Team Canada

Living in the great frozen north of Canada, makes it difficult not to be a fan of the good old hockey game. I would imagine hockey plays the same role for people living in another sub zero country called Russia.

Last night’s Canada-Russia semi-final game didn’t disappoint any hockey fans around the world.

The photo above demonstrates how Russian goaltender Vadim Zhelobnyuk and the whole Russian sqaud felt with 5.4 seconds left in the 2009 IIHF World Juniors Championship Canada-Russia semi-final.

Canada and Russia have always shared a very strong rivalry on the international hockey scene even when Russia was still part of the Soviet Union.

One just has to look back at the 1972 Canada-Soviet hockey series and how bitter the rivalry was in that series, a movie based on that series was made in 2006 for CBC.

Russia leads the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship since its inception in 1977 with 26 medals and Canada is a close second with 24 medals. Canada and Russia are the top countries in world junior hockey the next team behind these two teams is Finland with 12 medals.

With the rivalry and storied history between the Canadian and Russian junior teams, clearly Saturday Night’s semi-final game was the hot ticket. Especially considering Canada knocked Russia out of the finals in 2008 and beat them in the finals from 2005-2007.

The scoring started early two minutes into the first, as Brett Sonne put in his first of the tournament. However, in what ended up characterizing the game for the rest of the night, Maxim Goncharov of Russia scored three minutes after Sonne to tie the game 1-1.

Patrice Cormier put Canada back on top seven minutes in to the first period 2-1 only to have Dmitry Klopov score 16 seconds later. The first period finished 2-2.

The first period was high paced and finished pretty even with Canada having 11 shots on goal to Russia’s 12. Canada was more disciplined in the first period with two penalty minutes to six minutes for Russia.

The second period was rather one sided with Canada out shooting Russia 13-3 and Russia spending close to half the period on the penalty kill.

Despite Canada’s excellent power play through out the 2009 campaign, Russia managed to hold Canada to one goal in the second period due to great play in nets by Russia’s Vadim Zhelobnyuk and good defense.

The score at the end of the second period, 3-2 for Canada, which brings us to the action packed third period.

The third period started with a bang after Evgeny Grachev scored a minute into the period tieing the game once again at 3-3.

Shorthanded five minutes in, the ever so skilled forward Angelo Esposito showed why he was not a player to be passed on for team Canada. Canada gained the lead once again making it 4-3.

Not to be outdone, with the two man advantage, the persistent Ruskies came back less than a minute later on a Sergei Andronov powerplay goal, 4-4.

Now the story of the game took a turn, with two minutes and 20 seconds left Russia gained the lead for the first time in the game off of Klopov’s second, making the score 5-4.

Canada did not look as sharp as Russia in the third period and being down 5-4 with just over two minutes left, fans of Canada’s team were abandoning hope for a fifth straight gold medal.

Now Canada pulled the goalie with just over a minute left and they were making plays and peppering the Russian net. Russia had a chance in the last minute to put the game a way when a shot from Russia’s end went wide and missed the net leading to a face-off in the Russian end.

Now with desperation setting in and Canada doing anything possible to keep the puck in the Russian end, Jonathan Tavares blindly shot one at the net which was blocked by a Russian defender.

The Russian defender failed to control the puck after blocking it and Eberle snatched the puck up. With the puck on his stick, Eberle made a move and put the puck high and in to the Russian net for his second of the night and more importantly tieing the game 5-5 with just 5.4 seconds left.

The third period ended even 5-5, with the shots 13-10 in favor of Canada. Canada played a little less disciplined in the third spending six minutes in the box to Russia’s two.

In overtime the tempo was high and both teams had their chances although Canada seemed fired up and Russia seemed content in trying to wait it out until the shootout.

However, both goaltenders maintained their composure and the sudden death overtime finished with no winner. Off to the over time shootout, a fitting end to a game between a rivalry of such great proportions.

Although the Russian goaltender stopped 35 of 41 shots and Tokarski 23 of 28 shots, it was Tokarski who would steal the show.

Tokarski did not allow one Russian shooter to score in the shootout. Meanwhile Canadian shooters Eberle and Tavares both scored high on the Russian net minder Zhelobnyuk to secure a 6-5 overtime victory.

Another chapter to the epic Canada-Russia rivalry has been written. With Canada moving on to the gold medal match against Sweden and Russia moving onto play Slovakia for the bronze medal.

