A letter drafted by U.S. and Canadian anti-doping leaders urging Russias removal from the upcoming Olympics is circulating days before the public release of a report expected to detail a state-sponsored doping system that corrupted the countrys entire sports program.The letter, drafted last week and obtained by The Associated Press, is being prepared to be sent to the International Olympic Committees president and executive board after the Monday release of a report by investigator Richard McLaren.The letter calls for the IOC to act by July 26 to ensure that Russias Olympic Committee and sports federations will not be allowed in Rio de Janeiro, where the Games are set to start Aug. 5. The letter encourages exceptions for Russia-born athletes who can prove they were subject to strong anti-doping systems in other countries.A statement from Pat Hickey, the president of the European Olympic Committee, said the letter undermined the integrity and therefore the credibility of this important report.My concern is that there seems to have been an attempt to agree (on) an outcome before any evidence has been presented, Hickey said.USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the letter, which has backing from anti-doping agencies in a number of countries and athlete groups from around the world, was drafted with no intent for it to become public unless the McLaren report contains evidence of a major state-sponsored doping program.Of course, we want and hope for universal inclusion, but were not blind to the evidence already out there, Tygart said. And if were not preparing for all potential outcomes, then we are not fulfilling our promise to clean athletes.The McLaren report was sparked by a New York Times story that accused the Russian government of helping to manipulate tests at the Sochi Games so cheaters wouldnt get caught.Preliminary findings from the report, released last month, found mandatory state-directed manipulation of laboratory analytical results operating within the Moscow anti-doping lab from at least 2011 through the summer of 2013. Those findings also said Russias Ministry of Sport advised the laboratory which of its adverse findings it could report to WADA, and which it had to cover up.Based in part on that information, the letter to the IOC anticipates that the McLaren report will show the Russian government helped organize a systematic undermining of the drug testing of Russian athletes for many years in a successful effort to cheat to win.The AP also obtained a letter written by Beckie Scott, head of the athlete committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency, urging athletes to sign on to the U.S.-Canada letter. Scott informs athletes that, in addition to support from U.S. and Canadian anti-doping leaders Tygart and Paul Melia, the letter also has backing from anti-doping agencies in Germany, New Zealand, Japan, France, Denmark and Norway.Last week, IOC President Thomas Bach said it was important to strike the right balance between collective responsibility and individual justice in dealing with results from the McLaren report.It is obvious that you cannot sanction or punish a badminton player for infringement of rules or manipulation by an official or lab director in the Winter Games, Bach said.Already, tracks governing body, the IAAF, has suspended Russias track team from the Olympics after a separate investigation turned up evidence of a state-sponsored doping system used to benefit that team. The Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to rule July 21 on the eligibility of 68 Russian athletes who have appealed to compete in Rio.McLaren was given permission to look into all Russian sports, and the letter being drafted for the IOC is written as if they all have been corrupted.We agree and believe a full suspension is the only available and appropriate result having regard to the findings and conclusions set out in the report, it said.In an interview on Tuesday, Tygart urged a full Russian ban, but said he had not seen the report in its entirety. He did not immediately respond to messages left by the AP on Saturday. Nike Air Max 90 Dames Goedkoop . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Nike Air Max Korting . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/uitverkoop-air-max-97/max-97-dames.html . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Nike Air Max 95 Nederland .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Nike Air Max 270 Goedkoop . Rousey will put her perfect 8-0 record and hardware on the line against another undefeated fighter, 7-0 Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada on February 22nd.PITTSBURGH -- The NHLs most unlikely post-season success story is nearly bald, his hairline an unwitting casualty to three decades spent hidden under a goaltenders mask. All those long winters -- including 16 in the best league in the world -- never led to long springs, however, for Tomas Vokoun. Until now. Halfway through the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs the two-time All-Star turned journeyman backup holds the key to the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff hopes. He is, for the first time in his life, the "hot goalie" during the most important time of year. Heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins Saturday night, Vokouns numbers appear to be a misprint. Seven starts. Six wins. One very stoic and largely anonymous presence at the back of Pittsburghs star-laden attack. Given a week to ponder his remarkable run after taking over for struggling Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5 of the first-round series against the New York Islanders, Vokoun insists hes trying not to think about what it all means, with varying levels of success. "You just know that youre playing well, youre trying to do the right things," Vokoun said. "You try not to treat it any differently, even if you know the stakes are just getting bigger." Its a phenomenon unique to goaltenders this time of year. For all the talk about the importance of playoff experience, the guys in the back of the net can sometimes seem immune to the pressure. Vokoun never played on a team that made it past the opening round of the post-season until Pittsburgh ousted the Islanders in six games three weeks ago. He was hardly overcome by the stage in the second round against Ottawa, allowing all of 11 goals in five games, including a pair of of meaningless scores after the Penguins already had things well in hand during Game 4 and 5 routs. NHL history is littered with callow goalies who have ended up lifting the Cup. Martin Brodeur was 22. Patrick Roy was 20. Ken Dryden was 23. Jonathan Quick was 4-8 in the playoffs before going 16-4 and leading the Los Angeles Kings to the championship at 26. Vokoun is at the opposite end of his career but enjoying the same kind of coming-out party. Its uncharted territory for a player acquired for a mere seventh-round pick last summer as an insurance plan should Fleury falter. "He has been one of the better goalies in NHL," Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said. "He just happened to be playing in Nashville and Florida, not in the media spotlight." One thats certainly going to ratchet up over the next two weeks. It can get unnerving. For proof, he need only look 180 feet down the ice on Saturday night at Bostons Tuukka Rask. The Bruins were on the cusp of a berth in the conference finals inn 2010 with a 22-year-old Rask leading the way.ddddddddddddBoston took a 3-0 lead over Philadelphia in the second round when the season suddenly imploded. A 5-4 overtime loss in Game 4 morphed into three more defeats, including a 4-3 collapse in Game 7 when Rask squandered a three-goal, first-period lead. Though he played 29 games the following season, he didnt see a second of ice time in the playoffs as Tim Thomas carried the Bruins to their first title in nearly four decades. "Its different if youre playing or if youre not," he said. "You had something to do with it on the ice." Rasks role (and his view) will be much more involved this time around. And Boston coach Claude Julien thinks Rask may have turned a corner of sorts in the second round against the New York Rangers. Boston bolted to a 3-0 lead once again and went up 2-0 early in Game 4. The Rangers recovered -- thanks in part to a curious goal in which Rask appeared to screw himself into the ice -- to win in overtime. Rask bounced back in Game 5, turning aside 28 of 29 shots as the Bruins moved on and perhaps obliterated any lingering doubts about their goaltenders resilience. "That Game 4 couldve been a lot more devastating than it was," coach Claude Julien said. "How he rebounded in Game 5 shows me that theres no issues there." Of course, the high-flying Penguins have a way of creating issues. Pittsburgh peppering Evgeni Nabokhov and Craig Anderson into early exits a combined four times during the first two rounds while averaging 4.27 goals per game, the highest scoring average at this point in the playoffs in 20 years. A highly efficient power play and a remarkably skilled roster led by former MVPs Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin helps. Still, for all its considerable firepower, Pittsburgh is not invulnerable. The Penguins were similarly loaded three years ago when they ran into Montreals unheralded Jaroslav Halak in the second round. The then-24-year-old became impenetrable as the series wore on and the Canadiens won in seven games. The memory of that stunning failure remains fresh and the Penguins are well aware Rask and Bostons smothering defence could provide an even more impenetrable shell. "We have to make (Rask) uncomfortable," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. In the end, whichever goaltender finds his comfort zone is the one that will extend his teams season into the first days of summer. Its a ride Vokoun is intent on enjoying, one the oldest player on the Stanley Cup favourite thought may never come. "This is what you play for," he said. "Its taken a long time to get here. Yeah theres pressure but really its just about doing your job. "Thats all I can do." So far, so good. ' ' '