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andrewuttaro · 4 years ago

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The End of the Eichel Era

Back in the lonely summer of 2020 I started a Youtube channel built around reacting to the Buffalo Sabres. My first series of videos in that regard was a recap of the prior 2019-2020 season: a season so crazy leading into the COVID pause that I thought it couldn’t be topped. My vlog reactions to the upcoming season would be the start of something new. I didn’t think it could possibly get worse than the season of the Duane Rant. Oh, Andrew: you doe-faced believer. Oh, how wrong I was.

After a season that saw a 17-game losing streak, a rightful coaching change, an injury carousel out of a cartoon including injuries untold to Captain Jack Eichel, the bar for a bad season has reached a new low even us rugged Sabres fans. There were rays of hope toward the end of this past season. A bevy of young players making their impact playing for pride on a feisty Don Granato led squad made another lost season, the tenth in a row without a playoff berth, somewhat enjoyable. Due to roster flexibility that bordered on frightening there was also reason to hope a roster that could finally make a postseason was within reach for a rookie GM that has no choice but to prove himself. There was hope. Was is the operative word there.

On May 10th, 2021, the organization’s most notable players gave their exit interviews to the team followed by brief pressers with the media. Before the Captain even appeared on the Zoom link the mood was dreary. Rasmus Ristolainen once again made it clear he would rather not be here. Sam Reinhart, a UFA this offseason, was non-committal at best about his future with the team. Then it was time for the Captain to speak… then Jake McCabe went first. Evidently his exit interview went long. When Eichel did get on the call what followed was nothing short of the siren marking the beginning of the end of the Eichel Era in Buffalo.

The root of the issues seemed to be disagreement about how to handle Eichel’s injuries. There was a broken rib prior to the season as well as something else still somewhat unclear. Team doctors evidently wanted him to not go forward with a surgery. He got a second opinion. The schism only grew. With five seasons left on his massive 80-million-dollar contract and a full NMC is affect all the power lays with the Buffalo Sabres organization. As Jack Eichel detailed his intent to look out for himself in no uncertain terms he was leveraging the only power he has in the situation which has gotten worse and worse: speaking publicly. If you didn’t hear any of these comments live or read any shortly thereafter you might lose the severity. To sum it up in one tidbit: Eichel literally referenced a hypothetical wife and kids he’ll have one day and how he’ll be a father. What this team has made him endure is on par with a major life event.

The insanity of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement rules on medical second opinions aside: the relationship between ownership, the front office and Jack Eichel’s camp is broken beyond repair now. When an employer makes you endure a health situation you don’t want to be in then you better believe there will be discord. There is no mending this fisher. There is no denying any longer that Eichel will move on one way or another. To put in bluntly: it is over with Jack Eichel in Buffalo. It is a matter of time now before a trade salvages anything for the all-star top line center in what will almost certainly be a losing trade for the Sabres.

Jack Eichel has been the face of the Buffalo Sabres franchise since he was drafted in 2015. He was the fruit of a contentious tank. A torturous rebuild followed that had to be rest in 2017 and again in 2018 and… is still continuing today I suppose. Jack Eichel has done everything he could. I think I speak for every reasonable hockey fan in Buffalo when I say the end of this relationship is the result of Front Office mismanagement of Eichel himself and the roster beyond him on top of so many other things. From the beginning of their ownership in 2011 Terry and Kim Pegula have hurt the name of the once proud Buffalo Sabres. It began with Pat Lafontaine’s ouster and now it is visited upon us with the impending departure of Jack Eichel. Four General Managers and seven coaches have tried to lead the Sabres under Pegula ownership and the only one who managed a playoff berth was gone the year after. The coming end of the Eichel Era is a symptom of the Pegula Era. And I didn’t even bring up the knockoff alumni jerseys or the myriad public relations catastrophes they have wrought on the blue and gold.

The final Chapter in Jack Eichel’s time as a Sabre is being written as you read this. Certainly, the Pegulas will have some kind of strategic response to Eichel’s comments through their good soldier GM Kevyn Adams shortly. This will get ugly or put in a better way: this is just what is already ugly becoming public. We could talk about how their reputation in Buffalo maybe saved by the recent success of the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and fantasize about them selling the Sabres organization as some virtuous self-realization of the harm they’ve done. That is fantasy. What is not fantasy is what this organization has become.

I’m turning 27 this month. Most people my age have only known this team as synonymous with sorrow, save for a few glorious years in the late 2000s. This was not the Buffalo Sabres of old. The first forty years of this franchise was something to behold even though it lacked a Stanley Cup banner. The terrible drafting is the one consistent throughout, but I digress: what are the Buffalo Sabres? What is this franchise? We keep reaching out in the dark for rock bottom praying to ourselves it exists at all. Every season since 2016 we have only seen regression. Every move has ultimately amounted to shifting deck chairs on the Titanic. The good moves and happy stretches like the ten-game winning steak in 2018 are clearly the exceptions not the rule in retrospect.

An impossibly long list of items from the Ryan O’Reilly trade that saw spare parts come back for a center who went onto a Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup to acquiring Taylor Hall in a signing the owner contended would signal the team was going to win a Cup, not just make the playoffs. Taylor Hall is in Boston now where the last team that truly tested a good Sabres squad in an infamous instance of running-the-goalie in 2011 has been good for a decade. The Sabres goalie Milan Lucic ran, Ryan Miller, a legend in his own right, retired this season. It has been so long since a team worthy of gracing the ravenous hockey market that is Western New York has played that you’d be hard pressed to find a former Sabre who has made the playoff with them still in the league. If there was ever glory associated with the crossed swords it has faded from the public consciousness to the point a generation is unfamiliar with it.

When Jack Eichel is traded there is an outside chance a fair return will be achieved from one of about two teams in this league who could swing it. As Eichel acknowledged in his own comments, it’s the team that has all the cards in this: they can wait until the right offer comes along because clearly there is no intention for things to get better in Buffalo very shortly. Yet another rebuild, perhaps even another tank, awaits on the near horizon. With the Eichel Era coming to end in Buffalo its hard to imagine what’s next. In 2014-2015 we dreamed a young contender helmed by one of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel might lead us to better days. Now those better days are just a song we remember from a hype video 15 years ago.

A team signs and unwritten contract when they acquire a franchise player as I wrote last year about this exact situation. It is now unquestionable that the Buffalo Sabres, or at least the owners of the franchise, have broken that unwritten contract beyond repair. Their continued mismanagement has cratered the franchise they bought with such zeal for the roundel crest. Now we venture forward into unknown depths few franchises have ventured into in this league and lived to tell the tale. The franchise probably survives for various external reasons but now it will be a living relic of how no number of frenzied fans, no amount of hope, can get you a sustainable team if you can’t build something worthy of the great athletes handed to you.

#buffalo sabres #hockey

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jovismusic · 7 years ago

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GRANATOS LIVE 2017

#granatos #2017 #festival #beach #stage #dj #jovis #chill #music #goodvibes #mixes

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dweemeister · 8 years ago

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My alternative 89th Academy Awards

And so here, as I do every year, is my alternative Oscars ceremony. This is what would happen tonight if I - and I alone - stuffed the ballots and decided on all of the nomination and all of the winners. Non-English language films are accompanied by their nation of origin (in FIFA three-letter code).

89th Academy Awards – February 26, 2017 Dolby Theatre – Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Host: Jimmy Kimmel Broadcaster: ABC

Best Picture: LA LA LAND

Arrival, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, and David Linde (Paramount)

Fences, Todd Black, Scott Rudin, and Denzel Washington (Paramount)

Hell or High Water, Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn (CBS Films/Lionsgate)

La La Land, Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, and Marc Platt (Summit)

Moonlight, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner (A24)

O.J.: Made in America, Ezra Edelman (ESPN)

Our Little Sister (JPN), Kaoru Matsuzaki and Hijiri Taguchi (Toho Company)

The Red Turtle (FRA/BEL/JPN), Toshio Suzuki, Vincent Maraval, Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat, and Léon Perahia (Wild Bunch/Toho Company/ Lumière/Sony Pictures Classics)

The Salesman (IRN), Alexandre Mallet-Guy and Asghar Farhadi (Filmiran/Cohen Media Group)

Toni Erdmann (GER), Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, and Michael Merkt (Komplizen Film/Sony Pictures Classics)

It’s a little disconcerting that only two major studio films are here. The mid-budget drama used to be the major studios’ bread-and-butter, and now that is gravitating ever more to the mini-majors and smaller studios. La La Land, Moonlight, O.J.: Made in America, and The Red Turtle all received 9/10 ratings from me. We essentially have a four-way tie for first, and I have to elevate one above the rest.

