Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd The United States versus Finland can’t be classified as one of those natural geographical or historical international rivalries like USA-Canada or Finland-Sweden. At one time, both were ranked among the weakest of the former “Big Six” hockey nations, usually lagging behind the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, […]

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 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 in summer 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd It seems like Steve Tambellini is connected to everything happening in the world of Canadian hockey lately. As the GM of Canada’s 2003 World Championship gold medal team, Tambellini carried on a great family tradition: his father Addie played for the 1961 Trail Smoke Eaters, the last […]

Originally published in Full Tilt in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd If you have a Canucks logo tattooed on one bicep and a Canadian Maple Leaf on the other, hopefully you wore long-sleeved shirts in February. International hockey is wonderful when you win, but it’s a cold feeling when you lose. Before the 2006 Olympics kicked […]

Originally published in the 2007 NHL Yearbook By Lucas Aykroyd A Swedish proverb says: “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.” Those words ring true for longtime Swedish hockey fans, because they had to console one another frequently before celebrating the “double joy” of 2006, when their national team became […]

Go to the Net: Eight Goals That Changed the Game By Al Strachan Published by Doubleday Canada 304 pages, 2005 For those who don’t read the Toronto Sun, Al Strachan has probably been best-known in recent years for his on-air feuding with ex-Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke on Hockey Night in Canada’s Satellite Hot […]

By Lucas Aykroyd How many of today’s international hockey stars tied their own skates, taught themselves how to shoot and pass, and drove themselves to games when they were kids? The answer is obvious, and that’s why players typically thank their parents for supporting them en route to the big time. In many cases, a […]