Originally published on IIHF.com in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd At the 2002 Olympic hockey tournament, a guy named Salo gained the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Swedish goalie Tommy Salo was beaten by a long shot from Belarusian defenseman Vladimir Kopat late in the quarter-finals, enabling Belarus to pull off an enormous upset. In […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Hockey players like to take it “one game at a time.” Fans, journalists, and hockey officials often look much further ahead. Admittedly, there are three IIHF World Championships yet to be completed before we can truly start thinking about what will take place at the 2010 […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005 By Lucas Aykroyd His first NHL game was documented in Ken Dryden’s CBC TV series, “Home Game,” but Jyrki Lumme left the NHL with considerably less fanfare after completing the 2002-03 season with Toronto. Nonetheless, he earned himself a nice legacy. With 468 career points, he remains the second […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2004 By Lucas Aykroyd Here at the 2004 IIHF World Championships, it’s hard to believe that Jiri Slegr is the senior member of the Czech defense corps at age 32. It doesn’t seem like so long ago that he was being drafted in the second round, 23rd overall by the […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Few NHL teams were more generous in sending players to the 2000 IIHF World Championships than the Vancouver Canucks. Team Canada was a prime beneficiary. Defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin (now with the Tampa Bay Lightning) plus forwards Todd Bertuzzi, Peter Schaefer and Brendan Morrison […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When Herbert Vasiljevs was growing up in Riga, Latvia, he idolized the flashy Soviet winger Sergei Makarov. So it was appropriate that he scored his first goal in a Vancouver uniform on a tic-tac-toe passing play worthy of the KLM Line. Playing against Colorado on 9 […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Pro hockey players know they may be told to pack their bags and take their stick and skates to a team on the other side of the continent at any time. Still, actually getting the news can come as a shock. And when you’re asked to […]

Originally published in Attractions Magazine in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd In the NHL, longevity and Stanley Cup glory don’t always go hand in hand. Even though Vancouver Canucks forward Trevor Linden has played over 1,300 regular season games, plus 112 more in the playoffs, the beloved veteran, who celebrates his 37th birthday on April 11, […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd Alexei Tezikov isn’t in line for the Norris Trophy, but he might well take the prize for being the NHL’s friendliest Russian defenseman. And hey, it doesn’t hurt to score some points with the media when you’re playing your first NHL game since a 23-game stint […]

Originally published in the IIHF News Release in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd In many ways, Steve Tambellini represents the best of Canadian hockey. So it was hardly surprising when Canadian Hockey introduced him on September 26 as the general manager of the Maple Leaf squad for the 2003 IIHF World Championships in Finland. The 44-year-old […]