Some of my followers are gonna fume at my decision, but it’s La La Land for me. I approached that decision from a well-documented bias for musicals - fully aware of the film’s artistic, technical, and societal problems - the fact of the film’s cultural impact (I sometimes have a populist streak in how I see film history, and that’s a part of my personality), and personal taste (it came down to Moonlight and La La Land for me... I love both, but which movie would I not mind to waste 30 minutes on if nothing was on?).

If you ask me this question again in ten years’ time, my answer might very well change. I don’t have the luxury of hindsight right now.

Best Director

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Michael Dudok de Wit, The Red Turtle

Ezra Edelman, O.J.: Made in America

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Hirokazu Koreeda, Our Little Sister

In my alternative Oscar universe, Koreeda nabs the latest of several nominations for Director, but he just can’t manage to break through in this category. It’s Jenkins for me, for crafting a story that I could not imagine having been filmed even five years ago.

Best Actor

Joel Edgerton, Loving

Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Sunny Pawar, Lion

Denzel Washington, Fences

Sunny Pawar has to hold up that first half of Lion, and he does so spectacularly. I also introduce Edgerton here as well. Garfield had a career performance in Hacksaw Ridge, and Gosling is a bit underrated. But it’s the one fellow nominated here who I would call a genuine movie star - a term that is thrown about too often these days, but I think he embodies it - in Denzel Washington. It’s a difficult performance, that, and he has perfected it to a tee.

Best Actress

Taraji P. Henson, Hidden Figures

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Lâm Thanh Mỹ, Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass (VIE)

Ruth Negga, Loving

Emma Stone, La La Land

You’re scratching your heads on that nomination for Lâm Thanh Mỹ, I know. She gave the child performance of the year for me in a dizzying display of a range of emotions. But in the end, it’s Huppert. I sneak in Henson and Negga as well.

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane

Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

Issey Ogata, Silence

Did you expect anything else?

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis, Fences

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Suzu Hirose, Our Little Sister

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

See above. Yet another child actress in Suzu Hirose, gets nominated... that’s three kids getting nominations in my alternative ceremony!

Best Adapted Screenplay

Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden (KOR)

Eric Heisserer, Arrival

Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney, Moonlight

Hirokazu Koreeda, Our Little Sister

August Wilson, Fences (posthumous nomination)

Really, really tempted to give this to Wilson. So I hope, wherever he is, he didn’t mind this.

Best Original Screenplay

Stephen Chow, et al., The Mermaid (CHN)

Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman

Efthimis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster

Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water

Makoto Shinkai, Your Name (JPN)

Best Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings (Laika/Focus)

Long Way North, France/Denmark (Maybe Movies/Sacrebleu Productions)

My Life as a Zucchini, Switzerland (Gébéka Films/GKIDS)

The Red Turtle, France/Belgium/Japan (Wild Bunch/Toho Company/ Lumière/Sony Pictures Classics)

Your Name, Japan (Funimation/Toho Company)

Zootopia was the second-best Disney film of the year, and it wasn’t even among the top five animated features of the year. Little-seen Long Way North and widely-seen Your Name (everywhere except North America, apparently) are in there instead. But The Red Turtle - a true transnational effort - is the best animated feature of the year.

Best Documentary Feature

I Am Not Your Negro (Velvet Film/Magnolia Pictures)

Life, Animated (A&E/The Orchard)

O.J.: Made in America (ESPN)

13th (Netflix)

Weiner (Motto Pictures/Sundance Selects)

I have to award ESPN’s ambitious 30 for 30 entry here. And it’s easily the best of the 30 for 30 films as well.

Best Foreign Language Film

Fire at Sea, Italy

The Handmaiden, South Korea

Our Little Sister, Japan

The Salesman, Iran

Toni Erdmann, Germany

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins, Hail, Caesar!

James Laxton, Moonlight

Rodrigo Prieto, Silence

Linus Sandgren, La La Land

Bradford Young, Arrival

Best Film Editing

Tom Cross, La La Land

John Gilbert, Hacksaw Ridge

Bret Granato, Maya Mumma, and Ben Sozanski, O.J.: Made in America

Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders, Moonlight

Blu Murray, Sully

Best Original Musical

Gary Clark, Sing Street

Justin Hurwitz, La La Land

Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Opetaia Foa’I, Moana

Best Original Musical is a category that must be activated by the Academy’s Music Branch, given that there are enough movie musical submitted for consideration. As I felt like there were enough movie musicals to warrant the activation of this category, I put these three films here (also, I wanted La La Land out of Original Score to preserve the category’s intent - to honor a film’s score, rather than its soundtrack). It has not been given under its current name; the last recipient of this award was Prince for Purple Rain (1984).

Best Original Score

John Debney, The Jungle Book

James Newton Howard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Dario Marianelli, Kubo and the Two Strings

Laurent Perez Del Mar, The Red Turtle

John Williams, The BFG

Best Original Song

“Another Day of Sun”, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, La La Land

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”, music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, La La Land

“Drive It Like You Stole It”, composed by Gary Clark Sing Street

“How Far I’ll Go”, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana

“No Wrong Way Home”, music by Alexis Harte and JJ Wiesler, lyrics by Alexis Harte, Pearl

Yes, I have the audacity to nominate a song from a short film in here - “No Wrong Way Home” from Pearl. And “City of Stars” shouldn’t have been nominated, despite it being the earworm.

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Madeline Fontaine, Jackie

Mary Zophres, La La Land

Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, Love & Friendship

Dante Ferretti, Silence

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Daniel Phillips, Florence Foster Jenkins

Jean Ann Black and Cydney Cornell, Hail, Caesar!

Eva von Bahr and Love Larson, A Man Called Ove (SWE)

Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo, Star Trek Beyond

Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini, and Christopher Nelson, Suicide Squad

Best Production Design

Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte, Arrival

Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh, Hail, Caesar!

Ryu Seong-hie, The Handmaiden

David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, La La Land

Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena, Passengers

Best Sound Editing

Sylvain Bellemare, Arrival

Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli, Deepwater Horizon

Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright, Hacksaw Ridge

Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood, Rogue One

Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman, Sully

Best Sound Mixing

Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye, Arrival

John Midgley, Tom Johnson, and Juan Peralta, Doctor Strange

Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, and Peter Grace, Hacksaw Ridge

Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, and Steve A. Morrow, La La Land

David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson, Rogue One

Best Visual Effects

Craig Hammeck, Jason Snell, Jason Billington, and Burt Dalton, Deepwater Horizon

Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli, and Paul Corbould, Doctor Strange

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon, The Jungle Book

Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean, and Brad Schiff, Kubo and the Two Strings

John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, and Neil Corbould, Rogue One

Best Documentary Short

Extremis (Netflix)

4.1 Miles, Greece (University of California, Berkeley/The New York Times)

Joe’s Violin (Lucky Two Productions)

Watani: My Homeland (ITN Productions)

The White Helmets (Netflix)

You can read my omnibus write-up for the nominees in Best Documentary Short Film here.

Best Live Action Short

Ennemis intérieurs, France (Qualia Films)

La Femme et le TGV, Switzerland (Arbel/ Jacques à Bâle Pictures)

Silent Nights, Denmark (M&M Productions)

Sing, Hungary (Meteor-Film)

Timecode, Spain (Juanjo Giménez Peña)

You can read my omnibus write-up for the nominees in Best Live Action Short Film here.

Best Animated Short

Blind Vaysha (National Film Board of Canada)

Borrowed Time (Quorum Films)

Pear Cider and Cigarettes (Massive Swerve Studios/Passion Pictures)

Pearl (Evil Eye Pictures/Google/Passion Pictures)

Piper (Pixar/Walt Disney)

You can read my omnibus write-up for the nominees in Best Animated Short Film here.

Academy Honorary Awards: Jackie Chan, Anne V. Coates, Lynn Stalmaster, and Frederick Wiseman

MULTIPLE NOMINEES (28) Twelve: La La Land Seven: Moonlight Six: Arrival Five: Our Little Sister Four: Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, O.J.: Made in America, The Red Turtle Three: Hail, Caesar!, The Handmaiden, Hell or High Water, Kubo and the Two Strings, Rogue One, The Salesman, Silence Two: Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hidden Figures, The Jungle Book, Loving, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Pearl, Sing Street, Sully, Toni Erdmann, Your Name

WINNERS 5 wins: La La Land 3 wins: Moonlight 2 wins: Fences, O.J.: Made in America 1 win: Elle, Ennemis intérieurs, 4.1 Miles, Hacksaw Ridge, The Handmaiden, Hell or High Water, Jackie, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, Our Little Sister, Piper The Red Turtle, Star Trek Beyond

17 winners from 25 categories. 47 feature-length films and 15 short films were represented.

