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RENTON, Wash. - At some point every week, Pete Carroll will describe the upcoming opponent as a championship opportunity.Every week. Without fail. No matter the quality of the competition or the setting of the game. The end goal is that when a big game arrives — like last Februarys Super Bowl, or Sundays NFC West showdown with Arizona — its handled in the same way as any other week.Were not going into this game thinking were unfamiliar with it or its going to be something we dont know how to handle or whats up. We dont feel like that at all, Carroll said Wednesday. That comes from years of experience and being through it and a bunch of young guys now that theyre pretty well experienced at the timing of these kinds of games.That attitude and approach took a while to kick in. Richard Sherman first noticed it when Seattle won at Washington in the 2012 NFC playoffs. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett — newcomers during Seattles title run in 2013 — started to understand where Carroll was coming from about midway through the regular season.Its all about preparing the same, dont get too high because its a Monday night game or because its a 1 p.m. game or whatever, Avril said. Treat every game the same and youll get probably the same results.Clearly what Carroll has implemented has worked. For the fourth time in Carrolls five seasons with Seattle, the Seahawks are in contention for a division title going into the final weeks of the regular season.But after being in control of home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed for most of last season, this Week 16 showdown with Arizona is significant.A win by the Cardinals gives them the NFC West title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, needing just two wins to play in the Super Bowl on their home field.For the Seahawks, a victory wouldnt guarantee a playoff spot unless they get some help earlier in the day. But it would potentially leave Seattle needing just a home victory over St. Louis in Week 17 to clinch the division title and home-field advantage.Two wins would give Seattle the No. 1 seed in the NFC as long as it doesnt finish in a tie at 12-4 with Dallas, in which case the Cowboys would hold the tiebreaker. Seattle would win any two-way tiebreakers with Detroit, Green Bay or Arizona and all three-way tiebreakers go in favour of the Seahawks.Why is that important for Seattle? Over the past three seasons, playoffs included, the Seahawks are 23-2 at home and have outscored opponents by an average of 14 points per game.I think its important that if youre going to play at your best and perform at a very high level you have to be comfortable with the setting, and if youre uncomfortable and unsure it can make a difference and distract you some, Carroll said. We have that going for us. We feel very good about that. We have been in winning situations in December and its been the chance for us to do some really good things and weve come through for a good part of that.While Seattle tries to keep important games on the same level as every other matchup, Arizona coach Bruce Arians said Wednesday he wants his players to embrace the scope of Sundays matchup.You dont get to play for the damn thing very often so its not like Seattles played for it for a hundred damn years. Im sure theyre embracing it also, Arians said. So you fight your (rear) off all year to play for this game and sure you embrace it but you dont change how you prepare for it, its still the same process.NOTES: Seattle C Max Unger (ankle/knee) did not practice Wednesday. Carroll said Unger struggled to recover from his work last week. Hes missed the last four games. ... LT Russell Okung (chest) is still in the mix for Sunday but was scheduled to have additional exams on Thursday to check his recovery from a bruised lung. ... G J.R. Sweezy (ankle) did not practice Wednesday.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Wholesale Nike Shoes For Sale . Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night. Cheap Nike Shoes On Sale . According to a report from ESPN, sources said Manuels college coach Jimbo Fisher told teams he didnt think Manuel had the tools to be an NFL starter. http://www.cheapnikeshoeschina.com/. UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Nike Factory Outlet Online . Its like being on Broadway, everything you do matters. Id want to be good though! I couldnt play here if I wasnt very good. #83217388 / gettyimages. Cheap Nike Shoes Free Shipping . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wild kept their chins up and turned what could have been a negative outcome into a positive. Parise and Jason Pominville scored in the shootout, lifting Minnesota to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. Parise tied the game late in the third period for Minnesota, which has won five of six and is 8-1-2 in its last 11. The Wild have been involved in three straight shootouts -- winning two. In the shootout, Parise beat Jonathan Bernier low on the left side before Josh Harding stopped Raymond. Mikko Koivu was stopped by Bernier and Phil Kessel lost control of the puck before Pominville beat Bernier through the pads for the win. "We had little bit more of a feeling that this game was there for us if we could keep going," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. Parise tied it with 4:17 to play in regulation when, after a turnover by Kessel, Charlie Coyles shot from low on the right side deflected off Parises skate and into the net. The goal came 2 minutes after the Wild managed to get one shot on a 5-minute power-play after Nazem Kadri was assessed a match penalty for hitting Mikael Granlund in the head. "He made initial contact with the shoulder and the kid had his head down, he didnt have his arms up, he ran into the player, Granlund snapped his head back and obviously, the referee saw it differently, and obviously, with a five-minute match penalty, itll be reviewed," said Toronto coach Randy Carlyle. However, Minnesota heard plenty of boos from the crowd as it got off just one shot during the man-advantage. "Even the guys that were power-play guys were coming back saying, Cmon, we still got lots of time, talking, saying the right things and these are the leaders of your team," Yeo said. "Ive been part of many games where you have something like that and frustration creeps in and its real easy to have some type of letdown or start to deviate or get away from staying with it, trusting it, and they didnt." The hit on Granlund was Kadris second action for which he will likely be hearing from the league. Kadri was not made available to the media. Minnesotas starting goaltender, Niklas Backstrom, was run over by Kadri 7 minutes into the game, and lay flat on tthe ice for about 30 seconds before slowly sitting up.dddddddddddd Kadris elbow appeared to hit Backstrom in the head. Yeo said Backstrom has an upper-body injury. Backstrom, starting for the first time since Oct. 28, stayed in the game until a stoppage with 10:31 left in the period before skating to the bench and heading to the dressing room. He had three saves. "Thatll be interesting to see what happens there because it looks like he got him right in the head," Parise said. "Thats what were trying to get rid of. Itll be interesting to see what they decide." Mason Raymond scored a power-play goal for Toronto, which has scored just three regulation goals in its last four outings. Jonathan Bernier had 33 saves. Toronto nearly won it late in overtime, but Harding got a right pad on a tip by Morgan Rielly and then reached back to grab the puck just outside the goal line. "Theyre a good team in their building and at least we came up with one point. Weve just got to move on," Bernier said. Harding had 19 saves in relief of Backstrom. He started the past five games and was to be given the night off due to sickness. Instead, he increased his save percentage to .947, second-best on the NHL, while lowering his league-best goals-against average to 1.21. There wasnt much he could do as Raymond gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:32 of the second period, when he gathered a loose puck that hit traffic in front and tucked it behind a sprawled Harding. It was just Torontos second power-play goal in 16 chances over six games. Minnesota had two power plays early in the third period, but came no closer than Koivu hitting the crossbar. NOTES: Wild D Ryan Suter has averaged 36:06 of ice time in the last three games. ... Toronto RW Colton Orr returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. ... Clayton Stoner was back on the Minnesota blue line after missing Saturdays game with a leg injury. ... Kessel, who played for the University of Minnesota in 2005-06, played his 300th game with the Maple Leafs. He has 129 goals and 143 assists in those contests. ... The Wild played its 500th game at Xcel Energy Center, including regular season and playoffs. ... This was just Torontos fifth game at the arena, fewest all-time among Minnesota opponents. ' ' '