Canada at the 2026 Milano Cortina: Winter Olympics

[AlbertC]

I suppose we should be happy they are playing sport at all.

In terms of hockey, there are a lot of reasons it is so expensive; ice time rental, particularly in urban areas, equipment costs (does anybody do hand-me-down anymore?) and the nature of organization. There's a lot more inter-league play now, even at 'house league level, and if travel is involved, some parents simply can't afford it. Soccer is a whole lot cheaper and becoming more popular.

When I was kid playing (when the earth was still cooling) I played in the Goulding Park league in Willowdale We got a sweater - what we looked like from the waist down was our problem. We didn't get 'full kit' until rep level and even at that, it was only sweater and socks. Our coach was a dad and a road trip was to the Don Mills arena.

I was chatting with my chiro while she was doing her best to cripple me. She has two kids into serious sport - one hockey - and, being northern Ontario, tournament play usually involves accommodations. She figures she spends about $10k a year.

The high costs and barrier to entry to hockey eventually leads to the US having an advantage over time. Just due to having a higher population overall, and inevitably meaning more families with money to put their children into hockey. And it's no secret that the NHL have prioritized growing the game in the States, especially in what used to be untraditional markets.

There's also a gradual brain drain effect with Canadian players who play and settle down in the US during their playing days and perhaps starting families down there. Not to mention coaches or other player development personnel. A fair amount of good American players have a Canadian connection as shown in his discussion on Reddit: Here

The American NCAA college system has grown in prestige within the last decade or so, with even certain Canadian prospects opting to develop there. Fortunately it doesn't necessarily mean the players are jumping ship to play for the Americans. But it does show that they're getting better at development in NHL ready talent.

 

[AlbertC]

Gold medals in back to back days: Megan Oldham in Big Air freestyle skiing, and then the women's team pursuit speed skating today!

 

[txlseries4]

Huge win for Canada’s women’s curling team this morning over Sweden who had been undefeated. Canada is now 4 wins in a row after a rocky patch of 3 straight losses by 1 point each time

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Canadian speed skater overcame unique obstacles to win silver at Olympics​

From https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canadian-speed-skater-unique-obstacles-olympics

When things don’t go your way, four years is a gruelling amount of time to wait for redemption.

Just ask Canadian speed skater Florence Brunelle.

The Trois-Rivières, Quebec native was the youngest-ever short-track speedskater to make the Canadian Olympic team back in 2022.

However, her Olympic debut four years ago turned into something of a nightmare.

Brunelle’s skates clipped an opponent during a race. Both skaters crashed into the wall.

Not only that, but Brunelle was penalized on the play, pushing her team two spots down the standings. They finished sixth overall at the event.

“I’ve accomplished my dream, and I feel unhappy, so why would I pursue what I’m pursuing?” she said in 2018.

“I’ve lost my purpose.”

Well, on Tuesday, Brunelle got redemption.

Brunelle was one of six Canadian speed skaters who participated in the short track mixed relay, where Canada came home with a silver medal.

Looks like Brunelle found her purpose.

Not only did Brunelle exact revenge by helping her country win a silver medal, but she overcame a unique personal hurdle as well.

Brunelle was born without three fingers on her left hand, something she revealed to the television cameras before the medal ceremony on Tuesday.

She appears to be the only Olympic speed skater ever to compete, nevermind win a medal, while missing fingers on a hand.

 

[AlbertC]

Mitch Marner with the goal of his life to give Canada the win over Czechia! Not going to lie, it got pretty dicey for a while until Suzuki got the equalizer. First time that Canada faced adversity all tournament long, and Crosby got hurt but ultimately they got the job done and advance into the semifinals.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Meanwhile...

oh yeah, Canada is in 6th place for qualifying.

 

[AlbertC]

Steven Dubois wins gold in men's 500 m speed skating, Canada's 4th gold of the Olympics!

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

How much money Canadian Olympic medalists earn compared to other countries​

From https://dailyhive.com/toronto/money-canadian-olympic-medalists-earn

 

[lenaitch]

Mitch Marner with the goal of his life to give Canada the win over Czechia! Not going to lie, it got pretty dicey for a while until Suzuki got the equalizer. First time that Canada faced adversity all tournament long, and Crosby got hurt but ultimately they got the job done and advance into the semifinals.

Particularly since at one point it looked like half the Czechia bench was on the ice, and nobody seemed to notice.

