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STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER

February 24, 2002
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today issued this statement on the news that the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team completed a gold medal sweep in hockey for Canada at the Salt Lake City Olympics:

"Thanks to the matchless drive and talent of our men’s and women’s teams, the Maple Leaf is today flying proudly at the summit of the hockey world. In two golden weeks of triumph, the game that we have always called our own, that we have shared with the world, has become ours again.

I have just returned from a Team Canada trade mission to Russia, where, in the company of team members from both sides, we marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Summit Series of 1972, a series that transfixed Canadians from sea to sea to sea. In the past two weeks, in homes and schools, at work and at play, Canadians have once again been united in a way that only hockey can bring us together. And their victories have triggered a nationwide party of celebration.

On behalf of a proud nation, I congratulate the coaches and players who have made this moment possible. They have not only written a glorious new chapter in Canadian hockey history, by the example of their teamwork and sportsmanship they have been extraordinary Canadian ambassadors. We look forward to giving them a good old-fashioned Canadian welcome when they come home."

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