#89th Academy Awards #Oscars #La La Land #Moonlight #31 Days of Oscar #Arrival #Our Little Sister #Fences #O.J.: Made in America #The Red Turtle #Hell or High Water #The Salesman #Toni Erdmann

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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Women Get a Spotlight, but No Prize Money, in New N.H.L. All-Star Event

The N.H.L. will introduce two new events at its All-Star skills competition on Friday in St. Louis. One involves its players attempting trick shots from an elevated platform in the stands. The other is a three-on-three exhibition featuring top women’s players, which, the league hopes, will be received as less of a novelty.

At a time when hockey participation among male Canadians is in decline, the N.H.L. hopes to capitalize on the rapid growth the game is experiencing among girls and women. According to U.S.A. Hockey data, participation in girls’ and women’s hockey in the United States has grown by 34 percent in the past decade, swelling in 2018-19 to more than 83,000 players. In Canada, that number was almost 87,000 in 2017-18, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Last year, Kendall Coyne Schofield, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2018 with the United States women’s national team, was a last-minute replacement for an N.H.L. player in the fastest skater competition: She finished seventh out of eight entrants. Her 14.346-second lap time was less than a second behind the winner, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid.

Last year, Brianna Decker, Coyne Schofield’s Olympic teammate, completed a demonstration of the premier passer event at the skills competition in an unofficial time that wound up being three seconds faster than the winning time, 1 minute 9 seconds, logged by Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. Fans used the #PayDecker hashtag on social media to express their furor over Decker’s not being eligible for the $25,000 prize. The hockey equipment manufacturer CCM eventually paid Decker an equivalent sum.

Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the N.H.L., said that after last year, the league sought to create an “even bigger platform for women during All-Star weekend.”

“Sometimes All-Star Games are challenged in creating something new, something special, something different, something that will generate interest,” Daly said. “The announcement of this event seems to have created a little buzz that is a real positive.”

Friday’s three-on-three event will not pay prize money to participants. Instead, the players will receive appearance fees, Daly said. The N.H.L. has also announced it will donate $100,000 to girls’ hockey organizations.

Daly said the donation would exceed the $30,000 an N.H.L. player could earn by winning a skills event. In Saturday’s All-Star Game, N.H.L. players will compete for a $1 million pot.

Nancy Lough, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies gender equity in sports, said the inclusion of women showed awareness. But, she added, having no prize money in addition to making them play an accelerated game was “clearly most in line with a corporate social responsibility goal of making fans feel good about the N.H.L. as opposed to actually advancing women’s hockey.”

The addition of women’s hockey at All-Star weekend comes in the wake of some male N.H.L. coaches and broadcasters having been fired or suspended in the past year for racist and sexist comments.

The three-on-three event will feature a running clock that covers two 10-minute periods and pits 20 total players — each team is composed of nine skaters and a goaltender — in a United States vs. Canada battle.

Daly said that selecting 20 players was “going to be tricky from the start” and that the N.H.L. leaned on recommendations from the Olympians Angela Ruggiero, Hayley Wickenheiser, Cammi Granato and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, supporters of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, a nonprofit advocacy group created last spring. Almost all of the participants in the event are members.

The addition of the women’s three-on-three event comes during the continuing player-led revolt against the National Women’s Hockey League, the only women’s pro league in North America. Members of the players’ association decided not to sign with the N.W.H.L. this season over concerns about operations and low wages. The N.W.H.L.’s highest announced salary is $15,000.

Currently, the N.H.L. selectively doles out cash to women’s hockey entities. It supplied $100,000 in financing to the N.W.H.L. this season, increasing the amount after its Canadian counterpart folded.

For years, the N.H.L. said it would not create a women’s league as long as other women’s leagues existed. Daly reiterated that there was no intention to create a women’s league under the N.H.L. umbrella with the N.W.H.L. still in operation.

With Friday’s showcase being played over an irregular time frame and sandwiched between competitions like hardest shot and target practice, the format has drawn criticism for being nothing more than a novelty act.

“There’s effort, but at the same time it’s so limited,” said Courtney Szto, a professor at the school of kinesiology and health studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “They have such a great opportunity to generate a connective relationship even if they don’t want to fund a league, something that’s expected and normal, but it’s always these one-offs, random isolated events.”

Szto, who writes for the website Hockey in Society, referenced a women’s exhibition game held four years ago at the N.H.L.’s annual Winter Classic that had no live television coverage and was played with a running clock. The N.H.L. has not sponsored a similar event since.

“My take on the N.H.L. involvement is, these women deserve everything the N.H.L. has available to them resource-wise,” Szto said. “I don’t think the N.H.L. deserves one lick of their attention, though.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/sport/women-get-a-spotlight-but-no-prize-money-in-new-n-h-l-all-star-event/

#Sport

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thegloober · 6 years ago

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Future Hall of Famer, Olympic hero and all-time great Caroline Ouellette announces retirement

Caroline Ouellette, one of the most decorated women’s players of all-time and a surefire Hall of Famer, has ended her playing career to focus on family and a move behind the bench.

If Caroline Ouellette were a man, news of her retirement would be leading every sportscast in Canada. There would have been a live news conference carried by all the networks, along with non-stop reflections and analysis of her career. It’s a shame that this might be the first you’re reading about one of the all-time greatest players in the history of the game announcing that she is hanging up her skates.

Instead, Ouellette announced her retirement by penning an open letter to her daughter, Liv, whom she shares with her spouse, former American hockey great Julie Chu. Hockey Canada also made the announcement, which received scant attention in the mainstream hockey media. Of course, it doesn’t help that women’s hockey is generally negligent in promoting their own players. There was not a single mention of Ouellette’s retirement on the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s website and, shockingly, only a regurgitation of tweets from Radio-Canada Sports, the Montreal Canadiens’ Foundation and Hockey Canada on the website of the Canadiennes de Montreal, the CWHL franchise for which Ouellette had played the past seven seasons.

But make no mistake. This is a huge deal. Think Mark Messier when it comes to leadership, Scott Niedermayer when it comes to winning championships. Ouellette is one of the game’s all-time great players, not just one of the all-time great women players, and is an absolute no-brainer to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021, one year after Hayley Wickenheiser makes her way into the shrine. (Chu is also eligible for induction herself in 2020 and when she eventually gets in, that would make Ouellette and Chu the only spouses inducted in the players’ category.)

The team accomplishments alone are absolutely staggering for Ouellette. In fact, Ouellette is the only Canadian in any sport to enter four Olympic events and win gold in all four of them, the last one of which she captained Canada to the gold medal. Add to that six World Women’s championship gold medals, five titles in the National/Canadian Women’s Hockey League, one NCAA title and five World Championship silver medals. She might also be the first player in history to win a title in the midst of a pregnancy, something she did when she and Chu won the Clarkson Cup with the Canadiennes in 2017.

And the individual accomplishments are just as impressive. She was twice named the most valuable player in the CWHL and won one scoring title. Three times in the World Championships she was named one of Canada’s top three players and scored at least a point-per-game at every level of competition over the course of her career. In her combined N/CWHL career, she scored 482 points in just 260 games and in three years with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, she averaged 2.36 points per game.

Hall of Famer Cammi Granato recalled first seeing Ouellette play as a teenager when her Concordia University team played against Ouellette’s team in the mid-1990s. And then as a regular opponent in international competition, she watched Ouellette develop into and offensive star and a leader for the Canadian program. “She was shy and she was a good player, but over the years when she grew into her confidence, she was a real threat,” Granato said. “I liked the way she played. She played with a lot of class. She definitely used her size to her advantage, but as far as offensively, at one point she just came into her own and just stayed there.”

Former Team Canada teammate Jennifer Botterill said the key to much of Ouellette’s success was the product of two things – her love for the game and her ability to adapt. “Initially, when she first came onto the scene, everybody thought of her as this power forward,” Botterill said. “But she continued to evolve and develop her game. I think she always respected the evolution of the game and was always finding new ways to get better and find ways to be dominant every time she played. Playing against her in the CWHL and playing with her on Team Canada, I thought she always elevated the people around her. I think (Canadian star) Marie-Philip (Poulin) learned a lot from her.”

Along with motherhood, Ouellette will continue to run the hockey schools with Chu and plans to get more involved in coaching. She has served at different times as an assistant coach at Minnesota-Duluth, the Canadian under-18 team and Concordia University. Her former teammate has no doubt Ouellette has the tools to be as successful as a coach as she was a player. “I think she has the potential for a very long and successful career on the coaching side,” Botterill said. “She will be excellent.”

