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

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.

* * *

Canada on Day 8

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Meet the Neighbours...

Team USA delegation at the Winter Universiade.

Another solid speed skating session

Canada's women wrapped up the individual events at the Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym with the 1000-meter event.

View official results here - http://app.harbin2009.org/wu24info/pdf/sh/0413992E.PDF

Ste-Foy, Quebec's Justine L'Heureux posted another impressive finish at the games, skating the 2 1/2 lap circuit in a time of 1:19.59 - good enough for 9th place.

Despite dealing with a sore shoulder all week, Calgary's Kirsti Lay toughed out another good skate, finishing in a 16th place time of 1:21.38, one spot ahead of teammate Anastacia Bucsis and her clocking of 1:21.53.

Now skating out of Quebec City, Calgary's Shannon Sibold also turned in a solid performance, hitting the line in 1:23.68 - good for 24th spot.

With the individual events of the long track speed skating complete, all that remains is the women's team pursuit competition which will be held Thursday.

Canada's playoff partners determined

Canada's women's curling team will face Great Britain one of two Thursday semifinals. Great Britain defeated the Czech Republic in a Wednesday tiebreaker to advance to the medal round.

China and Russia will meet in the other semifinal.

Canada's Mens hockey team now knows who their semifinal opponent will be. Japan's surprising 6-3 win over the United States pushes the Slovaks into second spot in Pool B.

Canada will play Slovakia in one semifinal, while the Russians will meet Kazakhstan in the other.

Bartering with the Mongolian Speed Skaters

The Mongolians are on the floor. Get out your change gear. A Mongolian speed skaters have their wolf fur hats on hand want to trade for a Canadian jacket. I don't really want to trade my jackey but at -21 for the last week here in Harbin the Hat looks like a solution to my frozen ears! I try to open my bid with my Canadian tuque but he says no in five different languages except image. He insists on the jacket. I convince Allison in the Mission staff office to sell me a smaller size jacket because mine was is xtra Large and the poor Mongolian would swim in it. For $80 bucks Canadian I buy the Jacket, hand it over to my new found friend from Mongolia and he gives me the Fur Hat. We shake hands and he says "Canada Friend" I say "Mongolia Friend" and the transaction in secured. I now have warm ears and I now match our Chief Athletic Therapist Christian Seguin who earlier secured a Wolf fur hat also! Economics 101- Barter!

Team Canada Results on Day 6 2009 Universiade in Harbin, China

Monday, February 23, 2009

Canada at a Glance - Day 6

O Canada – Go Canada!!

What Canada Did on Monday, February 23 at the 2009 Winter Universiade

BIATHLON

Canada’s biathletes did not compete on Day 6 of the games. The next competition for the biathletes is scheduled to take place Tuesday with the men competing in the 10K sprint event and the women competing in the 7.5K sprint event.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

Finishing 34^th, Mississauga, ON athlete Alana Thomas posted Canada’s result as the female cross -country skiers competed in the 5K pursuit event.

Thomas finished the sprint event in a time of 34:09.9 – six spots better than St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, QC skier Alexia Pichard-Jolicoeur’s time of 34:41.0

Anna Crawford of Lake George, NY finished in 43^rd spot with a time of 35:18.0, while Peterborough, ON skier Mary Thompson finished one spot back in 44^th, positng a race time of 35:50.7.

The men competed in the 7.5K pursuit event with Gavin Hamilton posting Canada’s best result – finishing 29^th in a time of 43:06.4. Ed McCarthy finished 47^th in a time of 44:44.1 with Calgary’s Carl Steudler completing the race in 46:08.8 – good for 60^th spot.

MENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Mike Anderson, Canada’s Men’s curling team dropped their third game in a row on Monday afternoon – falling 7-4 to China in the afternoon draw. Canada’s record falls to 3-4 and the team sits sixth in the standings. The men play twice on Tuesday - 9:00am against the United States before wrapping up the round robin at 7:00pm against Finland.

WOMENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, Canada’s Women’s curling team won both of their draws on Monday, defeating China 7-6 in the morning draw and downing Great Britain 9-3 in the evening draw.

Canada sits alone atop the standings boasting a record of 8-0. Having already clinched top spot in the round robin, Canada will play once on Tuesday - 2:00pm against Czech Republic.

MENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Men’s hockey team defeated Czech Republic 3-1 to run their record to 3-0 in the round robin. Kyle Ross, Reid Jorgensen and Mike Hellyer scored for Canada while Aaron Sorochan stopped 21of 22 Czech shots in the Canadian net. Canada’s (3-0) next opponent will be Kazakhstan (3-0) in a game schedule for Tuesday afternoon at 7:00pm.

WOMENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Women’s Hockey team enjoyed a day off from competition on Monday and will next take to the ice Tuesday afternoon at 3:30pm against Japan.

LONG TRACK SPEED SKATING

The Canadian men did not skate on Monday, and will next take to the ice on Tuesday competing n the 1000-meter event.

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The Canadian women did not skate on Monday, and will next take to the ice on Tuesday competing n the 5000-meter event.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Montreal’s Guillaume Bastille earned Canada’s first medal at the 24th Winter Universiade, finishing second in the 1000-meter final.

Bastille also medalled for Canada in the men’s 5000-meter relay. Bastille teamed up with Alexander Boisvert-Lacroix, Richard Shoebridge and Tyler Darraugh to finish second behind the Chinese in a time of 7:03.929.

* * *

Montreal skaters Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau, Nita Avrith, Annik Plamondon, and Valerie Lambert combined to win Canada’s third medal of the games – a bronze in the 3000-meter relay event.

The Canadians completed the relay in a time of 4:32.728, behind teams from China and Korea.

Canada’s combined medal count stands at three – two silver and a bronze.

MHKY vs Czech Republic

Photos from Canada's 3-1 win over the Czech Republic.

Mens Hockey move to 3-0

Men's hockey raised their record to a perfect 3-0 with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic.

Kyle Ross, Reid Jorgensen and Mike Hellyer scored for Canada in the win.

Canada at Kazakhstan are tied atop the Pool standings at 3-0, with the two teams facing each other Tuesday evening at 7:00.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Random photos

From the Games - Carly Hill

Our Journey to China

I left bright and early from Montreal airport with my teammates from McGill and the girls from out east. We flew from Montreal to Vancouver to meet the rest of the girls from across Canada

Once arrived in Vancouver we joined the girls from Ontario and one from British Columbia. We had a two hour layover in Vancouver where we decided to enjoy one last Canadian meal and stuffed our faces with either Subway or Tim Hortons.

As we boarded the flight to Beijing we were all very tired and ready to sleep. I was lucky enough to have a window seat while most of the girls were stuck in the middle of the middle row, next to random strangers many of whom were wearing Sars masks. The girl I sat beside was extremely talkative and taught me how to say hello (nee how) and thank you in Mandarin.

During the flight we were told to stand up and walk around because the blood rushes to our feet. We all walked around, talked with the speed skaters and pushed our way by people to get to the wash rooms. The walk ways were always crowded and very stressful to walk through.

Now , let’s get to the most annoying part of this flight - the TV’s sucked. Most of the girls did not even have the option to choose movies, instead they were streaming on random channels that would repeat the movies and constantly start over again, so you could never watch a full movie. The popular choices for the girls were Finding Nemo and Hancock. I guess I was considered lucky because I was able to choose my movies therefore I had the two they had as well as The Vacation, Cars and The Heartbreak Kid. The girls were so mad that not only were they stuck sitting in the middle of the middle, next to people coughing and wearing Sars masks but they couldn’t even watch TV.

The food while we traveled to Beijing was very good and they definitely fed us enough for the entire ride. We received two big meals as well as sandwiches and beverages. The good news is none of us got sick and we all ate enough to last us for a long time. Our stomachs were too full. The airplane had all the typical elements for a long ride such as the screaming baby, the annoying individuals who get up all the time, the ones who talk far too loud and most importantly the ones who walk through the isles and hit your head as you’re trying to sleep.

We arrived in Beijing and I was excited to see the millions of people who are supposed to be around, however - we got there and the airport was completely empty. As we waited for the train to bring us the other side of the airport, Cathy Chartrand lifted her pants and almost fainted. Her ankles were now considered Kankles (fat ankles). They were huge; we all checked ours ankles and it turned out that other girls were experiencing the awful horror of Kankles as well. The rest of the train ride we spent making fun of Cathy and the other girls. The Beijing airport was very clean and everyone was so friendly. We met the Great Britain men and women’s hockey teams and they joined us on the flight to Harbin. I sat with several girls from Great Britain and we all had a great laugh about the different meaning in words. Turns our when I said she was wearing nice pants, she thought I commented on her underwear so she looked at me very uncomfortably. The girls were hilarious and they made the flight to Harbin very pleasant considering we had no TV’s to watch.

We arrived in Harbin and turns out seven of us lost our sticks somewhere along the way. They were left either in Montreal or Beijing. Our assistant coach, Shelley Coolidge had a very hard time trying to communicate how many sticks we lost and where they were lost, and we all had a good laugh. We had practice the next day and they did not think our sticks would be there in time and well they weren’t. We practiced using other people’s sticks and two girls had to use the wrong side. The funny thing was that Cathy Chartrand shot was still harder then mine even with a wrong sided stick.

