Kimi Raikkonen admits the lap which earned him third on grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix was still pretty average.Raikkonen jumped up to third late in the session, putting him ahead of Red Bulls Max Verstappen on the second row of the grid. Despite being best of the rest behind the Mercedes drivers Raikkonen admits he had been struggling for pace before and during his last attempt.I struggled the whole qualifying, in a few places, a few corners and in the middle sector, he said. To be honest the last lap was pretty average in my view, but obviously it was enough to be in third place. The Mercedes seems to be a bit too far.I struggled in the first two corners with tyre warm-up a bit and even the middle I wasnt very happy but I dont mind, it was good enough for this and we will see what we can do.Red Bull came into the weekend hoping to fight Mercedes again but has slipped into the clutches of Ferrari as it has progressed. There is one of either car on the second and third row and Raikkonen thinks the complexion of the grid shows Ferrari is still making improvements this late in the year.Its been very close with Red Bull, most of the year. Sometimes weve been a bit behind, sometimes in front. I think weve done in the recent races a very good job as a team, improved in certain areas, tried new things and have learned some positive things.As a team weve worked very well and that has helped us to go back to where we were at the start of the year. Hopefully we can have a good, strong race tomorrow. I think its all about learning from what weve done, improving things and having everyone pushing in the same direction. Larry Robinson Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Jeff Petry Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.cheapcanadiensjerseyschina.com/shea-weber-jersey/ . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Wholesale Canadiens Jerseys . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Jacob de la Rose Jersey . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. OSLO, Norway -- Thomas Mueller helped Germany launch a confident start to its World Cup title defense Sunday with a 3-0 away win over Norway.Mueller scored two goals and set up another for Bayern Munich teammate Joshua Kimmich as the world champions eased to a comfortable start in the Group C qualifier.With Thomas Mueller Id rather he had scored a few goals at the European Championship, Germany coach Joachim Loew joked.Mueller opened the scoring in the 15th minute, scrambling the ball in at the second attempt after seeing his first try blocked by a combination of Even Hovland and Havard Nordtveit.It was an unconventional goal, typical of Mueller, who hadnt scored internationally since the 2-1 win over Georgia in Euro 2016 qualifying in October 2015.Mueller set up Kimmich just before the break, spotting his run and laying off the ball for the 21-year-old to score his first international goal, and the forward then rounded off the scoring on the hour, heading in a precise cross from Sami Khedira.He worked really hard at the European Championship and had a lot of channces without scoring a goal.dddddddddddd This will do him good for the rest of the season, Loew said of Mueller.Rune Jarstein prevented an even worse evening for Norway with a good save to deny substitute Julian Brandt late on.Manuel Neuer led Germany out as designated team captain for the first time following Bastian Schweinsteigers retirement but the `keeper had little to do.It was Loews 139th game in charge, putting him level with Helmut Schoen, though he still has some way to go before matching Sepp Herbergers record of 167 matches.---ALSO IN GROUP CNorthern Ireland held the Czech Republic to a goalless draw in Prague. Filip Novak missed a great chance in the second half for the home side, which had looked more like scoring in what was a frustrating debut for new coach Karel Jarolim.Ruslan Gurbanovs first international goal gave Azerbaijan a 1-0 win in San Marino, which had defender Cristian Brolli sent off early in the second half. ' ' '