By Dan Plouffe
In terms of pure drama, it would be hard to find a more thrilling moment at the Sochi 2014 Olympics than the Canadian women’s hockey team’s unexpected escape from a 2-0 hole against USA in the gold medal game.
Unexpected for most, except for the Team Canada players, clarifies gold medalist Geneviève Lacasse.
“It was incredible we were able to come back, but we stuck together,” the 24-year-old goaltender recounted upon returning home from Russia at Macdonald-Cartier International.
“I don’t think anyone on our team ever doubted it,” she said of the comeback that began with goals at 3:26 and :55 remaining in the third period and culminated with Marie-Philip Poulin’s golden goal in overtime. “What we’d been through this year, and crazy bike rides for boot camp in British Columbia, riding 120 km in a day, uphill – if we can get through that, who says we can’t score two goals in the last five minutes of the game? I think the girls really believed nothing was impossible.
“In the locker room before the overtime, everyone looked at each other. It was real serious, but everyone was pumped, and we kind of knew we were going to win. It wasn’t in a cocky way, but we just knew we were going to go out there and get the job done.”
Lacasse had a front row seat for all the excitement. She would have preferred to be in the crease herself, but had been told at the team’s pre-tournament camp in Austria that she’d likely be #3 on the depth chart behind Charline Labonté and Shannon Szabados, who she calls “great, veteran partners.”
“It’s not something you like to hear, but I felt that this year, I really left it all on the ice, and played my best, so it was out of my control,” signaled Lacasse, who put herself in the running to play with several impressive starts against USA in the lead-up to the Olympics. “All I could do after that was help my team.”
Lacasse was with the team in the locker room before all games and at intermissions, acting as the team’s DJ and playing music based on what she sensed the team needed from their mood.
The Kingston native, who now calls Limoges home and trains in Ottawa when hockey doesn’t take her elsewhere, stayed far away from the press box, having learned from the 2012 World Championships when it took her forever to reach the ice to join in the celebrations after Canada won.
“I didn’t want it to be like that,” recalled the Providence College MBA student who plans to return to the reigning Canadian Women’s Hockey League-champion Boston Blades next year. “I knew we were going to win, so I decided I’m standing right by the door, and once we won, it didn’t even phase me that the security guards were there, I opened the door and I was actually one of the first ones in the dog-pile.
“Everyone on TV was probably like, ‘Who’s this girl running on the ice now?’ But it was awesome to be a part of that with the team.”
Collecting her gold medal – which she slept with the first night – and hearing O Canada played was another treasured moment.
“It was unbelievable,” Lacasse smiled, noting it was special to have many Canadians, other Olympians and of course her teammates inside the arena in Sochi. “I was extremely happy. It’s just a dream come true.”
McEwen strikes curling gold
Ottawa native Dawn McEwen, who now lives in Winnipeg and plays lead for Jennifer Jones’ curling rink, felt like she was living a fantasy as well in Sochi, and that was even before her team triumphed 6-3 over Sweden in the final to take home gold.
“To be in the gold medal game is just beyond everything I had ever hoped for when I started curling,” McEwen wrote in a Canadian Curling Association blog entry following her team’s semi-final victory, their 10th of a perfect 11 in a row. “I’m in awe as I write this. And I’m just so excited that I get to do it with these girls – Jennifer, Kaitlyn (Lawes), Jill (Officer), Kirsten (Wall) and our coaches Janet (Arnott) and Elaine (Dagg-Jackson). It’s a dream come true to be in this position.”
Sorensen itches to return from bobsled crash
Ottawa bobsledder Cody Sorensen’s Olympics weren’t much of a dream, it was more like a nightmare. On pace for the second-best time about two-thirds of the way through the course in the second run of the four-man competition, his sled tipped going into a corner, ending his hopes of a podium performance.
Sorensen and fellow brakemen Jesse Lumsden and Ben Coakwell had unexpectedly been switched into Justin Kripps’ sled on the morning of the final training run after pushing for driver Chris Spring all season.
(Read more of Sorensen’s reflections on his Olympics at: http://sportsottawa.com/content/bobsledder-sorensen-itches-return-olympic-crash )
Ottawa Olympic results round-up
Sorensen wasn’t alone in feeling disappointment at the Olympics. Two days after her 5,000-metre race, Gloucester Concordes speed skater Ivanie Blondin was not chosen to race for Canada in the team pursuit quarter-finals.
The team of Christine Nesbitt, Kali Christ and Brittany Schussler wound up fading in the latter stages of the race and lost to the host Russians. Blondin was back in the lineup for the fifth-place race where Canada topped USA. She also placed 24th in the 3,000 m and 14th in the 5,000 m individually.
In his Olympic debut at age 19, fellow Concorde Vincent De Haitre finished 20th and 33rd in the men’s 1,000 m and 1,500 m races where Denny Morrison claimed silver and bronze medals for Canada.
Nakkertok Nordic’s Perianne Jones missed out on the women’s team classic sprint final by one position to place 11th in her strongest event, was a quarter-finalist in the free sprint and was 14th in the 4×5 km relay.
Ottawa native Paul Bonifacio Parkinson placed 27th in men’s figure skating (one spot ahead of Canadian Liam Firus) and was fourth in the team event for Italy, his mother’s homeland.
Former Carleton Ravens captain and now women’s hockey assistant coach Sara Seiler placed seventh overall with Germany, winning two games over Japan and losing three to Russia, Sweden and Finland.