 

[Mihairokov]

Mitch Marner with the goal of his life to give Canada the win over Czechia! Not going to lie, it got pretty dicey for a while until Suzuki got the equalizer. First time that Canada faced adversity all tournament long, and Crosby got hurt but ultimately they got the job done and advance into the semifinals.

This Czech team was not very good and we only scraped by. Lucky we're getting Finland and not Sweden because I feel like the latter would have beaten us in the semifinals. Losing Crosby sucks because of the leadership but also because of the seeming lack of a faceoff specialist without him. Kampf cleaned out Canada in the faceoff dot in both games.

How much money Canadian Olympic medalists earn compared to other countries

It's clickbait, but does anyone want to take a swing at how many medals Singapore has won all-time?

Anyway, our funding is abysmally low, IIRC our federal funding for COC/Olympic High Performance Dev hasn't increased in twenty years. Our dwindling medal count is the result of that, as well as our focus on sports with low medal counts (hockey, curling) and non-specialization in other events. The Dutch may have more medals than us but their medals are exclusively in skating, as one example.

 

[AlbertC]

This Czech team was not very good and we only scraped by. Lucky we're getting Finland and not Sweden because I feel like the latter would have beaten us in the semifinals. Losing Crosby sucks because of the leadership but also because of the seeming lack of a faceoff specialist without him. Kampf cleaned out Canada in the faceoff dot in both games.

Feels like Canada wasn't prepared for the physicality and chippy play by Czechia. Reminded me of the recent World Juniors game where Canada lost to the Czechs.

They were targeting Crosby, and players like MacKinnon were already banged up. And tried to agitate Tom Wilson early on. While others like Marchand, Bennett, and Morrissey have dealt have been in and out throughout the tournament with injury related issues.

Canada definitely weren't particularly sharp, there was a moment where I think Suzuki missed an open net. And the Czechs hit the post a few times too, so things could've been worse for Canada to dig out of. Seems like the team were just waiting on moments of brilliance from McDavid, McKinnon or Makar. But it's good to see Suzuki and Marner deliver some huge moments.

The Americans are going to be a tough out, and barring any major collapse on their side should be reaching the gold medal game. Although beatable, it's very much in their team mantra to be physical and gritty. And the likes of the Tkachuk brothers to get under the skin of the opponents. If Canada reaches the gold medal game, hopefully the team will be on their A game. And that the likes of Wilson, Bennett, Horvat will bring the toughness to match the Americans.

 

[Mihairokov]

The Americans are going to be a tough out, and barring any major collapse on their side should be reaching the gold medal game. Although beatable, it's very much in their team mantra to be physical and gritty. And the likes of the Tkachuk brothers to get under the skin of the opponents. If Canada reaches the gold medal game, hopefully the team will be on their A game. And that the likes of Wilson, Bennett, Horvat will bring the toughness to match the Americans.

I think it was Johnson on the CBC broadcast talking about how the US team plays better when there's more physical animosity and rivalry between the teams, which was why they struggled with Sweden for so long - the Swedes play a very stoic, calm game, and don't get riled up easily. I imagine the Canadians would feed directly into how the US wants to play (and frankly how that team is built).

As for the women, it's clear the US was the better team: faster, stronger, bigger, and younger. Hockey Canada is both impossible of introspection and cannot develop centrally, and so they'll make the same mistake CWNT and Canada Soccer have made: squandering a miles-long head-start ahead of 99% of the competition whilst leaning on sheer numbers to make things work. Now everyone else has caught up and we don't develop teams. You can see the cracks beginning to show in our Canadian men's hockey program, too, especially in net. Our advantage will soon wither away without complete reform of Hockey Canada and how it operates and develops athletes.

 

[lenaitch]

Tough loss for the Canadian women. I actually saw somebody in the crowd I recognized. Turns out some folks I used to work with are the mom/stepdad of one of the Canadian players.

 

[Towered]

This thread is so Canadian - dozens of sports to discuss yet 99% of the talk in here is about hockey, which we see on tv all the time anyway

 

[Northern Light]

This thread is so Canadian - dozens of sports to discuss yet 99% of the talk in here is about hockey, which we see on tv all the time anyway

Isn't this forum filled with Canadians? You were expecting it to be Mexican, or Nigerian?

Sports that get the most attention will be those where Canada is in contention to medal. (Hockey is in this group) along with those most relate to because they watch, play or have played. You won't see the same focus on winter biathlon (Skiing and shooting) since it doesn't get much tv coverage and most people have never done those two together.