Closing remarks Chef de Mission

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chef de Mission - Closing Remarks

Peter Baxter, chef de mission for Team Canada at the 24th Winter Universiade, looked back on the events of the past 12 days and offered these closing remarks.

"I was thoroughly impressed by our student-athletes and the standards they set for themselves, not only in the field of competition but also in their commitment to these games from a cultural standpoint. Not only did our athletes carry themselves with class during their events, but they also showed a willingness to understand the culture of their hosts.

Canada has always taken great pride in its international reputation as a country filled with great ambassadors, and our whole team in Harbin carried themselves with tremendous grace. Our athletes warmed to the sincere, heartfelt courtesies extended to us by the Chinese, and made themselves available to their hosts at every request.

While we should be proud of what Team Canada accomplished in the sporting venues of the 24th Winter Universiade, we should also recognize our team for their efforts away from competition. It was a privilege to lead these young citizens and we should congratulate them for being true amabassadors of sport, and wonderful representatives of our country"

Peter Baxter - Chef de Mission, Team Canada

Over 100 million Chinese watch Canada vs China Women's Hockey Game.

I spoke with Christian Pierre FISU Communications Director who taled to me about television ratings on Chinese National Television Yesterday and he stated that over 100 million Chinese watched the Canada vs China Women's Hockey Gold medal game where Canada won 3-1. That blows Hockey Night in Canada television ratings out by more than 90 million. The silver medal win for China was its best in international competition and the women are national heros. Fans walked the stands holding blow up pictures of Chinese women Hockey players and the result will be a boost to women's hockey in China.

The Chinese television ratings for the Opening ceremonies were much larger however. Get this over 500 milliom viewers watch the spectactular cultural and entertainment opening!

To see Canada march in opening ceremonies on youtube got to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usabBuwoSUE&feature=related

Those Laurier Student-Athletes did us all proud here and more viewers ended up seeing them than Don Cherry's Coach's Corner in a decade! Cheers Peter

Team Canada short in Gold Medal Match

Canadian Men settle for Silver

Canada-Russia for Gold.

You really don't even need to explain it any further.

Anytime the two countries meet in a championship final, the matchup brings out the claws in both sides and the final of the 24th Winter Universiade proved to be no exception.

Russia scored two goals in the span of 46 seconds in the third period and held on to defeat Canada 4-2 to claim the gold, and bring to a close the games of the Harbin Winter Universiade.

It was, without question, the most hotly anticipated game of the tournament and - despite the eventual outcome on the Canadian side of the ice - it lived up to the hype and expectation.

Both teams staked their place in the final thanks to an undefeated run in the round robin portion of the tournament with neither team really breaking into a sweat. Canada thrashed their semifinal opponents from Slovakia to the tune of 8-1 while the Russians decimated Kazakhstan with an equally vengeful 7-1 score.

Both semifinal matchups served notice that neither team was to be taken lightly, and that only a victory in the final game would suffice. For the Russians, the victory was the crown jewel in their games leading total of 51 medals in Harbin. But for the Canadians, it was a bitter pill to swallow and proving themeselves to be the second best team in at the Harbin games offered little comfort.

"I thought the game was there for the taking," said Calgary Dino defender Travis Friedley. "I thought when we played the kind of game that we'd been successful playing, we really controlled the play. We started to drift from the plan in the third period, and they're just too good to try and do that against. We really didn't play all that poorly, but it seemed like every time we made a mistake they were able to turn it around and make something of it.

"I thought they outplayed us in the back half of the third period," noted head coach Milan Dragecivic. "We stopped chipping pucks deep and getting their guys turning around in their own end to go get them. We had a lapse of about three minutes in the later part of the period, and that ended up being the difference.

Russia opened the scoring in the first period when Marat Valiullin beat Alberta netminder Aaron Sorochan five-and-a-half minutes into the game. The score stayed that way until the late stages of the period when Sashkatchewan Huskie Steve DaSilva scored right off a faceoff in the Russian end to make it a 1-all game.

