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TORONTO -- Bad weather is to blame for delays in completing a new Hamilton stadium and key venue for the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games, the governing Liberals said Wednesday. "Mother Nature has prolonged the winter and theyve slowed down a bit," said Michael Coteau, minister responsible for the 2015 Games. But taxpayers wont be on the hook for any overrun costs, he said, adding that hes confident all 31 Pan Am venues will be completed in time for the Games. The setback is forcing the Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for their first two home games of the season. The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions during the Games. Once completed, it will have 22,500 permanent seats and a potential capacity of 40,000 through temporary seating. But the Ticats said theyll have to use Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University -- which has 6,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 6,000 -- for games scheduled this month. The delay is unfortunate, but it will be short, said Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid. "The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be running onto that brand new field at some point this summer -- we expect by the third game -- as soon as possible," he said in the legislature. Disappointed fans should keep things in perspective, Coteau said. "The fans are going to be really happy once the site is complete, because its going to ignite the enthusiasm behind the sports team in Hamilton and across Ontario," he said. The TO2015 organizing committee said theyre still trying to get a final date for completion of the new stadium, but it will probably be August or September. "I dont know anybody whos happy about the Hamilton situation," said CEO Saad Rafi. "I think were all frustrated about that." But Hamiltonians will have a world-class facility thats going to be around for the next 50 years, he added. The CFL team spent the entirety of last season at the University of Guelph while the new stadium was under construction. The residents in her hometown are frustrated with what appears to be a "lackadaisical" attitude towards getting the stadium ready in time for football season, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. "The fans are the ones that suffer from not having the top-grade facilities and not having that ability to feel proud about the new stadium," said Horwath, who also represents the riding of Hamilton Centre. It doesnt bode well for the governments ability to have the other Pan Am facilities ready on time either, she said. "I think its a bad omen for the Games overall that one of the major facilities has not been completed on time," said Horwath. "And whether or not thats going to be a similar situation in other facilities -- I guess its wait and see." 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Air Max 720 For Sale .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. EDMONTON -- The Colorado Avalanche are looking quite ready to start the post-season. Erik Johnson led the way with a goal and an assist as the Avalanche gave themselves some breathing room in the playoff picture with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Paul Stastny, Jamie McGinn and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Avalanche (51-21-7) who have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight games. "We played the type of game that we need to play in the playoffs," said Colorado goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere." It didnt matter that we were playing a team that is out of it. We stuck to our game and I was really impressed with the way we played, its a really good time for our team." The win gave Colorado a four-point cushion over the idle Chicago Blackhawks for second place in the Central Division and two points up on the San Jose Sharks for third in the Western Conference. The Avs remained four points back of division-leading St. Louis. "I think we just want to keep winning," said Stastny. "We want to get home ice. Whether we catch St. Louis or not, we just want to keep moving forward. If Chicago wins again, we have to win again to guarantee home ice for at least one run. But were not looking that far ahead, were just looking at the next game. We just have to keep playing well." The Avalanche set a team record for road wins with the victory, improving to 25-10-3 away from Denver. David Perron replied for the 28th place Oilers (28-43-9) who saw a two-game winning streak come to an end. "It was a small step backwards tonight," said Oilers defenceman Jeff Petry. "We werent sharp from the beginning of the game on. We werent making tape-to-tape passes or catching passes. We were just a little bit off tonight." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins thought it was more than just a little off, especially in light of some of their efforts against top teams of late. "It was perplexing to say the least," he said. "On our last road trip and our last game here against Anaheim, we were dialled in, each and every guy. Tonight we just couldnt get our legs and get into the rhythm of the game. The biggest thing for me was it was almost like we couldnt work because we couldnt make two passes in a row. Our execution was just terrible tonight." Colorado started the scoring four minutes into the game after Stastny swatted the puck in through the legs of an Edmonton defender from the side of the net after goalie Ben Scrivens had made the initial stop on Gabriel Landeskog. It was Stastnys 23rd goal of the season. The Oilers tied the game on the power play with three minutes to play in the opening frame as Perron banked the puck off the skate of defenceman Nick Holden andd past Giguere.dddddddddddd. It was Perrons team-leading 28th goal of the year. However, the Avalanche restored their lead just 12 seconds later as Johnson walked past Petry and beat Scrivens up high. "That was a huge boot right in the you-know-what," Eakins said. "You arent going great and you get a goal that livens your bench and they barely drop the puck and bang, it is in the back of your net." Johnson knew it was a pivotal goal. "It was right after they scored a power-play goal, the first shift after," Johnson said. "I just wanted to make sure first and foremost we got the puck in deep. I had some speed and made a move and it was fun to make a play like that and score a goal like that at this level. "We controlled the pace of the game the entire game after that goal, I thought." Both goalies were solid in the scoreless second period, particularly Scrivens, who came across to make a huge toe save on Stastny after a bad bounce off the glass with two minutes left. The shots favoured Colorado 23-19 through 40 minutes. The Avalanche came into the game with a record of 34-0-2 when leading after two periods. Colorado took a 3-1 lead seven-and-a-half minutes into the third on a power-play goal as Barrie came in from the point and took a shot through traffic that beat Scrivens high to the glove side. The Avalanche made it 4-1 with just under four minutes left to play as McGinn smacked the puck into the net before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could clear it for his 19th of the year. Both teams return to the ice on Thursday as the Oilers play the third game of a season-ending four game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings. The Avs are on the road for their final four matchers, playing the second of a four game trip in Vancouver against the Canucks. Notes: It was the third and final meeting between the two teams this season. Edmonton started out with a huge 8-2 win over the Avalanche on Dec. 5, however the Avs bounced back with a 4-3 win two weeks later in Coloradoa Colorado is one of the few teams that the Oilers have had much success against in recent years, coming into the game with a record of 12-4-4 in their last 20 games against the Avalanchea Oilers forward Taylor Hall came into the game on a high note, having earned the NHLs first star status on Monday for his play last week. Hall potted two goals and added seven assists in four games to collect the honoura Out with injuries for the Avalanche were forwards Cody McLeod (ankle), P.A .Parenteau (knee) and Matt Duchene (knee)a Absent from the Oilers lineup were forwards Jesse Joensuu (ankle), Tyler Pitlick (knee), Ryan Jones (torn PCL), Luke Gazdic (shoulder), Nail Yakupov (ankle) and defenceman Andrew Ference (chest). ' ' '