Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Vancouver Olympic Hockey Schedule.

The Schedule of the Vancouver Olympics Mens Hockey Tournament

Tuesday, February 16

12:00 USA vs. SWITZERLAND
16:30 CANADA vs. NORWAY
21:00 RUSSIA vs. LATVIA


Wednesday, February 17

12:00 FINLAND vs. BELARUS
16:30 SWEDEN vs. GERMANY
21:00 CZECH REPUBLIC vs. SLOVAKIA


Thursday, February 18

12:00 USA vs. NORWAY
16:30 SWITZERLAND vs. CANADA
21:00 SLOVAKIA vs. RUSSIA


Friday, February 19

12:00 BELARUS vs. SWEDEN
16:30 CZECH REPUBLIC vs. LATVIA
21:00 FINLAND vs. GERMANY


Saturday, February 20

12:00 NORWAY vs. SWITZERLAND
16:30 LATVIA vs. SLOVAKIA
21:00 GERMANY vs. BELARUS


Sunday, February 21

12:00 RUSSIA vs. CZECH REPUBLIC
16:30 CANADA vs. USA --sure to be an excellent game
21:00 SWEDEN vs. FINLAND--sure to be an excellent game


Tuesday, February 23

12:00 QUALIFICATION 1
16:30 QUALIFICATION 2
19:00 QUALIFICATION 3 (at UBC Thunderbird Arena)
21:00 QUALIFICATION 4


(if qualified, USA will play 12:00 game)
(if qualified, Canada will play 16:30 game)


Wednesday, February 24

12:00 QUARTERFINAL 1
16:30 QUARTERFINAL 2
19:00 QUARTERFINAL 3 (at UBC Thunderbird Arena)
21:00 QUARTERFINAL 4


(if qualified, USA will play 12:00 game or 21:00 game)
(if qualified, Canada will play 16:30 game)


Friday, February 26

12:00 Semifinal 1
18:30 Semifinal 2


(if qualified, USA will play 12:00 game)
(if qualified, Canada will play 18:30 game)


Saturday, February 27

19:00 Mens Hockey Bronze Medal Game


GOLD MEDAL GAME
Sunday, February 28

12:15 Mens Hockey Gold Medal Game

World Record Holder in Womans Speed Skating Fails to Qualify in World Record Event.

The speed skating world record holder Cindy Klassen has failed to secure the right to defend her record at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Klassen failed to qualify for a berth on the Canadian Olympic team at the 1,000 meter distance. She had a weak showing amongst strong competitors at the Canadian Olympic qualifying trials held at the Olympic Oval on December 29, 2009.

Klassen won an astounding 5 Olympic medals in speed skating at the last Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

“After I finished my race, I knew it’d be difficult to make it,” admitted the world-record holder at 1,000 metres. “I really like the 1,000. It would’ve been nice to qualify. But it hasn’t been that strong for me.” She went on to say “that’s the way it goes. When you open the way I did, it’s just not fast enough”.

Cindy Klassen is attempting a comeback after having two knee surgeries. She had already secured an Olympic speed skating berth in the 3,000 metres event a few days earlier in the Olympic trials.

Given the depth of Canadian talent at 1,000 metres, Klassen really had her work cut out for her. She won the silver medal at the last Winter Olympics in Turin at that distance but she will have to watch the event from the sidelines at the Vancouver Games. Klassen still has a chance to qualify for the Canadian Olympic team in the 1,500 metres event. Klassen won this event four years ago in Turin.

With Christine Nesbitt already having pre-qualified for the Vancouver Olympics, three spots were left available in the women’s 1,000 meter. These spots will be filled by new comer Brittany Schussler, Kristina Groves, and Shannon Rempel. The Canadian team will be exceptionally strong at this distance.

Look for the Canadian women speed skaters to spend some time on the Olympic speed skating podium at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Canadian Mens Olympic Hockey Team


On December 29, 2009, Hockey Canada announced the Canadian Men’s Olympic hockey roster for the Vancouver Olympics. The announcement of the Canadian Olympic hockey team was made at widely televised and highly anticipated press conference.

The team consists of 3 goalies, 13 forwards and 7 defencemen. All 23 hockey players have international experience, including eight Olympians and, all together the Olympic hockey players have played in 702 international games and thousands of NHL games.

It was also announced that veteran Scott Niedermayer will be Canada’s captain at the Vancouver Olympics, while Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Chris Pronger) will serve as alternate captains.

All three Canadian Olympic goalies are from Quebec and include Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Martin Brodeur. At almost 38 years of age, Brodeur is the oldest member of the Canadian Olympic hockey team. The balance of the team includes defencemen Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, Drew Doughty, Dan Boyle and forwards Brenden Morrow, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Jonathan Toews, Michael Richards, Joe Thornton, Eric Staal, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, and Rick Nash. At just 20 years old Doughty is the youngest member of the squad.

It is thought that tickets to the Olympics, particularly the Canadian men's hockey games will be particularly hard to get.

