BY SCOTT HADDOW
With the 2006 Olympic Winter Games now less
than two months away, Olympic fever is hitting Greater
Sudbury.
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Devon Kershaw |
Why? Because once again, Sudbury could be
sending an awesome contingent of elite athletes to represent
Canada at the world's largest sporting event and, hopefully,
bring home gold medals.
If everything falls into place (keep your
fingers crossed), Sudbury could have no less than five athletes
competing at the 2006 Olympics.
It would take a lot, but all of these
athletes could make it.
Let's start with the shoe-in, which is
cross-country skier Devon Kershaw, who has already qualified
for the Canadian National Ski Team and will be in Turin, Italy
in Feb. 2006.
Kershaw, 22, is currently on the sidelines
with muscle and ligament damage to his thoracic area, but
should be ready to go and compete hard at the Olympics.
Now the athletes on the bubble. Let's start
with hockey.
Tessa Bonhomme is continuing to make a strong
case for herself for a spot on the women's national
squad.
The Sudbury native recently scored her
first-ever international goal for the senior team during a 6-0
romp over Team Sweden in exhibition play on Dec. 9. Bonhomme,
who plays defence, rocketed a hard slapper from the top of the
face off circle past the Swedish goalie.
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Tessa Bonhomme |
The 20-year-old player is eager to grab hold
of her Olympic aspirations.
"This is definitely what I want," said
Bonhomme in a May 2005 interview. "I didn't expect to get this
shot this year. I was shooting for 2010. This is basically a
try-out for the Olympic team. I am a step ahead of myself, but
I am enjoying it and this is where I want to be at."
The women's team still has to cut six
players, which includes two defence players.
Bonhomme has played in all kinds of
international games over the year, and looks ideally suited for
the fast-paced international game thanks to her tremendous
skating and shooting skills.
In men's hockey, Todd Bertuzzi has a good
shot of landing an Olympic roster spot, despite the ongoing
bashing from numerous hockey critics.
Bertuzzi has struggled to find the net this
season with 11 goals and 29 points in his first 32 games.
The rugged winger brings more to the table
than just offence. Big and strong, Bertuzzi would be the
perfect compliment to Team Canada's power play by placing his
six-foot-three, 245-pound frame in front of the net to cause
chaos.
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Meagan Duhamel and Ryan
Arnold |
As for his offence, 29 points in 32 games
isn't bad. Nobody was crying about the less than stellar on-ice
play of Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux and experts were saying
they deserved spots because of their leadership.
With guys like Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla,
Chris Pronger and Rob Blake (all current or former NHL
captains) available, leadership isn't the question for
Canada.
You need more than just skill to win a
championship, and Bertuzzi brings all kinds of attributes to
the table to help a team win.
Team Canada's Olympic hockey roster is
scheduled to be announced at 2 pm today.
The two other hopefuls come from the world of
figure skating.
Senior men's competitor, Jeffrey Buttle, and
senior women's and pairs competitor, Meagan Duhamel, have a
decent shot of being in Italy.
Both will compete at the 2006 BMO Canadian
Figure Skating Championships in Ottawa from Jan. 9 to 15 with
Olympic spots open in all three categories.
If they are on their game, Buttle and Duhamel
(with partner Ryan Arnold in pairs) will deliver Olympic
calibre performances.
"Going to Turin would be amazing," said
Duhamel in an earlier interview. "Just to go and get the
Olympic experience would be great and helpful. It
would help a lot towards our 2010 goal of
making it to the medal podium."
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Jeffrey Buttle |
Buttle recently placed second at the Grand
Prix Final in Tokyo, Japan last weekend.
"I am already second in the world and within
grasp of a gold medal at the Olympics," said Buttle. "The
Olympics are where I want to be and what I am focusing
on."
Buttle doesn't feel any extra pressure to be
the next Canadian to try and win an Olympic gold medal in men's
figure skating.
"I am looking forward to the Olympics...To
fully qualify happens in January 2006 at the Canadian
Nationals... I will just have to go out and skate like I can,"
said Buttle in a May interview.
Sudbury is no stranger to sending multiple
athletes to the Olympics.
The community has a long, proud tradition of
sending the elite athletes to compete against the best in the
world.
In 1996, at the Summer Games in Atlanta,
boxer Phil Boudreault, cyclist Eric Wohlberg, boxing coach Gord
Apolloni, women's basketball coach Peter
Ennis and track star Robert Esmie all
represented Sudbury and Canada at the event. Esmie won gold in
the 4 X 100-metre relay.
