, Oct. 26, 2009 (Resource News International) -- The following is a quick look at some of
the sports headlines across Canada.
HOLLINGSWORTH, MONTGOMERY TAKE CANADIAN SKELETON TITLES
Skeleton slider Mellisa Hollingsworth showed she is in the
groove to take another run at Olympic glory.
The slider from Eckville, Alta., drove a combined 1:55.66
over two races at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary to win the
Canadian Skeleton Championships on Sunday.
Jon Montgomery of Russell, Man., was the winner on the men's
side with a combined time of 1:53.45.
"I'm ecstatic right now. This is going to be a very exciting
season," said Hollingsworth, who won an Olympic bronze medal at
Turin in 2006.
"What a way to go into the Olympic Games at home."
Hollingsworth beat second-place finisher Amy Gough of
Abbotsford, B.C., by 1.05 seconds.
Michelle Kelly of Fort St. John, B.C., was third, 1.14
seconds off the pace.
The event was the last of three selection races for the
World Cup circuit, which begins Nov. 12 in Park City, Utah.
Three racers are picked for each of the Canadian World Cup
men's and women's teams. The squads will be announced at a news
conference in Calgary on Wednesday.
While a World Cup berth doesn't guarantee a slider a spot on
the 2010 Olympic team, it gives them a chance to control their
own destiny if they drive well.
Gough, 32, was the runner-up in all three selection races
and also expects to be named to the squad.
"It's the best selection races I've ever had. My [start
times] have really come a long way. It's a personal best for
sure," Gough said.
The former rugby player had a magical rookie season on the
World Cup circuit in 2007, finishing seventh overall. But she
injured her ankle severely and has struggled to return to form,
sliding since on the Intercontinental Cup development circuit.
The third spot remains up for grabs between Kelly and Sarah
Reid of Calgary. Both were on the World Cup team last year.
On the men's side, Montgomery said he is looking to
capitalize on gains made last year when he won gold at the World
Cup event in Whistler, B.C., site of the 2010 Olympic sliding
events.
"There's no letting up, especially at this time of the
season. You want to find out what you're capable of," said
Montgomery, 30.
Jeff Pain of Calgary finished in second place, more than
eight-10ths of a second behind Montgomery.
Mike Douglas of Toronto was third, nine-10ths of a second
behind.
All three expect to be named to the World Cup team
Wednesday. (Canadian Press)
CANUCKS' LUONGO SHUTS OUT OILERS
It's probably safe to say that Vancouver goalie Roberto
Luongo has found his stride again. That groaning sound you hear
is coming from snipers across the NHL.
Luongo nabbed his first shutout of the season on Sunday,
defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-0 at GM Place.
"Our goaltender has been our best player the last two games
so we're feeding off him a little bit," Canucks coach Alain
Vigneault said.
Michael Grabner scored a power play goal to give Vancouver a
1-0 lead in the first period, and Henrik Sedin added a goal in
the second. Grabner, a 22-year-old rookie who was inserted into
the lineup when Daniel Sedin broke his foot, now has five points
in his first six NHL games.
"There's not as much pressure and it's easier to play now
and just try to show them what I can do," Grabner said.
Unlike Saturday's 3-1 win over Toronto, the Canucks
netminder didn't have to stand on his head to nab the victory, as
Luongo was helped by some solid Vancouver team defence.
"We're really starting to play well systems-wise and
defensively," Luongo said. "It makes my job a lot easier and I am
able to focus on the shooter more and just challenge him and not
worry about any of the backdoor stuff."
After a shaky opening five minutes, the Canucks limited the
Oilers' scoring chances, and when Edmonton did press, Luongo was
there to make the big save.
Luongo gave up three goals or more in five of the first six
games Vancouver played this season. The Canucks went 2-5-0 in
that span.
But since then, Luongo and the Canucks have held the
opposition to two goals or less and are winners of four of their
last five.
His resurgence is a welcome sight for a Vancouver team that
is decimated by injuries.
"Sometimes you need to be challenged a little bit to step up
as a team and I think we've done that," said Luongo. "It seems
like we're losing a player every game right now, but guys are
coming in, doing a great job and buying into the system and
that's why we're winning games."
The Canucks have lost six starters recently, including the
aforementioned top scorer Daniel Sedin, winger Pavol Demitra, and
top defenceman Sami Salo.
This latest victory brings Vancouver (6-5-0) above the .500
mark for the first time this season.
The Oilers (6-4-1) were hoping to bounce back from a tough
loss to Calgary on Saturday. Instead, they were held scoreless
for the first time this season. Edmonton has now lost two in a
row after going on a three-game winning streak. (CBC Sports)
HOWARD ROLLS TO IMPRESSIVE WIN
Glenn Howard made a statement that he will be awfully tough
to beat at December's Canadian Curling trials by walking through
an international field at the Grey Power World Cup of Curling
without a loss.
He capped off the perfect week with a win over Kevin Koe in
yesterday's final, picking up $24,000 for his efforts. Howard
sealed the 6-4 win with a perfect freeze to the button with his
first rock in a dramatic eighth end, leaving Koe only a Hail Mary
with his last, one that just missed the target.
It's the third consecutive year that Howard, along with
teammates Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill, have
knocked off Koe in the final of the year's first Capital One (NYSE:COF)
Grand Slam event and the sixth time that Koe has made it to a
Grand Slam final and failed to win.
The victory was the first for Howard this year on the World
Curling Tour after winning six in a row to start last season. "We
had such a great year last year winning a bunch in a row and
we've definitely been gaining moment," the skip said. "I can feel
our team getting better and better so it's nice to get a win
against all these great teams."
The event brought together the Olympic representatives of
nine nations and five top Canadian teams, four of which have
already qualified for the Canadian Curling trials, which start
Dec. 6 in Edmonton.
Sunday's final was a nail-biter and Howard looked anything
but a world-beater early in the contest. Koe jumped out to a fast
start against the Ontario opponents, stealing two in the first
end when Howard jammed a double-takeout attempt with his first
stone and came just heavy on his second, a difficult draw to the
corner of the button.
In the second, Koe and his team of Blake MacDonald, Carter
Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen kept the pressure on forcing Howard to
make a delicate draw through a port to the button to score one.
"I missed a very makeable shot in the first end and I missed my
first in the next one so I kind of put the guys behind the
eight-ball," Howard said. "But Richie said, 'Don't worry skipper,
we're never going to give up.'."
Howard tied the contest with two in the fourth and seemed to
gain strength in the second half.
After blanking the fifth, Koe seemed to be in trouble in the
sixth. The team attempted - and just missed - four consecutive
run-back doubles, each time digging themselves a little deeper
into a mess. With his last rock, Koe was staring at three Howard
counters but he calmly stepped into the hack, threw a
molar-rattling heater that removed all three stones and allowed
him to score one, taking a 4-3 lead. In the seventh, Koe was
again playing catch up after Rycroft chipped out his own rock
allowing Howard to sit three.
The Ontario rink eventually scored a deuce and took a
one-point lead coming home. Howard elected to play aggressively
in that final frame leading to a very crowded house. "I didn't
foresee that many rocks in play, but I thought we had to go for
the steal," Howard said. (Globe and Mail)
CFL STANDINGS
Eastern W L T Pts PF PA Home Away
y-Montreal Alouettes 13 3 0 26 510 294 8-0 5-3
Hamilton Tigercats 7 9 0 14 386 405 5-3 2-6
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 9 0 14 356 419 4-4 3-5
Toronto Argonauts 3 13 0 6 301 424 1-7 2-6
Western W L T Pts PF PA Home Away
x-Calgary Stampeders 9 6 1 19 472 387 6-2-1 3-4
x-SK Roughriders 9 6 1 19 478 446 5-3 4-3-1
BC Lions 8 8 0 16 392 429 4-3 4-5
Edmonton Eskimos 7 9 0 14 388 479 4-4 3-5
x = clinched playoff berth
y = clinched division title
NHL STANDINGS
Eastern Conference
Atlantic W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div
Pittsburgh 9 2 0 18 37 25 4-2-0 5-0-0 3-1-0
NY Rangers 7 3 1 15 41 31 4-2-0 3-1-1 1-2-0
New Jersey 6 3 0 12 26 22 1-3-0 5-0-0 2-2-0
Philadelphia 5 3 1 11 31 27 3-2-1 2-1-0 1-1-0
NY Islanders 1 4 4 6 20 34 1-2-2 0-2-2 0-0-1
Northeast W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div
Buffalo 6 1 1 13 26 16 3-1-1 3-0-0 0-0-1
Ottawa 5 2 2 12 30 26 3-1-2 2-1-0 2-0-1
Boston 5 4 1 11 30 32 3-3-0 2-1-1 1-0-0
Montreal 5 5 0 10 27 30 3-2-0 2-3-0 2-1-0
Toronto 0 7 1 1 15 35 0-4-1 0-3-0 0-1-1
Southeast W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div
Washington 6 2 2 14 37 30 3-1-1 3-1-1 1-0-0
Atlanta 4 3 1 9 28 24 1-2-0 3-1-1 1-1-0
Tampa Bay 3 3 3 9 24 32 3-0-2 0-3-1 2-1-1
Carolina 2 5 3 7 24 34 2-1-1 0-4-2 2-1-0
Florida 2 6 1 5 19 35 1-3-0 1-3-1 0-2-0
Western Conference
Chicago 6 3 1 13 33 26 4-2-1 2-1-0 2-1-0
Columbus 6 4 0 12 33 34 3-0-0 3-4-0 0-0-0
St. Louis 4 4 1 9 24 25 2-3-0 2-1-1 2-0-0
Detroit 3 4 2 8 25 31 3-1-1 0-3-1 1-2-0
Nashville 3 6 1 7 18 33 1-3-0 2-3-1 0-2-0
Northwest W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div
Colorado 8 1 2 18 38 26 4-0-0 4-1-2 1-0-1
Calgary 7 2 1 15 41 33 5-1-0 2-1-1 5-0-0
Edmonton 6 4 1 13 38 33 5-1-1 1-3-0 2-3-1
Vancouver 6 5 0 12 31 28 5-1-0 1-4-0 2-4-0
Minnesota 3 7 0 6 22 32 3-0-0 0-7-0 1-2-0
Pacific W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div
Los Angeles 8 4 0 16 44 38 4-1-0 4-3-0 4-1-0
San Jose 7 4 1 15 42 35 2-0-1 5-4-0 1-1-1
Dallas 5 2 4 14 37 32 1-2-1 4-0-3 1-1-1
Phoenix 6 3 0 12 24 17 3-2-0 3-1-0 2-1-0
Anaheim 3 5 1 7 22 31 1-4-0 2-1-1 0-2-0
NHL Standings are as of early October 26, 2009
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