Canada was highly successful when it came to hockey at the Olympics during the past week, sweeping gold in both the men's and women's events in tough contests against the Swede's and Americans respectively.
Among those winning gold were John Tavares (men's) and Brianne Jenner (women's), giving the Town of Oakville two reasons to cheer about.
Despite being injured for the medal round at the Olympics, Tavares was an integral part of the success. The New York Islanders star, who missed the final two games after suffering a season ending knee injury against Latvia in the quarter-finals, was a +3 while playing in a shutdown role with the likes of Patrick Sharp, Martin St. Louis and Rick Nash. The gold medal would be his third while representing the maple leaf, having won gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships.
In his fifth season with the Islanders, Tavares is currently third in the NHL with 51 points, but will not be able to hold his position due to his injury. He is expected to return to the Islanders training camp next September.
Brianne JennerBrianne Jenner
On the women's side, Jenner, an Appleby College grad, made a major impact in the final game against Team USA. With her team down two goals heading into the dying minutes of the finals, the 22 year old Oakville native scored her first-ever Olympic marker with 3:26 to go in the third period to cut their deficit to just one goal. Eventually, Marie-Philip Poulin's goal in the final minute, followed by a second goal in overtime, would allow Canada to take the come from behind victory and win gold for the fourth straight tournament.
“It’s an amazing feeling," said the Cornell University forward. "It’s an amazing feeling to win the way we did. It just shows our character. We believed the whole time. (Trailing 1-0) going into the third, our room was calm and we focused. I’m just so proud right now.”
Just like Tavares, it was the first Olympic participation for Jenner, who was one of the final cuts back in Vancouver in 2010.