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Canadian women deserve praise for gold

March 4, 2010 02:29 PM | Posted by   Cassie Campbell  

Be proud of Canada’s women’s hockey team – and their Olympic gold medal in Vancouver.

The work and dedication that went behind the scenes by each of these athletes to put together the best Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team - as far as pure talent, heart and dedication – and there is no way any smart human being would put an asterisk beside the gold medal that our women’s team won at the Games – as some media reports have indicated.

The personal sacrifice that Canada’s women’s players make year after year is remarkable and the preparation that they have to keep taking their games to the next level is unmatched by any other country.

The third consecutive Olympic gold medal for our women’s hockey team and the fact that Canada – men and women’s hockey - has won five of the last six Olympic gold medals in hockey shows that we are a hockey nation on both the men’s and women’s side…period.

Women’s hockey is a very young sport, in fact only four-(Olympic)-years-old! The criticism women’s hockey faced was based on some ignorance rather than fact. I will admit that I did believe prior to these Olympic Games that this would be the most parity we would have seen in women’s hockey, which unfortunately was not the case.

The game of women’s hockey is in much better shape and the hockey is better when you compare the first Olympics in 1998 to the one we just saw in 2010, but as far as parity, improvements will be happening sooner rather than later.

‘Fixing the problem’

I am a big believer that we all “should spend less time finding the blame and more time fixing the problem.” And this is why I was disappointed with IOC president Jacques Rogge’s comments about our sport in recent days.

What does he plan on doing about it? The IOC’s job is to help promote sport for all people and to provide avenues to help bring all sport to the Olympic stage. All these comments despite women’s hockey having one of the highest TV ratings at the Olympics and being one of the hottest tickets at the Games. Thanks to former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as she voiced her support with a letter to the IOC president this week.

Top moments
Despite all this hoopla and insanity surrounding women’s ice hockey, here are my top moments at the Olympic Games.

1. Finland winning bronze: They deserved it a lot more than Sweden who had one of its worst performances ever. Finland’s program gained support from its country’s President Tarja Halonen, and GM Arto Sieppi, who traveled miles and miles in the last four years promoting women’s hockey in Finland. They are also coming out with a plan in April that will help them prepare to win gold in 2014.

2. Team China: After playing a 21-game series in Canada over this past season there is no question that despite finishing seventh, they are better hockey players. With just 179 female players in such a large country it is amazing to me that they even have a team. With over 400,000 Chinese Canadians in Vancouver cheering on their favorite women’s team and watching captain Wang Linuo score two goals in that decisive game over Slovakia, this is a nation to watch as it continues to improve funding to so many female sports.

3. Team Slovakia: OK, I am not supposed to admit this, but I was kind of rooting for this team throughout the Olympics. After being blown away by the Canadians in their first Olympic game, 18-0, in front of a sold out crowd on the biggest sporting stage in the world, they simply got better as the tournament went along. Their comments after the blow out game were even better as player Petra Pravlikova said it best: “Canada was amazing…these kinds of games we have to play to improve.” Plus the five-minute standing ovation at the end of the game by the Canadian crowd reminded us all of what the Olympics can be about.

4. Russia: I was excited to see that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called out members of his sporting federations after a tough performance by the Russian team, which finished 6th in the medal count. A disappointing performance considering they are hosting the Games in 2014. I hope he looks at those running the women’s hockey program. How can a hockey nation only support its women’s team just two months prior to the Olympics and expect them to do well? No country can call itself a “Hockey Nation” anymore without having a good men’s team and a good women’s team!

5. Changing of the Guard: Team Canada’s gold-medal performance now gives Canadian hockey fans five out of the last possible six gold’s in hockey at the Olympics. Add the sledge hockey gold in Turin, Italy and there is a potential of becoming repeat champions and our nation could have seven out of eight gold’s from the last three Olympic Games.

On the women’s side though, there is no question that there was a changing of the guard. The veterans were great, don’t get me wrong, but performances by 18-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin with two goals in the gold-medal game and a shutout by rookie goalie Shannon Szabados in the final prove that the Canadian women’s team will once again have a bright future!

6. Team Switzerland forward Stephanie Marty did not get much attention, but she should have. She tied Meghan Agosta of Team Canada who was named tournament MVP with nine goals. She also surpassed the Olympic record that was previously held by Danielle Goyette with eight goals in one tournament.

Last but not least, a shout out to Hockey Canada’s president Bob Nicholson. His support of the women’s game in our country is why so many girls have the option to play the greatest game on earth now. He treats the women’s game with respect and deserves a lot of credit for the double gold in Vancouver.

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