Sweden has not lost yet in this tournament and they have outscored their opponents 26 to 6 and interestingly beat Canada’s last opponent Russia 5-0 in the round robin. It will be interesting to see how Team Canada matches up with the Swedes and whether it will be as close as Russia-Canada was this coming Monday. Go Canada!

How to describe Team Canada's pulse-pounding 6-5 shootout win over Russia in Saturday's semifinal at the World Junior Championship?

I don't know, but I have never been more proud to be Canadian.

If we have learned one thing about Team Canada during its run of four straight WJC championships, it is this: No matter how hopeless the situation seems, no matter how down-and-out this bunch gets, the players who don the red, black, and white always find a way to get it done.

I must admit that when Dmitry Klopov flicked the puck over Dustin Tokarski's right skate with two minutes and change left in the third, I wasn't too worried. This is Team Canada. They'll pull through. Right?

Well, by the time the clock ticked down to 20 seconds left, that hope had packed its bags and headed south. I was sure the drive for five was over. 

And then, with under 10 seconds to go, John Tavares threw the puck on net in one last valiant attempt to force overtime. Jordan Eberle, who had been the best Canadian on the ice through 59 minutes of play, drove the net, stole the puck from the knees of a Russian blueliner who had blocked the shot, and slipped in a backhander with just 5.4 seconds remaining, sending the entire country into euphoria.

I just shook my head and smiled, full of pride. Somehow, against the longest of odds, this crew had once again shown why Canada is the capital of heart-and-soul hockey.

With neither team being able to break the deadlock after 10 minutes of overtime, I breathed a little easier. I knew Dustin Tokarski was a better goaltender than Vadim Zhelobnyuk, and while the Russians certainly had a skilled collection of forwards, the Canadians were no slouches either with scorers like Tavares, Eberle and Cody Hodgson.

Thomas Hickey won the coin toss for Canada and chose to shoot first. Eberle stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park (sorry, wrong sport?) with a high backhander. Capitals draft pick Dmitri Kugryshev followed that up by ringing one off the post.

Tavares went second for the Canadians and beat Zhelobnyuk with a forehand wrister to put some serious pressure on the Russians. Inexplicably, Russian head coach Sergei Nemchinov elected to shoot Pavel Chernov next, and Tokarski stopped his five-hole attempt to wrap up the win for Canada.

No Nikita Filatov? No Evgeny Grachev? After keeping his best players on the ice late in the quarter-final rout over the Czechs and horribly mismanaging the Super Series against Canada in 2007, I am starting to seriously question Nemchinov's tactical ability as a coach.

Regardless, the Canadians move on to face Sweden in Monday's gold medal game, just as most pundits predicted before the tournament.

But with Team Canada narrowly getting past the Americans and Russians, and with Sweden nearly falling to the upstart Slovakians, it certainly has not unfolded the way most observers expected.

It's Canada versus Sweden for the second year in a row. May the best team win, and whatever happens, may we always be proud of these Canadians for gritting their teeth and getting it done when the going got tough.

Every now and then in the sports writing business, something happens that is so unbelievable, so compelling, that a writer simply cannot do it justice. 

The New Year's Eve battle between Canada and the U.S. at the World Junior Championship is one of those things.

You want goals? You got 'em. Big saves? Check. Bad blood? Yup. A thrilling comeback? It's there.

TSN's Gord Miller said it best, after Dustin Tokarski's stone-cold stick-up on Colin Wilson: "It's official. This game has now had everything."

I have watched hockey for a long time. I have had more than my fill of exciting World Junior action. And I can say without reservation that Tokarski's flash of leather is the most impressive stop I have seen at this tournament.

One thing is clear. If you missed this game because of a New Year's Eve party, you are feeling like a pretty big idiot right now.

At this point, I feel I should probably tell you the score of the game. It got lost in all the other thrilling storylines. Canada won the game 7-4, with two empty-netters masking the fact that this baby was in doubt right up to the final minute.

Things didn't look good for the Canadians early on in the battle for first place in Group A and a bye to the semi-final.

The Canucks got into penalty trouble early on and grew increasingly frustrated, with some players losing control of themselves. Tyler Myers and Zach Boychuk, in particular, looked pretty stupid in decking American players after the whistle. Boychuk was lucky to escape unpenalized.

The upshot of all this is that the Americans cruised to an early 3-0 lead. Colorado Avalanche first-rounder Kevin Shattenkirk had the first goal on a low shot Tokarski should have had.

