Originally published in Eishockey News in 2008 By Lucas Aykroyd When the San Jose Sharks offered Rob Blake a one-year, $5-million deal on July 1, the start of NHL free agency, it wasn’t because they wanted him to come in and serve as a glorified assistant coach. The Sharks believe the 38-year-old defenceman, who had […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2008 By Lucas Aykroyd Is this the year that Dion Phaneuf wins his first Norris Trophy? Since debuting with the Calgary Flames in 2005-06, the 23-year-old famed for his bodychecks has been touted as the most likely young candidate to end Nicklas Lidstrom’s reign as the NHL’s best defenceman, […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2008 By Lucas Aykroyd Yes, the NHL has a “war room.” And no, it’s not to be confused with the one in Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove, where crazy generals nearly start a nuclear war. The “war room” is actually the popular name for the Roger Neilson […]

If there’s one lesson we can take out of the just-completed NHL All-Star Weekend, it’s this: Alexander Ovechkin is Russian hockey’s answer to David Lee Roth, the ultra-outgoing lead singer of Van Halen. And we even have video evidence to support the following claims about the reigning Hart Trophy winner from the Washington Capitals and […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Let’s face it: you won’t find the “Flying Frenchmen” with the Montreal Canadiens anymore. Last year’s dynamic duo of Quebec-born snipers was Vincent Lecavalier (108 points) and Martin St. Louis (102 points) of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This year, Daniel Briere and Simon Gagne have […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd When the San Jose Sharks traded Vesa Toskala to Toronto at June’s NHL Draft, it meant a chance for a new goalie to back up starter Evgeni Nabokov. Dimitri Patzöld won the job at this year’s training camp, beating out Thomas Greiss, a fellow former […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd After losing Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Carolina Hurricanes in June 2006, Shawn Horcoff and his Edmonton teammates couldn’t have known that times would soon get even tougher. Superstar defenseman Chris Pronger surprisingly requested a trade a few days later, and other […]

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 […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd It’s no wonder Ryan Smyth feels so comfortable with the Colorado Avalanche. After all, during his 11 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, the gritty left winger scored more points against Colorado than any other NHL club (41). Make no mistake, Smyth still has strong ties […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd It’s fortunate for the Anaheim Ducks that they won’t be competing in the Stanley Cup finals at the start of December. If that was the case, their chances of repeating as champions would be much slimmer. This hasn’t been a disastrous season so far. The […]