Captain Cassie Campbell (CP Photo)

27 Top Canadian Women's Hockey Players will centralize in Calgary in preparation for 2006 Olympics.
(Hockey Canada Release)

CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada announced on Monday that 27 elite Canadian women hockey players will centralize in Calgary on a full time basis beginning August 1, 2005, in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Canada’s Women’s Olympic hockey team also centralized in Calgary prior to the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Twenty of the 27 players will be selected to represent Canada in women’s hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy from February 10 to 26. Canada must name a roster of 20 players (18 skaters, 2 goalies) in January, 2006, just prior to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Canada will play numerous pre-Olympic games from August, 2005 – January, 2006 in Canada, as well as in the USA and Europe. Canada's 2005-2006 schedule includes six games versus USA in Canada and USA, as well as additional games versus other countries in Canada and in Europe.

A breakdown of pre-Olympic international games Canada's women's team will play in 2005-2006 is:
- 7 international games in Canada
- 3 international games in USA
- 11 international games in Europe

Game locations and details for Team Canada's 2005-2006 schedule will be announced later this summer. Canada's National Women's team will also be playing games versus Midget boys AAA teams within Alberta during the 2005-2006 season as part of the team's training and preparation schedule.

The Centralization roster of 27 players is comprised of:
- 3 goaltenders
- 8 defence
- 16 forwards

Team Canada’s 2006 centralization roster includes 12 players that won a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and includes all 24 members of Canada’s silver medal winning team at the 2005 Women’s World Hockey Championship last month in Linkoping, Sweden.

Team Canada’s Women’s Olympic Team coaching staff, comprised of Head Coach Melody Davidson, and assistant coaches Tim Bothwell and Margot Page will work with the players on a full time basis starting in August. "Our coaching staff and team benefited from the World Championship last month and we have been building towards our centralization for the past 16 months," said Melody Davidson. "We are very confident that we have assembled a terrific group of athletes who are committed to representing Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics, to the highest level possible.”

The team will gather in Calgary, AB at Hockey Canada’s head office at the Father David Bauer Arena, for one week in May (May 15 to 22) before traveling to PEI on May 22 where the team will hold a three week on and off ice camp. Canada’s coaching staff will utilize the camp in PEI for orientation and off-ice training, before centralizing in early August.

The sport of women’s hockey, which made its debut at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, has seen a growth in Hockey Canada registration numbers in Canada of over 400% over the past 10 years. For more information on the National Women’s Team and camp details, please visit the official web site of Hockey Canada at www.hockeycanada.ca

TEAM CANADA’S 2006 CENTRALIZED WOMEN’S ROSTER ATTACHED

Benoit Huot (CP Photo)

Canadian swimmers with a disability complete magnificent performance at British Championships.
(Canadian Sport News)

SHEFFIELD- Canada’s swimmers with a disability completed a sensational performance at the Disabled Sport England swimming championships with another truckload of medals on Sunday.

The Canadians collected 37 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze at the three-day event. On Sunday, Benoit Huot of Montreal earned his fifth and sixth gold medals with victories in the S10 category 100-metre butterfly and 50 freestyle. “This was my best day so far,” said Huot, who clocked 1:00.69 in the fly and 25.67 in the free. “The five-top-ranked swimmers in the world were in the 100 fly and I felt I was flying in the water. To come within a second of my world mark without being fully prepared is great.”

Also earning two gold Sunday was Valerie Grand’Maison of Montreal with wins in the women’s S13 50 freestyle and 200 IM, her fourth and fifth golds of the meet. Andrea Cole of Thunder Bay, Ont., won the women’s S8 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle.

Other victors for the women were Jessica Tuomela of Waterloo, Ont., in the S11 50 freestyle, Genevieve Ouellette of Quebec City in the S12 100 butterfly, Anne Polinario of Toronto in the S10 50 freestyle and Stephanie Dixon of Victoria in the S9 50 freestyle. Other winners for the men were Brian Hill of Duncan, B.C., in the S13 10 butterfly and Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver in the S11 100 butterfly.

Silver medalists for the men Sunday were Tildesley in the 50 freestyle and Hill in the 200 IM and for the women Grand’Maison in the 100 butterfly and Chelsea Gottel of Antigonish, N.S., in the S13 200 IM.

