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 In the National Hockey League, Brian Rolston of the Boston Bruins is generally viewed as a solid defensive forward with good wheels. But as a member of the American Olympic team in Salt Lake City, he may prove that he has more than just speed to […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd The crucial February 12 game between Germany and Latvia is being billed as a duel of goaltenders. Although Marc Seliger’s .966 save percentage and GAA of 1.00 are outstanding, the 27-year-old German goalie has a long way to go before he can compare his international hockey […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Talk to the Eastern Canadian hockey media and they’ll tell you that Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs is a leading candidate for the Hart Trophy. However, Vancouver captain Markus Naslund has been the biggest Swedish scoring threat in the NHL this season, and that […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd When the tragic news of Saku Koivu’s abdominal cancer first broke in September, the first reaction of hockey fans everywhere was to wish the star Finnish center a full recovery from his illness. Next, thoughts turned to how Koivu’s absence might affect not only the Montreal […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Virtually every hockey nation boasts a celebrated pair of brothers. Russia has Pavel and Valeri Bure. Sweden takes pride in Daniel and Henrik Sedin. For the USA, there was Joey and Brian Mullen. Now France is getting into the act with Maurice and Francois Rozenthal. The […]

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 […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Ukraine is not exactly a team of big names. Aside from Dmitri Khristich, few of its forwards have had any impact in the NHL. Ukrainian-born defensemen like Alexei Zhitnik and Oleg Tverdovsky have represented Russia in the past and are unavailable for these Games. So Ukraine […]

Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Once upon a time, Sweden won gold medals in international hockey. Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, the coach of Tre Kronor’s 2006 Olympic entry, was a member of two memorable championship squads at the 1987 and 1991 IIHF World Championships. But lately, there haven’t been many fairy tale endings […]