NEWS

(Sep. 14, 2004) - Canada 3  Finland 2 - Shane Doan scored the winner early in the third period, and Martin Brodeur shut down the opposition as Canada won the World Cup.

(Sep. 11, 2004) - Canada 4  Czech Republic 3  F/OT - In arguably the most entertaining (and nail biting) game of the tournament, the Czechs came back to tie the Canadians not once, but twice, eventually forcing overtime.  Vincent Lecavalier scored a goal of Steve Yzerman proportions, getting the winner just 3:45 into the extra frame.  Roberto Luongo filled in nicely for the injured Martin Brodeur, stopping 37 shots from a very determined Czech Republic team.  After a scoreless first period, Canada once again scored first as Eric Brewer tapped in a nice feed from Joe Thornton.  Mario Lemieux and Kris Draper also got goals, but the leads were short lived as Petr Cajanek, Martin Havlat and Patrick Elias countered for the Czechs.  In this tournament, unfortunately there are no points or medals for second or even third best, so like the Americans, the Czech Republic will go home, and Canada will face Finland in what should be a beauty of a final.

(Sep. 10, 2004) - Martin Brodeur had an MRI performed on his glove side wrist which turned out to be negative.  Apparently he tweaked it on a freak play towards the end of the Canada-Slovakia game.  His status for the Semi-Final game against the Czechs will be more or less a game time decision.

(Sep. 8, 2004) - Canada 5  Slovakia 0 - Jarome Iginla finally got it going in this tournament with a pair of goals and assists, while Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Smyth and Joe Sakic also scored for Team Canada.  Mario Lemieux was a setup machine, assisting on three out of the five goals scored.  Martin Brodeur became the first goalie to post a shutout in Canadian international play.

(Sep. 4, 2004) - Canada 3  Russia 1 - Brad Richards and Kris Draper scored in the second period and Joe Sakic added a goal in the third of another great game for Canada.  Martin Brodeur was stellar in goal, but was again denied a shutout as Sergei Gonchar got one by him.  Canada clinches first overall in the North American division and will have home ice advantage in Toronto in the quarterfinals.  Depending on what happens between Russia and Slovakia, there's still a slim chance their opponent could even be the Americans.

(Sep. 1, 2004) - Canada 5  Slovakia 1 - Joe Thornton started the scoring for Canada, and Martin St. Louis continued his heroics with another goal and an assist.  Ryan Smyth scored twice and Simon Gagne also got one for Canada.  Martin Cibak broke Martin Brodeur's heart and the shutout bid in the third period, but it didn't matter as Canada cruised to an easy victory.  Canada lost another defenseman as Wade Redden left with an "upper body injury".  Jovanovski injured his knee versus the U.S. and will be gone for the rest of the tournament.

(Aug. 31, 2004) - Canada 2  U.S.A. 1 - Special teams were the story du jour as Team Canada kicked off their round robin versus Team U.S.A. in Montreal.  Martin St. Louis got the first goal for Canada in the 1st period, and assisted on Joe Sakic's goal in the 2nd.  Bill Guerin made it close with a goal of his own.  Canada scored both goals on the power play, while the Americans continued to shoot blanks with the man advantage (they haven't scored a power play goal in four games, including exhibition).  Shots were 32-24 in favor of the Canucks.  Ed Jovanovski of Canada and Mike Modano of the U.S. both left this game with "lower body injuries".

(Aug. 28, 2004) - Team Canada got behind the 8-ball early against Team Slovakia, as Wade Redden allowed his Ottawa Senators team mate Marian Hossa to break in on Martin Brodeur and score.  Vladimir Orsagh also scored for Slovakia, but Canada would come back with 2 goals of their own.  Vincent Lecavlier scored his second goal in as many games, and Jarome Iginla batted in his own rebound, as both teams skated to a 2-2 tie.  Slovakia's Peter Bondra would leave this game with a broken wrist.  It's a good thing this game wasn't for all the marbles.  Canada will play against the U.S.A. again on Tuesday at the Bell Centre in Montreal as Round Robin play gets underway.

(Aug. 25, 2004) - Team Canada get revenge at the Corel Centre in Kanata.  USA defeated Canada 3-1 in both teams' opening exhibition game.  Canada returned the favour.  After a scoreless first period, Vincent Lecavalier used Mario Lemieux as a decoy and put it past Ty Conklin - 1-0 Canada.  Minutes later, Joe Sakic scored to make it 2-0 for Canada.  Towards the end of the second, Jarome Iginla set up Mario Lemieux for some insurance on the power play - 3-0 Canada.  Chris Drury would break Canada's shutout bid in the 3rd period, but it wasn't enough, as Canada went on to win 3-1.  Jose Theodore was named the first star in what could end up the only game he plays, although with a performance like tonight he should get serious consideration when they play in Montreal.

(Aug. 23, 2004) - Team USA get first blood.  USA defeated Canada 3-1 in both teams' opening exhibition game.  Canada opened the scoring on a Power-Play goal by Dany Heatley on American goaltender Ty Conklin.  Brodeur stopped all 18 shots he faced and gave way to Roberto Luongo midway in the second period.  Luongo gave up a goal to USA's Bill Guerin on the first shot he faced.  Brian Rolston would give the USA its first lead with less than a minute to go in the second.  Leopold would ice the game away with a goal at 13:03 in the third.  After the goaltending change, the Canadians were on their heels, outshot 26-11 in the final 2 periods.  Team Canada was without Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, 2004 Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards and Hart trophy winner Martin St-Louis who did not dress for the game.

(Aug. 20, 2004) - During training camp, line matchups were the following, but could change once tournament starts:
Defense: Redden-Foote, Niedermayer-Regehr, Jovanovski-Brewer, Bouwmeester-Hannan
Forwards: Lemieux-St-Louis-Richards, Iginla-Sakic-Gagné, Thornton-Heatley-Marleau, Draper-Maltby-Doan, Lecavalier-Smyth-Morrow

(Aug. 20, 2004) - Canada announced their team Captain and Alternates:  Mario Lemieux will once again captain the team, and Iginla, Niedermayer, Sakic & Foote will alternate wearing the "A".

(Aug. 20, 2004) - No starting goaltender has been named yet.  While Martin Brodeur is heavily favoured and expected to start the tournament, Canada head coach Pat Quinn or executive director Wayne Gretzky would not confirm a solid choice.  Gretzky: "We feel comfortable with all three guys. At this point in time we haven't discussed what's going to happen. Ultimately the coach has to be comfortable with who's going to play."  Brodeur, who helped Canada win the Gold medal in the 2002 Olympics is a true profesional.  When asked about this news, Brodeur said: "I'm sure I have a little edge over the other two because I played at the Olympics but in the end it's only fair that they go with the hottest goalie, and I think it's only fair that they have an equal shot at it."  Brodeur spoke from his own personal experience in 1998's Nagano Olympics where he was told during the flight that Patrick Roy would play every single game.  "It was hard for me to get up for it in Nagano because I was told I wasn't going to play," Brodeur said. "I don't regret going, I still had a great time and I got my foot in the door with Team Canada, but it's tough."  From my personal viewings of the practices, all three looked sharp, and Canada will be in good hands no matter who gets the nod.  I think the hottest goalie should get the call, and ride him until he falters, which isn't likely with these three guys.