Monday, April 19, 2010
Division I group B World Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia: Great Britain - South Korea 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:0), Hungary - Poland 6:0 (2:0, 0:0, 4:0), Slovenia - Croatia 10:1 (6:0, 1:1, 3:0).
Division III group B World Championships in Yerevan, Armenia - 1st place: Armenia - North Korea 2:5 (1:2, 1:2, 0:1), North Korea is moving up to division II. 3rd place: South Africa - Mongolia 8:3 (3:1, 1:2, 4:0).
Czech Extraliga play off final - 2nd game: Pardubice - Vitkovice 1:0, series 2:0.
Slovak Extraliga play off final - 3rd game: Kosice - Slovan Bratislava 1:2 shootout, series 2:1.
Under 18 World Championships in Belarus: Czech Republic "18" - Finland "18" 3:4 shootout (1:0, 2:1, 0:2 - 0:0). Goals: 2. Holik, 25. Jank, 34. Sekac - 23. Hälinen, 46. Mik. Granlund, 57. Partanen. USA "18" - Belarus "18" 7:1 (2:0, 3:1, 2:0). Goals: 18. Saad, 20. Watson, 25. Grimaldi, 28. Clendening, 35. Moffatt, 41. Rust, 45. Zucker - 36. Abmiotka.
More news from the Finnish national team. Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom has declined the national team invite due to health reasons and his team mate forward Antti Miettinen has accepted and will be with the team next week.
Under 18 World Championship in Belarus: Russia - Slovakia 3:1 (3:1, 0:0, 0:0). Goals: 6. & 18. Gurkin, 1. Nesterov - 16. Matousek. Russia and Czech Republic are moving on to the play offs, Slovakia and Latvia are going to be playing in the relegation group.
Canada - Sweden 4:5 (0:2, 0:2, 4:1). Goals: 43. O'Connor, 45. Thomas, 55. Hamilton, 59. Howden - 40. & 47. Grandlund, 5. Rask, 11. Vestin, 30. Rensfeldt. Canada is going to play in the relegation group.
Belorussian team Dynamo Minsk, is starting rebuilding for the next KHL season already. Six of nine international players are leaving and the team has started signing new players. The first one is Finnish defenceman Hannu Pikkarainen, who played most recently in MODO in Sweden. He is also a part of the current Finnish national team that is preparing for the World Championships in Germany.
Even though he was considering a move to AIK Stockholm, Russian defenceman Darius Kasparaitis has decided to retire instead. The former Olympic champion from 1992 and Pittsburgh and New York Rangers defencemen played last in SKA Saint Petersburg, but had to skip this season due to a serious knee injury. Kasparaitis did receive an offer from SKA to remain with the team in a different capacity.
It still unsure what the status of of the ongoing attempt by Czech team Lev Hradec Kralove to join the Russian KHL. The league management has until the end of April to render its decision, however the KHL president Alexander Medvedev has stated that the league will be joined by Ukrainian team Budivjelnik Kiev, and Togliatti might be leaving the league. According to the website gazeta.ru Medvedev has stated that there are no plans to expand the league beyond Ukraine.
Czech forward Jiri Hudler is finished in Dynamo Moscow, according to the paper Sovietskiy Sport. The forward reached an agreement with the club regarding the cancellation of his contract. Hudler is reportedly returning to Detroit where he played until last year. Czech defenceman Karel Rachunek is also leaving Dynamo Moscow but no further details have been released regarding his status or future plans.
It's only a question of time before the official announcement is made regarding the merger of two KHL teams Dynamo Moscow and HK MVD Balashikha. The roster of the new team will consist mainly of Balashikha players, with Dynamo players that have current contracts with Dynamo rounding up the roster. The new team name might be Dynamo MVD. The team management will consist of current Balashikha management personnel.
During their training camp in China before the next season the New York Islanders will play an exhibition game against an unnamed KHL team in Peking. The Islanders will be in China in September as part of NHL promotion in Asian markets. They already have a confirmed game against the Chinese national team.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Saturday Results
- Finish SM-Liiga play off semifinals - 5th games: Jyväskylä - TPS Turku 1:2, series 2:3, KalPa Kuopio - Hämeenlinna 2:3 in OT, series 2:3.
- Swedish Elitserien play off final - 2nd game: HV 71 - Djurgaarden 4:3 in OT, series 1:1.
- Swiss league play off final - 4th game: Geneva - Bern 3:4 in OT, series 3:1.
