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Expedition team recovers sunken truck from remote Arctic waters

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GJOA HAVEN, Nunavut — An international team has recovered a submerged truck from remote Arctic waters using divers, airbags and a helicopter.

The long-planned recovery mission of the Ford-150, which fell through the ice near the Tasmania Islands in Nunavut five months ago, took place over three days. Specialized divers from Iceland attached airbags to the truck and towed it to shore, where it was airlifted by helicopter to Gjoa Haven, Nvt., about 300 kilometres away, on Sunday.

Team member Andrew Comie-Picard — a professional driver, X Games medallist, stuntman and TV host and producer who grew up in Edmonton — called the recovery a “tremendous success.”

“Once the helicopter went over the horizon and took the truck and we could once again hear that dripping of the water off the ice floes going by and the birds and then otherwise the silence, it made me kind of emotional that we were at least able to clean the land and leave it the way that we found it,” he said in an interview from Gjoa Haven on Monday night.

Comie-Picard said the strong current and the depth to which the truck sunk made the mission especially challenging. He said that at one point, the diver had to swim about seven metres against a current that was about six to eight km/h.

“We could hear him on the radio breathing, working so hard,” Comie-Picard said. “That poor guy is shattered now, just exhausted.”

After the truck was airlifted, Comie-Picard said he spent another night on the island to make sure the area was cleaned. Local hunters who helped with the effort showed him where historical Inuit camps, meat stores and fish lines were located.

“It was actually kind of powerful to be on the land as people had previously been on the land,” he said.

He added that it was a “great privilege” to develop connections with Inuit and gain a better cultural understanding of the area.

The sunken truck was part of the TransGlobal Car Expedition, where a team of 16 people from Canada, Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Iceland completed a 2,200-kilometre journey from Yellowknife to Resolute, Nvt., in March.

The expedition team said it was the world’s first overland wheeled crossing from the continental shelf of Canada to the High Arctic. It was also a pre-run of a section of a longer overland journey to circumnavigate the planet planned to take place in 2023-2024.

The expedition made international headlines when a plane with two Russian team members was grounded in Yellowknife. Canada had closed its airspace to Russian-owned or operated aircraft in February due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Two pilots and the Russian who chartered the plane were each fined $3,000, while the Geneva-based aircraft operator was fined $15,000 for violating Canadian aviation regulations.

The truck fell through the ice during a return trip to Cambridge Bay, Nvt., on March 23. Comie-Picard, who was in Resolute at the time, said the two people inside were able to escape through the passenger-side door.

They were unharmed, but left in their stocking feet in the frigid cold. He said it was a “traumatic and challenging night” as team members waited until daylight in another truck.

Comie-Picard said because of the current, the ice where the truck broke through had thinned to 15 centimetres thick from 60 centimetres five days earlier when the team initially travelled over the area.

The truck, which Comie-Picard said is now “just scrap metal,” will head to Montreal on the next available sealift.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2022.

— By Emily Blake in Yellowknife

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

 

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Sixth-ranked Canadian women to face World Cup champion Spain in October friendly

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The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.

Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.

The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.

In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.

Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.

Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.

The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.

Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.

It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.

Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.

FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.

And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.

“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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Former Oilers assistant GM Brad Holland follows his father out the door in Edmonton

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EDMONTON – The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that assistant general manager Brad Holland is leaving the club.

The move comes almost three months after the departure of former Oilers general manager Ken Holland, Brad’s father.

Oilers chief executive officer and president of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said in a statement that Brad Holland and the team parted ways so Holland could “explore other opportunities.”

Holland, 43, joined the Oilers as a scout in 2019. He was promoted to assistant GM in July 2022.

He had a hand in building the team that advanced to Game 7 of the 2023-24 Stanley Cup final before losing to the Florida Panthers.

The Oilers hired former Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to replace Ken Holland on July 1.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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Dolphins place Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after latest concussion, AP source says

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins are placing Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after the quarterback was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the move. Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games with the designation.

He was hurt in the third quarter of a Thursday night game against the Buffalo Bills on a play where he collided with Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and then initiated the contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.

Players from both teams immediately motioned that Tagovailoa was hurt, and as he lay on the turf the quarterback exhibited some signs typically associated with a traumatic brain injury. He remained down on the field for a couple of minutes, got to his feet and walked to the sideline.

Tagovailoa this week began the process of consulting neurologists about his health. He was diagnosed with two concussions in 2022 and one while in college at Alabama.

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