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OTTAWA -- Hayley Wickenheiser doesnt put much stock in the flag-bearers curse. The womens hockey star, who will carry the Maple Leaf into the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics, says the idea that she and her teammates could be under any more pressure is absurd. After all, they play a sport that many in Canada consider religion. So any sort of cosmic jinx pales in comparison to the weight of an entire countrys expectations for the womens team to win a fourth straight gold medal in Sochi. "I think theres just too much emphasis to put on that," Wickenheiser said Thursday via conference call from Austria. "The pressure that we feel is the pressure that always comes with playing hockey as a Canadian hockey player, whether youre male or female. "The country expects a gold medal. Whether I carry the flag or not, Im pretty sure our team doesnt feel any extra added incentive that theres more pressure to perform, because we already feel that already." Not all athletes see it that way. Diver Alexandre Despatie felt it would be a distraction and said hed decline any offer to carry the flag at the 2012 London Games. Kayaker Adam van Koeverden carried the flag at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished a disappointing eighth in the 1,000 metres -- although he did win a silver medal in the 500. Moguls skier Jean-Luc Brassard blamed his disappointing performance at the 1998 Nagano Olympics on being the flag-bearer a day earlier. Wickenheiser and her teammates hope the same thing doesnt happen to them. Hockey Canada says the women will march in the Feb. 7 opening ceremonies despite playing their first game the following night versus Switzerland. Brassard, the assistant chef de mission for the Sochi team, was on the panel that selected Wickenheiser along with chef de mission Steve Podborski, assistant chef France St. Louis and one athlete representative. Hockey Canada nominated her for the honour. "Throughout her successful career, this Canadian athlete has demonstrated true Canadian grit, patriotism and sportsmanship," said Podborski, adding that Wickenheiser will lead the Canadian team with "the utmost pride and class." Wickenheiser is embracing the opportunity to put her sport centre stage. "What I think it does is it shines a very positive light on the sport of womens hockey and just on our sport in general for the world to see," said the 35-year-old forward. "Thats a great responsibility and expectation that every nation in the world has to carry in and I think should really embrace." The Shaunavon, Sask., native, who is at a pre-Olympic camp in Austria and wasnt able to attend the formal announcement Thursday on Parliament Hill, will be making her fifth Winter Olympic appearance. But for the first time since 2006, she wont be Canadas captain. Caroline Ouellette has been handed that job, while Wickenheiser will be an alternate. But she remains Canadas biggest womens hockey star and a pioneer of the game. She and teammate Jayna Hefford will be the only players in the 2014 womens hockey tournament who have played in every Olympic Games since female hockey made its debut in 1998. Her stewardship extends beyond hockey as a spokesperson for Right To Play, Clean Air Champions, KidsSport, Spread The Net, Plan Canadas Because I Am A Girl and Classroom Champions. Wickenheiser read the athletes oath in the opening ceremonies at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and she is running for election to the International Olympic Committees athletes commission in Sochi. Veteran speedskater Clara Hughes carried the flag at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics while womens hockey player Danielle Goyette was the flag-bearer at the 2006 Games in Turin. "I remember we were joking, like Dont trip and fall when you come in," Wickenheiser said of her conversation with Goyette before the opening ceremonies eight years ago. 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The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear.EDMONTON - It took a full-team effort from the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday to halt a six-game losing streak. Five players had a multi-point performance and goaltender Ben Scrivens made 34 saves as Edmonton avoided a seventh straight loss by defeating the visiting Nashville Predators 5-1. "It was a good team win, all four lines and all six defence were rolling pretty good," said Edmonton defenceman Justin Schultz. "We got contributions from everyone tonight. Whether they were on the score sheet or not, everyone played well. It was nice to get a win." Ryan Smyth, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Schultz had a goal and an assist apiece for the Oilers (16-32-7), who captured just their fifth win in the last 22 games, while Taylor Hall chipped in with two assists. Nail Yakupov added a single goal. "It was nice to get out to an early lead and I thought we carried momentum shift after shift in the first period," Smyth said. "We desperately needed a win, to build some confidence. Now we have confidence that we can win. We can come from behind if we need to, but it was nice to play with the lead." The Oilers have had five losing streaks reach five games or more this season, with six being their longest. David Legwand responded for the Predators (23-23-8), who have lost two in a row against a pair of Alberta teams that are both in the bottom three spots in the standings, blowing a lead in a 5-4 shootout loss in Calgary on Friday. "Im quite disappointed," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "We had a game in Calgary the other day and let a point slip away and tonight we had it 1-1 late in the first and I thought we would be in good shape. We gave up a poor goal in terms of our structure, it was bad coverage by us. When they got the third goal it took a lot of steam out of our bench." Veteran Predators forward Paul Gaustad said the last two losses have hurt for a team trying to claw its way into the playoff picture. "Its obviously not the result we wanted," he said. "Every team in this league is a really good team, no matter what the standings always say. We need to find ways to get two points. We have to start making a move up, we cant go down in the standings right now. These last two games, we needed to find a way to get more points. Its something were not happy with." Edmonton started the scoring three minutes into the game as Jesse Joensuu saw Schultz streaking in from the point and hooked a pass to the defender for a hard shot that beat Predators starter Carter Hutton. Nashville tied the game up with four-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening period as Legwand elected to shoot it himself on a two-on-one break and picked the top corner past Scrivens. Thhe Oilers went into the dressing rooms on a positive note after a goal with 12 seconds left in the first period as Hall sent a great pass through the legs of defender Roman Josi to give Eberle an easy redirection into the net from the doorstep.dddddddddddd. It was a significant goal, as the Predators came into the game with a 1-16-2 record when trailing after the first period. Nashville thought it had clawed even just 48 seconds in to the second period, but Taylor Beck was called for goalie interference for running over Scrivens as he chipped the puck in and the goal was disallowed. Edmonton went up by two goals midway through the second as Smyth picked up a rebound in the crease and hooked it past Hutton. It was Smyths 125th power-play goal as an Oiler, tying him for second spot on the teams all-time list with Wayne Gretzky and putting him one back of leader Glenn Anderson. "For Ryan, that was a special thing to do," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "Hopefully he can keep moving up the charts. Anything that has Mr. Gretzkys name on it and you can match it, its a great, great accomplishment." Smyth is also one goal back of hitting the top 100 list of all-time NHL scorers. Edmonton made it 4-1 with three minutes left in the second frame as Sam Gagner hit a trailing Yakupov on an odd-man rush and the 2012 first overall NHL draft pick sent home his 10th of the season. The Predators turned the third period into something of a shooting gallery at the Edmonton net and thought they had finally been rewarded on what looked to have been a Craig Smith goal, but once again Beck was called for goaltender interference as he was actually lying on top of Scrivens when the puck trickled across the line. "Ive never seen anything like that," Beck said. "On the first one I was just taking the puck hard to the net and my momentum kind of ran the goalie a little bit. I think the puck would have gone into the net regardless, but the ref called it no goal. On the second one I was getting hacked and whacked and ended up falling on the goalie and again it was disallowed. Those things happen, I guess. Hopefully next time it is called the other way." Edmonton put the game away for good with four-and-a-half minutes left to play after some quick passing on the power play led to Nugent-Hopkins 15th goal of the season. Scrivens was peppered with 35 shots on the night, 17 of which came in the third period. "Scrivens did an unbelievable job tonight, he was barking and talking and he was conducting the orchestra back there," Eakins said. "Ben was excellent directing traffic." The Oilers return to action on Monday night with a quick trip to Vancouver. The Predators conclude a four-game trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday. ' ' '