O Canada - Go Canada!!

Chef de Mission - Closing Remarks

2009-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

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

Canada at a Glance - Day 11

2009-02-28T06:08:00.001-08:00

What Canada Did on Saturday, February 28 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.

MENS HOCKEY
Canada won a silver medal, losing to Russia 4-2 in the gold medal game.

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

Canadian Men settle for Silver

2009-02-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

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.

Closing Ceremonies Flagbearer

2009-02-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

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."

Canada at a Glance - Day 10

2009-02-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

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).

From the Games - Dan Church

2009-02-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

China has been an amazing experience. It seems like just yesterday that we were
unpacking our suitcase for what would be a long two weeks away from home.
During my time in China we practiced eight times and played seven games, culminating in
a gold medal win on Friday night.

The hockey was excellent. We had very good competition and I was pleasantly
surprised by some of the teams we played like China and Slovakia. The two
games we played against China were awesome. The stands were full and every
time the Chinese touched the puck, the crowd roared with enthusiasm.

However, the hockey was only a part of the experience. China was a great
cultural experience. First, the volunteers and attachés were extremely
hospitable. Everywhere we went there were smiling faces greeting us. The
Chinese sports fans also held a sense of wonder for our athletes and coaches.
We were asked many times to take photos with the volunteers and minor
officials. Apparently, in China, whenever you take a photo with someone it is
customary to give the peace sign. It became a habit that even our girls got
into.

Traffic was very different then in Canada. Lanes are more of a suggestion than
a rule of the road. It isn’t uncommon to see a car or bus veer across several
lanes of traffic to make a turn. Vehicles communicate with a cacophony of
honks and high-beam flashes. Honks in Canada usually elicit a look of contempt
or an angry fist shake or some other impolite gesture, but in China the honks
and light flashes are an accepted form of communication. “HONK, honk, honk,
flash” means, “ I’m coming up on the right hand side, watch out for me” and
“Honk, HONK, flash, honk” means, “look out pedestrian, I’m coming through!”

Should you ever travel to Harbin and plan to drive you should become familiar
with the right of way here. In Canada, pedestrians always have the right of
way but in Harbin it is completely the opposite. Buses have the right of way
over cars, cars over motorcycles, motorcycles over bicycles, and bicycles over
pedestrians. Therefore, if you’re crossing a street even if you have a green
light you need to watch out for cars and buses. Every day on our way to the
rink we would turn right onto a busy street and not once did he stop to see if
was clear. He just turned and everyone else gave way because they all
understand the rules of the road. It’s quite amazing actually.

It's also amazing to watch street cleaning after a snowfall. They don't have a
huge army of snowplows like we do in Canada. Instead, large groups of workers
work together to sweep the snow off the roads with traditional Chinese brooms.
They chip away any ice with scrapers and they clear away the snow and ice with
small wagons. When they're done, the streets are complete bare and dry. It is
definitely different from Canada.

Probably my favourite memory of the city of Harbin was the Ice and Snow
Festival. The average temperature in Harbin at this time of year is between
-15 and -25 degrees Celsius. The people embrace the winter here. On the
outskirts of town they have this huge park where they build massive ice and
snow sculptures. These structures are 20-25 meters tall and you can actually
walk inside some of them. This year the theme was buildings. They have
replicas of Notre Dame and the English Parliament.

At night they are lit up with neon bulbs of every colour. It’s quite
breathtaking.

Harbin has been one of the greatest experiences of my sporting life. If the
opportunity to coach another Winter Universiade comes along again I would do it
in a second.

Dan Church - Team Canada Women's Hockey

From the Games - Stuart Lodge

2009-02-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

Goals for China:
1. Experience Chinese culture
2. Have a great racing experience
3. Get to know every one on the team

Goals after Thursday 19th 2009
1. Stay Alive
2. Survive a Chinese hospital
3. Experience Chinese culture

Like most athletes at these games my experience started much the same. Long flights, cold weather and great service. On Thursday February 19th, my trip took a dramatic turn for the worse. That afternoon I got a fever - No problem, I’ll take a rest day and be fine. The next day I was rushed to the hospital in Harbin with chest pain and a fever. After numerous X-rays, CT-scans, and blood tests it was determined that I had pneumonia.

Facing this news, you could imagine I was scared. Amazingly, a night in a Chinese hospital was much better than one might think. With two translators, numerous doctors, and countless nurses, I was treated to first class service. Four days and nights I spent under constant monitoring. Being the only athlete from the Games in the hospital, I received numerous visits from Chinese television and newspapers. It was quite something to be visited and interviewed everyday.

After my hospital stay, I was able to visit the city of Harbin. Experiencing Chinese culture, I realized that my stay in the hospital allowed me to witness parts of China that not everyone sees. Now back at the biathlon venue, I am able to watch the last of the races and meet up with my fellow biathletes.

This trip definitely didn’t turn out anything like I expected, but, I am able to realize that I still managed to take in a bit of China and have a generally positive experience at my first University Games. I’d like to thank all doctors and nurses that took good care of me and especially the Team Canada medical staff for all their hard work and attention.

A big shout out goes to the Long Track Speed Skating team for making me an honorary member.

Stuart Lodge - Team Canada Biathlon

WCURL - Silver Medal for Golden Hawks

2009-02-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

It was entirely the wrong time for the Canadians to drop their first game of the week.