It was a shaky start for the netminder as well as his teammates. Jimmy Hayes, a second round pick of the Maple Leafs, scored the second goal on a five-on-three, one-timing a centering pass that Tokarski clearly was not ready for.

The third goal, scored by Senators first-rounder Jim O'Brien, was a top-shelf torpedo that Martin Brodeur wouldn't have stopped.

So things are going down the tubes pretty quickly for our red-and-white heroes, right? Fear not in the great white north. Your faith in Team Canada is about to be restored.

And who better to do it than the patriarch of puck, John Tavares? 

When the Canadians finally got a power play of their own, Tavares camped out in his office next to the right post and banged in a cross-crease feed from Cody Hodgson of the Vancouver Canucks to calm down his teammates.

Less than a minute later, Tavares struck again with an impressive individual effort, snaring a wayward pass in the neutral zone, breaking down the right side, sidestepping a diving defender and roofing the puck over Thomas McCollum from close range.

This is where the bad blood comes in. On their way to the bench, the celebrating Canadians had to pass by the Americans. U.S. forward Eric Tangradi stuck out his stick and jabbed Chris DiDomenico in the face as he passed. 

Stefan Della Rovere, behind DiDomenico, thought van Riemsdyk had hit his teammate and rammed him into the boards from behind, sending his face straight into a camera.

Neither player was penalized and the intensity level ratcheted up about a thousand degrees. Both teams toed a tightrope of emotions, just a hair away from going over the edge.

"After that first period, we were jumping up and down in the dressing room and going nuts," Ryan Ellis told TSN. "We had to settle down."

Then, with under two minutes to go in the period, Jordan Eberle pulled off a fine bit of stick-handling in tight and sent it over McCollum to tie the game.

Della Rovere lost his balance on that tightrope of emotions early in the second period, hammering Shattenkirk into the corner boards from behind. He managed to avoid a game misconduct, but was handed a two-and-10 and never saw the ice again. Pat Quinn wasn't going to take any chances in a game with so much on the line.

Boychuk gave the Canadians their first lead 37 seconds into the middle frame on a quirky rebound, but Jonathan Blum knotted the score again not long after on an American man advantage.

Almost seven minutes in, Hodgson gave Team Canada the lead for good with a bad-angle shot that appeared to go in off a U.S. defender.

Later in the second period, Wilson took a centering pass all alone in front of Tokarski. There was no one near him. He had all day. He was going to tie the game, simple as that. Wilson dekes right, slips it under the glove, it's going in the net...

"Oh no you DON'T!" as Pierre McGuire put it.

Tokarski simply took it away. He made a save that will go down as one of the greatest in WJC history. It will not soon be forgotten by anyone watching in this country.

After the game opened with seven goals scored on the first 18 shots, it suddenly became a tight-checking goaltending duel in the third period. There was no scoring until the final minute when McCollum was yanked from the net.

Enter Tavares again. This guy is so slick, he even makes empty-netters look pretty.

Grabbing the puck at centre ice, Tavares held off his man with his left arm and steered the puck with his right, protecting the disc until the last second and slipping it into the empty cage with one hand on the stick.

The Americans kept McCollum on the bench and Tyler Ennis added another gimmie to make it 7-4.

Canada got a scare in the second when Boychuk was driven into the end boards by Teddy Ruth, banging his ankle. X-rays came back negative, but it's unknown if he will be ready to go for Saturday's semifinal against Russia.

Canada is a nation known for hockey and is automatically considered the favorite of any international hockey tournament.

The reason why Canada has an unbelievable hockey power over any other country is because Canada could easily field two teams in the same tournament and very conceivably have the Gold and Silver medal winning teams.

As strong as Russia and Sweden are as hockey nations, they cannot compete with the level of depth in skill that Canada possesses.

Let’s try and name Canada’s Team B for the upcoming 2010 Olympics. We’ll assume there are some obvious spots currently held for Team Gold. To name Team Silver we’ll use all the players on the bubble of being named to Canada’s 2010 entry and some players that may only get as far as Stevie Yzerman’s grocery list.

Possible choices in goal for Team Silver due to the unavailability of Brodeur and Luongo would be:

Carey Price, Cam Ward, Marty Turco, J-S Giguere, Mike Smith, and M-A Fleury

No other country would have this type of depth to select yet another three goaltenders from, and you could argue any of these goalies would be almost as good as other country’s N.1 goaltender.

