PHILADELPHIA -- Steve Mason and the Flyers are playing their best hockey of the season heading into the Olympic break. Its a break team chairman Ed Snider would love to abolish. Mason stopped 38 shots, and Mark Streit and Michael Raffl scored goals, leading the Philadelphia Flyers past the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Thursday night. But with one game left before the break, the Flyers recent spurt could stall because of the Olympics. "I hate them," said Snider, the Flyers founder. He added: "Its ridiculous, the whole thing is ridiculous. I dont care if it was in Philadelphia, I wouldnt want to break up the league. I think its ridiculous to take three weeks off, or however long it is, in the middle of the season. It screws up everything. .. How can anybody be happy breaking up their season. No other league does it, why should we? Theres no benefit to us whatsoever. If anything, I can only see negatives." Reminded the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals during the last Olympics in 2010, Snider laughed. "Maybe I like them," he said. "I forget about that." Claude Giroux, who scored an empty-netter with 20 seconds left Thursday against the Avalanche, has plenty of time to rest during the break. He was snubbed Thursday by Hockey Canada when Martin St. Louis was picked as an injury replacement for his Tampa Bay teammate Steven Stamkos. Steve Yzerman, the Canadians executive director and Tampa Bays general manager, chose St. Louis over Giroux and Pittsburghs James Neal. "Its a farce," Snider said. "Hes one of the best players in the game. Its ridiculous. Hes better than half the guys on that team. "Anybody that thinks that Claude Giroux doesnt belong on the Canadian team, they dont know anything about hockey as far as Im concerned. Its politics, to a certain degree. He had to pick his own guy. His own guy is good, but Claude is better." The Avalanche, who lost 5-1 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, couldnt solve Mason until it was too late. The Avalanche called timeout with 1:27 left and pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov in a last-gasp effort at the tying goal. It didnt work. The Flyers scored in the second period, when Streits shot from the blue line was deflected by a defenceman and wobbled past Varlamov for his eighth goal. Streit is heading to his fourth Olympics for Switzerland. The Flyers got a scare when centre Brayden Schenn was checked from behind into the boards by Patrick Bordeleau. Schenn quickly got on his skates, and his teammates went after Bordeleau behind the net. Bordeleau threw his right elbow into Schenns back and the Flyer thumped the board, and then hit the ice. Bordeleau was hit with 5 minutes for checking from behind and a game misconduct. Colorado coach Patrick Roy was red faced and furious as he argued with the officials that the hit didnt merit an ejection. Masons play picked up after a recent pep talk from Hall of Fame goalie Bernie Parent. Mason stopped 14 shots in the first period and made the save of the night in the second when he robbed Gabriel Landeskog with a glove save from his rear. "I think we didnt make it hard enough for him in the first 55 minutes," Landeskog said. "I think the last five, we were in his face, banging rebounds, and trying to bang one home there and made it hard on him. We started throwing pucks from different angles and tough angles and what not." Mason posted a 1.51 goals-against-average over his last four starts, stopped 95 per cent of his shots and had two shutouts. "The job as starting goalie every night is to make sure we provide stability back there, and thats what Im trying to do," he said. Raffls seventh goal of the season, off a nice pass by Sean Couturier from behind the net, early in the third was the insurance the Flyers needed to win their third straight. Notes: The Flyers had a video tribute and a moment of silence for former coach and general manager Keith Allen. Allen died Tuesday. He was 90. "I love Keith Allen," Snider said. ... Lauren Hart, the daughter of longtime former Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart, sang "God Bless America," alternating lyrics with Kate Smith, who was on a video image. Smiths rendition of the song has been a rallying anthem for the Flyers since the mid-1970s. Dean Palmer Jersey . 1 and reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki was among Thursdays third-round winners, while second- seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the draw at the $4. Charlie Maxwell Jersey . -- The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Sidney Rice have agreed to terms on a deal. https://www.cheaptigers.com/1619z-marcos...sey-tigers.html. The 26-year-old Regina native teamed up with Denny Morrison and Mathieu Giroux to win gold in 2010. Makowsky also was 13th in the 5,000 metres and 19th in the 1,500m in Vancouver. He also represented Canada at the 2014 Games in Sochi, helping the pursuit team finish fourth and finishing 28th in the 1,500. Fake Tigers Jerseys . -- Wide receiver Sidney Rice should be fully recovered from a torn knee ligament by the time the Seattle Seahawks start defence of their Super Bowl title, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. Tigers Jerseys 2020 .