MILAN – Ivanie Blondin remembers the moment Sidney Crosby walked through the door.

Canada had table tennis set up in the country’s athlete lounge at the 2014 Olympics. The hockey icon picked up a paddle. Blondin did the same.

“I was really young, but you always get those star-struck moments,” said the long-track speedskater from Ottawa. “I couldn’t even get a word out. I just started playing with him, and I just was like, ‘Holy crap, what just happened?’”

Blondin and the rest of Canada’s top high-performance winter athletes will once again share space on sports’ biggest global stage as the NHL returns to the Games in 2026 following a 12-year absence.

Men’s hockey will, almost undoubtedly, take up plenty of oxygen. A lot of the focus will be on the likes of Crosby and Connor McDavid as they pull on the red Maple Leaf in Milan.

So, will all the attention afforded hockey’s stars, who previously participated at five Olympics between 1998 and 2014, steal some of the other competitors’ thunder?

“I don’t think they’re going to overshadow,” Blondin said. “If anything, it’s going to bring the mood up.”

Canadian pairs figure skating champion Trennt Michaud agrees — and won’t be shy when he gets to the Olympic Village.

“I want to see Crosby,” said the Trenton, Ont., product. “He’s Captain Canada for a reason.”

Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker doesn’t see NHLers being back as anything other than a positive.

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“The Canadian men’s hockey team will garner a ton of attention, as it should,” he said. “We have the greatest hockey players in the world. But if people haven’t already realized it, it means that our Canadian women’s hockey team will get a ton of attention.

“Our hockey players are also fans of the great Canadian Olympians in other sports.”

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Women’s hockey did, however, get more ink than in the past at both the 2018 and 2022 Games when the NHL declined to participate

Canadian defender Claire Thompson said it’s great having the league back, even if the spotlight has to be shared.

“Every Games brings something special,” said the Toronto native. “I’m really excited for a lot of them — a lot of tremendous hockey players — to be playing in their first Olympics.”

Canadian curler Brett Gallant said the star power will add to the appeal for casual fans.

“More eyeballs on the Olympic Games and more talk about the Olympics is great,” said the Charlottetown product. “As a hockey fan, it’s pretty exciting that the best-on-best are going to be competing.”

Michaud added NHLers might keep those same casuals tuned in longer.

“Most people, when they start watching the Olympics, they don’t just stop,” he said. “Whether it’s hockey that brings them in and then they end up watching figure skating, I still think it’s great, and that’s how we’re going to get more people to watch. It’s very exciting.”

Canadian women’s hockey star Sarah Nurse said there have already been examples of storylines — the rink dimensions and arena construction delays — that wouldn’t have made the same waves without the NHL’s impending return.

“It’s definitely interesting,” said the 32-year-old forward from Hamilton. “There are always so many things going into Olympic Games that people don’t necessarily see … the drama with the ice, I don’t think anybody would have cared if the NHL players weren’t there.”

Nurse, to be clear, isn’t complaining.

“It’s great that they’re back,” she added. “We all want to see best-on-best.”

Canadian short-track speedskating coach and five-time Olympic medallist Marc Gagnon experienced the Games with and without NHLers as a competitor in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

“If we have victories in short-track, I think we’ll still have the same attention,” he said. “If there’s a big, big result in short-track at the same time as a Canadian game, could that affect it a little bit? Maybe so.

“I trust our media enough that they will give the same amount of spotlight to both of them, because they’re all important.”

But while hockey, figure skating and speedskating are located in Milan, athletes in other events will be spread out across Northern Italy in five other Olympic villages.

“It’s a little bit weird because we are so far away from all the other major events like hockey,” said men’s curler Tyler Tardi of Langley, B.C., who will be a five-hour drive away in Cortina d’Ampezzo. “I’ve always loved NHL players being a part of it. One of my greatest Olympic memories is in 2010 when Sidney Crosby scored (to win gold in Vancouver).

“Very excited to follow along.”

Blondin, meanwhile, will put in a better effort on the social side if she again crosses paths with Crosby.

“I would totally strike up a conversation,” she said. “I’m more confident and less shy.”

-With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith, Daniel Rainbird, Donna Spencer and Gregory Strong.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2026.

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TORONTO – Brandon Ingram had plenty to reflect on before he trotted onto the court at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

His strong 33-point performance in the Toronto Raptors’ 123-107 victory against the Chicago Bulls just happened to come on the one-year anniversary of his trade to Canada from the New Orleans Pelicans.

“Yeah, my brother mentioned the anniversary when I was talking to him,” the 28-year-old Ingram said. “But I also thought about my great aunt. It would have been her birthday (on Friday).”

Leatha Smith had a massive impact on Ingram’s development as a youngster. She raised him for seven years in North Carolina. She passed away in the summer before his freshman season at Duke University.

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But Ingram not only thinks about his great aunt on her birthday, but also at Christmas time. She gifted him his first mobile phone in one of their last holiday seasons together.

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“I think about her a lot,” Ingram said. “She raised me for seven years. I know she’s looking down at me, and she is proud of me.”

Tattooed on the back of his bicep is the quote, “Fear of suffering is far worse than suffering itself.” The words are from Brazilian philosopher Paulo Coelho in his book, The Alchemist. This became a mantra for Ingram because his great aunt repeated the line often.

So much so, Ingram decided to get the tattoo.

The hardest part about Ingram’s move from New Orleans to Toronto was waiting eight months to finally play in a Raptors jersey. He suffered a severely sprained left ankle on Dec. 8, 2024, and that injury forced him out of action for 10 months.

“Absolutely, that made the trade a little more difficult,” Ingram said. “But it also gave me time to sit and watch my new team. I got a feeling for my new teammates and where I was going to fit in.”

The six-foot-nine Ingram has fit in just fine. He’s made a big difference as the Raptors notched their 31st victory with 29 games still remaining. They won only 30 in the entire 2024-25 season.

His big game against the Bulls was the seventh time he scored 30 or more in a game this season.

“This has been a good move for me,” Ingram said with his whisper-like voice. “I needed a fresh start.

“I love this team, this city and my teammates. The coaching staff has been super.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2026.

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It is among the first organized activities that many young children will get to experience.

Gymnastics is a popular choice, helping to cultivate early co-ordination and flexibility.t

The bright-coloured mats, trampolines and alluring balance beams are enough to intrigue many energetic toddlers. But the fun just doesn’t start at a young age — the option to travel down the competitive stream starts early, too.

“I was probably three or four when I started, but I remember more when I was about six or seven when I started on the competitive aspect of gymnastics,” said 21-year-old Charlotte Innes.

“There were maybe 40 or 50 girls trying out and they only picked maybe four, and she was one of the four,” added Charlotte’s mom, Carrie Mullin Innes.

Being chosen meant the then-young Calgarian had to make some big sacrifices. She said she trained multiple days a week, both before and after school, rising the ranks, winning medals and inching closer to a dream.

“Definitely Olympic-bound, that was the expectation. We were taught that this was more of a job, and we are here to get to the highest level,” said Innes.

But she said she paid a price for reaching that elite level.

“It felt like the military for small children,” said Innes. “On rough days, there would be a lot of degrading comments, like being called worthless. I had a coach say to me, ‘I’ve gone to three Olympics, and you are not going to none.’”

She recalls following a strict diet and said she was expected to show up even if she was hurt.  “I was still required to go to the gym, with a concussion, they would ask me to wear sunglasses or sit in a dark hallway and as long as I was there,” said Innes.

“There were several times I almost pulled her from the sport, and it was due to some of this stuff,” said her mom. “I was just like, ‘I can’t believe someone is treating my daughter this way.’ I spoke up regularly and they didn’t like that.”

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Still, the push to succeed for Innes was powerful.

“It felt like gold,” said Innes. “A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow — free college at the biggest colleges you could think of in the U.S., potential (to be) Olympic-bound. There was so many opportunities. There were times I wondered if the trauma was worth where I wanted to be.”

Calgary is hosting the 2026 edition of Artistic Elite Canada this week, which marks the start of this year’s competitive season.

The event, which brings together competitive gymnasts from across the country, is taking place at time when big changes are being made to improve the safety and culture of the sport that has been marred by allegations of abuse and mistreatment of athletes for years.

“The culture of the sport that surrounded us was quite toxic. When I have taken some time to look back and reflect on that, I did see a lot of abuse,” said Innes.

“I saw a lot of physical abuse. I saw a lot of emotional abuse and a lot of mental abuse,” said Kyle Shewfelt, an Olympic gold medalist in the sport who now runs his own gymnastics club in Calgary.

Shewfelt said his experience was very positive, but acknowledged this was not the case for many others.

“It’s taken the hard work of the brave survivors that have come forward to share their stories with so much courage, and I think the community is embracing change that is starting to come,” said Shewfelt.

Gymnastics Canada and provincial affiliations now publicly post the names of sanctioned coaches online.

But Kim Shore, who is a former gymnast, former board member for Gymnastics Canada and longtime advocate for that change, said there is still lots more work to do.

“It is the tip of the iceberg. Also, that is not an exhaustive list,” said Shore. “There are also coaches who are warned about their behavior and then they choose to go to another sport. There is absolutely no tracking from sport to sport or province to province,” said Shore.

But there is currently a push to change that, according to Kacey Neely, the director of Safe Sport for Gymnastics Canada, who said a national database of all sanctioned coaches in all sports in Canada is now being built.

Neely said Gymnastics Canada is also about to launch its robust safe-sport strategy, which will include the same level of screening for coaches across the country, regardless of the level, along with an independent third party to receive complaints, provide enhanced mental and emotional support for athletes and more education for coaches and parents and their children.

Neely emphasized safety is no longer just an add-on.

“It’s integrated at each level, athlete training, the high-performance program, sport development, coaching and judging — it’s there every step of the way.”

When Innes was 14, she decided enough was enough and quit the sport.

However, she did end up earning a scholarship to a school in the United States but in track and field.

But she said she has had to deal with the trauma of her time in gymnastics.

“I had a lot of anxiety and depression growing up due to that, I didn’t feel like I had a childhood. It felt like I was an adult in a child’s body the whole time,” said Innes, who is now attending law school and hopes to be a voice for other athletes so they don’t have to endure what she did.

