Back in the 1990’s, few would have tagged Jason Arnott as prospective captain material. Those were the days when the 6-3, 220-pound forward struggled to deliver consistent performances despite his talent, and even infamously once said, “I just wasn’t that into it tonight,” after his Edmonton Oilers lost a tough one to the Winnipeg Jets. […]

A hockey team that disagrees about its fundamental direction on the opening day of training camp is about as common as an infatuated couple that gets into a fistfight on a first date. Pretty rare stuff, in other words. And so when the Vancouver Canucks brought out their head coach and veteran players to meet […]

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 […]

Interesting speculation in Friday’s Montreal Gazette from Pat Hickey. Could Scott Niedermayer’s indecision about whether to continue his playing career relate to his concern about past concussions? If so, that would explain the 34-year-old superstar defenseman’s seemingly extraordinary ambivalence about trying to captain the Anaheim Ducks to a second straight Stanley Cup. Perhaps he “got […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd With about 200 journalists and photographers jammed into the Palasport Olympico press conference room on the evening of February 14, Wayne Gretzky, Team Canada Head Coach Pat Quinn, and the Hockey Canada Olympic executive staff of Steve Tambellini, Kevin Lowe, and Bob Nicholson sat down amid […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd After a sumptuous media brunch organized at the IIHF House of Hockey adjacent to the Palasport Olympico, IIHF President René Fasel, NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly, and NHLPA Executive Director Ted Saskin sat down in front of a packed press conference […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd When North American players take part in an IIHF-sanctioned tournament, the big rink is always a hot topic of discussion. Before the Final Round of the Olympic tournament kicked off Friday, members of the American and Canadian teams weighed in with their opinions. Team USA center […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd In the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” at Lake Placid, it was not hard to pick out two men on opposing benches, one there willingly, the other filled with frustration. The happy man was Team USA coach Herb Brooks, who saw his squad of college players defeat […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya are dangerous men to underestimate. Both Team Canada forwards hail from Vancouver, a rainy West Coast city of 2 million inhabitants that does not rank in the all-time Top Ten birthplaces for Canadian players. Both stand less than six feet tall […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Almost nobody knows the world of international hockey like Peter Stastny. And with a little luck, that knowledge could put medals around some necks at these Games. Today, the 45-year-old Bratislava native serves as the General Manager of Slovakia’s Olympic team, but he first made his […]