Bronze medalists were Hill in the men’s 50 freestyle and for the women, Rhea Schmidt of Winnipeg in the S13 200 IM and 100 butterfly and Gottel in the 100 freestyle. “We’re heading in the same direction as we were coming out of the Athens Paralympics,” said Canadian national team coach Craig McCord. At the Paralympics last year, Canadian swimmers won 40 medals including 15 gold. “There’s still a long way to go but we we’re well set up for the rest of the long course season.”

Next Saturday, five Canadian swimmers will compete at the inaugural multi-sport Paralympic World Cup event in Manchester, England. They are Huot, Dixon, Tildesley, Brad Sales of London, Ont., and Andrew Haley of Toronto.

Despatie golden in Grand Prix diving event.
(WebPosted CBC Sports)

If Friday's performance is any indication of what's to come, Alexandre Despatie will be giving Montreal diving fans plenty to cheer about this summer.

The Canadian star delivered an impressive gold-medal effort on the men's three-metre springboard at the Canada Cup diving competition, the fifth stop on the Grand Prix circuit. The 19-year-old Despatie beat two Chinese divers for the gold, China's Xiang Xu, the world champion on one-metre, was second and his compatriot He Chong third.

Philippe Comtois of Laval, Que., placed sixth in the final."It feels just feels great to put together such a strong performance after all I've been through this year," said Despatie, who won silver on three-metre at the Athens Olympics last August. "It shows that I'm ready to compete at the highest level. I made the same error on the third dive as I did in Athens but I didn't get down and came back strong. What I need to work on the most from here to the worlds is the consistency."

Despatie will compete in the three-metre at the world aquatic championships July 17-31 in Montreal. But he will not defend his world title in the 10-metre dive after sustaining a back injury at the Canadian championships. The Laval native has described 2005 as the toughest year of his life so far.

Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., was ninth in the preliminaries but didn't advance because there is a limit of two per country for the semifinal round. Montreal's Julio Abate of Montreal was 23rd.

On women's 10-metre tower, Roseline Filion of Montreal continued her impressive season reaching the final and placing sixth. Marie-Eve Marleau of Montreal made the semis and placed eighth and Marie-Josee Lacroix of Montreal was 12th in the preliminaries.

World champion Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., withdrew due to an arm injury suffered in training on Wednesday. She aggravated it Friday morning in the warmup. "I really wanted to compete here this weekend but after the warmup I knew the wisest decision was to withdraw," said Heymans, who has trouble executing her reverse three and half. The pain occurs upon impact in the water. Heymans plans to practice a new dive and compete at the Grand Prix event in the United States next weekend.

Wegadesk Gorup-Paul of Victoria placed 11th overall on Sunday in the Men's 10-metre event. Gorup-Paul, a First Nations Mic Mac whose first name means Northern Lights, was sixth in the preliminaries. In the semis, the 2004 world junior bronze medallist was fifth in his group.

Montreal's Nicolas Leblanc was 15th, Kevin Geyson of Winnipeg 20th and Maxime Bouchard of Montreal 21st. In the women's synchronized three-metre, Mandy Moran of Calgary and Martha Dale of Victoria seventh, while Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion delighted the hometown crowd winning a bronze medal in the women's synchronized 10-metre event.

In the men's three-metre synchro, Quebec's Philippe Comtois and Arturo Miranda were 12th after they were marked a missed dive on a technicality that cost them a fourth-place finish. "What's important is we competed together and did very well," said Comtois. "Our synchronized scores were very high throughout the competition except for one dive. "Arturo should be back in town permanently later this month and we'll start to train regularly with the focus on the world championships."

Karen Cockburn (CP Photo)

Two-time Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn wins Canada Cup gold.
(Canadian Sport News)

OTTAWA- Two-time Olympic medalist Karen Cockburn of Toronto won the women’s trampoline competition on Sunday to conclude the Canada Cup trampoline and tumbling competition at the University of Ottawa.

Cockburn, a silver medallist at the Athens Games and third in Sydney in 2000, totalled 105.30 points. Rossanagh MacLennon of Toronto was second at 104.20 and Sarah Charles of Kelowna, B.C., the double mini trampoline winner Saturday, was third at 96.80. “I was hoping to break my Canadian record but I still gained a lot confidence with my performances this weekend,” said Cockburn, who’ll look to defend her world title later this year. “I know I’ll have some very solid routines for the world championships. I’m on track and I hope to have an advantage on my international competition with these new skills I’m working on.”

