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. Ju... Gilbert Browns Jersey .C. - Taylor Vickermans third-period goal held up as the winner as the Tri-City Americans edged the Kamloops Blazers 2-1 in Western Hockey League action on Monday. Jo... Manziel Browns Jersey . Vermette found a loose puck in front of Senators goalie Craig Anderson and pushed it through to the back of the net at 2:23. He now had three goals against his former team in five games. ht... .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. [url=http://www.jerseysbrownsshop.com/Womens-Joe-Thomas-Authentic-Jersey/]Joe Thomas Browns Jersey . Frank Jobe, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who was the first to perform an elbow procedure that became known as Tommy John surgery and saved the careers of countless major league pitchers, died Thursday. Joe Thomas Youth Jersey . The 24-year-old from Hartsville, P.E.I., won a silver medal Saturday in the biathlon, the first Canadian ever to do so in the event.NEWARK, N.J. -- Cam Atkinson scored in the shootout to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Curtis McElhinney made 16 saves for Columbus, which has won three in a row. Artem Anisimov scored the Blue Jackets goal in regulation. New Jersey has lost two in a row. Martin Brodeur stopped 29 of 30 shots, and Adam Henrique scored for the Devils in the third period. Atkinson scored the only goal in the shootout. Anisimov gave Columbus a 1-0 lead 7:34 into the game when he roofed a Brandon Dubinsky rebound over Brodeur. The goal was the 11th of the season for Anisimov, and for Dubinsky, his assist was seventh point in three games against the Devils this season. The Blue Jackets had opportunities to take control in the second, but could not solve Brodeur. He made 10 saves in the period, highlighted by stopping Atkinson on a breakaway at 1:24. The Columbus right wing blocked Eric Gelinas point shot, and then beat the New Jersey defenceman to the loose puck in the neutral zone to begin the play. Even though Brodeur was very good in the second, Columbus had three opportunities on the power play in the period and allowed just four shots. The Blue Jackets finished the game 0 for 5 on the man advantage in 8:26 of power play time. While Brodeur was busy in the first two periods, McElhinney only faceed nine shots on goal and stopped them all.dddddddddddd. But New Jersey began to pressure Columbus in the third. The Devils had eight shots on goal in the period and finished with 17 for the game. The offensive attack paid off when Henrique drew the Devils even at 1-1 at 5:45 of the third when he shoved a rebound of a Patrik Elias shot past McElhinney before crashing into the Columbus goaltender. The goal was the seventh of the season for Henrique. NOTES: Clowe returned to the Devils lineup Friday night after missing 31 games with post-concussion symptoms following a Jacob Trouba elbow on Oct. 13. "Hes been out for a while," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said when he met with reporters following the morning skate. Hes worked really hard at keeping himself and getting himself back into good shape. Hes done a ton of off-ice stuff so I dont think conditioning will be an issue, but anytime you miss that kind of time he missed and jump in at this point in the season, timing and things like that are going to be things he has to work through." ... The game was the first for both teams following the NHLs three-day holiday break. "Sometimes coming out of breaks like this its about trying to finding that edge, again," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said after the morning skate. "For me its the mental side of the game." cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '