Kukla's Korner Hockey
Entries with the tag: Team+canada
Yzerman Returns As Executive Director Of Hockey Canada
by Paul on 03/05/12 at 04:08 PM ET
Comments (7)
Hockey Canada named Monday a National Men’s Team management group that will serve through the 2013-14 season and sees Steve Yzerman return as executive director and Kevin Lowe as general manager at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship after leading Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
In all, the management group includes four individuals that were part of the management team that led Canada to Olympic gold in Vancouver.
Canada’s National Men’s Team management group (through 2013-14):
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Tags: Team+Canada,
The Sun Did Rise In Calgary Today
by Paul on 01/04/12 at 10:32 PM ET
Comments (2)
from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun,
Canadians, and particularly Calgarians who had invested in 21-game ticket packs in anticipation of watching Canada in the gold medal game, woke up to see the sun had come up on a spectacular 12 C Wednesday.
Some found it in their hearts to forgive these kids who gave them the near-miracle comeback, battling back from a 6-1 deficit in Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to Russia. But others couldn’t get past their failure to handle the pressure, the lack of discipline and the fact there appears to be a trend developing in which other countries are getting much more outstanding goaltending than Canada.
For the players, it was dealing with their own personal demons of knowing if they hadn’t taken a penalty, if they had moved the puck off the boards instead panicking into plays like a two-on-none breakaway for the top two Russian players, if they hadn’t ...
The regrets aren’t too few to mention.
Virtually no player on the team woke up Wednesday morning unable find some major moment where they didn’t rise to the challenge. And there were admissions of not having handled the pressure.
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Tags: Team+Canada, WJC,
Russia Stuns Canada In WJC
by Paul on 01/04/12 at 01:02 AM ET
Comments (4)
from TSN,
Canada will not play for gold at the world junior hockey championship for the first time in over a decade.
The host country lost 6-5 to Russia in Tuesday’s semifinal, despite a four-goal burst in the third period.
Russia will meet Sweden for gold, while Canada faces Finland for bronze Thursday.
“They scored early. We didn’t react as well as we should have,” Canadian forward Brett Connolly said. “We’ve got to be better.”...
Russian captain Evgeni Kuznetsov, the lone returning player from last year’s squad, was a one-man wrecking crew with three goals and an assist.
Defencemen Nikita Nesterov and Alexander Khokhlachev and forward Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Russians. Nail Yakupov, who plays for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting, had three assists.
“We win. We’re pretty excited,” Yakupov said. “We beat Canada. Russia’s better than Canada.”
added 1:43am, Video highlights of the game can be watched below…
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Tags: Tam+Russia, Team+Canada,
Orr’s Team Canada Sweater Up For Auction
by Paul on 10/18/11 at 09:35 AM ET
Comments (4)
from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star,
Bobby Orr is ticked that his 1976 Canada Cup jersey — the white one he wore when Team Canada beat Czechoslovakia — is up for auction.
“He’s somewhat disappointed someone would take that and put it out for auction,” said agent Rick Curran, Orr’s business partner. “He willingly gave it to someone. Now it’s up for sale.
“I would have thought if they decided it didn’t mean enough for them to keep it, they might have offered it back. It’s one thing if you keep something that’s special, but if you’re going to sell it, why not give it back to the person it really belonged to.”
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Cheers to Nugent-Hopkins
by Lisa McRitchie on 08/14/11 at 01:23 PM ET
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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a fan and media draw during his time at the Team Canada development camp and Red and White games in Edmonton and Fort McMurray August 3-7th, but that should come as little surprise to anyone. Nugent-Hopkins has been a great hockey player at all levels he has played up to this point. Nugent-Hopkins was captain of the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins, led that team to many championships and won several MVP honours himself including the Mac’s Midget Tournament. When drafted by the Red Deer Rebels in 2008, young Nugent-Hopkins was drafted first overall. Starting as an underage player with the Rebels, Nugent-Hopkins was quick to win over to win over the fans that frequent the Red Deer Arena.