Russia - who never trailed at any point in the tournament - got the game's next goal on an odd sequence of events. Sorochan misplayed a seemingly harmless Russian shot and the puck popped out of his glove and back onto the ice. Russian forward Denis Fahrutdinov jammed home the freebie late in the period to give the Russians a 2-1 lead heading into the middle stanza.

"That was an unfortunate one because Zorro (Sorochan) doesn't misplay a shot like that very often," said Canadian captain Ben Kilgour. "But that's what it was like for us tonight. Anytime a break could go for us or against us, it always bounced in their favour. Not to take anything away from the fact they're a very skilled team, but it just seemed like we couldn't catch a break when we needed one."

The Canadians had plenty of opportunities to equalize in the second period as the Russians offered up five powerplay chances. Canada was unable to convert on any of the numerous man-advantage situations, and the team went into the third still trailing by a goal.

The Russians handed the Canadian side their best chance to get back to even in the early part of the final period when forward Vadim Berdnikov took a major and a game misconduct for roughing. Saskatchewan Huskie forward Steve Gillen scored on the ensuing five-minute powerplay, but that was all the offense the Canadians could muster.

"We just couldn't get pucks to the net on the powerplay," said Gillen. "I don't know how many times we'd set it up, get a guy to the front to create a little space for himself and then not get the puck through."

In the end, Canada was only able to convert on one of their seven powerplay chances in the contest - a statline that many in the room say played a large factor in the final outcome.

"I thought we needed to be better when we were a man up," said Dragecivic. "I thought out inabilty to make our powerplay chances count, and our deviations from the gameplan in the third period really hurt us tonight."

The Russians shook off the Gillen marker, retaking the lead with little more than three minutes remaining in the game. A goalmouth scramble in front of Sorochan left Petr Kuokhriakov alone and he tucked it behind the Canadian keeper to make it 3-2. Any last remainging hopes of a Team Canada comeback died less then a minute later when Konstantin Kulikov converted a cross ice feed from linemate Radik Zakiev to make it a 4-2 lead, killing the hopes of repeat gold for Canada in mens' hockey in the process.

"That was an example of the kind of skill we were taking about, and the margin for error on our part being so slight" said Ben Kilgour. "We had to press a little bit because we were running out of time. But we get a guy who tries to walk through the zone trap by himself, gets caught and it turns into a numbers rush the other way. The Russian drove wide, threw it back across to the guy who was driving to the middle. A textbook two-on-one rush and they scored on it."

Canadian netminder Aaron Sorochan stopped 23 of 27 Russian shots in the contest while Russian keeper Emil Galikov faced two fewer shots, but also made 23 saves.

The loss marked the end of the competition at the 24th Winter Universiade in Harbin. Canada's medal total was six as they claimed one gold, four silvers and one bronze over the eleven days of competition.

Team Canada Curling skip. Laurier's Hollie Nichol to be Closing Ceremonies Flag Bearer

Friday, February 27, 2009

Closing Ceremonies Flagbearer

Team Canada chef de mission Peter Baxter is pleased to announce Wilfrid Laurier curler Hollie Nicol as the flagbearer for the closing ceremonies of the 24th Winter Universiade.

"What Hollie and the girls did this week is nothing short of remarkable," said Baxter. "Coming into the games with modest expectation of success, they showed they can compete at the highest level. Unfortunately, it didn't have the storybook ending they were hoping for, but that doesn't diminish what they achieved here this week."

Nicol and her team of Danielle Inglis, Laura Hickey, Hillary McDermott and Erica Butler swept the competition during the round robin portion of the event, finished the week with a 10-1 record and leave Harbin with a silver medal for their efforts.

"It's been a great week, and I'm honoured to have the responsibility of carrying the flag for Canada at the games," said Nicol. "I'm very happy to be given the opportunity to lead the athletes into the closing ceremonies."

The closing ceremonies are slated to begin at 8:00pm, right after the Winter Universiade men's hockey gold medal final between Canada and Russia. The men's hockey final is the last event of the 24th Winter Universiade, and Nicol and the rest of Team Canada's athletes will be at the game, supporting the Canadian men in their gold medal hunt.

