Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Olympic years have been very good to Niklas Hagman. In 1998, the robust winger scored the overtime gold medal winner versus Russia for Finland at the World Junior Championship in his native Helsinki. 2002 saw the 6-foot, 205-pounder named Best Forward at the IIHF World Championship […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd When it comes to literary household names from leading countries at the IIHF World Championships, Russia has Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. The Czechs can counter with Franz Kafka and the Swedes boast Astrid Lindgren. Hemingway and Faulkner represent the USA proudly. But while contemporary literature from Canada […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd One of the great things about being a hockey fan in the new millennium is that you don’t have to rely on memory and oral recountings nearly as much to revisit the great games of the past. Apart from having a few beers with your grandfather, […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd There’s no way around it. Finishing seventh at the Turin Olympics after losing three 2-0 games was the worst failure in Canadian hockey history. Just go down the list. In 1954, the Soviet Union shocked the world by thumping Canada 7-2 to clinch its first-ever IIHF […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd Let’s be honest. What you hear from coaches during a typical media interview is not always enlightening or stimulating. Usually, generic talk about “good habits,” “consistency,” “sustained pressure,” and “staying positive” dominates. The focus is on getting two points in the next game. Big-picture issues and […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd With gold medals at the women’s and U18 IIHF World Championships this month, USA Hockey is riding high once again. But for Americans, probably no triumph will ever top the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” victory, where the USA knocked off the Soviets 4-3 and went on […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd His first NHL game was documented in Ken Dryden’s CBC TV series, “Home Game,” but Jyrki Lumme left the NHL with considerably less fanfare after completing the 2002-03 season with Toronto. Nonetheless, he earned himself a nice legacy. With 468 career points, he remains the second […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd Some historical legends are so shrouded by time and hearsay that we barely know anything about their reality. Robin Hood, the siege of Troy, and the power play percentage of the 1893 Montreal AAA would fall into this category. Other legends, however, skate among us to […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Most hockey people will tell you that Peter Forsberg is the best forward, or even the best player overall in the world, when he’s healthy. The list of the Super Swede’s accomplishments is about as long as the journey from his native Ornskoldsvik to Denver, Colorado. […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd April 30, 1990. Theoren Fleury is breathless, angry, and frustrated as he chases Sergei Makarov around the sprawling ice surface of the Eisstadion Allmend in Bern, Switzerland. Two weeks earlier, these Calgary Flames teammates were bounced out of the NHL playoffs in a six-game first-round loss […]