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Tags: Ryan+Nugent-Hopkins, Team+Canada,
Busy Summer for Bunz
by Lisa McRitchie on 08/11/11 at 10:30 AM ET
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There are several Oilers prospects that will add up to make for an excellent Oilers team going forward. One of my favourite prospects is Tyler Bunz. Bunz is a favourite for various reasons. For starters, he is from Edmonton and was fortunate enough to be drafted by his favourite team. Bunz also has an excellent work ethic and has persevered to rise to a position at the top of the WHL goalie list. Some will say he was the second, and some the third best goalie but ultimately, he was tops in the league.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Lisa McRitchie | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Team+Canada, Tyler+Bunz,
Don Hay Looks to Regain Canada Gold
by Lisa McRitchie on 08/09/11 at 01:00 PM ET
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This spring, Team Canada named Vancouver Giant’s head coach Don Hay to coach the 2012 Team Canada World Junior team. The last time the championships were in Alberta, Canada took the gold. Coincidently, Don Hay was the team’s head coach. 1995 was also a year that a young Ryan Smyth played for Team Canada. Through the seven games played, Smyth scored 2 goals and 5 assists.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Youth Hockey, Lisa McRitchie | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Don+Hay, Ryan+Nugent-Hopkins, Team+Canada,
Fort McMurray Hosts Team Canada
by Lisa McRitchie on 08/07/11 at 10:01 PM ET
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The Sunday night crowd in Fort McMurray was large for Team Canada’s second consecutive night of split squad action. The newly renovated Casman Cenre was unsurprisingly sold out. Not many hockey fans can pass up a live game of this caliber on an August night. The city of Fort McMurray currently hosts an AJHL team, the Oil Barons and I often wonder if they might support a WHL team some day.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Youth Hockey, Lisa McRitchie | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Devante+Smith-Pelly, Dillon+Simpson, Edmonton+Oilers, Mark+Stone, Ryan+Nugent-Hopkins, Team+Canada, Tyler+Bunz,
Team Canada Red and White Primer
by Lisa McRitchie on 08/06/11 at 07:13 PM ET
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It’s a rainy, muggy morning in the City of Champions, and hockey fans were arriving long before the 9:30am start time to team white’s practice. The Oilers’ faithful, the friends the family, and general supporters of the nation’s favourite pass-time, are all in attendance.
The reason of course for the draw to a practise is likely to do the free sneak preview of Oiler’s prospects Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Tyler Bunz. Surely a name like Sean Couturier doesn’t exactly make fans shy away. To have this opportunity to see such high profile, top picked prospects is an excellent use of a Saturday morning in August, in the hockey crazed city of Edmonton, Alberta. Days like this, I truly feel like an Edmontonian, let alone a Canadian.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Lisa McRitchie | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Dillon+Simpson, Ryan+Nugent-Hopkins, Team+Canada, Tyler+Bunz,
Balancing The Scale
by Paul on 01/06/11 at 03:17 PM ET
Comments (6)
from Bob McKenzie of TSN,
It’s been billed as the greatest collapse in the history of the WJC and that about sums it up. If there’s been one worse than that, I don’t recall it. It might just be, as the kids like to say these days, the greatest “epic fail” in Canadian international hockey. Ever.
How would you like to throw that on your resume?
All that said, it’s not as if blowing a three-goal lead in the third period never happens in hockey.
In the NHL, since the lockout, it has happened, on average, at least once a season. Eight times in 1,226 regular season games since 2005-06, if you are looking to be precise.
But there weren’t four or five million Canadians watching those collapses, it wasn’t the World Junior Championship and the team falling apart in the third period didn’t have a Maple Leaf on their chest. Well, at least not a red one.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+Russia,
How Canada Lost The Gold
by Paul on 01/06/11 at 09:56 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Roy MacGregor of the Globe and Mail,
When we win, as in the Vancouver Winter Games (both men and women), we swagger. When we lose, we wallow.
It’s just part of the weird national character that is Canadian.
What happened last night? Well, on the scoresheet sitting before me, Canada takes a 3-0 lead into the third period and somehow loses 5-3. I would say by any imaginable definition that is a “collapse.” It might not be a “national tragedy,” as some have been saying. It might or might not be a “choke,” as all the media was whispering last night but few, if any, dared to say out loud or print. But it as sure as hell a monumental collapse.
So be it. How many times do we have to write “stuff happens” in hockey - it is, truly, as much an essence of the game as pucks and skates and sticks. Stuff happens, though I am tempted here to use the proper hockey word for “stuff.”
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+Russia,
Evening Line
by Paul on 01/05/11 at 10:10 PM ET
Comments (19)
My goodness. The biggest collapse in Canadian national junior history. Stunning to watch it all unfold. 5-3 Russia.