Chasing records has been the tonic Cockburn’s needed in this post Olympic season. She hopes to beat her Canadian record of 114.70 at the national championships later this month then she’ll eye the world mark of 115.50 points. “For a few months after the Games I wasn’t very motivated but now I’m doing new stuff and it’s exciting for me again. It’s really enjoyable,” she said.

In men’s trampoline, Bryan Milonja of St-Bruno, Que., notched his third gold of the competition with 105.30 points. He also won the double mini trampoline and the synchronized trampoline with partner Karl L’Ecuyer of St-Bruno.

Mathieu Turgeon of Toronto, the Olympic bronze medallist in 2000, and L’Ecuyer both followed at 105.90 but Turgeon got the silver following the tie-breaking procedure. “Everyone performed well in the final so I felt some pressure,” said Milonja, 19. “I knew I had to step it up.”

In men’s tumbling, Denis Vachon of Burlington, Ont., was the winner at 139.00, Anton Minayev of Calgary second at 135.60 and Cletus Okpoh of Vancouver third at 131.40.

In women’s tumbling, Emily Smith of Burlington placed first at 125.10, Kimberly Cameron of Calgary was second at 121.80 and Andree Matte of Burlington third at 121.30.

Perdita Felicien (CP Photo)

Weekend highlights in track and field: Felicien posts world’s best time in Jamaica, Canadian wins international junior race walking competition.
(Canadian Sport News)

LIMA, Peru- Rachel Lavallee of Peterborough, Ont., led from start to finish to win the junior women’s 10 kilometre event Sunday at the Pan American Cup race walking competition.

Lavallee, 19, clocked a personal best 47 minutes and 33.7 seconds. The time was also a Canadian junior record eclipsing the 48:01 set by Lora Rigutto in 1987. “Rachel certainly wasn’t considered one of the favorites said,” said Canadian head coach Jean-Francois Aumais. “But she was well prepared both physically and mentally. She did the first five kilometers in 23:17 which is very fast.”

On Saturday Canada’s best result was an 11th place for Marina Crivello of Montreal in the women’s senior 20 kilometre race.

Meanwhile in Kingston, Jamaica, world champion Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont., ran the fastest time in the world this year to win the 100-metre hurdles at the Jamaica Invitational. Felicien clocked 12.67 seconds in her third outdoor race this season. Lacena Golding-Clarke of Jamaica was second in 12.72 and her compatriot Delloreen Ennis-London was third in 12.78. Olympic champion Joanna Hayes of the U.S., was fifth.
Canadians earned some medals at the Modesto Relays in California this weekend. In the women’s 4X100 relay, USA Red took the gold in 44.38 with Canada second in 44.78 with Daniella Carrington of Waterloo, Ont., Esther Akinsulie of Ottawa, Karlyn Serby of Saskatoon and Erica Broomfield of Toronto.

“It’s early in the season and right now it’s about getting them together to provide them with opportunities and to get them involved in the relay program,” said Glenroy Gilbert of Ottawa, Canada’s relay coach. “I was pleased with what I saw on the weekend.”

Broomfield also won the bronze medal in the 100-metre dash clocking 11.48 seconds while Carrington was eighth in 11.68. Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas won in 11.29 and Angela Williams of the U.S., was second in 11.41.

In the women’s 200-metre sprint, Akinsulie was third in 23.96 with Nicole Buchholz of Saskatoon fifth in 24.45 and Serby sixth in 24.74.

In the women’s pole vault, Canadian record holder Dana Ellis-Buller of Kitchener, Ont., won the bronze soaring 4.35 metres with Kelsie Hendry of Saskatoon taking fourth spot at 4.10.

In the men’s 4X100 relay, Canada was fourth with Michael James, Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., Martin Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Nicolas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que. Henry cramped up on the second relay but the Canadians cameback strong. “It was Michael’s first time on the relay and he ran very well leading off,” said Gilbert. “And it was looking really good until Anson had his mishap. The time was only 0.01 slower than last week at the Penn Relays so that’s encouraging.”

