Ladies' (hockey) man

The Olympic sporting events in Torino got started today, with Women's Hockey among the first. This is a sport that's often criticized by the casual fan, usually because it's not men's hockey. Because open-ice hits aren't allowed, it's seen as softer, and the skill level is admittedly lower than on the male side of the sport. But it's still fun hockey to watch, especially on the big ice surface, where skilled teams like Canada's entry get a chance to shine. They currently lead the Italians 5-0 after the first period of play, with the versatile Caroline Ouellette, who plays both defence and forward, already notching a hat trick. Team Italy is clearly outmatched, and as the CBC commentators said, rank 17th in the world; if they were not hosting, they would not be in this tournament. They are playing their hearts out, however, and it should be remembered that they are a small and inexperienced team - one of their defensive pairings features two 15-year-olds.

If there is one facet of the sport worthy of criticism at this early stage in the tournament, it would be the officiating. The referee seems to be trying to help out the Italians, letting a great deal of interference and hooking go on their end, while Canadian forward Danielle Goyette has already been penalized twice on phantom calls. Yes, Italy needs some help in this sport, but was it not just 24 hours ago that one of the Italian judges took an oath on behalf of all officials to be completely fair and impartial? By the way, this referee is an American, and as everyone knows, the U.S. team is really the only other entry in this tournament that can compete at Team Canada's level; the two are bitter rivals. No, that's not a conspiracy theory, just an observation...

And just a quick FYI: Gillian Apps, the granddaughter of former Maple Leaf and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Syl Apps (and daughter of the Leaf's son of the same name), is one of Team Canada's forwards. But one burning question that I know is on everyone's minds as they watch these Olympic Games:

Why didn't her parents name her Sylvia?


Updated (a couple minutes later): As Canada goes up 6-0, CBC's colour commentator is gushing about how smart goaltender Kim St-Pierre was to recognize a delayed penalty call and go to the bench in favour of an extra attacker. Maybe the women's game would be met with more respect if the commentators - and this particular one is a woman - didn't sell them short.

7-0 Canada. Rollin', rollin', rollin'.