Olympic roundup: What Canada did on Day 12
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 | 2:08 AM ET
By John Molinaro, CBC Sports
The Canadian men's hockey team rebounded with a convincing victory Tuesday at the Vancouver Olympics to advance to the quarter-finals.
Jarome Iginla scored twice and Joe Thornton, Shea Weber, Sidney Crosby, Mike Richards, Scott Niedermayer and Rick Nash had the other goals as Team Canada beat Germany 8-2.
With the win, Canada moved on to the next round and will face Russia.
Of course, the hockey world has long expected to see that dream match-up at the Vancouver Olympics — ideally in the gold-medal final Sunday. Instead, the two powerhouse national teams will clash Wednesday night.
"It's going to be intense," Canada's top player Sidney Crosby said. "It's something that we thought sooner or later would happen. It's not a huge surprise."
Canada's offence was back on track Tuesday night after a difficult outing Sunday, when Canada dominated the United States but left frustrated by the brilliant U.S. goalie Ryan Miller in a 5-3 loss.
Goalie Martin Brodeur faltered against the U.S. So he was replaced by Roberto Luongo, who was good enough to make 21 saves against Germany and will get the call against Russia despite his lack of big-game experience.
"I think his bank account shows he's a pretty good goalie," Canadian coach Mike Babcock said.
Luongo added, "I've played in a lot of big international games and, hopefully, it's not the biggest one I play in this week."
McIvor strikes gold
Tuesday was also a golden day for Canada as Ashleigh McIvor of Whistler, B.C., topped the medal podium by winning the inaugural women's skicross competition.
Canada now has 11 medals at the Games (six gold, four silver and one bronze).
It was no surprise that McIvor, 26, was in the skicross final at the Vancouver Olympics. She's the defending 2009 world champion and No. 2 in World Cup standings heading into the Games.
But nothing is ever certain at the Olympics, especially not for Canada. In the men's skicross event Sunday, Canada's Chris Del Bosco was in position for a bronze medal, but fell trying to move ahead on a jump before the finish line.
Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., won the small final (consolation race) to finish fifth overall in the women's skicross event. Julia Murray of Whistler made it as far as the quarter-finals after placing fourth in her race.
Calgary's Danielle Poleschuk made it past qualifying into the first round, but her third-place finish was not good enough to see her advance further.
Also on Tuesday, Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette landed in third place after the short program skate just two days after her mother's sudden death.
Rochette put on one of the best performances of her career, earning a personal-best 71.36 points in the short program at the Pacific Coliseum.
Therese Rochette, 55, suffered a massive heart attack early Sunday shortly after arriving in Vancouver to support her daughter.
Rochette won silver at last year's world championships and has been bidding to become Canada's first Olympic medallist in women's figure skating since Elizabeth Manley in 1988, but the tragic turn seemed to put marks and results on the back burner.
Rochette, 24, was focused and precise, however, earning high marks for her triple Lutz/double toe loop combination and spiral sequence. The Île Dupas, Que., native finished with her combination spin and let the emotions go when the music stopped, clutching her chest and embracing coach Manon Perron.
Cynthia Phaneuf, 22, of Contrecoeur, Que., earned 57.16 points for 14th place.
Canadian women also distinguished themselves on the bobsled track.
Calgary's Kaillie Humphries and brakeman Heather Moyse set a track record of 53.19 seconds on their first run of the doubles competition.
Humphries and Moyse sat in first position into the second run. But Canada's other bobsleigh duo, Helen Upperton and brakeman Shelley-Ann Brown, didn't come to Whistler to play second fiddle to their teammates.
Calgary's Upperton piloted Canada 2 to another track record of 53.13 on their second run, sitting temporarily in first with a cumulative time of 1:46.62.
Their reign, however, was short-lived as Americans Erin Pac and Elana Meyers broke that record a few moments later, with a time of 53.05. Their cumulative time of 1:46.33 then took over the top position. That left the track to Humphries and Moyse, and they did not disappoint. Speeding down the Whistler track, they again set a track record of 53.01.
Heading into Wednesday's final, Humphries and P.E.I.'s Moyse now sit first, with a time of 1:46.20. But less than one second separates the top eight spots. Upperton and Brown are in fourth position, just 2/100ths of a second off third-place Germany 2, piloted by Cathleen Martini. Americans Pac and Meyers sit in second.
Other Canadian results from Tuesday:
- Alpine skiing, men's giant slalom: Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., finished 16th in a time of two minutes 39.63 seconds; Robbie Dixon of Whistler was 24th (2:40.98); Patrick Biggs of Orleans, Ont., was 35th (2:44.83); and Brad Spence of Calgary was 42nd (2:46.24).
- Biathlon, women's 4x6-kilometre relay: Megan Imrie of Falcon Lake, Man., and Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., placed 15th overall in a time of one hour 14 minutes and 25.5 seconds.
- Men's curling: Kevin Martin's Edmonton rink defeated China 10-3 to complete the round-robin with a perfect 9-0 record. Canada's next game is Thursday's semifinal against the winner of a tiebreaker between Britain and Sweden.
- Women's curling: Calgary's Cheryl Bernard (8-1) finished the round-robin in first place after beating Britain 6-5 in the morning, then defeating Russia 7-3 in the late draw. Canada plays Switzerland in Thursday's semifinal.
