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Canada wins silver in snowboard cross; bronze in alpine combined and mixed aerials – Yahoo Canada Sports

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BEIJING — Team Canada enjoyed its most successful day so far at the Beijing Winter Olympics with a four-medal haul on Thursday.

Snowboarder Eliot Grondin and speedskater Isabelle Weidemann each collected silver medals, while alpine skier Jack Crawford and Canada’s mixed aerials team each nabbed bronze.

Canada, with 12 total medals, now sits tied with Norway for second on the Olympic medal table. Austria leads with 13.

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Grondin had not been challenged all day.

The Canadian cruised through every race on his way to the men’s snowboard cross final in Zhangjiakou at the Beijing Olympics, where he fought hard for a silver medal that was a photo finish away from being gold.

Grondin of Ste-Marie, Que., crossed the finish line 0.02 seconds behind Austria’s Alessandro Hämmerle for Canada’s second medal Thursday.

Just a few minutes earlier – and a few hundred kilometres away in the Yanqing zone – Jack Crawford held on tight for third place in the alpine combined.

The 20-year-old Grondin led every race heading into the big final. Then it was his turn to play catch-up. He stuck close to Hämmerle from start to finish, never letting the Austrian break away.

It stayed that way until Grondin plunged to the finish line for the nail-biting finish. After a few tense moments, the Canadian’s silver medal was confirmed.

“I kind of knew I was going to be silver, but I tried everything I had,” he said.

“Just to share the podium with Alessandro is amazing.”

It was Canada’s fourth medal in snowboarding at Beijing and second in as many days after Meryeta O’Dine captured bronze in the women’s snowboard cross on Wednesday.

Crawford finished third with a total time of two minutes 32.11 seconds for Canada’s first-ever medal in alpine combined.

The Toronto native entered the slalom portion of the event in second place after going 1:43.14 in the downhill. He then did a 48.97 in the slalom.

Crawford dropped to third after four skiers, with another 20 to go. But nobody else could match his time.

Johannes Strolz of Austria won gold (2:31.43) while Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway took home the silver (2:32.02).

Two other Canadians cracked the top 10. Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was eighth while Brodie Seger of North Vancouver, B.C., came in ninth.

The 24-year-old Crawford came close to a medal on two previous occasions in Beijing. He was sixth in the men’s super-G on Tuesday and fourth in the men’s downhill event on Monday, finishing seven-hundredths of a second behind the bronze medallist.

Crawford says recent changes to his skiing style and overall approach have given him more of a winner’s mindset.

“I’ve taken on this new mentality of ‘how do I put myself in a position to win every single race,'” he said. “And even if you’re not winning, even if you’re not coming in the top 10, if you have that mentality and you have that ability to push and put yourself in the position where you could win, it’s probably going to be a good day regardless of where you end up.

“For me, that has really helped allow me to push and be in a place where anything can happen on any given day.”

Canada’s mixed aerials team picked up Canada’s third medal of the day — and second bronze — at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park.

The United States claimed gold with 338.34 points while China settled for silver with 324.22.

The Canadian trio of Marion Thenault of Sherbrooke, Que.; Miha Fontaine of Lac-Beauport, Que.; and Quebec City’s Lewis Irving finished the final with a total of 290.98 points to edge out fourth-place Switzerland, which totalled 276.01 points.

Flavie Aumond, also from Lac-Beauport, and Émile Nadeau of Prévost, Que., also competed for Canada in the freestyle skiing event.

It is Canada’s first aerials medal since the 2002 Salt Lake Games, when Veronica Brenner won silver and Deidra Dionne claimed bronze in the women’s event.

Meanwhile, Weidemann won an Olympic silver medal in the women’s 5,000 metres.

The 26-year-old from Ottawa collected her second medal in Beijing after a bronze in the 3,000 metres.

The Canadian posted a time of six minutes 48.18 seconds skating in the penultimate pairing.

Dutchwoman Irene Schouten then beat Weidemann’s time for gold in an Olympic-record 6:43.51.

“I really emptied the tank today. I gave all my energy. So I looked up (but) I couldn’t really see the time. I haven’t skated that deep into the hole in a while. And I was just trying to stay on my feet,” Weidemann said of her effort.

In curling, Canada’s Brad Gushue defeated Norway’s Steffen Walstad 6-5 in men’s round-robin play.

Gushue (2-0) made an open draw for a single in the 10th end for the victory.

Skip Jennifer Jones will lead the Canadian women’s team into its round-robin opener in the evening against South Korea’s EunJung Kim.

At the Capital Indoor Stadium, Canada’s Keegan Messing, who arrived a week late to the Games after a positive COVID-19 test, finished 11th in men’s singles figure skating amid perhaps the finest Olympic field ever assembled.

Messing’s Olympic story wasn’t what he’d hoped to write. He missed the team event entirely. And in his free program, he downgraded one of his two quadruple jumps to a triple, a costly mistake in a field full of big jumpers that he wishes he could have back.

Still, competing in Beijing at all felt like a victory.

“I’m just happy to be here. I’ve got the biggest smile on my face,” Messing said through his face mask. “And I feel full. It’s everything. This is the Olympic dream, I never thought I was going to come twice. And here I am.”

Meanwhile, the drama continued off the ice in figure skating.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva practised as usual Thursday morning despite reports the 15-year-old had tested positive for a banned heart medication.

If that leads to a disqualification for the gold medal-winning Russians in the team event, fourth-place Canada could be in line to win bronze.

Earlier, Elizabeth Hosking from Longueuil, Que., placed sixth in women’s snowboard halfpipe, improving 13 spots from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. She said getting significantly closer to the podium has just added fuel to her fire.

“It’s a big achievement going to the Olympics, but I guess I’m just a person that is never settled,” said Hosking.

“You know, that’s what fires me. I just want better for myself and better for my competitive career.”

American Chloe Kim successfully defended her Olympic title, throwing down a 94.00 in her first run to win gold. Spain’s Queralt Castellet (90.25) took home the silver and Japan’s Tomita Sena (88.25) finished with bronze.

Calgary’s Brooke D’Hondt, making her Olympic debut, finished 10th with a score of 66.75. The 16-year-old D’Hondt is the youngest member of Canada’s Olympic delegation at the Beijing Games.

“I was super excited to just be here,” she said. “It’s been a goal of mine for a while, so I’m so honoured to be here representing Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.” 

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

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That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout. 

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. 

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. 

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. 

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford. 

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said. 

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday. 

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13. 

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com

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“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

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JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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