Men's relay team caps off big medal haul for Canada with gold in Montreal

Go to the start. Ready. I mean, when in life does this happen where there are thousands of people cheering for you? So he was the one amping up the home fans there. There we go. Well, the Dutch Lions team is certainly going to put everyone to the test, so the reigning Olympic champions, they had a fall last weekend in Vancouver in the qualifying race, so we didn't get to see them go head-to-head against the top team, so this is kind of the first look against the best. This will be a real test as well, as I believe this is top four in the Team Crystal Globe standings right now. Trying to bank some points. You know what was weird? Now before they really pick up, at this sort of point last season, we were already just about half way through the World Tour season. Right? We were lamenting that. Now we have seven stops and we're just getting going. Houseman, Lee Kuo Ho, Zhang Bo Hao, and Mathieu Pelletier. I'm starting to speak now. Looks like they have gone with Husserl to close things off today. . As the finisher, Shindong Min, and as if he needed to gas the Dutch Lions going with Yen Phat Phat. I remember they played Sandstorm once. That was a good relay song. Thank you. We'll get you DJing next weekend too, Gavin. Thank you. Well, if it was next weekend, there would be nobody here listening. Change, Pelletier, the big shout from DuBois to get up in the third. That's great. Down under 34 laps to go. Well, the Canadian Ice Maples have really dialed in that acceleration exchange so well where they can make those passes just off the relay exchange rather than setting something up while they're skating within their lap and a half. It's a very short period of time to make a pass, so if you can do it on the exchange, all the better. The chess game continues, it's always like this, the men's relay, it's when, who and how does the ramp up in speed happen. It's been a while. Kingma, maybe it's Dubois picking it up a little bit very early for a big increase in speed, and Dubois hitting the front. Just in time for the exchange. An interesting dynamic here. Stephen Dubois, often the closer in the relay for the Canadian Ice Maples, but putting him in position number three, usually you keep your strongest skaters in positions three and four, but obviously a ton of depth on the Ice Maples team. And Stephen Dubois, being in position three, maybe allows him to take advantage of some skaters that don't match up as well against him. Thank you. June Moore gets back in front, and then... Gives way. Thank you. And of course, the Korean White Tigers coming off the victory last weekend in Vancouver, but certainly missing the absence of Min Jong-un and Lee Jung-min here today in the relay. Both skaters currently sidelined with injuries at the moment. That's it. Jung Bo-hao stepping out. Attempt for position on the exchange button. Touchlines. Nice make for the Korean White Tigers and Chinese Lions. They will need 21 this time around. Lyon makes a push for the lead. Again, on the exchange. The Ice Maples have really dialed that in. Now Song's long into third. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. They're going to keep it on the exchange. A kind of possible confusion, but everybody's through now. Bennett Fouts, his turn. All right. Bennett, what an explosive pass. He just makes it happen so quickly. Just turns the dial a little bit. He can jump by on the outside of Felix Roussel. And Dubois battling back. We haven't mentioned it yet, but at this stage of the game, there's always that X factor in the ice. Well, that's really going to be the key to the Ice Maples plan, I think, here. Is Stephen Dubois able to turn the screws against those other skaters in position three? I think he certainly has the advantage. He has the experience over others like Niels Kingma. Come on. Perhaps a move for third on Sun Long. Can he make it stick? Long battling out of the corner. Sun not able to get it, though. The Ice Maples, we approach 10 laps. We're at 13. Again, kind of out behind him. Dubois gets the roar every time he touches the ice. Here he accelerates now, looking to open up a gap. And Kingma staying in contact. He'll bring in Kay Hausman as it's Mathieu Pelletier for Canada. And Hausman just hanging on there. A little bit of uncertainty perhaps with that ice, but now he's closed it right back up as the Chinese lungs go down. And I think Sun Long may have gotten a touch just as he went by. And it's a look on the outside. Well, Jens Bennett, well, let's see. Is he going to look for the inside? He does. And Bennett bouts with the big pass. But watch out, Stephen Dubois. We'll see if he ramps it up again. Goes wide on Kingma. Little touch. Nanaimo coming on the inside. Welcome to the Koreans. End of the frame here. Kingma can't hold it for a second. And Kingma's down on his own. And wouldn't you know it, it's head-to-head once again. A repeat of a weekend, but the Tigers go down on their own. It is a battle of attrition, and it's looking like the Canadian Ice Maples will come through it as the one team to survive everything unscathed. One more exchange to come. Félix Roussel has had a dream weekend. For the Ice Maples, 3A finals, two individual medals. And if he can keep the skates down, one to go. This is a victory lap in Montreal. The Chinese lungs got up for silver. And the Korean White Tigers, I think, just jumped ahead for bronze. So focused on the win there. It was actually incredibly close between the Tigers and the Lions at the finish line there for the bronze. And you see three teams going down on their own. Thank you. We do have one review on the board here. I want to say, though, again, a possible no-rule violation, but... Yeah, it looked like everybody just went down on their own. I think it was Kingma who kind of came up behind the White Tigers, went into the back of them, and then just spilled it on his own. But, as always, this race just leaves you speechless. These lungs, all these guys, they know each other so well.