News

ACA Insider: A rivalry develops in no time at all

Monday, 14 June 2010 17:00

It may be the off-season for Canada's alpine skiers and it may be a "hockey camp" intended to train for the coming alpine ski season, but it isn't taking long for the competitive instincts of these high-performance athletes to kick in.

"It's our only option, we need to crush them, walk on them, make them cry," said Trevor White (Calgary, AB) pumping up his teammate on Team Red Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC) before today's scrimmage. And, he might have been serious.

Like yesterday, today began with a light warm up before heading to the Centre Récréatif Rock Forest hockey rink in Magog, QC for some hockey drills and all important rematch of yesterday's scrimmage. Training began at 9 a.m. sharp.

Once the players stepped on the ice for the scrimmage, just like they do in the pros, both teams were warming up on their own side of the ice. Well, both teams except Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC), who reveled in antagonizing his opponents on The Red Team by roaming the entire ice.

Meanwhile, Manny's opponent had a few tricks of their own up their sleeve. For example, Guay tried to take a little pressure off his coaches by eaves dropping on the White Team's pre-game huddle.

The Red Team, including Robbie Dixon (Whistler, BC) and Louis-Pierre Hélie (Berthierville, QC), decided that short shifts would be key in order to repeat yesterday's 8 - 4 victory.

The White team's strategy was a little different. Having a strong defense was their secret and "... giving the puck to Manny so he can do his slap shot," White Team Coach and former NHL goaltender Felix Potvin joked, was pretty much the rest of their strategy.

Team Red, known also as "Team Awesome" according to Dixon, won once again today. This time by a final score of 6 - 3.

Serge Dugas (Magog, QC), men's speed team assistant coach, opened the scoring, sort of. Unfortunately for Dugas, a shot hit his knee deflecting into his own net to make the score 1-0 for the Red Team. He later on redeemed himself by scoring in the opponent's net.

"I'm in hip flexors hell right now," said a tired and out of breath Tyler Nella (Toronto, ON) after the scrimmage.

Men's speed team assistant coach Rewk Patten (Colorado, USA), who was a meber of Team White, said that this was just a warm-up for the playoffs coming in the next days. "I was a little bit rusty yesterday but I'm getting back on track faster then expected. This is a great way to improve my skills for when I'll play against the coaches in Europe during World Cup this season," Patten joked.

Watch the VIDEO!

RED TEAM:
Robbie Dixon - Whistler, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Erik Guay - Mont-Tremblant, QC (Mont-Tremblant)
Louis-Pierre Hélie - Berthierville, QC (Mont-Ste-Anne)
Trevor White - Calgary, AB (NATC - Fortress Alpine Ski Team)
Matt Price - Calgary, AB, ACA - Director Sport Science

WHITE TEAM:
Dustin Cook - Lac Sainte Marie, QC (Mont Ste-Marie, QC)
Bradford, ON (Toronto Ski Club)
Tyler Nella - Toronto, ON (Georgian Peaks)
Manuel Osborne-Paradis - Vancouver, BC (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Rewk Patten - Colorado, USA - ACA, Assistant Coach
Serge Dugas - Magog, QC - ACA, Assistant Coach

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) is the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada with more than 50,000 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteer members and over 200,000 supporting members. ACA manages the high performance programs for the athletes of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who represent Canada throughout the world. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit www.canski.org.

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• Sophie Pilon
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  Phone: 403-777-3650
  Job Title: Coordinator, PR and Media
  Entreprise/Association: Alpine Canada Alpin