CALGARY -- With less than two months to go until the Sochi Olympics, Kevin Dineen will have to hit the ground running as the new head coach of the Canadian womens hockey team. Dineen was named to the post Tuesday, just a few days after Dan Churchs surprise resignation. Dineen was signed for the remainder of the season and will guide the defending champions at the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games. "This has been a whirlwind few days but when this opportunity presented itself I immediately jumped at it," Dineen said at a news conference. Its the first international coaching job for Dineen, who served as head coach of the NHLs Florida Panthers for parts of three seasons until he was fired last month. He previously served as head coach of the AHLs Portland Pirates for six seasons (2005-11). "Were very excited that Kevin will join the coaching staff of Canadas national womens team and bring his unique perspective to the dressing room," Hockey Canada chief operating officer Scott Smith said in a statement. "Kevin has had success in both the AHL and NHL, and were looking forward to him being a part of the staff for the final push towards Sochi." Dineen, a 50-year-old who was born in Quebec City and raised in Toronto, also played in 1,188 NHL regular-season games, scoring 355 goals and adding 405 assists. He succeeds Church, who unexpectedly stepped down last week. Church said he felt there was a lack of confidence in his ability to coach Canada to a gold medal at the Games. Assistants Lisa Haley and Danielle Goyette handled the coaching duties in Canadas 5-1 loss to the archrival United States in an exhibition game last Thursday in Calgary. The two womens hockey powers meet again Friday in an exhibition game in Grand Forks, N.D. As a player, Dineen represented Canada on six occasions. He made four appearances at the IIHF world hockey championship, winning silver in 1985 and 1989. He won a Canada Cup in 1987 and just missed the podium at the 1984 Winter Games, when Canada settled for a fourth-place finish at Sarajevo. "I am a product of Hockey Canada," Dineen said. "Ive had the opportunity to represent my country on the international stage. I may have a little unfinished business from my Olympic experience." The Canadian womens team is aiming to win Olympic gold for the fourth straight time. "This is a critical time for Canadas national womens team with the start of the Olympics less than two months away, and we feel Kevin is a terrific fit with our staff as we get ready for Sochi," said general manager Melody Davidson. "His experience, both on the ice and behind the bench, will be invaluable over the coming weeks." Dineen, Goyette, Haley and Davidson will work together to finalize Canadas roster for Sochi over the coming weeks. "Things are happening pretty quickly," Dineen said. "I know Im hopping on a moving train here and will rely heavily on the whole coaching staff, and Lisa and Danielle, to help this initial stage for a couple of weeks." Twenty-four players remain in centralization, including three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. Canadas final roster for the Sochi Games will include 21 players, including three goaltenders. Wholesale Patriots Jerseys . Kingsbury missed a chance to break Jeremy Blooms 2005 record of six World Cup wins in a row. Like his one-time idol, Kingsbury followed his six-event winning streak with a second-place showing. Patriots Jerseys China .C. -- Even without captain Ryan Callahan, the New York Rangers kept rolling along. http://www.cheappatriotsjersey.com/[/ur... . -- Tangible evidence of a job well done. [url=http://www.cheappatriotsjersey.com/]Cheap Patriots Jerseys . The 32-year-old Malisse, from Belgium, will face two-time tournament champion Sam Querrey on Friday "Ill try to put as many returns (as possible) in play, thats the first thing," Malisse said. Cheap Patriots Super Bowl Jerseys . City council voted 11-2 against public funding for the arena, meaning Graeme Roustans company GTA Sports will need to find private partners for the proposed arena.The Buffalo Sabres will be without the services of defenceman Tyler Myers for the next 4-6 weeks. According to head coach Lindy Ruff, Myers had surgery on a broken wrist Monday morning; an injury that occurred in the second period of Saturdays game against the Phoenix Coyotes. "It happened just on an awkward play, nothing you would ever notice," Ruff said. "Just one of those freak-like incidents." The 21-yearr-old had a rough start to the season, including being a healthy scratch recently.dddddddddddd He has two goals and four assists in 19 games this year, with a minus- 4 rating. The Sabres are already without goaltender Ryan Miller, defenceman Mike Weber and forwards Jochen Hecht, Tyler Ennis and Cody McCormick due to various injuries. T.J. Brennan has been recalled to replace Myers. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '