Who is popular today?

The Olympics have been burned into Micah Zandee-Hart’s dreams since she sat transfixed in front of her TV as a kid in Saanichton watching the Canadian women’s hockey team win gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
“Ever since then it’s been something special I’ve held close to me,” said the Islander.
Her aspirational goal is getting closer as Zandee-Hart was named Wednesday among the 28 players who will centralize in Calgary beginning in late July in preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“The gold medal is always the vision for Canada in hockey, especially after Pyeongchang in 2018 [when Canada settled for Olympic silver behind the U.S.],” said Zandee-Hart, former ­Cornell captain in the NCAA.
Zandee-Hart was a late cut on the 2018 Olympic team. Now a mainstay on the Canadian blue line, the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association product is expected to make her Games debut in Beijing.
“It’s been my dream to represent Canada in the Olympics and I’m really excited about today’s announcement,” said Zandee-Hart, currently recuperating from shoulder surgery.
The centralized camp will include three goaltenders, nine defencemen, including Zandee-Hart, and 16 forwards. Fourteen players from the 2018 Olympic team are included.
Canada’s final 23-player ­roster for the 2022 Winter ­Olympics, set for Feb. 4-20 in the Chinese capital, will be announced in late December.
“When we started this Olympic quad in the fall of 2018, our road to 2022 looked very different,” said Gina Kingsbury, Hockey ­Canada director of women’s national teams, in a statement.
“Through adversity, in particular a lack of international competition over the last 14 months, our athletes have stayed focused. We had some difficult decisions to make, but that just shows how hard our athletes have worked for the opportunity to centralize and get a chance to compete for 23 Olympic roster spots.”
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com