-Damien Cox on Twitter.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+Russia,
ESPN Writer Can Find WJC History Lesson At Home
by @DaveDavisHockey on 01/05/11 at 10:28 AM ET
Comments (9)
Buffalo is getting some undue criticism for the low turnout of USA fans at the World Juniors tournament and particularly at the semifinal snoozer Monday night at HSBC Arena, which Canada won easily 4-1 in front of an overwhelmingly Canadian crowd.
It was the main topic on sports talk radio here yesterday, with even some local fans labeling the city as a Sabres town as opposed to a hockey town.
And in a humorous and ironic display of naivety, ESPN.com writer and hockey antagonist “The Sports Guy” Bill Simmons not only hopped aboard the Buffalo Bashwagon, but also for good measure even decided to throw Detroit and a portion of the Western frontier under the bus.
From his twitter account:
This junior hockey game is further proof that we just need to sell Buffalo to Canada. Get it over with already.
What about a blockbuster in which we get Vancouver and Canada gets Buffalo + other goodies? I’m hitting the Trade Machine.
OK, here’s my final offer: Buffalo, Detroit, 50% of Montana, three No. 1 picks + $3 million for Vancouver + Steve Nash.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: 1996+World+Juniors, 2011+World+Juniors, Andrew+Podneiks, Bill+SImmons, Buffalo, New+York+Times, Team+Canada, The+Sports+Guy,
Morning Line
by Paul on 01/03/11 at 10:22 AM ET
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I’m writing this ten hours before puckdrop for the Canada/USA semi-final - should be an amazing night, right? I can buy a $95 ticket online for face value on the Buffalo World Juniors website. Why is this? People have dropped $400-$500 in recent years at Canadian venues to scalpers or ticket brokers to get into such an affair, whether it’s the gold medal game or the semi-finals. Are prices too high? Is the border-crossing that much of a hassle? People cross the Peace Bridge from Ontario to go to Target or Dick’s Sporting Goods. Or 41 Sabres games! You can’t tell me they won’t do it for an affordably-priced piece of hockey history.
-Greg Brady of Fan590. More from Greg on the WJC.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, WJC,
Advantage Team USA
by Paul on 01/02/11 at 09:45 PM ET
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from Bob McKenzie of TSN,
With Team Canada set to play the U.S. in the WJHC semi-final on Monday, Bob McKenzie offers some thoughts on who has the edge in goal and why the American power play has the potential to be lethal.
Between The Pipes
From what we’ve seen so far, the U.S. absolutely has a sizeable advantage in the goaltending department, no question about it.
Team Canada’s goaltending has not been stellar, it has not been great. In fact, they’ve given up at least one bad goal in each of the games that they’ve played.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, WJC,
Team Canada & Team USA Will Meet In WJC Semi-Finals
by Paul on 01/02/11 at 05:59 PM ET
Comments (1)
BUFFALO, NY (January 2, 2011)Tea—- With their 4-1 quarterfinal win over Switzerland today, Canada has advanced to the semifinal round of the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. They will now face the defending champion United States team tomorrow night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available for $140 (lower bowl) and $95 (upper bowl). Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.buffaloworldjuniors.com, by calling 1-888-467-2273, or at the HSBC Arena Box Office.
The winner of tomorrow’s USA/Canada game will play for the gold medal on Wednesday night at HSBC Arena. Only single seats remain for the gold-medal game. Finland and Russia play in tonight’s second quarterfinal beginning at 7:30 p.m. The winner moves on to play Sweden at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in the first semifinal game. Tickets are still available for this game.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA,
Elbow Knocking
by Paul on 12/30/10 at 09:15 PM ET
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from Andrew Podnieks of IIHF.com,
Canada’s junior players often eschew the high fives at the bench in favour of elbow hugs, knocking elbows together instead of gloves after a goal. They are the only team at any level to do this.
“It started last year,” said captain Ryan Ellis, a member of the team in 2010. “Some of the western boys started doing it, and we’ve been doing it this year as well.”
Brayden Schenn, a Saskatoon native and the scoring star for Canada the last two games, shed further light on the ritual. “It started with a group of Brandon boys called The Wagons, a group that played in the summer. We just adopted it last year and kept it going this year.”