Possible choices for Team Silver’s seven defensemen. Assuming that if both Pronger and Niedermayer are still playing only one will be named to Team Gold. Team Silver will happily take on whichever is left out. So here we go:

(Projected 7 for Team Gold: Dion Phaneuf, Mike Green, Dan Boyle, Shea Weber, Jay Bouwmeester, Brian Campbell, and Niedermayer or Pronger)

Niedermayer or Pronger

Duncan Keith

Dan Girardi

Braydon Coburn

Marc Staal

Drew Doughty

Brent Burns

The forward unit for Team Silver has some unbelievable talent. Hard to imagine this would be a country’s second choice.

Centermen:

Patrick Marleau

Marc Savard

Eric Staal

Jordan Staal

Honorable mention at the center position: Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Patrice Bergeron, Shawn Horcoff, Bryan Little, Derek Roy, and John Madden. Any of these players would fill in nicely if the top four made Team Gold.

 

Wingers:

Patrick Sharp

Nathan Horton

Mike Cammalleri

MilanLucic

Devin Setoguchi

Alex Burrows

Alex Tanguay

Corey Perry

Honorable mention at the wing position: Antoine Vermette, Joffrey Lupul, Kris Versteeg, Brad Boyes, Scott Hartnell, Shane Doan, Michael Ryder, P-M Bouchard…

 

Lastly, every team needs a management team to run the hockey operations.

Coaching staff:

Head coach: Barry Trotz

Assistant coaches: Andy Murray and Todd McLellan

General Manager: Nelson Santos

Assistant GM: Darcy Regier

Well, the Canadian world junior team has been announced and there are a few surprises on the roster.

Four of the top five forwards eligible for the 2009 entry draft were cut: Matt Duchene, Brayden Schenn, Nazem Kadri and Evander Kane.

As it is every year, there are always some tough decisions and surprises when it comes to naming the final roster for Team Canada's World Junior squad.

This morning was no different.

John Tavares highlights the list of forwards who will don the Red and White for Canada at the tournament to be held this Christmas in Ottawa. Also making the team at forward are Jamie Benn, Zach Boychuk, Patrice Cormier, Stefan Della Rovere, Chris DiDomenico, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Ennis, Angelo Esposito, Cody Hodgson, Brett Sonne, John Tavares, and Dana Tyrell.

Going against tradition, head coach Pat Quinn named eight defensemen to the team this year, instead of the usual seven.

While the defense is expected to struggle in the absence of Luke Schenn and Drew Doughty, it is still shaping up to be a strong, talented squad with great two-way abilities.

Starring on the blue line for Team Canada will be Colten Teubert, P.K. Subban, Alex Pietrangelo, Tyler Myers, and Thomas Hickey. While that figures to be a strong starting five, Ryan Ellis, Cody Goloubef and Keith Aulie will be battle for the final spot throughout the tournament.

Chet Pickard, a Nashville first rounder, and Spokane Cheifs' Dustin Tokarski will battle in pre-tournament action to determine who will be the starting goalie for Canada.

While Pickard is having a solid year since being drafted by the Predators, the brass of the team like how Tokarski, a Memorial Cup winner last spring, was able to handle a short, intense tournament.

Defenseman and L.A. Kings draft pick Thomas Hickey has been chosen to captain the team, while John Tavares, P.K. Subban, Zach Boychuk, and Cody Hodgson will server as alternates.

Some of the cuts were also shocking today, as some of the top rated prospects were sent home.

Among them were goaltenders Tyson Sexsmith, a former Memorial Cup winner.  Jake Allen was also the other goaltender cut from camp.

More surprising were the cuts to Braydon Schenn, Nazem Kadri, Taylor Hall, and Matt Duchene. Defenseman Brenden Smith, a Detroit Red Wings draft choice, and Tyler Cuma were also cut.

Kadri was battling a broken jaw going into the camp, while Cuma suffered a knee injury in the intrasquad games. It is believed, had he stayed healthy, Cuma would have made the team.

The World Junior Hockey Championship kicks off Boxing Day with Canada battling Czech Republic.

Note

Let's also all send out our thoughts and prayers to Don Sanderson and his family. Sanderson is a defenseman with the Whitby Dunlops of a Canadian junior league, and he is in a coma fighting for his life this afternoon after his head struck the ice during a fight in a game on Friday.

