Boot camp for Team Canada’s women: Bear wrestling not likely, but….

It might lead one to wonder: Is the head coach of the Canadian Women's Olympic hockey team, Dan Church, channelling Eddie Shore?

Not quite, but don't think there's any doubt that the late, great NHL defenceman and legendary hard ass (some would say 'nutbar') coach and owner of the Springfield Indians would be proud of Church as he endeavours to prepare his charges for a run at gold in Sochi next February.

Shore, so the stories go, once tied a rope around the neck of a goaltender he thought was flopping too much during games, attaching the other end of the short leash to the crossbar. In practice, legend claims, that habit would be broken in ingenious if not morbidly cruel fashion when the netminder would start choking every time he tried to drop to his knees to stop a puck.

You can see this immortalized in this clip of CBC's "Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story." Shore and his victim - uh, goalie - appear at the 1:04 mark.

Nothing like that is in store for Canada's stalwart female hockey heroes, but Church and his staff are in the midst of what has become a traditional pre-Olympic testing and toughness building ritual - a sort of shinny bootcamp - underway now in Penticton, British Columbia.

As they did in preparation for Salt Lake City in 2002, Torino in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010, Canada's women are pressing their limits with a grueling series of tests, including rock climbing, running, swimming, biking, hiking and kick boxing.

Stories of boot camps past have some of the rookies wondering about what might lie ahead and to be a little nervous about the prospect of crossing paths with some of the ursine species native to the area.

"I am kind of nervous because you need to bring bear spray," 23 year old forward Jenelle Kohanchuk told Canadian Press. "I just hope it's not actually like that. I'm excited at the same time, but nervous because I don't want anything bad to happen."

Doubtful that any of Canada's top female hockey players are going to be left to their own devices in the middle of nowhere, although if you are able to take care of yourself against a bear on its 'home ice,' the prospect of squaring off against American star forward Amanda Kessel in Sochi might just see a little less taxing than it did in this year's loss at the World Championships.

Not that boot camp doesn't come with some Eddie Shore-type moments, apparently.

Recalling the 2010 camp in Dawson Creek, B.C., some of the veterans told CP they recalled sleeping on planks, using a bucket for a toilet and feeling sleep deprived as they pursued the outer limits of body, mind and soul.

"You don't even know why you're freaking out," said Tessa Bonhomme. "You just get pushed to that point where you've had enough mentally and physically. You need to shed a couple of tears."

Yikes.

The hell of this (okay, it sounds like there are many hells of this, actually) is that 27 women are, as we speak, submerged in this challenge. However, only 21 will ultimately make the trip to Sochi. The 6 that are let go in December will need to find other outlets for the new physical and emotional boundaries that they've forged for themselves.

Now, when it all comes right down to it, this exercise may be helpful when the inevitable gold medal game clash between Canada and the United States comes once again at next year's Olympics. Canada did win gold at Salt Lake, Torino and Vancouver. In the end, strong skating, talent, and execution of strategy will be the most important factors in the outcome.

But, when push comes to shove and the usual suspects are duking it out for the gold at Sochi, there will be little to choose between them. With the margin between Canada and the U.S. being so tight, it could all come down to a third period in a game that will have both sides clawing and tearing for every scrap of an advantage they can get.

In the moments where Canada's team looks like it has hit a wall, it could very well be that looking back on the brutality of boot camp will provide just a sliver of something more in the department of intestinal fortitude.

Pushing through the American defence may seem like child's play. That is, if you need merely to summon the memory of the day you outran a bear near Penticton.