Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Hockey players like to take it “one game at a time.” Fans, journalists, and hockey officials often look much further ahead. Admittedly, there are three IIHF World Championships yet to be completed before we can truly start thinking about what will take place at the 2010 […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd If you’re a Swedish hockey fan, you surely remember where you were when Nicklas Lidstrom scored the Olympic-winning goal versus Finland last year. If you’re a Slovak hockey fan, you must recall what you were doing when Peter Bondra’s late goal lifted Slovakia over Russia in […]

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 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 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 In the science-fiction novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a computer announces that “the answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything” is 42. In Ryan Smyth’s hockey life, that statement has some truth to it. The 6-1, 190-pound Edmonton Oilers winger […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Few NHL teams were more generous in sending players to the 2000 IIHF World Championships than the Vancouver Canucks. Team Canada was a prime beneficiary. Defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin (now with the Tampa Bay Lightning) plus forwards Todd Bertuzzi, Peter Schaefer and Brendan Morrison […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, it proved no one is untouchable. Jeff Friesen, long considered the heart and soul of the San Jose Sharks, learned that lesson the hard way when he was shipped off to Anaheim in a […]