CALGARY -- A big NHL name with no previous experience coaching international hockey has stepped behind the bench of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team. 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." Custom Atlanta Braves Nike Jerseys . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. Custom Oakland Athletics Nike Jerseys . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.co...rs-nike-jerseys. The Brazilian driver had the second-best time in last months tests at Jerez and said the "good start" could play to his advantage when the season gets underway in Australia in March. Custom Los Angeles Angels Nike Jerseys . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons.EDMONTON -- Teenage golf phenom Lydia Ko made history Sunday at the CN Canadian Womens Open. The 16-year-old from New Zealand shot a final round 64 to finish at 15 under for a five-stroke victory over Karine Icher. Ko became the youngest winner of an LPGA event last year when she won the Canadian Open at the Vancouver Golf Club at age 15. With Sundays victory, she becomes the first amateur in history to win two LPGA events. Ko started the day one shot back, but shredded the course at Royal Mayfair Golf Club with five birdies on the front nine and never looked back. She had seven birdies in total and curled in a birdie putt from 16 feet out on the final hole to cap the day. "I hit a really good drive on one and I kept it to the fairway, and I think that kind of got my momentum going," Ko said. "I was in a little bit more of a pressure position (as defending champion), so I was really happy with my 64." Unfortunately winning is becoming an expensive proposition for Ko, who was born in South Korea but grew up in New Zealand. As an amateur, she cannot accept the $300,000 first prize, which instead goes to Icher. Ko has played in 14 LPGA events over the last two years, leaving almost $1 million in prize money on the table. Ko said shes still considering asking the LPGA for an exemption to let her turn pro before shes 18. "Ive got some people above me like my mom and dad. Theyre the boss, and theyre going to help me definitely make the right decision to turn pro at what time," said Ko, who shot 265 over the tournaments four rounds. "As Im only 16 its quite hard to make huge decisions. And when I turn pro its like a job, where money is all about it and every shot counts." Ko has always said her driving is the strength of her game, and proved it again this week by hitting 45 of 56 fairways and 56 of 72 greens in regulation. Icher, ranked 24th, had her best finish of the season. The 24-year-old from France carded four birdies to go with one bogey Sunday to finish 10 under for the tournament. Canada has been good to Icher, who finished 5th in July at the Manulife Classic in Waterloo, Ont. Icher said her game improved throughout the week. "I would like to play tomorrow," she said. "It was a good day today. Im very happy with my game. More putts got in." She saidd Kos feat was impressive.dddddddddddd "Shes amazing. Sixteen years-old and to win twice. She has no fear, I guess," said Icher. "Its incredible. As an amateur and so young, its great for womens golf, but not so great for us (on tour)," she laughed. Swedens Caroline Hedwall began the day with a one-shot lead, but could not match her lights out 6-under performance from the third round. "I was trying to keep up with (Ko), but at the same time I couldnt hit it as close and I couldnt make as many putts," said Hedwall, who finished at 9 under overall after shooting a 71. "She was just really impressive today." Brittany Lincicome of the U.S. wound up tied for third with Hedwall after shooting a 69. It was a disappointing tournament for the top two players on tour. No. 1 ranked Inbee Park was carving up the putting greens and held a share of the lead heading into Saturdays third round only to see her game fall apart. She finished 11 strokes back in a tie for 13th. "My putting just didnt want to go in the hole like the (first) two days," Park said. "Nothing wants to drop. You get those kind of days." Park said she switched putters for this tournament because the insert on her first one was worn out. "I dont know, I might go back to my old one," she laughed. No. 2 Stacy Lewis racked up five bogeys on her first seven holes in the first-round Thursday before withdrawing due to illness. Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., was the top Canadian. Richdale shot three-over 73 to finish the tournament tied for 62nd, 23 strokes off the pace. "I had an OK day today," Richdale said. "I struggled with my ball striking. I think I hit only eight greens, which makes things pretty tough. "I would have liked to have made a few more ups and downs, but thats the way it goes." Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ont., ended up 72nd. She shot six-over 76 to finish 30 strokes behind Ko. "I had a lot of fun on the front side," Shepley said. "I hit it really, really well. I wish I could have made a couple of putts. I had a lot of putts I could have made and I think things could have been very different early on." The other 18 Canadians in the field, including veteran Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, did not make the cut. ' ' '