Young fans of the game can’t possibly fathom an earlier generation when the entire players’ bench would empty after most goals. This was the 1970s. The NHL brought an end to this practice, though, because it often led to bench-clearing brawls, the scored-upon team none too happy, and the scoring team delighted.
It was in Canadian junior hockey that players came up with a solution to the problem. They wanted to celebrate a goal as a team, but weren’t allowed to leave the bench, so the five skaters on ice would skate by their players’ bench and high-five their teammates on the bench.
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Own A Piece Of Canadian History
by Paul on 05/26/10 at 08:31 PM ET
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from Andy Blatchford of the CP at the Toronto Star,
The hockey sweater worn during one of Canada’s greatest sporting moments is up for auction.
Paul Henderson wore the battle-scarred, stick-marked jersey when he buried the winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series against the former Soviet Union.
The sweater’s owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a cancer survivor who plans to donate some of the proceeds to charity, said Marc Juteau, president of Classic Auctions, the Montreal-area company handling the sale. Henderson was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia last fall.
“It’s somebody that really cares about what’s going on with Mr. Henderson, somebody who’s been there,” Juteau said
Watch a feature on Henderson below…
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Tags: Paul+Henderson, Team+Canada,
Looking For Respect
by Paul on 05/21/10 at 10:59 AM ET
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from Andy Potts of The Moscow News,
Commentators in North America, where the Stanley Cup play-offs are nearing their conclusion, were sniffy about the outcome.
In the Toronto Sun a columnist claimed “nobody out of Europe cares” about a contest which “ranks lower than cricket” and suggested Russia’s excitement over this men-against-boys win might be almost as embarrassing as their Olympic loss.
But, as Bykov put it after the game, a clash between Russia and Canada is never meaningless.
“The Olympics is still incomparable with the World Championships, but in any event this tournament deserves respect and every team wants to win here,” he said.
“Any game between us is an event - if we see Sergei Fedorov fighting on the ice for only the second time in his life, that says it all.”
more and watch the Fedorov ‘fight’ with Downie here....
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+Russia,
Russia Gets Their Revenge
by Paul on 05/20/10 at 05:50 PM ET
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from Russia Today,
Team Russia has thrashed Canada in the Ice Hockey World Championships quarterfinals to increase their winning streak at world champs to 26 consecutive victories.
Evgeny Malkin made a brace, while Pavel Datsyuk, Maksim Afinogenov and Sergey Fedorov each added a goal for the Russians, who ultimately beat Canada 5-2. Canada trailed 4-0 in the third period but good indivudual efforts by John Tavares and Matt Duchene sugared coat for Canada.
Going into the game captain of the Russian team Ilya Kovalchuk stressed that win over Canada would be “a matter of principle” for the Russian players.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+Russia,
GM Messier Wants More Passion From Team Canada
by Paul on 05/18/10 at 07:12 AM ET
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from the CP at the Hamilton Spectator,
Mark Messier says it’s time for Team Canada to show some heart at the world championship.
The team’s GM brought a group of young players here, hoping they’d be hungry for success. Instead, they have showed little emotion in lacklustre losses to Switzerland and Sweden.
The latest defeat prompted a number of blunt assessments from the Canadian camp ahead of tonight’s round-robin finale against the Czech Republic (TSN, 10:15 a.m. ET).
“I think that through this tournament we’re getting a good reality check,” Messier said yesterday. “The same things win hockey games at any level and at any tournament. You have to play with heart and passion and you have to execute. If you don’t do those things, there’s a good chance you’re going to get beaten no matter who you’re playing.”
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Stamkos May Have A Concussion
by Paul on 05/13/10 at 08:59 AM ET
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from the CP at TSN,
Steven Stamkos will miss Canada’s next game at the IIHF World Hockey Championship with a possible concussion.
The star forward suffered the injury during Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Switzerland when he got elbowed in the jaw during a collision with defenceman Timo Helbling. Stamkos sat out the entire third period of the game and will be kept on the sidelines for precautionary reasons when Canada plays again Friday.
“I think it’s just a protocol that you follow when someone has the symptoms that he had,” said Canadian GM Mark Messier. “It’s not a blunt blow to the head, that kind of concussion. It’s a different kind when you get hit in the jaw. There’s still a protocol to follow and we’re going to do that because it’s the right thing to do.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Steven+Stamkos, Team+Canada,
Ryan Smyth Out Of World Championship With Fractured Ankle
by Paul on 05/10/10 at 05:11 PM ET
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via a Chris Johnston tweet,
Ryan Smyth says he has a fractured ankle. He’s heading back to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Ryan+Smyth, Team+Canada,
You May Need ‘The Babcock’
by Paul on 03/20/10 at 05:29 PM ET
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Thanks to Jeff Marek of CBC pointing this out on Twitter..
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Mike+Babcock, Team+Canada,
Hey, Hey, Hey Sid
by Paul on 03/18/10 at 04:17 PM ET
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from Mike Devlin of the Victoria Times Colonist,
(Bill) Cosby, who played football and ran track for his alma mater, Philadelphia’s Temple University, also had good things to say about the men’s gold-medal contest — and one person in particular.
“It was a good match. (When the U.S. side tied it up), I know Canadians must have been saying, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ And it didn’t happen, thanks to a kid named Sidney Crosby.”
Cosby was in California on business when Sid the Kid scored the winner in a 3-2 victory over the U.S. Later that night, while watching news reports about the game, Cosby said he was saddened by the slant of the coverage.
“I’m watching a guy do the sports, and he said, ‘How can we lose to a country that has fewer people than the state of California?’ He was mad and he couldn’t take it. They don’t know how to behave. That’s your sport.”
read on for Cosby’s view on the post game celebration by the Canadian women…
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Bill+Cosby, Team+Canada,
Babcock Talks Hockey At Red Deer College
by Paul on 03/16/10 at 01:36 PM ET
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from the Red Deer Advacate,
Twenty-two years after being hired on as a rookie hockey coach, Mike Babcock returned to the Red Deer College fold on Tuesday morning.
In front of more than 800 people at the Capri Centre Exhibition Hall, Babcock — recent coach of the gold medal-winning men’s hockey team in the Winter Olympics and current coach of the Detroit Red Wings — was the featured speaker of the seventh annual Red Deer College Kings and Queens Scholarship Breakfast.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Mike+Babcock, Team+Canada,
Crosby’s Gear Found
by Paul on 03/10/10 at 03:09 PM ET
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via the CP at TSN,
Sidney Crosby’s missing stick and glove have been found.
Hockey Canada says Crosby’s missing Olympic equipment were misplaced rather than stolen.
Crosby’s stick was accidentally placed in a shipment bound for the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in St. Petersburg, Russia, that ended up getting intercepted in Toronto.
And one of his gloves was put in a bag belonging to Patrice Bergeron, who sat beside him in the locker-room.
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Tags: Sidney+Crosby, Team+Canada,
The Yzerman Resume
by Paul on 03/10/10 at 01:11 PM ET
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from Ryan Dixon of The Hockey News,
If I was handing Yzerman the keys to my franchise, I’d be much more encouraged by the fact he’s apprenticed as vice-president, hockey operations for a Detroit management team that has long set the standard for how successful clubs are run.
Being an NHL GM has become a more complex, intricate vocation as the salary-capped years float on by. Certainly many of the responsibilities can be delegated to people with acumen in a given field, but there’s still far more information to synthesize in the decision-making process than ever before.
Mark Messier will soon set about putting together Canada’s entry at the 2010 World Championship. If he can follow Yzerman’s victorious lead, does that fully endorse his ability to put winning pieces in place in the NHL? It sure doesn’t hurt. More than anything, it would thrust him into a positive spotlight and get his name in the heads and on the lips of people who make big decisions at the NHL ownership level.
But that same group of people can’t get blinded by the bling. Cutting down a tree with a chainsaw is a far different exercise than hacking through oak with an axe.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Steve+Yzerman, Team+Canada,
What Will Yzerman Do Next?
by Paul on 03/07/10 at 12:49 PM ET
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from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,
It’s not often you can write your own ticket, but Steve Yzerman can….
The Tampa Bay Lightning might be looking with a new owner Jeff Vinik and Brian Lawton’s contract running out, or something else might suddenly pop open after the season ends or after the playoffs if a contender goes down early.
0r does Stevie Y just stay where he is for a few more years in Detroit, as a valued voice in the room with GM Ken Holland, assistant Jim Nill and VP Jimmy Devellano? Holland isn’t going anywhere any time soon, unless owner Mike Ilitch asks if he’s tired of the day-to-day grind and maybe Holland wants to kick himself upstairs.
