Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd In 2000-01, Ossi Vaananen of the Phoenix Coyotes became known for more than having arguably the NHL’s most colorful name. Thanks to his solid play, many hockey observers hailed him as the top rookie defenseman in the Western Conference. The 6-4, 220-pound native of Vantaa, Finland […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Nashville is where you find hot country stars like Shania Twain, Tanya Tucker and Faith Hill. In keeping with that, Tomas Vokoun has been playing some beautiful hockey for the Predators this year. The Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic native started 15 consecutive games in goal from […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd If you know your hockey history, you’ll recall the negative fan reaction Denis Potvin got whenever he played at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Well, Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators looks poised to live out a Potvinesque nightmare this winter in rinks around the NHL, […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd Winning one Memorial Cup is hard enough. So how about back-to-back titles? Since most major junior careers last only three or four seasons, the odds of “doing the double” are slim indeed for any player or team. “You have to consider the graduating factor,” says […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd Roman Turek’s nickname with the St. Louis Blues is “Large.” Since he’s 188 cm and 98 kg, it’s not hard to see why. But the 30-year-old Czech goaltender is also playing a large role with his NHL club for the second straight season. Head coach Joel […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Hollywood movies like The Towering Inferno and Backdraft are as close as many of us ever come to confronting a fire raging out of control. But for the citizens of Kelowna, the sight of homes and forests ablaze became a terrifying reality in the late […]

Originally published in Attractions Magazine in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd In the NHL, longevity and Stanley Cup glory don’t always go hand in hand. Even though Vancouver Canucks forward Trevor Linden has played over 1,300 regular season games, plus 112 more in the playoffs, the beloved veteran, who celebrates his 37th birthday on April 11, […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd The invention of the airplane. The fall of the Berlin Wall. The emergence of the Internet. Some events irrevocably change the way we experience the world. Over the last 40 years of hockey history, we’ve seen a comparably huge change in the NHL’s attitude toward European-trained […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd It seems like Tommy Albelin has spent his entire NHL career in the hockey backwaters, whichever way you look at it. After graduating from Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League, he broke in with the now-defunct Quebec Nordiques in 1987-88 during one of the franchise’s worst […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Although Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings takes his share of abuse screening NHL goaltenders, you don’t normally see the 26-year-old left wing from Pieta hobbling around. But that’s what he did in the Detroit dressing room after the Wings rallied to tie the Vancouver […]