out. The Mavericks avoided the slow starts that plagued the

OTTAWA -- A majority of Canadians equate mens hockey gold with success at next months Sochi Olympics, a new poll suggests. Seventy-three per cent of those surveyed in the Harris-Decima poll, which was provided to The Canadian Press, said Canada winning gold in mens hockey is "important in determining the success of the Games." But even more say they view avoiding security threats as the most important measure of whether the Sochi Olympics are a success. In total, 83 per cent said it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats. That is a slightly smaller number than the 88 per cent who said in a survey prior to the 2010 Olympics that it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats in Vancouver. Nationally, 58 per cent of those polled suggested they would follow the Sochi Olympics very or somewhat closely, also down from those polled prior to the Vancouver Games. And just over half those polled suggested theyd be paying less attention to these Games than they did to the Vancouver Olympics. "We saw an amazing degree of national enthusiasm for the Games we hosted in Vancouver and we shouldnt expect Canadians to get quite that engaged for any other Winter Olympics," said Harris-Decima vice-president Megan Tam. "That being said, a majority of Canadians anticipate following the Games in Sochi and there is clearly some sense of national competitiveness demonstrated with the attitudes expressed about the importance of winning certain gold medals or even the most overall again." B.C. residents were the most likely to say they would be paying a lot less attention to Sochi. Mens hockey gold wasnt the only big item on the list of those who will be following the Olympics. A gold by the Canadian womens hockey team was also picked by 71 per cent as important in gauging success. And 70 per cent said they felt it was important there be no organizational problems that could give the Olympics a black eye on the world stage. Canadas overall standing was also important with 63 per cent saying its important Canada finish in the top three in the medal count, and 58 per cent suggesting Canada winning more medals than any other would be important in their determination of the success of the Olympics. The telephone survey of 1,015 Canadians was done between Jan. 9 and Jan. 13. The survey is considered accurate to a margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Javier Hernandez Jersey . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. Jesus Molina Jersey . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/guillermo-ochoa-mexico-jersey/ . - The New York Rangers have momentum, a unified locker room and Henrik Lundqvist. Hirving Lozano Jersey .Y. -- The New York Islanders were merely content with a lopsided victory. Jesus Manuel Corona Jersey . -- LeBron James warned the Orlando Magic to stop double-teaming him and ignoring James Jones.DALLAS -- Monta Ellis scored 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 21 and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of a 122-106 victory Friday night. The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. The Mavericks and Grizzlies (40-28) started the day in a virtual tie for the final post-season spot in the Western Conference. Vince Carter shook off a dislocated pinkie on his left hand in the first quarter to finish with 13. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 18 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter. Ty Lawson had 17 points and nine assists after missing a game with a sinus infection, and Randy Foye scored 15, all on 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by 15 early in the fourth quarter but couldnt put the Nuggets away until late. Denver was within 99-96 after a 3-pointer and dunk from Dallas native Darrell Arthur, who had nine of his 11 points in the second half. But Nowitzki hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers and Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion took turns feeding each other for baskets, the last one Marions dunk for a 109-99 lead with 4 minutes to go. Wright, a 6-foot-10 centre, had all three of his assists in a 4-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points. Marion scored 14 as the Mavericks had seven players in doubble figures.dddddddddddd Ellis, who scored 12 straight Dallas points to force overtime in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, ran off eight straight to put the Nuggets away and clinch a winning season after a 12-year run of winning records ended with a 41-41 mark last season. Ellis was 11-of-14 shooting and had seven assists. Hickson helped keep Denver close with 10 second-half points and was four shy of his season high against the Mavericks in November before going out. The Mavericks avoided the slow starts that plagued them the last time they played Denver and in an overtime loss to Minnesota, another West also-ran, in their last game. Jae Crowder really got Dallas going in the second quarter, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range, including three straight Dallas baskets that put the Mavericks up 50-36. Averaging 4.7 points per game coming in, Crowder led Dallas in the first half with 12 points but didnt attempt another shot. NOTES: The teams combined to go 25 of 52 from 3-point range. The Nuggets had 13 from long range and the Mavericks had 12. The season high is 12 for both teams. ... Nuggets C Kenneth Faried got a technical in the third quarter after colliding with Jose Calderon and knocking the Dallas guard to the floor. ... The Nuggets swept the season series with Dallas in 2008-09 and won four straight over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. ... The Mavericks recalled G Gal Mekel from the Texas Legends of the D-League. Hes played 31 games for Dallas and four games for the affiliate. The 26-year-old rookie from Israel missed nearly two months with a knee injury. ' ' '