Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Pittsburgh seems to be the spiritual home for Czech NHLers, and that hasn’t changed much even since the early season firing of Head Coach Ivan Hlinka. Robert Lang is a case in point. Early in his NHL career, it looked like he didn’t have a prayer […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd Thirty years ago, nobody was a bigger deal in Ottawa than Peter Lee, except maybe Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Lee was named the 1975-76 Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year after tallying a then-OMJHL record 81 goals for the Ottawa 67s. Today, he remains […]

Originally published in Prospects Hockey in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Before Sidney, there was Mario. And before Mario, there was Pierre. The Pittsburgh Penguins have drafted some of the greatest QMJHL forwards of all time, and in the 1970’s, perhaps only Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne outshone Pierre Larouche. Growing up in the northwestern Quebec […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd John Sanful’s forthcoming book Russian Revolution: Exodus to the NHL dubs Alexei Kovalev an “enigma.” It’s hard to disagree with that assessment. The 27-year-old right wing has confounded teammates, coaches and fans ever since he entered the NHL with the New York Rangers in 1992-93. Blessed […]