Canada's quest for curling gold at the 24th Winter Universiade came up short as Wilfrid Laurier’s Hollie Nicol rink dropped a 6-5 decision to China’s Bingyu Wang in the final.

It was – to say the least – an unfortunate way for the Canadians to cap off a tremendous week of curling. Canada defeated China 7-6 during the round robin on their way to posting a 9-0 record before sending Great Britain to the sidelines in the semifinal with a thrilling 7-5 come from behind victory.

“I’m sure there will come a time when we look back at the experience and it makes us smile,” said Nicol. “But that won’t be right away. We came up short at the worst possible time.”

Despite beating the Chinese in the preliminary round, the Canadians still came into the final maintaining their position as heavy underdogs to the reigning Chinese national champion.

“There’s no shame in losing to the Chinese team,” said Canadian head coach Jennifer Ferris. “All week, we said China and Russia were the class of the field. China had a big win in their semi (11-2 over the Russians) and we expected them to be better today than they were when we faced them in the round robin – which they were. If you’d asked them how they expected to do, I doubt anyone would have said they’d go 10-and-1 with a silver medal around their neck. It hurts right now, but they’ll wake up tomorrow and realize the won a silver instead of losing the gold.”

The teams provided the fans at the Heilongjiang Ice Skating Gym with an entertaining – but not entirely technically proficient match. Early misses from both sides gave their opponents opportunities to score.

“I thought both teams let chances slip away,” said Chinese head coach Dan Rafael. “You saw Canada miss a chance in the first end, and our girls gave away points later in the game. I’m sure the fans liked it but it wasn’t really all that well played by either side.”

After the Chinese opened with a steal of one in the first, the Canadians had a chance to get it right back, but with Nicol already lying one, her final stone slid through the rings, as Canada relinqished the hammer for the benefit of one point.

“That miss in the second was big,” said Ferris. “We had the chance to get right back with two after giving up the steal which would have restored some confidence. She just slid it through and it turns out it could have been the difference in the game.
We certainly had a time to recover from it, but there’s no question it was a turning point.”

As damaging as the missed shot in the second end was, it was a Nicol miss in the following end that left a welt. Attempting to play another double takeout with her last, Nicol made contact with both Chinese counters but removed neither. The miss left Wang - a silver medalist at last year’s world championships – with a draw for three, which she made, much to the delight of the crowd.

“Yes, the double wick hurt us. She upped her weight and it just ran straight,” said Ferris. “You take those two stones, the one in the second and the one in the third,” said Ferris. “And you’re probably talking about a four or five point swing.”

Canada took one in the fourth end – with the Chinese blanking the fifth – giving Wang a 4-2 lead at the mid-game break.

China took one in the sixth to stretch their lead to 5-2.

in the seventh end, Wang made a tap-back to leave her last stone partially buried. Nicol answered the challenge of the Chinese skip, followed it down the exact path to score her two and trail 5-4.

In the eighth, 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, scored one and took a 6-4 into the ninth.

China set up the ninth end 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. The rock seemed good for weight, but rubbed out front. Canada scored one to trail 6-5 heading to the final end.

Cautious not to provide the Canadians with the opportunity to steal their way to an extra end, China kept things clean in the final end. Nicol tried to tuck her final stone around a Chinese counter in the 12-foot, but sailed too deep, giving China the win without forcing Wang to throw her final stone.

“It would have been nice to make her throw, but she’s left with full eight foot for the win – which she doesn’t miss,” said Ferris. “Realistically, once they made the double peel earlier in the end, we were pretty much left grasping at straws.”

Nicol was trying to defend the world university games title won two years go by the University of Calgary’s Brittany Gregor. At the Torino, Italy games of 2007, Gregor defeated Russia’s Ludmilla Privavkova in the final to give Canada its first-ever Winter Universiade championship.

Canada at a Glance - Day 9

2009-02-26T04:05:00.001-08:00

What Canada Did on Thursday, February 26 at the 24th Winter Universiade

BIATHLON
Canada’s biathletes did not compete on day 9 of the games.

The next competition for the biathletes is Friday’s mixed relay event

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Canada'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 CURLING
Skipped 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 round

WOMENS CURLING
Skipped 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 HOCKEY
Canada’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 HOCKEY
Canada’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 China in Friday's final.

LONG TRACK SPEED SKATING
The 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 skate

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

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

WHKY - Slovakian Semifinal Showdown

2009-02-26T00:24:00.000-08:00

McGill 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.PDF

The 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 China.

WCURL - Canada Goes for Gold on Friday

2009-02-25T19:25:00.000-08:00

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.”

Canada at a Glance - Day 8

2009-02-25T18:31:00.001-08:00

What Canada Did on Wednesday, February 25 at the 24th Winter Universiade

BIATHLON
Canada’s biathletes competed in the pursuit events on Day 8 of the games. The men took part in the 12.5K with Patrick Cote finishing four spots ahead of teammate Francois LeBoeuf’s 13th place peformance.

David Johns skied to a 27th place finish – one spot better than Maxime LeBoeuf in 28th.

The women took part in the 10K pursuit final with Canada's skiers once again clustered together at the finish line.

Kathryn Stone finished in 38th place - ahead of teammate Alicia Hurley and her 40th place time of 12:58.7.

Cranbrook’s Jytte Apel finished in 41st.