"What a great way to end the games," said Nicol. "Watch the men follow the path of our women's hockey team and win gold - then lead the athletes into the closing gala."

Posted by Hodges at 6:57 PM 0 comments

Bevan and Ironside strike Women's Hockey Gold

Friday, February 27, 2009

Canada at a Glance - Day 10

What Canada Did on Friday, February 27 at the 24th Winter Universiade


BIATHLON
Canada’s biathletes wrapped up their competition with the mixed relay event. Canada finished the race in 8th place.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Canada's cross-country skiers wrapped up their competition with the Women's 15 km and Men’s 30km events.

Anna Crawford was the fastest skier for Canada, posting a 31st place finishing time of 53:59.6,

Alexia Pichard-Jolicoeur skied the course in a time of 55:17.5 - good for 37th spot, with Alana Thomas arriving at the finish line in 42nd place clocking in at 56:32.0.

In the men's 30km event, Ed McCarthy placed 35th, in a time of 1:35:20 with Gavin Hamilton finishing with a 42nd place time of 1:38:39.5 - one spot better than Carl Steudler's time of 1:38:43.5

MENS CURLING
Skipped by Laurier’s Mike Anderson, Canada’s Men’s curling team finished the round-robin in sixth place at 4-5 – they did not advance to the medal round

WOMENS CURLING
Skipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, Canada won a silver medal, losing to China's Bingyu Wang 6-5 in the gold medal final.

MENS HOCKEY
Canada defeated Slovakia 8-1 in one of two Friday semifinals. Canada will meet Russia for gold in the final competition event of the Universiade games.

WOMENS HOCKEY
Canada’s Women’s Hockey won gold, defeating China 3-1 in the final.

LONG TRACK SPEED SKATING
The Canadian athletes have finished their Universiade competition

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Canada's short track speed skaters have completed their Universiade competition.

Canada’s combined medal count stands at five – one gold, three silver and a bronze.

GOLD!

York forward Courtney Unruh scored for the third time in her last four starts, as Canada’s women’s hockey team capped off a perfect week on the ice with a 3-1 win over the host Chinese in the gold medal final at the 24th Winter Universiade in Harbin, China.

Unruh’s second period tally stood up as the game winner as the Canadian side made history as the first winners of the women’s hockey event at the FISU Winter Games.

“It’s actually funny to score them in bunches like that, because this year, I’ve actually had trouble finding the net. “said Unruh. “It’s been a little frustrating back home because the puck just hasn’t been going in for me, but here this week it seems everything I do leads to a goal.”

Team Canada also got goals from Alberta’s Rayanne Reeve and captain Cathy Chartrand of McGill who – despite having significant international experience for Canada prior to the trip - found herself somewhat awestruck at game’s end.

“It’s better than anything I ever imagined it would feel like. To win gold as a member of Team Canada is a dream come true,” said Chartrand. “It was nice to be involved in a tight game in the final. Some of the games in the round robin were a little lopsided, but the final was a excellent game.”

Canada was undoubtedly the class of the fielding the inaugural edition of the women’s hockey portfolio at the games - posting an unblemished 7-0 record and outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 46-7 at the event - but despite the cumulative statistics, the outcome of the final was anything but a foregone conclusion.

Chartrand opened the scoring with her second goal and seventh point of the tournament in the late stages for the first period to give the Canadians the 1-0 lead after one.

To the delight of the raucously supportive crowd at the Harbin Ice Hockey Gym, the Chinese evened the score at 1-1 when Jin Fengling beat Manitoba Bisons’ netminder Stacey Corfield at 2:35 of the middle stanza. However, the joy in the stands was short-lived as Unruh regained the lead for Canada with the eventual game-winner moments later, giving the Canadians the one-goal lead heading into the final period.

Rayanne Reeve, a native of Stony Plain, Alta., who skates for the Alberta Pandas, added an insurance marker at 4:32 of the final period. The Chinese mounted a furious charge in the final few minutes, but Corfield kept the Canadian lead safe, and Canada achieved their golden goal.

