I’d be remiss if I didn’t link to one of Joe Pelletier’s best posts this summer: The Gretzky Trade: 20 Years Later. Joe’s rounded up just about every bit of retrospective analysis on the Internet about the landmark deal that sent the Great One to L.A., and offers his own reminiscences. I remember August 9, […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Life would be so much simpler for NHL coaches if every team won all its home games in overtime. In fact, it’s hard to imagine any other scenario where all coaches could succeed in keeping their jobs. However, the fans would probably start to get […]

What might Wayne Gretzky have said to Sidney Crosby in conversation outside the dressing rooms after the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 at Mellon Arena on Monday? Here are ten intriguing possibilities. 1. “Never call the New Jersey Devils a Mickey Mouse organization. What, that thought never crossed your mind?” 2. “Stay away […]

When Joe Pelletier of GreatestHockeyLegends.com challenged me and other bloggers to pay tribute to a favorite retired hockey player to mark the upcoming Hockey Hall of Fame inductions, I thought it was a great idea. I also thought: “Wow, who am I going to pick?” Growing up in British Columbia in the 1980’s and 90’s, […]

I’ve just completed a three-day media tour of Los Angeles, organized by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, and one very interesting NHL-related detail leaped out at me during a presentation about the L.A. LIVE project. AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) is overseeing this $2.5-billion, 27-acre development in downtown Los Angeles, and it aspires to […]

This weekend, I’ll bring HockeyAdventure.com readers some reports from the Vancouver Canucks training camp in Victoria. The BC provincial capital also happens to be where I grew up, and the Canucks and Los Angeles Kings both held camps in Victoria in the late 1980’s and early 90’s at the old Memorial Arena (now replaced by […]

With the news that Aaron Miller will undergo abdominal surgery on the eve of the Vancouver Canucks training camp, Canucks fans will have to hope this doesn’t point to a recurring pattern. Ditto for GM Dave Nonis, who signed Miller to a one-year, $1.5 million deal on July 9, and, naturally, Miller himself. The veteran […]

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 in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd They’re called the Los Angeles Kings, but for most of 2006-07, a better name would have been the Los Angeles Peasants. This club, which hasn’t made the NHL playoffs since 2002, has been mediocre at home and terrible on the road, and has recently battled […]

Originally published on EuroReport in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Jozef Stumpel is rarely the center of attention, but his smart playmaking skills are a big reason why the Los Angeles Kings enjoy the NHL’s second-best offense. Even though the 6-3, 225-pound center from Nitra, Slovakia has missed 25 games due to hernia surgery and a […]