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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Peyton Manning found no need to dunk his right hand in a bucket of ice water Thursday — it was 9 degrees when the Broncos returned to their practice field for the first time since clinching a spot in next weeks Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium. "Anytime you can have ... a situation that you can simulate during practice that might be in a game, thats always a good thing," said Manning, his breath vaporizing as he spoke from the podium after the two-hour workout. Manning, who spent much of his career inside in Indianapolis, has prepared for some cold-weather games since coming to Denver in 2012 by soaking his right hand in ice water. He welcomed the blast of wintry weather after a relatively balmy stretch of January, which included a 63 degree Sunday afternoon when he led the Broncos past the New England Patriots for the AFC title. The knock on Manning is that for all his greatness he crumbles in the cold and in the playoffs — he has just one championship ring in 12 previous trips to the post-season, eight of which ended in first-round exits, including last years double-overtime loss to Baltimore on a frigid night in Denver. Manning could take care of both of those criticisms next week when the Broncos face the Seattle Seahawks in East Rutherford, N.J., in the first outdoor Super Bowl ever held in a cold-weather city. With a win, he would be the first quarterback to lead two teams to the title. Although its too early for forecasters to predict what the weather will be, theres a decent chance for freezing temperatures or snow by kickoff on the night of Feb. 2. Although Manning is 167-73 in the regular season, hes 11-11 in the playoffs. And hes 4-7 in games that are below freezing at kickoff, although some of those were games where he played sparingly because the Colts had already locked up playoff seeding. Others were against New England, when the Patriots clearly had the better team. And Manning did complete 39 passes for 397 yards and four touchdowns against Tennessee last month when the temperature at kickoff in Denver was 18 degrees. If the Broncos beat the Seahawks — and theyre favoured by oddsmakers for the 30th straight game — Manning will match little brother Elis two Super Bowl rings. Eli said Peyton doesnt have to beat Seattle to secure his legacy, however. "I think Peytons already created his own legacy," Eli said during a conference call Thursday. "Hes played at a very high level for a long period of time and hes overcome injuries and obviously set numerous records and been on a lot of playoff teams, playing in his third Super Bowl." Peytons resume is impressive: 13-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro and odds-on favourite to win his fifth MVP after setting NFL records by throwing for 55 TDs and 5,447 yards. Eli does not think the cold will be a factor in the game, either. "I dont think this hurts or helps either team," he said. "Peyton has been in Denver this year and played outside in a lot of cold games. I think obviously if it were to snow or be very windy, it could be a disadvantage to the Broncos, just because how much they like to throw the ball, compared to Seattle and their running game. "For the most part, its really going to be the best team that is going to win, whoever plays the best football that day. Its going to come down to that and execution. The weather isnt going to decide the game." Although the Seahawks are more run-oriented, the Broncos do have a good 1-2 punch in running backs Knowshon Moreno, who grew up 45 minutes from the Meadowlands, and Montee Ball, who combined for 2,290 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns this season. Denver safety Mike Adams, whos also from New Jersey, scoffed at the notion that inclement weather could hurt the Broncos. "Were talking about the Super Bowl. Im not worried about the cold, I promise you that," Adams said. "Werent we practicing in like minus-3 degree weather here? So Im definitely not worried about any cold weather. If anything, Im worrying about them cancelling the game." The NFLs contingency plans call for the game to be played anywhere from Friday, Jan. 31, to Monday, Feb. 3, in case of a major snowstorm. Manning — who is 10-3 while wearing a glove on his throwing hand the last two seasons — and the Broncos are embracing the elements. "We practice in the cold all the time. I think we practiced indoors one time," Denver pass-rusher Shaun Phillips said. "Were definitely cold weather bred, and well be ready for it." Notes: K Matt Prater (illness) didnt practice. Neither did DT Mitch Unrein (knee). RB Knowshon Moreno (ribs) was limited. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org ___ AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan contributed. ___ Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. Discount Shoes Black Friday . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Buy Shoes Black Friday . Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks place in the NFC championship game. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday . And while taking highly-touted Simon Fraser offensive lineman Matthias Goossen second overall on Tuesday night will definitely help in an area of need for the club, it was a swap of draft picks that may prove to be his most shrewd move. "When Jesse Briggs started to fall a little bit, you could just see Kyle perk up in his chair.MONACO -- Canadian Milos Raonic is out at the Monte Carlo Masters. The hard-serving native of Thornhill, Ont., was limited to just six aces in a 7-6 (5), 6-2 quarter-final loss to third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday. Raonic, seeded eighth, was playing his first clay quarter-final at the Masters 1000 level but struggled with consistency against his Swiss opponent, the reigning Australian Open winner. Raonic, 23, is currently ranked No. 10 on the ATP but has lost all three head-to-head matches against Wawrinka. The previous two were hardcourt contests in 2012 and 2013. Raonic played well in an opening set that lasted nearly an hour before getting into trouble in the tiebreaker. He held leads of 3-0 and 5-3 but mental lapses allowed Wawrinka to rally for the victory. Raonic stormed out to a 40-0 lead to start the second set but again Wawrinka rallied to earn the break and take the early lead. "Stan found a rhythm and played more free," said Raonic. "On the key points, he was really going for his shots. He overtook me and started dictating. "But Ive done something Ive never done before (reach quarter-finals on clay at Masters level), so its still very positive for me." Raonic was broken in the seventh game to trail 5-2 before Wawrinka cemented the win a game later. "I was really focused on my serve to be really aggressive from the first shot, to make him move, to make him work every ball," Wawrinka said. "I just feel strong from the baseline. I feel good physically. "I know that on clay courts, if I play my best tennis, I can beat those guys." Raonic will try to regroup as the French Open draws closer but found solace with his accomplishment in this clay event. "I have to be happy with things if I look at the big picture," he said. "Of course I wish I would have done better, but after one week on clay Im playing well. "I had expected to work through the weeks up to Paris, getting better as I go along. Thats still the goal. I need to get better on the clay, spend more time on it and do all the clay-specific fitness. This week does give me confidence though." In doubles action, Torontos Daniel Nestor and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic, who won this event in 09 and 10, face Monacos Romain Arneodo and Benjamin Balleret in quarter-final action. In other singles play, Rafael Nadal lost his quarter-final match to Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 6-4. Its Nadals earliest exit at the Monte Carlo Masters in 11 years. While he beat Nadal just last year, Ferrer hadnt defeated Nadal oon clay since 2004.dddddddddddd A day after becoming the 11th man in the Open era to reach 300 wins on clay, Nadal committed 44 unforced errors and was broken four times. Ferrer lost his own serve three times in the match that lasted over two hours. Nadal won eight consecutive Monte Carlo titles from 2005-12 before he lost last years final to Novak Djokovic. Ferrer will face Wawrinka in semifinal action. "I know I am supposed to be among the favourites, but every time I play a match I am in the state of mind of a challenger who is trying to win an additional match," said Wawrinka. Swiss star Roger Federer advanced with a 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 win against No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. Federer was two points from defeat at 0-30 serving at 6-5 down in the second set. Federer, who improved to 11-4 against Tsonga, wasted 15 straight break points and three set points in the second set But at 6-6 in the tiebreaker, Tsonga hit a wild forehand into the net and Federer tied the match with a volley winner. After finally breaking Tsonga at the 16th try, Federer clenched his fist in relief. He broke him again with a forehand winner down the line and held for 5-0. "It was just many things went wrong at the wrong time for me: Jo playing well, me playing wrong at certain times, wrong shot selections," Federer said. "Im happy I found the way to tough it out." Tsonga said the changing conditions in the late afternoon as the match went into a third set suited Federers style of play more. "I dont think it was that much of a change. I dont think there was any wind change or any crazy, like, quickness change," Federer said. "We played in those conditions a million of times." Djokovic set up a 34th career meeting against Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, by downing unseeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. "I started very poorly. Garcia-Lopez played well and I had to work for this win," Djokovic said. "I finally started to play as I wanted in the second set." Federer leads Djokovic 17-16 in head-to-head matches and they are 1-1 this year. Federer won in the Dubai Championship semifinals while Djokovic emerged victorious in their showdown in the final at Indian Wells. The Serb was close to losing against Garcia-Lopez, saving a break point in the fifth game of the second set and two more when trailing 15-40 in his next service game. Djokovic then made a crucial break to take a 5-3 lead, served out the set, and then broke Garcia-Lopez twice at the start of the third. ' ' '