Mon, May 14, 2007: Hockey moms rejoice

Phaneuf and Commodore families ecstatic over Canada's world gold medal victory

It was a golden Mother's Day for a couple of local hockey moms.

Amber Phaneuf and Eleanor Commodore say they couldn't be prouder of their sons - Calgary Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf and Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Mike Commodore - who helped Canada earn a gold medal at the IIHF world championship yesterday in Russia with a convincing 4-2 win over Finland.

"It was a nice Mother's Day present," said Phaneuf, who watched the game with her other son, 13-year-old Dane, from their Edmonton home.

"I felt Canada had the team to do it. But in hockey, you never know. It was exciting to get the win for sure."

Phaneuf said her older son called her after the game.

"He's very excited," she told Sun Media. "He just wanted to wish me Happy Mother's Day and say that he was ecstatic about the win."

FIRST WORLD WIN

It's his first world championship. Dion also has one gold medal and a silver from past world junior hockey tournaments.

Dion's uncle, Brian MacArthur, said the gold medal makes up for a disappointing end to the NHL campaign for his hard-hitting nephew.

"I thought they played great as a team, they had great coaching and Steve Yzerman did a great job on the management side of things," MacArthur said. "It was pretty impressive."

Meanwhile, Commodore said her son now has a hat trick in team triumphs, including last year's Stanley Cup with the 'Canes and an NCAA championship with the University of North Dakota in 2000.

"That was a nice Mother's Day gift. It's pretty special," said the proud mom, who watched yesterday's gold-medal game from her Sherwood Park home.

Commodore said she didn't expect to hear from Mike until today "once he's on this continent."