The next competition for the biathletes is Friday’s mixed relay event

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Canada's cross-country skiers competed in the relay events on day 8 of the games.

In the womens 3x5km relay events – Canada’s trio of Alana Thomas, Alexia Pichard-Joilcouer and Anna Crawford finished in 12th apot – clocking a time of 48:56.5.

In the mens 4x10km relay, the Canadian skiers also finished in 12th spot with a time of 2:02:58.7.

The next competition for the cross-country skiers is Friday’s Men’s 30km event.

MENS CURLING
Skipped 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 round

WOMENS CURLING
Skipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, After closing out the round robin with a 9-0 record, Canada’s Women’s enjoyed a day off and watched as Great Britain defeated the Czech Republic in a tiebreaker to determine the final playoff participant. Canada will face Great Britain in one of two Thursday semifinals, while China and Russia meet in the other.
The bronze medal matchup will take place Thursday afternoon, with the gold medal match slated for Friday.

MENS HOCKEY
Canada’s Men’s hockey team enjoyed a day off following a 7-2 win over Kazakhstan on Tuesday night.

Canada will face Slovakia in one of two Friday semifinals, Russia and Kazakhstan will meet in the other.

WOMENS HOCKEY
Canada’s Women’s Hockey enjoyed a day off after wrapping up the round-robin portion of the competition with a 5-0 record. Canada will face Slovakia in one of two Thursday night semifinals. Filand and China will meet in the other semifinal.

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

* * *

On the women's side, The Canadians competed in the 1000-meter event.

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.

The Canadian women will next take to the ice on Thursday, competing in the 5000-meter team pursuit event.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Canada's short track speed skaters completed their competition Monday and departed the athlete’s village.

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

From the Games - Liam McFarlane

2009-02-25T10:14:00.002-08:00

Over the past few years of training at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, I’ve slowly come to the realization that Short Track and Long Track Speed Skating are completely different sports. Competing here at FISU games has added to my opinion even more so.

Very few Athletes do both anymore. That’s not to say there aren’t a few that have performed well doing both, but Canada has such a great deal of depth in each sport respectively for any one particular person to do exceptionally well at a World Class Level doing both sports. It takes a substantial amount of hours of training weekly to be a good long tracker, refining technique and energy output with power and endurance so that one can have the fastest time over all other competitors; and for short trackers, maximizing strength and agility with track patterns and race strategies. Wherein, unlike in Long Track, it is not always the fastest person who wins a Short Track race.

For the few of us Short Trackers that train at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, we get to see Long Trackers train daily. I even share a locker room with some of them. If we’re lucky though, we may even get the chance to make it out for the occasional day of racing a year in support our fellow Long Track Athletes. For those of our Short Track Team based out of Eastern Canada, they don’t get the same opportunity as we do. Their Team trains out in Montreal and the Long Track team trains out in Quebec City. Very few of them knew anything about each other. Going to an event like FISU gave us all the opportunity to fall back on some old relationships, and even start new ones. We ended up staying together as an entire Speed Skating Team for once, sharing rooms that included both Long and Short Track athletes. I've never had an experience like that before. Even in 2003 at Canada Winter Games in Campbellton, New Brunswick we didn't get the same opportunity. We were separated from the Long Track skaters, and as a result I didn't get to see much of them the entire.

Even though I train every day in Calgary I’m not particularly close with any of the long trackers. Especially those that train out of Quebec City and only come into Calgary a few times a year to compete. We were fortunate while in Harbin, China to mix a lot more with the Canadian Long Track Team. I definitely know a few of them on a more personal level than I did before I came to China.

Talking with them, I think they notice as well how different our two sports really all. Both sides got the chance to see the mental and physical preparation it takes to be a long track skater or a short track skater.

Looking back, we all came from the same roots; be it the small club that only had access to Short Track during the hockey season, the club that waited around all year for the outdoor oval to freeze over or the lucky ones that interchange between the two depending on the season. Since then we've grown apart with different disciplines, routines, technic and equipment. It's great to have this opportunity to fall back on these old roots.

Liam McFarlane- Team Canada Short Track Speed Skating

Speed Skating Photos

2009-02-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

Meet the Neighbours...

2009-02-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

Team USA delegation at the Winter Universiade.

Another solid speed skating session

2009-02-25T03:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-25T03:10:00.000-08:00

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.

Canada at the Opening Ceremonies

2009-02-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

You can find YouTube video of Canada marching into the spectacular opening ceremonies of the games at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usabBuwoSUE&feature=related

From the Games - Marieve Provost

2009-02-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

Depuis notre arrivée, on a remarqué plusieurs différences avec le Canada surtout au niveau culturel et linguistique.

Tout d’abord la première remarque qu’on a eu était au niveau des salles de bain. Dans notre résidence, la douche est relié avec la toilette, donc il n’y a pas de porte qui les sépare. Donc quand on prend une douche, l’eau éclabousse partout dans la salle de bain. Nous avons une toilette qui ressemble drôlement à celle du Canada, par contre il est préférable de jeter le papier de toilette dans la poubelle et non dans la toilette pour éviter les débordements. Par ailleurs, lorsque nous allons à l’extérieur du campus, les toilettes ne sont que des simples trous dans le plancher. Il faut donc se mettre en position assise et il ne faut surtout pas oublier le papier de toilette car ils ne le fournissent pas.