“It’s so cliché, but words simply don’t describe the feeling right now,” said Corfield. ”To come together from all over the country and compete as a team – playing the Chinese in front of the biggest crowd any of us have ever played in front of – it’s been such a fun experience – the culture, the hockey, everything. I couidn’t have asked for a better time.’

Corfield picked up her tournament leading fifth win of the competition and was credited with 13 saves as Canada outshot China 39-14.

The women will now see if their golden touch can be transferred over to the men, as Canada’s guys face Russia in the final of the men’s hockey event Saturday afternoon.

Team Canada website:
www.cisport.ca/harbin

2009 Winter Universiade hockey results website:
http://app.harbin2009.org/wu24info/singleTable_Hockey.shtml?request_locale=en_US


SCORING SUMMARY

Canada 3, China 1
GOLD MEDAL GAME
(FISU GAMES @ Harbin Ice Hockey Gym)

FIRST PERIOD
1. Canada: Cathy Chartrand (A. Del Guidice, K.Webster), 17:17

Penalties:
China: R. Sun (crosscheck), 0:29
Canada: V. Davidson (interference), 3:46
Canada: K. Webster (hold), 10:33
Canada: C. Unruh (hook), 17:41


SECOND PERIOD
2. China: Jin Fengling (N.Jiang, R. Sun), 2:35 (PP)
3. Canada: Courtney Unruh (M. Provost, A. Bevan), 7:09

Penalties:
Canada: A. Ironside (rough), 2:23
Canada: M. Provost (hook), 4:48
China: H. Cui (hold), 11:33
Canada: A. Ironside (hold), 12:45
Canada: A. Boras (hold), 13:00

THIRD PERIOD
4. Canada: Rayanne Reeve (M. Provost, A. Bevan), 4:32 (PP)

Penalties:
China: A. Tan (rough), 4:23
Canada: K. Webster (cross), 10:14
Canada: S. Ramsay (trip), 19:52

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
China 8 - 3 - 3 -- 14.
Canada 17 - 11 - 11 -- 39.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
China 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1
Canada 1 - 1 - 1 -- 3

POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS:
China 1 / 9;
Canada 1 / 3.

PENALTIES (No/Mins):
China 3/6;
Canada 9/18.


GOALTENDERS:
China,
Shi Yao [L, 39 shots-36 saves, 60:00];

Canada,
Stacey Corfield [W, 14 shots-13 saves, 60:00).

Start: 7:31 pm
End: 9:34 pm

Attendance: (unavailable)

Referee: Tara Leighton (USA).

Posted by Hodges at 5:01 PM 0

Laurier curlers win Silver Medal at 2009 Universiade

Thursday, February 26, 2009

WCURL - Silver Lining as Team Canada Curlers come short vs China

Canada's Hollie Nicol faces world silver medalist Bingyu Wang of China for gold in womens curling.

Wang scored three in the third end -- led 4-2 at the 5th end break, but was held to a single in the 6th.

* * *

Canada led China 5-2 playing the 7th end. In th 7th - Wang made a gorgeous tap-back to lie one partially buried - Nicol followed it down, scored her two and trails 5-4 playing in the eighth.
* * *
In the 8th -- A Canadian kicker at the back corner of the 12-foot, forced Wang to play for a single rather than the blank -- wang made an open hit on Nicol's rock in the four foot. China scores one -- they leads 6-4 playing the ninth.
* * *
China set up the ninth end fairly well -- with Wang sealing a lone Canadian counter in behind a wall of Chinese granite. Nicol was left with a draw to a thin sliver of the button for her two...good for weight, but tight for line. Canada scores one -- trails 6-5 playing the 10th without hammer.

China plays 10th end perfect and wins Gold. Laurier Girls represented Canada well and we are all proud of their silver medal finish.

