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SOELDEN, Austria -- Ted Ligety got the defence of his World Cup giant slalom title off to a strong start on Sunday by winning the season-opening race on the mens circuit. cheap jerseys from china . It was the Americans first win on the Rettenbach glacier and his ninth overall, all in GS. "Winning in Soelden was a big target," Ligety said. "I have been on the podium here so many times. We have trained a lot on the course, thats definitely an advantage." Ligety, who is defending his third World Cup GS title this season, maintained his lead from the first run to finish in an aggregate two minutes 22.00 seconds. Alexis Pinturault of France took second, 0.29 behind Ligety. It was the second podium finish for the 20-year-old Pinturault, who won the world junior title in GS twice. Austrias Philipp Schoerhofer was 0.51 back in third, while former overall champion Carlo Janka of Switzerland dropped to fourth, trailing Ligety by 0.58. American Bode Miller finished ninth, 1.32 off the pace. Ligety had put himself in contention of the win with a strong start to his opening run. "I had the top section pretty well figured out and then how to ski the next little pitch," said Ligety. "There is not a lot to this hill but thats definitely a good spot to make up time." Overall World Cup champion Ivica Kostelic bounced back from a disappointing opening run, which he finished 1.70 behind in 18th, to place fifth. Austrias Benjamin Raich, who won the overall title in 2006, returned to the circuit after damaging his knee in a crash at the team event during Februarys world championships in Germisch-Partenkirchen. "I didnt have a bad feeling," said Raich, who finished 1.76 back in 19th place. "I slowed down on the steep part but that was what I had expected." Also returning from injuries were Olympic downhill champion Didier Defago of Switzerland, who missed last season after tearing ligaments, and Austrias Marcel Hirscher, who had been out since breaking his left foot a week before the worlds. Defago skied off course in his second run, but Hirscher geared up to take shared sixth with Thomas Fanara of France. Robbie Dixon of Whistler, B.C., who sustained a concussion in a crash in Bormio in December, and Jean-Philippe Roy of Ste-Flavie, Que., who sat out the second half of last season, also returned. Roy finished a distant 22nd overall with a time of 2:24.06 while Dixon missed out on the second leg after failing to finish his first run. Switzerlands Daniel Albrecht was 3.57 off the lead and failed to qualify for the second run in his first race here since winning in 2008, three months before a horrifying crash in the Kitzbuehel downhill ruled him out of World Cup skiing for almost two years. The mens World Cup circuit continues with a slalom in Levi, Finland, on Nov. 13. wholesale jerseys . -- Amid stories about Jeremy Lin and the upcoming all-star game, the Detroit Pistons have quietly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA. wholesale nfl jerseys . "I just want to help, just want to have fun, just want to play," Yakupov told reporters on Tuesday. The first overall pick from 2012 added that head coach Dallas Eakins doesnt trust him and something needs to be done. NEW YORK -- With Derek Stepan recovering from surgery and Dan Carcillo suspended, the New York Rangers got some good news Saturday with word that Derick Brassard is healthy for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final with Montreal. The Rangers centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. "I was told he cleared himself," Vigneault said with a laugh. "Thats good to know. He didnt tell me." As for Stepan, Vigneault says he was in hospital recovering from surgery to repair a broken jaw. Montreal forward Brandon Prust was suspended for two games by the league for the blindside hit. As one might expect, Vigneault said Stepan was "unlikely" to play Sunday. The 23-year-old centre has not missed a game since coming into the league in the 2010-11 season. Carcillo, meanwhile, was suspended 10 games for jostling a linesman in the aftermath of the Prust hit. Carcillo declined to speak to reporters Saturday. But Vigneault said the player knew he needed to have kept control of himself. "I cant begin to tell you how bad he feels about the whole thing," the coach said. "His situation, his personal future, the team. Theres nothing he can do about it now and therees nothing we can do about it. cheap jerseys. " Forward Brad Richards called the abrasive Carcillo "a great teammate." "I heard a lot about him before but I dont have one bad thing to say about him." The New York players, for the most part, had little to say about the length of the ban to Prust, a former Ranger. But goalie Henrik Lundqvist said that hot spots in the playoffs usually cool down in the off-season. "Especially during the playoffs, you dont see your opponents as friends, even though youve played with them. Right now I dont have any friends in Montreal," the stylish Swede said with a chuckle. "Theyre just enemies and you play it that way. Thats your approach. "But you also have to understand this game, you know, theres a lot of players that play on the edge. Thats their role, thats what they do. Theyre always going to play it like that and sometimes things happen and maybe they take it a little too far. As it comes to relationships, as friends, in the summertime you move past it. "But right now, do I like what happened? Absolutely not. But its on the ice, it happens on the ice. It is what it is." The Habs made one lineup change, with Thomas Vanek moving to the third line and taking Dale Weises spot, who moves down to the fourth line. Game 4 is Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers lead the series two games to one. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' '