Canada undefeated in men’s curling, women’s and men’s hockey at Universiade

Three Canadian teams are making headlines at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy, as the men's curling squad and women's and men's hockey teams remain undefeated (Team Canada website / Trentino 2013 website / Live streaming).

On Friday, the men's hockey team qualified for the quarter-finals following an 11-0 win over the Ukraine, an a game featuring four ejections for a third-period skirmish.

The women's hockey is also undefeated at 3-0 following a 13-0 shutout over Great Britain on Friday. A day earlier, Canada blanked Russia 5-0 (check out the Canadian women in the highlights package at about the 6 minute mark).

MEN'S CURLING

Skip Brendan Bottcher of Sherwood Park, Alta., and his University of Alberta crew downed South Korea 7-6 in a nail-bitter to keep their undefeated mark intact after four of nine preliminary round matches.

The Canadians led 5-2 at the half-way point but their rivals kept the pressure on, scoring three points in the seventh end to tie the game at 6-6. Team Bottcher blanked the next two ends and scored the winning single in the tenth to remain atop of the overall leaderboard, tied with Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson with 4-0 records.

Bottcher, the 2012 world junior curling champion, Western transfer Mickey Lizmore (third), Brad Thiessen (second), Karrick Martin (lead) and Parker Konschuh (alternate), with coach Rob Krepps, led 5-2 at the half-way point, but Kim kept the pressure on, scoring three points in the seventh end to tie the game at 6-6. Canada blanked the next two ends and scored the winning single in the tenth to remain at the top of the leaderboard, tied with Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson with 4-0 records.

On Sunday, the undefeated Team Canada men will face Italy and the Czech Republic, both with 1-3 records, and both fighting to remain in playoff contention.

WOMEN'S CURLING
On the women’s side, Laura Crocker’s Wilfrid Laurier squad dropped two more games on Saturday and now sits at 1-4 after opening the tournament on Thursday with a convincing 8-1 victory over Italy.

Canada lost 7-5 to Great Britain in the morning before dropping an 8-5 decision to top-seeded Russia in the evening session. The Canucks have a golden opportunity to notch their second win on Sunday when they face winless China.

MEN'S HOCKEY
Bronze medallists in 2011, Canada will wrap up pool play Sunday at 2 p.m. EST (8 p.m. Trentino) against Kazakhstan (1-0), the country they edged 3-1 two years ago in the third-place match of the biennial competition.

“The key to this tournament is to find ways to get better every day. This is our second game together as a group and we’ve had three practices now so I thought some of the things that we’ve worked on contributed to the success we had in the game,” said Team Canada head coach Gardiner MacDougall from UNB. “We had some peak performances from some players but overall the whole team has played very well. It’s about team cohesion, getting the chemistry off and on the ice, and right now we are finding ways to get better.”

In 13 previous appearances at the FISU tourney, Canada has reached the podium 12 times, including three gold medals, three silvers and six bronze.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Led once again by Gabrielle Davidson from McGill University, Canada resumed its domination at the 26th Winter Universiade on Friday afternoon, improving to 3-0 with a convincing 13-0 victory over Great Britain.

After three of five preliminary contests, the reigning two-time FISU champions have outscored their opponents 39-0. They opened their title defence on Tuesday with a resounding 21-0 win against Spain and followed up with a comfortable 5-0 shutout versus Russia on Thursday.

Davidson once again paced the offence in Game 3 with a hat-trick and a pair of helpers. The super sophomore from Pointe Claire, Que., who leads CIS at the December break with 15 goals in only 10 league games, has already racked up 12 points (8-4-12) in three contests in Trentino.

“Once again, I felt like this was a step forward for our group,” said Team Canada head coach Howie Draper, from the University of Alberta. “We continue to move the puck better, we moved our feet better, our net presence was better - it was fun. We made some change because Great Britain played well defensively and have a good goalie, but our team adjusted quickly, which was good and makes it easy. It’s a pleasure to coach this group.”

Canada gets back on the ice Sunday at 2 p.m. EST (8 p.m. Trentino) against the United States. The Americans defeated the Russians 4-2 in their first game and then barely got by the Brits, 2-1.

RESULTS
Dec. 14 Results
ALPINE SKIING
Men’s Super G
Top Canadian 26. Philippe Rivet, St. Lambert, Que., 1:25.96.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
Women’s 7.5 km sprint
Top Canadian 32. Camille Pepin, St. Ferreol les Neiges, Que., 3:44.21.

Men’s 10 km sprint
Top Canadian 25. Harry Seaton, Orillia, Ont., 3:35.02

CURLING
Women’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 4 - Great Britain 7 Canada 5
Game 5 - Russia 8 Canada 5

Men’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 4 - Canada 7 Korea 6

Dec. 13 Results
MEN'S HOCKEY
Canada 11 Ukraine 0

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Canada 13 Great Britain 0

BIATHLON
Women’s (15 km individual)
Top Canadian 31. Jennifer Paterson, St. Albert, Alta., 58:00.4

Men’s (20 km individual)
Top Canadian 39. Guillaume Bertrand, St. Barnabé, Que., 1:01:13.5

CURLING
Women’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 3 - Switzerland 10 Canada 2

Men’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 2 - Canada 10 China 2
Game 3 - Canada 10 Norway 4

Dec. 12 Results
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
Women’s Skiathlon (5km Classic + 5km Free)
Top Canadian 49. Andrea Lee, Black Creek, B.C., 32:52.1

Men’s Skiathlon (7.5km Classic + 7.5km Free)
Top Canadian 57. Jordan Cascagnette, Penetanguishene, Ont., 43:07.9

CURLING
Women’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 1 - Canada 8 Italy 1
Game 2 - Sweden 9 Canada 2

Men’s Preliminary Round (9 matches)
Game 1 - Canada 5 Great Britain 4

WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Canada 5 Russia 0

SNOWBOARDING
Women’s Snowboard Cross – Small Final
Top Canadian 8. Danielle Hildebrand, Toronto, Ont., 83.20 points, fourth in small final, eighth overall.

Men’s Snowboard Cross – 1/8 Finals
Top Canadian 17. Danny Bourgeois, Montreal, Que., 36.40 points, third in heat, does not advance;

MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)
Dec. 10 (20:00): Canada 12, Japan 1
Dec. 13 (20:00): Canada 11, Ukraine 0
Dec. 15 (20:00): Canada vs. Kazakhstan
Dec. 18 (TBD): Quarter-finals
Dec. 20 (TBD): Semifinals
Dec. 21 (10:30): Bronze
Dec. 21 (14:30): Final

WOMEN'S HOCKEY - TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)
Dec. 10 (20:00): Canada 21, Spain 0
Dec. 12 (16:00): Canada 5, Russia 0
Dec. 13 (12:00): Canada 13, Great Britain 0
Dec. 15 (20:00): Canada vs. USA
Dec. 16 (16:00): Canada vs. Japan
Dec. 18 (16:00): Semifinal #1 (3 vs. 2)
Dec. 18 (20:00): Semifinal #2 (4 vs. 1)
Dec. 19 (16:00): 5th place
Dec. 20 (16:00): Bronze
Dec. 20 (20:00): Final