CALGARY -- A big NHL name with no previous experience coachi

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CALGARY -- A big NHL name with no previous experience coaching international hockey has stepped behind the bench of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team. Jalen Ramsey Jersey . Kevin Dineen was introduced Tuesday as the replacement for Dan Church, who abruptly resigned last week. Dineen was fired last month by the NHLs Florida Panthers. Hes represented Canada as a player six times, but the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will be the first time hes coached a Canadian team. Dineen called his hiring "hopping on a moving train" as the Sochi opening ceremonies are less than two months away. Two forwards and a defenceman must be released before the 21-player Olympic roster is named. Dineen was born in Quebec City, but grew up in Toronto. The 50-year-old played in 1,188 NHL regular-season games, scoring 355 goals and adding 405 assists for the Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators. He also played for the Canadian team that finished fourth at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. "That stuck with me a long time, not to come out of there with a medal," Dineen said. "I may have a little unfinished business from my Olympic experience." Dineen was in his third season coaching the Panthers when he was dismissed Nov. 8. Looking for hockey work, Dineen said he contacted Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson early last week about the possibility of coaching at the mens world championship in April. Church returned home to Toronto last Thursday without addressing the players. Hockey Canada said he left for "personal reasons." Churchs explanation before boarding the plane was he felt there was a lack of confidence in his ability to coach Canada to Olympic gold. The women lost 5-1 that evening to the United States with assistants Danielle Goyette and Lisa Haley co-coaching. The women went 1-1 in weekend games against male midget triple-A teams. Dineen flew to Toronto on Sunday to meet with Nicholson, chief operating officer Scott Smith and womens team scout and general manager Melody Davidson. "I was not expecting this opportunity," Dineen said. "This has been a whirlwind few days but when this opportunity presented itself I immediately jumped at it. "You end up getting fired and you go through a range of emotions. Sometimes things happen for a reason. I think this may be my reason." Dineen ran his first practice with the women after he was introduced to the media at a news conference. The Canadian women have been training full time in Calgary since August and have already played more than 30 games. The players were informed who their new coach would be just a few minutes before the news conference. They taped their names to the front of their helmets for practice so Dineen would know who they were. "It was typical hockey school, trying to help him out a bit," goaltender Charline Labonte said. "Right now, moving forward I think if we have the opportunity its nice to have someone who played the game. No, he doesnt know much about womens hockey. He seems interested and I know hes watched a lot of tapes. I know hell do anything to be ready and to learn about our game." Canada and the U.S. will clash three times over the next two weeks in their final exhibition games prior to the Olympics, starting with Fridays matchup in Grand Forks, N.D. Canada won womens Olympic hockey gold in 2002, 2006 and 2010, but has lost four of the last five world championship finals to the U.S. Hockey Canadas plan was to announce the Olympic roster prior to their holiday break next week, but the timetable is murkier with the coaching change. Five-time Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser says Dineen will have to adjust to dealing with female athletes, but she didnt feel his lack of international coaching experience would hinder his ability to coach the Canadian women. "Hes played for a long time and coached in the NHL and has a good track record of coaching experience and also playing internationally, so Im not too concerned about that," Canadas all-time leading scorer said. "Its different than the mens game, how you handle players, the way you approach team concepts and put the team together. Aside from that, the game on the ice, I dont think its too complicated to what goes on the mens side. "Men and women are different in the way they function and thats probably going to be the biggest adjustment for him." Dineens daughter Hannah is a freshman forward for Colby College in Maine and another daughter Emma is a soccer player. Dineen says hes coached Hannah and a team of Maine selects the last five years. "Ive been exposed to the intense, committed female athlete," he said. Dineen says hes already asked his daughters for advice and theyve told him to watch his language. "Dads vocabulary is sometimes . . . I think Ive been in enough womens locker-rooms over the year to know exactly how they speak so I dont have a lot of concerns on that," Dineen said. Davidson coached the Canadian women to gold in 2006 and 2010, but was adamant she would not step into the breach. McGill Martlets head coach Peter Smith and former NHL players Doug Lidster, Ryan Walter and Tim Bothwell have all served as either head or assistant coaches of the Canadian women at previous Olympics and world championships. But Hockey Canada went off the board to recruit a man fresh from the NHL ranks. "The biggest thing is we needed a new voice overall and in the end it didnt come from within our program," Davidson said. "Thats why I wasnt in the running, why I didnt want to be in the running. "Kevin brings forth a lot of the qualities we wanted: a good communicator, has a history of building a good team environment, has international background, sincere. "Even though he hasnt coached high-level, international women, when you have two daughters and a wife, you get a good touch of what its like to work with females as well." As it would be in the NHL when theres a sudden coaching change, Dineen had the womens full attention in Tuesdays practice because he is someone they need to quickly impress. The women had spent the days since Church departure in limbo and were relieved an important question had been answered. "Everyone has different feelings probably