The Olympic hockey schedule has been announced and Canada will first play Norway on February 16th. All of Canada has high hopes that the Canadian Mens Olympic hockey team can take the gold medal. The 2010 Canadian Olympic hockey team has a great deal of talent and is thought to be a serious medal contender.

Lindsey Vonn, Injured 6 Weeks Before Vancouver Olympics

Vancouver 2010 Olympic ski favorite Lindsey Vonn bruised a bone in her left arm following a crash on the opening run of a World Cup giant slalom on December 28, 2009.

Vonn had X-ray and MRI scans at a hospital before returning to the U.S. team hotel with her arm in a splint. According to U.S. team medical director the scans showed no fractures, only a bone bruise and lots of tissue swelling. "It's not a classic broken wrist, but a swelling," said the doctor. The doctor added Vonn might be able to race in Tuesday's slalom (December 29). "She's got a lot of pain now, but if she feels well she could start."

Vonn started 15th and made a couple of mistakes in the early part of her run, falling more than a second behind the leading time set by Kathrin Hoelzl of Germany. After a sharp left turn, the American lost her balance on a bump and fell backward, hitting a gate and losing a ski.

The two-time World Cup overall champion remained on the ground for a good 8-10 minutes while receiving first aid. Lindsay Vonn eventually stood up, put her skis back on and made it to the bottom of the hill with her left arm in a sling.

U.S. women's speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser was not present for the crash but was with Vonn for training the past two days. With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics just around the corner, Hoedlmoser suggested it might be a good idea to skip the slalom. "It definitely would make sense looking at the bigger picture for her to rest for a couple of days," he said. "But I know Lindsey, and I know she wants to race. It all depends on how painful it is."

Vonn was coming off a successful weekend in Val D'Isere, France. She had a victory in the super combined and a third-place finish in a super-G. These finishes helped her reclaim the top of the leader board for the overall World Cup standings ahead of rival Maria Riesch of Germany. Vonn is beating Riesch by 50 points.

Vonn has been known to compete with injuries. She skied the final part of last season despite a right thumb injury she sustained at the world championships in February. She needed surgery after cutting a tendon on a broken champagne bottle and raced the rest of the season with her pole taped to her glove.

Vonn is considered a strong medal contender in all five Alpine events during the Olympics: downhill, super-G, slalom, GS and super combined (one downhill run and one slalom run). If she cannot ski in Vancouver, it will be the latest in a string of Olympic disappointments for Vonn. She finished with an uninspired sixth and 22nd in Salt Lake City in 2002, when she was only 17-years old, and was seventh, eighth and 14th at the Turin Olympics

Vonn's appearance in Vancouver is also important to many Olympic sponsors.These sponsors have been building huge TV and Web commercials around her in the run-up to the Vancouver Olympic Games. Television network NBC has been giving fans a chance to design artwork for her racing helmet.

Slovakia Mens Olympic Hockey Team


Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa will lead Slovakia at the Vancouver Olympic Hockey Tournament commencing in February 2010. Former Washingston Capitals star, Peter Bondra is the general manager for the Slovakia hockey teams and he made the the team roster announcement. Bondra can make changes to the roster up until February 14, 2010.

Hossa is one of 12 NHL players on the 23-player roster announced December 29, 2009. The other big guns on the team include Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara and New York Rangers forward Marian Gaborik (picture right). Gaborik is tied for top goal scorer in the NHL so far this season with 26 on the season.

Former Buffalo Sabres star Miroslav Satan will make his fourth Olympic appearance which is impressive by any standard.

The other NHL players are goalies Peter Budaj of Colorado and Jaroslav Halak of Montreal; defencemen Milan Jurcina of Columbus, Andrej Meszaros of Tampa Bay, Andrej Sekera of Buffalo and Lubomir Visnovsky of Edmonton; and forwards Pavol Demitra of Vancouver, Michal Handzus of Los Angeles and Tomas Kopecky of Chicago. Of these players Demitra, Meszaros, Budaj, and Jurcina all played on the Slovakia Olympic hockey team at the Turin Olympics.

Slovakia finished fifth at the 2006 Turin Games are not considered to be strong contenders in this Olympic Hockey tournament. There first game will be against the Czech Republic on February 17, 2010.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team and Schedule of the Vancouver Olympics Mens Hockey Tournament


The Canadian Mens Olympic Hockey team will be going for gold at the Vancouver Olympics Games. The depth of talent on this team is simply unrivaled at this point. That said, nothing is certain until the final game.

The official roster for the Canadian Olympic hockey team has not been chosen yet and it does not look like it will be an easy decision. The Canadian Olympic hockey management team led by Steve Yzerman will have their work cut out for them in trying to decide who to keep and who to cut. The balance of the management team includes the Red Wing's GM Ken Holland, Doug Armstrong of the Blues, Kevin Lowe of the Oilers and Hockey Canada VP Johnny Misley.

There will be twelve countries in the Vancouver Olympic hockey tournament. Of the 12 countries, the favorites will likely be Finland, Russia, USA, Canada, and Sweden. The draws have been completed and the groups in the preliminary round will look like this:
Group A: Canada, USA, Switzerland, Norway
Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia
Group C: Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Germany
At first glance it looks like the draw works out the best for the Russian hockey team.

The Olympic hockey tournament will start on Tuesday February 16th, with an 18-game preliminary round. At the end of the preliminary round all 12 teams will be ranked in a joint ranking "D". This ranking will be used for seeding the teams in the qualification playoff games. The top four ranked teams (1D, 2D,3D, and 4D) will be given byes into the quarter-final rounds. These top four will also be deemed to be the home team for their quarter-final match.

The qualification playoff (QP)games will be played with the following match-ups (Group E):

5D - 12D (Winner will become E1)
6D - 11D (Winner will become E2)
7D - 10D (Winner will become E3)
8D - 9D (Winner will become E4)


The four winning teams of the QP games will advance to the Quarter-final round to meet the top four teams of the preliminary round. The Quarter-final games will be played with the following match-ups (Group F):

1D - E4 (Winner will become F1)
2D - E3 (Winner will become F2)
3D - E2 (Winner will become F3)
4D - E1 (Winner will become F4)

The Semi-Final games will be played with the following match-ups. The home team will be the higher ranked team as determined at the completion of the Preliminary Round (Group D):

F1 - F4
F2 - F3

The gold medal match will be held on February 28th at 12:15 pm.

This is bound to be a great Olympic Hockey tournament with Sunday, February 21st seeing 4 of the top 5 teams match up against each other.

Canada is a great hockey country and will be hosting a highly competitive Olympic hockey tournament.

Lindsey Vonn: The Girl to Beat at the Vancouver Games


It is expected that the world will see a lot of Lindsey Vonn at the Vancouver Games. She has been a World Cup skier for a long time and has recently (during the 2009 season) she secured the status of the winningest American skier of in American history.

Born October 18, 1984, Vonn skies for the American Olympic ski team. In the 2009 Alpine racing season end Lindsey Vonn had been crowned Super G, Downhill and Overall FIS World Cup Champion. This year she has been on fire. It will be an incredible upset if she is not at the top of the podium a number of times at the Vancouver Games. Everything she has done so far seems to be targeting the Vancouver Olympics.

Lindsey was also the Overall and Downhill FIS World Cup champion for 2008. At the the 2009 World Championships, Lindsey finished 1st in Downhill and 1st in Super G, DNF in Slalom and DSQ in Super Combined. In 2007 Lindsey was 2nd in Downhill and 2nd in Super G, DNS in Slalom and DSQ in Super Combined. In 2005 she finished in 4th in Downhill, 4th in Combined, 9th in Super G and DNF in Giant Slalom.

The Vancouver Games in 2010 will be Lindsey Vonn's third Olympic Games. In the 2006 Olympics, Vonn was 7th in Super G, 8th in Downhill and in 2002 at Salt Lake City, she finished 6th in the Combined.

All eyes will be on American skier, Lindsey Vonn, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Figure Skating at the Vancouver 2010 Games

The Pacific Coliseum will host the figure skating and short track speed skating events at the Vancouver Olympics 2010. The venue is located 6.2 kilometres from the athletes village at an elevation of 26 metres. It has a capacity of slightly over 14,000. This arena is currently the home of Canada's Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants and is the former home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The Pacific Coliseum was also host to the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2006 and game four of the famed 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.

For Vancouver Games 2010, the ice will be enlarged to an Olympic size ice surface to accommodate both the figure skating and short track speed skating events. Renos have included the replacement of 16,000 seats. Future renovations are supposed to include upgrades to the washroom facilities, concession areas, and to the building heating/ventilation systems.

Following the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games Games, the arena will continue to host events as well as serve as the home arena for the WHL's Vancouver Giants hockey team.

Hockey Venue for Vancouver 2010

Located between 2-4 kilometers from the athletes village, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games hockey tournaments will take place in two venues -- Canada Hockey Place and the UBC Thunderbird Arena. Both venues existed prior to Vancouver being awarded the 2010 Games.

Canada Hockey Place, known locally as General Motors Place, will be the primary Olympic hockey arena at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The arena was completed in 1995 and privately financed to be the home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The arena has 88 luxury suites, 12 hospitality suites and 2195 club seats. It has a total capacity of slightly more than 18,800. In 2006, Canada Hockey Place was given a freshen up. An LED ribbon board and a state of the art high-definition scoreboard hanging over centre ice were installed.

When the city first won the right to host the 2010 Olympics, the plan was to renovate Canada Hockey Place to accommodate an international-sized ice surface. This renovation would have resulted in the removal of seats in the arena. In 2006, VANOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced they had canceled the ice reno plans and, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, the Vancouver Olympics 2010 hockey tournament would be played on NHL-sized ice. The new plan saved VANOC $10 million in renovations and will allow 35,000 more spectators into Canada Hockey Place over the duration of the Olympic Games. Oddly enough, additional locker rooms will be built as part of the scaled down renos. You have to wonder how many dressing rooms are needed as it is very likely that 6-8 already existed.

Olympic Figure Skating will take place at another venue.

General Motors Place has played host to many international hockey tournaments before including the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships.