Vancouver View: Gold Medal Hockey Puck Finds Home; Paralympics Medals

Hockey Puck to Hall of Fame

International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel tells Around the Rings the puck used to score the gold medal goal for Canada rightfully belongs to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The puck shot into the goal by Sidney Crosby Feb. 28 to beat the U.S. disappeared in the frenzied aftermath of the victory, along with the gloves and stick worn by Crosby.

Fasel, speaking by phone from Vancouver Tuesday, said he never feared for the loss of the puck.

“One of the linesman had it,” says Fasel who says he is happy that it will go to hall of fame.

“It should not go to some rich guy who can pay whatever price he can for it,” says Fasel.

Not so for four other pucks from the overtime period. They will go up for bid at the Vancouver Olympics auction site: www.vancouver2010.com/auction, repository for a plethora of used Olympics gear.

“It’s crazy that this 157 grams of rubber can get people so excited,” says Fasel.

Canada wins Medals

A day after scoring a hat-trick of silver medals, Canada won its first two golds of the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

Legally blind skier Brian McKeever of Canmore, Alta., was victorious in the men’s 20 kilometer freestyle for visually impaired with his sighted brother Robin McKeever as his guide.

“It’s been eight years in the making,” Brian McKeever said, referring to the silver medal performances from Salt Lake 2002 and Turin 2006.

The McKeevers won the race at the Whistler Paralympic Park in the Callaghan Valley in 51:14.7 on Monday, despite suffering a cold. Nikolay Polukhin of Russia was the silver medalist. Bronze went to Vasili Shaptsiaboi of Belarus.

The win helped compensate for the crushing disappointment 30-year-old Brian McKeever felt on the last weekend of the 2010 Winter Olympics when he was left off Canada’s team for the 50 kilometer mass-start in a coaching decision. He was aiming to become the first athlete to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics in the same winter.

“We’re never going to forget what happened, but this helps us to move on and we’ve got more racing yet to go,” he said.

Brian McKeever said he was going to try again at making sportshistory in four years at Sochi 2014.

“The laws of natural justice are prevailing and things are unfolding the way they should,” said VANOC CEO John Furlong, who witnessed the race. “Given what happened during the Olympic Games, it couldn’t fall to a more worthy person.

Vancouver Locals Medal

North Vancouver’s Lauren Woolstencroft won the women’s standing slalom at Whistler Creekside. Karolina Wisniewska of Vancouver was the bronze medalist.

"I'm super-surprised, super-excited and super-happy for Karolina to be on the podium, too," said Woolstencroft. The 28-year-old, 2009 world champion was born without limbs below her knees and her left forearm.

Partially paralyzed cross-country skier Colette Bourgonje of Saskatoon, paraplegic alpine skier Josh Dueck of Vernon, B.C. and visually impaired alpine skier Viviane Forrest of Edmonton all won silver on Sunday.

Russia Leads Medal Count

Russia is leading the medal count at the Paralympics after three days of competition.

Russia has captured 15 medals including six gold and six silvers. Ukraine follows with seven medals and Canada is third with six.

The 15 medals equals the total medal count for Russia the Winter Games last month when it finished 11th behind Italy.

The Russian performance at the Paralympics is hardly a surprise. At the Turin 2006 Paralympics, Russia finished on top of the medal count with 33 medals followed by Germany in second place.

Clothing Stolen

Richmond RCMP are searching for two males who stole about $40,000 dollars worth of official Russian and Ukraine clothing from a Bosco Sports warehouse.

Police say that on March 5 a security guard witnessed two individuals enter the building with a key and took the merchandise. The individuals were dressed in the distinctive red and white Bosco Olympic wear.

If the individuals are planning to wear the stolen merchandise in British Columbia, they might want to think again. The clothing is specifically for the 2010 Olympics and cannot be bought through any other supplier.

With reporting from Bob Mackin in Vancouver, and Ed Hula in Atlanta.