* * *

Laurier's Women's Curlers and Hockey Players go for Gold tomorrow

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Canada at a Glance - Day 9
What Canada Did on Thursday, February 26 at the 24th Winter UniversiadeBIATHLONCanada’s biathletes did not compete on day 9 of the games.The next competition for the biathletes is Friday’s mixed relay eventCROSS COUNTRY SKIINGCanada's cross-country skiers did not compete on day 9 of the games. The next competition for the cross-country skiers is Friday’s Men’s 30km event.MENS CURLINGSkipped by Laurier’s Mike Anderson, Canada’s Men’s curling finished the round-robin in sixth place at 4-5 – they did not advance to the medal roundWOMENS CURLINGSkipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, Canada defeated Great Britain 7-5 in the semifinal to advance to Friday's gold medal match.Canada will meet world silver medalist Bingyu Wang of China for gold.MENS HOCKEYCanada’s Men’s hockey team enjoyed a day off on day 9 of the games.Canada will face Slovakia in one of two Friday semifinals, Russia and Kazakhstan will meet in the other.WOMENS HOCKEYCanada’s Women’s Hockey team advance to the gold medal final with a 10-1 win over Slovakia in one of two Thursday night semifinals. Canada will face either Finland or China in Friday's finalLONG TRACK SPEED SKATINGThe Canadian men have finished their Universiade competition* * *On the women's side, The Canadians competed in the team pursuit event.Ste-Foy, Quebec's Justine L'Heureux combined with Calgary skaters Kirsti Lay and Shannon Sibold for a 6th place performance - posting a time of 3:12.64.The Canadians failed to advance to the medal skate - but posted a time of 3:13.45 in a consolation side skateSHORT TRACK SPEED SKATINGCanada's short track speed skaters have completed their Universiade competition.Canada’s combined medal count stands at three – two silver and a bronze.
Posted by Hodges at 4:05 AM 0 comments

WHKY - Slovakian Semifinal Showdown
York forward Carly Hill scored the eventual game winner at the final buzzer of the first period as Canada's hopes of a gold medal in women’s hockey remained on track, thanks to their 10-1 semifinal win over Slovakia at the 24th Winter Universiade. View IIHF scoresheet here - http://http://app.harbin2009.org/wu24info/pdf/bq/0211173E.PDFThe Slovaks came closest to handing the Canadians a preliminary round defeat, scoring the game's first goal and holding the Canadians to a 4-3 lead after two periods before surrendering two third period markers in a 6-3 defeat. Canada anticipated their semifinal opponents to be better than they were in the round robin matchup, and needed to match the Slovak intensity."They did a lot of good things on Saturday night," said head coach Dan Church. "But we discussed that before the game and realized that score probably had more to do with how flat we were, than how good they played. We didn’t really intend to turn this into any sort of statement game, other than to prove to ourselves that we could be better."Determined not to let the Slovaks draw first blood as they did in the round robin, Moncton forward Mariève Provost scored the game’s opening goal three minutes into the opener. The Canadians spent the better part of the games opening frame in the Slovak end, outshooting them 20-3, and only the goaltending of Slovak keeper Monika Kvakova kept the game from turning into a runaway early. The Slovaks looked to have weathered the storm, when Hill scored right at the buzzer to send the Canadians to the dressing room up a pair. Hill's goal demoralized the Slovaks heading into the break, who seemed to be ready to credit themselves with the moral victory of only being down one at the intermission."You could see it in their body language as they left the ice,” said head coach Dan Church. “I thought Carly’s goal really set them back. We came out with good speed in the first period and outshot them badly. For them to get out of the period only down one would have been big for them.” As deflated as Hill’s goal left the Slovaks, it energized the Canadian side. Hill scored again 77 seconds into the middle period with Wilfrid Laurier’s Andrea Bevan scoring less than two minutes later to make it 4-0 and the eventual result was never in jeopardy from then on. The Slovaks had a small victory midway through the period when Petra Jurcova beat Canadian netminder Stacey Corfield, but the Canadians further crushed the Slovak spirit with Leah Copeland scoring two goals in a 17 second span. In all, the Canadians scored five second period goals and took a comfortable 7-1 led into the final twenty minutes. In the third, the Slovak frustrations started to boil over, and they paid for it on the scoreboard. York forward Courtney Unruh scored her second powerplay marker of the night to make it 8-1 before Copeland completed the hat trick to make it a 9-1 game. McGill’s Vanessa Davidson capped off the scoring for Canada with the team’s fifth powerplay marker of the evening as the Canadians assured themselves of a medal. As they have throughout the tournament, the Canadians controlled the pace and flow of the game from start to finish, outshooting the Slovaks by a 50-9 margin. Stacey Corfield made eight saves in the victory, picked up her fourth win of the tournament.Canada advances to the Friday's gold medal final where they will face the winner of the China-Finland semifinal.
Posted by Hodges at 12:24 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 25, 2009

