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Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, left, is greeted by teammates Evgeni Malkin and Bill Guerin after scoring his third goal of the night against the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh on Monday. (Keith Srakocic/Associated Press)

Sidney Crosby scored three goals in slightly more than eight minutes of the second period as the Pittsburgh Penguins quickly turned a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead, then held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 on Monday night.

Crosby tied Patrick Marleau of idle San Jose for the NHL goals lead with 37 by following up his game-altering performance during the Penguins’ 2-1 shootout win Sunday against Detroit with an even better one.

The Pittsburgh captain’s hat trick was his third of the season and fifth of his career, and his teammates pressed unsuccessfully to try to get him a fourth goal in the final period.

A portion of the Shell Albian Sands oilsands mine is seen from an overlook not far from Fort McMurray, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Canada risks becoming the international poster child of unsound resource development if it doesn’t do a better job of developing the oilsands, says federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice.

Prentice told a Calgary business audience Monday that the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper supports continued expansion of the oilsands, but that large energy companies need to do more as Canada seeks to reach its targets under the Copenhagen climate change accord.

“The development of the oilsands and the environmental footprint of these industrial activities have become an international issue and as such, they now transcend the interests of any single corporation,” Prentice said. “What is at issue on the international stage is our reputation as a country.”

Prentice announced on Saturday that Canada has committed to the United Nations that it will cut its carbon emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels over the next 10 years.

Countries that attended the climate change conference in December were supposed to outline their own emission-reduction targets before the UN’s final deadline of Jan. 31.

‘What is at issue on the international stage is our reputation as a country.’—Jim Prentice, environment minister

The accord, which isn’t legally binding, offers money to developing nations to help them fight global warming, but it doesn’t set new greenhouse gas reduction targets. Instead, countries are to set their own targets, without mandatory limits.

Alberta’s oilsands, which contain the second-largest petroleum reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia with an estimated 174 billion barrels, has been under attack from environmentalists who call oilsands crude “dirty oil” because of the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced when it’s refined.

But Prentice stopped short Monday of saying when corporations involved in the oilsands will actually see federal rules and regulations that will guide them through the process of reducing greenhouse gases.

Waiting for the U.S.

He said he won’t announce any standards for the energy sector until the United States finalizes its position.

“We have to calibrate at the end of the day the obligations we impose on trade-exposed industries with those that are to be imposed in the United States, otherwise we will have discordant energy and environment policies and so some choices have to be made south of the border,” Prentice told reporters.

“I think we had an experience already in this country with Kyoto where we began imposing obligations on Canadians that were not imposed on their competitors across the border. This government is not going to repeat that.”

Prentice said Canada will harmonize its plans to reduce carbon emissions with the United States and Mexico. He said Canada wants to assume its fair share of responsibility, but needs to do it in a way that is not going to damage jobs, investment and industrial competitiveness.

Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said waiting for the U.S. to finalize its climate change position is not the answer.

‘This is a matter of national sovereignty for Canada. We should have a Canadian, made-in-Canada climate change plan.’—Michael Ignatieff

He said Canada needs fixed hard targets for greenhouse gas reductions and a cap and trade system that would allow companies to trade or buy emission credits to comply with regulations.

“This is a matter of national sovereignty for Canada. We should have a Canadian, made-in-Canada climate change plan,” Ignatieff said in Ottawa.”The Conservatives argue you can’t do anything until the Americans get their targets lined up. We say you can anticipate where we’re going to be. Canada can lead here instead of being a follower.”

Marlo Raynolds, executive director of the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental think-tank, agrees with Ignatieff.

He said the United States is at least proceeding with concrete plans and Canada should do the same.

“I don’t understand why federally in Canada we can’t take our own action,” he said “We’ve realized that our international reputation in Canada really depends on our international performance. That depends how we’re going to deal with land, air and climate impacts of the oilsands. So we need to address that very swiftly.”

The Canadian government denies that it is negotiating a payout to the owners of the giant ski resort and Winter Olympics venue, Whistler Blackcomb.

The New York Post reported Monday that the parent of Intrawest ULC, the company that owns one of the venues for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, wants the Canadian government to put $90 million US before the Games start or it will sue.

