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 in […]

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, and Sweden.
In the […]

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 the 2002 […]

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 to claim […]

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 one 1999 […]

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 looks poised to […]

 
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.
But at the PNE […]

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 Turin Olympics […]

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 National Hockey League […]

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 aforementioned talents.
Of […]