The team updated its website this morning saying there was some optimism, as there was detection of movement in one of Sanderson's arms.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Don and his family during this time.

Super Bowl XLIII won’t be the only major sporting event taking place on the weekend of January 31st 2009. UFC 94 is scheduled to hold another one of those increasingly popular “Super Fights” between George St. Pierre and B.J. Penn.

Many people probably look at my title and scoff at it. That being said, there are a lot of facts to support the view that St. Pierre is the favorite and Penn’s best chance maybe a puncher’s chance.

Obviously George St. Pierre doesn’t have many cracks in his game that can be exploited. St. Pierre is 18-2 in MMA with a loss via submission at UFC 50 to Matt Hughes and a TKO due to strikes at the hands of Matt Serra in UFC 69. In both cases St. Pierre won the rematches in rather dominating fashion.

St. Pierre beat B.J. Penn in a close decision at UFC 58 and many people feel the fight could have gone Penn’s way as well. Since then, aside from the Serra loss, St. Pierre is riding the peak of his career and seems to be at his absolute best. His last fight against Jon Fitch, the top Welterweight contender showed that he is in a class of his own.

Even though Fitch hung in for the whole five rounds, he was outclassed and basically proved to the world that he has an iron chin and not much more.

B.J. Penn on the other hand sits atop the Lightweight division with the only real challenger remaining being Kenny Florian who is on a six fight win streak. B.J. Penn is 13-4-1 lifetime in MMA and in his four losses three have gone to a decision.

Penn is one of the top BJJ fighters in the UFC, but he's very balanced, with five knockouts, five submissions and three decision wins on his resume.

Clearly Penn is a natural lightweight which can be seen simply by looking at his MMA record where that three of his four losses in MMA were against fighters in heavier weight classes. This is not to say B.J. can’t fight in a heavier weight class, he did hold the Welterweight belt at one time. However, Penn is not in his comfort zone when he is fighting in higher weight classes.

The last Penn - St. Pierre match was at the 170 lbs limit, so it would have been nice to see this match-up fought at the 155 lbs limit. That being said, St. Pierre is not a natural lightweight and his frame would not really let him get down to a legitimate 155 lbs considering he already cuts down 15-20 lbs to fight in the welterweight division.

The main reason Penn has losses at the higher weight classes is because he doesn’t put on weight that gives him a strength advantage in my opinion and it seems to slow him down. In addition, he is only 5’9" and sports a 70” reach at best, to put it in perspective, St. Pierre is 5’10" and has a 76” reach. The gap in reach is the same as the gap between Couture and Lesnar and we saw how that affected the outcome of the fight at UFC 91.

All this being said, my opinion is still that B.J. Penn’s best chance at winning the fight is to “Catch” St.-Pierre with a heavy fist and knock him out.

Although George St. Pierre is arguably one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA, there is a weakness that makes him vulnerable to any fighter with some knockout power, his chin. Unlike his countryman and last opponent, Patrick Côté and Jon Fitch, St. Pierre can get knocked silly pretty easily.

Some people may argue that St. Pierre is 18-2 in MMA and has only been knocked out once. However, I would venture to say that in his loss to Serra the initial shot that sent him reeling wasn’t a shot that would have put some of the fighters with the tougher chins on ice. Yeah, the first shot dealt by Serra didn’t put St. Pierre out, but it clearly threw him way off his game.

In his last fight, St. Pierre clearly dominated the whole fight and Jon Fitch looked more like a walking zombie then an MMA fighter at the final bell. However, there were a few points in the fight where Fitch connected and each and every time he connected it looked as if St. Pierre saw some stars.

Does this make St. Pierre a weak fighter? Of course not, he will be in the UFC hall of fame when all is said and done and will go down as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world along with Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.

I am simply pointing out that if there is a crack in George St. Pierre’s game that can be exploited it is his chin.

In my opinion George St. Pierre’s wrestling will allow him to defend against Penn’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsui on the ground and in the stand up St. Pierre’s height, reach and striking advantage will probably lead to a St. Pierre victory if it goes to a decision. I think Penn’s best shot is to keep the fight standing and be patient in looking for solid head shots that would allow him to move in for the finish.

I won’t deny it, I am a George St. Pierre fan being a Montreal native and the chips are clearly on St. Pierre’s side. But, training a strong chin isn’t really possible thus making him vulnerable to anyone who can throw a punch.