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Source: https://bloghyped.com/future-hall-of-famer-olympic-hero-and-all-time-great-caroline-ouellette-announces-retirement/

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statenislandmovingcompany-blog · 6 years ago

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Guidelines For Rapid Products In Hunterdon Sleep Center Flemington?

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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Winter Olympics 2018 - US men's hockey team remember when Jim Johannson gave them the news

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/winter-olympics-2018-us-mens-hockey-team-remember-when-jim-johannson-gave-them-the-news/

Winter Olympics 2018 - US men's hockey team remember when Jim Johannson gave them the news

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — In front of an empty stall inside the United States men’s locker room at the Gangneung Hockey Center sits a chair with a blue jersey draped over it. Ironed in bright white lettering is the No. 18 and the name JOHANNSON. For the 25 players brought together from all across the world to represent Team USA, it’s a constant reminder that their architect isn’t here.

Jim Johannson, the executive director of USA Hockey, died in his sleep at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Jan. 21. He was 53. It was Johannson, along with head coach Tony Granato, who built this squad, the first U.S. team since 1994 without current NHL players.

For all but the biggest of hockey fans, it’s a roster of unknowns, a twisted mix of aging veterans searching for one last moment of hockey glory and promising youngsters barely old enough to drink. But they all share one thing in common: They were brought together by that one man, through one phone call. When the moment came, some of them cried, some fell over, most were speechless. It never would have been like this with NHL players, which is what made the moment so special.

Here are a few stories about when these players’ lives were forever changed, when they received that call from the same man — Jim Johannson.

The 2018 men’s Olympic hockey tournament gets underway Wednesday, but you might not recognize too many names on the Pyeongchang ice. Chris Peters looks at players to watch, including some intriguing prospects.

Do Jordan Greenway and the NHL-less U.S. men have enough firepower to fend off Canada, Finland and OAR? And will the American women gain revenge on their archrival and strike gold for the first time since 1988? Here’s who will take home the hardware.

Greenway is big, really big. The Americans hope to use his size to create havoc around the net in these Olympics. After the Olympics? His hockey future is bright.

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Chad Kolarik, 32, forward

Current club: Adler Mannheim of the DEL (Germany) Hometown: Abbington, Pennsylvania NHL experience: Six games Last NHL game: 2011

“I was in my apartment in Mannheim. I had missed the call, but JJ texted me and asked me to call him back when I had a second. As soon as you see that message, you drop everything. First thing he tells me is that this has been one of the greatest days in his career at USA Hockey. At that point, you don’t know what he’s going to say. He tells me, ‘You’ve been selected to play for the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team.’ I immediately dropped to my knees. I literally fell down, and just started tearing up. My wife was in the kitchen. As soon as I dropped to my knees and started crying, she knew. It was just amazing. First thing I did was called my mom. Dad was at work. But I talked to him later and it was cool to hear his voice. He’s not an emotional guy, but you could tell — he was proud.”

Noah Welch, 35, defenseman

Current club: Vaxjo Lakers, Swedish League (Sweden) Hometown: Brighton, Massachusetts NHL experience: 75 games Last NHL game: 2011

“I was suspended for that night, so I was outside building a snowman with my family in Sweden. We were told we’d find out in late December, but this call came earlier. It was a number I didn’t know. I honestly thought it was the IRS actually after me for taxes or something. I don’t know why, but I’ve gotten audited three years in a row. I didn’t want to answer it, but for some reason, I did. And it was Jim Johannson. He says to me, ‘How is your day going?’ As soon as he said that, I started smiling, because I don’t think you would follow that up with, ‘You didn’t make the team.’ … But in my head I’m thinking, ‘Get on with it.’ And then he just said, ‘I wanted to call and tell you that you made the team.’

“I couldn’t talk. I was shocked. I just didn’t know what to say. I think I said, ‘Thank you.’ I hope I said thank you. My wife picked up on it. She knew it was JJ. She saw the look on my face. I just didn’t know what to say, and then I hung up and my wife ran over and tackled me on the snow. I remember she said, ‘Dad just made the Olympics!’ and then my son jumped on me and there was this big pile, right there in the snow in Sweden. I’ll never ever forget it.”

Jim Slater, 35, forward

Current club: HC Fribourg-Gotteron of the National League (Switzerland) Hometown: Lapeer, Michigan NHL experience: 584 games Last NHL game: 2015

“I was back home in Michigan. I play in Switzerland and we had five days off, so I came home because my wife and daughter still live in Michigan. I had my Swiss phone and I couldn’t get any phone calls, but I could receive text messages. And there was a message from Jimmy Johannson saying to give him a call. It said it was going to be a good call. So, I grabbed my wife’s phone right away, made the call and he just said, ‘Slates, you’re on the Olympic team.’ We talked for about five minutes. I told him how thankful and grateful I was. Then I got off the phone and told my wife. We started jumping up and down, my 3-year-old daughter got into it. Right away, we called my parents, and I let my daughter break the news to my them. To hear her tell my parents, ‘My daddy is going to be an Olympian,’ was really the most special thing. It’s something she probably won’t remember, but something I’ll always take with me. That’s right up there with my first NHL game, being drafted, my first NHL goal. It’s just so special.”

Bobby Butler, 30, forward

Bobby Butler’s surprise announcement to his father went viral before the Winter Olympics. Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports

Current club: Milwaukee Admirals, AHL Hometown: Marlborough, Massachusetts NHL experience: 130 games Last NHL game: 2014

“I was in Milwaukee. On Dec. 27, I had a game. Coach Granato came to watch me play. He said afterward he’d let me know in the next few days. So, the next day, I’m in the locker room; I’m there for early training, just hanging out. I’ve got my Apple Watch on, and it starts buzzing. I look down and it’s Jim Johannson, so I book it to my cell phone probably 50 feet away. … He says, ‘I want you to know that when we announce the team on Jan. 1, you’re going to be one of the Olympians who is announced.’

“Immediately, I got the chills. I mean, I still get them every time I tell the story or even think about that moment. Then I FaceTime’d my wife. I told her I was an Olympian. She’s like, ‘What did you say?’ I told her, ‘You heard me.’ And she goes, ‘I want to hear you say it again.’ So I did, and she was so proud of me. I just thanked her for letting me be a big kid and play hockey for a living.

“From there, I called my dad and told him to come to practice. He had flown in the previous afternoon. … He wanted to be there either way, whether I made the team or I didn’t. So, then he came to practice and I surprised him. You probably saw the video. From there, the moment my wife hung up the phone, she called and got us a babysitter. That night, we went out to dinner — me, my wife, my dad and her parents. It was pretty special.”

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Bobby Butler of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals shares the news with his father that he was named to the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

David Leggio, 33, goaltender

Current club: EHC Red Bull Munchen, DEL (Germany) Hometown: Williamsville, New York NHL experience: None.

“I was in the park across the street from my apartment [in Munich]. I was there with my dog and my son. I was hoping that was the day they were going to call. [U.S. assistant coach] Keith Allain [called first]. He called and was making some small talk, how’s the weather, this and that. And I’m like, please tell me what’s going to happen! So he told me and the emotion just goes through you.

“My son is 1½ and I just picked him up and ran home. My wife was just coming home from the store. I tried to beat her upstairs, but we got in the elevator at the same time, so we went upstairs and then I told her. Then, Jim called later — he was so happy for me. It’s hard to think about it now. He was just such an awesome guy. One of the best you’ll ever meet in hockey. And you think about how much he loved telling everybody and making those calls. You don’t need any additional motivation in the Olympics, but he’s the reason we’re all here. We want to do this for him and his family. We will honor his legacy.”

Ryan Donato, 21, center

Current club: Harvard University Hometown: Scituate, Massachusetts NHL experience: None.

“I was at school, in the library with one of my teammates studying for an exam. I got the call from Jim, so I answer it and I sort of whispered, ‘Can you just wait a second? I’m in the library.’ He starts to laugh. So, I go outside and he just said, ‘We selected you for the team.’ All my emotions just sort of came into one. My breath was taken away. Literally taken away. I told him thank you. I went back into the library and my buddy goes, ‘Was that the call I think it was?’ I told him it was, but that he couldn’t tell anyone anything. Then I called my mom and dad and told them. I thanked them for everything.”

Brian Gionta won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003. David E. Klutho-USA TODAY Sports

Hometown: Rochester, New York NHL Experience: 1,006 games Last NHL game: 2017

“I was at home, with my wife. We were in the kitchen. JJ calls and told me he not only wanted me to be part of the team, but he also wanted me to be the captain. It was a pretty special moment. My wife knew. She knew from caller ID who was calling. And she could tell by my reaction that I was on the team. But then I had the added bonus of being able to tell her I was captain. It was pretty special for both of us.”

