Team Canada Looking Good as Games Approach

As hard as it might be to believe, the Olympic men's hockey tournament is practically here. And there have been a few encouraging signs of late for those rooting on Team Canada in Vancouver.

One of the best came via a breakthrough week from Jarome Iginla, who was tops among Canadian Olympians with three goals and seven points in four games. The Calgary Flames captain had been locked in a nasty goal-scoring drought since receiving his third Games invite.

While coach Mike Babcock and executive director Steve Yzerman haven't publicly laid out roles for each player, it wouldn't be surprising if Iginla was given a spot on a scoring line.

The Olympic format calls for all games tied after overtime to be decided in a shootout. Team Canada has lost two of the three shootouts it's played in Olympic competition - getting beaten in the gold-medal game by Sweden in 1994 before losing to the Czech Republic in the semi-finals four years later.

Sidney Crosby leads the NHL in shootout scoring percentage this season, having converted on six of his seven attempts. The Pittsburgh Penguins star had his third game-deciding shootout goal on Sunday afternoon against Detroit.

Other Team Canada players with decent shootout records this season include Jonathan Toews (five goals on eight tries), Rick Nash (four of 10) and Ryan Getzlaf (three of seven).

Marc-Andre Fleury currently has the best record among NHL goalies in the tiebreaker - having stopped 14 of 15 attempts and built a 5-0 record - but he isn’t expected to see much action for Team Canada at the Olympics. Likely starter Martin Brodeur has been similarly strong with a 6-2 record after allowing seven goals on 26 shots.

Crosby also continues to score at a better rate than he has at any other point in his NHL career. Last week, he got goal No. 34 - putting him three be= hind Team Canada teammate Patrick Marleau's league-leading total. Marleau had another two goals in two games last week.

Eric Staal also continued his hot run, putting up three goals and five points in three games. The Carolina Hurricanes captain recently built a five-game goal-scoring streak.

Team Canada's youngest player has also been producing since earning an Olympic invite. Twenty-year-old defenceman Drew Doughty scored two goals and four points in four games for the Los Angeles Kings.

One potential area of concern for Yzerman's management team could be the continued absence of San Jose Sharks defenceman Dan Boyle. An upper-body injury was only expected to keep him out for a few days, but he's now sat out four games.

Boyle has been skating, but doesn't feel 100 per cent yet.

"If I could go, I'd be playing," he told the San Jose Mercury News last week.

The Sharks have seven games remaining before the NHL's Olympic break starts on Feb. 14.

Canada opens the tournament two days later against Norway and hopes to find itself playing well enough that it will be one of the two teams vying for = gold on Feb. 28. It's bound to be a busy month.

 

SOURCE: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2010Vancouver/

 

 

Canuck: Do You Speak It?

Have a sit-down on the chesterfield with your double-double and learn ya some Canadian.

In preparation of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., the Associated Press has developed a list of terms all visitors to Canada should know.

With the caveat that not all Canadians may agree on the language, definitions and spellings below, and not all may use all expressions listed here all the time in all contexts in an all-joking or an all-earnest manner, let's begin:

LOONIE: One-dollar coin bearing the image on one side of a diving bird known in North America as the Common Loon.

TOONIE or TWOONIE: Two-dollar coin bearing the image on one side of a polar bear. Named as a play on Loonie and for its double-dollar denomination.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE: A coffee with two creams and two sugars.

TRIPLE-TRIPLE: You guessed it, same as above plus one each.

CHESTERFIELD: Generic term for couch. Refers elsewhere to a specific leather style.

TIMMIES: Shorthand for Tim Hortons, Canada's answer to Starbucks and making its first foray into the United States.

TIMBITS: Doughnut holes at Tim Hortons.

TWO-FOUR: A case of beer that contains 24 bottles. A ‘case’ of beer – although in BC a ‘case’ refers to a 12-pack, a 24-pack is often called a ‘flat’.

TOQUE: Pronounced TOOK (sort of), a knit cap called a ski cap in the United States.

THAT'LL LEARN YA: Meaning, "That will teach you," said in response to a stupid or non-fatal avoidable bad outcome.

HYDRO: In some areas, refers generically to electrical power and power bills.

Alright – well enjoy the games and not to worry, we also speak ‘merican, eh?

Canucklehead Torch Run

Well, here it is - the final product. I wish I had more video to show - but this is all I've got!

Paris, Ontario - December 22, 2009: A time and place that will be with me for the rest of my life. I'll have the memories forever and to help me preserve them I have made this video, which I share with you now.

The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is a 45,000 kilometre journey across Canada that will unify the country and build excitement for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The relay is over 100 days long, and will visit over 1000 communities and places of interest. I was chosen as 1 of 12,000 to help the torch make it journey around Canada, which at over 45,000 kilometres is the longest in history to be contained within the host country.

I'm proud and honoured to be part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, even though I suppose it is in a limited way. The world will be soon be watching Canada and I wish all our athletes the best - we are already proud of you!

I do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank my employer, Bell Canada for this once-in-a-lifetime experience! While I only actually carried the torch for a few minutes, the joy of this day will last me a lifetime!

I really have no closing words, I hope you enjoyed the video and I hope you enjoy our upcoming Olympic games.

GO CANADA!

CHEERS!