The Post reported the parent firm, Wall Street hedge fund Fortress Investments LLC, is negotiating with the Canadian government, with the report quoting Fortress as saying Ottawa had promised to compensate it for the time Whistler Blackcomb is used for the Olympics.

But the federal government maintained late Monday that no negotiations were underway.

At no time has the government of Canada been approached for any sort of payment, according to Deirdre McCracken, a spokeswoman for Heritage Minister James Moore.

There is no contract between the government of Canada and the owners of Whistler Blackcomb, McCracken added.

Back-country skiers descend Blackcomb Mountain in B.C. (Randy Lincks/Associated Press)

Whistler is to be the site of alpine skiing events during the Olympics, which start in 11 days.

The report said Fortress wants to get paid before the Games start or it will start legal proceedings. It did not identify its sources.

An Intrawest spokesman said it would not comment on the report but CEO Bill Jensen said in a statement that the company “has a 2002 agreement with VANOC (the Olympic organizing committee) to host the Winter Olympics at Whistler Blackcomb and have every confidence that VANOC will honour its financial commitments. Intrawest is looking forward to a successful Olympic Games.”

The Intrawest spokesman, Ian Galbraith, told CBC News separately the terms of the agreement have not been made public but described it as a “make whole” agreement. He did not elaborate.

Make whole is a term used in business circles to describe compensation for losses.

The Post also reported that Fortress is offering cash to lenders of Intrawest in an offer to creditors that would give it more than two years to pull Intrawest out of its financial troubles.

Fortress paid $2.75 billion when it bought Intrawest in 2006, much of it with borrowed money. It is late on a $524-million debt payment.

Lenders have set a deadline of Feb. 19 — in the middle of the Games — to foreclose on Intrawest if they do not get more money from a deal to rearrange Intrawest’s debt.

Report said to be credible

James Brander, a professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said the report that Fortress is looking for $90 million US is credible.

“It’s not the slightest bit surprising that Fortress seems to be using brinkmanship with the Olympics about to start. That has certainly happened with Olympics before,” he told CBC News.

“Sometimes governments give in to that. More commonly, they don’t,” he added.

Brander said Fortress is trying to raise cash to buy time with the lenders, but he predicted the lenders won’t agree to that. He expected that Fortress will end up losing the Intrawest assets including not only Whistler but also Mont Tremblant in Quebec and Blue Mountain in Ontario.

Even if the lenders foreclose during the Games, he said, he doubted it would make any difference.

“That’s a paper transaction. That doesn’t affect what’s happening on the ski hill,” he said.

“It is possible that Fortress might threaten to do something like try to close down operations,” he said, “but … I strongly suspect they don’t have the legal right to do that.”

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wayne Primeau fights for position in front of the net with newly acquired defenceman Dion Phaneuf and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere during practice at a Toronto rink on Monday. (Tony Bock/Canadian Press)

Dion Phaneuf felt no first-day jitters and showed no signs of hesitation Monday.

Instead, he walked into the locker-room at the Toronto Maple Leafs practice facility on Monday morning and made himself right at home.

“He’s got a swagger about him that we’ll encourage,” said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. “That will rub off on our other guys. He walked into the dressing room, [said] ‘Where’s the music’ and fired it right up, right away, without worrying about what anybody else said.”

In the wake of one of the largest single-day shakeups in team history, that must have been music to general manager Brian Burke’s ears.

The pair of blockbuster trades he engineered a day earlier were about changing the culture inside the dressing room as a means to getting a better performance on the ice.

There was certainly a different feel around the Leafs at Monday’s practice. Not only were there three new players being put through drills — Phaneuf, goaltender J.S. Giguère and winger Fredrik Sjostrom — but the dressing room stalls formally occupied by the six departed guys all sat empty.

The massive overhaul caught everyone by surprise.

“I’ve seen a lot of things happen in my career, but I’ve never seen that,” said veteran forward Wayne Primeau. “That’s a lot of guys. I talked to Jason Blake, and he said it was a weird feeling when he came in the dressing room yesterday. He said it kind of felt like the end of the season where there was six bags in the middle of the dressing room.

“You don’t see that too often.”

Primeau spent parts of three seasons playing alongside Phaneuf in Calgary and clearly has some rapport with the 24-year-old defenceman.

The pair chatted during breaks in practice on Monday and playfully jostled with one another from time to time.

“He’s a vocal kid, very confident,” said Primeau.

