WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are taking a serious look this week at two of their top contenders for the first round of next months CFL draft -- a pair of offensive linemen who, they hope, are capable of starting this season and filling a hole at centre. Stan Smith Baratas . "Pierre Lavertus here now, Matthias Goossens coming in tomorrow," general manager Kyle Walters said Tuesday. "Were going to let (offensive line coach) Bob Wylie take a look at these guys, put them through a workout. The offensive staff will get them up on the board, you know, start talking about some of our systems, see how they react." McGills Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Montreals David Foucault are currently ranked first and second in the draft but both offensive linemen also are expected to draw a lot of interest from the NFL. Lavals Lavertu and Simon Frasers Goossen are the next top-ranked offensive linemen -- Lavertu at third overall currently and Goossen at ninth. Goossen made a big jump in the CFL winter rankings to No. 5 spot from 15th and Lavertu was also ranked a spot ahead of Foucault in the January list. All four are highly regarded. Miles Gorrell, who played 19 CFL seasons as an offensive lineman including four with Winnipeg, was scouting for the Ottawa Redblacks at this years CFL combine and spoke highly of their talent. "Their footwork and hand placement are very good, its clear theyre well coached," Gorrell said. "You see guys like Pierre Lavertu, David Foucault and Matthias Goossen stepping up to the plate and being able to prove to the coaches and scouts theyre ready to take the next step." With the No. 2 pick in this years draft May 13, Walters sounded pretty confident they can get one of the players theyve identified as meeting their needs. But despite Winnipegs last-place finish last season, they have to stand in line behind the expansion Redblacks, who get to pick first. The Bombers lost free agent Justin Sorensen, last seasons starter at centre, to the Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos, like the Bombers, are trying to strengthen their offensive line. The Bombers took a chance on their top pick last season, defensive lineman Andy Mulumba, and lost. He signed with the NFLs Green Bay Packers. Walters, who took over after former general manager Joe Mack was sacked last season, wants this year to be different. "Were doing everything we can to make sure we make the right pick and get the right guy we want here in Winnipeg." He says there have been a few calls from other teams interested in their No. 2 pick but either nothing serious or, in the case of the only solid offer, nothing they would even remotely consider. This season their wish list and the draft seem to be aligned reasonably well. "Obviously sitting at No. 2, youre sure if youve got two guys that you like you can get one of the two . . . If thats not the case, then you maybe go down a different route," Walters said. "In a perfect world we hope that we like both these guys and if Ottawa takes one were perfectly fine with the other." At the same time, he didnt limit their interest to Lavertu and Goossen but said theyre the only two players they could bring in right now. "Some of the guys that weve reached out to, the agents havent been overly receptive to bringing them in," he said. Stan Smith España Baratas . 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals while leading the Heat to a 3-0 record. The 31-year-old shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range en route to his 17th weekly honor. Stan Smith España . UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport. http://www.stansmithbaratas.es/ . He insists hes not counting. "If youre thinking hits, youre not paying attention to wins," Altuve said Sunday after leading the Houston Astros past the Texas Rangers 3-2.Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford added a quadruple throw to their program this year to push themselves as much as to push the sport.The difficult element has helped propel the Canadians up the pairs figure skating rankings.Duhamel and Radford go into the Grand Prix Final this week ranked No. 2, trailing Olympic silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia.The two-time world bronze medallists spent much of the off-season perfecting the quad throw Salchow, which has Radford throwing Duhamel four revolutions through the air.Anything that pushes us and pushes the sport we feel is important, Duhamel said. Adding the throw quad to our skating has kept us really motivated, its encouraged us. . . and not just for us, were looking to push the sport of skating. Weve been seeing the throw triple Salchow for 30 or 40 years now, so I think its time that people push it and try harder things.Canada has three entries at the Final in Barcelona — Duhamel and Radford, and ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., had considered doing the throw quad years ago, but their coaches believed it wasnt worth the risk. They decided to add it this past