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Hockey Canada Cup hits ice
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For women's hockey, the road to Vancouver begins in Vancouver.
VANOC's last test event is the first tournament on the international hockey calendar for women.
Defending Olympic champion Canada, defending world champion United States, Finland and Sweden begin the Hockey Canada Cup today at General Motors Place. Finland and the U.S. meet at 3 p.m., while Canada hosts Sweden at 7:30 p.m.
The first round continues Tuesday and Thursday. Semifinals are Saturday and finals Sunday. It's a certain preview of the medal round of the eight-nation Vancouver 2010 Olympic women's tournament, which runs Feb. 13-25 and also includes China, Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
GM Place will be known as Canada Hockey Place at Games-time because of venue advertising bans. VANOC is testing the rink, timing and results and arena operations. A temporary wall will be built in the first underground parking level to simulate the space needed for anti-doping, news conferences and offices.
All games will be webcast, except the gold medal game which airs on TSN.
