Online stores!

February 3, 2010
NR.019

BOUTIQUE.HOCKEYCANADA.CA AND STORE.HOCKEYCANADA.CA RESUME OPERATIONS

CALGARY, Alta. %u2013 Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that its English and French online shopping websites, shop.hockeycanada.ca and boutique.hockeycanada.ca, have resumed operations. Hockey Canada asked licensee Elastic Path Services Ltd. to suspend operations of both websites on January 7 until the quality of the French being used on boutique.hockeycanada.ca met Hockey Canada%u2019s requirements.

The Hockey Canada shopping website has been online since October 2009.

RELATED LINKS � store.hockeycanada.ca

%u201CWe thank Elastic Path Services Ltd. for its assistance in making sure the French content on Hockey Canada's online shopping website was of the highest quality,%u201D said Scott Smith, Hockey Canada%u2019s chief executive officer. %u201CWe are pleased that the site is fully operational ahead of a very exciting time for Hockey Canada, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver on the horizon.%u201D

The Hockey Canada Store offers fans a wide range of merchandise, much of which is only available online through the store. Also available are authentic and replica versions of the official 2010 jersey that will be worn by Canada%u2019s men%u2019s and women%u2019s teams at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and by Canada%u2019s sledge team at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

February 1, 2010
NR.018

NEW LEADERSHIP UNVEILED FOR HOCKEY CANADA FOUNDATION
AND CANADIAN HOCKEY FOUNDATION U.S.

CALGARY, Alta. – The Hockey Canada Foundation has announced a new structure and new chairs for both the HCF and its American counterpart, Canadian Hockey Foundation U.S. The HCF and CHF U.S. raise funds and profile for programs and projects which will allow Canadians on both sides of the border a chance to play the game.

Thomas (Tom) Bitove has been elected chair of the Hockey Canada Foundation board of directors, while Grant Fagerheim will serve as vice-chair. Bitove becomes the third chair of the HCF, following Tim Manning, who served from 2006-09, and Wayne Russell, the HCF’s first chair from 2002-05.

RELATED LINKS » Hockey Canada Foundation

“We will do whatever it takes to assist Hockey Canada in making the dream of playing hockey available to as many people as we can” said Bitove. “There are so many Canadians who want to play the game but are challenged by the cost of participation and lack of accessibility among other things. We want to do whatever we can to ensure that all Canadians have a chance to play our game.”

“There has been a significant amount of work completed to ensure our success of allowing all Canadians the opportunity to experience the game of hockey,” said Fagerheim.

In addition, Bill Ackerman has been elected chair of the Canadian Hockey Foundation U.S. board. The CHF U.S. focuses on the same issues facing the HCF in Canada but does so by enlisting the support of ex-pats and HC Alumni still based in the United States to support the goals of the CHF U.S.  

“Our role in the United States is to continue to keep ex-pats and alumni in touch with the great programs the HCF is developing” said Ackerman. “Even though they may live and work in the U.S. they are still Canadians at heart and they want to do whatever it takes to keep Canada on top of the hockey world.”

Both the HCF and the CHF U.S. are registered charities in their respective countries.

VANCOUVER -- The Old Bear is now the Golden Bear.

After an eight-year weight for a second shot at a gold medal, Kevin Martin made no mistake, taking down Norway's Thomas Ulsrud 6-3 in the gold medal game. Unlike 2002 when he missed his last shot to let the top medal slip away, he clinched the victory this time with an open hit, pumping his fist and broom in the air to celebrate the end of his long journey.

"When that rock was going to make contact," said Martin, "that's about as good a feeling as you get. All the hard work and it all comes to fruition."

Martin and his team of John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert were the dominant rink throughout the competition, becoming the first team to go undefeated in the Olympics. The win finished off a committed plan the team put in place four years ago that saw them win Canadian and world championships, but this was the one victory they were after.

"That was a big game, honestly it was," Martin said.

"Because we wanted to get that one step higher on the podium. The other stuff was done and this feels really good."

"When you put that much effort and time and sacrifice into something there's a big sense of relief but it's just the best feeling in the world," added Kennedy.

The curlers got some motivation before their game by watching the short-track speed-skaters and Jasey Jay Anderson win gold earlier in the day, watching Anderson's last run in the locker room moments before taking to the ice.