Giguère to start against Devils

The new-look Leafs will all be on display with New Jersey in town on Tuesday.

Giguère is pegged to get the start in goal and will be wearing the No. 35 that formally belonged to Vesa Toskala, one of the players sent to Anaheim in exchange for him. Phaneuf will be wearing his familiar No. 3 — Garnet Exelby gave it up and switched to No. 7 — while Sjostrom will have on No. 11.

The team is expected to call up another forward from the American Hockey League.

Wilson fully expects all the newcomers to be jacked up for their Maple Leaf debuts. In the case of Phaneuf, the coach predicted that he’ll try to throw some big hits and bring an “intimidation factor” the team has been missing.

“I would think that New Jersey coming in tomorrow, the first thing they’re going to say [is]: ‘Geez, guys, anybody with their head down, you better get it up because you’re going to get levelled’,” said Wilson. “We haven’t had that real open ice hitting threat. I’m sure most of the teams in the Western Conference are going: ‘Wow, thank God he’s not here anymore.’

“Every night, Dion lays one or two or three guys out. He plays very aggressive.”

The arrival of the new players generated plenty of buzz in a city that seemed to be losing some interest in the Maple Leafs. The 29th-place team quickly found itself back on the radar, with more media members at practice than there have been in months.

Phaneuf, once a finalist for the Norris Trophy, is likely to be the most-closely scrutinized. A cornerstone of the Flames franchise just a couple seasons ago, he experienced some struggles in recent years and fell out of favour with many in Calgary.

On his first day in Toronto, he was in no mood to look back on what went wrong with his former team.

“That’s in the past, to be honest with you,” said Phaneuf. “I’ve moved forward pretty quickly. I’m a Toronto Maple Leaf, and I’m looking forward to getting it started tomorrow.

“It’s been a very exciting day and a half.”

Player shuffle brings new life to Toronto

The overall excitement could be seen on the ice during practice.

Most of the players were out skating a good 10 or 15 minutes before the session was scheduled to begin and many of them stuck around long after it officially ended. The changes brought some life to a team that is winless in six games and had a 3-10-2 record in January.

“When new guys come to the team, they always bring new energy,” said goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. “I think we got that today … I felt like it was a new atmosphere out there. It was more happy and more positive.

“Everybody just had fun out there and tried to work hard.”

Giguère had to waive a no-trade clause to facilitate his deal and is looking forward to the chance to play in a more traditional hockey market than Anaheim.

His first impressions of life as a Maple Leaf were positive.

“You can tell it’s a young team,” he said. “I really liked what I saw this morning on the ice. I thought guys had a lot of jump [and] were pretty upbeat.

“To be honest, I don’t know much else about the Leafs.”

Phaneuf had a similar sentiment.

“All I know from right now is that there’s a great facility here and a really good bunch of guys,” said Phaneuf. “[They were] all very pleasant, very outgoing. I’ve never done this before, never been a part of a trade, [and] every guy was very welcoming.

“I’m looking forward to fitting in here.”

Hedo Turkoglu is averaging 12.4 points and 4.5 rebounds this season for Toronto. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Toronto Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu sustained a fractured orbital bone on Sunday, but the team hopes he won’t have to miss playing time.

Turkoglu was hurt only a minute into the Raps’ 117-102 win over Indiana. He was elbowed above the eye by the Pacers’ Mike Dunleavy while driving to the basket, and didn’t return to the contest.

X-rays showed the 30-year-old suffered a “small, non-displaced fracture of the orbital bone under his right eye,” according to a release from the Raptors on Sunday night.

The team added that Turkoglu will have further tests on Monday, and the Raptors are exploring the possibility he can play with a protective face mask while the injury heals.

Turkoglu is averaging 12.4 points and 4.5 rebounds this season.

Team Canada skip Jennifer Jones adopts a pensive pose in a 10-4 loss to the Northwest Territories/Yukon on Monday.
(Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

There are no longer any unbeaten teams at the Tournament of Hearts after Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones and Ontario’s Krista McCarville suffered losses Monday.

Sharon Cormier’s Northwest Territories/Yukon rink surprised defending champion Jones 10-4 in Draw 7 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

The Territories held a 5-1 lead through three ends, then scored two in the ninth end to seal the win.

In Monday’s earlier draw, Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland scored one in the 10th end to earn a 7-6 win over McCarville.

With Jones and McCarville both losing, Prince Edward Island took advantage.

Kathy O’Rourke scored three in the tenth end to defeat Manitoba 7-6. P.E.I. has sole possession of first place at 4-1.

Canada, Ontario, Alberta and B.C., are in a second-place logjam at 3-1.

In other Draw 7 action, B.C.’s Kelly Scott defeated New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly 8-3 in eight ends.

Alberta’s Valerie Sweeting beat Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConery 8-5.

Saskatchewan skip Amber Holland improved to 2-2. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland knocked Ontario’s Krista McCarville from the ranks of the unbeaten Monday at the Tournament of Hearts in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Holland scored one in the 10th end to earn a 7-6 win over McCarville in the sixth draw.

The loss was McCarville’s first in four games at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Defending champion Jennifer Jones is the tournament’s lone unbeaten team with a 3-0 record.

Her Canada rink didn’t play in the sixth draw but was scheduled to face Northwest Territories/Yukon on Monday afternoon.

McCarville is tied with Prince Edward Island for second, both rinks having 3-1 records. Holland improved to 2-2.

In the only other Draw 6 contest, Quebec’s Eve Belisle defeated Newfoundland’s Shelley Nicholls 9-3 in eight ends.

Toyota Canada said Monday it will install a steel reinforcement bar to fix sticky gas pedals that led to the recall of about 270,000 vehicles in Canada and 4.2 million vehicles worldwide last month.

The announcement came the same day as disgruntled Toyota owners launched multiple class-action lawsuits against the embattled auto manufacturer.

The Canadian division of Toyota Motor Corp. said it will begin fixing accelerator pedals in eight recalled models by the end of this week, but it is unclear how long customers will have to wait before the problem is addressed.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. also announced Monday that parts to the gas pedals are being shipped to dealerships and dealer training is underway to implement the fix. Repairs will have to wait until training is completed, the company said.

Toyota says the problem stemmed from the friction-controlling mechanism inside the accelerator pedal.

(Larger image) Toyota’s plan to modify its pedal. (Toyota Canada)

Over time, the mechanism could become worn, and when combined with condensation, could “begin to produce a sticking condition,” the company said.

The remedy shipped to Toyota factories consists of a stainless steel reinforcement bar that adjusts the friction mechanism.

“People can have high confidence that the solution eliminates any possibility of sticking accelerator pedals,” said Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota’s Canadian operations.

Toyota, the world’s top automaker, was forced in January to halt sales of eight recalled models in North America, including the bestselling Camry, until it fixes the issue.

The company had announced it was sending new gas-pedal systems to car factories instead of dealerships, angering car dealers who wanted to get the fix first because they deal directly with customer concerns.

“The solution is at hand and is being rolled out to dealerships and we will begin repairing vehicles this week,” Beatty said Monday.

Production at two Toyota manufacturing facilities in southwestern Ontario will be halted this week because of the recall.

Lawsuits launched

Saskatchewan-based firm Merchant Law Group LLP filed lawsuits in at least four Canadian provinces on behalf of Toyota owners demanding damages for the company’s role in the massive recall.

“Toyota has misled and harmed the plaintiff and thousands of unsuspecting consumers throughout Canada,” a statement on behalf of Kendra Cole of Regina reads.

Similar suits have been launched on behalf of lead plaintiffs Michelle O’Doherty of Abbotsford, B.C., Claire Valliere of Lavigne, Ont., and Jason Green of Hanwell, N.B.

The lawsuits allege that Toyota tried to play down the scope of the problem and violated Canada’s Competition Act by using misleading marketing and promotion for their vehicles.

Toronto-based Rochon Genova LLP filed a suit as well with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

“Having only purchased a brand new vehicle a few weeks ago, I simply cannot believe that Toyota would have sold me this vehicle,” said the proposed representative plaintiff in the Rochon suit, Steven Hamilton. “I can’t even resell my car now. I am seeking a full refund.”

None of the allegations in the suits have been tested in court, and all must be approved by a judge before they can proceed to any sort of trial. An amount being sought was not specified in any of the claims.

With files from The Associated Press, The Canadian Press

N.L. Premier Danny Williams is scheduled to have heart surgery in the U.S. (CBC)

N.L. Premier Danny Williams, 59, is set to undergo heart surgery in the United States.