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. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A dominating two-week road trip for the Chicago Blackhawks gave warning to the rest of the NHL: Its going to be difficult to dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Blackhawks seven-game, 13-day trip ended with a sixth straight victory Saturday night, as Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist in a dominant first period and Antti Raanta made 32 saves in a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. "We loved the trip," said coach Joel Quenneville, whose team improved to an NHL-best 20-4-4. "We loved the consistency. We loved the contribution were getting across the board." After watching a 3-0 lead become 3-2 after a sloppy second period, Brandon Bolligs goal with 9:11 left put it away for Chicago. Andrew Shaw and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, and Marian Hossa added an empty-net goal. Rob Klinkhammer and Martin Hanzal scored for the Coyotes, whose fourth loss in five games left coach Dave Tippett fuming. "Thats the top team in the league and we come out and start like that?" Tippett said. "Thats just unacceptable." On their annual, lengthy trip while the United Center hosts the circus, Chicago played in Colorado, toured western Canada and stopped in Dallas on Friday night, where the Blackhawks prevailed in the 11th round of a shootout. After stopping 10 of 11 shots in the shootout less than 24 hours earlier, Quenneville gave Corey Crawford the night off. Raanta, who secured his first NHL victory Wednesday in Calgary, showed poise in his second start after the Coyotes got within a goal late in the second period. "It was much easier to play today than in Calgary," Raanta said. "It was a pretty good game and I felt really good," The Blackhawks showed no fatigue early, while getting some help from the bumbling Coyotes, who have made a habit of falling behind early. Phoenix was called for too many men on the ice after the first shift 49 seconds into the game, and 25 seconds later Derek Morris was sent to the box for holding. Chicago took advantage of the 5 on 3 against the leagues 27th-ranked penalty killing unit as Kane deflected Hossas shot from the point, beating goaltender Mike Smith high for Kanes 16th goal of the season. The Blackhawks went up 2-0 when Shaw picked up the puck in a scramble in front of the net and sent a soft, bounncing backhand that squirted past Smith by the left post at 9:18.dddddddddddd Less than two minutes later, Hjalmarssons took Kanes pass off the boards and beat Smith from the corner and Chicago had three goals on 12 shots. "Great start. It could have been our best period to start a period all year," Quenneville said. It marked the second time this week Phoenix, which has been outscored 28-16 in the first period this season, had fallen behind 3-0 in the opening 20 minutes. "I dont know what it is. We obviously arent ready for the first period," Hanzal said. "We have to start making sure we are ready because this is unacceptable." Phoenix got within 3-1 early in the second period when Michael Stone intentionally shot wide. The puck bounced off the boards directly to Klinkhammer, who poked it in the net by the near post for his fifth goal, while Stone got an assist. Chicagos parade to the penalty box allowed the Coyotes to make it a game. With Hjalmarsson serving four minutes for slashing and then complaining about it, Hanzal redirected Radim Vrbatas pass in front of the net to make it 3-2 with 4:04 left in the second. But Chicago later killed off a 5-on-3 power play. Smith stopped 31 shots in what Tippett called a "very average" performance in a sour ending to a record-breaking night off the ice for the Coyotes. Despite competition in the area from the Arizona-Arizona State football game and the Jazz-Suns game, the Coyotes announced they broke a franchise record for single-game revenue, in part because all luxury suites were sold and the team has cut down on ticket giveaways. The sellout crowd of 17,321 was a high point for the once-troubled franchise, which was under NHL control until a group led by George Gosbee took over this summer and committed to keep the team in Arizona. But the Coyotes fell to 0-2 against the Blackhawks. "The consistency is what were appreciating," Quenneville said. "The energy and enthusiasm in the locker room and on the bench is as good as weve seen it here." NOTES: Coyotes D Rusty Klesla, who was waived Tuesday, sent to the minors Wednesday and then recalled Friday so he could attend to a personal matter, was a healthy scratch. ... The Blackhawks host Dallas on Tuesday in their first home game since Nov. 17. ... The Coyotes begin a four-game road trip Tuesday at Edmonton. ' ' '