Leonard Scott of the U.S, won the men’s 100-metre dash in 10.06 while Nicolas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que., placed seventh in 10.41.

At the IAAF Grand Prix season opener in Osaka, Japan, Toronto's Aimee Teteris earned a fourth-place finish in the women's 800 metres clocking 2:04.72. The race was won by Miho Sugimori of Japan in 2:02.79.

Jonathon Power

Power and Jans Burke crowned national squash champions.
(Canadian Sport NEws)

TORONTO- Jonathon Power of Montreal and Melanie Jans Burke of Vancouver won the men’s and women’s finals respectively Saturday at the 2005 Canadian squash Championships.

In the men’s final, Power, the top-seed and ranked fourth in the world, defeated third-seed Shahier Razik of Toronto 11-8, 11-5, 11-7. It’s the sixth Canadian title in seven years for Power who withdrew from last year’s tournament due to injury. He departed for London after his match to compete at the Super Series Final which starts Monday.

“I played O.K., there’s always a lot of pressure when you’re expected to win,” said Power. “I knew Shahier was coming off a tough semifinal match and I just wanted to make him work as much as possible and tire him out. I kept the rallies going and made him run to the four corners of the court.”

Despite being a big international star, Power doesn’t take a Canadian title for granted. “It’s tougher to win than people think,” he said. “A lot of players are getting better and Shahier is a tough seasoned competitor. I’m just relieved I’d made it to the end.”

In the women’s final, Jans Burke, the fourth-seed, defeated defending champion and third seed Alana Miller of Winnipeg 9-2, 9-7, 9-6 for her fourth career national crown. Jans Burke also eliminated top-seed Runa Reta of Ottawa on Friday night. “Any of us in the top-seven had a shot to win the tournament,” said Jans Burke, 31. “I don’t think the seeding made that much of a difference. This title is a bit more special because the competition was a lot deeper this year. I was hungrier this year to win, I trained very hard and I relied a lot on my instincts to help me through the matches.”

Reta defeated Carolyn Russell of Winnipeg 9-4,9-7, 10-8 for the bronze. CBC Sports Saturday will broadcast the Canadian Squash Championships:
· May 14; 3-4:30pm ET (the men's semis)
· May 21; 3-4:30pm ET (the women's and men's finals)

Kyle Shewfelt (CP Photo)

Shewfelt concerned about gymnastics' future.
(WebPosted CBC Sports)

Kyle Shewfelt's new floor routine might be obsolete before the end of the year and that doesn't please him one bit.

The 2004 Olympic gold medallist understands the sport has to grow and evolve, but he doesn't like the International Gymanstics Federation's proposal to change the way routines are judged.

The new judging system would place a premium on a move's degree of difficulty. The sport of diving uses a similar system.

Shewfelt says it's a system that forces athletes to take unnecessary risks. "The way that gymnastics is moving towards being an extreme sport is really going to take away the true values, which is the artistry and making the difficult look easy."

Grant Golding, who also participated for Canada in gymnastics at the 2004 Athens Games, agreed with his teammate. "You've got guys just throwing moves and sometimes they don't look so good and sometimes guys just get really hurt whereas before you'd see a lot of clean and really original moves being done by gymnasts around the world."
The Canadian Gymnastics Federation supports the proposed changes, saying it will help separate the best athletes from the rest.

But national gymnastics coach Tony Smith says it won't eliminate judging mistakes. Or cheating for that matter. "It takes a different look at things, but it doesn't really resolve the problem that countries are sending judges to work for them and they are still going to be able to get away with what they want," he said.

Smith added there are only eight or 10 men in Canada capable of handling the more difficult routines. He's also worried about losing athletes to other sports like snowboarding. "Those extreme sports where you can get instant gratification, you can get a sponsor right away. "They'll buy your stuff for you and you still get a flip and twist, which is really why you went into it in the first place."

Shewfelt says he's planning to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, but the proposed changes might drive him out of the sport as well. "I love gymnastics," he said, "but I'm definitely not willing to break my ankles or my neck for it."

Shewfelt will compete under the old judging system at this fall's world championship. If approved, the new system will take effect sometime next year.
(courtesy Doug Dirks, CBC News Calgary)