CALGARY -- That the decision was painful was evident, as Dan Church was in tears by the end of the conversation. Nike Air Max 2015 On Sale . His stated reason for abruptly resigning as head coach of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team was he felt there were doubts about his ability to coach the team to Olympic gold in February. "If there isnt confidence in what Im doing, I need to step aside and let the team move on," Church told The Canadian Press in a phone interview Thursday. "Im heartbroken, to be honest, about the whole situation. Im sad I cant finish this journey." Church didnt specify whether it was players or Hockey Canada who doubted his competence as a coach. "Just discussions Id had over the last few days made that apparent, in some meetings Id had with leadership," Church said. "I think it was just difference of opinion on the direction we were headed. "In the end, I just decided if Im getting in the way of where the team needs to go, I need to step aside and let them continue on in the process." That bombshell comes less than two months before the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Church was expected to announce his 21-player Olympic roster before the end of December. Church left Calgary on Thursday morning without addressing the players and flew to Toronto, where he lives with his wife Regan. Canada hosted the U.S. women in Calgary at night. "I was in shock. It was unexpected," veteran forward Caroline Ouellette said. "I appreciate Dan. I always have. I have a lot of respect for him. I think hes done a lot of great things for our team since 2011 when he took over as head coach." The Canadian women will attempt to win a fourth straight gold medal in Sochi after victories in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Church coached Canada to a womens world title in April, 2012. The 40-year-old from Toronto was rewarded with a two-year contract to coach for the 2013 world champions and the Winter Olympics. When asked if Hockey Canada tried to convince him to stay or reverse his decision Thursday, Church replied, "No, they did not." "Dan has decided to resign for personal reasons," Hockey Canadas chief operating officer Scott Smith said at news conference Thursday. "Hes put a tremendous amount of work into this and we respect the decision hes made." Assistant coaches Danielle Goyette, a former national team player, and Lisa Haley will co-coach until a new coach is named, Smith said. "Time certainly is of the essence," Smith said. "This decision came upon us in the last few hours and were going to react as quickly as possible. Melody Davidson coached the Canadian women to Olympic gold in both 2006 and 2010. She became Hockey Canadas female head scout and serves in a general managers role for the national team. Davidson was adamant Thursday she would not step into the breach. "I stepped down in 2010 for a reason," Davidson said. "I left because it was time to be off that bench and Im comfortable in the role I can play off the ice." "I think theres some real good candidates there who can help us and bring a different voice than mine. Ill definitely support whatever direction we go in, but its not going to involve me as part of the coaching staff." The reality is the pool of Canadians who have experience coaching international womens teams is shallow. Davidson says she could identify with Churchs feelings as she nearly quit when Canada lost the 2009 world championship final to the U.S. prior to the 2010 Olympics. "The Olympics is overwhelming at times," she said. "Sometimes you get caught up in that. Maybe Dan couldnt feel he could envision something different." Davidson didnt think Church was in over his head as head coach of the team. "Definitely not," she said. Haley says she did not question Churchs decisions. "In my opinion, Dan has done and said everything with the intention of this team winning a gold medal," Haley said. "I trusted his decisions all along when Ive gotten the chance to coach with him over the years. "Hes gotten a lot of things right. Right now, what we want to do is trust this decision that this is whats best for the team and hopefully we can win him that gold medal." Church and Davidson invited 27 women to try out for the Olympic team. Theyve been training full time in Calgary since August. Church cut forward Jenelle Kohanchuk and defenders Tessa Bonhomme and Brigette Lacquette in November. Two more forwards and a defenceman will be released when the Olympic team in named. The Canadian women lost 3-2 to the U.S. in the final of this years world championship in Ottawa, but were on a three-game winning streak against their archrivals until Thursday night. With Goyette and Haley behind the bench, Canada lost 5-1 to the U.S in the third exhibition game between the two countries this winter. In their previous meeting at the Four Nations Cup in November, Canada doubled the Americans 4-2. Canada went 4-0 to win that international tournament. The women were 10-11 against male teams in the Alberta Midget Hockey League and have played 31 games since September. "All I can say is I gave 100 per cent effort in everything I did this year," Church said. "I worked tirelessly. "I put in all the hours to be successful and I believe we were moving in the right direction as a team. We had reached all the benchmarks at the times we had wanted and winning all of our games against the U.S., winning at Four Nations. "While we had struggled a little bit with the midget results, wed played with a lot of injuries to our lineup and a really tough November schedule. "Its disappointing to not feel theres confidence in what youre doing." Hes coached the York University womens hockey team for nine seasons. His father died of cancer in January at age 70, but Church said his decision was not related to health