Canada Adds Two More Silver

Day 9

Medal Standings--Gold---Silver---Bronze---Total
Germany---------------7-------7----------4------------18
Norway----------------2-------7----------7------------16
United States---------7-------4----------2------------13
Russia----------------6-------2----------5------------13
Canada----------------2-------6----------5------------13

Canada's Klassen wins silver in 1,000 m

Canadian speedskating star Cindy Klassen bagged her third medal of the Torino Games in the women's 1,000 metres, finishing second behind Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands. Anni Friesinger of Germany was third. The 1,000 is not Klassen's best distance, but she was first at the halfway mark of the event. Only Timmer was able to beat her time of 1:16:09, and only then by 0.04 seconds. No other Canadian has ever won three medals at one Winter Games. Canada's previous best in the women's 1,000 was a bronze medal performance by Catriona Le May Doan in 1998.

Lueders, Brown claim bobsled silver

Canada's Pierre Lueders captured an Olympic silver medal Sunday in the two-man bobsleigh competition in Cesana Pariol, Italy. Under heavy snowfall, Lueders and brakeman Lascelles Brown powered their sled down the Italian track for a four-run time of three minutes, 43:59 seconds. Germany's Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske won the gold medal while the Swiss team of Martin Annen and Beat Hefti earned bronze.

Lueders, of Edmonton, won a gold medal with CBC bobsleigh analyst Dave McEachern at the 1998 Nagano Games, giving Canada its first Olympic bobsleigh title since 1964 when Vic Emery's four-man team upset the favoured European countries. Lueders also won the 2003-04 two-man world championship with brakeman Giulio Zardo and repeated the feat last season with Brown. During his illustrious bobsleigh career, Lueders has won a total of 69 World Cup medals, including several overall titles in the two-man event.

However, he would never take full credit for this Olympic medal without pointing out the immense contributions of Brown. The Calgary resident is regarded as one of the top-three brakeman in the world and consistently gives Lueders fast push starts. During the Christmas holidays, Lueders showed his dismay with Bobsleigh Canada's seeming lack of commitment in fast-tracking the Jamaican native's citizenship case with Immigration Canada. He told CBC Sports Online that it would take a "miracle" for Canada to win a medal without the power and speed of Brown. The pair had only one podium finish for the season to that point but the news would dramatically improve.

As the new year began, Lueders was given assurances that Brown's case would be cleared up. The news gave Lueders a lift as the two captured three medals in the last four races to win another two-man World Cup title at the time Brown received his citizenship.

Canadian curler Shannon Kleibrink rebounded from a shocking loss to Japan by thumping Italy 11-4 at the Torino Olympic Winter Games. Kleibrink, whose rink curls out of Calgary, improved to 5-3 with Sunday's nine-end triumph at Pinerolo, located 50 kilometres from Turin.

Sweden (7-1) guaranteed itself a playoff berth ahead of Switzerland (6-2), Canada and Norway (5-2). The top four teams advance to the medal round with first-ranked rink facing the fourth and the second taking on the third.

Italy dropped to a tournament-worst 1-7 as skip Diana Gaspari struggled mightily, posting an accuracy rate of 49 per cent. By comparison, Kleinbrink curled at a 75 per cent clip. Kleibrink led 5-0 through three ends, opening with a single point and scoring deuces in both the second and third. Kleinbrink drew inside for a steal of two to go ahead 7-2 in the fifth, but Gaspari got one back with a hit and stick on last rock in the sixth. Lying two in the seventh, Gaspari put Kleibrink on the defensive by closing the lone port to the button with a high guard. Kleibrink had no choice but to erase one Italian rock with a straight hit and concede the single point. Kleibrink drew to the button for two in the eighth, then closed out the contest with a steal of two in the ninth.

Gushue controls playoff destiny

Canada's Brad Gushue is breathing a bit easier in the men's curling competition at the Torino Olympic Winter Games. Gushue, who curls out of St. John's, needed just seven ends Sunday to beat Sean Becker of New Zealand 9-1 at Pinerolo, Italy.
Gushue improved to 5-3 overall through 11 draws and currently sits fourth behind Finland (7-2), Great Britain (6-3) and the United States (6-2), all three of whom have qualified for the playoffs.

Canada can advance with a win over the U.S. on Monday. Should Canada lose, they will be tied with Norway (5-4) and the winner of Monday's Switzerland-Italy contest.

"We've played them twice, once in Winnipeg," Gushue said of the Americans. "Close games. We're 1-1."

The top four teams advance to the medal round with first-ranked rink facing the fourth and the second taking on the third. If necessary, a tie-breaker to determine the final playoff spot would be held on Tuesday.

"Now we're assured of a tiebreaker at least," Gushue said. "We got some things figured out."

Gushue scored single points in first, second and fourth ends before blowing it open with back-to-back threes in the sixth and seventh. Becker, still winless at 0-8, counted one in the fifth.

Canada Fin-ished

Antero Niittymaki handed Canada its second consecutive shutout loss at the Torino Olympics, stopping 24 shots in a 2-0 Finland decision in men's hockey on Sunday.
The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender, who was particularly sharp in the second period, has stretched Canada's goalless streak to 120 minutes, 34 seconds, dating back to Shane Doan's third-period goal in Thursday's 5-1 win over Germany.

"The bottom line is we have to find a way to score a goal," Canadian forward Kris Draper told CBC Sports. "We got some momentum [in the final two periods] but we haven't made our own momentum.

"We're not where we want to be ... but there's not going to be any panic on this hockey team."

The Flyers rookie's best stop against Canada came in the second period with Finland clinging to a 2-0 lead. He closed his pads on Columbus Blue Jackets sniper Rick Nash, who broke in alone after taking a Joe Thornton pass just outside the Finnish blue-line. Niittymaki denied Martin St. Louis in the third when the diminuitive winger attempted to redirect a pass from Vincent Lecavalier at the side of the Finland net.

With the win, Finland clinched first place in Group A with a record of 4-0-0 and has secured its place in the eight-team semifinals. Canada, the defending Olympic champions, slipped to 2-2-0 and sits third in Group A behind Finland and Switzerland (2-1-1).

Niko Kapanen and Teemu Selanne scored first-period goals for Finland, which has allowed just two goals in four games in Turin, Italy. Sunday's win was a measure of revenge for the Finns, who dropped a 3-2 decision to Canada in the 2004 World Cup final after winning bronze at the 2002 Winter Games. Selanne's team-leading sixth goal at 11:14 of the opening period stood up as the winner. After Saku Koivu made a nifty move to get around Chris Pronger behind the Canadian net, he fed Selanne in the slot and watched the Anaheim Mighty Duck wire a shot past Roberto Luongo. Finland took the body and play to its opponent from the outset, winning the battle for loose pucks and outshooting Canada 14-5 in the first 20 minutes.

The Canadians will complete the preliminary round on Tuesday against the Czech Republic. Draper suggested his team get back to playing an NHL-style game by taking the puck to the net.

Later,
Kenaz