What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
Nov 18, 2024
Previously, WHL players were declared ineligible to play NCAA hockey in the U.S.
Canadian athletes added one more medal to the country’s total Sunday before bidding farewell to the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The team led by pilot Justin Kripps (Summerland, B.C.) won bronze in the four-man bobsleigh, giving Canada its 26th and final medal of the Games.
Saskatoon’s Ben Coakwell was a member of Kripps’ crew.
Canada finished fourth in the medal standings behind Norway (37), the Russian Olympic Committee (32) and Germany (27).
Canada’s four golds were the fewest for the country at a Winter Olympics since 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, but its 14 bronze medals were a Canadian record.
“Completely satisfied with that performance,” Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker told reporters Sunday in Beijing. “I think that puts us in the company that we always aspire to compete with.
“Let’s not gloss over how difficult these last two years were for Team Canada that in my estimation had to endure the most restrictive COVID protocols of any nation.”
While preparing for the Games in the COVID era may have been difficult for Canadian athletes, all but one of the country’s 215 athletes in Beijing were able to fully compete in their events.
Keegan Messing didn’t make it to China in time for figure skating’s team event, but arrived to skate in the men’s competition.
“Our goal was to ensure no athlete was deprived of an opportunity to compete,” Shoemaker said Sunday. “I feel quite good with how we handled that.”
On Sunday evening in Beijing, long-track speed skater Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa) carried Canada’s flag into the Bird’s Nest stadium for the closing ceremonies.
Weidemann was one of two Canadian athletes — joining short-track speed skater Steven Dubois of Terrebonne, Que. — to win gold, silver and bronze medals in Beijing.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are to be held in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
Bobsleigh: Kripps, Coakwell and teammates Ryan Sommer (White Rock, B.C.) and Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.) were third after the first two runs and stayed right there over the final two runs.
Kripps finished with a total time of three minutes 55.09 seconds, 0.79 seconds back of gold medallist Francesco Friedrich of Germany. Germany’s Johannes Lochner took home the silver.
Chris Spring (Vancouver), Cody Sorensen (Ottawa), Sam Giguere (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Mike Evelyn (Ottawa) finished ninth, while Taylor Austin (Calgary), Daniel Sunderland (Calgary), Chris Patrician (Toronto) and Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Jay Dearborn (Yaker, Ont.) placed 23rd.
Cross-country skiing: Cendrine Browne (Saint-Jerome, Que.) finished 16th in the women’s 30-kilometre mass start — the second-best performance ever by a Canadian in the event.
Sara Renner finished 15th in the mass start at the Vancouver Games in 2010.
Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.) wound up 30th in Sunday’s race, with Dahria Beatty (Whitehorse, Yukon) placing 39th and Laura Leclair (Chelsea, Que.) finishing 51st.
Other events: In notable finals Sunday, Finland won gold in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament for the first time ever with a 2-1 victory over the ROC, and Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead claimed gold in women’s curling with a 10-3 victory over Japan.
Great Britain fell short of sweeping Olympic curling titles, though; Sweden’s Niklas Edin beat Scotland’s Bruce Mouat 5-4 on Saturday.
— With files from The Canadian Press