Traveling to Harbin has been very interesting but I am sure we will be experiencing many funnier moments in the next two weeks.

-Carly Hill, Team Canada Womens Hockey

Posted by Hodges at 9:12 PM 0 comments

Opening Ceremonies Spectacle was Cultural Extravaganza

Playing Canada Beach Volleyball while waiting for the March in was popular and fun for all nations waiting!

The Harbin Organizing Committe pulled all the stops in a two hour Performance involving Dancers, Chinese and Russian pop artists, Gymnasts, and musicians for the athletes and spectators. In attendance was the Chairman of China, HU Jin Tao and was televised on National Television in China. Our cross Country skiers made the 3 hour train trek from Yabuli and the Biathon athletes from Maoershan were shuttle by bus an hour and a half to join the Canadain athletes in Harbin Village and they were not dissappointed. Walking in to the arena with McGill Women's Hockey Player Kathy Chartrand was a thrill for all the delagation. The Chinese people are so welcoming and we are stopped often for photographs .

I am starting to run out of Canada pins and even the Military Officers at the village gate know me by name "Canada Pin Leader".


FISU President Gerge Killian address at Opening


Flag bearers at Opening Ceremonies


Chairman Hu Jin Tao of China (fourth from the left


Laurier Representatives at the 2009 Winter Universiade

Mission Staff problem solve to ensure logistical support for Team Canada

Planning and support for the entire Team Canada delegation of 130 strong can be a gigantic ordeal. Tasked to lead the logistical nightmare is Assistant Chef de Mission Joe Morissette. For over a year now Joe has traveled to Harbin on a pre-games visit to ensure his comfort level of our accommodations and competition site meet expectations, he has made contacts with our hosts the Harbin Universiade Committee, to ensure logistical and technical aspects for our athletes, coaches, sport medicine staff, and mission staff well prior to the games met his expectations to ensure a smooth operation come arrival of our team next week. At home arranging a uniform sponsor (Russell) to suit the team, liasoning with team leaders and national sport organizations to ensure athlete registration, working with the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa to process passport visa applications, and of course answering the many questions that come across his desk including dress code beyond the team uniform, parent accommodation suggestions, and yes the question asked most "Can you get tickets to the sold out Opening ceremonies?" The last question mentioned for the record is probably the only item that Joe has been unable to solve, yet to be fair, he has no control of tickets. By the time we got ticket info the ceremonies were sold out.
In the CIS office our Deputy Chef Frank Boyer is an octopus, juggling multiple tasks and projects required to ensure that athlete uniforms are delivered prior to departure to the athletes, office equipment, communication devices, and office supplies are boxed crated and air freighted to Harbin in a timely and cost effective manner. Allison Tovell our Medical Clinic Manager is in charge of ensuring therapy tables, modality ultrasound equipment, tape, medical supplies, and especially Hot packs (for frigid Harbin) is packed, shipped and waiting for the mission staff to set up prior to the arrival of our athletes.
People talk about the "Olympic Effort" well these professionals are gold medalists with respect to ensuring no detail has been left out and all the support required to ensure that all athletes and coaches have the necessary support for them to compete at thier personal best is on-site. The experience all athletes will soon embark on will be in part to the meticulous planning, hard work, and dedication of those in our CIS International Office. This work often goes without notice or thanks, but without their efforts the student-athlete experience would not be what we know will soon be a lifetime of memories of Harbin!

Bevan and Ironside Laurier Represent Team Canada in Hockey

Wilfrid Laurier University's Andrea Ironside (Collingwood, Ont.), and Golden Hawk Captain Andrea Bevan(Collingwood, Ont.), will be traveling to China as members of Canada's first Women's Hockey Team to compete at the FISU 2009 Winter Universiade, to be held from February 18-28th. (Note to self make sure you don't use your blackberry to take photos) The two Andreas' along with their other CIS Teammates may have to wait 20 or 30 years to have the perspective of looking back into the past to appreciate their accomplishment of making Canada's first FISU Games Women's hockey team and their experience they are this about to embark on come this Sunday. This will be Ironside's first time to put on the Maple Leaf Red and White jersey while Bevan had the opportunity to play on the Canadian under 22 Gold medal winning team in 2008 held in Germany. For now packing, medical booster shots, school work, practice and one more league game at Queen's on Friday prior to the long flight to Beijing then finally to Harbin (population 9 million, Temperature average in February -21 Celcius). In Harbin, our Canadian Mission staff will welcome the weary travelers, prior to a welcome ceremony by our Canadian Ambassador to China in the Athlete's village. The excitement and anticipation is gaining momentum!