When Canadas only World Cup ski champion was invited to participate in a 2014 Olympic torch relay at the North Pole, he probably wasnt expecting his fellow runners would be world-class Arctic scientists.
[b]Cheap Air VaporMax Discount[/b] . One Canadian Arctic expert calls it mind-boggling that Steve Podborski was chosen by the federal government to represent Canada at an event designed to honour researchers who have made a considerable contribution to Arctic studies and exploration. Last year, months before the Sochi Winter Games, Russia invited members of the Arctic Council - eight countries that have stakes in the Far North - to take part in an Olympic torch relay at the North Pole. The Russian Olympic Committee is seeking to finalize the list of torch bearers for the torch relay by they end of September 2013, said a September 12, 2013 memo by Morris Rosenberg, Canadas deputy minister of foreign affairs, to foreign minister John Baird. Russia has invited all Arctic Council states to delegate representatives to participate in the North Pole portion of the torch relay that Russia is organizing as part of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Russia asks countries to propose an individual who has made a considerable contribution to Arctic studies and exploration. Russia planned to transport the torchbearers by nuclear icebreaker from Murmansk to the North Pole in late October. Other Arctic Council countries including Sweden, Finland and Norway had reacted positively to Russias request, Rosenberg wrote. In Canada, that decision was more difficult. Over the last few years, the government of Canada and prime minister Stephen Harper seem to have been ensnared in a 21st-century Cold War with scientists. The government has handcuffed publicly financed scientists from communicating with the public and with other scientists, according to newspapers including The New York Times. The showdown began in 2008 when Environment Canada ordered scientists to refer all questions from the public to communications officers. Since then, the government has monitored and restricted the distribution of information about everything from climate change to fisheries to the Alberta tar sands. A week before Rosenbergs memo, hundreds of scientists in white lab coats took to Parliament Hill to demand Harpers government stop the muzzling. The protest was one of many held across the country by an advocacy group called Evidence for Democracy. The Ottawa protest came after Canadas information commissioner Suzanne Legault launched an investigation into the muzzling, saying she would investigate six federal departments. The federal government has disputed the claims of protestors, saying that scientists and experts are readily available to share their research with the public and the media. Still, consider the scientists other countries sent to the torch relay. Denmark sent Christian Marcussen, a chief scientist who works with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Sweden sent Ylva Sjoberg, a doctoral student focusing on polar research at Stockholm University. Finland sent Lassie Neininen, a professor of arctic policy at the University of Lapland. Norway offered a pair of professors from Norways Arctic University, while Iceland sent Steingrimur Jonsson, a professor and scientist at the University of Akureyri. Canada sent Podborski, a bronze medalist at the 1980 Lake Placid Games and the first North American in 1982 to win a World Cup season title in the downhill. It would have been nice to see anyone who does science in the Arctic get that kind of exposure. I have no idea what Podborskis academic credentials are, said Pierre Fogal, a researcher at the University of Toronto who has studied the Arctic. He was a hell of a skier. But I know of at least 30 or 40 top-notch researchers who could have been filled that role. Im not at all surprised at this. its entirely in keeping with their approach. Its mind-boggling. The Canadian government seems to think science is okay but scientists arent. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman John Babcock said the government decided the Canadian Olympic Committee, would be best placed to identify the most suitable candidate to participate in the North Pole Olympic torch relay. Babcock referred questions to the Canadian Olympic Committee. COC spokesman Marc-Andre Plouffe wrote in an emailed statement that Podborski was sent to the torch relay based on his immense contributions that he has an continues to make to the Olympic movement. This was a clear choice considering he was the chef de mission and the highest ranking sport official for Canadas Olympic team in Sochi. A COC source pointed out that Canada wasnt the only country to send an athlete to the North Pole torch relay. The United States sent Pat Pitney, who won gold in air rifle at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Pitney, however, is now vice chancellor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
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[b]Green Youth Air VaporMax[/b] . But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma wants his high-powered team to get used to playing tight-checking playoff hockey before the post-season begins next month. St. Louis doesnt need the lure of the playoffs as an excuse to get stingy. The space-eating Blues have been doing it all year, and it showed in a taut 1-0 road win on Sunday. Frustrating the NHLs best power play during a pivotal two-man disadvantage at the start of the second period, the Blues continued their mastery of the Eastern Conference by beating the Penguins the way theyve beaten so many teams this season. The room to manoeuvr that Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin usually enjoy disappeared as St. Louis clogged passing lanes and dictated play defensively. David Backes deflected a slap shot by Alexander Steen past Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the third period for the games only goal and Brian Elliott stopped 33 shots to pick up his fourth shutout of the season as the Blues moved three points clear of Chicago in the race for the best record in the Western Conference. "When youre in a tight game like that against a good team, the guys kind of rose up to the challenge and I tried to make a couple saves and get the rebounds out of the zone and they did the rest," Elliott said. Fleury made 26 saves for the Penguins but watched Backes deflection carom off his glove and into the net just after a penalty against Malkin expired. "I just saw the guy raise his stick for the shot," Fleury said. "There were a bunch of people in front. I tried to cover some net but I didnt see it go in. St. Louis bounced back from a one-sided loss at Philadelphia on Saturday to improve the leagues best road record to 23-11-3. Pittsburghs top-ranked power play went 0-for-5 a day after scoring three times in a win over Tampa Bay. When Elliott wasnt getting a pad on the puck, his teammates were. The Blues blocked 25 shots, with the Penguins frustration growing at every turn as the Blues improved to 20-5-2 against the Eastern Conference, the best interconference record in the league. Pittsburgh had a 5-on-3 power play at the beginning of the second period for more than 90 seconds without bbeing able to sneak something by Elliott.
[b]Womens Air VaporMax Online[/b]. Most of the time the Penguins struggled generating a shot as the Blues effectively disrupted Pittsburghs rhythm. "We just kind of cleared lanes and I was able to see the ones they took," Elliott said. "Whenever guys are moving big guys out of the way, it just helps and you saw guys get in front of shots, block them and clear them down." Malkin was called for high-sticking 9:17 into the third and he was barely out of the box and back on the ice when Backes gave St. Louis the lead. The puck cycled to the point and Alexander Steen fired a slap shot that Backes found a way to nick as it sailed by. His 24th goal of the year proved more than enough. Elliott wobbled several times — including at least two saves where it appeared the puck was creeping to the goal line when the whistle blew — but didnt collapse. When the clock expired after one last clear up the zone, the game ended with the unusual sight of Malkin trying to mix it up with Alex Pietrangelo. Bylsma said coming into an important weekend he wanted his team to get used to playing tightly contested, low-scoring games. Pittsburgh survived one on Saturday, rallying for a 4-3 overtime win against the streaking Lightning that featured 40 minutes of clamp-down hockey and 22 minutes of frantic play. The Blues, who have positioned themselves into contenders in the West by sealing off the net, would not be lulled into the kind of end-to-end stretches that allow the Penguins to run free. "We still want to do a better job in these games and win them," Crosby said. "We have done a pretty good job of being patient when weve been in these kinds of games." At times, Bylsma wonders if his club was too patient, particularly in the first period. "The first 20 minutes we backed them off with speed," he said. "We had some opportunities and needed to have more of a drive and shoot mentality." NOTES: The Penguins played with seven defencemen instead of six, a move Bylsma said was needed in a game where he knew open ice would be at a premium. ... St. Louis plays in Toronto on Tuesday while the Penguins host Phoenix on Tuesday. ' ' '
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