Happy Canada Day!

To all my friends in Canada. Happy Canada Day!
À tous mes amis au Canada. Le Jour heureux de Canada !

Canada beats Sweden 5-4

In an incredible tight game, Canada scored four goals in the second period to lead them to a victory over the tough Swedish team 5-4 in the semi finals of the IIHF. The Dany Heatley, Ryan Getzlaf, Rick Nash line is paying rich dividends and leading the charge for the Canadians.Canada now faces its arch-nemesis Russia in the Gold Medal game, after they beat Finland, on Sunday.

Canada and Sweden at the IIHF World Championship

The semi-finals of the IIHF World Championships are today in Quebec City with Russia against Finland in the first game and then a showdown of superpowers Canada and Sweden. This is the third years in a row that Canada and the Swedes have met in the semi's and each time they have went on to win the gold medal.

Canada U-18 win Gold

In Kazan, Russia today, Canada's under-18 squad won the gold medal in a historic 8-0 domination of Russia. The game was never in question with Canada taking control early with a 5-0 lead in the first period and handing the Russians their first loss of the tournament.

seven matches on Saturday

There's a host of great Football matches this Saturday that you'll want to stay up-to-date on. So before you throw on your Lafleur (hmm..maybe the Béliveau) jersey for game 2 in the quest for the twenty-fifth, remember to check-out;

Serie A
A.C. Milan @ Juventus F.C.
A clash of titans and a Juve win could lock down their Champion League visions as well as seriously harm AC. Milan will limp in without Alexandre Pato and both Kakha Kaladze and Alessandro Nesta are serving suspensions. Juventus will miss Pavel Nedved and Cristiano Zanetti in what is going to be a great clash. Looking forward to the Alessandro Del Piero show once again.

Bundesliga
FC Schalke 04 @ SV Werder Bremen
The race in the Bundesliga is incredibly tight and a Werder Bremen could send them two points above Schalke, into a Champions League spot and push Schalke into a UEFA Cup bid. A lot is on the line with this one and Schalke also has to respond in a short-week after losing to Barcelona.

La Primera División de México
América @ Chivas El Súper Clásico - it may not have the impact of some years with them on opposite ends of the table but this is a must see event (well...actually this one is in the Sunday list - but one to watch for)

Monterrey @ Pachuca exciting match to watch and to see if the magic of Ricardo Lavolpe and the goal-scoring machine, Humberto Suazo continues.

Championship League
Watford F.C @ West Brom
Watfords 3-0 debacle against Barnsley mid-week was a dreadful loss this time of year with promotion in sight. With Wolverhampton surging up the table a loss today could put them perilously close to losing their playoff position. A victory by West Brom puts them firmly in the lead with automatic promotion.

Wolverhampton @ Bristol City
The Wolves are on a mission and thundering up the table but face a massive test against Bristol City. At least four squads, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Charlton and Plymouth will be watching this intently as as Wolves win could seriously harm their promotion efforts.

League One
Carlisle United @ Leeds United
Massive match with far too many complexities given the Leeds arbitration hearing is next week and the possibility of the fifteen point reduction being reversed. A victory here and a reversal of the points could see Leeds move within a point of the league title.

I'm off for the weekend..join-in mes amis Allez l'OM, allez

Canada - Estonia friendly, update

update from this little Dickens village in Tallinn (thanks to Setanta and Slingmedia)

You have to admit these Estonia fans are a hearty group and at the twelve minute mark the snow somehow doesn't seem to be an issue yet.

Scarborough's Dwayne De Rosario of the MLS's Houston Dynamo has been the lone threat to score.

22nd minute; play is starting to slow a trace and passing looks more difficult as snow coverage increases.
36th minute: Deportivo La Coruna's Julian de Guzman (of yes, Scarborough) narrowly misses on a volley which from the 35 yard snow line.

Paul Stalteri (Fulham FC) is directing a solid attack from the mid line.