WCURL - Canada Goes for Gold on Friday
Canadian third Danielle Inglis did what any young woman would want do on her 21st birthday – she spent the day hanging out with friends, receiving birthday greetings from her family and running up the credit card at the shopping mall.Oh yeah – and she hooked up with the rest of her Team Canada mates, beat Great Britain 7-5 in the semifinals of the 24th Winter Universiade and set up a date with Chinese national hero Bingyu Wang for gold on Friday.“That was the deal,” sais Inglis. “If we won, we all got to spend the afternoon shopping. Had we lost, we would have played for bronze later this afternoon. That didn’t really seem like a very fun option to us, so we made a pact. Win – and spend the rest of the day hunting for bargains.”Whatever works, ladies. You might be able to argue the methodology – but you have to respect the results.Entering the tournament as a self-professed ‘dark horse’, the Canadians shed any measure of obscurity they were hoping to use to their advantage with a 9-0 record in the round robin portion of the event. With the Maple Leaf on their back serving as a bulls-eye for the remaining medal contenders, the Canadians faced a stiff test in Thursday’s semifinal against Great Britain.After blanking the opening end, the Brits stole one in the 2nd to open the scoring. Canada got that back with a single in the 3rd, and the teams blanked the fourth.The fifth end was a little dicey for the Canadians as they made a handful of half-shots in a row – setting up Great Britain for a big end. Sarah Reid took advantage of the Canadian miscues and cracked a four-ender in the 5th taking a 5-1 lead into the break.“I guess if it’s going to happen, it’s good that it happened in the fifth,” said Canadian skip Hollie Nicol. “You get the longer break and better chance to regroup. Normally it only takes a couple of minutes for us to shake an end like that off.”“I just reminded them that it’s long way from over,” said Ferris. “We talked about how there was still a lot of game left to play, and they just needed to regroup and go after it. They don’t have a lot of experience at the international level, but they’ve curled a lot of games together. They know that if they hang in there and play smart, they’ll get their chances.”The girls battled back - scoring two in 7, stealing one in 8 and stunning the Brits with a steal of three in 9 to take a 7-5 lead. The Canadians ran Great Britain out of stones in the final end and secured their place in the Friday's final."I thought they did a great job staying patient," remarked Canada team coach Jennifer Ferris. "5-1 down at the break seems like a big gap, but in reality it isn't. You just try and score your deuce, and follow it with a steal. I'm a little surprised they didn't score in the back half of the game, but our girls stepped it up and forced their hand a bit at times."Great Britain's second half collapse wasn't just a matter of Canada turning up the intensity - game management in the back half of the game also played a significant role in the outcome."They were really running short on time," noted Nicol. "Even in the 9th, they were down to six-and-something. They had to hurry their shots a bit, and it's tough when you take yourself out of your rhythm."The Canadian win sets up the gold medal showdown that many were hoping they’d get. Chinese national champion Bingyu Wang is nothing short of revered at these games, and after the Nicol and company beat her 7-6 on Monday in the round robin, fans started the anticipation of a gold medal rematch.“I think they’ll be better in the final that they were earlier in the week,” said Nicol. “They’ll have a pretty big cheering section going for them as well , but the fans will be expecting the Chinese to win. To be honest, I think it takes the pressure off us.”
Posted by Hodges at 7:25 PM 0 comments