Team Ontario's ringette team is bulldozing the competition at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse.
Bryanna Kelly of Beamsville scored twice and added three assists to lift the Ontarians to a 9-2 thrashing of British Columbia on Saturday in a chilly Canada Games Centre arena.
B.C.'s Kaitlin Weatherill (10) tests Ontario goalie Meghan Pittaway Saturday during women's ringette at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse.
(Chuck Stoody/Canadian Press)
Ashley Rheaume of Ottawa also had a pair of goals for Ontario (2-0), which has outscored B.C. and Prince Edward Island by a ridiculous 16-2 margin over its first two games.
Saturday's game was decided early in the second period, when Ontario reached the seven-goal mercy rule for the second straight day. The rest of the game amounted to little more than a glorified scrimmage.
Kelly said the result surprised her.
"We've tied [B.C.] before," she said. "We expected a much tougher game."
Ontario, considered one of the gold-medal favourites, opened the scoring 25 seconds into the game, then reeled off seven straight goals after B.C. tied it up.
The game became predictably rough after Ontario built a big lead, with both teams trading body-contact, boarding and tripping penalties.
"I think [chippiness] is always expected whenever a team falls behind by a lot and isn't expecting to," said Rheaume.
Shelagh Rouse of Waterloo, Lindsay Armstrong of Metcalfe, Kristin Johnston of Ajax, Carling Munro of Holland Landing and Natasha Cote of Ottawa added singles for Ontario, which takes on Nova Scotia on Sunday before a showdown with Quebec on Monday that will likely decide first place in Pool B.
Danielle Krusel of Langley and Amanda Pukalo of Richmond countered for B.C. (0-1), which faces P.E.I. on Sunday morning and tangles with Quebec in the afternoon.
Some skating events postponed due to cold
Murphy's Law was on the curriculum at F.H. Collins High School, site of the long-track speed skating competition.
First, cold weather forced the cancellation of the women's 1,000-metre race scheduled for Saturday morning.
The men's 3,000-metre race, set for the afternoon, was also postponed. Make-up dates and times have not been set.
Temperatures hovering around –32 C for most of the day had organizers scrambling to adjust Saturday's schedule at the outdoor track. Despite the deep freeze, the men's and women's 500-metre medal events went ahead as planned.
That wasn't the end of the bad news.
A blown breaker inside the school shut down computers in the media room, while out on the track, a timing glitch delayed the results of the men's 500-metre competition for several hours.
The National Weather Centre is calling for temperatures in Whitehorse to remain near –30 for the next four days, possibly putting other outdoor events in jeopardy.
Nunavut's Putulik blames nerves
At least one Nunavut athlete attributed a shaky performance to nerves, in the men's single badminton match.
Micheal Putulik of Repulse Bay struggled in Saturday's 21-8, 21-4 defeat to David Harrison of Manitoba. Putulik, who competed at the 2003 Canada Games in Bathurst and Campbellton, N.B., had a simple explanation for his one-sided loss.
"I was nervous, because it was my first game," said Putulik. "Usually I don't get nervous, because I know everyone and I know who I'm playing against. This was different."
Putulik, who also helps to coach some of Nunavut's younger players, hopes they'll overcome their own nerves and remain in good form for their first taste of cross-country competition.
"I'm going to watch the players, see their technique and see how they move," said Putulik. "Slowly I can teach them how to play better."
The normally-cool Putulik wasn't looking forward to his teammates discovering how jittery he felt Saturday.
"They're gonna laugh," said Putulik. "They'll ask me why I tell them not to be nervous and then get nervous myself.