- snow is coming down hard now
39th minute: Julian de Guzman receives a yellow card for kicking snow it appears (or at least there was no contact. Estonia awarded a free kick which is saved by Lars Hirschfeld
- half...out come the shovels
second half starts - snow is now heavier
- Canadian Lars Hirschfeld Goalkeeper can't keep his footing as he tries to pick-up rolling ball. Surprised if this match isn't ended soon.
56th minute; match plays on in horrid conditions although play is quite good.
58th minute: Kaimar Saag scores on a beautiful header Estonia 1 - Canada 0
65th minute: Estonia is controlling the offensive surges, marking as well as can be expected in the winter-wonderland and looks like they can take this match

ok..this hasn't erupted into a complete snowball fight but with 10 minutes left I'm ready to test out what other matches I can get

83rd minute: corner kick for Canada. Dwayne De Rosario starts from a smallish little snow-bank to strike the ball in....drifts helplessly wide

(Wales match in 15 minutes)

89th minute Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko scores for Estonia (although clearly offside).
2 minutes of added snow-play time

(Wales match in 13 minutes)

fini - Estonia 2 Canada 0

Canada - Estonia friendly

the first match of todays huge list of friendlies is about to start with Canada and Estonia. Played in Estonia a heavy blizzard has blanketed the field and the lines are being re-painted.

No signs of the kid (Owen Hargreaves) born and raised in Calgary on the Canadian squad - oh wait he plays for England


Estonia

G	Mart Poom	Watford F.C.
G	Pavel Londak	Bodø/Glimt
G	Mihkel Aksalu	FC Flora
D	Raio Piiroja	Fredrikstad FK
D	Dmitri Kruglov	PFC Neftchi
D	Urmas Rooba	Turun Palloseura
D	Enar Jääger	Aalesunds FK
D	Alo Bärengrub	FK Bodø/Glimt
D	Taavi Rähn	FK Ekranas
D	Tihhon Šišov	FC Levadia Tallinn
M	Aleksandr Dmitrijev	FC Levadia
M	Ragnar Klavan	Heracles Almelo
M	Konstantin Vassiljev	NK Nafta
M	Tarmo Kink	FC Levadia
M	Ats Purje	FC Inter
M	Martin Vunk	FC Flora
F	Oliver Konsa	FC TVMK
F	Kaimar Saag	Silkeborg IF
F	Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko	FC Flora

Canada

G	Lars Hirschfeld	CFR Cluj
D	Daniel Imhof	VfL Bochum
D	Michael Klukowski	Club Brugge
D	André Hainault	Sparta Praha
D	Kevin McKenna	FC Köln
M	Julian de Guzman	Deportivo La Coruña"
M	Paul Stalteri	Fulham
M	Marcel de Jong	Roda JC
F	Tomasz Radzinski	Skoda Xanthi
F	Rob Friend	Borussia Mönchengladbach
D	Richard Hastings	Inverness CT
M	Issey Nakajima-Farran	FC Nordsjælland
M	Atiba Hutchinson	FC Copenhagen
M	Dwayne De Rosario	Houston Dynamo
D	Josh Simpson	FC Kaiserslautern
F	Ali Gerba	FC Ingolstadt 04
F	Iain Hume	Leicester City
M	Patrice Bernier	FC Kaiserslautern
G	Kenny Stamatopoulos	Tromsø IL

LHJMQ / QMJHL update

Results from tonights opening games LHJMQ / QMJHL with eastern division teams in high-scoring affairs.

Acadie-Bathurst 8 St. John's 5
Cape Breton 8 Lewiston 3
Halifax 6 Victoriaville 2
Saint John 10 PEI 4

Shawinigan 2 Gatineau 3 (2nd)
Québec 0 Chicoutimi 0 (2nd)
Val-d'Or 2 Rouyn-Noranda 4 (2nd)


Baie-Comeau /Rimouski postponed due to weather conditions

QMJHL - LHJMQ playoffs

With the LHJMQ / QMJHL ready to start tonight, I just wanted to make everyone aware that all games presented online live by Telus.