off-season, and drew an audience when they were working on it during practices in Montreal.Every day it got closer and closer, eventually I would land on my feet and put my hand down, or I would step out, and it was so exciting for us and our coaches and teammates, they would all stand back and watch, and would be like Ooh, is this the one shes going to nail? Duhamel said.Then the one day we hit it clean with a lot of flow out of it, we were like, Oh thats it, thats what it feels like. And weve been able to repeat that feeling quite consistently.Duhamel landed the quad throw at Skate Canada International, but then fell on it at the NHK Trophy two weeks ago in Japan.The Canadians have a seasons best score of 210.74 points, just behind the Russians, whose best is 211.97. Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, the only other pairs team in the world currently doing the quad throw, are also in the field.Partly because of the quad throw, Duhamel and Radford went into this season reinvigorated after a gruelling Olympic campaign that saw them finish seventh in Sochi.We dont have any fear when were skating anymore. Last year, I was always scared, I was scared we would lose, I was scared wed be bad, I was scared the other Canadian teams would score higher than me, Duhamel said. Im so happy. . . that I didnt decide to quit last year because I would never know what it feels like to skate with this freedom and relaxation that weve found.There was a lot of pressure last season, and at the end we realized we put too much pressure on ourselves, Radford added. We were always comparing ourselves with everybody else, rather than just concentrating on ourselves, and I think that weve just sort of learned to let all of that go, all of that extra worrying and energy that we put everywhere else.Weaver and Poje, from Waterloo, Ont., will also be in the gold-medal hunt in BBarcelona. Stan Smith Rebajas. The Canadians have the seasons second-best ice dance score behind Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates.The post-Olympic landscape for ice dancing has changed with the absence of Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Weaver and Poje could be favourites three years from now at the Games in South Korea.Its been very exciting, its a new year, a new quadrennial and were happy to be at the forefront of it, and hoping to continue Canadas tradition of great domination in ice dance, Weaver said.Asked if theyd sought out any advice on how to handle the new pressures that came with heightened expectations, Weaver mentioned Canadian bobsledder Kaillie Humphries.The biggest thing she has is confidence in herself, and she knows how shes prepared and she knows that thats the best she can do, and I think thats what really exudes from her, Weaver said. Its tough in a different sport with something like bobsled where youre racing against the clock and you dont have to convince people youre the best. But that type of persona is fun to learn from, and I consider us pretty different individuals, but that strength of power and confidence is something I would love to bring as a part of our game as well.In mens singles, Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu hopes to defend his title and recover his winning form after a scary on-ice accident.Hanyu won last years final at home in Japan. He then started the year by claiming gold at the Sochi Games in February, and a month later he won the world title to become the first man to complete the Olympic-world double in the same year since Alexei Yagudin in 2002.But Hanyu, who turned 20 on Sunday, barely qualified for the Final after he was injured in a collision with another skater during warm-ups at the Cup of China in early November, receiving bruises on his head and hurting his left thigh.Three weeks later, he could only manage a fourth-place finish at the last of six qualifying events in Tokyo. That result, however, was just good enough for him to join the other five finalists and keep alive his bid to repeat.Ill be going to the final as a challenger, Hanyu said. It doesnt matter if you are Olympic champion, people know they can beat the Olympic champion. Ill be starting from scratch and aiming to get to the top by any means.Hanyu will be up against Japanese teammates Tatsuki Machida and Takahito Mura, Russian rivals Maxim Kovtun and Sergei Voronov, and Spanish skater Javier Fernandez.Fernandez, the European champion, trains in Canada with former Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser. Orser also coaches Hanyu.Four Russian teenagers will look for a possible medal sweep in the womens final against Ashley Wagner of the United States and Rika Hongo of Japan. Hongo qualified after American skater Gracie Gold withdrew because of a broken foot.The Russian contingent includes two-time junior world champion Elena Radionova (15), European champion and world silver medallist Julia Lipnitskaia (16), Anna Pogorilaya (16) and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (17).— With files from The Associated Press. ' ' '