on the ATP Tour. Berdych holds a 7-1 winning record over

MINSK, Belarus -- Three-thousand kilometres from where he grew up in Toronto, Geoff Platt couldnt have felt more at home. Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Not long after, fans were chanting his name. "Its an emotion that Im not sure Ive achieved ever in my career, just because of the atmosphere and the electricity in the building," Platt said. "It just runs through your veins and grabs a hold of you." Along with goaltender Kevin Lalande, Platt is one of two Canadian-born players representing host Belarus at the world hockey championship and playing major roles in what might be the best international showing in the countrys history. Led by Canadian-born coach Glen Hanlon, Belarus is in the quarter-finals for just the third time and the first since 2009. This is the biggest event Belarus has ever hosted, so Minsk has been partying for two weeks. And this team is giving locals another reason to celebrate. "You have to understand the magnitude (of) what this means to them," Hanlon said. "Its bigger than just a game. This is their chance to show everybody." By show everybody, Hanlon means the city, which is decked out in IIHF signs welcoming the world and reminding them in the form of giant bison mascots that hockey is happening here. Inside the 15,000-seat Minsk Arena, home of the KHLs Dynamo Minsk, good hockey has been happening for Belarus. Lalande, a native of Ottawa who plays for Dynamo and gained citizenship, has been stellar and Platt has added timely offence. But the Canadian imports want the credit to go to leading scorers Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn. "Players are playing for this symbol, and it means a lot more to them to represent their country than probably a National Hockey League team or any club team around the world," Platt said, pointing to the Belarusian coat of arms on his chest. "Youre seeing that with Sergei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski just really taking their game to a level Im sure theyve almost never played at." Grabovski beamed with pride when talking about what this tournament means to him. Hes showing that to Hanlon, who first coached him as a 21-year-old at the world championships in Vienna in 2005. The Grabovski at this tournament is an other-worldly player. "I dont even look at Mikhail anymore because I know hes going to play great," Hanlon said. "I never get tired of saying, Good game, Mikhail." Hanlon is limited in what he can say to some of his players because of the language barrier. He understands Russian and Belarusian and is trying to learn to speak both languages, even though he doesnt have to. The former Washington Capitals coach and longtime NHL goaltender, whos in his second stint as coach of the Belarusian national team, has someone with him at almost all times who speaks English. At his news conferences with local media, the Brandon, Man., native answers in English, occasionally splicing in Belarusian words and pausing to let the interpreter next to him do his work. "Ive taken lessons, Ive done all of it," Hanlon said. "I have a better handle on it. Ive gone home here after every friendly tournament, so I take all my books, put them in my backpack like the college student on spring break and I end up dealing with my 12-year-old son and my wife and I sort of break away from it for a couple weeks." Hanlons wife and son still live in Vancouver, and because shes a teacher and hes a skier and hockey player they dont accompany him to Europe. "Hed rather play his own hockey than watch me coach," Hanlon said. Everyone in Belarus is watching Hanlon coach with keen interest. In Minsk, televisions all over the city have tournament games on, whether Belarus is playing or not. Inside Minsk Arena, one section is full of fans jumping up and down and doing chants normally reserved for soccer matches. Others whistle and fill the building with the kind of noise Lalande and Platt have no comparison for and Hanlon can only relate to the old Chicago Stadium. "When you go into somewhere like Bell Centre or Madison Square Garden, its pretty loud but it dies off after a while," Hanlon said. "Here its sustained for the whole 2 1/2 hours of the game. Im not kidding: You cant hear a word down there. Im screaming and Im yelling at my players whos up and everything. "From before the game starts till after its over, its like a festival." Its a festival thats special to the Belarusian players, whether theyre from Novopolotsk in the north like Dmitry Korobov, or Ontario like Lalande and Platt. How they got here wasnt a matter of having Belarusian ancestry. Anyone who plays for Dynamo Minsk for two seasons is eligible for citizenship. "I got to keep my Canadian citizenship, so there wasnt really any downside," said Lalande, who began the tournament as a backup but has played too well for Hanlon not to start him. "At first it just made the travelling a lot easier in Russia, I didnt need a visa and saved a couple pages in my Canadian passport. But when Glen was named the head coach, we had a couple conversations together. He made it clear from the start that he wanted me to be a part of this." "Whether Id play or not he didnt know, but hes been very supportive. I owe everything to him for this chance." Lalande and Platt each praised the local players for accepting them while also noting theres a comfort level in having each other and an English-speaking coach around for this run. But Hanlon, who previously coached the Slovak national team, learned from his season with Jokerit in Finland that having Canadians on his team isnt easy. "Being an import coach you want to go out of your way so that the Canadians are respected," he said. "The last thing you want to do is look like youre favouring them." "So you want them to work for everything that they get, and I try to keep my space from them. I dont want to give anybody any reason to think that these players are going to get special treatment from me." No special treatment, but this experience has been special for Platt and Lalande, even though theyre not playing for their home country. Platt, who played 46 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks, won a gold medal for Canada at the under-18 world championships in 2003. Platt hasnt represented Canada since