James Wisniewski, 33, defenseman

Current club: Kassel Huskies DEL2 (Germany) Hometown: Canton, Michigan NHL experience: 552 games Last NHL game: 2015

“I was at home in Castle, Germany. It was three days after Christmas. My family was in town visiting, they were still fighting jet lag. It was probably 9:30 in the morning. I’m lying in bed with my two daughters and my wife next to me. At some point, I look at my phone and I see I have a missed call and a text message from Jim Johannson. The message said, ‘Call me. It’s going to be a fun one.’ So I’m like, ‘Whoa.’

“I immediately start getting all sorts of anxiety. The shakes. The sweats. I got a little emotional. I wake my wife up and show her the text and she goes, ‘Are you s—-ing me?’ Then I woke my dad up. He jumps out of bed, ‘Are you serious?’ We got up, poured some coffee. I was nervous to call JJ back. I don’t know why. Eventually, I called him, we make small talk. He tells me he’s having the time of his life making these phone calls. And then, he says, ‘I’d like you to know you made the cut and you’ll be representing our country in 2018.’ Total silence. And he’s like, ‘Are you there?’ I told him it meant so much coming from him. From there, well, it was time to celebrate. We didn’t have a game the next day, or the day after, so let’s just say I had a good time, a really good time.”

Matt Gilroy, 33, defenseman

Current club: Jokerit, KHL (Finland) Hometown: Bellmore, New York NHL experience: 225 games Last NHL game: Last NHL game: 2014

“I was in Northern Finland. We had a few days off, and my wife was in town, so we went to the North Pole, basically. No service, the phone wasn’t really working. We were sitting at a restaurant and I looked down at my phone and it was JJ calling. At that time, I knew if I got that call, I knew what it was going to be about. I stepped away and picked it up, talked to him and the first thing he brought up was, ‘Matty, this has been the best day in USA Hockey for me, calling you guys. Congratulations. you’re an Olympian.’ And you talk about excitement? Just all the emotions racing through you. How am I going to get there? When does it start? I want to go now! I was with my wife, which was special. I walked back to my wife and she kept looking back at me like, ‘What’s going on?’ I gave her the blank face and then I told her, ‘I’m going to the Olympics.'”

Bobby Sanguinetti, 29, defenseman

Current club: HC Lugano, National League (Switzerland) Hometown: Trenton, New Jersey NHL experience: NHL experience: 45 games Last NHL game: Last NHL game: 2013

“I was home. I had just gotten up from a pregame nap, so I missed the original call. Jim texted me, asking me to give him a call back when I can. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I quickly called him right back. I didn’t waste any time. Just to hear him say I made the team was an incredible feeling. You can’t describe it. I don’t even know what I said after that. You try not to get too emotional or too excited on the phone. You want to hold it together. And then you hang up and everything comes out of you. My wife was out with my son, so I immediately called her and told her the news. Then I called my parents. Two special phone calls I’ll never forget.”

Ryan Zapolski, 31, goaltender

Ryan Zapolski leads the goaltending efforts for Team USA in Pyeongchang. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Current club: Jokerit (KHL), Finland Hometown: Erie, Pennsylvania NHL experience: None

“I was in my apartment in Helsinki. My wife and I were getting ready for dinner when he called. I saw it was him and took the call in the bedroom. He just congratulated me and said how honored he was to be making these calls. It was really special. I probably said thank you 10 or 15 times. It was emotional. I felt like I was going to cry. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. There were just all these emotions.; you don’t know how to process it. Then I came out of the bedroom and told my wife. I gave her a nice hug. Something I’ll never forget.”

Brian O’Neill, 29, center

Current club: Jokerit (KHL), Finland Hometown: Yardley, Pennsylvania NHL experience: 22 games Last NHL game: 2016

“I was actually at a team event at a casino in Helsinki. It’s about 2 p.m. and I have a missed call. I knew it was his number. My heart just sank. I assumed it was good, but you don’t know. I was sitting next to Zapolski. He already got a call. Jim says, ‘Brian, you’re on the Olympic team.’ When you hear those words, you just go into shock. You never imagine that call and so you don’t know what to do. First thing I did was call my dad. He was taken aback. And then I got back to the poker tournament. We did pretty well. I had quite the day.”

Will Borgen, 21, defenseman

Current club: St. Cloud State University Hometown: Moorhead, Minnesota

“I was at home in Moorhead. It was Christmas break, so I was home for a bit. Bob Motzko, who coached world juniors with Jimmy, they both called me on my way home from skating with the local high school kids. I pick up the phone and Bob is basically laughing to himself. They told me right away. ‘You made it.’ I freaked out. I called my dad. I told my mom and my brothers and sisters who were out of town. That night I went out with my friends. I couldn’t tell them. I knew they couldn’t keep the secret, but I was celebrating in my head.”

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winterolympicicehockey-blog · 7 years ago

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FREE TV! Winter Olympic 2018 Ice Hockey Live Streaming online

Watch Winter Olympic 2018 Ice Hockey Live TV>>>>

South Korea is preparing to host its first Winter Olympics when the 2018 edition gets underway in PyeongChang in February.The Games will be made up of 15 sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding, and speed skating. Curling and ski jumping get going before the opening ceremony in PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on 9 February. The Games wrap up on 25 February with the women's curling gold medal match and the men's ice hockey gold medal match.The two Koreas will field a combined women's ice hockey team and march together under one flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South, Seoul said on Wednesday, after a new round of talks amid a thaw in cross-border ties.North and South Korea have been talking since last week - for the first time in more than two years - about the Olympics, offering a respite from a months-long standoff over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear and missile programmes, although Japan urged caution over the North's "charm offensive".The two Koreas will compete as a unified team in the Olympics for the first time, though they have joined forces at other international sports events before.North Korea will send a delegation of more than 400, including 230 cheerleaders, 140 artists and 30 Taekwondo players for a demonstration, a joint press statement released by Seoul's unification ministry said, adding the precise number of athletes will be hammered out after discussions with the IOC.Prior to the Games, the sides will carry out joint training for skiers at the North's Masik Pass resort and a cultural event at the Mount Kumgang resort, for which Seoul officials plan to visit the sites next week.The delegation is expected to begin arriving in South Korea on Jan. 25, the statement said.The North will separately send a 150-strong delegation to the Paralympics. Twenty nations meeting in the Canadian city of Vancouver agreed on Tuesday to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the North it could trigger a military response if it did not choose dialogue.Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the world should not be naive about North Korea's "charm offensive" over the Olympics."It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea," Kono said. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working."North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refused to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States in spite of increasingly severe U.N. sanctions, raising fears of a new war on the Korean peninsula. The North has fired test-fired missiles over Japan.In state media this week, the North warned the South of spoiling inter-Korean ties by insisting it gives up its nuclear weapons."We will work actively to improve North-South Korean relations but will not stand still to actions that are against unification," the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

Winter Olympic 2018 predictions,news

The South's Unification Ministry said the two sides exchanged opinions on several issues, including the size of the North Korean athletics team and joint cultural events.Seoul has proposed a joint ice hockey team, which triggered an angry response from athletes in the South suddenly being told they may have to play alongside total strangers."I don't know if it will happen, but a joint team will be a good opportunity for ice hockey to shed its sorrow as a less-preferred sport as many Koreans will take interest," South Korean President Moon Jae-in told players during a visit to a training centre.The number of petitions to the presidential Blue House's website opposing a unified team climbed to more than 100 this week, with the most popular petition gaining more than 11,000 votes."This isn't the same as gluing a broken plate together," said one of the signers.Paik Hak-soon, the director of the Centre for North Korean studies at Sejong Institute in South Korea, said North Korea was using the cheering squad to draw attention to its apparent cooperative spirit."Seeing good results in competitions thanks to the cheering squad would enable the North Koreans to say they contributed to a successful Olympics and the South Korean government would likely agree," said Paik."In the end, they are using this old tactic to get to Washington through Seoul."On Tuesday, officials from North and South agreed a 140-person North Korean orchestra would perform in South Korea during the Games. Pyongyang is also planning to send a large delegation in addition to the athletes and orchestra.Reclusive North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the South, Japan and their major ally, the United States.China, which did not attend the Vancouver meeting, said on Wednesday the gathering showed a Cold War mentality and would only undermine a settlement of the North Korea problem. The International Ice Hockey Federation has expressed support for the creation of a unified inter-Korean women's ice hockey team for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a US broadcaster reported Friday.The two Koreas agreed at their working-level talks on Wednesday to field the joint squad at the Feb. 9-25 Games. The International Olympic Committee will review the agreement and determine the size of the unified roster on Saturday. South Korea hopes the roster will be expanded to as many as 35 from the already-set 22, after adding some North Korean players. The world's ice hockey governing body said that the joint team positively reflects an Olympic ideal of realizing social development and peace through sports, particularly considering the division of the Korean Peninsula, Voice of America said, citing an e-mail from the organization.But the IIHF refused to comment on the expansion of the roster, saying it will announce its stance on the issue after the IOC makes its final decision, according to the broadcaster.Meanwhile, the IOC said in an e-mail the same day that there are many things to review in relation to the inter-Korean proposal, as it will have effect on other national Olympic committees and athletes, the broadcaster said.On Wednesday, Janos Kick, head of communications for the Switzerland Ice Hockey Federation, told Yonhap News Agency, "In terms of sports and for all teams who invest a lot of money and resources in their women's teams, we are not in favor of this (a unified Korea team) since it's not fair and distorts competition."

Sixth-ranked Switzerland is 22nd-ranked South Korea's first opponent in Group B, which also includes Sweden and Japan. (Yonhap)With no participation from the National Hockey League and a women’s team vying for gold, Team USA announced its rosters for its ice hockey teams competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics.The highly anticipated rosters were announced Monday at an intermission during the 2018 Winter Classic and come ahead of the first Winter Olympics the NHL has not participated in since 1994. That means the men’s ice hockey team competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea is a combination of former NHL players, minor league players and college athletes.“Obviously from a selection process it’s been a battle for us on all the players we have available to us,” said Tony Granato, the men’s team coach said Monday.He continued, “I think we’ve put together an outstanding group of players that will represent us well come February and give us a great chance to do really well and compete for a medal.”The men’s team captain is Brian Gionta, who played for the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL until 2017, when he moved to an American Hockey League club and could therefore play for Team USA. Gionta was the U.S.’s top scorer in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, where the U.S. lost in the quarterfinals.On the women’s side, many of Team USA’s key players like Brianna Decker and Meghan Duggan will return with the goal of earning women’s ice hockey first gold medal in 20 years. While Team USA has medaled every year since women’s ice hockey was added as an Olympic sport in 1998, the U.S. has fallen repeatedly to Canada in the battle for gold.In 2014, Team USA lost to Canada in the final round 3-2, earning silver.“We had to figure out what we were made of, what we wanted to accomplish over these last couple of years, and really put ourselves in a position to achieve the goal we want to achieve as a program and as a team and as a country going into this next Olympics,” Duggan said Monday.“We’re excited,” she added. “We’ve got the right group.”USA Hockey announced today the rosters for its 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Teams and 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team during the second intermission of the NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field in New York City.“We’re excited about all three of our teams and the chance to compete for gold,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “There’s no bigger stage than the Olympics and Paralympics and I know our teams will represent our country extremely well in PyeongChang."The men’s roster includes 15 players with NHL experience, led by Brian Gionta (Rochester, N.Y.), who will serve as team captain of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Gionta has played 1,006 regular-season games and captained both the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres in his career. He is the lone player on the U.S. roster with Olympic experience, having played for Team USA in 2006.“We really like our roster,” said Jim Johannson, general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “It’s a group that brings versatility and experience and includes players who have a lot of passion about representing our country.”The U.S. has won 11 medals in the Olympic Winter Games, including gold in 1960 and 1980.The opening game for the U.S. men in the in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games is set for Feb. 14 against Slovenia.The women’s roster features 23 players, including 10 returning Olympians and six two-time Olympians (2010, 2014) in Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.), captain Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.), Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.), Monique Lamoureux-Morando (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.“Today we took another step closer towards achieving our ultimate goal, which is to bring home a gold medal from South Korea,” said Reagan Carey, general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team and also the director of women’s hockey for USA Hockey, “We’ve had an exceptional four months in Wesley Chapel leading up to this point and are confident that these 23 women give our country the best opportunity to reach the top of the podium in February.”The U.S. has medaled in all five Olympic Winter Games since women’s ice hockey was introduced in 1998, including gold in that inaugural year.The U.S. women open Olympic play on Feb. 11 against Finland.The 17-player sled roster includes 10 players with Paralympic experience, led by captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.), alternate captains Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) and Nikko Landeros (Johnstown, Colo.) and goaltender Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.). All four were members of the gold medal-winning 2014 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team.As a whole, this team has all the ingredients to be successful,” said Dan Brennan, director of sled hockey for USA Hockey and general manager of the 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. “We’re going to be a fast-paced, puck-moving team that is led by a great core of veterans who knows what it takes to win.”

The U.S. has medaled in four of the five Paralympic Winters Games it has competed in, with gold medals in 2014, 2010, and 2002 and a bronze medal in 2006.The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games begin March 9 in PyeongChang, South Korea.Jim Johannson, the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team and a two-time Olympian, has died, USA Hockey said on Sunday. He was 53.The assistant executive director of hockey operations with USA Hockey, Johannson was part of the management team for every Olympic Games since 2002 and served on the U.S. staff for 18 world championship teams.In building the teams that achieved so much success for USA Hockey, Jim Johannson had a sharp eye for talent, a strong sense of chemistry and a relentless pursuit of excellence," National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement."The NHL family's respect for Jim's contributions to hockey, at all levels, is exceeded only by our shock and sorrow over his sudden passing."Johannson died in his sleep early on Sunday morning at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Hockey said."He was so compassionate and as loyal a friend as you could have," said Tony Granato, who will coach the U.S. team at next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "He was the ultimate team mate."Johannson twice played for the U.S. in the Winter Olympic Games (1988 and 1992) and was a member of the American team at the 1992 world championship.We are beyond shocked and profoundly saddened,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “As accomplished as Jim was in hockey, he was the absolute best, most humble, kind and caring person you could ever hope to meet."Jim Johannson, general manager of the United States Olympic men's hockey team, has died unexpectedly, it was announced today.The 53-year-old Johannson was due to lead the US team at Pyeongchang 2018 after helping select the team.He died in his sleep this morning. USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher claimed they are "beyond shocked and profoundly saddened" by the news. "As accomplished as Jim was in hockey, he was the absolute best, most humble, kind and caring person you could ever hope to meet," Kelleher said."His impact on our sport and more importantly the people and players in our sport have been immeasurable. "Our condolences go out to his entire family, but especially to his loving wife Abby and their young daughter Ellie."Johannson had played for the US at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary and Albertville. We lost a true friend in Jim Johannson today," US coach and 1988 Olympic teammate Tony Granato said. "He was so compassionate and as loyal a friend as you could have. "He was the ultimate teammate."Johannson began working for USA Hockey in 2000 after spending five years as the general manager of the Twin Cities Vulcans in the United States Hockey League. He was promoted to assistant executive director of hockey operations in 2007, overseeing its teams preparations for international competition."We mourn the tragic and untimely loss of Jim Johannson, who has been one of the most prominent figures in American hockey for decades, both as a player and an administrator," Scott Blackmun, the chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, said. "He will be acutely missed at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games by the team he assembled, the international hockey community and the global Olympic family. "We offer our deepest condolences to his family - and all those who knew him - at this difficult time."The US is due to open its Olympic ice hockey campaign at Pyeongchang 2018 with a match against Slovenia on February 14. South Korea has proposed fielding a joint women’s ice hockey team with North Korea at next month’s Winter Olympics, days after Pyongyang agreed to send a large delegation to the Games.South Korea’s vice-minister for sport, Roh Tae-kang, said the two sides had discussed an inter-Korean ice hockey team during talks on Tuesday – the first high-level contact between the neighbours for more than two years.Japanese kayaker banned eight years for spiking rival's drink. They also discussed having athletes from both countries march together at the opening ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games, which begin on 9 February.North Korea has yet to respond to the joint-team proposal.Media reports said North and South Korean officials would continue their discussions on Olympic arrangements on Monday in Panmunjom.They will also attend a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne on 20 January to discuss the size of the North Korean delegation, the number of athletes and details such as where the North Korean flag should be displayed, Yonhap news agency said.It would not be the first time the two Koreas have fielded joint teams. In 1991, they joined forces at the World Table Tennis championships and the football under-20 World Cup. But they have never fielded a joint team at a multi-discipline sports event such as the Olympics.

