Vancouver 101: Speaking Canadian

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler nearby.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

If you’re headed to BC for the Games, you might want to have a sit-down on the chesterfield with your double-double and learn ya some Canadian.*

BACHELOR:  Studio apartment

CHESTERFIELD:  Generic term for couch. Refers elsewhere to a specific leather style.

CLICK:  Kilometer

DOUBLE-DOUBLE: A coffee with two creams and two sugars.

EH: a means of  ascertaining the comprehension, continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed.

HOMO MILK: Non-homogenized milk.

HYDRO: In some areas, refers generically to electrical power and power bills.

KETCHUP CHIPS:  Basically potato chips covered with ketchup powder. They are very red, very messy, and, surprisingly, smell like ketchup.

LOONIE: One-dollar coin bearing the image on one side of a diving bird known in North America as the Common Loon.

POP: Common terms for soda

RUNNERS: Running shoes

TOONIE or TWOONIE: Two-dollar coin bearing the image on one side of a polar bear. Named as a play on Loonie and for its double-dollar denomination.

TRIPLE-TRIPLE: You guessed it, same as above plus one each.

TIMMIES: Shorthand for Tim Hortons, Canada’s answer to Starbucks and making its first foray into the United States.

TIMBITS: Doughnut holes at Tim Hortons.

TWO-FOUR OR TWOFER: A case of beer that contains 24 bottles.

TOQUE or TUQUE: Pronounced TOOK, a knit cap called a ski cap in the United States.

THAT’LL LEARN YA: Meaning, “That will teach you,” said in response to a stupid or non-fatal avoidable bad outcome.

ZED: The letter Z

*Not all Canadians agree on the language, definitions and spellings, and not all may use all expressions listed here all the time in all contexts in an all-joking or an all-earnest manner.

Ringette – The fastest game on ice

My Fave Sport by Emily Irvine

“Ringette? What’s that? Isn’t that the sport just like hockey?” Sport like hockey? Don’t think so. A mistake some people make is to assume ringette is just another way of playing hockey, but with a straight stick and ring instead of a puck. In my opinion they couldn’t be more wrong. Except for the fact the game is played on ice and some of the equipment is similar, it’s completely different. Confused? Read on and I’m sure you’ll learn more…

In 1963 a Canadian man by the name of Sam Jacks (the same man who invented floor hockey!) started a female only sport for his daughter, since at the time hockey was just for boys. He called it Ringette. They played for fun using broken hockey sticks and figure skates.

Since then the sport of Ringette has come a LONG way. It’s quickly growing in popularity and each year more and more girls join. It’s still a “girls” sport though some boys do play. You can be as young as 4 or 5 to start. The divisions go “Bunnies” (ages 4-7), “Novice” (8 and 9), “Petite” (10 and 11), “Tween” (12 and 13), “Junior” (14 and 15), “Belle” (16-18), and “Open” (19+).

The game involves all your basic positions (goalie, defence, forward, centre) but there are some very interesting rules. For example, you MUST pass the ring to a teammate over the two blue lines, and you can’t enter in the “crease” around the goalie. The cages or face masks of the helmets are triangles instead of squares, and to get the ring from an opposing player you need to “check” underneath their stick (in other words whack their stick with yours!)

Different then hockey? You bet! Ringette has been named “The Fastest Game on Ice” which some people disagree with. But not me. In Ringette you need to be quick and precise with every pass and move you make.

I love Ringette because it’s fast, fun, and of course Girls Only! I have played for five years and I hope to continue and keep improving and learning more. I think it’s a great way to exercise, make friends, and learn to work as a team.

If you didn’t know much about ringette to begin with I hope you learned something and you now know the difference between hockey and “The Fastest Game on Ice”!

If you would like to learn more about my favorite sport, visit www.ringette.ca

Abby Wambach scores 100th career goal in hometown as U.S. women defeat Canada 1-0

Abby Wambach scored her 100th career goal in her hometown to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 1-0 victory against Canada in front of 8,443 wildly appreciative fans at Marina Auto Stadium.

Wambach, who was a high school All-American at Our Lady of Mercy in Rochester, becomes the ninth woman in soccer history to score 100 career international goals, and the fifth American, joining Mia Hamm (158), Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100). Wambach’s 100th goal comes in just her 129th career match, giving her the best goals-to-games ratio in U.S. history.

The milestone comes one year and three days after Wambach broke her left leg in the USA’s final tune up for the 2008 Olympics. It was Wambach’s first international goal since the injury and makes her the second U.S. players to score her 100th goal in Rochester after Hamm became the first in 1998.

Twenty-one-year-old forward Lauren Cheney, who replaced Wambach on the Olympic roster, came into the game in the 63rd minute and 15 minutes later set up the historic goal.

“I think it’s pretty fitting that Lauren Cheney, the girl that replaced me going to the Olympics after my leg breaking, played me an amazing ball,” said Wambach. “I took a great first touch, and just hit it far post. Thankfully, it didn’t go wide. I was peeling out, truckin’ to the sideline because I thought it was going in. I can’t really describe the emotion. I don’t think it’s really set in quite yet. It’s been a long year and to come home to score the 100th goal here in Rochester couldn’t be more of a picture perfect ending.”

The goal came following a Canadian goal kick as substitute Tobin Heath won the header, sending a short pass to Shannon Boxx in the middle of the field. She collected the ball and played forward to Cheney, who controlled and spun towards the goal, slipping a perfect pass behind Canadian defender Candace Chapman. Wambach ran onto the ball in the left side of the penalty area, took a touch and rolled her 15-yard shot past Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and into the lower right corner just inside the post.

“I’m happy to be here right now, sitting on the bench to see that goal happen,” said U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage, who scored 71 international goals herself for Sweden. “Cheney coming off the bench playing that great ball through and you just hear the sound of it and it’s fantastic. This is awesome.”

The U.S. team dominated possession in the match as Canada chose to pull back inside its own half, putting zero pressure on the U.S. backs. The Americans piled up a 21-3 shot advantage and had 10 corner kicks to Canada’s two.

The USA’s best early chance came in the eighth minute as midfielder Angela Hucles rocked the crossbar from 19 yards out, but her shot struck the underside of the bar and bounced away.

Wambach had several half chances to get her 100th before finally scoring, bringing the fans to their feet on each occasion. The first came in the seventh minute as she broke into the penalty area on the right side only to have Chapman block her shot away.

In the 49th minute, Megan Rapinoe bent a cross on the ground from the flank, but LeBlanc beat Wambach to bouncing ball. Amy Rodriguez spun in another low cross from the left wing in the 52nd minute, but Wambach just missed making contact on the slide as he was bundled over by a defender.

In the 61st, Hucles sent a little chip over top of the Canadian defense on a free kick from the left flank. Wambach stretched for the diving header, but just couldn’t get her head on the ball at the top of the six yard box.

In the 63rd, Wambach came the closest to scoring, getting free in the left side of the penalty area before sending a delicate chip to the far post, but the angle was just too steep and the ball flew wide.

Canada’s most dangerous chance may have come in the 68th minute as substitute Chelsea Stewart got behind the U.S. defense via a high ball over the middle as the U.S. back line was pushed over to the left of the field. The speedy Heather Mitts ran her down, blocked her shot and cleared the ball away.

In the 77th minute, Cheney had a chance for a goal of her own as she got behind the Canadian defense on a perfect slip pass from Wambach, but Emily Zurrer ran her down from behind and tackled the ball away.

U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage started Cat Whitehill at right back, giving the veteran defender her first cap since she tore her ACL in June of 2008. Whitehilll played very well in her 45 minutes before giving way to Mitts at halftime.

The 21-year-old Heath came on in the 75th minute for Heather O’Reilly and saw her first action since the quarterfinal match of the 2008 Olympics against Canada. Heath’s first touch of the game was an audacious nutmeg of a Canadian midfielder and a few minutes later she pulled off a double nutmeg down the left flank, hitting the ball to Shannon Boxx whose cross was controlled by Cheney inside the six, but she couldn’t turn to fire on goal. The ball was eventually bundled out by the Canadian defense for the USA’s 10th corner kick of the game.

The U.S. played without team captain Christie Rampone who had emergency abdominal surgery yesterday, but Amy LePeilbet and Rachel Buehler played excellent games in the central defense, helping limit Canada to just one shot on goal. U.S. goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart picked up the shutout, but was forced to make just one save.

The U.S. team now travels to Charleston, S.C., to face Canada again, this one at Blackbaud Stadium on Wednesday, July 22 at 8 p.m. ET. The match will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol.

Spring Break in Vancouver, Island

by Christina Russell
April 10, 2008 – This spring break, I headed North to Canada for a week of creek boating on Vancouver Island. I had never been paddling in Canada before but I had heard great things about it. Early Sunday morning, we began out twelve hour drive from Bend to the port at Twassen. We camped out at the loading dock prepared to board the next morning as an oversize load (we had five boats on the roof of the truck). The crew consisted of friends from Bend, Eugene, and Hood River- all eager for some classic paddling.

Photo by: Christina Russell

Austin Rathman, used his good karma to secure two cabins near the Gordon River system near Port Renfrew. All of us were used to camping out in the cold, rainy, snowy weather but this was a welcome change. We had a HOT TUB! WOO HOOO!

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U.S. women’s national soccer team opens ‘08 against Canada

Dec. 31, 2007  - The United States women’s national team opens its 2008 schedule on Jan. 16 against Canada at the Four Nations Tournament in China. The United States, ranked second in the world, also plays Finland on Jan. 18 and China on Jan. 20 in the four-team competition in Foshan, China.

Pia Sundhage will make her coaching debut for the U.S. in the match against Canada.

The United States will be making its ninth trip to China since 1998 and the tournament serves as continuing preparation for the 2008 Olympics, which are in China. The U.S.  has played in the Four Nations seven times, winning six of those tournaments.

Sundhage has called 16 members of the United States’ 2007 World Cup team for a training camp in early January, including recent U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year winner Abby Wambach.

Defenders Kate Markgraf and Heather Mitts, and midfielder Aly Wagner will not train with the team due to injuries. Veteran Kristine Lilly has not decided if she will pursue a spot on the Olympic roster.

Sundhage also invited 11 more players to the training camp, but only 20 will make the roster for the Four Nations Tournament. Among those invited was 2007 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year Lauren Cheney.

The United States starts qualifying for the Olympics on April 2-13 in Mexico.

National Women’s Hockey League Announces Major Expansion

Canada - Women’s hockey has taken an important momentous step as this sport continues to grow across North America. “All elite women’s hockey teams in North America will play within the NWHL this coming season,” announced Susan Fennell, Commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League. “Discussions have been underway over the past several months, and clearly all players want one pinnacle Championship to strive for.” Read more