Sochi, Russia - The closing ceremony of the Sochi Games brought a flashy and tuneful end Sunday night to the most expensive Olympics in history. Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. They opted for human rings this time, the last one opening several seconds after the first four on the floor of the stadium. It echoed the hijinks from Vancouvers closing ceremony four years ago, when a leg of the cauldron that failed to come up during the opening ceremony was finally raised into place. Sundays ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium included a handoff from Sochi to Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Games. Near the end, the cauldron that was lit 16 days earlier by Russian Olympic greats Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina was extinguished after one of the games mascots, an animatronic bear, blew out a flame in the center of the stadium, a single tear dripping from its left eye. Earlier, after a childrens choir conducted by Valery Gergiev sung the Russian national anthem, flag bearers for each country entered the stadium together rather than country by country like in the opening ceremony. The athletes who stuck around for the festivities also came in together, as is customary for the closing ceremony. American ice hockey forward Julie Chu, who competed in her fourth Olympics, carried the U.S. flag. "So proud to represent Team USA (and) our amazing athletes. Humbled," Chu tweeted as she waited to enter the stadium. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, who won their second womens bobsled gold medal in a row, were co-flag bearers for Canada. Figure skater Maxim Trankov, a dual gold medalist in Sochi, carried Russias flag. Pop music played, but the ceremony also included a heavy dose of classical music and ballet like the opening ceremony, and a nod to Russian novelists and poets. All of it was done as temperatures hovered in the 40s, a cool close to the so- called Spring Olympics, where the weather was famously mild, with temperatures even climbing into the 60s on some days. That led to some strange scenes, including cross country skiers cutting the sleeves off their uniforms and American skier Julia Mancuso filming a surfing video for NBC on the Black Sea. There was a serious side to the warmer weather, of course, which wreaked havoc on some courses for the snow events. Snowboarders complained about slushy conditions on the halfpipe and the New York Times detailed a clandestine operation by organizers to purchase more salt needed to keep some courses properly iced. Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen set the all-time Winter Olympics record during the games by winning his 12th and 13th medals, both golds. But Russia led the overall medal count with 33, including 13 gold medals to fall one short of the Winter Games record of 14 set by Canada four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics. The U.S. finished second with 28 medals, nine fewer than the Winter Games record 37 they captured in Vancouver. Norway was third overall with 26 medals and Canada won 25, including 10 gold -- the last secured by the mens hockey team on Sunday in a win over Sweden. The Russian anthem played for the last time at the closing ceremony during the medal ceremony for the mens 50-kilometer cross country race. Alexander Legkov led a Russian medal sweep of that event Sunday morning. Sochi organizing committee head Dmitry Chernyshenko called the games "a great moment in our history ... a moment that will never be forgotten." "This is the new face of Russia, our Russia," he said. "And for us, these games are the best ever." Russian President Vladimir Putins $51 billion Olympics were the subject of snickers early on when media and athletes arrived to find some accommodations lacking. Journalists relayed stories of unfinished rooms, broken door handles, missing shower curtains and even stray dogs in their media villages. One was told not to use the water in her bathroom, which was said to contain a dangerous chemical. U.S. bobsledder Johnny Quinn became an Internet sensation after tweeting a picture of his bathroom door, which he had broken through after becoming locked inside. The Twitter account SochiProblems had more than 330,000 followers by the time of Sundays closing ceremony, but the criticism so prevalent in the first days died down, giving way to wide praise of Sochis venues. IOC President Thomas Bach, presiding over his first games, said the athletes left a legacy of "peace, tolerance and respect" and urged, as IOC heads often do, that countries around the world follow the example. Bach thanked Putin for what he said was the Russian presidents "personal commitment to the extraordinary success" of the games. "We leave as friends of the Russian people," said Bach. News broke during the opening ceremony that a plane had been diverted to an airport in Turkey after a passenger on board allegedly issued a bomb threat and tried to have the aircraft redirected to Sochi. The incident further raised fears that Russias first Olympics in 34 years could be the target