Un autre sujet que j’ai trouvé intéressant est avec la température. Il doit faire aux alentours de -14 à -30 degrés celsius.Lorsqu’il neige, il n’utilise pas des charrues ou quelconques camions pour transporter la neige mais plutôt un bicycle. Pour dégager la neige des endroits publics comme les stationnements , routes, rues ou trottoir, ce sont les humains qui le font avec un balai composé de bambou et de pailles. Il y a plusieurs d’entre eux qui ne font que pousser la neige vers les trottoirs et d’autres qui utilisent des pelles pour la transférer dans les petits chariots attaché aux bicycles.

Pour voyager de notre résidence à l’aréna, on utilise l’autobus. Au début, c’est très stressant parce que même en autobus, on zig-zag de gauche à droite. Si jamais une voiture est devant l’autobus et ne roule pas assez vite,le chauffeur abuse du klaxon dans ce cas. Dans un voyage de 30 minutes, on peut entendre le klaxon de l’autobus à plusieurs reprises et ce, même s’il y a des affiches avec une trompette et un gros X dessus, les chauffeurs ignorent cette pancarte. Après quelques jours, on s’accoutume à cette réalité. Il y a aussi les taxis qui semblent presqu’aussi nombreux qu’à New-York. Cependant, ils roulent beaucoup plus rapidement et même s’il y a peu de place, il changera de voie; on se sent un peu comme dans une course. Au niveau des prix c’est très avantageux.

Nous sommes allez visiter les scultures de glace, quelle merveille! C’était très diversifié; il y avait des châteaux, plusieurs architectures chinoises, des activités sur glace comme des glissades, du bicycle sur glace, avec des lames de patins, et il y avait quelques kiosques extérieurs avec des fruits congelés. Toutes ces scultures sont illuminées de néons colorés et sont construites avec des motifs différents. C’était tellement beau, je ne peux cesser d’imaginer le nombre d’heures qui ont dûs travailler mais le résultat est remarquable.

La nourriture est très différente. Il y a un buffet ou l’on peut déjeuner, dîner et souper. Pour déjeuner, il y a des oeufs à coq et des rôties heureusement. Il y a quelques confitures mais pas de beurre d’arachide. On peut retrouver toutes sortes de nourriture dans les buffets même ceux qu’on ne pense jamais retrouver pour déjeuner comme des pâtes, des patates frites, du poulet, de la friture, du riz, en bref , il y a un peu de tout. Il y a différents fruits d’ici et d’autres un peu plus commun comme du melon d’eau, bananes et melon miel. Au début, on avait un peu de la misère à manger mais on trouve toujours un petit quelques choses à se mettre sous la bouche et aussi, on s’habitue à cette nourriture, au goût, aux épices, aux différents produits d’ici. Dans le centre ville, on peut retrouver des Mc Donalds, des PFK et des Pizza hut, donc si jamais on a le goût de se sentir un peu chez nous, on peut y aller!

La Chine est vraiment différent mais très intéressant à connaître. Les gens d’ici sont fières et sont très accueillants. Ils font tout pour qu’on se sent comme à la maison, ils sont adorables!

Mariève Provost - L’équipe Canada

2009-02-24T07:24:00.001-08:00

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

BIATHLON

Canada’s biathletes competed in the sprint events on Day 7 of the games. The men took part in the 10K with Patrick Cote finishing 7th in a time of 26:57.6, one spot ahead of teammate Francois LeBoeuf and his time of 27:15.39.

Maxime LeBoeuf skied to a time of 28:37.6, good for 27th spot, with David Johns one spot back in 28th, clocking a time of 28:48.3.

* * *

The women took part in the 7.5K sprint final with Canada's skiers clustered together at the finish line.

Kathryn Stone finished in 39th place - posting a time of 28:10.9, seconds ahead of teammate Alicia Hurley and her 40th place time of 28:28.5.

Tatiana Vukadinovic finished in 42nd place at 29:51.0 with Jytte Apel one place back in 43rd at 31:38.8.

The next competition for the biathletes is the pursuit event, with the men skiing 12.5km and the women 10km.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

Canada's cross-country skiers did not compete on day 7 of the games.

The next competition for the cross-country skiers is the mens 4x10km and womens 3x5km relay events

MENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Mike Anderson, Canada’s Men’s curling team needed to win both and look for a little help along the way in order to advance to the medal round.

The men doubled up the US 8-4 in the morning draw, but fell 7-5 to Finland in the final draw of the round robin, ending their quest for a medal. The men finished the round-robin in sixth place at 4-5.

WOMENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, Canada’s Women’s curling team closed out the round robin with an 8-1 win over the Czech Republic.

Canada secured top spot in the round robin by virtue of their 9-0 record, and will face a yet-to-be determined opponent in Thursday's semifinal. The Czech Republic and Great Britain finished in a tie for fourth and will play a tiebreaker to determine the final playoff participant.

Pre-tournament favourites Russia and China will meet in the other Thursday semifinal, with the gold medal match slated for Friday.

MENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Men’s hockey team defeated Kazakhstan 7-2 to run their record to 4-0 in the round robin. Canada’s (4-0) next opponent will be a to-be-determined semifinal opponent in a game schedule for Friday evening.

WOMENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Women’s Hockey wrapped up the round-robin portion of the competition with a 4-1 win over Japan. Canada sits atop the standings with a 5-0 record and will face Slovakia in one of two Thursday night semifinals.

LONG TRACK SPEED SKATING

The Canadian men competed in the 1000-meter event.

Philippe Riopel the best finish for Canada - finishing 5th in a time of 1:11.51. Regina's Mykola Makowsky was 14th in 1:12.31, while Vincent Blouin finished 22nd clocking a time of 1:14.02 - three placings higher than Calgarian Keith Sulzer's 25th place time of 1:14.38.

The Canadian men have finished their Universiade competition. We thank them for their efforts at the games, and wish them continued success in their athletic and academic careers.

* * *

On the women's side, Justine L'Heureux was the top Canadian skater, clocking a time of 7:31.63 - good for 6th spot, one better than Shannon Sibold's 7th place time of 7:32.99.

Calgary's Kirsti Lay was 15th with a time of 7:48.50.

The Canadian women will next take to the ice on Wednesday, competing in the 1000-meter event.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Canada's short track speed skaters completed their competition Monday and departed the athlete’s village.

We thank them for their efforts at the games, and wish them continued success in their athletic and academic careers.

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

Canada at a Glance - Day 7

2009-02-24T03:52:00.000-08:00

WHKY - 5-0 Through Round-Robin Play

2009-02-24T03:31:00.001-08:00

Canada's WHKY team completed the round robin portion of the event with an unblemished 5-0 mark, thanks to a 4-1 win over Japan in the final preliminary game for the Canadians.

View official linescore here - http://10.123.0.10/JSXX_CX/pdf/bq/0211143E.PDF

Alberta Pandas figured prominently on the scoresheet, accounting for all four goals. Jennifer Newton (Norglenwold, AB) had two for the Canadians including the eventual game winner, as the Canadians finished the round robin atop the standings at 5-0, outscoring their opponents 29-5 along the way.

Andrea Boras and Rayanne Reeve scored Canada's other goals with Hiromi Okazaki tallying the lone Japanese marker. Melinda Choy earned the win in the Canadian net, turning aside eight of the nine shots she faced.

Canada secures top spot at 5-0, with Finland and China safely through to the semifinals sporting 3-2 records. China beat the Finns in the preliminary round giving them last change in the semifinal. Slovakia and Japan finished the round robin with identical 2-3 marks - but the edge goes to the Slovaks by virtue of their 4-1 win in the round robin.

Canada and the Slovaks will meet in one Thursday semifinal with the Chinese and Finns playing in the other.

LTSS - No Medals, but Great Finishes

2009-02-24T03:04:00.001-08:00

After a day off, Canada's long track speed skaters jumped back into the fray - with the men competing in the 1000-meter event and the women grinding it out in the 5000-meter final.

On the women's side, Justine L'Heureux was the top Canadian skater, clocking a time of 7:31.63 - good for 6th spot, one better than Shannon Sibold's 7th place time of 7:32.99.

Calgary's Kirtsi Lay was 15th with a time of 7:48.50.

View final race results here - http://10.123.0.10/JSXX_CX/pdf/sh/0416992E.PDF

Next up for the women is the 1000-meter event - with the preliminaries going Wednesday morning and the finals taking place in the afternoon.

* * *

In the men's 1000-meter event, Philippe Riopel continued to be the best skater for Canada - finishing 5th in a time of 1:11.51. Regina's Mykola Makowsky was 14th in 1:12.31, while Vincent Blouin finished 22nd clocking a time of 1:14.02 - three placings higher than Calgarian Keith Sulzer's 25th place time of 1:14.38.

View final race results here - http://10.123.0.10/JSXX_CX/pdf/sh/0403992E.PDF

Wednesday is also the next competition day for the men as they take part in the greulling 10000-meter event.

WCURL - Nicol and Co. remain undefeated

2009-02-24T02:45:00.000-08:00

The Canadian womens curling team win streak hit nine games as they defeated the rink from Czech Republic by a 8-1 count.

View the linescores here - http://10.123.0.10/JSXX_CX/pdf/bh/0511196E.PDF

Hollie Nicol and her Wilfrid Laurier rinkmates finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a 9-0 mark - clinching top spot in the preliminary portion of the event.

As the top seed from the round robin, the Canadians will face the fourth seed in the semifinal round, but that opponent has yet to be determined. The Canadian win over the Czechs, coupled with Great Britain's 10-5 win over Poland creates a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Czechs will face Great Britain in a tiebreaker Wednesday morning with the winner meeting Canada in Thursday's semifinal.

Pre-tournament favourites Russia and China will meet in the other Thursday semifinal, with the gold medal match slated for Friday.

MCURL - Canada Still in the Hunt

2009-02-23T20:25:00.001-08:00

The Canadian Mens Curling team kept their playoff hopes alive this morning with an 8-4 win over Christopher Pleasants' rink representing the United States.

"That was a game we had to have for a number of reason," said team coach Paul Webster. "Obviously, we needed to get back into the win column just to stay afloat for the medal round. We also looked at the US as a beatable team in the draw. There's always a lot to play for when we face the Americans. They don't like losing to us, and we didn't want to to drop a game to them."

The Canadians made a subtle roster adjustment prior to the game, moving Matt Mapletoft to the third-stones in place of Bill Francis at the lead position. The move paid immediate dividends for the Canadians, who control the development of most of the ends in the morning draw.

"We just wanted to get a different look - when it's not going well, you'll try different things to get it back on track," Anderson explained. "Last year the girls started off 0-3 at the nationals and juggled the roster -- flipped the lineup and ended up winning the whole thing. We figured if it worked for them, maybe it'll work for us. Bill's natural position is lead, so it he never saw "

"Matt was awesome today," affirmed Webster. "Of the 18 shots he had, I think had had maybe one and half misses. It really made Mike's job easier throwing last stones when he's got the set-up he needs from the third position."

After opening with a steal of one in the first end, the Canadians fell behind briefly when Pleasants took two points in the second end. The Canadians then restored the lead with a two of their own in the third end, but had things lined up for a much bigger count.

"We probably things in the third end set up for three of four," said Anderson. "We were lying two - he made a come around freeze and tucked it around the corner. I rubbed with my first, he capped it and left me an in-off for three. Give him credit, if he doesn't make the freeze with his first, we're probably going to count at least thee, maybe more."

After blanking the 4th end, Canada stole one more in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead into the break and really never seemed to be in peril from there on in.

The win pushes Canada's record to 4-4, and has them currently sitting in 6th spot - one game back of the Koreans and Swiss.

After getting off to a 3-1 start, Canada has struggled over the last two days, dropping their last three matches to fall back to the middle of the pack. Canada's men understand the burden of responsibility that comes with wearing the maple leaf, but also understood the likelihood of running roughshod over the competition was minimal.

"When you look at our record, it is a little disheartening to be honest - we tried to take the pressure off by reminding ourselves that on paper we're not the strongest in the field. We saw ourselves as a 4th place, 5th place team. We had to knock off the three or four rinks ahead of us to be near the top, and we've only been able to win one of those games."

The mathematics for Canada heading into the final draw of the preliminaries are very straight forward - they'll need a win over the Finns, and both the Koreans and Swiss to lose their last game of the round robin. Korea faces China, while the Swiss will meet Great Britain.

"It doesn't matter what happens on the other sheets if we don't beat Finland tonight," said Webster. "That's the only one we have control over. I think Korea-China will be a good game because neither team wants to give an inch in that one. Switzerland-Great Britain has potential for us, but all we need to concern ourselves with is the one that's in front of us"

"You look at their record, and it would seem like it's not going well for them," said Anderson. "But it's always dangerous to discount a team that's just left playing for pride. We know they'll be looking too prove themselves a bit, and they'd restore a lot of that pride if they can beat us tonight.

From the Games - Brant Hilton

2009-02-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

Before coming to China I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was I to believe that culture over here were like scenes from the Rush Hour movies and other movies placed in a Chinese setting? I was content on having my own image of China and it certainly wasn’t what I had pictured.

We arrived on the campus grounds late on Tuesday night (Feb. 17) and immediately had to go through security (which involved a metal detector). After doing that, we walked by military guards, two of which were carrying machine guns. That’s the one crazy thing about this place, there are military personnel everywhere, and most of what they do consists of standing still for twenty four hours a day.

Eating was certainly a question mark coming here and the adventure of the Chinese cuisine at the Athlete’s Dining Hall hasn’t disappointed. Most breakfast meals consist of bread, pasta, beef, rice and French fries. Dinner seems to be a little more western as they serve chicken cutlets, fish, beef and a variety of other pasta dishes. The real treat about eating here is that they don’t seem to change the food up very much so most days we’re stuck with the same food we’ve had since we arrived.

Since arriving here over a week ago, a goal of many players has been to find clothing stores with great deals. And even though the city of Harbin is populated with over 7 million people, these markets aren’t hard to find. On one of our days off, a few teammates and I shopped in downtown Harbin looking for these stores. It wasn’t until we were curious about a strange looking stairwell that led beneath the ground that we found what we were looking for. This market was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. What seemed to measure at least a mile long, small clothing stores filled the area. Even flat screen televisions hung from the ceiling above. What seemed to be an adventure finding the place, we were surprised to find out the real adventure started when we tried purchasing items. Because no one that worked in the stores spoke any English, many hand gestures were used to communicate. Needless to say, after a couple hours of walking the area, not many items were bought.

The hockey experience here has certainly been something I’ll always remember. I wasn’t too sure what to expect when arriving at the arena for the first time but when I got inside I was pleasantly surprised. We were led to our dressing room which turned out to be the nicest room in the building. The arena itself looks to be the size of many junior rinks at home. The arena, which seems fairly new, seats about three to four thousand people and has a score clock that’s extremely large at one end of the wall. Our first game of the tournament was extremely exciting, and as luck would have it, our opponents were the host team China. I’m not sure many people knew what to expect with the way the crowd would react to certain plays but their reactions were very different from reactions back home. Cheering seemed to be mandatory for the crowd because they did it most of the game. Every time Team China would touch the puck the crowd would cheer, and if they were lucky enough to carry the puck up ice untouched, the cheers would get louder and louder. I remember one time in the game where Team China had a five on three early in the third period. The crowd was delighted when Team China had numerous scoring chances. I couldn’t image how loud the crowd would’ve got if Team China would’ve scored. Even when we scored the crowd politely cheered and softly clapped their hands.

After beating both China and Great Britain easily, we had our first difficult test against the Czech Republic this afternoon. After having a sluggish start, and being bailed out by our goaltender multiple times, we caught our stride in the second and third periods, winning the game 3-1 and being guaranteed a spot in the semi finals. Our round robin schedule ends with Kazakhstan, who will probably be our biggest challenge to date.

Brant Hilton - Team Canada Mens Hockey

WCURL Looks to Sweep Round-Robin

2009-02-23T10:29:00.001-08:00

Sandbagger’ is a term more often found on the golf course than on a curling sheet, but Hollie Nicol and the rest of Team Canada’s womens curling team may be accused of slow-playing the competition at the 24^th Winter Universiade.

Coming into the event, Canadian head coach Jennifer Ferris emphatically identified Canada as nothing more than a dark horse with an outside shot at a medal.

However, sporting an unblemished record through eight draws of the round-robin, Canada has proven itself to be a far more credible threat than any of the pre-competition chatter seems to have indicated they might be.

With an early morning win over world championship silver medalist Bingyu Wang of China, Nicol and the rest of the Laurier four clinched top spot in the round-robin , and guaranteed their place in Thursday’s semifinal round.

So – one game away from running the table in the round robin, are the girls still nothing more that an outside medal hope? Well, that seems to depend on who you ask.

“We don’t have any international experience, unlike some of the teams here,” explained Nicol. “The Russians and the Chinese have both played at the Worlds, and they’ve got Olympic experience. We really didn’t know what to expect when we got here. Sure, we might do well in Canada at the university ranks, but we had no idea what we’d be capable of when we had to play at this level. There are a number of very good teams here, and we didn’t know if we should be considered among them.”

Nicol’s rink survived their toughest competition day on Monday. Not only did they significantly hinder Great Britain’s playoff aspirations – handing the Brits their fourth loss on the week – but they also dropped China’s curling heroes 7-6 in a game that was much more lop-sided than the score indicates.

“I thought we played really well against the Chinese,” explained Nicol. “They got their two in the last end , but we were really driving the ends. The whole team played well in front of me, and made things pretty simple. They’re the ones playing at home in front of their fans and with all the pressure that goes along with it. The coaches have done a good job deflecting any expectations for our team trying to play up the fact that we were the underdogs coming in.”

And while the victory over the consensus pre-tournament favourite, the playoff berth and the chance to go undefeated through the round robin might suggest otherwise, some in the Canadian camp are still reluctant to upgrade the likelihood of success for the girls.

“I still think that China is the team to beat,” Ferris reiterated. “They’re the ones that have all that international experience. They‘re the number one team in their country, and we’re somewhere around 30^th coming out of Canada. We’ve been saying all week that we’re a good team, facing some great teams, and I still think that’s the case.”

All that stands in the way of perfection in the round robin is an afternoon encounter with Sarka Doudova of the Czech Republic.

“I think it would be really good for our confidence,” said Nicol. “Coming into the game, our plan was to keep improving every single game. We haven’t played too badly throught the week, but I think our best games are still ahead of us. We want to finish strong so that we’re going into the semifinals on a bit of a roll.”

Seen and 'Herd'

2009-02-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

University of Manitoba players Rick Wood and Stephane Lenoski.

Get it? Bison players? The Herd? See...it's funny, because the Bisons call themselves 'The Herd".

Never mind - I'm too tired to explain it any further.

More TC Photos

2009-02-23T09:21:00.001-08:00

Short Track Speed Skating

2009-02-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

Canada at a Glance - day 6

2009-02-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

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.

* * *

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

Monteral’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.

MCURL drops third straight

2009-02-23T02:42:00.000-08:00

Canada's mens curlers lost their third straight game of the round robin, falling 7-4 to China's Fengchun Wang.

Canada's record drops to 3-4, and the team is tied for sixth heading into tomorrow's final day of round robin competition.

Canada will play twice to wrap up the round robin portion of the event, facing the United States (2-5) in the morning draw before meeting Finland (1-6) in the final draw before the playoffs.

MORE HARDWARE FOR CANADA

2009-02-23T02:04:00.000-08:00

Canada picked up two more medals to close out the short track speed skating competition.

Canada's men won silver in the 5000-meter relay, while the women picked up a bronze in the 3000-meter relay event.

The Canadian men's side of Montreal's Guillaume Bastille and Alexander Boisvert-Lacroix, Calgary's Richard Shoebridge and Winnipeg's Tyler Darraugh skated the course in a time of 7:07.929 - a second and a half faster than the Koreans, and nearly three and a half seconds back of the Chinsese crew for gold. For Bastille, it was his second medal of the day, having won silver in the mens's individual 1000-meter event earlier in the afternoon.

For the women, the team of Annik Plamondon (Longueil, QC) and Montreal skaters Nita Avrith, Marie-Andree Mendes-Campeau and Valerie Lambert skated the 3000-meter final in a time of 4:43.728 - well back of the Koreans for silver, and an additoinal six seconds behind the Chinese, who swept the relay golds.

The two medals bring Canada's medal count to three - two silvers, and one bronze.

CANADA'S FIRST MEDAL

2009-02-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

Montreal's Guillaume Bastille has won Canada's first medal of the 24th Winter Universiade, finishing second in the mens 1000-meter short track speed skating final.

View the official results sheet at - http://app.harbin2009.org/wu24info/pdf/dd/0302992E.PDF

Felicitations Guillaume!!

