Hantuchova, reached the World Group semifinals in 2013. In their

MONTREAL - Slovakia will be Canadas next opponent in its bid to reach the World Group in Federation Cup tennis. Demetri Goodson Womens Jersey . The International Tennis Federation announced Tuesday that Canada will play host to Slovakia in a World Group playoff series April 19-20. Canada will get to choose the venue and playing surface, which will be announced later. "We are excited to have reached this stage in the competition and are already looking forward to playing another home tie, this time against Slovakia, " Canadian Fed Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau said in a statement. Canada put itself one win away from a first berth in the World Group when Eugenie Bouchard, Aleksandra Wozniak, Sharon Fichman and Gabriela Dabrowski posted a 3-1 win over Serbia on Sunday at the Claude Robillard Centre. The World Group includes the top eight on the planet. Slovakia, led by world No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova and No. 30 Daniela Hantuchova, reached the World Group semifinals in 2013. In their only previous meeting, Canada lost 5-0 to Slovakia in 1997 Canada is 11th in Fed Cup rankings and Slovakia is fifth. Other playoff ties have Argentina at Russia, France at the United States and Poland at Spain. The four playoff winners advance to the World Group in 2015, while the losers play in World Group II. Davante Adams Youth Jersey . The Whitecaps scored two goals in the final eight minutes to steal a 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. http://www.packersstore.us.com/Black-39-Demetri-Goodson-Womens-Jersey/ . -- The Portland Trail Blazers have fired coach Nate McMillan.The Vancouver Canucks opted to hold on to centre Ryan Kesler for a possible run at the playoffs and the struggling club tries to avoid a fourth straight setback on Thursday night when it visits the Dallas Stars. The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Keslers name was heavy in the rumor cycle going into the deadline, but no deal was done and the 29-year-old can now focus on trying to get the Canucks back into a playoff spot. They are currently two points behind the Stars for the second wild card position in the Western Conference thanks to losses in 10 of their past 11 games. Kesler leads the Canucks with 21 goals and is third on the club with 39 points, one back of both Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Daniel Sedin, though, is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, further hindering an offense that has scored just eight goals in the previous eight games. Vancouver failed to light the lamp on Tuesday versus the Phoenix Coyotes, falling 1-0. Eddie Lack, the Canucks clear No. 1 goaltender with Luongo dealt, stopped 31 shots and gets the start again tonight. "We just couldnt get that last push and its just been that way for the last month or so," said Lack. "These games are important and we need to start putting together some wins real quick." The 26-year-old rookie is 9-10-4 in 26 games this season, but with a solid 2.05 goals against average and .926 save percentage along with three shutouts. Lack has never started versus the Stars, but ddid face them in relief on Dec. Davante Adams Green Jersey. 19 and stopped all seven shots faced in 17 1/2 minutes of action. The Stars have won both of their meetings with the Canucks this season, taking three in a row and six of the last nine encounters overall. Dallas, just one point ahead of both Phoenix and the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card berth, failed to earn a point for just the second time in its last nine games (5-2-2) when it lost a 4-2 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Coming off a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres the previous night, the Stars got goals from Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley as well as 16 saves by backup netminder Dan Ellis. Ellis was making his first appearance since Feb. 1 and it turned out to be his last with the Stars as he was dealt to Florida for goaltender Tim Thomas, who became expendable when the Panthers acquired Luongo. Thomas will help lessen the load for Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen and provide veteran insurance in the crease after going 16-20-3 with a 2.87 GAA in 40 games for the Panthers. "Weve liked how hes played. Hes played very well. Hes experienced," Dallas general manager Jim Nill told his teams website of Thomas. "I think it is going to be good for Kari Lehtonen to see a guy, how he prepares, how he handles pressure. Kari is kind of growing into this role. Its Karis team still, but when we have back-to-back games or four games in six nights, he knows there is somebody that can go into the net and the team is going to continue to win. Thats very important." Lehtonen figures to get the start tonight and is 5-7-0 with a 2.92 GAA lifetime versus the Canucks. ' ' '