Roh said he would seek IOC support for the ice hockey proposal and hoped other countries taking part in the competition would give a unified Korean team their blessing.He added that an all-Korea ice hockey team should not force any South Korean players to lose their place in the existing squad to accommodate their North Korean teammates.Instead, the South Korean authorities are expected to seek permission to expand the size of its squad from the existing 23 players to 35.Hopes of North Korean participation in Pyeongchang rose after the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said on New Year’s Day he was willing to discuss sending athletes.At last week’s inter-Korean talks, the North agreed to send a delegation comprising athletes, officials, journalists and members of the country’s all-female cheerleading troupe.It isn’t clear which North Korean athletes will take advantage of wildcard entries reportedly under consideration by the IOC.The figure skating pair Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik were the only North Korean athletes to qualify but missed the deadline to register for their event.Seoul has no plans to push for a joint Korean team in sports other than women's hockey at the upcoming Winter Olympics, a sports ministry official said Monday.The official, on the condition of anonymity, rejected media reports on the government's hopes for a unified Korean team in figure skating's team event and even in bobsleigh at the PyeongChang Winter Games."We've never considered the idea in those two sports, and we never will," the official said.Earlier this month, Choi Moon-soon, governor of Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang is located, proposed having North Korean skaters alongside South Koreans in figure skating's team event. The North Korean pairs duo of Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik, who qualified for the Olympics but missed a deadline to confirm their participation in PyeongChang, were the logical choice. But their participation in the team event would have to come at the expense of a South Korean pairs team, Kim Kyu-eun and Kam Kang-chan.There were reports of a joint Korean training in bobsleigh, but it was also shot down.Instead, South Korea is pursuing a unified Korean team in women's hockey. It made the proposal during high-level inter-Korean talks last Tuesday, but North Korea didn't immediately respond to it. The proposal was only revealed last Friday.The two Koreas are expected to meet sometime this week on further working-level talks on North Korea's participation in PyeongChang 2018, the first Winter Olympics to take place in South Korea.Separately, the International Olympic Committee has scheduled a four-party meeting for Saturday at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with representatives from PyeongChang's Olympic organizing committee and the two Koreas' respective national Olympic committees. IOC President Thomas Bach will chair the meeting, which will discuss the North's participation and the joint team in women's hockey.South Korea is seeking cooperation from both the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation to expand its roster from 23 to more than 30, so that South Korean players won't lose their spots.Even if South Korea gets its wish and adds a few North Korean players to the team without cutting any South Koreans, the situation may still force some South Korean players to sit out some games as healthy scratches, since only 22 players can be on the bench at once.It also remains to be seen whether South Korea's opponents in the group stage, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan, would agree to having one country carry extra players. (Yonhap)South Korea is looking into the possibility of a shared women’s ice hockey team with North Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics after talks between the two nations this week.North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that it will send a delegation of athletes to the Olympics, which take place in Pyeongchang next month, despite the two countries technically still being at war.During the talks, which are the first to take place between the North and South in more than two years, South Korea’s second vice-minister for tradition, sports activities and tourism brought up the possibility of combining the women’s ice hockey team.The offer has not been confirmed by North Korea officials yet, but they have announced that a delegation will be sent to compete at the Winter Olympics – including a ‘cheering squad’ – in what is seen as a major step forwards in improving relations between the two nations.An offer has also been made by the South to have both countries’ athletes walk into the Opening Ceremony together under a unified flag, although like the ice hockey proposal, a resolution has not yet been reached.The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place from February 9 to 25, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea.The host city was announced on July 6 2011 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), beating Munich (Germany) and Annecy (France). The 2018 Games will be South Korea's second Olympics and the Republic's first Winter Games after hosting the Summer Games in 1988. PyeongChang will also be the third Asian city to host the Winter Games after Japanese cities Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. A total of 90 teams have qualified at least one athlete to compete in this year's Winter Olympics, with 89 countries and the delegation from Russia taking part under the IOC flag. Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, and Singapore are also scheduled to make their Winter Olympics debut.With the official Olympics schedule being released late last year, it was revealed that the competition for the 2018 Winter Games will begin on Thursday, February 8 with mixed doubles curling and ski jumping events starting on this day. The opening ceremonies will be held on Friday, February 9 and the closing ceremonies on Sunday, February 25 after the traditional finale of the men's ice hockey final that will share the billing with curling and cross-country skiing.

Both opening and closing ceremonies are expected to be held PyeongChang Olympic Stadium which is a temporary structure with a capacity for 35,000 fans.Where are the Winter Olympics?The 2018 Winter Olympics will be hosted in PyeongChang in South Korea, a city 80 miles east of capital Seoul and 60 miles south of the Demilitarised Zone separating South and North Korea. This will be South Korea's second time hosting the Olympics after Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988.This Winter Olympics will see a total of 102 gold medal events, the most ever contested at an Olympic Winter Games.There are a total of 15 varied disciplines across the seven sports in the Winter Olympics competition that include traditional events like the bobsleigh, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboard and speed skating.Are there any new events for the 2018 Winter Olympics?The programme for PyeongChang 2018 includes six new events: snowboard big air (men's and women's), speed skating mass start (men's and women's), curling mixed doubles and the Alpine team event.The Winter Olympics schedule reveals that short track and speed skating sessions will take place in the evening, as well as the luge, ski jumping and biathlon which will occur under floodlights.All Alpine skiing competitions will be held in the day so that spectators are able to attend many events in one day and will be split between two venues. The speed events (downhill, Super-G and combined) will take place at the Jeongseong Alpine Centre and the technical events (giant slalom, slalom and the new team competition) at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre.What will the Winter Olympics medals look like?The PyeongChang 2018 medals have been created by designer Lee Suk-woo with a texture that resembles tree trunks, a symbol of the development of Korean culture and the work put into the Games themselves. The medals also feature diagonal lines and three-dimensional Korean alphabet consonants that stretch across the face. Overall, a total of 259 sets of medals have been cast for the Winter Olympics and the gold medal weighs the most at 586 grams.How to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics. PyeongChang 2018 will be broadcast on BBC TV, Eurosport and digital platforms in the UK and on NBC and online for those in the US. The time difference for South Korea is nine hours ahead of London and 14 hours ahead of New York. What is the mascot for the 2018 Winter Olympics?The 2018 Winter Olympics mascot is Soohorang, a white tiger, chosen because of the tiger's association with Korean mythology and culture and is a symbol of trust, strength and protection.Will North Korea be competing?Despite backlash, it was announced that North Korea would be sending a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games after officials met for high-level talks for the first time in two years. This delegation will include supporters, art performers, observers, a taekwondo demonstration team, journalists and athletes, who intend on marching with South Korea at the opening ceremony as they did in 2006. The talks between North and South Korea were held in the Demilitarised Zone, otherwise known as the Panmumjom 'peace village' and five senior officials from each side attended. This came after Kim Jong-un revealed he was considering sending a North Korean team to the Olympics this year and the talks were scheduled after the US and South Korea agreed to delay their joint military exercises until after PyeongChang 2018. Will Russia be competing?In February Russia was banned from taking part in the Winter Olympics due to 'systematic manipulation' of anti-doping rules, according to the IOC. However, Russian athletes who can provide evidence that they are clean, will be 'invited' and will compete under the name 'Olympic Athlete from Russia* (OAR).Which British athletes are competing?Team Great Britain are expected to bring back more medals (one gold, one silver and two bronze) than they did from the Sochi 2014 Games. With short track speed skater Elise Christie winning three gold medals and one bronze at the 2017 World Championships, she could become the first British athlete to win more than one medal at a Winter Games.Lizzy Yarnold could become the first British athlete to defend a Winter Olympic title after her gold medal win in Sochi, while freestyle skiers James Woods and Isabel Atkin have the potential to win Britain's first ever medals on skis. Katie Ormerod and Billy Morgan could win medals for snowboarding as well as the Team GB women's curling team, led by Eve Muirhead, that won world bronze last year.Which US athletes are competing?

