Outside of Canada, there are very few countries where hockey is far and away the most popular sport. Latvia is one of them.Hockeys been always the No. 1 sport really back home, Buffalo Sabres centre Zemgus Girgensons said. Theyre just passionate about it. Its like soccer in some other European countries.Just like soccer fans flock to see the World Cup every four years, Latvians make a point to see their team at every international competition. At last years world championships, many drove over the southeastern border into Belarus, and slept in tents or in their cars to be around for the event.No fan base in international hockey is quite like Latvias. Ted Nolan found that out when he took over the Latvian national team and spent his first scouting trip there watching the fans more than players.The fans were so adamant, they were so boisterous, they were so into the game, you couldnt help but watch and be part of it, Nolan said.Fans followed Nolan and his team to world championships in Stockholm, Helsinki and Minsk and to the Olympics in Sochi.People plan their vacations around their national team, said Nolan, who now coaches the Sabres. Its not a fluid country where the people have a lot of extra cash and a lot of extra money. But this is a part of life they really enjoy, and they save and they use it as a vacation.So when some of the most fervent hockey fans in the world could spend nothing and still make an impact on the sport, they went all out. Girgensons led the NHL all-star voting from the get-go and finished ahead of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and everyone else with 1,574,896 votes.It was a show of force for Latvia, the small country of just 2 million people wedged between Russia and the Baltic Sea. But many of those people cared deeply about getting Girgensons to this weekends all-star game in Columbus.They want to vote him in, and when they saw hes leading, then they decided the mission is now to not relinquish the lead and to make him No. 1 vote-getter, said former NHL goaltender Arturs Irbe, a native of the Latvian capital of Riga. In the eyes of those fans, it puts our country on the map.Girgensons going to the all-star game is just the latest example of Latvian fans going above and beyond in the name of hockey.Irbe, who represented Latvia from before their move up into the IIHFs top division in 1997, said this kind of dedication has been going on for almost two decades.I have had my buddies from playing days travel 24 hours, 36 hours by bus, Irbe said. Partying, then going to the games, partying, going back, staying on a bus sometimes in tents, in camping sites — all kinds of places — because whatever your means are to support your vacation, thats what youre going to use.Its about the love of sport and the fun of partying, Irbe said, but Latvians also see hockey as a point of national pride. At Summer and Winter Olympics before and after being part of the Soviet Union, Latvia has never won a medal in a team sport aside from a bronze in beach volleyball in 2012.Mens and womens basketball have had some strong showings, but hockey is the focus.Our team has always been there — always not the strongest but not the weakest. Always being able to run with the big dogs, Irbe said. For us its important to see somebody in some field do well to be comparable, to be able to stand up to the strongest nations, to the best nations, as equal. Hockeys one of the ways how we can present ourselves being equal players on a world stage.Hockey is a bit like that for Canada, but Irbe said its even more important for a nation like Latvia that doesnt have the size or population to compete with richer, more powerful countries. The Sabres goaltending coach said the success of the Latvian hockey team boosts the confidence of individual people as they go about their daily lives.Two million people, its not a lot for the whole world, and to be able to show that actually we count, we matter and were successful, Irbe said. You have to have some success in life to be able to make next step and next stride towards more prosperity and a better life.Nolan is a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and has coached in the NHL and Ontario Hockey League. But leading Latvia was something hell cherish the rest of his life.Sometimes its even more so than winning a championship. You kind of help build the morale and the enthusiasm of a country, Nolan said. You notice it everywhere you go. People sometimes when were in a sport think the world revolves around sport but really it doesnt. But when youre in that moment where a sport can get people to forget about their worries and their problems and their issues for a few moments, for myself to be a part of that, was tremendous.It took coaching Latvia for three years for Nolan to understand the full scope of what the sport means there. Only now can he explain that to North Americans.If each fan can think back in their memory to one of the most exciting games theyve ever seen and the excitement of the crowd and the jubilation of that crowd in that one particular game, thats how it is in Latvia all the time, Nolan said. Thats how they feel about their game. Theyre very passionate about it.Girgensons is currently the beneficiary of that passion. Olas, a Latvian band, made a Zemgus Girgensons rap video about him, his NHL career and getting more all-star votes than Kane.The 21-year-old was the only NHL player on Latvias Olympic team, but all this newfound attention from the voting is something totally different.I was not expecting anything, Girgensons said. It just came out of nowhere somehow and it just kind of expanded back home as a big thing.With 44 points, Girgensons already has the fourth most of any Latvian to play in the NHL, trailing Sandis Ozolinsh and the late Sergei Zholtok and Karlis