Val-d'Or @ Rouyn-Noranda
Rimouski @ Baie-Comeau
Shawinigan @ Gatineau
Québec @ Chicoutimi
Victoriaville @ Halifax
Lewiston @ Cape Breton
PEI @ Saint John
St. John's @ Acadie-Bathurst

Previews to follow...

Québec Remparts - Chicoutimi Saguenéens

Early today I received an email simply noting that the “playoffs” (LHJMQ / QMJHL) start tomorrow including a great series that he knew I’d be following between the Québec Remparts and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens who feature Bobby Nadeau of Lac Etchemin, QC, another in the line of great Québecois goaltenders. With it playoff season a hot goaltender such as Chicoutimi’s Bobby Nadeau or Lewiston’s Jonathan Bernier (of Laval, QC) can take a team anywhere

- amazing how somethings never change.

Get out and support the world's fastest sport. I’ll posting updates on all the playoffs of the CHL leading up to this years Memorial Cup.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

So here I am, a slice past 4 am checking every weather service I can find, tracing (or is it hoping) for the grace of a storm that'll blanket the mountain with fresh powder. Fresh powder is the orgasmic dream of every Snowboarder and the the threat of it has me up well before dawn wondering and hoping, for what lays ahead and memories of heavy snowfalls of the past.

A competition looms ahead, to navigate a tight and winding course but in fact to chase my dreams and deny time once again, finding a taste of freedom unlike anywhere else in the world as I blindly hurtle down the mountain, bandana wrapped tight over my face.

My day will be like so many others, waking in the cold waters of the ocean for dawn patrol and as sunset approaches finding the rich allure of the mountain calling me. It is what I do, faster faster, denying time, pushing life at 90 in a 60.

IIHF World Juniors
Canada's quest for their fourth gold medal in a row continues as they face Sweden in the Gold Medal game

First Period
Canada: Marchand (Giroux, Turris) 1:27 Canada 1 Sweden 0
Canada: Giroux (Marchand, Turris) 17:01 (PP) Canada 2 Sweden 0

end of first period Canada 2 Sweden 0

Second Period
no scoring

end of second period Canada 2 Sweden 0

Third Period
Sweden: Carlsson (Alcen, Berglund)5:13 (PP) Canada 2 Sweden 1
Sweden: Larsson 19:22 Canada 2 Sweden 2

Sweden pressuring Canada hard now for the equalizer.
2:26 minutes to go - Sweden calls a time-out
45 seconds left, icing, face-off in Canada zone
Sweden swarms and with scramble in-front of net scores with 38 seconds left

- END OF THIRD PERIOD - Canada 2 Sweden 2
20 minute overtime ahead for the gold medal

Overtime
Canada: Halischuk 3:36 Canada 3 Sweden 2

Canada wins; 4th in a row

~ to those who want to understand "heart", when a sport is woven into the fabric of a nation with pride & honor and played with passion; there is no better example.

Far and wide in every corner of the world, this moment single-handedly typifies what sport should represent to society. Amongst the disgrace of failed drug tests and the vapid morals of those who rationalize it, the lax scholastic standards of once great Universities who have forgot the notion of student-athletes and allow entrance qualifications to fall merely to field a "better team" and their alumni who sit idle as the value of their degree is devalued, the arrest records of athlete after athlete who believe society owes them special privileges because they can throw or catch a ball and the children who look towards their now disgraced hero's on trial, amongst the entire foul pus that elite level sport stews-in, this my friends is what sport is about.

Overcoming adversity for the pride of wearing their nations jersey with honor and integrity. In a profound and noble manner, a team who many considered out-matched on paper by their competition triumphed over adversity on the power and commitment that lays within their heart.

The 2008 World U20 Champions: Canada
Photo: Mikael Fritzon, HHOF/IIHF Images

A week of global Hockey dominance completed for Canada winning the Spengler Cup, the Ontario squad winning Worlds Under-17 Challenge and of course, the IIHF World Juniors. Next stop May 2-18, Quebec City & Halifax for the IIHF World Championships.