“I don’t really have a plan. I’m here in Detroit, still learning a lot. I like being around Kenny, Jimmy and Ryan (director of hockey administration Martin),” said Yzerman. “I’m pretty happy.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Steve+Yzerman, Team+Canada,
Crosby Says No To Letterman
by Paul on 03/07/10 at 07:53 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
Maybe Sidney Crosby is a fan of Jay’s or maybe he was upset at not being invited to Dave’s Super Bowl bash with Oprah, but folks around the NHL sure would be interested in learning even one of No. 87’s reasons for rejecting David Letterman’s invitation to host his Top Ten while the Golden Boy was in New York this week.
Upon learning of the snub, Slap Shots was told that this wasn’t the first time Crosby, who last year declined to appear on NBC’s “Today” show following Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup victory, had rejected a request from Letterman’s “Late Show.”
continued plus additional topics…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: David+Letterman, Sidney+Crosby, Team+Canada,
Nothing Beats Winning The Cup
by Paul on 03/05/10 at 03:07 PM ET
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from Todd Davis of the Dallas Morning News,
Ken Hitchcock, the Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Dallas Stars for seven seasons, spoke with Mike Rhyner and Corby Davidson of The Ticket’s Hardline after his stint as an assistant with Team Canada during the Olympics.
He was asked how winning the gold medal compares to a Stanley Cup.
“I’ve said this from Day 1, nothing compares to the Stanley Cup. This is a great award for the country; it’s a great award for Canada, but nothing compares to the Stanley Cup.
Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Ken+Hitchcock, Team+Canada,
The Value Of Crosby’s Gold Medal Goal Stick
by Paul on 03/04/10 at 07:37 PM ET
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from Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail,
It’s not the Hope Diamond, but the Crosby Reebok could still fetch a handsome reward for the person who has the stick used to score the golden goal for Canada in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics last Sunday.
The stick Crosby flung in the air is missing, presumably snaffled by someone with access to the ice or dressing rooms at Hockey Canada Place in Vancouver.
While Hockey Canada searches diligently for the historic artifact, private collectors are salivating at the prospect the stick may somehow come into the market. Brian Logie is an historian of sticks who maintains one of the top private stick collections in his London, Ont., home.
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Tags: Sidney+Crosby, Team+Canada,
Listen To Mike Babcock And Ryan Miller
by Paul on 03/04/10 at 02:31 PM ET
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NEW YORK (March 4, 2010) – Mike Babcock, head coach of the Detroit Red Wings and Team Canada, and Ryan Miller goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres and Team USA, are today’s guests on NHL Hour With Commissioner Gary Bettman on NHL.com and SIRIUS XM Radio at 6 p.m. ET.
Mike Babcock’s international coaching career has been golden. On Sunday, as head coach of Canada’s Men’s Olympic hockey team, Babcock completed hockey’s grand slam by adding yet another accomplishment to his already impressive resume. With Canada’s 3-2 overtime victory against Team USA in Vancouver, Babcock became the only coach in hockey history to guide teams to supremacy in four of the most prestigious tournaments in the game: the World Junior Championship, the World Championship, the Olympic Games and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Mike+Babcock, Ryan+Miller, Team+Canada, Team+USA,
Taking It A Bit Too Far
by Paul on 03/04/10 at 09:29 AM ET
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from Peter Adler at the Cult of Hockey,
So, where were you when Sidney Crosby scored the gold medal-winning goal against the Americans? Eh?
When this kind of question was first asked following the November 22, 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, it made sense to a degree. The victim, after all, was the United States of America’s 35th president, and his premature death did have a bit of an impact on the rest of the world.
But no, Canada’s sports commentators, and even political pundits, now wax sentimentally how the Olympic games in Vancouver have changed Canada. Often, they don’t even bother to add that the change was for the better. That, they assume, is taken for granted.
Let us put the entire matter into context. Canadians, and their children, and their grandchildren even, are now stuck with a debt that won’t be paid off in less than 30 years. Now, that is a legacy if there ever was one.
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Tags: Team+Canada,
OK, Who Has Crosby’s Olympic Gear?
by Paul on 03/02/10 at 07:24 PM ET
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from Bob McKenzie of TSN, S
idney Crosby’s gear has gone missing.
The man who scored Canada’s Golden Goal to win Olympic gold in Vancouver returned home without the stick and gloves he used to score them. Maybe his helmet, too, although we’re not quite sure on that just yet.
