The Canadian men restored order in their Olympic ice hockey house and headed to the semifinals after a 7-3 rout of Russia Wednesday, a day of redemption and medal manna for the host nation. In a country where hockey is religion, Canadians rejoiced to be back on the medal track in Winter Games venue Vancouver where maple leaf-clad fans poured into the streets three days after a demoralizing loss to the Americans. “We actually had doubts, about the game with Russia, but they won, and how,” said Mindy Mahil, a fan perched on a fountain waving a large red-and-white flag. Canada's happiness was compounded minutes later as two of the women's bobsleigh teams took the top two medals, the gold going to Kaillie Humphries in a thrilling final that saw a highly rated German team flip over on the fast ice track. With a gold that takes Canada to the top of the medal table alongside the United States and Germany, two silvers, a bronze and the big hockey win, Wednesday was Canada's day. Day 12 of the Winter Games had its notable losers too. South Korea was disqualified while it was celebrating what it thought was its victory in women's short track 3,000 meters relay. The gold went to China, while the Koreans' cheers turned to tears and they rushed past reporters without stopping to explain what referees deemed a push in the relay exchange. It was also a disappointing day for top American skier Lindsey Vonn, the downhill gold medalist who crashed out on a fog-enveloped giant slalom and broke her little finger. The giant slalom second leg fell prey to poor weather and will run instead Thursday morning, with no Vonn and little hope for teammate and defending champion Julia Mancuso. In a different type of skiing, Australia's Lydia Lassila flew and spun her way to Olympic gold in women's freestyle aerials, cleanly landing two of the hardest jumps of the day. “Ever since I started this sport, I wanted to jump like a man,” said Lassila, when asked why she tried such a difficult jump on her first effort. For all of Canada's medal stash, no Olympic honor is more coveted than the gold one in men's hockey. “You want to do well because you're proud and because you think hockey is Canada's game,” said Canada coach Mike Babcock after Wednesday's win. “Now it's pretty obvious it's the world's game but we still think it's ours and I'm a bit of a redneck so I like to think it's ours.” After losing to the United States in the final round of preliminary matches Sunday, Babcock told the nation the team had chosen to take a “longer route” to get where they wanted to be. And so far, he was right, and it has been pretty scenic. Forced to play an extra match to qualify for the quarterfinals, Canada dispatched Germany 8-2 Tuesday. Twenty four hours later, it lined up for a mouthwatering clash with Russia and dominated from start to finish. Canada will face Slovakia, which knocked out 2006 Turin gold medalist Sweden in a 4-3 thriller. The United States was the first team to reach the semifinals when it beat Switzerland 2-0 Wednesday. The Americans will face Finland for a place in the final. As the Games enter the final stretch, two athletes accumulated their second gold medal. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won the women's 5,000m speedskating gold while Marcus Hellner led Sweden to a surprise victory in the men's cross country relay.
