Hockey USA was busy today as they were on television with all their representatives from the two Olympic hockey teams heading to Milan-Cortina in February. The Canadian men’s team was announced on Wednesday, so we already know which NHLers in Italy will wear the maple leaf. The women have yet to be announced, but there will once again be some familiar faces on the roster: Poulin, Fillier, Jenner, Clark, Fast and Desbiens are almost ready for the event. What may surprise you is that Canada is training a third Olympic team within its borders, but they won’t be wearing the maple leaf when the Olympics begin on February 5. Who is that other Olympic team preparing? CBC went to investigate in Montreal!Since the summer I have been avoiding most news channels and news shows for the simple reason that the world seems to be getting more and more ridiculous. I’m not here to comment on that, because it isn’t Dystopia blog in Canadabut skipping these shows also means I miss some good stories I should have seen. This is one of those stories, and credit goes to Sarah Leavitt and the CBC for producing this story about a team looking to shock the world.
This story appeared on the Dec. 15 episode of CBC’s The Nationalso I’m late posting it. However, it looks like the hosts have decided to settle in Canada to help them prepare for the Olympics! Here’s Sarah’s story about how the Italians invaded Canada!
You may recognize a few names in that segment, as former Canadian defender Laura Fortino has earned her dual citizenship and she will play for the Italians in Milano-Cortina. GM Danièle Sauvageau, who is not Italian, is responsible for the talent on the ice. They won’t be alone, however, as there are a handful of other high-end players who will don the Italian colors as they look to upset the world on home soil.
Former CWHL players Jacquie Pierri, Kayla Tutino and Kristin Della Rovere, current MoDo forward Justine Reyes, former NCAA defenseman Kristen Guerriero, former NCAA forward Amie Varano and reigning SDHL Defenseman of the Year Nadia Mattivi will all play for Italy, and it is highly likely that the goaltending tandem will be all U SPORTS talent, as will Guelph’s Martina Fedel and Calgary’s Gabriela Durante will play big minutes. Italy will not be small with this kind of talent.
Yes, they won’t be as deep as Canada or the US, but Italy blasted the current RSEQ-leading Concordia Stingers 10-0 on December 13, and they have a date with the basement house McGill Marlets on January 8 that should ensure the Azzurri continue to prepare for the Olympics as they look to make a bit of history.
I’m not suggesting they will win a medal, but the Turin Olympics were a disaster for the Italian women as they were in a group with Canada, Sweden and Russia. Canada posted a 16-0 scoreline, Sweden dropped an 11-0 result to Italy and Russia completed its three-match hammering with a 5-1 victory. Sabina Florian scored the only goal at 8:02 into the match against Russia, giving Italy a 1–0 lead, but that lead would evaporate 3:15 later. Overall, Italy were outscored 32-1 and outscored 158-22 in these three matches, but the excitement of being part of the women’s hockey event remained with that team.
That lone goal, scored on Tuesday, February 14, 2006, kicked off a two-minute Italian holiday as the crowd – some with no shirts and lots of body paint – stood up and sang “Volare” as they danced in the aisles. Florian’s goal was the first Italian women’s hockey goal in Olympic history, and the diminutive No. 8 would return to her job selling hockey equipment in Bolzano, Italy, a week later.
“Against Canada, people are singing Italy’s national anthem and I’m crying on the couch,” says Florian told Bill Briggs about it The Denver Post“because it’s so much fun.”
In 2021, 31-year-old defender Valentina Bettarini – who assisted on Florian’s power-play goal – said Martin Merk of the IIHF”It was amazing from day 1 to the end. Even now it doesn’t feel like 15 years ago, it feels like it was yesterday. One of the best memories that gives me goosebumps is when almost 9,000 people came to watch our match against Canada and even though we lost 16-0, they stood up and sang the Italian national anthem during the last minutes of the match. We lost to the best players in the world.”
This is the evolution of the game that speaks loudly about how the players and coaches are improving in countries building the future. Twenty years will have passed between Italy’s first appearance in women’s hockey and their second, but the talent level is exponentially better. Italy now has a professional women’s league. Players of Italian descent choose to help build this program rather than play for another country. Their top players are trained in top competitions around the world.
Again, I’m not betting on Italy being on the podium at Milan-Cortina, but Italy being in Group B with Germany, Japan, France and Sweden could be interesting if they can get an early win against France on February 5. Maybe they will surprise someone from Germany or Japan. If they win two games, there’s a good chance they’ll advance to the medal round, where anything can happen. After all, it was Belarus that shocked the world when it defeated Sweden in men’s hockey in 2002. No one has ever forgotten that Olympic moment.
Could we see something like this for Team Italy in Milan-Cortina? It could be possible with a solid assist to the Montreal teams.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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