CBC News has confirmed that Williams’s operation will take place at a hospital in the U.S. in early February.

The premier has already left Newfoundland and Labrador.

The premier’s office did not issue a statement on Monday.

Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.

Each week, CBCSports.ca senior hockey writers Scott Morrison and Tim Wharnsby conduct (mostly) friendly banter on the hot-button issues in the NHL.

1. Does two trades — the second, reportedly Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins from the New York Rangers for Olli Jokinen, yet to be finalized — push the Calgary Flames into the playoffs?

WHARNSBY: I don’t like the Flames chances of advancing to the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season. There always is the possibility that the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche, who have dropped three in a row, could suffer late-season meltdowns in the final two months of the season to aid Calgary’s cause. But it’s probably going to be a sprint to the finish between the Flames and the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final spot in the West. I like Detroit’s chances because they will soon get back Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen from injuries. Detroit and Calgary each have 27 games remaining and are tied with 62 points. They have similar schedules down the stretch. They play a home-and-home in mid-March. The Flames have 13 games against teams above them in the standings, while Detroit has 14 against clubs with better records.

MORRISON: I think the Flames need another deal beyond the Toronto trade, but let’s deal with that one. The Flames gave up the best player in the deal in Dion Phaneuf, but they are good and deep on the blue-line and it clearly was not going to work in Calgary for him. In Ian White, they get a very good defenceman who handles the puck well and will fit on their power play. Matt Stajan and Niklas Hagman are good additions in the room and up front. Jamal Mayers gives them fourth-line depth. None are first-line players and it strikes me that is what the Flames need unless the sum of the parts is ultimately what the Flames require. Still, they need another addition to get to the playoffs.

2. Should the NHL continue to participate in the Olympics after Vancouver?

MORRISON: In a word: no. I don’t think shutting down your business for two weeks is the right thing to do. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup, not a gold medal. The condensed schedule, especially this season, has been wicked. I also believe the Olympics should be open to other/amateur athletes. Call me old fashioned, I miss those underdog teams trying to wrestle the old Russian bear. For me, the cache of Canada’s NHLers versus the rest of the world’s NHLers just isn’t there — hasn’t been since the Iron Curtain fell.

WHARNSBY: Well, Mr. Old Fashioned, I would like to see NHL players continue to participate in the Olympics to not only appease the elite-level players but the fans. There are not enough best-on-best events anymore at this level. We’ve had only two World Cups in 15 years. I completely understand the rationale behind the concern of shutting down the NHL for two weeks and the injuries that have mounted in the condensed schedule. But let’s try to find a solution to keep the Alex Ovechkins and Evgeni Malkins happy — they want to play in Russia for the 2014 Sochi Olympics — as well as the loyal fan base in Canada, Europe and the United States. Could the NHL go to a reduced a 76-game schedule in Olympic years, or how about investigating the possibility of moving the hockey tournament to the Summer Games? The NBA season starts and finishes a few weeks later than the NHL, yet basketball is a summer Olympic sport. Why can’t hockey go the same route?

3 . What is the best line in the West right now: Sedin-Sedin-Burrows, Brouwer-Toews-Kane, Marleau-Thornton-Heatley?

WHARNSBY: All three lines have been dynamite this season, but right now the Sedins and Alexandre Burrows have the edge. Maybe I’m biased because I just watched them dominate the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (then again, who doesn’t dominate the Leafs these days), but the Canucks are rolling with seven victories in a row. Vancouver has scored 29 goals in this streak and this trio has been responsible for 14 goals and 39 points. Since Daniel returned from his broken foot on Nov. 22, Vancouver has gone an impressive 22-8-2. But anyway you slice it, the three clubs are a cut above the rest in the West because of their top lines. The Blackhawks have gone 23-9-2 since Nov. 22 and the Sharks check in at 20-5-5 in the same time frame.

MORRISON: Tough question and there is no wrong answer. The twins and Burrows have been spectacular and have shown they really are front-line players. The Chicago kids — with or without shirts — are absolutely terrific and fun to watch. But I still like the Sharks’ big line and they have been excellent from the minute they were put together. They have size, speed, toughness, two great shooters, a superb playmaker in Thornton. And they produced when no other forwards were scoring. Like the twins, this line just has to prove it in the spring.