at intermission.Garrison Matthews led the Bisons (3-7) with 19 points. ' ' '