The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

[Trillium]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Canada shuts out Americans, claims gold in women's hockey




Next Volly in the US-Canada rivalry?

Being in the building for this I can tell you that yes the crowds were gone when this occurred however there were still quite a few people, family members of players and children present for the actions described above.

Oh the shame of it all! Caught celebrating a win over the Americans!

Give me a break. What the h-e-double hockey sticks is wrong with celebrating a gold medal in front of teammates friends and family...including children?

Professing to be shocked and horrified is worthy only of pedantic bureaucrats and sticks in the mud with a board up their butt.....not to mention petty.

When Alex Bilodeau won the first gold for Canada ever on home soil, the broadcast crew brought his family in to the studio for a champagne toast. His whole family drank champagne on camera, including his underage sister.

When Jon Montgomery won gold for Canada in Skeleton on the weekend he was recorded on television an hour or so after the race walking through the streets of Whistler Village chugging a pitcher of beer that someone handed him as he was on his way to a media interview. It was televised to a national audience.

These things are technically illegal. You cannot drink underage. You cannot drink on camera. And you cannot drink outside of a licensed bar.

The reaction of both the media and public both at the time of these occurrences as well as subsequently was not consternation, it was amusement. It's refreshing to have a window into the sheer joy and personal genuine celebration (not the formal made-for-tv kind) of someone actually being and acting real on the best day of their life. (I suspect if some misguided cop had tried to deliver a citation for the offense based on the video evidence he might have to fear for his safety).

As a matter of fact I also have good memories myself of a similar on ice and off ice celebration in a rink with refreshments after a game some years ago that went on for several hours after the facility was emptied--after Canada won a World Championship. It was done with the knowledge of the arena staff.

I dunno, maybe that's a Canadian thing. We can take circumstances into account instead of getting bent out of shape over minor infractions.

There was nothing done that was seriously illegal. No one was hurt. Nothing was broken. A good time was had by all, no doubt---except by the U.S. eh?

I hope the girls continue to celebrate as hard as they played, even MP (our new hero!!!) who is still underage...and as a matter of fact they joked about that in the TV studio too.

Enjoy Vancouver. Eat, drink and be merry to your heart's content, for tomorrow you may have to be back in Utah.

 

[Brown Parent]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Here is an interesting article about Coach Davidson's strategy to keep her players sharp for the gold medal game:

http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/ar...rips-lay-foundation-for-canada-s-golden-girls

 

[WHKY blogger]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Oh the shame of it all! Caught celebrating a win over the Americans!

Give me a break. What the h-e-double hockey sticks is wrong with celebrating a gold medal in front of teammates friends and family...including children?

Professing to be shocked and horrified is worthy only of pedantic bureaucrats and sticks in the mud with a board up their butt.....not to mention petty.

When Alex Bilodeau won the first gold for Canada ever on home soil, the broadcast crew brought his family in to the studio for a champagne toast. His whole family drank champagne on camera, including his underage sister.

When Jon Montgomery won gold for Canada in Skeleton on the weekend he was recorded on television an hour or so after the race walking through the streets of Whistler Village chugging a pitcher of beer that someone handed him as he was on his way to a media interview. It was televised to a national audience.

These things are technically illegal. You cannot drink underage. You cannot drink on camera. And you cannot drink outside of a licensed bar.

The reaction of both the media and public both at the time of these occurrences as well as subsequently was not consternation, it was amusement. It's refreshing to have a window into the sheer joy and personal genuine celebration (not the formal made-for-tv kind) of someone actually being and acting real on the best day of their life. (I suspect if some misguided cop had tried to deliver a citation for the offense based on the video evidence he might have to fear for his safety).

As a matter of fact I also have good memories myself of a similar on ice and off ice celebration in a rink with refreshments after a game some years ago that went on for several hours after the facility was emptied--after Canada won a World Championship. It was done with the knowledge of the arena staff.

I dunno, maybe that's a Canadian thing. We can take circumstances into account instead of getting bent out of shape over minor infractions.

There was nothing done that was seriously illegal. No one was hurt. Nothing was broken. A good time was had by all, no doubt---except by the U.S. eh?

I hope the girls continue to celebrate as hard as they played, even MP (our new hero!!!) who is still underage...and as a matter of fact they joked about that in the TV studio too.

Enjoy Vancouver. Eat, drink and be merry to your heart's content, for tomorrow you may have to be back in Utah.

No Problem with the added celebration personally.

Frankly I was surprised by the article which is why I noted next volly in the rivalry...

The only concern I would have is the underage consumption, however this is Canada and its not like they are getting bombed.

Some of the other media indicated that the IOC Sanctions for things like this in the past range from a letter of reprimand to taking physical medals away. However, I was unable to find any articles or releases noting where this had been done for overly active celebration.

There was an Olympic official taking note of the players activities on the ice as this was going on but nobody was trying to stop the girls or limit their fun by any means so I would have a hard time seeing a sanction or the like coming out of this.

 

[WHKY blogger]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Oh Trillium the LA Times has latched onto this story now, with Photos.

Poulin, who scored both goals, doesn't turn 19 — legal drinking age in British Columbia — until next month. The drinking age in Alberta, where the Canadian team trains, is 18. Photos showed Poulin on the ice with a beer in her hand.

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party.

"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said.

 

[WHKY blogger]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

More News stories

USA Women's hockey contemplates 'bittersweet' silver medal

"I'm still in the moment,"" Potter said. "It's still shocking (to lose) because we set our goal pretty high, to win a gold medal. I'm obviously very happy to win a silver medal...and I think I'm trying to soak it all in. I haven't looked (at) what's going to happen in the future. I love this sport and I love playing hockey and I love my family and whatever happens after this, I'll just take one day at a time."

Canada beats Americans 2-0 for third women's hockey gold

Canadian Women Take Gold in Hockey Final

Finland beats Sweden 3-2 for bronze in women's hockey on Rantamaki's overtime goal

"I knew if I got it in front, we would score," said Rantamaki, one of just two remaining players from Finland's bronze medalists in Nagano. "It's really unbelievable, a great feeling right now. I still can't believe it. It's been a long time. I waited 12 years. It was so long that I waited."

Rogge dampens great day for women's hockey

"We cannot continue without improvement," Rogge said. "There is a discrepancy there, everyone agrees with that. This is maybe the investment period in women's ice hockey. I would personally give them more time to grow - but there must be a period of improvement."

Finland snatches women's hockey bronze

IOC wants greater depth in Olympic women's hockey

"The North American teams' sports federations have eight times Sweden's budget for women's hockey," Sweden coach Peter Elander said after his team lost 3-2 in overtime to Finland in the bronze-medal game. "They have twice as many days together as we do.

"The finances for all teams have to be the same. ... If you want to have a close tournament in Sochi, have (comparable) national programs in all countries."

With his voice rising in anger, Elander noted how the U.S. and Canada have a pool of women from which to choose elite players that is 20 times that of Sweden. He pointed out Canadian and American players play together much more than their European counterparts, who often come to America to play because university hockey for women overseas remains in its beginning stages, if at all.

Finland coach Pekka Hamalainen agreed.

"Of course, the numbers of players are totally different. We can never compete with the numbers," he said through an interpreter. "Resources, that's another issue."

 

[burgie12]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The only crime committed was drinking such a (crappy*) beer.

Congrats to the Canadian women on a well-fought win and, easily, the best women's hockey game I've watched.

*Insert expected expletive here.

 

[Brown Parent]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

I hope posters will forgive this post about another women's sport but I just watched the Figure Skating finals and had to comment on Bronze medal winner Miss Rochette, a picture of poise and character under unimaginable circumstances that moved me to tears. A brief recap of her story from a news article follows:

For Rochette, the medal is a culmination of "a lifelong project with my mom." Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate, and Rochette has been the picture of courage this week.

Supported by her father, Normand, and longtime coach Manon Perron, Rochette decided to go ahead and compete. Her performance Thursday wasn't perfect; she two-footed and stepped out of a triple flip, and had shaky landings on a couple of other jumps. But she made up for those errors with an emotional and expressive portrayal of "Samson and Delilah."

"I feel proud and the result didn't matter," Rochette said. "I'm happy to be on the podium."

 

[hab]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Not since the Dam Busters Raid in 1943 has there been a better kept secret than Shannon Szabados. At 15 she was the first female to play in the Mac's Midget tournament in Calgary (all male at the time), at 16 she was the first female to play in the (WHL) Western Hockey League for the Tri-City Americans making history in playing 20 seconds in the WHL in a regular season game. Szabados returned from there to the AJHL with the Alberta based Ft. Saskatchewan (Edmonton, Alberta ) Traders where she led them to the top of the regular league standings and came within a game of winning the AJHL Championship. She was awarded the AJHL goaltender of the year in 1997 for her efforts.

Still with me here...this is male Junior A Hockey I'm talking about!

IMHO Hockey Canada and Ms. Szabados were responsible for keeping her profile low until she was unleashed at this years Olympics. No NCAA or Canadian University hockey for her.... no Hockey Canada tipping theIr hat on this diamond in the rough...Shannon played for the ACAC Grant MacEwen College team in Edmonton, Alberta during the 07/08 & 08/09 seasons. Significant in the fact that this league is one level under the CIS or University hockey in Canada.

Don't get me wrong Vetter played a strong game for the US side and anyone watching this game was witness to some of the best female goaltending we have seen ...ever.