on what happened," forward Jayna Hefford said. "Its tough to see someone go who has invested so much in the program and Dan did that. "Its been a challenging week for us. A lot of emotions and I think until this was put in place, it was hard for us to move on. Now, I think were excited. Weve got someone who has played the game at a high level and coached the game at a high level and has a passion for the game." Dineen is the son of former NHL player and coach Bill Dineen, and his brother Gord also played in the NHL. The Panthers made the playoffs in 2011-12 when Kevin Dineen made his NHL coaching debut. Florida was 3-9 when he was fired. "Theres no doubt in my mind that hes going to bring a lot of success to that team and they should do well," Panthers defenceman Erik Gudbranson said. "Its a different game. But good hockey minds figure stuff out." Wickenheiser is day-to-day with a lower body injury she suffered in the first period of last weeks game against the U.S. when she collided with a teammate. She participated in the first half of Tuesdays practice wearing a yellow no-contact jersey. Forward Marie-Philip Poulin has played in only three games since September with a high ankle sprain. She skated prior to practice, but did not join her teammates for the full session. Poulin scored both goals for Canada in a 2-0 win over the U.S. in the 2010 Olympic final. "Well have her back in the New Year," Davidson said. "Whether well have her back earlier than that only the rehab and the time she puts into us well tell us that." Dede Westbrook Jersey . A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. Jermey Parnell Jersey . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com/Youth-Barry-Church-Elite-Jersey/ . The Thornhill, Ont., native, who is ranked 11th in the world, said hed hoped he would be ready when Canada begins its World Group first-round tie against Japan in Tokyo on Friday.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Al Jefferson beat up the Detroit Pistons in a key game in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are hardly the first team he has punished. Jefferson scored more than 30 points for the sixth time in nine games and led the Charlotte Bobcats to a 108-96 victory over Detroit on Tuesday night. He added 12 rebounds and seven assists, and sent Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe to the Pistons bench with foul trouble. "Hes a bad matchup for the entire league right now," interim Pistons coach John Loyer said. "We knew exactly what we was going to do -- they ran the same plays they always run -- but theres not much you can do to stop him." Jefferson had 24 points and 14 rebounds on Dec. 20 when the Bobcats rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat Detroit 116-106. "These games are what it is all about, especially with the Pistons chasing us," Jefferson said. "If you had told us before the season that we would be in this position, we would have been very satisfied. There are 28 games left, and were in the hunt." Kemba Walker scored 22 points, and Josh McRoberts added 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bobcats extend their lead over the Pistons to 1 1/2 games for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. "Our guys talked about it before the break, and said that everyone needed to do something to get ready for the rest of the season," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "Whatever they did, they were all ready to go tonight, and it was obviously a factor." The teams will conclude the home-and-home set at Charlotte on Wednesday night. Drummond, coming off his MVP performance in the Rising Stars game on Friday, had 16 points, 11 offensive rebounds and 11 defensive rebounds for Detroit. That wasnt enough to overcome a terrible shooting performance by his teammates. "We didnt have the energy and concentration that I would have expected," said Loyer, who is 1-2 after replacing Maurice Cheeks last week. "Thats very disappointing. You cant let a good NBA team, and I think Charlotte is a good team, post that kind of start. "We had two good practices after the break, but it didnt carry over into tonights game. Cam Robinson Jersey. ." Detroit got double-doubles from all three post players. Monroe finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons shot just 39.8 per cent, with Smith making only 5 of 17 attempts. The Bobcats got off to a quick start, making their first seven shots. Only four missed free throws by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist kept Detroit from digging itself a bigger hole. Even when Charlotte missed a shot, the Bobcats got the offensive rebound and found McRoberts for an open 3-pointer. "It was very important to us to have a great start," Jefferson said. "We know how important these games are, and we were able to start off the game by setting the tone." The Bobcats free-throw shooting didnt get any better -- they missed 11 of their first 14 attempts -- but they maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second quarter. Charlotte was ahead 54-43 at halftime. Detroit could have gotten a point at the start of the second half, following a technical foul called on Walker as the teams left the court for the break. Jennings, though, missed the free throw. Detroit was outshot 58 per cent to 36 per cent in the first half, but Charlottes struggles from the line and eight offensive rebounds in the second quarter kept the Pistons in the game. The Bobcats quickly moved ahead 67-49 within the first 5 minutes of the third quarter, but Drummond was active enough on the offensive boards to pull Detroit within 79-67, heading to the fourth period. He went to the bench with his fifth foul with 9:47 to play, ending the Pistons run. Detroit also started missing its free throws, going 1 for 7 to start the second half. NOTES: The Bobcats are 2-0 this season against the Pistons with both wins coming at the Palace. ... Detroits Rodney Stuckey, a subject of trade rumours because of his expiring contract, went 1 for 9 from the floor in the first half and finished with two points in 17 minutes. ... Jefferson pulled off a rare feat when he was able to talk an official into changing a call. Tony Brown whistled Jefferson for a delay-of-game violation, but after a brief discussion, the call was overturned. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '