CALGARY -- That the decision was painful was evident, as Dan Church was in tears by the end of the conversation. His stated reason for abruptly resigning as head coach of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team was he felt there were doubts about his ability to coach the team to Olympic gold in February. "If there isnt confidence in what Im doing, I need to step aside and let the team move on," Church told The Canadian Press in a phone interview Thursday. "Im heartbroken, to be honest, about the whole situation. Im sad I cant finish this journey." Church didnt specify whether it was players or Hockey Canada who doubted his competence as a coach. "Just discussions Id had over the last few days made that apparent, in some meetings Id had with leadership," Church said. "I think it was just difference of opinion on the direction we were headed. "In the end, I just decided if Im getting in the way of where the team needs to go, I need to step aside and let them continue on in the process." That bombshell comes less than two months before the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Church was expected to announce his 21-player Olympic roster before the end of December. Church left Calgary on Thursday morning without addressing the players and flew to Toronto, where he lives with his wife Regan. Canada hosted the U.S. women in Calgary at night. "I was in shock. It was unexpected," veteran forward Caroline Ouellette said. "I appreciate Dan. I always have. I have a lot of respect for him. I think hes done a lot of great things for our team since 2011 when he took over as head coach." The Canadian women will attempt to win a fourth straight gold medal in Sochi after victories in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Church coached Canada to a womens world title in April, 2012. The 40-year-old from Toronto was rewarded with a two-year contract to coach for the 2013 world champions and the Winter Olympics. When asked if Hockey Canada tried to convince him to stay or reverse his decision Thursday, Church replied, "No, they did not." "Dan has decided to resign for personal reasons," Hockey Canadas chief operating officer Scott Smith said at news conference Thursday. "Hes put a tremendous amount of work into this and we respect the decision hes made." Assistant coaches Danielle Goyette, a former national team player, and Lisa Haley will co-coach until a new coach is named, Smith said. "Time certainly is of the essence," Smith said. "This decision came upon us in the last few hours and were going to react as quickly as possible. Melody Davidson coached the Canadian women to Olympic gold in both 2006 and 2010. She became Hockey Canadas female head scout and serves in a general managers role for the national team. Davidson was adamant Thursday she would not step into the breach. "I stepped down in 2010 for a reason," Davidson said. "I left because it was time to be off that bench and Im comfortable in the role I can play off the ice." "I think theres some real good candidates there who can help us and bring a different voice than mine. Ill definitely support whatever direction we go in, but its not going to involve me as part of the coaching staff." The reality is the pool of Canadians who have experience coaching international womens teams is shallow. Davidson says she could identify with Churchs feelings as she nearly quit when Canada lost the 2009 world championship final to the U.S. prior to the 2010 Olympics. "The Olympics is overwhelming at times," she said. "Sometimes you get caught up in that. Maybe Dan couldnt feel he could envision something different." Davidson didnt think Church was in over his head as head coach of the team. "Definitely not," she said. Haley says she did not question Churchs decisions. "In my opinion, Dan has done and said everything with the intention of this team winning a gold medal," Haley said. "I trusted his decisions all along when Ive gotten the chance to coach with him over the years. "Hes gotten a lot of things right. Right now, what we want to do is trust this decision that this is whats best for the team and hopefully we can win him that gold medal." Church and Davidson invited 27 women to try out for the Olympic team. Theyve been training full time in Calgary since August. Church cut forward Jenelle Kohanchuk and defenders Tessa Bonhomme and Brigette Lacquette in November. Two more forwards and a defenceman will be released when the Olympic team in named. The Canadian women lost 3-2 to the U.S. in the final of this years world championship in Ottawa, but were on a three-game winning streak against their archrivals until Thursday night. With Goyette and Haley behind the bench, Canada lost 5-1 to the U.S in the third exhibition game between the two countries this winter. In their previous meeting at the Four Nations Cup in November, Canada doubled the Americans 4-2. Canada went 4-0 to win that international tournament. The women were 10-11 against male teams in the Alberta Midget Hockey League and have played 31 games since September. "All I can say is I gave 100 per cent effort in everything I did this year," Church said. "I worked tirelessly. "I put in all the hours to be successful and I believe we were moving in the right direction as a team. We had reached all the benchmarks at the times we had wanted and winning all of our games against the U.S., winning at Four Nations. "While we had struggled a little bit with the midget results, wed played with a lot of injuries to our lineup and a really tough November schedule. "Its disappointing to not feel theres confidence in what youre doing." Hes coached the York University womens hockey team for nine seasons. His father died of cancer in January at age 70, but Church said his decision was not related to health or family issues. Church coached the Canadas under-18 womens team to a world champoinship in 2010. He was an assistant coach to Ryan