In any case after this fight takes place there aren’t many options as to where these fighters are going next. Kenny Florian has been patiently waiting for his title shot and unless Penn beats St. Pierre and vacates the light weight belt, Florian-Penn is the next logical fight.

As for St.-Pierre, there is no real welter weight contender and St. Pierre will find himself in another super fight against Anderson Silva at a catch weight or 185 lbs.

In any case with a big heavyweight fight between Lesnar and the winner of Mir-Nogueira, 2009 looks to have some exciting match-ups in the UFC.

My Prediction, St. Pierre wins by another decision or knockout.

When Olympic hockey begins in 2010, Canadian fans may notice a significant change to the look of their beloved team. If things remain as they are, Hockey Canada will not be allowed to use their logo in Vancouver. 

The reason is stated within the Olympic Charter: federation logos are NOT permitted on uniforms. 

Hockey Canada President, Bob Nicholson has taken the issue to the International Olympic Committee. However, his determination seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

As unfortunate a circumstance as this is, it also allows for innovation and renovation. A new logo is required, and perhaps it is time for a return to the past. My fashion sense is nowhere near Vesa Toskala quality, but I will provide the Bleacher Creatures with some classic jerseys that DO not feature the Hockey Canada logo as the primary crest.

Let’s hear your opinions on some of the best looking jerseys that Canada has to offer.

1972 Summit Series Jersey

Worn during the most famous series in hockey, this jersey HAS to be on this list. Shades of Esposito, Cournoyer and Mahovlich could inspire Team Canada on their home soil.

Fans compare Ken Dryden and Carey Price all the time, but can you imagine the pandemonium if Price makes the team? Andy Frost will be smiling from his broadcasters’ booth in the sky, and wishing that somebody on the roster was named ‘Henderson’.

How will the Russians respond to the Ghosts of Hockey's past? The media frenzy over that match-up, will be documented for years to come. That ’72 September to remember will come to life once again.

These jerseys uniquely have ‘Canada’ printed on the backs, and not a player name. I guess this means that players WILL be playing for the name on the back, and not just the colours on the front.

This jersey has historic appeal, success and a creative image that can only be described as 70’s Disco Fever, and I speak for everybody when I say: We Want The Funk.

1987 Canada Cup Jersey

On August 7th, 1987, Sidney Crosby was born. A month later, Canada had captured the cup named in its honour. Those who remember the tournament can recall the play of future superstars Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

The jersey may be a fashion throwback, but if you are going to wear something that has HALF a maple leaf on it, you need the skills to back it up. Gretzky even said that his Canada Cup performance was the best hockey of his career.

Now would you not want to wear a jersey that even had “The Great One” playing at the top of his game?

The Canadians took four out of the five classic Canada Cups in this jersey and only lost to the Russians in 1981. Both the red and white jerseys look good on the ice, and they will definitely inspire the young crop of forwards on both the men’s and women’s squads.

2006 Alternate Black Jersey

This particular jersey combines both the past and present with its black colour. The piping and striping are both modern, yet the primary logo is a throwback to the 1960’s amateur teams.

Interestingly enough, it is possible that the Vancouver Olympics may be the last for professional hockey players. The IOC would prefer to return Olympic hockey to its roots, making room for the amateurs.

But as long as the NHL players are still playing, they might as well pay homage to the amateurs before them.

Hockey Canada has also released a ‘red’ version of this alternate black sweater, which could serve as the team’s primary jersey for upcoming international exhibitions. You cannot argue with a big red maple leaf on an even redder jersey, but I the black looks sharper.

The black jersey might not be worthy of primary status, but it should definitely be considered as the best alternate for Team Canada.

1920 Winnipeg Falcons Jersey

The list would never be complete without the jerseys donned by the first Canadian Gold Medal hockey team. This group of amateurs played in the first modern Olympics, and crushed the competition.  

The team was inducted into the Manitoba Hall of Fame, joining such notable names as Terry Sawchuk and Bobby Clarke. However, this article was never about the fame, so let’s talk about the colour scheme.

It is ‘mustard’ yellow, and that is about all you need to know. I am all for ‘throwback’ jerseys, just as long as viewers do not throw ‘up’ in the process. They were brought back during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey against the United States. Canada won that game 2-1, but I am sure style points were not included in the box score.

