MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens fans experienced a mixture of

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MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens fans experienced a mixture of pride and dejection on Thursday night after watching their heroes get eliminated from the NHL playoffs. Cheap Babe Ruth Jersey . The Habs, the only Canadian team to make this years post-season, saw their Stanley Cup dreams extinguished as the New York Rangers eked out a 1-0 victory in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference final. Although the game was played in New York, the Bell Centre in Montreal was packed once again as the decisive matchup was broadcast on giant screens for a sold-out crowd. Fans emerging from the arena after the game were obviously disappointed but there was no trouble downtown. Helmeted, riot-equipped police stood watch along Ste-Catherine Street but even many of them didnt stay around too long. It was in sharp contrast to the final game of Montreals previous series, against the Boston Bruins, when police lined the street to protect businesses from rowdy fans. On Thursday night, although there was the occasional vocal outburst from unhappy or frustrated fans, Montrealers appeared to accept the defeat as they quietly headed home. Emilie Quilliams, 18, said her disappointment at the playoff exit was tempered by seeing the Canadiens reach the semifinals. "Im still proud of them," she said. "For them to come to the second-to-last round of the playoffs, its something that we havent seen in quite a while, so I was really happy for them." Many fans were already looking ahead to next season, particularly after a gritty playoff performance that included goaltender Dustin Tokarski filling in admirably for starter Carey Price, who was injured early in the Rangers series. Joe Kutlu, 40, heaped praise galore on Tokarski and urged the Canadiens to sign him up. "They bring up a goalie who is a legend right now and hes going to be known and Im guessing a lot of players are really going to admire him for years to come," Kutlu said. Jean-Francois Belisle echoed the sentiments of many fans as he looked at the season with a sense of accomplishment. "Im proud of the Canadiens season, Im not angry," he said. "Obviously, it would have been great to go further but it was a good match, a good series and good playoffs." The Canadiens were a pleasant playoff surprise for their faithful, sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and then defeating the Bruins, the leagues top team, in seven in the next round. The Habs were the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. The Rangers, who last won the trophy in 1994, will play either the Kings or the Chicago Blackhawks in the final. Thursday nights game was the third time this post-season that Habs fans had been able to attend the Bell Centre to see their team play on the road. Cheap Atlanta Braves Jerseys .C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Cheap Braves Jerseys . Speaking with TSN 1050 following Brendan Shanahans introductory press conference, the Leafs GM also addressed the clubs perceived leadership issues and the type of working relationship that can be expected within Torontos front office. http://www.cheapbravesjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-deion-sanders-jersey . On Thursday, they signed former Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.Canadas path to World Cup glory became much clearer on Saturday as the draw took place for next years tournament and after a positive draw for the host nation, head coach John Herdman says there can be no excuses. There is no easy team in the group, said Herdman. China have been one of the top Asian teams over recent years, the Netherlands are an up and coming team with some real talent in there, and I know a bit about New Zealand, so Im pretty happy. We have beaten these teams in the last two years, we are ranked higher than them, so there should be no excuses, but these teams have improved over the last three years. Canada will open the tournament against China in Edmonton on June 6 before facing New Zealand at Commonwealth Stadium and wrapping up the group stage at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and Herdman is aiming high. Theres no reason why we cant win the group, thats fair to say. If you had one of those tough European teams in it might have been a bit tighter, but we should get a good chance of doing that. Ahead of the draw, Herdman said he wanted to avoid Sweden and England - mission accomplished. He also talked of his hopes to be drawn against a New Zealand team he coached before moving to Canada – again, Herdman got his wish. All my wishes nearly came true, he said following the draw. I wanted New Zealand in the opening game, that would have been really cool because some of those girls Ive brought up from the age of 18 and now they are blossoming into some top class players. With an expanded tournament of 24 nations, there are six groups of four teams. The top two from each group will qualify along with four of the best third placed finishers. Following the draw, Canada can now also plot a pathway through the knockout stages of the tournament. If they can win Group A they would play one of the best third-pplaced teams from Group C, D or E in the Round of 16 in Vancouver. Cheap John Smoltz Jersey. That would also give them the chance to avoid the top teams in the world until the semifinals and even set up a final against the United States – but lets not get ahead of ourselves! Canadas preparations are already well underway with residency camp having started in Vancouver earlier this fall, but they will get a chance to see one of their World Cup opponents up close when they face China in a four-team tournament early in the New Year. Everything over the last two or three years has been preparing the players for what will come in the World Cup, said Herdman. Its about getting used to playing in Canada, the media, the hype, so people dont have to put mental energy on things that are new. We want to have experienced as many things as we can. That preparation goes even as far as trying out different training facilities and hotels so that Herdmans team will be in surroundings that are familiar and most conducive to success when the tournament kicks off next June. The coach will not leave a stone unturned when it comes to making sure Canada is the most prepared team in the tournament. This team knows what their responsibility is, said Herdman. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they will get one chance to make this country proud. We have kept this simple – it is just about them being at their best and knowing the responsibility of wearing that shirt. We can connect the country through the way we play, and that is as simple as it gets. Theres little doubt it was a good day for Canada. It could have been better, but it could have been much worse. Canada will be the highest seed in the group, with the backing of the home crowd. It gives them a great chance to progress out of the group stage and hopefully long after that as well. ' ' '