Walter on the womens team that took silver at the 2011 world championship. With Church behind the bench at the 2012 world championships in Burlington, Vt., Canada suffered a worst-ever 9-2 loss to the U.S. women to open that tournament, but rebounded with a 5-4 overtime win in the final for the countrys first world title since 2007. The U.S. has won four of the last five world championships. Canada and the U.S. will meet again Dec. 20 in Grand Forks, N.D., Dec. 28 in St. Paul, Minn., and Dec. 30 in Toronto. . The Suns announced the signing Wednesday. Barbosa spent his first seven seasons with the Suns, averaging 12.6 points from 2003-10. The Brazilian guard was a sparkplug off the bench for those fast-paced teams, and the Suns could use a little jolt with starting guard Eric Bledsoe out with a sprained right knee. [url=http://www.footballpatriotsfanatics.com/authentic-andre-tippett-patriots-je... Tippett Youth Jersey . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. .ca. Hi Kerry, Appreciate all your insight into what goes on in games. Im just looking for an explanation - in Wednesdays Flyers-Capitals game, why didnt Wayne Simmonds receive a third-man in during the line brawl last night? He clearly grabbed Erskine, who was engaged with Lecavalier, allowing Vinnie a free cheap-shot right to the mush!Thanks,Chris --- Hey Kerry, Seeing the Flyers-Caps line brawl last night, whats the most interesting story from your officiating days when it came to breaking them up? Paul McLane Chris: You are correct in your assessment that Wayne Simmonds deserved a game misconduct when he grabbed John Erskine around the neck allowing Vincent Lecavalier a free shot as the players fell to the ice. [url=http://www.footballpatriotsfanatics.com/authentic-malcom-brown-patriots-jer... Brown Patriots Jersey . got closer Saturday in the battle for the season title. With the win in the No. 22 Ford, Keselowski put Roger Penske back in the lead for owner points. Keselowski finished nearly a second ahead of Denny Hamilin.FRANKFURT, Germany -- Bayern Munich set a Bundesliga record and opened up a four-point lead by beating Augsburg 3-0 on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 in Wolfsburg. Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Elsewhere, Son Heung-min scored a hat trick against his former team for Bayer Leverkusen to beat Hamburger SV 5-3 and level on points with Dortmund. Schalke got two goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng in a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Werder Bremen. Adrian Ramos scored twice to secure Hertha Berlins 3-2 victory in Hoffenheim, after the visitors squandered a two-goal lead. Bayerns victory broke Hamburgs 36-match unbeaten run from January 1982 to January 1983. Bayern last lost on Oct. 28, 2012, 2-1 against Leverkusen in Munich. With 32 points from 12 matches, Guardiola has the best start of all-time of a coach in the Bundesliga. Bayern is four points clear of Dortmund and Leverkusen, while Wolfsburg is fourth, seven points behind the duo. Dortmund hosts Bayern in the next round, after the international break. Bayern eased past Augsburg after taking an early lead through a goal by Boateng -- the half-brother of Kevin-Prince -- in the fifth minute. Dantes glancing header off a corner landed in front of Boateng at the far post and he turned and drilled a left-foot shot into the opposite corner. Ribery fired a free kick into the upper corner in first-half injury time and Mueller converted a penalty in stoppage time to complete the victory. Dortmund went ahead in Wolfsburg but then fell to its second defeat this week, after losing at home to Arsenal 1-0 in the Champions League. It also lost central defender Neven Subotic to a knee injury shortly before halftime and Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said the Serbia international may have damaged a ligament. Subotic was taken to a hospital for tests. Marco Reus curled a free kick over the wall in injury time of the first half. But Ricardo Rodriguez replied with another free kick goal, swingiing the ball into the area where it took a bounce to fool goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, who just got his first call-up for Germany at age 33.dddddddddddd Ivica Olic sealed Wolfsburgs fourth straight victory with another long-range shot inside the far post, while Reus hit the post with another free kick. Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski had two penalty calls denied in injury time and Klopp had a heated exchange with officials after the match. Wolfsburg won despite playing without the injured playmaker Diego. "We made it easy for them (Wolfsburg)," Klopp said. The most entertaining game was in Leverkusen, where the home side saw Hamburg come back to level at 2-2 before pulling away again, with Son also setting up one goal and producing a key loss of possession that led to Hamburgs third goal. The South Korea forward scored twice inside the first 16 minutes, both times with his left foot and both times after shaking off Hamburg defender Heiko Westermann. Hamburg fought back with goals from Maximilian Beister and Pierre-Michel Lasogga, before Son completed his hat trick, this time with his right foot, on a deflected pass from Stefan Kiessling. Son then set up Kiessling for Leverkusens fourth goal, before Lasogga got his brace and raised his season total to eight goals. Gonzalo Castro secured Leverkusens victory in the 89th by lobbing the ball over Hamburgs goalkeeper Rene Adler. In Gelsenkirchen, Schalke fell behind on a goal from Felix Kroos, the brother of Bayerns Toni, before Boateng turned the match around with two headers. Substitute Jefferson Farfan put the issue beyond doubt in injury time, knocking in pass from Julian Draxler. Hoffenheim overcame a two-goal deficit, only to see Ramos knock in his second goal with a header in the 84th. 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