Who knows though, one last game might be special. Ken Hitchcock could even don a Mustard suit and we could call him the Colonel. I dare any coach to challenge him to a duel.

All kidding aside, this jersey is the ultimate tribute to the 1920’s team. There are rumours that the original Falcons team will be honoured at the 2010 games. The last surviving member passed away in 1991, but they remain an important part of Canada’s hockey heritage.

Well, that’s the list and you can take your pick. I left some jerseys out because they did not stack up to the competition.

There is also a chance that Hockey Canada may come up with a radically new design. I am all for more creativity, as long as the logo remains a Maple Leaf.  

(Image of Colorado Freshman Julie Seabrook)

The CU women’s basketball program has a bright future, thanks in part to their two freshmen who have joined the squad this season in Alyssa Fressle and Julie Seabrook.

“They’re a breath of fresh air, they’ve got good energy, and they got a lot of life to them,” said women’s head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller.

“They’re really positive every day in practice, they’re two of our hardest workers, and they both bring very different things to the table. They’re a very fun freshman class and both are going to contribute tremendously to this program.”

The two freshmen are really good friends, and even when they leave the basketball court, they’re never too far apart, as both Alyssa and Julie are roommates.

“She’s a great roommate, she’s hilarious, we get along really well, I think,” said a laughing Seabrook about Alyssa. “I think it’s cool that she’s from Colorado because she can show me the boundaries of the state and she knows more places than I do.”

Though these two women live together, they couldn’t have come from two different backgrounds as Fressle comes from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, where she led her high school team to three straight Class 5A State Championships, while Seabrook comes from North Vancouver, Canada, where she spent her senior year in Hamilton training at the National Elite Development Academy (NEDA).

NEDA selects 12 girls each year throughout Canada who go to high school in the Hamilton community in the morning but then practice and work on basketball for the rest of the day.

Seabrook said she wished she could have played for her old high school in her senior year but made the journey to eastern Canada to develop more as a player.

“I definitely missed playing with my teammates in high school, it was such a fun time, and I really missed them,” Seabrook said. “I wish I could have played with them my senior year but for me to develop as a player, I think it was a better choice for me to go to NEDA and play with some of the best players in Canada.”

The six-foot-three forward also has some international experience, as she played in Buenos Aires, Argentina last summer at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women.

At the tournament, Seabrook led the Canadian team to a 4-1 record with their only loss coming to the U.S. and helped advance Canada to the World Championships this summer in Thailand.

“It was a good experience,” Seabrook said. “We only lost to the states, which I think is really good and Canada Basketball is pretty happy with our progress.”

Fressle on the other hand, had a dominating high school career not only winning those three state championships, but also nabbing the 2008 Colorado Player of the Year, the 2008 Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year, and was nominated to the McDonald’s All-American team.

Though she grew up just down the road in Highlands Ranch, Fressle said she thought she would go out-of-state for college. That was until she visited CU.

“Growing up I kind of wanted to get out of Colorado,” Fressle said. “I never really realized what Boulder and Colorado had to offer until I took my visit, and I ended up just falling in love with the place, the school, and everything it had to offer.”

Though the five-foot-ten guard has had some great experiences on campus, she said her best so far this semester has been with the basketball team.

“Definitely basketball is the best part of being in college so far,” said Fressle. “Being with your teammates, growing on the basketball floor as well as off the floor, and developing that chemistry has been a good time.”

However, Fressle admits that the hardest part about transitioning from high school to college is all the freedom you get.

“You don’t have someone else telling you necessarily what to do all the time so you have to be the one to be like I need to get sleep or I need to sit down and do this homework, because you’re ultimately responsible for school, basketball, and everything else,” Fressle said.

Outside of basketball, Alyssa likes to have a good time with friends, while Julie enjoys singing and hopes to join a choir when she gets some extra time.

However, both freshmen do agree on one thing, playing the video game Rock Band.

“Oh yeah, we’re awesome,” Fressle said.

Seabrook added that they both excel in different instruments in the game.

“Alyssa plays the drums while I play guitar,” Seabrook said.

Though these two freshmen come from two different backgrounds from two different countries, it seems like the future of CU women’s basketball is in good hands.

Something that McConnell-Miller also agrees with.

“The expectations are great, every time we put them on the floor we know what they can accomplish, and there is a need for both of them in this program right now,” McConnell-Miller said. “Every single game and every night out we’re going to turn to those two for help and be an impact for this team.”