SPOKANE – Jenny Potter says it’s a mistake to read too much into the 5-2 spanking Canada gave the U.S. women’s hockey team Friday night at the Spokane Arena.

At first glance it would seem the Americans’ loss coupled with their Oct. 5 loss to Canada in Victoria might indicate that the balance of power is shifting north once again.

But Potter, a veteran of all three U.S. Olympic teams, says fans should pay closer attention to the calendar than the scoreboard.

“There is no medal after this game,” Potter, 30, said. “Just pride.”

Last month Team USA asserted itself as the dominant team in the rivalry by beating Canada twice in four days to win the Hockey Canada Cup at Vancouver’s GM Place, the hockey venue for the Feb. 12-28 Winter Games.

Friday in Spokane, the Americans say they lacked the intensity they needed to beat the two-time defending Olympic champs.

“We got outworked,” said U.S. forward Natalie Darwitz.

That was evident from the start, when Canada fired three shots in the opening 90 seconds. Goalie Jessie Vetter stopped them all but it was clear she was going to be in for a long night.

Canada scored first when Meghan Agosta broke free for an uncontested shot with 2:13 to play in the first period.
The U.S. tied the score during a power play with 54.3 seconds to play in the first period when forward Gigi Marvin of Minnesota flicked in a shot from her knees with her back to the goal.

The crowd erupted, but the celebration was short lived. Seconds later U.S. defensemen Caitlin Cahow of Connecticut lost her stick giving the Canadian’s “NCAA line” all the opening it needed to reclaim its lead.

The Canadians call it the “NCAA line” because all of the players attended U.S. colleges.

Harvard’s Sarah Vaillancourt, thanks to assists from Minnesota Duluth’s Haley Irwin and Ohio State’s Tessa Bonhomme, scored with 19.4 seconds left in the period to give Canada a 2-1 lead.

“We lost the momentum there,” said U.S. coach Mark Johnson, a member of the 1980 U.S. gold medal hockey team.

Canada took advantage of power plays in the second period to add two more quick goals. Caroline Ouellette scored both.
The Canadians pushed the lead to 5-1 at the 16:24 mark with a goal by defender Catherine Ward.

Potter backhanded a shot past Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados at the 18:35 mark of the second period. Neither team scored in the third period.

Canada and the U.S. will play four more times before the Olympics. The next match is Dec. 12 in Denver.

“We play these games to learn and get better for the Olympics,” Potter said. “… It’s better to lose now then when it matters.”

NOTES: U.S. forward Karen Thatcher, a 25-year-old graduate of Providence College, lives in Blaine. She moved to Blaine four years ago. … Attendance was not announced after the game, but less than half the seats in the 10,000-seat arena were filled. Team USA drew 9,137 fans when it played China in Spokane before the 2002 Olympics. … Team USA picked its current 23-player roster on Aug. 24. The team will be trimmed to its 21-player Olympic roster in mid-December.

From the U.S. Ski Team:

Olympic champion Picabo Street (Park City, UT), who dominated her sport in the 1990s, headlined a group of 15 finalists for consideration to be named to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, presented by Allstate. Street, along with Paralympic champions Greg Mannino (Eagle, CO) and Sarah Will (Vail, CO), were named finalists Thursday at a press conference in Chicago, the USA's bid city for the 2016 Olympics.

The public will have a say in the hopeful selection of the U.S. Ski Team athletes. From now through June 16, fans can cast their votes for the 2009 class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame online at www.teamusa.org. The inductees will be revealed in early July and will be honored at a black-tie induction ceremony on August 12 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame is the only national sports Hall of Fame that includes fan voting.

=> Read more!

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke will serve as general manager of the U.S. hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and Nashville Predators GM David Poile will be the associate GM for the American squad.
USA Hockey announced the appointments Friday.
The U.S. team hasn’t won an Olympic gold medal in hockey since 1980 in Lake Placid. The Americans came close in 2002 at Salt Lake City, getting the silver with a 5-3 loss to Canada in the gold medal game.
Before joining the Ducks in 2005, Burke was president and GM of the Vancouver Canucks from 1998-2004. In his time with Vancouver and Anaheim, Burke’s teams have qualified for the NHL playoffs seven consecutive seasons. The Ducks won their first Stanley Cup title in 2007.
Poile, the Predators’ general manager since the franchise started in 1997, was GM of the 1998 and 1999 American teams at the hockey world championships. He also has been president of hockey operations for the Predators since December.

LOCAL ATHLETES
- Cle Elum mogul skier Patrick Deneen was named the FIS rookie of the year and celebrated March 15 by finishing third in a race in Italy.
- Federal Way native Apolo Anton Ohno finished his season with a strong performance at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in South Korea. He won gold at 500 meters and overall. He also took the 1,000- meter silver and bronze at 3,000 meters. Ohno has won 18 world championship medals – six of each hue.
- Yakima’s Phil Mahre, a gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics, fell short of his goal of qualifying for this month’s U.S. Alpine Nationals. He turned down special invitations to compete because he wanted to qualify on his own.
- Crystal Mountain’s Scott Macartney finished 26th in the World Cup’s downhill standings this season despite not racing since January because of an injury. A ski team spokesman said he’s hoping to return to racing speed this summer.
- Crystal’s Libby Ludlow finished 32nd in the giant slalom and 36th in the Super G. She participated in the NorAm Finals in New York despite knee injuries.