Skrastins. In just his second season with the Sabres, Girgensons has become the No. 1 centre and a big piece of their future.Hes one of our better players on the team, Irbe said. Hes a cornerstone for this team probably for years to come and in a lot of ways a good example of what a true warrior, a true Buffalo Sabre is supposed to be with his work ethic and the way he plays.With the NHL trying to make sure each team is represented, Girgensons may have gotten the call anyway. Nolan said the 21-year-old deserved it, but it didnt hurt to have a boost from back home.If there was a vote for anything, Id certainly love to be Latvian because you know youre going to get the support, particularly sports figures, Nolan said. Maybe he got the Latvian vote to help him in this time, but I think his natural abilities are going to help get him in the next time and the times after that.Girgensons is in elite company as just the third Latvian all-star in NHL history, joining Ozolinsh (seven appearances) and Irbe (two). Irbe worried that the league might change voting rules next season because of this, but for now, he and many in his home country will be watching this weekend to see Girgensons among the worlds best.Its a great feeling, Irbe said. Theres another Latvian all-star. Cant beat that.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Air Max 97 Damen Sale . "Youre next." Hardly. Iguodala tormented his former team with a game better than any he ever played in eight seasons with the 76ers. Nike Air Max 720 Schweiz .J. -- Pete Carroll said it was the suspension of linebacker Bruce Irvin last spring that finally got the attention of the rest of the Seattle Seahawks that they needed to be taking their commitment to the team more seriously. http://www.shopairmaxschweiz.com/air-max...men-billig.html. -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. 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"The last game was disappointing for me," Nowitzki said. "I was just hesitating too much, so I had to go back to having fun out there and just being me. "That was a heck of a game, and it was fun to be a part of." The 7-foot Nowitzki was 11 for 23 from the field and 8 for 8 at the line. "His emotion and his attitude carried the team," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "Hes a prideful guy. I think great players are great for a reason. They never let anything keep them down for long. Hes bounced back from every adversity hes ever had in his career, so this is no surprise." Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 43 points. He has scored at least 25 in 36 consecutive games in the longest such streak since Michael Jordans 40-game run during the 1986-87 season. Dallas had seven players score in double figures. Jose Calderon went 6 for 8 from 3-point range and finished with 22 points. Nowitzki said he spent time on Tuesday with Holger Geschwinder, his longtime basketball mentor from his home country of Germany. He said they got in a little shooting work. "I guess he was tired of watching my shooting percentage," Nowitzki said. "Its always good when hes there." Russell Westbrook scored 23 for Oklahoma City. All of his points came in regulation, when he played 31:50. He added another minute in overtime. Westbrook is limited to 30 to 32 minutes per game because of his oft-injured right knee. Oklahoma City was coming off a 117-96 victory over Denver on Monday night. The Thunder had won four in a row. "Im proud of our guys effort and energy, coming back from back-to-back games," coach Scott Brooks said. "I cant complain about anything we did tonight.&" "We didnt make the big play," said Durant, who has scored 40 points or more 13 times this season.dddddddddddd"They made shots in overtime. You have to give them credit." The Mavericks scored the first five points of the extra period on two free throws by Nowitzki and a 3-pointer by Calderon. They never trailed again. The victory pushed Dallas into eighth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of idle Phoenix. The Mavericks improved to 3-2 on a franchise-long, eight-game homestand, with three of the games going to overtime. They began the homestand in seventh place, 1 1/2 ahead of the ninth-place Suns. Calderon returned to the starting lineup after being knocked out of Sunday nights game in the first minute. He was whacked in the face by Brooklyns Mason Plumlee, chipping a facial bone between his nose and mouth. Calderon said the injury only hurts when he talks or laughs. "And I dont have to laugh during games," he said. Another of Calderons 3s came with 26.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter and sent the game into overtime. "It felt good from the beginning," he said, "but you dont know until that ball goes through the rim." Dallas won 109-86 at Oklahoma City on March 16 in the Thunders worst loss of the season. Westbrook missed that game because the team wants to limit the activity for his surgically repaired knee, choosing to rest him in one part of back-to-back games. Westbrook was the catalyst of Oklahoma Citys second-quarter rally after the Thunder fell behind by 10. He scored 10 points in the period, including a foul shot that gave Oklahoma City a 57-48 lead with 1:25 to go. But the Mavericks answered with three consecutive 3-pointers - one from Calderon and two from Vince Carter - to tie it with 33.4 left in the half. Durant then hit a 3 to give Oklahoma City a 60-59 lead at the break. The Thunder hit 14 of 18 shots in the period and shot 57.1 per cent for the half. NOTES: Thunder centre Kendrick Perkins, sidelined since Feb. 20 with a groin strain, is hoping to return at Houston on April 4. ... If Dallas finishes among the leagues top-10 teams, Oklahoma City will get the Mavericks first-round draft choice next summer as a result of a series of trades. ' ' '