“I do hope that other little girls that are dealing with this situation have more resources — to go and speak to people and just more measures put in place.”

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If you saw sportcaster Pete James somewhere in London, Ont., something was happening.

You may not have known what that was, as he was likely the only one who knew about it, and he was in the process of getting the story.

If you saw James, all you had to do was wait a little while and there he would be on the radio or TV telling whatever story he had found to everyone.

James was a presence.

That’s probably why he felt so noticeable when he was outside the walls of the studio or away from the TV desk.

For his entire career, sports information in southwestern Ontario — and often beyond —went through James.

In the mid 1960s, James became the first person outside of a hotel conference room to know that the London Nationals were becoming the London Knights.

James discovered this because he was literally outside that conference room with his ear pressed to the keyhole. He heard the words, ran to the nearest payphone and informed London.

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Because that’s what he did so well. James informed everyone.

After beginning his career in St. Catharines, James worked at CFPL-TV and CFPL Radio in London right through to the late 1990s, when he left television for radio and a spot opposite Steve Garrison.

James also took on the role of radio analyst on London Knights games and travelled with the team up until the 2011/12 season, when he switched to a post-game analyst role with Rogers TV, working with host Ryan Robinson.

James’ work covering the Western Mustangs was legendary. He made you feel purple and proud whether you were a Western alumnus or not.

He was the master of ceremonies for the opening of London’s downtown arena, which is now known as Canada Life Place.

He would later be in the broadcast booth in March of 2004 when the Knights clinched their first-ever Hamilton Spectator Trophy as regular season champions in the Ontario Hockey League.

The look on his face that night, having covered the Knights for 39 years, was unforgettable.

The pride he felt for the organization was indisguisable.

A year later, James was the first radio reporter on the ice as celebrations went on around him after the Knights captured their very first Memorial Cup Championship.

James was a member of the London Sports Hall of Fame and also received an RTNDA Lifetime Achievement Award for his excellent work as a reporter.

James died on Feb. 4 at the age of 89.

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CALGARY – Devin Cooley was the first to admit that his second career start against the Edmonton Oilers went way better than his first.

Cooley made 36 saves on Wednesday to backstop the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 victory over Edmonton as both teams wrapped up play and now head into the Olympic break.

“It was honestly really fun,” said Cooley.

“When it’s back and forth, and maybe I give up a goal that I don’t really want to give up and it’s like, oh, shoot, now it’s tied again. We’re going to the third, they get a power play. That’s what I live for, that’s where I have the most amount of fun, and it’s where you get the most amount of adrenaline and it’s awesome.”

It was in his fifth career start, while he was with the San Jose Sharks, when the Oilers lit up Cooley for eight goals on 22 shots before he was pulled 14 minutes into the second period.

“I’m glad that tonight went a lot better than that one,” said Cooley, laughing as he recounted that night on April 14, 2024. “Those are the games where it’s like get me out of here. I’m not really enjoying it. I’m glad I was I was able to get some redemption.”

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Cooley’s impressive body of work on Wednesday night, eight of his stops coming against NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid, who failed to get a puck past him, epitomized how his rookie season has gone so far.

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Despite Calgary (23-27-6) languishing near the bottom of the overall standings, Cooley hits the Olympic break with a 7-6-3 record

Of 74 goalies with five or more starts, Cooley’s .921 save percentage ranks him No. 1. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is second at .918.

“It’s nice to see him have such success early in the year for us. He’s come in and done a very good job,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “He’s allowed us to take some of the load off of Dustin (Wolf) and when he’s been in that, he’s given us a chance to win every night.”

That trust from the coach took a while to build, though.

After winning the backup job in training camp, despite going 0-2 with a .846 save percentage, Cooley only started twice in the first 16 games. When Calgary opened the season with games on back-to-back nights and three games in four days, Wolf started all of them.

But Cooley’s consistent play has earned him more playing time and the last 12 games have been split six games each.

“I actually thought early in the game he looked a little shaky, and then once the game went on, he looked really comfortable,” said Huska. “Sometimes when a goaltender lets one in that he doesn’t want to go in, or he thinks he should have had, they typically dig right in from that point.

“That was the feeling we had on the bench tonight, and he most definitely did that as the game went on in the third.”

Calgary led 3-2 in the third when Kasperi Kapanen tied it for Edmonton on a shot that Cooley partially stopped, but it rolled down his arm and dribbled over the line.

But the Flames answered right back with Ryan Lomberg scoring the game-winner less than three minutes later.

“He’s an easy guy to play for, for sure,” said Lomberg. “His personality and the character he has, he’s great in our locker room and the boys love him and are hungry to play in front of him.”

Full of personality, colourful quotes and the owner of a rabbit, Tito, who has his own cult social media following, Cooley is a vibrant character off the ice and Huska said it’s the same on the ice.

“I try not to listen to any of the comments that come out of his mouth,” said the Flames bench boss with a smile. “He’s very much a free spirit. The players really enjoy having him around, and they really enjoy playing in front of him. There’s something to be said about people that have a positive vibe or an aura about them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.

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