TEAMS USA UPDATES
- March was an historic month for the U.S. Ski Team as it finished one of its best World Cup seasons ever. Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn took the overall titles. It’s the first time U.S. men and women have swept the titles since 1983 when Yakima’s Phil Mahre and Kentucky’s Tamara McKinney won the titles. Miller also claimed the season combined title and Vonn took the downhill title in February.
- Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety won the World Cup season giant slalom title.
- Vonn and Jimmy Cochran each won slalom and combined titles at this week’s U.S. Alpine Championships.
- Miller did not compete in the U.S. Alpine Nationals.
- Katherine Ruetter won Team USA’s only women’s medal at the speed skating world championships. She took bronze at 3,000 meters.
- The 1998 Olympic Women's Hockey Team, which won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sport, is one of five finalists for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. It’s the only winter team nominated. Its competition includes the 1992 Men’s basketball team - the original Dream Team.
- Figure skater Brian Boitano and speedskater Sheila Young Ochowicz are among the 18 individuals nominated. Fans can vote at usolympichalloffame.com.

FACILITY UPDATES
- Testing at the sliding center on Blackcomb Mountain continued this month.
- Work is expected to be completed on the Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park, the Whistler Athlete’s Centre, the UBC Winter Sports Centre and the Richmond Oval this year.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
- Some members of the Canadian cross-country team have complained that the 2010 Nordic venue is too easy according to the Vancouver Sun.
- The 2010 day-by-day competition schedule can be viewed online at blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure.

COMING UP
- The U.S. Freestyle Championships start today in Park City, Utah.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets go on sale Oct. 11, 2008. Tickets.com was selected as the games’ official ticket service.

Just watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live from 2002 (hosted by a pre-rehab Britney Spears)and was amused by Jimmy Fallons Olympic Tribute song for the Salt Lake games.

Here are the lyrics:

The 2002 Winter Olympics are next week,
and the theme song for the olympics is "America" by Neil Diamond
Now, no offence to Neil Diamond but thats songs good
it's only like 20 years old
So I thought I could change the words to some more recent songs
and see if they want to use those instead
You should highlight the events, like downhill skiing

I can go down hill
on the icey snow
dressed up in my unitard
where else can I go?
I'm only a man on two skinny red skis
instead of cologne I'm wearing anti freeze
I can't even tell if I'm winning the race
because snot is frozen on my face
and its not easy to down hill ski

=> Read more!

This isn't necessarily Olympic related, but we'd love to have your help:

Help us determine the best ski area in the Northwest by voting for your favorite resort, lodge food, ski run and more.

Click below to take the quick survey. Your favorites will featured in 2008-09 Ski preview sections in newspapers across the Northwest. Voters from around the region - Idaho, Washington, Oregon and B.C. - are participating so make sure your favorites are well represented.

2008-09 Snow Ride Guide Survey

OK, folks. I've received your calls and e-mails. The biggest questions so far are about the schedule.

Well, this ought to help you out. Click below to download the 2010 competition schedule. It probably goes without saying considering we have two years to go, but times and dates are subject to change.

Thanks for the e-mails and comments. Keep them coming.

2010 Olympic Day-by-day competition schedule

Here's a story from the Associated Press:

Ski jumping at Whistler Olympic Park will open the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, while the men’s hockey gold medal final at GM Place will wrap up the 17 days of competition.
The schedule for the 2010 Olympics was released Wednesday after it was approved by the International Olympic Committee.
The opening ceremonies will be Feb. 12 at B.C. Place Stadium, with ski jump qualifying the only event scheduled for Day 1.
The men’s hockey final, the 50K men’s cross-country ski race and the closing ceremonies, also at B.C. Place Stadium, will conclude the events on Feb. 28.
The first medals will be awarded on Day 2 in men’s downhill, men’s 10K biathlon, men’s individual ski jump finals, women’s moguls, men’s 1,500 short-track speedskating and the men’s 5,000 long-track race.
The busiest podium day is Day 15, when medals will be awarded in eight events — women’s slalom skiing, men’s and women’s biathlon relays, women’s snowboarding, women’s curling, and three in short-track speedskating.
The first figure skating medals will be awarded on Day 4 in pairs, with the women’s singles wrapping up the competition at the Pacific Coliseum on Day 14.

Scores this morning from the quarterfinal round at the Hockey World Championships in Moscow:

Sweden 1, Finland 0
Canada 4, Czech Republic 3
Russia 6, Switzerland 3 (OT)
Slovakia 4, Belarus 3

The big game is Monday Morning: Canada vs. USA.

Today's quarterfinal round action at the World Hockey Championships in Moscow, Russia:

Russia 3, Italy 0
Latvia 5, Ukraine 0
Canada 6, Belarus 3
Norway 3, Austrai 2

The United States plays Germany on Saturday in its second quarterfinal game. Team USA beat Slovakia Thursday.

Here's how things went today at the World Hockey Championships.

Switzerland 2, Latvia 1
Canada 3, Germany 2
Sweden 7, Italy 1
Slovakia 3, Norway 0

The United States, which is playing in Group B, plays Belarus today and the Czech Republic on Tuesday

From Vancouver2010.com:
They probably won't ever be worth anything, but if you are one of those card or coin collectors who collects everything you might want to swing by a Petro-Canada station the next time you are in Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mint has released 17 styles of olympic-themed Canadian quarters to celebrate the 2010 games. There is a coin and card for every sport.
While the coins are already in circulation, Petro-Canada announced this week it will sell illustrated cards with collectors versions of the quarters.
The cards and coin sell for $7.95 (CAD) and part of the proceeds will benefit the Canadian Olympic teams. That's right. If you want to collect these coins and cards, you'll have to support the competition.

Hockey card and coin. (Image: vancouver2010.com)