Inevitably however Szabados was able to mystify the new & improved US Women's National Team with an unpenatrable glove side and calming effect between the pipes. This Szabados kid was surely the difference maker tonight. Full Stop.

Congrats to both teams for entertaining us yet again, unfortunatley however there is a winner and loser. I trust you agree, if Im an IOC member watching that game tonight I can't think for the life of me, how one can even contemplate ever taking Women's (Ice) Hockey out of the Olympics.

Now on to the Men's action....

Excellent post "5-4". I have felt that the emergence of Szabados as the the top female goaltender in the world has been in the works but under the radar for a long time. Under the radar because unlike a lot of top female hockey players who might start out in boys hockey and then move to girls hockey in their early to mid-teens, she has persisted and excelled on boys/mens teams. That means that she hasn't received a lot of attention from those of us who follow womens college hockey and the two post-college leagues, but meanwhile she has been in the midst of much tougher competition. I first saw her play in ringette tournaments in Alberta when the Edmonton ringette team would "borrow" her from her boys hockey team for the odd tournament game to deliver the predictable shutout.

 

[dave1381]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Rogge dampens great day for women's hockey

IOC wants greater depth in Olympic women's hockey

Wow, what a *******.

Has a winter Olympic sport ever been cut? Ever? Maybe skeleton years ago? I think when softball and baseball were cut, they were the first sports cut since polo in 1936.

What exactly is the IOC's criterion for cutting sports? I get softball to some extent, because it required a separate facility and many host countries don't play it. The marginal cost of having women's hockey on the schedule is minimal because everyone has hockey rinks.

Since when did Rogge become dictator of the IOC? Isn't the process at least somewhat democratic? Who the hell is he to be issuing ultimatums like that?

 

[WHKY blogger]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Wow, what a *******.

Has a winter Olympic sport ever been cut? Ever? Maybe skeleton years ago? I think when softball and baseball were cut, they were the first sports cut since polo in 1936.

What exactly is the IOC's criterion for cutting sports? I get softball to some extent, because it required a separate facility and many host countries don't play it. The marginal cost of having women's hockey on the schedule is minimal because everyone has hockey rinks.

Since when did Rogge become dictator of the IOC? Isn't the process at least somewhat democratic? Who the hell is he to be issuing ultimatums like that?

Military patrol, a precursor to the biathlon, was a medal sport in 1924.

 

[Sweden]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The only crime committed was drinking such a (crappy*) beer.

Congrats to the Canadian women on a well-fought win and, easily, the best women's hockey game I've watched.

*Insert expected expletive here.

They should have been drinking Guinness. The IOC has to be one of the most sanctimonius organizations in the world, making a big deal about a few beers on the ice. Yet an athlete dies on a luge course and all the IOC can do is blame the athlete, then business as usual. Pathetic

 

[Hux]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Wow, what a *******.

Has a winter Olympic sport ever been cut? Ever? Maybe skeleton years ago? I think when softball and baseball were cut, they were the first sports cut since polo in 1936.

What exactly is the IOC's criterion for cutting sports? I get softball to some extent, because it required a separate facility and many host countries don't play it. The marginal cost of having women's hockey on the schedule is minimal because everyone has hockey rinks.

Since when did Rogge become dictator of the IOC? Isn't the process at least somewhat democratic? Who the hell is he to be issuing ultimatums like that?

He is just laying down the gauntlet for the "wanna be" countries to spend more coin on developing the game. If you look at the IIHF numbers, there are an amazing amount of countries fielding teams, in some pretty weird places too.

As has been mentioned, the sport isn't going anywhere. It generates revenue for buildings that would otherwise sit unused during the down time between men's games.

 

[on2thinice]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Some insightful thoughts below from our local newspaper beat writers here in the snowy NY/LI area about the inequality of play during the Olympics. Does anyone know the criteria for an athlete being able to play for a particular national team (bloodlines etc) and have any suggestions to decrease this inequity? What about relaxing those restrictions? There are lots of girls who made Olympic festival camps when they were younger in both the US and Canada who do not have a chance to participate, hence there is an abundance of players out there that could possibly be helping other national teams decrease this inequality.

From Arthur Staple Newsday ...Before the game, IOC President Jacques Rogge said the inequality of women's hockey -- the U.S. and Canada won their eight games leading up to last night by a combined 84-4 tally -- has to end for women's hockey to have a long Olympic life. "We cannot continue without improvement," Rogge said. Until then, how about more U.S.-Canada? It's the best, really the only game in town for women's hockey, and it lived up to it last night.

From Pilip Bondy Daily News ...These women aim toward this game, build toward it, for four long years. They play each other until they are sick of soing it, until the Olympics. And all the other one-sided results against developing women's hockey nations are just demeaning. The IOC president, Jacques Rogge, warned earlier yesterday that those routs can't continue or the sport will be dropped from the games.

