Originally published in The Hockey News in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd With the NHL season likely consigned to oblivion, you may wonder if hockey has lost any glamour it enjoyed in the USA. Only 6 percent of Americans expressed a “great interest” in hockey in a recent Zogby International poll. So when I was invited […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Last season, Miikka Kiprusoff became the first Finnish goalie to win the Vezina Trophy, but he didn’t bother to attend the NHL Awards in Vancouver. This season, after getting off to a slow start with three wins in his first 11 starts, the 30-year-old Turku […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd With no goals and 10 assists last year, Danny Markov didn’t exactly tear up the NHL offensively. But entering his fourth season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Moscow-born defenseman is looking to improve on those numbers and his overall game. Chosen as Toronto’s seventh pick […]

By Lucas Aykroyd On December 31, 1975, Vladislav Tretiak put on his own fireworks display. But instead of lighting up the night sky that New Year’s Eve, the legendary Russian goalie dazzled hockey fans at the Montreal Forum. He made 35 saves as his Red Army earned a 3-3 exhibition tie with the Montreal Canadiens. […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd The Colorado Avalanche franchise has never missed the playoffs since relocating from Quebec City to Denver in 1995, but it looks like that streak will end in 2007. Colorado allowed a whopping 35 goals in its first eight games in February, and found itself battling […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd Kids. It’s so hard to predict how they’ll turn out. Flamboyant rock star David Lee Roth was the son of an eye doctor. The father of French painter Paul Cezanne originally wanted his son to become a lawyer. Talk about surprises! However, as a parent […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd No NHL team has won back-to-back Stanley Cups since the Detroit Red Wings of 1997 and 1998. Therefore, the Carolina Hurricanes face a difficult challenge this season as they try to defend their championship. So far, the Canes aren’t on pace to equal the 112 […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Heading into 2003-04, optimism among Vancouver Canucks fans was at an all-time high. Despite bowing to the Minnesota Wild in the second round of last year’s playoffs, the team had made great strides. Vancouver’s exciting, offensive-minded game paid off with a franchise-record 104 points in 2002-03, […]

Originally published on EuroReport in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke recently told EuroReport about his expectations for several of the team’s European prospects in 2000-01. Jarkko Ruutu (LW, Finland): “He’s a very aggravating presence, like Esa Tikkanen was in his prime, only bigger and stronger. He likes to bang and he […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Before Christmas, the idea that the Vancouver Canucks could not only make the playoffs but even contend for the Stanley Cup was about as likely as Donald Trump becoming a Communist. But since Christmas, the team has been almost as difficult to defeat as the […]