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SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Mercedes locked out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg claimed pole position on Saturday, qualifying ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. It was Mercedes third straight pole to start the Formula One season but the first for Rosberg, who equaled his father Keke with five career poles. Rosberg leads the championship on 43 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. "It has just worked well through the weekend, finding my way, making progress and getting through some issues," Rosberg said. "I have good memories of this track, winning the GP2 championship and starting my first race in F1. I enjoy coming here and again today its suited me." Rosberg and Hamilton have a win each from the opening two races of the season and Mercedes also dominated the three practice sessions leading into qualifying, both in day and night conditions, with Sundays race to be held at night for the first time. The only surprise was Rosberg taking pole ahead of Hamilton, who usually thrives in the one-lap format. "I locked up in the last lap but generally I am happy for the team," Hamilton said. "Nico did a great job and naturally Im happy my teammate is there and not someone else." Defending four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel did not even make the final session of qualifying and will start from 10th on the grid -- promoted one spot as his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified third, gets a 10-place grid penalty from the previous race in Malaysia. Vettel paid the price for a session-ending spin in pre-qualifying practice which prevented him from getting valuable data on how to set up the car on the soft-tire, low-fuel setting. He also complained of a downshifting problem. "The final run for some reason was a bit more difficult, the rears were locking up," Vettel said. "We had been playing around with it for quite a while, we are still not where we want to be but I dont want to blame it on that. There was a little bit more in the car which I couldnt get to, so I am not happy with today." Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Sergio Perez qualified fourth and fifth respectively and, with the one-place promotion, both equaled their best career starting positions. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth, four places ahead of Fernando Alonso, to take the qualifying honours over his teammate for the first time this season in what is expected to a year-long fight between the two former world champions. Alonso said the car was down on power in the final part of qualifying, though he felt the teams starting grid positions of fifth and ninth were "more or less what we expected to be honest." "Q2 we were down a little bit and Q3 we lost more," Alonso said. "Still, we didnt miss out on the possibility of pole position because we are not in that kind of position. Its just a couple of places that hopefully tomorrow we can recover." McLarens Jenson Button, contesting his 250th grand prix, qualified in seventh and his teammate Kevin Magnussen was ninth, separated by Felipe Massa of Williams. Aside from Vettels early elimination, the main surprise of Q2 was Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg qualifying in 12th, having been fastest of all drivers in Q1 and showing strong pace during the practice sessions. Saubers Adrian Sutil was hit with a five-place grid penalty for impeding Lotus Romain Grosjean in the first session of qualifying, sending him to the very back of the grid. Bob Gainey Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Custom Montreal Canadiens Jerseys . The Rangers announced after Thursdays 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees that they would purchase Williams contract from Triple-A Round Rock. The 32-year-old Williams was released by Houston earlier this month after going 1-4 with a 6. http://www.authenticcanadienspro.com/Joe...nadiens-jersey/. The 30-year-old Kottaras served as Kansas Citys backup catcher last season after being claimed off waivers from Oakland in January. Alexei Kovalev Jersey . Winning more at home probably should be on the list. The Flames look to avoid a fifth defeat in six home games by winning a sixth straight meeting with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Dominic Moore Jersey . The announcement was made by the hall on Friday, March 14. She joins Switzerlands Denise Biellmann as this years inductees to the Hall, based in Colorado Springs, CO.As Randy Carlyle watched Team Canada clinch their second consecutive Olympic gold medal early Sunday morning, it was the way in which they went about achieving success - a complete defensive domination surrendering just three goals against in six games - which piqued his interest most. "I looked at it and I hope our players understand that defense does win, thats the simplest statement you can make," said the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach on Monday. If there is a goal for the Leafs over their remaining 22 games, it should be to clamp down defensively. Throughout the season, they have routinely been outshot, allowing 40 or more shots on 16 different occasions, and a league high 2175, 146 more than the next highest team, the Ottawa Senators. Of their 32 wins, the Maple Leafs lead the NHL with 25 wins in games that they have been outshot. A large part of their success has come from excellent goaltending and their ability to outscore their defensive issues, sitting behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most goals scored in the Eastern Conference. But come playoff time, it is often the best defensive teams that emerge victorious. "We know that we can score goals as a team so if we can tighten up a little bit our defence, we feel were going to be a tough team to beat," said Jonathan Bernier, who has faced the third-most shots in the NHL this season. "I think that youve seen that over a long time, not just in that tournament, that good defensive teams have success," added captain Dion Phaneuf. "When you play good defence, it means you have the puck more and that generates more offence. Thats a fair statement when you say defence wins, its been like that for a long time." Team Canadas defence was made effective, primarily by the cohesion featured among the five playeers on the ice at any given time, and the relentless nature in which forwards back checked.dddddddddddd While that system was executed by some of the finest players in the game, strong defensive skills are not like offensive talent. When it comes to scoring goals, some players simply have more of a knack at it than others but, as Dave Bolland explained, there should be no excuse for poor defensive play. "Defence is about commitment," he said. "I know coming into the NHL, my defensive skills were terrible, and I admit that. But I learned that defence wins you games. I sort of took a hold of that and set it up as my third-line role." Bollands impending return (he, like last week, remained coy today about the potential of dressing against the New York Islanders this Thursday) should help lead the way in terms of defensive commitment. In 15 games before going down with the severed tendon in his left ankle, Bolland showed himself to be among the Leafs top defensive forwards. "I learned a lot about back checking when I got into the league," said Bolland. "When I was in juniors, you didnt even think about coming back. Once I got up to the NHL, you learn backchecking is crucial. The first guy I learned that from was Marian Hossa. You see that guy backcheck, he corrupts [sic] a lot of puck and he corrupts [sic] a lot of sticks, hes always back in the right spots." For an example of the style of play he hopes his players can work toward, Carlyle looked no further than the gold medal game itself. "In that game, it was played at a very high pace, but defence, probably on both hockey clubs, was very evident in the way they approached it and how they tried to set up their defensive schemes," he explained. "On the big ice surface, it doesnt look as ' ' '