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 in Medhunters Magazine in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd The average doctor might balk at a last minute summons to work the week before Christmas in Bled, Slovenia. But Dr. George Nagobads was glad to accept when the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) told him a medical supervisor was needed for the obscure Division […]

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 […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd “Dynasty” is a word that doesn’t get bandied around much in either NHL or international hockey these days. That’s not surprising. The globalization of our game has made it much harder to build a team that wins year after year, as players now move around with […]

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 […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd For Vancouverites, the lyrics of the famous soccer anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” rang true this winter: “Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown.” Heavy storms toppled Stanley Park’s trees, deflated the roof of BC […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd 1964. It was the year four mop-topped lads from Liverpool hit America and revolutionized rock and roll. The year Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize. And in hockey terms, it was a long time ago. So when the Cologne Sharks of the Deutsche Eishockey […]

Originally published in the 2003 NHL Playoff Program By Lucas Aykroyd Nothing feels better for an NHL player than winning the seventh game of a hard-fought playoff series. Any victory is sweet, but this is even sweeter. By the time you hit Game Seven, you’re deep into a war of attrition with your opponents. If […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd “Hockey’s in his blood.” “He was born to play this game.” For some participants in the CHL Top Prospects Game, these aren’t mere clichés. They’ve clearly got genes that scream of athletic ability, and their hockey-oriented family environment has contributed toward their rosy prospects for […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd If you’re a highly touted CHL-trained prospect, there’s no better endorsement than being chosen number one overall in the NHL Entry Draft. Since the draft was instituted in 1969, 27 CHLers have earned that honour. Of course, not every #1 pick fulfills his potential. For […]