"It was a pretty special day for Canada today with the third gold medal," said Martin. "It feels really good to be Canadian today."

For Ulsrud, the skip of the team that grabbed worldwide attention with their flashy pants, the loss was tempered by the fact he earned a silver medal. But he knew that anything less than a perfect game wouldn't be enough over the powerhouse Canadians.

"It's a well-deserved gold," he conceded "That's how good those guys are. It was a pretty good game but we gave them some chances and they just smacked us."

Through the first half of the game, neither skip was performing as they had through the round robin. Martin missed a few routine shots and was also the victim of some uncharacteristic sweeping errors by his team.

But those may have been the only mistakes Martin's three young teammates made. While the skip strived to find his game, Morris, Kennedy and Hebert were stellar. In the first five ends, Morris alone made a triple takeout and three doubles, sometimes using some body English to help the Norwegian stones out of the house.

"We just wanted to weather the storm for the first couple of ends," stated Kennedy. "We just had to wait for a couple of misses and we got them."

And while Martin was flat at the start, Ulsrud was just as bad, missing draws and crashing on guards.

By the half-way point of the game, the Canadians had staked themselves to a 3-0 lead, thanks largely to missed draws by Ulsrud in the fourth and fifth ends that allowed single steals.

In the seventh, with the score 3-2, Martin played a perfect freeze on a Norwegian shot his first one, and when Ulsrud was unable to remove it, the Canadian skip drew for two and a 5-2 lead. Two ends, later, Martin played a delicate tap for one to take a three-point lead to the final end.

The crowd, perhaps sensing the inevitable, rose mid-way through the 10th end and broke out in a loud, proud rendition of the national anthem, causing the players to pause. The cheering continued and when Martin used his first shot to kill off the last of the Norwegian stones, the Vancouver Olympic Centre, erupted in a roar heard back in the team's hometown of Edmonton.

"It was like having an extra player, that crowd," Martin stated of the raucous fans. "You can see by the amount of gold medals that Canada's getting, not just in curling but in every sport, to have that crowd on your side is huge."

The victory adds to Martin's long list of achievements - a Canadian Junior, four Briers, a world championship, millions of dollars in cash and now, the richest of prizes, Olympic gold.

After losing the semi-final of the 2005 Canadian curling trials and a spot at the Torino Games, Martin re-built his team, convincing two-time world junior champion Morris to move west and suit up with the veteran.

Morris agreed under the condition that second Marc Kennedy come as part of the deal. Powerhouse sweeper Ben Hebert was added to round out the rink.

The veteran Martin guided his young charges -- Hebert, 26, Kennedy, 28 and Morris, 31 - into as many finals as possible, hoping to battle-test them for the ultimate goal of the Olympic final. They reached the playoffs of three consecutive Briers, winning the last two by going undefeated.

But he was on a mission to get the gold and his teammates wanted nothing less for their leader.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't want another silver in that trophy case at home so it was nice to get that gold medal for him," said Morris. "We put a lot of hard work in the last four years and it's great it's paid off."

I don't think you can ever top this one, especially on your home soil," Kennedy said. "Could you have pictured a better script, especially for Kevin?"

Earlier in the day, Switzerland's Ralph Stoeckli earned the bronze medal with a 5-4 victory over Niklas Edin of Sweden.

Watch a replay of the gold medal winning performance here.

Gold: Canada (Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Benjamin Hebert, Adam Enright)

Silver: Norway (Thomas Ulsrud, Torger Nergaard, Christoffer Svae, Haavard Vad Petersson, Thomas Loevold)

Bronze: Switzerland (Ralph Stockli, Jan Hauser, Markus Eggler, Simon Strubin, Toni Muller)

Canada's Cheryl Bernard, left, watches as Sweden's Kajsa Bergstroem, left to right, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Le Moine and Anette Norberg celebrate at the gold medal ceremony in women's curling in Vancouver on Friday. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

The game appeared to be over.

Not once, but twice.

Cheryl Bernard and her Calgary-based rink of Carolyn Darbyshire, Cori Bartel and Susan O'Connor fell two shots short of striking gold in Vancouver on Friday.

The Canadians couldn't knock off the defending champion Swedish rink of Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl and Anna Le Moine, taking the silver medal in a 7-6 extra-end loss that hinged on Bernard's last rock in the final two ends.

After steals in the sixth and seventh ends put the Canadians on top 6-4 heading into the 10th end, Bernard couldn't extinguish the Swedish hopes of a repeat gold as her last rock failed to knock Norberg's second-last stone out of the house.

The Swedes took that break and scored a pair — giving them new life and another end, although surrendering the hammer to Canada.

"I threw good in the 10th end and it didn't come up, so you know the girls were great — let's go — we'll get them in the extra end," Bernard said. "Same thing — we were on it and I mean — I rubbed it. I missed it and it was so close. It will be one of those shots that I won't forget."

As Norberg lined up her last shot in the 11th, the Canadian shot stone was covered by a Swedish rock in the four foot. The Swedish skip bumped her own stone to eliminate the Canadian presence in the house and rolled her shooter behind a guard.

Bernard's attempt at the double came up short, allowing the steal, and the gold medal along with it.

"I had two chances to win that game and my team gave them to me in 10 and 11, couldn't ask for any more," Bernard said. "That's kind of it.

"Eventually this silver's going to feel really great. Just right now, the gold was very close."

The second-place finish follows the bronze won by Canada's Shannon Kleibrink and her rink in Turin, Italy, in 2006.

Canada beat the Swedes 6-2 in their round-robin match on Monday, but Bernard said afterward that Norberg's performance was an aberration, and expected a much more focused and tough game from Sweden in the final.

Bernard got all that and more from the defending champion, who stole her second straight Olympic gold final.

"I can't believe it yet," said Lindahl, Sweden's second. "It felt like an easy shot for her and we just said, 'Oh a silver medal is good anyway,' and then we got the gold. It's unbelievable."

Canadians miss on early chance

After blanking the first end, Bernard brought the hammer into the second, but couldn't capitalize on a mistake by Norberg on the Swedish skip's final shot.

Bernard eclipsed a Swedish stone biting the four-foot with an angle freeze to lie one before Norberg's final rock crashed in front of the house, setting up a chance for Bernard to take a pair.

Despite the best efforts of sweepers Darbyshire and Bartel, their skip's draw to the four-foot was light and Canada headed into the third end with a 1-0 lead.

Norberg did not falter on her first chance with last rock advantage, scoring a pair to lead 2-1 into the fourth end.

Bernard was in tough as she stepped into the hack for the first of her fourth end stones, eyeing a house that had Sweden sitting two. The Canadian skip threw a flawless draw shot that her sweepers hardly had to touch, sitting on the back edge of the four-foot for shot rock.

Norberg replied with a perfect throw of her own to take out the Canadian shot stone, forcing Bernard to repeat her draw into the four- foot and escape with the single and a 2-2 tie.

A great hit and roll shot by O'Connor averted another Swedish-dominated house in the fifth, hoping to limit Norberg to a single.

Bernard's final shot in the fifth tapped the Swedish stone on the button back about two inches, but not enough to take shot stone. That set up a draw to the button by Norberg, who tapped her second stone in the process but not enough to allow Canada to unseat the double.

Swedes pick up another pair

A measurement verified Sweden's two-point gain and Canada got the hammer back facing a 4-2 deficit in the sixth, but it didn't get any easier, even with last shot.

Lund had her rink lying three after a double takeout, and made Bernard put the first of her skip stones over the button to take shot.

Norberg's final shot in six ran that red Canadian stone out of the house, leaving Bernard with a view of four Swedish stones occupying the house as she drew to the four-foot for the single.

Without the hammer and trailing 4-3 in the seventh end, Bernard was still able to put pressure on Norberg, forcing the Swedish skip to shoot against a crowd of three Canadian rocks.

Norberg's first shot narrowly hit one of the Canadian stones to take shot stone, but it was quickly dispatched by Bernard, whose tap back had Canada lying two. The draw from Norberg was light, allowing the Canadians to leapfrog to a 5-4 lead.

A blank in eight kept the hammer in Sweden's hands into the ninth end, but a crash on the guard on Lund's final third stone had the Canadians in good position to make Sweden take a single.

Norberg would have been happier with the single than the steal she gave up on the attempted hit and roll, but everything seemed to work out with the missed opportunity in the 10th end.

with files from the Canadian Press

Team Canada forward Sidney Crosby tests netminder Jaroslav Halak in a 3-2 semifinal victory over Slovakia on Friday night. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Canadian Olympic men’s hockey coach Mike Babcock joked after his team’s narrow escape in the semifinals that the United States are the favourites in the gold-medal final between the North American rivals on Sunday.

This was a potshot at U.S. general manager Brian Burke and head coach Ron Wilson. The talkative twosome has been saying for months now that nobody would bet on their team to win gold in Vancouver because teams like Canada and Russia were favoured.

But after Canada had to hang on for dear life to beat Slovakia 3-2 for a spot in the final, and the U.S. had an easy time with Finland in their semifinal match, how can the Americans not be considered the better team right now?

“They are rolling … they must be the favourites,” Babcock said with a cunning smile.

Well, the way U.S. goalie Ryan Miller has played and the way Roberto Luongo allowed Slovakia to gain life in the third period, the U.S. should, at least, be the more confident group.

Canada was cruising 3-0 against Slovakia in the third period. The crowd of 17,779 at Canada Hockey Place began to chant, “We want USA, we want USA,” and “We want gold, we want gold."

But then Slovak defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky threw a backhand from a bad angle. Luongo was not hugging the post. The puck bounded off his left pad, off the post and into the goal with eight minutes and 25 seconds remaining in the third period.

“When we got scored on it was amazing how we couldn’t make a pass or a play,” Babcock said.

Slovak centre Michal Handzus further tightened the collective collar of the Canadian team and fans, when he popped in a rebound with 4:53 left on the clock. This made for a frantic finish.

The young Canadian defence pair of Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith was caught on the ice for the final 1:44. Just after Marian Hossa whiffed on a chance from the slot, his Slovak linemate Pavol Demitra found himself alone in front of his Vancouver Canucks teammate Luongo in the dying seconds.

Luongo was fortunate to get his glove on the glorious last-second chance from Demitra.

“I thought for sure it was going to go in,” Demitra said. “I hit it hard and I think I hit his glove or something. I couldn’t believe it. He’s a great goalie.”

'They threw everything at us'

Luongo confirmed that Demitra’s shot did indeed hit his glove.

“I got a piece of it,” Luongo said.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had. They threw everything at us, pucks, bodies. The Slovaks are a great team and they deserved to be here.”

Canada snatched a 2-0 lead after the first period and a 3-0 advantage following 40 minutes, and had outshot the Slovaks 21-9 at that point. The Canadians were disciplined in their play and usually had a third forward high in the offensive zone to quell any transition breaks going the other way.

Canada scored twice in the second-half of the first period on similar goals from Patrick Marleau and Brenden Morrow 1:47 apart.

Marleau deflected a drifter from defenceman Shea Weber and Chris Pronger directed a shot on goal that was tipped by Morrow and past Slovakia goalie Jaroslav Halak. The Canadians built a three-goal head start with a Ryan Getzlaf power-play goal late in the second period.

“I don’t know what it was,” Canadian forward Mike Richards said. “I don’t know if we were sitting back a bit.”

With Canada and the United States meeting in the gold-medal final on Sunday afternoon (noon PT, 3 p.m. ET), it’s a rematch of eight years ago when Canada upended the United States 5-2 in Salt Lake City for its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey in 50 years.

The undefeated U.S. has been the only team to beat Canada in Vancouver, a 5-3 loss last Sunday.

Babcock vowed that his players will make it much more difficult on Miller, getting more traffic in front of the U.S. netminder and more deflections.

“We were too easy on Miller last time,” Babcock said. “We won’t be next time.”

“We’re going to have to tighten up defensively,” Canadian centre Ryan Getzlaf added. “They skated around us pretty hard [last Sunday].”

VANCOUVER -  Okay folks, everyone take a deep breath and relax.
 
That the Canadian women's hockey team had  beer, champagne and cigars on the ice long after their gold-medal winning game on Thursday is not an international incident.
 
It's not even a big deal.

 
Was it inappropriate for the celebration to leave the dressing room and spill on to the ice, even if the stands were empty?

Perhaps. But I'm not even sure about that. 
 
Last time we checked, prohibition was over. Adults, even high-level athletes, are allowed to enjoy a beverage, and the ladies were especially entitled to celebrate and toast their win on home ice.
 
Had it been the men's team, would anyone have noticed? Or cared?
 
Even the staid IOC seems to be okay with what happened. It appears all they really want is a letter of apology from the team, acknowledging that they should have contained their party to the dressing room. Or something like that.
 
"I wouldn't characterize it as an investigation," said IOC director of communications Mark Adams. "To be honest, people are in search of a story that doesn't exist.
 
"There were pictures all over the front pages this morning. And I think people are looking for someone to say, 'It's terrible.' But at the moment, we're just going to write a letter and I guess we'll just be asking for some clarification and explanation for what occurred."
 
Now, someone will make the case that Marie-Philip Poulin, one of the stars of the gold-medal win, is just 18 and was seen drinking a beer. The legal drinking age here is 19, but in Alberta where the team trains, it is 18. Again, it's not the end of the world.  
 
Hockey Canada did release an official apology Friday:
 
"The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone. In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn't have. The team regrets that its gold medal celebration may have caused the IOC or COC any embarrassment. Our players and team vow to uphold the values of the Olympics moving forward and view this situation as a learning experience."
  
And that should be the end of it.

(Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Charles Hamelin, left, won the previously elusive individual gold medal, with Francois-Louis Tremblay, right, taking bronze in the 500. (Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press)

Under heavy criticism for underperforming at the Vancouver Games, the Canadian men's short-track team responded on the final night of competition at the Pacific Coliseum with gold and bronze in the 500 metres and gold in the 5,000 relay.

Charles Hamelin won the men's 500 and François-Louis Tremblay was third in the race Friday night.

The two then came back about an hour later with François Hamelin and Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., to win the relay.

"My goal was to bring back home one individual medal and one team medal," said Charles Hamelin. "Two gold is the best I could have dreamed of.

"To do it with my brother in the relay is incredible."

The results give Canada 10 gold medals in Vancouver — the first country to reach the total — and push its overall count to 21 medals.

"What we had hoped for was an exceptional day," said Yves Hamelin, short-track team leader and father of Charles and François.

"To have results like that, all the planets have to be aligned. There are often unplanned things that happen in short-track. But today it was our turn and we had good races."

The 500 gold-medal final was up for grabs when a crash occurred in the final turn, with Sung Si-Bak of South Korea and Montreal's Tremblay sent crashing.

Hamelin hung on to his balance and crossed in first ahead of Apolo Ohno of the United States.

Ohno was disqualified after the judges conferred, charged with knocking Tremblay away. Sung captured silver.

"It was a weird finish," Hamelin said, "but a good result."

Hamelin, of Sainte-Julie, Que., had endured personal disappointment in the 1,000 and 1,500 races earlier in the Games, failing to reach the podium despite high expectations.

But in one night's work, he became the first Canadian man to win multiple medals at the Vancouver Games.

The 25-year-old crossed in 40.981 seconds in the 500. He was quickly embraced by girlfriend Marianne St-Gelais, who has won two short-track silver medals in Vancouver.

Long-track speedskater Kristina Groves of Ottawa has also earned silver and bronze for Canada.

Tremblay won silver in the 500 at the 2006 Torino Games and was also part of the silver-medal relay team in Italy, as was Hamelin.

Canada breaks Korean domination

Hamelin's win prevented a sweep of the individual men's events by the South Koreans.

In the relay, Canada took the lead from China just over 3½ minutes into the race and Hamelin extended the lead with about 10 laps to go.

Canada crossed in a time of six minutes 44.224 seconds. South Korea took silver, with Ohno winning his eighth Winter Olympic medal as U.S. took bronze.

Kalyna Roberge of Montreal and Calgary's Jessica Gregg were eliminated in the semis in the women's 1,000 metres, with veteran Tania Vicent of Laval, Que., disqualified in the quarter-final heat.

Vicent won a fourth career Olympic medal in the women's relay Wednesday with Roberge, Gregg and St-Gelais, who hails from Saint-Félicien, Que.

Wang Meng of China went on to her third gold medal in Vancouver, taking the women's 1,000 metres in 1:29.213 seconds. Katherine Reutter of the United States captured silver, with Park Seung-Hi of South Korea claiming the bronze.

Wang now has six career Olympic medals after taking 500 gold and two silver at the Torino Games four years ago.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press