'Harrowing' win for Canadian women
Last Updated: Sunday, February 14, 2010 | 7:44 AM ET
By Brandon Hicks, CBC Sports
Breaking down Day 2 of the Olympics, one oversized ring at a time...
Jayna Hefford, second from right, notched six points in the victory over Slovakia. (Matt Slocum/Associated Press) Canada wins a squeaker
The Canadian women's hockey team was the first to welcome Slovakia to Olympic play, eking out a gutsy and harrowing 18-0 victory Saturday.
Jayna Hefford led the way for the struggling Canadian offence, managing a six-point night with three goals and three assists, as only two Team Canada players notched hat tricks in the contest.
It was a gritty performance by the defending Olympic gold medallists, who posted a 7-0 lead on the surprising Slovaks after 20 minutes of play.
That slim lead wasn't helped by the fact that Canada fired only 21 shots on goal in the frame, while surrendering four.
It was no better in the second period as Canada scratched out goals from Sarah Vaillancourt, Marie-Philip Poulin, Meghan Agosta, Hefford, Caroline Ouellette and Carla MacLeod to stay in front.
But the Canadians started to pull away in the third with their 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th goals and held on as Slovakia decided against pulling its goalie in the final minute. Canada held a 67-9 shot advantage in the contest.
It doesn't get any easier for the Canadians on Monday. They face a Switzerland side that lost three games by a combined score of 12-1 during the 2006 Torino Games.
...Yes, but there's an 'I' in win! Right?
Teamwork comes in handy in Olympic short-track speedskating.
Anybody paying attention to individual races will probably notice fellow countrymen routinely helping each other out, trying to get to the front of the pack while boxing out rivals from other nations.
It works up to a point. But friends in the 1-2 positions can become foes when they vie to see who gets to take Olympic gold back home on the plane.
There should be an unwritten rule that says something like:If your country is about to sweep the podium, don't do anything ridiculous. But apparently, not everybody got a memo to that effect.
Lee (right, crashing) probably wishes he had those tenths of a second back. (David Hecker/AFP/Getty Images) It was all going so well for the South Koreans in the men's 1,500-metre final Saturday. There they were, in first, second and third after near-perfect tactics seemed to ensure a podium sweep was imminent.
And that's when the final turn happened and defending world champion Lee Ho-Suk had a momentary bout of insanity. He was sitting just behind teammate and race leader Lee Jung-Su and decided he could make himself half as wide and squeeze into an opening on the inside.
You can probably guess what happened next. Lee Ho-Suk went down, taking Sung Si-bak in third with him, while Lee Jung-Su crossed the finish line and a surprised set of Americans finished in the silver- and bronze-medal positions.
Can you say, "Uncomfortable ride back to the Olympic Village?"
Awkward Photo Watch
They say a picture is worth a thousand words... (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) After our lovely and talented moguls superstar Jennifer Heil settled for silver in the women's final, she may have needed some consoling. So who was there to make her feel better with a hug? Prime Minister Stephen Harper!
Imagine if she had won gold....
Brandon Hicks is a senior writer for CBCSports.ca, and always does his best to try and physically trip up colleagues in the workplace, to quote "keep them on their toes." On an unrelated note, he has just won the award as "Most Likely to be Involved in an Office Printer Mishap in the Near Future."