or family issues. Church coached the Canadas under-18 womens team to a world champoinship in 2010. He was an assistant coach to Ryan Walter on the womens team that took silver at the 2011 world championship. With Church behind the bench at the 2012 world championships in Burlington, Vt., Canada suffered a worst-ever 9-2 loss to the U.S. women to open that tournament, but rebounded with a 5-4 overtime win in the final for the countrys first world title since 2007. The U.S. has won four of the last five world championships. Canada and the U.S. will meet again Dec. 20 in Grand Forks, N.D., Dec. 28 in St. Paul, Minn., and Dec. 30 in Toronto. Purple Nike Air Max . He was 40. Firefighters were called about 11 a.m. Friday because Brown was unresponsive at his home near the Inner Harbor, fire spokesman Battalion Chief Kevin Cartwright said. He said Brown was dead when firefighters arrived. Nike Air Max 90 Discount Shoes . He just doesnt know when. The Cardinals and his agent are in the early stages of negotiations, Peterson said, with no timetable on reaching an agreement.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Randy Carlyle could barely contain his relief after the Winter Classic. The hype was gone along with the all-access HBO "24/7" cameras that followed the Toronto Maple Leafs everywhere for the past month. "Finally, yeah," said the Leafs head coach. "Its been a long three weeks, thats for sure, with whats gone on with our hockey club and the way weve played, the inconsistencies that weve played to and the microscope that weve been under." Carlyle and the Leafs are used to being under a microscope just by virtue of playing in Toronto. But an inside look at the stretch in which they lost seven of nine games turned up the pressure even higher. "There are lot of things that are going on inside that are hard to deal with when youre always constantly under a camera or a microphone (is) under you," Carlyle said. But after beating the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout in front of an NHL-record crowd of 105,491 freezing fans at Michigan Stadium, those trials and tribulations could feel like a distant memory. Led by goaltender Jonathan Bernier, the Leafs have won three games in a row and have added a little vitamin C to their game. "Weve talked a lot about consistency and making sure to work on our game to become more consistent," captain Dion Phaneuf said. "I feel that weve played some good hockey the last little bit. Were trying to keep building it because we know thats been something thats plagued us a little bit. We feel better about our game right now." A large part of that has to do with Bernier, who has stopped 181 of 190 shots put on him since relieving James Reimer on Dec. 21. Hes 3-0-2 in that time, and Carlyle acknowledged it would be "foolish" to turn away from him now. "Jonathan Bernier has come in and given us a chance and given us an opportunity in games, and thats what we are looking for," the Leafs coach said. Its not all Bernier because goals have to come from somewhere. In the Winter Classic they came from the top line of James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. This was the second game with that trio reunited, as Bozak returned Sunday after missing almost a month with a strained oblique. Bozak had three assists in his first game back and then a goal and the shootout winner in the Winter Classic. "I think that I was aable to play one game before, it was huge for me," Bozak said. Nike Air Max Classic Bw Mens. "Definitely would have been crazy, just coming back into this game. So I think being able to play the one before really helped me a lot." Having Bozak back also helps the Leafs, in general. His chemistry with Kessel and van Riemsdyk is undeniable, and his presence shifts Nazem Kadri, Peter Holland and Jay McClement back into more comfortable roles down the lineup. "Tyler is a player that our coaching staff trusts, pretty simple," Carlyle said. "When coaches trust people, they put them in situations where you believe the player will get the job done." Carlyle went so far as to call Bozak a "model for the younger players to follow." "He gets inside, he wins his share of one-on-one battles, very strong in the faceoff circle, and hes got the hockey sense," Carlyle said. "The puck follows him around." Puck possession is one thing the Leafs could stand to improve on Saturday against the New York Rangers and beyond. They were outshot 43-26 by Detroit in the Winter Classic, as Red Wings coach Mike Babcock praised his team for holding on to the puck for much of regulation and overtime. But as the Leafs have done much of the year, they pulled out two points despite being badly outshot. Opportunistic offence and strong goaltending allowed them to reach playoff position early and hang on despite some struggles, so it was only fitting that helped them win the NHLs signature regular-season event. The Winter Classic represented the end of a difficult journey for the Leafs, who made the most out of the spotlight in the end. "It is a lot leading up to it. I think its tough on the players, its tough on the coaches," general manager Dave Nonis said. "But I also think that it created an atmosphere that made it more than just a game. I think both teams raised their level of play. I know our team did. I think thats the hardest weve competed for a long time. "When you look at over 100,000 in the building, its impossible not to play harder." Seeing how hard and well the Leafs played gave Nonis some fuel to be optimistic about the near future. "From our standpoint I hope its, I wouldnt say a turning point, but maybe the genesis of consistent games where we work hard for three periods," he said. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale JerseysWholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '
