Canada's short-track speed-skating team promises to be experienced, if not dominant, this season.
It is making its final preparations for this weekend's World Cup opening meet in Changchun, China, with more battle-worn veterans than youngsters.
The youngsters are being watched for potential inclusion on the Olympic squad for 2010. They have a big medal-winning history to live up to. Most of Canada's Winter Olympic medals have come from speed skaters, on both the long and short tracks.
Four-time Olympic medalist Éric Bédard of Sainte-Thècle, Que., retired after the Turin Olympics, otherwise the rest of the men's Olympic team has returned.
The men's team consists of double Olympic medalist François-Louis Tremblay of Montreal, world champion Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., Steve Robillard of Montreal, along with World Cup rookies Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., Canadian champion Mathieu Giroux of Montreal and Marc-André Monette of Pointes-aux-Trembles, Que. Jean and Giroux qualified for the national team through trials last season.
The women's team carries Games veterans Amanda Overland of Kitchener, Ont., Anouk Leblanc-Boucher of Montreal and Kalyna Roberge of Sainte-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Que., along with Anne Maltais of Quebec City, Raphaele Lemieux of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., and Nita Avrith of Montreal. Lemieux qualified through trials last year, while Avrith will make her World Cup debut.
"We wanted to bring some skaters who are potential candidates for the 2010 Olympic team," coach Martin Gagné of Montreal said.
"In a post-Olympic year, it's a good opportunity to provide these youngsters with this kind of experience." said Mathieu Turcotte of Sherbrooke, who'll skip the opening World Cup meets in Asia. He said there's more intensity in this post-Olympic season with the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 the ultimate goal.
"A post-Olympic year is a period of adjustment," Turcotte said. "With the next Olympics at home in Canada, our preparation will be even more intense. We know there are a lot of expectations on us for those Games. We really want to help Canada be the No.1 nation in 2010."
There are six stops on the World Cup short-track speed-skating tour. The second stop will be from Oct. 27 to 29 in Jeonju City, South Korea. Canada will play host to two events: Dec. 1 to 3 in Montreal and Dec. 8 to 10 in Saguenay, Que. The final two stops will be in Europe: Feb. 2 to 4 in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, and Feb. 9 to 11 in Budapest.
The world championships are scheduled for March 9 to 11 in Milan, Italy, and the world team championships on March 17 and 18 in Budapest.