MHKY vs Czech Republic

2009-02-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

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

Mens Hockey move to 3-0

2009-02-23T00:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Random photos

2009-02-22T21:22:00.000-08:00

From the Games - Carly Hill

2009-02-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

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

Canadian curlers clinch top spot

2009-02-22T20:30:00.000-08:00

Women's curling continues to run the show as they picked up their seventh win in as many starts. In the first of two draws on the day, Hollie Nicol and the rest of the Laurier four defeated World silver medalist Bingyu Wang 7-6 , clinching a first place in the process.

View official FISU linescores - http://app.harbin2009.org/wu24info/pdf/bh/0511176e.pdf

A pro-Wang crowd tried their best to rally their Chinese curling heroes, and Wang came close to giving the crowd the results the craved, taking two in the ninth end and stealing two more in the tenth. But the Canadians held on for the win, keeping their unblemished record intact.

"Our goals coming in were a top four placing and to give China a good game and we;ve now done both of those things," said Canadian team coach Jennifer Ferris. "I thought today's game was a great mental win, it was a pleasing to see the girls elevate their game in a matchup where they needed to bring a good effort."

The win guarantees Canada a first-place finish in the round robin, and a date with the 4th place finisher in Thursday's semifinal. Canada's playoff opponent is still yet to be determined, with six teams still in the hunt for the final three playoff spots.

"There's nothing we can do to determine the matchup on Thursday," said Ferris. "We've done our part at the top - it's up to the rest of the field to figure it out for the other playoff positions."

Canada's record of 7-0 is two games clear of the 5-2 marks of China and Russia. Canada (7-0) will face Great Britain (4-3) tonight, before wrapping the round-robin portion of the event tomorrow with a game against the Czech Republic.

Canada at a Glance - day 5

2009-02-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

BIATHLON

Canada’s biathletes did not compete on Day 5 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

Canada’s cross -country skiers did not compete on Day 5 of the games. The next competition for the cross-country skiers is scheduled to take place Monday with the women competing in the 5K pursuit event and the women competing in the 7.5K pursuit event.

MENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Mike Anderson, Canada’s Men’s curling team dropped both their round robin competition games on Sunday – falling 9-4 to Switzerland in the morning draw and following it up with a 7-5 loss to Korea in the evening draw. Canada’s record falls to 3-3 and the team sits sixth in the standings. The men play once on Monday when they take on China at 2:00pm.

WOMENS CURLING

Skipped by Laurier’s Hollie Nicol, Canada’s Women’s curling team won their only draw on Sunday, defeating Korea 8-6.

Canada sits alone atop the standings boasting a record of 6-0, and will play twice on Monday - 9:00am against China and 7:00pm against Great Britain.

MENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Men’s hockey team did not compete on Day 5 of the games. Canada’s (1-0) next opponent will be Czech Republic (1-1) in a game schedule for Monday afternoon at 12:30pm.

WOMENS HOCKEY

Canada’s Women’s Hockey team defeated China 7-1 to run their record to 4-0. Canada will enjoy 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

Canada’s Long Track Speed Skaters competed in the men’s 1500-meter event.

Calgary’s Philippe Riopel posted the team’s best result, finishing with a time of 1:51:35 good for 9th place.

Regina’s Mykola Makowsky finished in 13th spot – posting a time of 1:52.21

Ste-Foy, Quebec’s Vincent Blouin finished 17th overall with a time of 1:52:57, two spots better than Calgary’s Keith Sulzer and his time of with a time of 1:52:94

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

* * *

No Canadian skaters competed in the 100-meter event on Sunday.

The Canadian women will next skate on Monday as they participate in the 5000-meter event.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Montreal’s Guillaume Bastille posted Canada’s best results of the 24th Winter Universiade, finishing fourth in the 3000-meter final.

Bastille advanced to the finals with the fourth fastest time in one of two semifinals, and missed out on a medal by three-hundredths of a second.

Montreal’s Alexander Boisvert-Lacroix also advanced to the semifinal round, but finished 7th and did not move on to the finals.

Canada’s mens 5000-meter relay team advanced to the finals by winning their semifinal qualifier. The men skate for gold tomorrow.

* * *

Canada failed to qualify a skater to the finals of the 3000-meter event on Sunday.

Montreal skaters Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau, Nita Avrith, Annik Plamondon, and Valerie Lambert all advanced from the preliminary heats.

Lambert and Plamondon were eliminated from medal contention in their semifinal when the overseeing official disqualified the entire eight skater field.

Mendes-Campeau and Avrith completed their race, but were not among the four fastest times.

Already qualified for the final of the 5000-meter relay event, Canada’s women also. skate for gold tomorrow.

Canadian Women move to 4-0

2009-02-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

The Canadian women ran their round-robin record to 4-0 with a 7-1 win over the host Chinese on Sunday night.

A crowd of more than 3500 fervent Chinese supporters witnessed their national side hold the Canadians in check for the first two periods, only to have Canada score five third period goals and skate to the convincing margin of victory.

O Canada - Go Canada!!

2009-02-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

Alright, lessons learned. The Facebook group idea seems to have fallen flat, largely because I'm getting the notion that none of you want to add me as a friend. That hurts my feelings a bit, but I've moved on.

No worries, as I think this might be a better way to do things.

Athlete blogs, event scores and summaries, great photos.

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell 'em all.