The good news is he did get his mouthguard back.
As soon as Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime, Crosby’s helmet, gloves, stick and mouthguard all ended up on the ice at the national celebration began. Actually, one of this gloves ended up in the end zone mesh netting above the glass.
When all was said and done, and the yard sale was cleaned up, it was believed both of Crosby’s gloves, including the one in the mesh, were put in a bin in the Team Canada dressing room area, as well as his stick.
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Tags: Sidney+Crosby, Team+Canada,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 03/02/10 at 12:49 PM ET
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“The biggest surprise to me is how everybody threw Marty Brodeur, the greatest goalie in the history of the game, under the bus and backed over him, and forward, backward, forward, backward. It’s the greatest goalie that’s ever played and it almost tarnished his career on one night. He didn’t have a good night, but part of that had to do with how well we pressured them.”
-Team USA Coach Ron Wilson. More Olympics talk from James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail.
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Tags: Martin+Brodeur, Ron+Wilson, Team+Canada, Team+USA,
Hockey’s Great Day
by Paul on 03/01/10 at 08:28 PM ET
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from NHL.com,
“It was a great day for hockey,” blared the headline across the top of Monday morning’s Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune, and we couldn’t agree more.
The passion so evident in the players and fans at Canada Hockey Place spilled onto the front pages of newspapers across the continent Monday.
“Has your heart stopped pounding?” asked Bucky Gleason in the Buffalo News. “The hockey gods were kind enough to bless the gold medal game with overtime, bonus action in a classic matchup between the two superpowers. It merely added more drama, more intensity and more passion to what could go into the books as the most entertaining game in Olympic history. Or hockey history. Where does this one rank? Up there. Way up there.”
“I swear there was an anxious moment Sunday, during one of the greatest hockey games ever played, when hearts in both countries beat as one, at about 125 nervous thumps per minute,” Mark Kiszla wrote in the Denver Post.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
We Will Remember This Game
by Paul on 03/01/10 at 12:59 AM ET
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Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun discuss the gold medal game and you can read Scott’s report here.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
Team Canada Handled The Pressure
by Paul on 03/01/10 at 12:46 AM ET
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from Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail at CTVOlympics,
Long after the game was over, the crowd stood cheering. So did a nation. The Canadian men’s hockey team’s sudden-death victory over the United States had truly made these Canada’s Golden Games.
The hockey showdown with the U.S. was the final event of the 2010 Winter Olympics and how beautifully it punctuated maybe the most inspirational two-week period in our nation’s history. Canada may not recover from this for a very long time. It may not want to.
By any measure, these Games were a towering achievement, which included the best performance ever by a team of Canadian Winter Olympians - a team that was bombarded by doubts early on, as it always seems to be, but came on strong and put on a monstrous show under the most extreme pressure imaginable.
And on no one was the burden of success greater than the hockey team.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Winter+Olympics,
Yzerman Leaves His Imprint On Team Canada
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 11:03 PM ET
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from Chris Johnston of the CP at the Winnipeg Free Press,
Steve Yzerman stayed out of the limelight at the Vancouver Olympics but behind the scenes he played a key role in Team Canada’s road to gold.
During practices or team gatherings, the executive director of the Canadian men’s hockey team would quietly take one of his players aside to offer a bit of advice or a few calming words. He knew some were feeling the weight of expectations — he was carrying a pretty heavy burden himself.
It was a different style than that of Wayne Gretzky eight years ago when Canada won gold in Salt Lake City, but it was equally effective.
“It’s not something I really planned,” Yzerman said Sunday night. “You’re sitting there thinking — you’re watching the game or you’re watching practice and something comes through your mind — you want to pass that on to a guy. Hopefully it helps.
“Amazingly, great athletes and successful guys, they just like to talk a little bit and be reassured.”
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Tags: Steve+Yzerman, Team+Canada,
Babcock Goes For The Win
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 10:51 PM ET
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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail at CTVOlympics,
In the aftermath of the gold-medal win, when the strategies - good and bad - can be dissected, coach Mike Babcock said the Canadian team had a simple plan for the overtime period of Sunday’s win-or-else game against the United States.
“We talked as a coaching staff when we put our groups together,” said Babcock. “Did we want to be careful, or did we want to play? We decided we want to go for it the best we can. That’s how I like to coach anyway. We thought we’d get the best players out there as much as we could.”
