Jeff Stoughtons 11th Canadian mens curling championship is a bit of a homecoming. Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. He has won twice since -- the last in 2011 -- and is a two-time world champion. "Its kind of special being able to come back after so many years to a place with some great memories," he said in an interview. "Its pretty cool and the team is really looking forward to getting on with the week." The Brier starts Saturday and runs to March 9. Last year Stoughton lost the Brier final in Edmonton 11-4 to Brad Jacobs and his Northern Ontario rink. Stoughton had a disappointing 3-4 finish at the Olympic Curling Trials in December, as Jacobs went undefeated in claiming the right to wear Canadas colours in Sochi. Stoughton had lots of company. No one could slow the juggernaut from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.. "There was only one happy team coming out of those trials and that was obviously Jacobs," said Stoughton. "We just sort of decompressed for a few weeks and then got right back at it, had a great Skins Game, great fun Continental Cup with the guys, and then just carried right through to the Safeway championship in Winnipeg." In this years Brier field -- with both Jacobs and Alberta veteran Kevin Martin absent -- Stoughton and Albertas Kevin Koe are favourites. Manitoba has a record 27 wins at the Brier, followed closely by Alberta with 25. Koe is representing Alberta this year for the third time, after beating Martin 7-5 to take the provincial title. Koe won the Brier in 2010, his first appearance, and went on to win a world championship. Just getting out of Alberta is tough for Koe, who curls out of Calgary. "Youve got to get through one of the top teams in the world in Kevin Martin and its definitely not realistic to think you can do that every year," he said. He recognizes hes going to be one of the favourites along with Stoughton but says thats no different than any other year and the rest of the field may be deeper than some suspect. "Theres quite a few teams that a lot of people dont know about that I think will do pretty good, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, maybe even the Territories. I think its a pretty tough field actually." Theres maybe a little family pride creeping in there. For the third time in five years, hell be joined at the Brier by brother Jamie, who skips the Northwest Territories-Yukon entry. Jamie Koe is making his eighth appearance. In 2012, the brothers met in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff. Kevin won and Jamie later lost to Manitobas Rob Fowler in the bronze-medal match but it was still a strong finish for a Territories team. Saskatchewan is led by 2003 World Junior champ Steve Laycock, back for his second appearance as skip at the Canadian championship with a new team of Kirk Muyres, Colton Flasch and Dallan Muryes. Jean-Michel Menard is back for his eighth try after becoming just the second skip from Quebec to win the championship in 2006. His lineup consists of Martin Crete, Eric Sylvain and brother Philippe Menard. One of the only new faces this year is Ontarios Greg Balsdon, who stopped Glenn Howard from making his ninth straight appearance at the Brier. "I dont want to say we lucked out because weve had good games but theyve obviously beaten us more than weve beaten them," Balsdon said of the final, that saw Howard miss with his last rock and give up the winning point. Balsdon is new to the Canadian mens championship. He was part of the Cory Heggestad-led team that won the 2013 Canadian Mixed, but he says this feels bigger. "It feels just amazing. I dont think well truly appreciate it until were there," he said. Another team that has the chops to run with the best is also the hometown favourite -- John Morris and his B.C. rink, that features former skip and Kamloops native Jim Cotter at third. "Its exciting," says Cotter. "I think back 18 years ago when it was in Kamloops and Barry McPhee was the hometown team and I remember watching in the crowd there and I was pretty excited for those guys. . . Here we are 18 years later and Ive got the same opportunity." They made it all the way to the final against Jacobs at the Olympic Trials by beating Martin. After a disappointing loss, they took a few weeks off during the holidays to regroup but Cotter says they took good things out of the trials into the provincial finals in B.C. The addition of the veteran Morris, now curling for his third province, has made a huge difference, Cotter says. "We really have clicked. Johns just a phenomenal guy on and off the ice." Jacobs, meanwhile, is still celebrating his Olympic gold-medal win. The schedule made it virtually impossible to compete for a berth in this years Brier, although starting in 2015 the previous years winner will get an automatic berth, something the women already do. With Jacobs out of the mix, 1996 Canadian junior champ Jeff Currie was able to shift the Northern Ontario title from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay with his team of Mike McCarville, Colin Koivula and Jamie Childs. Former Olympic champ Brad Gushue from Newfoundland and Labrador is still the headliner out of the Atlantic provinces and James Grattan is making his 11th appearance for New Brunswick. Eddie MacKenzie has led Prince Edward Island to the Brier for three of the last four years and Jamie Murphy is back after also representing Nova Scotia at the 2012 championship. Brier finalists each receive $40,000 in prize money, the bronze medallist gets $30,000 and the $20,000 goes to the fourth-place team. 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Cammalleri scored two goals, Corban Knight netted the winner in a shootout, and the Flames erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Stars 4-3 on Friday night.With just two days prior to the Olympic trade freeze, the Pittsburgh Penguins are visiting the Buffalo Sabres in what could be Ryan Millers final home game as a member of the team with which hes spent his entire 11-year career. You can catch all of the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Trade rumours continue to swirl around the Team USA netminder and Wednesday night could be the final time the East Lansing, Michigan native suits up as a Sabre in front the of the First Niagara Center faithful. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to become just the second team to reach 40 victories on Wednesday night as they visit the Buffalo Sabres. Pittsburgh is leading the Eastern Conference with 80 points, five more than the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins. That total also is just five back of the 40-13-5 Anaheim Ducks for the best record in the NHL. The Penguins, owners of a 15-point edge over the New York Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan Division, have won three of four and 10 of their last 14 games. That includes a 2-1 victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Monday. James Neal scored for the first time in nine games, putting home the rebound of a Robert Bortuzzo shot 1:55 into overtime for his 18th tally of the campaign. Pittsburgh outshot Ottawa 48-25 and got 24 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. "We stuck with the game plan and kept getting pucks to the net. (Neal) made a great play in overtime for the win," said Pens forward Brian Gibbons, who notched power-play goal in the first period. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang missed his third straight game with an undisclosed illness and did not travel to Buffalo, while forward Taylor Pyatt is expected to miss the next two games with a lower-body injury suffered against Ottawa. Pittsburgh will host the New York Rangers on Friday in its final game before the Olympic breakk.dddddddddddd Buffalo plays the first of two games on back-to-back nights before it breaks for the Olympics. The Sabres will visit the Senators following this contest. The Sabres hope to have halted a seven-game slide at home before heading to Ottawa, a skid that was extended with Mondays 3-2 setback to the Edmonton Oilers. Jhonas Enroth made 25 saves, but allowed Matt Hendricks short-handed goal in the third period that proved to be the difference despite the Sabres notching a season-high 44 shots in the game. Steve Ott scored on the power play and Drew Stafford notched a short-handed tally with 56 seconds left in the first period to put Buffalo ahead 2-1, but the Sabres lost for the ninth time in 11 games overall. Stafford scored in his return after missing the previous four games with an upper-body injury, wristing a shot top shelf for his fourth goal and sixth point in his past five games played. "I thought Drew, the way he shot that puck, thats what we want to see," said Buffalo interim coach Ted Nolan said. "Hes a big power forward and hes starting to get his confidence back." The Sabres, last in the NHL with 38 points, lost defenseman Tyler Myers to a lower-body injury and he is day-to-day, though he has not been ruled out for tonight. Wednesday marks the third and final meeting of the season between these clubs and lone clash in Buffalo. The Penguins have outscored the Sabres by a 7-1 margin in taking the first two tests at home, including a 3-0 shutout victory on Jan. 27. Fleury stopped 24 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, while Miller made 31 saves. Fleury is 14-5-2 with a 2.46 goals against average and two shutouts in his career versus the Sabres, while Miller has gone 7-12-3 with a 3.21 GAA when facing the Pens. Pittsburgh has won 11 of the past 15 meetings overall and four of the last five in Buffalo. ' ' '