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STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The NHL is closer to committing its players to next years Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, pending the approval of team owners and provided other issues can be resolved. Some of the details of NHL player participation were revealed Friday in Stockholm following a meeting between representatives from the NHL, NHL Players Association, International Ice Hockey Federation, International Olympic Committee and the Sochi organizing committee. "We are proceeding under the assumption that the NHL will participate in Sochi," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly was quoted as saying on the IIHF website. "We are still working on important issues with the IIHF and the IOC, and subject to our board of governors consideration and approval, it remains the objective that Sochi will be the fifth consecutive Olympics with NHL participation and where the NHL shuts down for the duration of the Olympic tournament." The NHL would go dark Feb. 9, 2014, with approximately half of the 30 NHL clubs playing their last games Feb. 8. The league would resume Feb. 25, two days after the gold-medal game. The mens Olympic hockey tournament starts Feb. 12. One of the major issues to be resolved is player insurance. "There is obviously a risk involved when you bring over a projected 160 (to) 180 NHL players where the total contract value would be around (US)$3 billion," Daly said. "This is a risk which must be insured, especially in cases of season-ending or career-ending injuries." IIHF president Rene Fasel did not name a deadline for when an agreement needs to be reached. "We are working hard to putting together the last pieces to ensure NHL players participation in Sochi," Fasel said. "We have some issues left, but I, as always, remain optimistic." Daly also gave no indication when the NHL would give its final approval for Sochi. "Hopefully sometime soon we will be able to give the recommendation to our board of governors regarding our leagues Olympic participation," he said. NHL players selected by their countries to participate in the tournament would travel by charter from four North American hubs and arrive in Sochi on Feb. 10. The NHL wants the ability to markets its players on NHL-TV and its website during the Games, which is complicated because of television rights issues. "We want to promote the fact that the NHL and its players are participating in the Olympics during a period when our league shuts down," Daly said. The NHL wants seven referees and six linesmen in Sochi, as well as a dozen of its own security personnel there. The IIHF says teams will be asked to submit rosters five to six weeks prior to the Games. Those rosters will be increased by two skaters from the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Each country can now name 22 skaters and three goaltenders. Canada is in a pool with Finland, Norway and Austria. The schedules for both the mens and womens tournaments have yet to be announced.Stitched Avalanche Jerseys . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. Avalanche Jerseys China . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Colorado Avalanche Store . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. CLEVELAND -- A week ago, the Indians were reeling amid serious questions about whether they could contend. Five wins have put them back on track. And back on Detroits heels. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run double to cap Clevelands comeback in the sixth inning, and the Indians charged into the All-Star break with a 6-4 win over Kansas City on Sunday and three-game sweep of the Royals. Cabreras double off Tim Collins (2-5) led the roller-coasting Indians to their fourth straight win. At 51-44, they stayed 1 1-2 games behind the first-place Tigers in the AL Central. Last week, Detroit took three of four from Cleveland to widen its lead in the division. It seemed the Tigers were poised to run away and hide. But with their fans fearing a collapse like last year, the Indians pulled together. "We got the city of Cleveland to step back off the ledge after the Detroit series," said All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis. "So thats good. We wanted to push ourselves. To be able to sweep them and get a couple days off now, thats a great way to end it." Cleveland has its most wins at the All-Star break since 2007 -- the last time the Indians made the playoffs. Reliever Rich Hill (1-1) got two outs in the sixth, and closer Chris Perez -- Clevelands fifth reliever -- worked the ninth for his 13th save as the Indians improved to 43-1 when leading after eight. Billy Butler had three hits for the Royals (43-49), who dropped their fifth straight. Kansas City is third in the AL Central, eight games back. "Weve had a rough five games," manager Ned Yost said. "They can go take a break, regroup and hopefully come back and play more consistent baseball." The Indians have had their issues with inconsistency, as well, but they have been resilient all season. The series finale was no different as Cleveland trailed 4-3 in the sixth before rallying against Kansas Citys usually reliable bullpen. Collins, who took the loss in Fridays series opener, walked Lonnie Chisenhall leading off. Drew Stubbs singled, Michael Bourn sacrificed, and Cabrera, whose name has surfaced in trade rumours, drove a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right-centre to put Cleveland back in front. Kipnis followed with an RBI single off Everett Teaford to give the Indians a 6-4 lead. "I was real proud of our guys," manager Terry Francona said. "We kept battling, and because of it we go into the break with a nice win." Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith combined for two scoreless innings before Perez, who spent time on the disabled list and was charged with drug possession in the first half, gave up a one-out double in the ninth but struck out Butler and retired All-Star catcher Salvador Perez on a grounder for the final out. The Indians have overcome their share of injuries, inconsistent pitching and a 4-16 stretch which put them 5 1-2 ggames back of the Tigers on June 17.dddddddddddd After dropping three of four to Detroit, Cleveland finished the first half by going 5-1. "Its been a great first half for us," Indians first baseman Nick Swisher said. "Weve dealt with a lot of injuries and to be standing where we are right now, weve got to feel great about that." Royals starter James Shields ended up with his seventh no-decision in his last nine starts. The right-hander allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, leaving with a 4-3 lead. Shields has received sparse run support as the Royals have scored just nine total runs in his six losses. Shields, though, was more focused on getting his team turned around than his record. "You never want to lose five in a row, but Im not too worried about it," Shields said. "Weve done a good job of grinding this first half. It definitely could be a lot worse and it definitely could be a lot better. Right now we need to kick it in gear and string together some wins." Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez didnt get through the fifth inning, his shortest start since June 7. After the Indians took a 3-2 lead in the third, Jimenez let the Royals grab it back in the fourth on Johnny Giavotellas RBI groundout and Alcides Escobars run-scoring single. Jimenez walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth and was quickly pulled by Francona before things got worse. Reliever C.C. Lee made his major league debut and retired the Royals on three straight popups to keep the Indians within one. Shields worked around a two-on, none-out jam in the second, but hurt himself with a one-out walk in the third when the Indians scored twice to take a 3-2 lead. Kipnis walked with one down and moved up on a groundout. Michael Brantley, who came in batting .382 with runners in scoring position, hit an RBI single to tie it 2-all. Santana then doubled inside the bag at first, and third-base coach Brad Mills never hesitated in waving Brantley home. "I dont feel like I struggled," Shields said. "I threw some really good pitches. I think I threw three changeups that probably would have hit the dirt, and they got base hits on them. They probably had about 20 foul-offs. Thats a good team over there. They work really good at-bats." NOTES: Clevelands pitchers havent given up a home run in 60 innings. ... Last year, the Indians were 44-41 at the All-Star break and three games out of first place. They collapsed in August, going 5-24. ... Francona will spend a few off days in Las Vegas. "Im going to see how much money I can lose," he cracked. "Im going to lay low." ... Kansas City will be represented in New York by Alex Gordon, Perez and closer Greg Holland, the first time the Royals have had three All-Stars since 1988. Perez is the first KC catcher on the team since Darrell Porter in 1980. ' ' '