Babcock’s decision - to play for the win, rather than risk deciding the gold medal in a shootout - paid off when Sidney Crosby converted a Jarome Iginla pass for the deciding goal in a 3-2 overtime win.
Canada is always a work in progress as these international tournaments; the key is to come together as a team before the games run out.
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Crosby To The Rescue
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 08:37 PM ET
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from Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun,
Thank you, Sidney Crosby.
Thank you for putting the exclamation point on Canada’s record 14 gold medals won here, unequalled by any nation, host or otherwise, in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Thank you for not taking a shift off, even when you were frustrated at every turn by an American body or stick in your way, all day long. Thank you for following that puck into the corner in overtime after you were sandwiched trying to split the U.S. defence, and thank you for heading for the hole when you left the puck with Jarome Iginla and two American defencemen stuck in the corner.
“He was yelling pretty hard for it, so I just laid it in there, hoping I wasn’t too late,” said Iginla, who was fighting off U.S. defenceman Ryan Suter and falling when he made the pass.
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Be Happy For Canada
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 08:06 PM ET
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from Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal,
Be happy for Canadians. They wanted this game more than Brett Favre wants to wave another Super Bowl ring at Green Bay. Hockey is a national identity here, and losing may have sent this country into an unfathomable funk. Nobody is supposed to beat Canada in hockey, just like nobody is supposed to beat the U.S. in Kardashians.
This will be one of those games that people will lie about being at for the rest of their lives. However, we have a feeling most of Canada actually was here along with the great Mr. Shatner, who was born in Montreal.
We weren’t among the Maple Leaf plutocrats who plunked down as much as $4,000 for a nosebleed inside Canada’s Hockey Place. We opted for the cozier—and louder—surroundings of the Saskatchewan House—a white tent on the water not far from the arena. Inside was everything a hockey fan needed: a spiffy green carpet, wobbly tables, BBQ bison burgers and $8 plastic cups of Molson Canadian. You could also buy white wine and water, if you didn’t mind being arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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Tags: Team+Canada,
Canada, You Should Not Question This Man Again
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 06:23 PM ET
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added 6:32pm, Or this guy too…
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Tags: Mike+Babcock, Steve+Yzerman, Team+Canada,
Canada Wins Gold
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 05:55 PM ET
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3-2 in overtime with Sidney Crosby getting the game winner.
Great performance by both teams!!!
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
Can’t Get Any Better Than This - OT In Gold Medal Game
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 05:29 PM ET
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Twenty minutes of 4 on 4 hockey or until someone scores. If not, shootout.
added 5:33pm, Your pick for the OT winner?
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
Open Post- Team USA Against Team Canada For The Gold
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 02:00 PM ET
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This is the game many of us hoped for and now it is about to begin.
What a way to close out the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The majority of Canada will be watching and I believe many in the US will be watching too.
Team USA will try to take the home crowd out of the game early, while Team Canada will attempt to build on the momentum the fans are providing.
This should be fun folks, sit back and enjoy.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
They Meet Again
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 01:13 PM ET
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from Brendan Shanahan at NHL.com,
I remember the buzz in Salt Lake leading up to what we North Americans thought was the perfect gold medal match. I’ll never forget seeing my Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios in the Olympic Village the night before that game. We agreed that neither of our teams would walk away losers and that it was fantastic that one of us would win gold and the other silver. We shook hands and wished each other luck. A split second later as I turned to walk away, I thought, “Screw that, man, I want the gold.” I’m sure Chris [the godfather of USA hockey] was thinking exactly the same thing.
Here we are again: a game between two countries that respect and often root for each other, but are also fierce competitors when facing each other. I can’t recall a game where so many hockey experts from so many different backgrounds have had such a wide range of opinions about who is going to win. The consensus is this: whichever team imposes its strengths on the other and dictates the style of play is the team that will likely win.
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
Tickets In High Demand For Gold Medal Game
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 12:25 PM ET
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Tags: Team+Canada, Team+USA, Winter+Olympics,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 02/28/10 at 12:12 PM ET
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“I knew he always has teams that work hard and are positionally sound, but I’m impressed by his coaching style. He’s quick and to the point and his voice is really heard in the dressing room. It’s been great to play for him.”
-Rick Nash of Team Canada. More on Babcock from Dan Rosen of NHL.com.
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Tags: Mike+Babcock, Team+Canada,
