ors and player ambassad

CALGARY -- Canadian womens team captain Hayley Wickenheiser and former Olympic team coach Melody Davidson have major roles in a new program to show other countries the way in womens hockey. http://www.buccaneersstore.us.com/Black-71-Kadeem-Edwards-Womens-Jersey/ . Wickenheiser and Davidson have been named the top player ambassador and coach mentor respectively in an International Ice Hockey Federation project to create more parity in the sport. Coaching mentors and player ambassadors from the top four countries of Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland have been assigned to assist coaches and players in nine other countries for the next two and a half years. The point of the program is for players and coaches from countries with more developed womens hockey programs to be a sounding board and source of information for their counterparts trying to close the gap on them. Former Canadian Olympic team player Gina Kingsbury, for example, has been assigned to players in France, and Finnish defenceman Emma Laaksonen will be a resource for players from Kazakhstan. Wickenheiser is the go-between for the athlete-ambassadors and the IIHF. Shell provide guidance and direction to Kingsbury and Laaksonen as they do the same for players in the countries to which theyve been assigned. "To me, its the first significant thing the IIHF has really done to help womens hockey on a large scale," Wickenheiser said Thursday in Calgary. "This is a good thing. "It might not change anything for the next Olympics, but for the next one (in 2018), this has the potential to be kind of an Own The Podium program where it could transform some nations if they really bought in. I think its pretty groundbreaking." Coaching mentors include Swedens Peter Elander, who will assist coaches in Germany, and Canadas 1998 Olympic coach Shannon Miller, who was assigned to Russia. Davidson, who coached Canada to back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2006 and 2010, will co-ordinate all the coaching mentors and will also work with the Norwegian women. "Its just providing other countries the opportunity to know weve been where they are and we survived," Davidson said. "Were trying to help them do the same thing. "Im psyched about the quality of our coach mentors and athlete ambassadors right across the board. I think its going to help the game grow." This project depends on players and coaches building personal relationships with each other and much of that will start July 5-14 in Bratislava, Slovakia, where the IIHF is holding a multi-country, high-performance womens camp. Players from different countries will be put through physical testing and mixed together for on-ice sessions. After that, coaching mentors and athlete ambassadors will have to stay in touch with their clients via e-mail and phone. Wickenheiser says the player ambassadors will gently push and encourage players in weaker countries to push themselves harder in their daily training, while helping them solve issues they may have with their respective hockey federations or coaches. "I think the overwhelming message that goes into every single country is that we need to raise the bar and we need more," Wickenheiser said. "We need better performances on the ice, we need the athletes to be fitter, we need them to be more committed, we need them to buy in, that its not good enough right now." The athlete ambassador and coaching mentor program, and the Bratislava camp, are all part of the IIHFs new C$2.1-million plan to develop womens hockey. The impetus for it came from the 2010 Winter Olympics. Lopsided scores in the womens hockey tournament prompted International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge to say the sport needed to become more competitive. Other Canadians involved in the IIHF womens project include former national team players Jennifer Botterill (Russia), Therese Brisson (Switzerland) and Fiona Smith-Bell (Germany). Coaches include Doug Lidster (Czech Republic), France St. Louis (France), Nancy Wilson (Kazakhstan), Rick Polutnik (Slovakia) and Margot Page (Switzerland). "The best way to become successful is to have the opportunity to learn from someone who has already been successful," said Tanya Foley, an Edmonton native who is the IIHFs womens program manager. "By assigning the same team of mentors and ambassadors to a country for a period of two and a half years, the teams that will qualify for Sochi will have a resource that no team entering an Olympic Games has previously had." http://www.buccaneersstore.us.com/93-nike-elite-gerald-mccoy-youth-jersey-nfl-tampa-bay-buccaneers-home-c-patch-red.html . LOUIS -- David Backes and the St. Mike Evans Shirts . Ryder suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesdays 4-3 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators. He missed part of the second period and played sparingly in the third.GREEN BAY, Wis. - Green Bay Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga is expected to return for Sundays game against St. Louis after missing two games with a knee injury. However, second-year safety Morgan Burnett broke his right hand in practice Thursday and didnt participate in Fridays workout. He is listed as probable for the game and expects to play, but he was fitted for a cast that could limit his ability to defend passes. "Its no biggie," said Burnett, who hit the hand on a shoulder pad in a blitz drill. "It could happen to anybody, at any time." Burnett is tied for the team lead with three interceptions. "He clubbed (the hand) today," coach Mike McCarthy said. "Any time you have a broken bone in your hand, theres things you have to look at, but he feels and (team) doctor (Pat) McKenzie feels that he can potentially play with this." Burnett is having a productive season thus far, a year after his promising rookie season ended after only four games because of a knee injury. Besides the interceptions, Burnett has a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and ranks second on the team with 39 tackles. Burnett said wearing the club-like cast Friday felt funny, but he is optimistic the covering on the fractured hand wont be a hindrance to making plays. "Just try to focus on the ball a little more, focus on the threads and just try to make the best of those opportunities, the same way if you had both hands," Burnett said. The Packers depth at safety already has been thinned after losing Pro Bowl player Nick Collins to a season-ending neck injury after just two games. Charlie Peprah, who started 13 games with Burnett out last season, has filled in for Collins and played well of late with an interception in each of the last two games. Undrafted rookie M.D. Jennings is the only backup safety on the depth chart. He filled in for Burnett in Fridays practice and has been strictly a contributor on sspecial teams after 15 tackles and an interception during the pre-season. Mike Evans Buccaneers Jersey. "We were impressed with him in camp," defensive co-ordinator Dom Capers said. "He kind of falls under that philosophy of next man up for us if Morgan goes out or Morgans having a hard time playing with his cast." The Packers (5-0) will be without veteran left tackle Chad Clifton for an indefinite period because of a hamstring injury. Marshall Newhouse, who replaced Bulaga in the starting lineup, is expected to take over for Clifton against the Rams (0-4). First-round rookie Derek Sherrod played well at right tackle when Newhouse moved to the left side after Clifton was hurt in the first half of last Sundays win at Atlanta. McCarthy said hes eager to have Bulaga back. "When hes cleared to play, hes cleared to play, and we need to play him," McCarthy said. "Bryan Bulaga is ready to go. Hell play in this game. Thats what he was told at the beginning of the week, and thatll be the approach." Bulaga said he will continue to wear a protective brace on the knee that he had in practice this week and is planning to play the full game Sunday. "I havent gotten any official word on whats going on, but if I do happen to start the game, I would like to ride it out and finish it," Bulaga said. Notes: LB Frank Zombo is expected to make his belated season debut for the Packers on Sunday. Zombo suffered a broken shoulder blade Aug. 19 and returned to practice last week. "I truly feel like its 100 per cent," said Zombo, who is probable for the game. "I dont feel any pain. Its not weak or anything." . LB Clay Matthews (quadriceps) and CB Charles Woodson (foot/knee) practised Friday after being out the last two days. WR Greg Jennings also was back on the field after dropping out of Thursdays practice with a groin injury. All three players are probable for the game. ' ' '