Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd The crucial February 12 game between Germany and Latvia is being billed as a duel of goaltenders. Although Marc Seliger’s .966 save percentage and GAA of 1.00 are outstanding, the 27-year-old German goalie has a long way to go before he can compare his international hockey […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Talk to the Eastern Canadian hockey media and they’ll tell you that Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs is a leading candidate for the Hart Trophy. However, Vancouver captain Markus Naslund has been the biggest Swedish scoring threat in the NHL this season, and that […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd When the tragic news of Saku Koivu’s abdominal cancer first broke in September, the first reaction of hockey fans everywhere was to wish the star Finnish center a full recovery from his illness. Next, thoughts turned to how Koivu’s absence might affect not only the Montreal […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Virtually every hockey nation boasts a celebrated pair of brothers. Russia has Pavel and Valeri Bure. Sweden takes pride in Daniel and Henrik Sedin. For the USA, there was Joey and Brian Mullen. Now France is getting into the act with Maurice and Francois Rozenthal. The […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Almost nobody knows the world of international hockey like Peter Stastny. And with a little luck, that knowledge could put medals around some necks at these Games. Today, the 45-year-old Bratislava native serves as the General Manager of Slovakia’s Olympic team, but he first made his […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd Igor Ulanov will never equal the offensive numbers of retired all-star Russian defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov. But up close, his craggy physique bears a striking resemblance to Fetisov’s battle-tested mug. If Ulanov is ever going to resemble Fetisov on the ice, however, there’s no time like the […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd They say you can’t go home again, but Jyrki Lumme of the Phoenix Coyotes is always welcomed back with open arms in Vancouver. The 33-year-old native of Tampere, Finland spent eight of his 12 NHL seasons with the Canucks. He proved as gracious and friendly off […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd If it’s true Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg are robots manufactured by IKEA, as a recent Canadian TV commercial joked, perhaps Marcus Ragnarsson of the San Jose Sharks came from the same factory. He is a prototypical Swedish defenseman. “I’m getting used to living in California […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd Could Markus Naslund be a fan of the Doors? So far this season, “Break On Through to the Other Side” has been his theme song. Heading into Tuesday’s battle at Nashville between the Predators and Naslund’s Vancouver Canucks, the 25-year-old Swedish right winger ranked in the […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd Alvar Aalto gained worldwide fame as the greatest Finnish architect of the twentieth century. Antti Aalto is still a work-in-progress. No relation to his famous namesake, the 23-year-old center from Lappeenranta, Finland has finally secured his place in the lineup of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in […]