Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd It’s tough to forget the image of a skinny kid from Czechoslovakia marching down from the stands at the 1984 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal to pull on an oversized Habs jersey. But today, Petr Svoboda epitomizes the term “veteran.” Nearing 1000 NHL games played at […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Sometimes it’s all about quality instead of quantity. The number of European NHLers has declined from 300 (29.5%) in 2003-04 to 262 (27.2%) in 2005-06, but elite talent from the Old World still made a big splash at the 2006 NHL Awards in Vancouver, Canada. At […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Come on. Petr Nedved’s been in the NHL for ten years? No way! That would be an understandable reaction. It sure doesn’t feel like that long. The big Czech center is only 28 years old, and he missed most of the 1993-94 season and all of […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Which is more likely, that Chicago will make the NHL playoffs or that the Berlin Wall will be rebuilt this year? According to some, the chances are about equal. Last season, the Blackhawks pinned their hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd July 22, 2005 was a historic day for the future of international hockey. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA was ratified then, and it included a clause stipulating that the League would make its players available to participate in both the 2006 […]

Originally published in the Prague Post in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd If Marian Havel is selected in the first round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, as expected, it’ll be thanks to his finesse skills. The 17-year-old hockey forward skates and stickhandles at high speed with ease. He also boasts a laser slapshot. That’s why […]

Originally published in the Prague Post in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd Physically speaking, Marek Malik is tough to ignore when he walks into a room. But after years of toiling with low-profile teams like the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes, the 6-5, 220-pound defenseman from Ostrava has often been overlooked by National Hockey League observers. […]

Originally published in the Prague Post in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Here’s an overview of the last five IIHF World Championships, focusing on Team Czech Republic’s performance: 1999: Two future New York Rangers make huge contributions to the first Czech gold medal at the World Championships since 1996. During the tournament in Norway, Jan Hlavac […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd If the doors of opportunity had ever opened, Jiri Bubla might have shone for Czechoslovakia in the NHL of the 1970’s as Borje Salming did for Sweden. Instead, the 5-11, 200-pound native of Usti nad Labern kept his talents on the other side of the Atlantic, […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd If Jaroslav Spacek can elevate his NHL game to the level he’s shown in international competition, the Chicago Blackhawks are in for a real treat this year. Spacek has won gold medals in IIHF tournaments three out of the last four years, and in 1997-98, he […]