WINNIPEG -- Glenn Howard kept his sense of humour after losing his opening game at Sundays Canadian Curling Trials. Antoine Griezmann France Jersey . "I guess were not going undefeated," Howard said with a wry grin after losing 8-6 to John Morris of Vernon, B.C. The four-time world champion from Penetanguishene,Ont., wasnt the only veteran skip to fall on the first day of the Trials, which will select Canadas mens and womens teams for next years Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie team upset hometown favourite Jeff Stoughton 7-4. Reigning Olympic champion Kevin Martin had a duel against Winnipegs Mike McEwen, but the Edmonton skip finished with a 5-3 victory. Torontos John Epping was also victorious when he got by Calgarys Kevin Koe 9-8. "Theyre probably going to be in it at the end of the week so thats a big first win," said Jacobs, 28, a runner-up at this years world championships. His team led from the beginning and widened the gap 4-1 after a double takeout in the fifth end scored two. Even though the two-time world and three-time Brier champion Stoughton is beloved by local fans, the knowledgeable crowd of 10,214 at MTS Centre cheered in appreciation of Jacobs tough shot. "That extended the lead nicely and I think just kind of boosted everyone up a little bit," Jacobs said. Stoughton said his rink didnt put enough pressure on Jacobs. "But we didnt do much wrong, so not great, not bad," he said. "Course wed rather win the first game than lose it, but were not going to hang our heads. You cant in this event." Stoughton, 50, is playing in his fifth Trials and has said this is his last crack at trying to earn an elusive berth to an Olympics. Martin was relieved to beat McEwen. "Holy smokes, what a game," Martin said. "Well, thats the ice, right. Its just perfect so every shots makeable." Theres a fine line between the competitors. "One different shot and Mike wins, and then we dont," Martin said. "Thats the way its going to be here all week. Theres going to be games just like that all week and its just going to be a real dog fight for the whole time." Samuel Umtiti Jersey . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night. Adil Rami Jersey . They showered him with "MVP! MVP!" chants. In many ways, it seemed like hed never been gone. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/n-golo-kante-france-jersey/ . -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett thinks of one thing when he watches Eastern Conference teams struggle against Western opponents before they get to Phoenix: His team must keep pace.TORONTO -- Goaltender James Reimer allowed six goals on 21 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-0 Monday night, two nights after he had a career-high 49 save performance. Cam Atkinson and R.J. Umberger scored for Columbus (9-12-3) in a 20 second span in the first period. Then Jack Skille and Ryan Murray added goals 3:15 apart in the second period. Ryan Johansen scored twice in the third as the Blue Jackets won for the third time to conclude a five-game road trip (3-2-0). Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for his fifth career shutout. Atkinson opened the scoring at 10:18 of the first period, knocking a Matt Calvert pass out of mid-air and putting it past Reimer for his sixth of the season. Twenty seconds later, Umberger picked up his sixth of the season putting home the rebound after Reimer made the initial save off Ryan Murrays wrap around attempt. James van Riemsdyk had Torontos (14-9-1) best chance of the first period, one-timing a Phil Kessel feed through Bobrovskys pads, but the puck trickled just wide of the Columbus net. The Leafs troubles continued in the second as Mark Letestu capitalized on a Mark Fraser turnover at the Columbus blue-line. Letestu fed Skille on a 2-on-1 break for his first of the season and first as a member of the Jackets at 3:07 of the period. Skille drew a hooking penalty 2:13 later. On the ensuing Columbus power play, Murray put a Johansen feed past Reimer. Monday was Murrays first career multi-point game. The Blue Jackets scored twice on their first four shots of the second period prompting the ACC crowd to jeer Reimer following a routine save. Johansen finished a 2-on-1 feed from Nick p;Foligno at 9:05 of the third making it 5-0. Presnel Kimpembe Jersey. Johansen then added his team-leading eighth of the season at 11:25 of the third ending Reimers night early. Reimer entered Monday with a 6-2-0 record and a league-best .947 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average. Since allowing four goals to Ottawa and getting pulled in his second game of the season Oct. 5, Reimer had stopped 156 of 161 shots at home for a .969 save percentage. Reimer was 4-0-0 in five starts during that span. Monday was Reimers first career start and loss against Columbus. Bernier made one save in relief. At 10:50 of the third Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf was assessed a minor penalty illegal contact to the head as he caught Columbus forward Artem Anisimov with an open-ice hit. Anisimov left the game immediately and did not return. Adding to the Leafs poor showing, forward Joffrey Lupul left the game at the end of the second period and did not return for the third. Tyler Bozak made his return to the Leafs line-up Monday after missing 12 games with a hamstring injury. Bozak finished with a minus-2 rating. Notes: With the return of Bozak, Peter Holland was a healthy scratch Monday joining fellow centre, Trevor Smith. Leafs defenceman Paul Ranger was the odd man out on the blue-line. Columbus used an emergency recall to call-up Sean Collins from their AHL affiliate in Springfield Monday, but the forward did not get to Toronto in time for puck drop. Blue Jackets defenceman Dalton Prout was activated from injury reserve and returned to the lineup after missin