Originally published in Eishockey News in 2008 By Lucas Aykroyd For years, Marian Gaborik has been the most exciting player on arguably the NHL’s most boring, defensively minded team. It’s shocking that this speedy Minnesota Wild right wing has never earned more than 67 points in one season (2001-02). But with 25 goals and 25 […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2008 By Lucas Aykroyd How often does a team’s leading goal-scorer have four times as many goals as assists? It’s a bizarre statistic, but Marek Svatos of the Colorado Avalanche is pulling it off. The 25-year-old Slovak winger entered a February 9 game versus the Vancouver Canucks with 22 […]

Here are seven hockey stories from both mainstream sites and blogs that made an impression on me this month. 1. The Globe and Mail: “Speed kills”: Has the NHL gotten too fast for its own good? Eric Duhatschek investigates. Interesting to see Al MacInnis admit that sometimes he’s preferred watching international women’s hockey due to […]

Originally written for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey Program By Lucas Aykroyd Nobody would deny that hockey is a team game. But success in a short, intense international tournament can sometimes hinge on a brilliant individual performance. Whether you’re talking about setting the stage for things to come or actually clinching a championship, this […]

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 IHWC.NET in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Almost any young hockey player would love to be described as a cross between Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bure, and that’s how former Minnesota Wild forward Cliff Ronning spoke of Marian Gaborik during the 2002-03 NHL season. 2003-04, however, proved to be an entirely different story […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd Some guys experience an early mid-life crisis when they hit 30. Zigmund Palffy doesn’t appear to be one of them. The 30-year-old Los Angeles Kings winger racked up the points at his usual rate this season, going 37-48-85 in 76 games to win the team scoring […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd Peter Bondra has scored many spectacular goals during his 13-year NHL career with the Washington Capitals. But few could rival the laser bullet he put past Russian goaltender Maxim Sokolov to give Slovakia its first hockey gold medal ever at the 2002 IIHF World Championships in […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd Americans say “Zee,” but since 13 March 2001, the Montreal Canadiens have been saying “Zed.” The acquisition of fleet right wing Richard Zednik from the Washington Capitals along with Jan Bulis on that date looks like a minor coup for the Habs at this writing, since […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd The invention of the airplane. The fall of the Berlin Wall. The emergence of the Internet. Some events irrevocably change the way we experience the world. Over the last 40 years of hockey history, we’ve seen a comparably huge change in the NHL’s attitude toward European-trained […]