 

[IceIsNice]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

As has been mentioned, the sport isn't going anywhere. It generates revenue for buildings that would otherwise sit unused during the down time between men's games.

Not only that, but I believe I read in the IOC charter that the determination of events must be agreed to at the time the games are awarded, and so if I am interpreting this accurately then women's hockey must be safe in Sochi or else we would have all known otherwise. Assuming I got this right, then "IF" the sport were to be called into question, then I suppose it would impact 2018 at the earliest.

 

[scrambledlegs]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Not since the Dam Busters Raid in 1943 has there been a better kept secret than Shannon Szabados. At 15 she was the first female to play in the Mac's Midget tournament in Calgary (all male at the time), at 16 she was the first female to play in the (WHL) Western Hockey League for the Tri-City Americans making history in playing 20 seconds in the WHL in a regular season game. Szabados returned from there to the AJHL with the Alberta based Ft. Saskatchewan (Edmonton, Alberta ) Traders where she led them to the top of the regular league standings and came within a game of winning the AJHL Championship. She was awarded the AJHL goaltender of the year in 1997 for her efforts...

Not to nit-pick, but it was confusing to me, till I looked her up, but I think a couple of these stats may be incorrect.

She was probably awared AJHL goalie of the year in 2007, unless she was an AMAZING 10 year old and I hope she played longer than 20 seconds in a game.

Anyway, I thought the story was interesting so I was just looking for clarification.

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Not to nit-pick, but it was confusing to me, till I looked her up, but I think a couple of these stats may be incorrect.

She was probably awared AJHL goalie of the year in 2007, unless she was an AMAZING 10 year old and I hope she played longer than 20 seconds in a game.

Anyway, I thought the story was interesting so I was just looking for clarification.

My mistake (Typo) it was 2007 of course that she was named the AJ's Goalie of the Year.

I've edited my original post to reflect this.

The 20 second stint was in the WHL with the Tri City Americans and not in the AJHL.

 

[unofan]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Inevitably however Szabados was able to mystify the new & improved US Women's National Team with an unpenatrable glove side and calming effect between the pipes. This Szabados kid was surely the difference maker tonight. Full Stop.

Of course, the U.S. made it relatively easy for her - my beer league team can screen a goalie better than the U.S. did most of the night. They also kept shooting into the glove rather than the low hard shot that is more likely to lead to rebounds.

And by the 3rd, it was clear the U.S. was rushing everything. Lots of blind passes in the neutral zone that resulted in lost puck possession rather than holding onto it and waiting for a better chance to move forward. Can't remember how many times in the 3rd the U.S. would force a turnover at the blueline and just try to shoot/throw it deep right away, and invariably send it straight into the legs of a Canadian player.

 

[unofan]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Being in the building for this I can tell you that yes the crowds were gone when this occurred however there were still quite a few people, family members of players and children present for the actions described above.

And we should be concerned about this...why?

 

[DC78-82]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Of course, the U.S. made it relatively easy for her - my beer league team can screen a goalie better than the U.S. did most of the night. They also kept shooting into the glove rather than the low hard shot that is more likely to lead to rebounds.

And by the 3rd, it was clear the U.S. was rushing everything. Lots of blind passes in the neutral zone that resulted in lost puck possession rather than holding onto it and waiting for a better chance to move forward. Can't remember how many times in the 3rd the U.S. would force a turnover at the blueline and just try to shoot/throw it deep right away, and invariably send it straight into the legs of a Canadian player.

From the 2014 Olympic Thread:

Also, I may have taken this the wrong way, but I was a little surprised by Darwitz's comments after the game (I didn't see the press conference, just the quick interview after the medal ceremony). For her to blame it on the inexperience/youth of the team when the "older" players didn't get it done either was a little uncalled for from a captain.

I thought her comments were spot on. Yes, they have a young team, and yes, it was important for the experienced players to step up, be a calming force, and lead. She stated that they made the goaltender look even better than she is by shooting high, wide, or slow.

The game from the 30 minute mark on reminded me of the old saying "The hurrieder I go, the hurrieder I get."

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: The 2010 Winter Olympics Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

Of course, the U.S. made it relatively easy for her - my beer league team can screen a goalie better than the U.S. did most of the night. They also kept shooting into the glove rather than the low hard shot that is more likely to lead to rebounds.

And by the 3rd, it was clear the U.S. was rushing everything. Lots of blind passes in the neutral zone that resulted in lost puck possession rather than holding onto it and waiting for a better chance to move forward. Can't remember how many times in the 3rd the U.S. would force a turnover at the blueline and just try to shoot/throw it deep right away, and invariably send it straight into the legs of a Canadian player.

Ummm. I saw three glove saves by Szabados that would have beat any second string NHL Goalie. Those three go in and well....