Sports
Jennifer Jones and Canada's Olympic curlers choose their words carefully ahead of Beijing winter Games – The Globe and Mail
The road to any Olympics is complicated by logistical problems, but Beijing is turning into the most rutted in recent memory.
Last week: Should we all be going to a party hosted by a country that has maybe disappeared one of its own athletes?
This week: Should we going to a party if someone could arrive at it with a mutated virus in tow?
The people forced to answer most of these questions will be people least in control of the outcomes – the athletes. They don’t make the rules. They don’t call the shots. But they are the ones who act as town crier for the people who do.
On Monday, it was curling’s turn to duck and weave through the PR thicket.
Brad Gushue wins men’s final at Canada’s Olympic curling trials, Jennifer Jones takes women’s berth
Canada’s next men’s and women’s Olympic teams were determined over the weekend. Jennifer Jones (gold medalist at Sochi 2014) leads the women’s side; Brad Gushue (gold medalist at Turin 2006) leads the men.
You don’t need me to tell you how they feel about this opportunity. This is their Woodstock, and both have the rare opportunity to headline it a second time. They were both over the moon.
Though no one’s going to say it out loud, this is a more tempting opportunity because of recent history.
Canada’s curlers imploded at the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Neither the women’s nor men’s team won a medal.
It wasn’t just the results that disappointed. Canadian curling was tight as a drum in Korea.
Every other national team on either side of the gender divide came off as light and fun – which is the essence of curling, even at the most elite level. Whenever you saw Canada in action, either on the sheet or in the scrums afterward, the word that leapt to mind was “robotic.”
You could feel the national hammerlock on this sport – competitively and spiritually – being loosened in real time.
Since then, things haven’t bounced back to normal. Canada no longer wins at the world championships as a matter of course. It is just in the mix.
Beijing represents a pristine opportunity to replant our flag on the biggest stage. Gushue and Jones would seem to be two optimal candidates to do the job.
Neither of them are going to start banging their chests about the quality of Canadian curling – why provide opponents with bulletin-board material? But it doesn’t take much forensic reading to spot the inherent sense of superiority.
“We want to stay at the forefront of being a curling powerhouse,” Gushue said. “If we’re not careful, that could be taken from us in the next 10 or 15 years.”
That long, eh?
As you’d imagine, Monday’s back-to-back quickie pressers featured nothing but good vibes. Gushue felt relaxed enough to mention he felt “a little bit hung over.” Jones was aglow as she talked about how wonderful it is to represent a country as great as Canada.
The only wrinkle came when both were (separately) asked about the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Both gave the same answer, using the same inflections.
Gushue: “I’m sure the [Canadian Olympic Committee] is going to make sure we as athletes are safe. I have full trust in them.”
Jones: “The COC’s doing a phenomenal job ensuring that our health and safety is top of their minds. We have a lot of confidence in the COC and the medical staff.”
You can’t blame either of them for coming well prepped for a question they knew was coming. Expect a lot more of this going forward.
Every Olympics has its themes. Beijing 2022 will be the Scripted Olympics. No one from any country is going to show up there without their talking points well in order.
As more teams are set in the coming months, these introductory exercises will become more fraught.
You’ll have lugers talking about infection risks at a time when infection may be spiralling and figure skaters getting philosophical about freedom of speech. I’d offer rent money to hear from the NHLer who is willing to wade into the Uyghur question, because that’s money I fear no risk of losing.
Mostly this will be an effort at avoidance. You can’t blame the athletes for that – if they have degrees, they tend to be more by way of kinesiology than international relations. They aren’t equipped to have a public argument about what going to China means. They only know that in order to do their jobs, that’s where they’ve been told to go.
We’ve seen versions of this before. People shouted about terrorism at London 2012; politics and terrorism at Sochi; and politics (different sorts) at Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang. But in all those instances, you could turn aside most questions with a “I don’t know a whole lot about that.”
In 2021, that answer no longer flies. If you don’t know a whole lot about that (whatever “that” is), then you are presumed to be part of the problem.
Also, there’s the issue of timing. Usually, these difficult questions don’t pop up until a few days before the start of the Games, because that’s when the general public’s attention becomes focused.
This time it’s already focused. That leaves a lot of column inches to fill between now and February 4.
Avoiding saying the wrong thing will be the competition Beijing’s athletes engage in long before the sort they’re used to begins. And like the real thing, someone has to lose that competition, too.
Sports
Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca
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.
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
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.”
Sports
Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com
“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.”
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.”
Sports
Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca
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