Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Imagine the following scene. It’s just before a game-day skate in the Detroit Red Wings dressing room during the 2006-07 season. Nicklas Lidstrom: “Good morning, fellow Swedish Wings! Are you ready to compete hard for victory tonight?” Mikael Samuelsson: “Captain Lidstrom, I was reminiscing with Henrik […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd How often do you see an NHLer achieve single-season highs in goals, assists, and points, and also get placed on waivers that year? That’s the strange fate that befell St. Louis forward Petr Cajanek on February 26, as the club was apparently displeased with his lack […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Going purely by the numbers, the best-ever performance by an Asian country at an IIHF World Championship was Japan’s sixth-place finish (in a four-way tie) in 1930. More recently, Japan could do no better than 14th place at the 1998 tournament. So there’s a long way […]

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 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd Some guys experience an early mid-life crisis when they hit 30. Zigmund Palffy doesn’t appear to be one of them. The 30-year-old Los Angeles Kings winger racked up the points at his usual rate this season, going 37-48-85 in 76 games to win the team scoring […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd They call him “Archie.” Maybe that’s an appropriate nickname for Alexei Zhamnov. The red-haired Russian sometimes achieves hockey feats of the larger-than-life dimensions of a cartoon character. But other times, his play is a mere caricature of what it could be. Russian Head Coach Alexander Yakushev […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Vladimir Malakhov disappeared and was unavailable to speak with the media after his debut with the New Jersey Devils in a 5-2 road loss to Vancouver on 4 March. That was appropriate, since the veteran Russian defenseman was scarcely visible during his 17:17 of ice time, […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When Herbert Vasiljevs was growing up in Riga, Latvia, he idolized the flashy Soviet winger Sergei Makarov. So it was appropriate that he scored his first goal in a Vancouver uniform on a tic-tac-toe passing play worthy of the KLM Line. Playing against Colorado on 9 […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd You’d expect Valeri Bure to be in the best of moods after returning from an NHL All-Star Game weekend in Toronto that saw him pair with brother Pavel to nab MVP honors for the Russian Rocket. But instead, Bure the Younger admitted he had a bit […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Pro hockey players know they may be told to pack their bags and take their stick and skates to a team on the other side of the continent at any time. Still, actually getting the news can come as a shock. And when you’re asked to […]