of a terrorist attack, but the games passed without any such incident. The host country faced criticism in the run-up to the games after passing laws last year aimed at keeping gay "propaganda" away from children, and officials remained adamant throughout that political protests should be kept away from Olympic venues. In the highest-profile incident of its kind, two members of the punk band Pussy Riot were among several people detained for several hours as they planned to film a protest video in Sochi. They set up a day later to film again, but were interrupted by Cossacks who attacked them with whips. The games went without a positive doping test until the final weekend, when there were six. In the last case, Swedish hockey star Nicklas Backstrom was scratched from the gold medal game Sunday after testing positive for a banned substance found in allergy medication his NHL team said he has been taking for seven years to combat severe allergies. The Washington Capitals said the medication was approved by the Swedish national team. Custom Los Angeles Kings Jerseys . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Dave Taylor Jersey .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. http://www.kingsauthentic.com/authentic-...r-kings-jersey/. "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. Rogie Vachon Jersey . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Tiger Williams Jersey . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand.TAMPA, Fla. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs faded out of post-season contention again. Ondrej Palat had two goals, Anders Lindback came off the bench to make 25 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended Torontos playoff hopes by beating the Maple Leafs 3-0 on Tuesday night. "Not in shock," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I guess the words to describe it would be extremely disappointed, shallow, embarrassed. All those things. I think we have more than what we were able to accomplish, and thats the most troubling issue here. "We just didnt find a way to compete to a level that was necessary." James Reimer stopped 31 shots for the Maple Leafs, who have lost 10 of 12. Toronto has missed the playoffs eight of the last nine seasons. "Obviously, this one hurts," Reimer said. "The bottom line, we werent good enough. I think that as a guy and as a team, you look in the mirror and you just have to accept that we werent good enough. A wise man once said that the playoffs dont let you in unless youre good enough. You dont sneak in there if you dont deserve it." The loss to Tampa Bay and Columbus overtime win over Phoenix sealed the Maple Leafs fate. "I actually didnt say anything (to the team) after because I was real disappointed, obviously, knowing that Columbus had won in overtime," Carlyle said. "They knew that after the game as well as I did, so it was a moot point going in and saying anything at this point. Well meet tomorrow and well talk tomorrow." Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop left with 14:17 left in the first due to an undisclosed upper-body injury. He was hurt while lunging to his left and landing on his side while attempting to glove the puck. Lindback replaced Bishop, who is 37-14-7 this season for the playoff-bound Lightnning.dddddddddddd Lightning coach Jon Cooper offered no specifics about Bishops injury. He did say Bishop will not play Thursday night against Philadelphia -- which was a scheduled game off -- and that plans to call up another goalie were already in the works before the injury. "Lets just wait and see what happens here," Cooper said. "No sense in speculating. Hes either going to be ready to go or hes not. Im really confident in what we have, especially after watching the performance tonight." Victor Hedman had an empty-net goal late in the third for the Lightning, who trail Montreal by two points for second place in the Atlantic Division. Bishop turned aside three shots before departing. Palat put the Lightning up 1-0 when he beat Reimer from the top of the left circle 9:19 into the second. Tampa Bay went up 2-0 during a power play when Palat, positioned near the post, scored after Steven Stamkos sent the puck off the boards behind the net with 4:15 left in the second. Lindback made a nifty glove save on Jake Gardiners shot late in the second. "Tonight wasnt a surprise for us that he came in and was huge," Hedman said. "He made those key saves when we needed him." NOTES: Lightning D Sami Salo left after two shifts in the second period with an undisclosed injury. ... Toronto C Dave Bolland (ankle) was scratched. The Maple Leafs were already without G Jonathan Bernier (knee) and RW Joffrey Lupul, who had what the team called successful arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday. ... Stamkos is the Lightning nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. ... Palat has three goals and six points during a four-game point streak. ... The Maple Leafs recalled RW Carter Ashton and G Drew MacIntyre from Toronto of the AHL. 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