man.Los Angeles defenseman Braden McNabb le

Whitewater churns into foam as double-ended paddles windmill one-person boats into position. The paddles go up in the air as the boats slide through red or green gates, then the furious wind milling begins again.For a sport that doesnt get the attention of some of the more well-known ones, whitewater canoe and kayak has plenty of action and drama.A few things to look for in whitewater canoe/kayak at the Rio Olympics next month:THE LOWDOWN: The four canoe/kayak slalom events will be held Aug. 7-11, with medals award the final three days. Men compete in single and double canoe, along with kayak. Women compete in kayak only. The races will take place at the Whitewater Stadium in Deodoro on a steep 250-meter course that has between 18 and 25 gates. Green gates are negotiated with the current, red against it. Paddlers are assessed a two-second penalty for hitting a gate and 50 seconds for missing one completely.EUROPEAN DOMINANCE: European countries have dominated the sport since its inception at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and show no signs of letting loose of their stranglehold. In mens canoe slalom (C1), European counties have won every medal but one since the 1992 Barcelona Games, when the sport was put back into the Olympic program after a 20-year absence. Europe has accounted for all but one medal in kayak (K1) and 16 of 18 medals in two-person canoe (C2) during that span. Women have had a little better chance breaking through the European stronghold, with paddlers from the U.S. and Australia combining for six of the 18 medals since Barcelona.AMERICAN MEN: The United States team has two paddlers with solid chances to earn medals in Rio. Kayaker Michal Smolen, who emigrated from Poland as a child, was unable to compete at the 2012 London Games due to questions about his citizenship, but should make a strong run to the podium this time around. Smolen earned bronze at the 2015 world championships and has times that compare to the best paddlers in the world. Not bad for someone who was terrified of the water when he first started kayaking at 8. Canoeist Casey Eichfield will be competing in his third straight Olympics and will try to pull off a double, competing in C1 and C2 with Devin McEwan. Eichfield finished fourth at world championships and was in the top 15 his previous two Olympics.NEES RELIEF: Womens kayaker Ashley Nee had a rough road to her first Olympics. She qualified for the 2008 Beijing Games, but injured a shoulder during a test event and wasnt able to completely recover in time for the Olympic trials, finishing fourth. Nee had enough points to qualify for the 2012 London Games, but was edged out by Caroline Queen on a tiebreaker. Nee won the Olympic trials this May, yet still didnt have a spot secured; she had to await a decision by the International Canoe Federation to award the United States an additional athlete quota spot. Now at 27, shes headed to her first Olympics.C1 OPENING: Mens single canoe has been dominated by two paddlers the past five Olympics: Michal Martikan of Slovakia and Frances Tony Estanguet. Starting with the 1996 Atlanta Games, those two won every gold medal in C1; three by Estanguet and two by Martikan. There will be a different champion in Rio after Estanguet retired and Martikan, the only canoe slalomist to win five Olympic gold medals, failed to make the Slovakian team for Rio.KEEP AN EYE ON: Kayaker Jiri Prskavec of the Czech Republic is the type of paddler who could be uncatchable if hes on his game. 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Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Connor McDavid Oilers Jersey . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz had let enough chances slip by this season.Jake Allen stopped 27 shots and Schwartz scored early in the third period, leading the St. Louis Blues over the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Saturday night.Schwartz scored 3:43 into the third off a pass from Jori Lehtera, swiping the puck from in front past goalie Peter Budaj.Its nice seeing it go in. Ive been missing too many, Schwartz said. It was a huge play. I got it off my stick as quick as I could. I wanted to rip that one. Ive had some this year and missed.Allen got his first shutout this season and the 12th in his career.You just keep playing your game and try not to let anything faze you, Allen said. If you need a shutout, so be it, but you dont want to get too far ahead of yourself. Its just sort of one minute at a time.Schwartz got the first goal by a Blues forward in 169 minutes, 22 seconds. Vladimir Tarasenko also assisted on Schwartzs first goal of the season.Los Angeles challenged the play for offsides, but the goal was upheld.Budaj had 24 saves. He had won five straight dating to last season.I think its just sometimes good players make a good play, Budaj said about the goal. Its a nice play for them, give credit to them. Sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you dont.Before Schwartzs goal, the action was sparse in a hard-hitting game. Los Angeles had just 10 shots in each of the first two periods, and the Blues had 13 shots after two periods.This was no day at the beach for either team, this type of game, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. This was a heavy, hard, well-played hockey game.The Blues have had just one goal in five of their last six games.Were playing kind of like Italian soccer, 1-0, good defense, and its just one goal, Lehtera said. Its enoough.ddddddddddddSt. Louis has won three in a row against the Kings, who entered play with a four-game winning streak -- three in overtime and one in a shootout.The Kings failed to score on five power-play opportunities. For the season, St. Louis has killed 30 of 32 power plays.Killing penalties is just work, Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. At the end of the day, your goalie is your best penalty killer and Jakes been coming up with some big saves.The Blues did not score on four chances with an extra man.Los Angeles defenseman Braden McNabb left early in the third period with an upper body injury and did not return.Game notes St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has a lower body injury and will be evaluated in 10 days. Bortuzzo was injured early in the third period in Thursdays 2-1 shootout loss to Detroit. Bortuzzo was skating to the bench after serving a minor penalty and collided with a Red Wings player. ... This game was the only regular season meeting for the teams in St. Louis. The other two games will be played in Los Angeles. ... The Blues announced Bob Plagers No. 5 would be officially retired. Plager will join Al MacInnis, Bob Gassoff, Brian Sutter, Brett Hull, Bernie Federko and his brother, Barclay Plager, as the only players to receive the honor from the Blues. Plager was recognized during the first period. The official ceremony featuring the banner with his number raising will take place Feb. 2 when the Blues host the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Bouwmeester skated in his 999th regular season game.UP NEXT:Los Angeles: Play at Chicago on Sunday.St. Louis: Play at the New York Rangers on Tuesday. ' ' '