PERTH, Australia -- Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard each won their matches to give Canada a 3-0 victory over Italy in a group tie at the Hopman Cup on Thursday. But that was not quite enough to give the team a berth in Saturdays final. Poland narrowly reached the championship by winning a set in mixed doubles against Australia to mathmatically clinch and then went on to win the evening tie 2-1. Canada would have needed an Australian victory to reach the final. Montreals Bouchard needed only 15 minutes on court for a 4-0 victory as Flavia Pennetta quit with right wrist pain to hand Canada a 1-0 lead. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., hammered 10 aces and 21 winners in his 6-2, 6-4 win to keep Italys Andrea Seppi winless over six matches and two editions in Perth. Canada won the mixed in a walkover due to Pennettas injury absence. The 23-year-old Raonic said hes pleased with his improving form as the Australian Open start approaches on January 13. "I played much better today, it was night and day between today and my previous two matches," said Raonic. "I had to take matters into my own hands, thats something weve been working on. I took the initiative today. "We are leading into a Grand Slam, and you want to make the most of every competitive opportunity." Bouchard would have preferred to have played a proper match against Pennetta, who said that she woke up feeling poorly with the wrist pain, which she also felt at times last season when she returned to the WTA after surgery. "Its disappointing not to play a full match, but Flavia was having problems," said Bouchard, 19. "I was excited to play. "Its also tough to play an injured opponent, it can do things to your game. But I was playing with confidence, I believe in my game and am confident. I feel good, Ive had a good start to the year." Bouchard was playing for the first time since Canadas last group match Sunday. On her one of days off, she visited a horse show and also advised Raonic against going swimming with non-lethal sharks in the city aquarium, which he did anyway in a publicity effort for the event. The 32nd-ranked Bouchard had previously beat Australian Samantha Stosur and fell to Pole Agnieszka Radwanska prior to the Pennetta result. Sandro Wagner Jersey . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Corentin Tolisso Jersey . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Leon Goretzka Jersey . "After consultation with the Team USA medical staff and officials, it was determined that he should return to Winnipeg as a precaution due to his previous injury history," Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said Wednesday in a statement. James Rodriguez Jersey . According to the Globe and Mail, a decision between the NHL and the Players Association should come within the six months. "I can tell you, (a decision) shouldnt take all that long," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Globe and Mail.CONCORD, N.C. -- Michael Waltrip Racing will run only two full-time cars next season because of the loss of sponsor NAPA, part of the fallout from its attempts to manipulate a race to get Martin Truex Jr. into the Chase. Truex, crew chief Chad Johnston and 15 per cent of the workforce were notified Monday they are free to negotiate with other teams. The car Truex drives will be repurposed into a research and development team next season. It will run a partial schedule beginning with the Daytona 500 with team co-owner Michael Waltrip behind the wheel. It does not appear the team will use Truexs No. 56 on the car next season. "Today was about doing what we had to do not what we wanted to do," team co-owner Rob Kauffman said. "It was important to let those whose jobs were affected know as early as possible, and a majority of those will remain with MWR through the end of the season." Truex has been talking to Furniture Row Racing about the seat being vacated by Kurt Busch. The meetings with Kauffman and Waltrip and their employees Monday were interrupted when driver Brian Vickers informed the owners that a blood clot had been found in his right calf. He was placed on blood-thinning medication that will prevent him from finishing the season in the No. 55 Toyota. The team had previously planned to use co-owner Waltrip in this weeks race at Talladega, and said it will decide later on its driver for the remaining four races. Vickers was scheduled to participate in a Monday test at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but MWR had Brett Moffitt ready to drive. Its been one hit after another since the Sept. 7 race at Richmond, where MWR was found to haave manipulated the finish in an attempt to get Truex into the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.dddddddddddd It began when Clint Bowyer deliberately spun to bring out a caution, setting in motion a chain of events that led to a widespread NASCAR investigation. NASCAR fined MWR $300,000, suspended general manager Ty Norris indefinitely and replaced Truex in the Chase field with Ryan Newman, who likely would have won the race and earned a spot in the Chase before Bowyers spin. In punishing MWR, NASCAR ruled that the only thing it could prove was that Norris intentionally called Vickers down pit road in the closing laps to adjust the finish. NAPA, a longtime partner of Waltrips, then said it was pulling its multimillion-dollar sponsorship of Truexs team with two years remaining on its contract because it "believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR." As part of the reorganizational changes announced Monday, MWR said executive vice-president of competition Scott Miller will continue as crew chief of the No. 55 team into the 2014 season. Hed been interim crew chief since Rodney Childers was taken off the pit stand in August when he said he was moving to Stewart-Haas Racing next season. "Our goals for the reorganization were twofold -- firstly to improve the competitiveness of our race teams and, secondly, maintain a stable organizational structure," Kauffman said. "The teams focus has been to find that last 1 per cent needed to move from Chase participant to Cup champion. This realignment will get us closer to that last 1 per cent." Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '