Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd Just how good is Chris Drury as a clutch goal-scorer? Wayne Gretzky’s record for career NHL playoff game-winners is 24, while the 29-year-old Buffalo Sabres captain has 11. Gretzky accomplished his feat in 208 games (0.11 GWG per playoff game), while Drury has achieved his mark […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd The United States versus Finland can’t be classified as one of those natural geographical or historical international rivalries like USA-Canada or Finland-Sweden. At one time, both were ranked among the weakest of the former “Big Six” hockey nations, usually lagging behind the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd If you’re a Swedish hockey fan, you surely remember where you were when Nicklas Lidstrom scored the Olympic-winning goal versus Finland last year. If you’re a Slovak hockey fan, you must recall what you were doing when Peter Bondra’s late goal lifted Slovakia over Russia in […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd With gold medals at the women’s and U18 IIHF World Championships this month, USA Hockey is riding high once again. But for Americans, probably no triumph will ever top the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” victory, where the USA knocked off the Soviets 4-3 and went on […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd Not many NHL lines reflect the expanding international diversity of hockey better than the Dallas Stars combo of Jere Lehtinen, Mike Modano and Brett Hull. You’ve got two amazing Americans and a fine Finn. Three NHL goal-scoring titles for Hull, two Selke Trophies for Lehtinen and […]

Originally published on ElSitio.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils has a knack for coming first. The 20-year-old rookie center is the first Hispanic hockey player ever to appear in the National Hockey League. He has ranked first in New Jersey team scoring most of the season. And he […]

  Originally published on IIHF.com in 2003 By Lucas Aykroyd It’s the afternoon of June 5, 2003. A heat wave grips Vancouver, Canada. This is a long way from the cold, crisp, intense atmosphere at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, where the USA achieved its 4-3 “Miracle on Ice” victory over the favored Soviet Union. […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd July 22, 2005 was a historic day for the future of international hockey. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA was ratified then, and it included a clause stipulating that the League would make its players available to participate in both the 2006 […]

Originally published in Referee Magazine in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd When the USA confronted the Soviet Union in the 1980 men’s Olympic hockey tournament in Lake Placid, the February 22 matchup was viewed as a case of David versus Goliath. The veteran Soviets were the reigning Olympic and world champions and had convincingly defeated a […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd The 2003-04 edition of the Colorado Avalanche was stacked with big NHL stars like Peter Forsberg, Alex Tanguay, Rob Blake, Adam Foote, Teemu Selanne, and Paul Kariya. Yet after the lockout, the league’s new salary cap environment forced the Avs to let go of those […]