CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Phil Kessel returned to work Friday hoping to talk about his blessedly short summer after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup in June.Instead, the forward ended up walking back a critical tweet about Team USA following its disappointing performance in the World Cup of Hockey. Kessel, the leading scorer for the Americans during the 2014 Winter Olympics, was not invited to join this time. While he said all the right things last spring after getting passed over, his frustration bubbled up while watching the U.S. lose to Canada on Tuesday.Just sitting around the house tonight w/my dog, Kessel posted on his account. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldnt put my finger on it.Kessel didnt delete the tweet even after some members of the U.S. team took exception. But he made it clear on Friday -- as the Penguins reported for training camp -- that it wasnt a personal attack on the group, which went winless in three games and failed to advance to the medal round.Obviously I meant no disrespect to any of the players, Kessel said. I have a ton of respect for all those guys there. I played with a lot of those guys. Theyre great players and great guys. I know this game is hard. I know its not an easy one to play.Kessel said he would rather focus on the 2016-17 season as the Penguins try to become the first team in nearly 20 years to repeat as champs. Hell spend the early days of camp seeing how his surgically repaired hand is responding after undergoing a minor procedure in July.Just going to take some time here, he said. Just kind of get back into it.Pittsburghs summer lasted all of 103 days, barely enough time to make sure everyone involved with the teams six-game victory over San Jose in the Stanley Cup finals got to enjoy some one-on-one time with their sports most valuable hardware.Its like we never left each other, defenseman Trevor Daley said. Looking around, didnt we just see each other the other day?Not that Daley is complaining. Theres a sweet reason for the short break, after all.Were the champs, obviously, Daley said with a laugh.Champs who insist theyre just as hungry as they were last spring, when they raced through the playoffs behind a mixture of speed, grit and the precocious goaltending of rookie Matt Murray. Pittsburgh did little to mess with its formula in free agency, keeping the core intact for what it hopes is another season that bleeds from spring until the edge of summer.Coach Mike Sullivan, however, is taking great pains during camp to keep his squad from getting complacent. He divvied the players into three groups hoping to keep things fresh.I think we have competitive guys by nature, Sullivan said. I think they like to compete. Its our job as coaches to put them in an environment where theyre allowed to compete. It took a lot of players for us to go through the playoff run that we did.Captain Sidney Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin are still in Toronto competing for their native countries in the World Cup. The two will meet in the semifinals on Saturday and are unlikely to return to their regular gig until the middle of next week. Their absence, however, will give others an opportunity to impress Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff.Whats exciting from our standpoint is that we have the type of depth that we have and we have players that are competing for jobs, literally, Sullivan said. Thats going to keep everyone at their best. That internal competition is a critical component to drive our team to the level that it was at last year.Pittsburgh opens the preseason on Tuesday in Detroit. The Penguins exhibition home opener is next Friday against Chicago. Chris Webber Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. De Aaron Fox Jersey . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. http://www.wholesalesacramentokingsjerseys.com/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Skal Labissiere Jersey . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Justin Jackson Jersey . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. LINCOLN, Neb. -- Creightons 90-points-a-game offense didnt show up until late against Nebraska.No problem. The 10th-ranked Bluejays were still more than good enough to beat their in-state rival again.Maurice Watson Jr. scored a season-high 25 points, Cole Huff added 13 and Creighton dominated the second half in a 77-62 victory Wednesday night.We had to win kind of an ugly game, and they were trying to make us play that way, Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said. Thats probably the fewest fast-break points weve had all season. I like to think our pace wears you out over time, and we had a hard time with it.The Bluejays (9-0) have won 15 of 18 meetings with the Cornhuskers (5-4), including the last six by double digits.Tai Webster had 16 points and Ed Morrow had 13 rebounds for the Huskers, who trailed 31-30 at halftime but went scoreless for 6 1/2 minutes in the second half. Creighton bolted to a 51-37 lead, and in the last 3 minutes it was a 21-point game.It makes me disappointed and sick to my stomach we couldnt foster a better fight, Huskers coach Tim Miles said. I thought we were in good shape until Tai picked up his fourth foul, and then we went on a long, long drought.Watson carried the scoring load in the Bluejays first true road game as Nebraska clamped down on Marcus Foster and Justin Patton. Foster had seven points and Patton had nine, both season lows.The Cornhuskers defense left driving lanes open for Watson, and the senior point guard took advantage. He made 10 of 20 shots. Hes never taken more than 21 shots in his career.My teammates kept saying for me to go, go go, and I kind of got comfortable, Watson said.The Huskers shot 32.4 percent overall and were just 3 of 22 on 3-point attempts.We took too many of them, Webster said. Like Coach Milees says: `Love the 2, like the 3.ddddddddddddThats when were at our best.Creightons Toby Hegner dunked with 3 1/2 minutes left, prompting the small contingent of Bluejays fans to chant C-U, C-U as the Nebraska faithful began heading to the exits. Big Red fans who remained booed Davion Mintzs fast-break dunk in the final seconds.The victory allowed Creighton to tie the all-time series 25-25.THE BIG PICTURECreighton: The Bluejays first road trip was a bumpy ride. The flow was choppy, and they couldnt get moving at the speed they like until after the game was decided.Nebraska: The Huskers are not a good offensive team to begin with, and they were worse than that against the Bluejays. You cant be that inept on offense and expect to win, Miles said.PATTON KEPT IN CHECKPatton, the Bluejays 7-foot redshirt freshman, was held under 10 points for the first time in nine games. He did have eight rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal.Its his first time playing in front of a crowd totally against us, and hell learn from it, McDermott said.HE SAID ITIf this doesnt hurt you, nothing does. If youre (home) tonight in another 20 minutes and playing video games until 1 a.m., you dont really care. Youve got to hate losing. Weve got teach them how to win, too. -- Miles.POLL IMPLICATIONSCreighton is No. 10 for the second straight week and is in no danger of dropping in the Top 25 after a convincing win over Nebraska and a near gimme at home on Friday against Longwood.UP NEXTCreighton hosts Longwood on Friday.Nebraska visits No. 3 Kansas on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . 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