and has moved on. "Not putting on the Canadian jersey now is just a chapter that sits in the past in my career," the 28-year-old said. "I was very fortunate to wear the Canadian jersey and win a gold medal at the under-18 level, and now this is a realistic goal to be playing with Belarus and to be competing at this level. Its really fun when were successful." Belarus was plenty successful in the preliminary round, going 4-3 to finish third in its group, ahead of Finland, Switzerland and Latvia and set up a quarter-final game against Sweden on Thursday night. Even if Sweden ends Belaruss run, the host teams performance wont be forgotten any time soon. When a victory over Latvia clinched a spot in the quarter-finals, Platt called it a "very rare opportunity for Belarusian ice hockey" that his teammates capitalized on. Lalande couldnt come up with words to describe his emotions. "We did it for ourselves because we believed," Lalande said, crediting fans who made a real impact on the team. "I think all of the Minsk and the whole countrys behind us right now. ... Were playing for us and were playing for them and its a tremendous feeling to be able to win in this fashion for them." Thats Hanlons priority, too. More than six years after being fired by the Capitals on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, he has no plans to return to coaching in the NHL and has invested a lot of time and energy on European hockey. Hanlon still keeps track of whats going on in North America and watches games because hes interested, but now the 57-year-old also checks on scores from leagues around Europe. Hes still a Canadian citizen, but the prospect of playing his native country doesnt mean anything to him anymore. "Whats special for me is winning for Belarus," Hanlon said. "Thats whats special." Trevor Bauer Jersey . By then it was clear: The 76ers were going to win for the first time in two months, and they were going to do it with ease. 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Fielder has been out with a herniated disk in his neck, and surgery was recommended after a follow-up exam and another scan Thursday with Dr. Nick Wittgren Indians Jersey .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre.NEW YORK -- Jose Bautista decided it was time to take charge, not with his bat but with his feet. The Toronto slugger stole second base without a throw with two outs in the ninth inning and scored when Dioner Navarro hit a go-ahead single, lifting the Blue Jays over the New York Yankees 5-4 Sunday for their first series win in the Bronx in nearly two years. "I just took a chance and said Im going to try and take a hop step when he comes set, and if he doesnt fake, Im going to run," said Bautista, who chose to run on his own against David Robertson. "He went to the plate, and I had the easiest stolen base. I got in scoring position early in the at-bat for Dioner." Robertson (1-3) blamed himself for letting Bautista run just ahead of Navarros liner to centre field. "I just let him slip. I didnt think hed be going, Robertson said. "I just didnt have my sharp stuff." After snapping a 17-game skid at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Toronto did not relent in the humidity even when it wasted three leads. The Blue Jays won for the seventh time in 10 games following the All-Star break -- the same record as the Yankees. But their first series win in New York against the AL East rival since Aug. 27-29, 2012, sent Toronto to Boston with a one-game lead over the Yankees for the second AL wild card. "Within our team, its more of a statement that we wont accept losing to anybody, because we are known as a team that doesnt give up and always battles and tries to come back from any game that were in," Bautista said. Aaron Sanchez (1-0) gave up Carlos Beltrans tying RBI hit in the eighth. Munenori Kawasaki had put Toronto ahead with a sacrifice fly that followed Dellin Betances two-base error on a pickoff attempt. "My cleat got stuck," Betances said. "As soon as that happened I had a feeling I was going to throw it away." Juan Francisco homered off Shane Greene leading off the fifth to put Toronto up 2-0. But Chase Headley hit his first homer with the Yankees, a drive off J.A. Happ, and two pitches laater Francisco Cervelli hit his first homer in 15 months to tie it in the sixth.dddddddddddd Casey Janssen pitched the ninth for his 16th save. Derek Jeter made two nice stops at shortstop and Brendan Ryan, a shortstop playing second base, also flashed some impressive leather while playing in Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The injured star was on the East Coast for a second opinion on his hip flexor from a doctor in Philadelphia. Bautista had a run-scoring grounder to first base after Jose Reyes led off the game with a single and Melky Cabrera doubled. Francisco led off the fifth with a drive into the second deck in right field for a 2-0 lead. But Happ gave it all back in a three-pitch span in the bottom half. First, Headley hit a drive deep to left. With a 1-0 count, Cervelli sent a shot to right-centre that glanced off a leaping Cabreras glove and hit the top of the right-field wall. Cervelli hadnt homered since April 25, 2013, a span of 65 at-bats. Rausmus put Toronto back up with a double to left-centre in the sixth, chasing Greene after 5 1-3 innings. "I got to have a short memory, but that one hurt," Greene said of the pitch to Rasmus. Greene allowed eight hits and three runs in his second straight difficult outing after beginning his career as a starter with two outstanding outings. Brian McCann evened it when he beat out a hit to Kawasaki, the second baseman who was playing in right field as part of a shift. NOTES: The Yankees have given up 43 unearned runs this year. They allowed 38 all last season. ... The Blue Jays designated RHP Esmil Rogers for assignment for second time this year. He did not make an appearance since his recall Tuesday from Triple-A Buffalo. ... Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira (back strain) hit off a tee and soft toss, and fielder grounders. Manager Joe Girardi said Teixeira is still day to day. ... Up next: The Blue Jays are at the Boston Red Sox. R.A. Dickey (8-10) will start Monday. The Yankees head to Texas for three games. David Phelps (5-4) pitches for New York. ' ' '