Team USA snowboarder Jamie Anderson stole the show at Sochi 2014 where she earned a gold medal in the slopestyle snowboarding event and Kelly Clark will also return, renowned as one of the most celebrated American snowboarders in history. Nathan Chen is also one to watch after becoming the first male figure skater to ever land five quadruple jumps in a single performance, in addition to skater Adam Rippon, who has qualified for the first time this year.Which Australian athletes are competing?Snowboarder Jarryd Hughes will be returning to the Winter Olympics this year after ranking number two on the FIS World Cup Ranking, but finishing in 17th place at Sochi 2014.Matilda Friend will be joining her ice dance partner William Badaoui to realise their Olympic dreams and skier Britt Cox, the youngest athlete at the 2010 Games at age 15, will be the one to beat at PyeongChang 2018.Where and when did the first Winter Games take place?PyeongChang 2018 will be the 23rd Winter Olympics. The first ever Winter Games took place in 1924 in Chamonix, France after the IOC decided that there should be a separate 'International Winter Sports Week'. The Games were a success with more than 250 athletes from 16 nations competing in the five sports: bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing and skating.Where will future Olympic Games be held?After the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Summer Games will be held in Tokyo in 2020. The next Winter Games will be held in Beijing in 2022 and it has been decided that the next Summer Olympics will be in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.Switzerland — The 22 North Korean athletes now invited to compete at the Winter Olympics next month are unlikely to bring home any medals across the border from South Korea.Of all the athletes given late entries in five sports, only the figure skating pair met the qualifying standard on merit.North Korea’s wait for a first Winter Games medal since 1992 is expected to continue.Still, the deal confirmed Saturday is a big win for the International Olympic Committee and officials north and south of the Korean border.Here is a look at the athletes heading to the Feb. 9-25 Pyeongchang Olympics:The most symbolic and emotive of the North Korean entries.The 23 players on South Korea’s roster will now have 12 North Koreans added three weeks before their opening game against Switzerland.South Korea never qualified for the tournament since women’s ice hockey joined the Winter Games program in 1998. It placed fourth at the 2017 Asian Winter Games.As the host nation, it got an automatic entry despite being the No. 22-ranked nation in an 8-team lineup where No. 9 Japan is the next lowest-ranked.North Korea is currently No. 25, and has been promised to have at least three players ready for action in a 22-player active roster for each game.South Korea’s coach, Sarah Murray of Canada, will select the team, and be joined on her staff by one official from the North Korean Olympic body, the IOC said.Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik won bronze in pairs at the 2017 Asian Winter Games held last February. It was North Korea’s only medal at the 64-event competition in Sapporo, Japan.At their world championships debut weeks later, in Helsinki, Finland, they finished 15th ahead of pairs from traditionally strong skating nations.They skated to music by The Beatles and Tchaikovsky but declined to talk about their choices with reporters.Their Olympic qualification was confirmed in September by placing sixth at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany.However, the team did not enter the pair by the International Skating Union (ISU) deadline.They have been trained by Montreal-based coach Bruno Marcotte who conveys instructions via a translator.The IOC has granted places to two North Korean skaters in short track races.Jong Kwang Bom will enter the men’s 1,500 meters and Choe Un Song is in the 500. Neither has a formal biography in the athletes section of the ISU website.Two men and one woman from North Korea have been found places in giant slalom and slalom.They should blend in easily. Olympic races through the technical gates typically have around 100 starters and many come from countries never seen on the top-tier World Cup circuit. Recall that pop violinist Vanessa-Mae skied for Thailand in giant slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.The three North Koreans have little track record in racing, according to International Ski Federation (FIS) archives.Choe Myong Gwang is listed as age 28 with only two results in the last seven seasons. He raced in super-G races in Iran last March on the third-tier FIS level. He placed 10th of 11 and last of 11.Kang Song Il, aged 23, competed in junior races in Iran six years ago, the FIS archive says.The female athlete, Kim Ryon-hyang, is 25 and also raced at Darbandsar, Iran, last March. She finished eighth of 10 starters and 10th of 11.North Korea will have two racers in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle, and one in the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle. All raced in Apatity, Russia last April, according to FIS.Han Chun Gyong placed 90th of 92 finishers, and Pak Il Chol was 92nd. Both are listed as members of the Photaesan club.In a women’s race in Russia, 18-year-old Ri Yong-gum from the Jangjasan club was last of 83 finishers.Olympic ice hockey is a cornerstone event at any Winter Games.In 2018, the dynamic of the draw shifts without NHL players for the first time in 24 years, but for Hockey Canada, medal expectations at Pyeongchang in both the men's and women's tournaments are high as ever. The Games remain appointment viewing for diehard hockey fans and casual Olympic followers alike.The Canadian women begin play first Feb. 11 against the Olympic Athletes of Russia. The men follow Feb. 15 with their preliminary opener against Switzerland.A 14-hour time difference between South Korea and Eastern Standard Time means most hockey games are scheduled to be played during early morning hours in Canada, a slight inconvenience for viewers. A few exceptions include the much-anticipated rematch between the Canadian women and rival United States — an early schedule highlight. All of the Canadian men's games are scheduled to air live late in primetime.CBC partnered with Rogers and Bell to broadcast the 2018 Games, meaning Canadian cable and internet subscribers with access to CBC, Sportsnet and TSN will have access to watching every event live. CBC is expected to host most of the top-tier events, include men's and women's ice hockey.

Live broadcast times (all Eastern) are listed below and will be updated with additional viewing details when a final television schedule is announced.Soon after South Korea was awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics, Marissa Brandt sent an e-mail to the country’s ice hockey federation. If they needed talent for their fledgling team, she had just the ticket: her. Born in South Korea and adopted as an infant by Greg and Robin Brandt, Marissa grew up playing ice hockey with her younger sister Hannah in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and went on to play at nearby Gustavus Adolphus College.There was no answer to that email, but four years later Marissa did get a call. The coaches for South Korea’s team had heard of a Korean-born player in Minnesota. How about flying to Seoul for a tryout?“I didn’t know anybody in Korea. I don’t speak Korean, so it was very terrifying for me to go, by myself, 15-hour plane ride, not knowing anybody,” Marissa said after a recent exhibition game in Connecticut.“But I immediately found myself saying ‘yes’ over the phone.”Now the 25-year-old is preparing to wear South Korea’s colors when the 2018 Games begin in February, an assistant team captain no less.And if having one Olympian in the house were not enough for the Brandts, it turns out Marissa could face off against her sister in Pyeongchang.Hannah, born to the Brandts within months of Marissa’s arrival, has been named in the U.S. squad.“It’ll be cool just to be there with her, and for both of us to be making our first Olympics,” Hannah, 24, said in an interview in Boston.For their mom Robin? It’s understandably “overwhelming.”The Brandt sisters’ start on ice occurred as it often does for girls, on figure skates.“I didn’t envision either one of them going in the direction of hockey,” Robin Brandt said.Hannah was the first to make the switch, even though her first experience - a one-hour practice with a boys team when she was about five - left her in tears.“She wanted to be better than the boys, and she was determined to go back,” Robin said. Marissa, despite being a “lovely” figure skater in her mother’s eye, was soon keen to join her.Robin remembers sitting with Hannah when she was nine or 10 years old. “‘Mom,’ she goes, ‘how are they going to find me?'“‘What are you talking about?'” Robin asked.“‘How will they know where to find me for the Olympics?'” Robin recalled with a laugh in a recent telephone interview.“She had a tenacity. She’d be on the ice all the time, falling, but she’d be scoring from her stomach!”Indeed, Hannah can score. She won three Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association championships titles in four years at the University of Minnesota and tallied a school-record 115 goals and 170 assists.In 2014, she was shortlisted for the U.S. squad that went to the Olympics in Sochi but did not make the cut.Marissa’s playing career suffered a setback in high school as a result of back-to-back concussions which took nearly a year to recover fully from.“The career she might have had was probably affected by what happened,” Robin said.At Gustavus, a power at the collegiate Division III level, she switched from forward to defense, the position she plays now for South Korea.Hannah admires her sister for the risk she took to help promote ice hockey in South Korea.“For her to be able to help grow the game in Korea I think is pretty cool.” For Marissa, whose Korean name is Yoonjung Park, it has grown larger than that.“It’s bigger than just being there to win games,” said Marissa.”Being adopted and playing in Korea now, I hope that adoptees can be comfortable or want to embrace their birth countries.“For me growing up, I didn’t want that at all. It’s really been kind of life changing for me to be able to be in Korea and have that ‘Aha’ moment of being proud to be Korean. So it goes deeper than just hockey.”It remains a long shot that the Brandt sisters will face each other in Pyeongchang.The Americans are in a different group from their hosts in the preliminary round and making the knock-out round is a tall order for the hosts.Facing each other is also rare as they were always on the same team as children and played at colleges that never met.They played each other in an exhibition game last January, though, Hannah scoring two goals as her Minnesota Whitecaps came out on top 3-1.“I‘m like ‘Okay Hannah, just make me look good’,” Marissa recalled.“I think I had actually taken the puck from her because I know she wasn’t happy about it,” Hannah said. “I‘m like, ‘sorry’.”For Robin Brandt, the unlikelihood of their meeting at the Olympics is good news.“I think it’s a bit of a relief in one way, because who would you root for?” Robin asked. “Greg thinks he’d root for Korea because they’re the underdogs.While it’s widely assumed the Americans will be in the hunt for gold, Greg Brandt cautioned against being too quick to dismiss South Korea.It’s not impossible,” he said. “They are very tenacious. They never quit. They might surprise people there.”

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