- Swiss league relegation - 4th game: Lausanne - Biel 4:0, series 2:2.
- Division I group B World Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia: South Korea - Hungary 2:4 (0:0, 1:3, 1:1), Croatia - Great Britain 1:4 (1:1, 0:2, 0:1), Poland - Slovenia 2:3 (1:3, 1:0, 0:0).
- Division III group A World Championships in Luxembourg: United Arab Emirates - Ireland 2:8 (0:2, 0:4, 2:2), Luxembourg - Greece 1:2 (0:0, 0:1, 1:1). Ireland is moving up to division II.
- Division III group B World Championships in Yerevan, Armenia: North Korea - South Africa 4:3 (1:0, 1:1, 2:2), Armenia - Mongolia 15:0 (6:0, 5:0, 4:0).
- Czech Extraliga play off final - 1st game: HC Eaton Pardubice - HC Vitkovice Steel 5:1 (2:1, 1:0, 2:0). Goals: 10. & 50. Sykora, 15. Somik, 30. Rakos, 54. Pisa - 18. Vrana.
- Exhibition: Germany - Norway 8:2 (3:2, 3:0, 2:0). Goals: 12. & 19. Braun, 5. Müller, 21. Barta, 24. Kreutzer, 33. Hager, 48. Osterloh, 58. Kink - 5. Dahlström, 9. Forsberg.
Under 18 World Championships in Belarus: Slovakia "18" - Latvia "18" 4:3 (1:0, 2:2, 1:1). Goals: 14. Simsak, 22. Matousek, 35. Toman, 60. Tvrdon - 40. Girgensons, 40. Kuzmenkovs, 52. Freibergs.
Switzerland "18" - Belarus "18" 3:2 (2:0, 0:1, 1:1). Goals: 11. Guerra, 20. Bärtschi, 59. Hachler - 24. & 43. Lopachuk.
As a result of this game team Canada will play in the relegation play offs.
The Czech national team will see some changes before the World Championship in Germany. The team will be leaving forwards Tomas Kurka, Michal Vondrka (both Slavia Prague), Lukas Kveton (Budejovice) and Peter Jansky (Litvinov). The team will be joined by goalie Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta), defenceman Miroslav Blatak (Ufa, Russia), and forwards Jakub Voracek (Columbus) and Roman Cervenka (Slavia Prague).
Russian fans might be able to see NHL in action next season. According to the official SKA Saint Petersburg website the team and league president Alexander Medvedev has revealed that two yet unnamed NHL teams are going to be in Russia in the fall for exhibition games. One of the games is supposedly going to take place in Saint Petersburg.
The Iceland volcano eruption is causing more problems with some hockey games in Europe. According to news coming from Latvia their upcoming exhibition games against France are facing the possibility of getting canceled. The games are scheduled for April 21 & 22. The cloud of ashes is traveling east and as a result the Latvian airspace is closed. The French team does not have a way to get to Riga where the games are supposed to be played.
The speculations regarding the new head coach of SKA Saint Petersburg will hopefully quiet down. According to the website allhockey.ru the new head coach will be Italian coach Ivano Zanatta, who most recently worked in Switzerland. It was revealed that the SKA boss Alexander Medvedev recently approached Ralph Krüger and Arno Del Curto, but both turned him down. Zanatta will replace American Barry Smith, and his assistant could possibly be Vladimir Yurzinov jr.
Czech defenceman Michal Jordan signed a three-year entry-level contract with Carolina Huricanes. The 19-year old defender, who's been playing for Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, will make $550 thousand if he makes the team. If he ends up on the farm team in Albany he will make $60 thousand. He also received a $170 thousand signing bonus.
One of the best forwards in Swedish Elitserien this season, Norwegian Mats Zuccarello Aasen, signed a contract with New York Rangers, according to the paper Toronto Star. Amongst the teams that expressed interest in the most productive player of the Elitserien were Toronto, Detroit, Edmonton and Chicago.
Dynamo Moscow is having financial difficulties after this season and in Russia it's being speculated that the club might merge with HK MVD Balashikha during the summer. Balashikha is supported by the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation and the same ministry has heavy influence on Dynamo. The merger would contribute to a creation of a very strong club with the highest ambitions in the KHL.
Nashville Predators had their defenceman Denis Grebeshkov available for the first game against Chicago Blackhawks however he did not play. The expectation is that he will dress for game two. The Russian defenceman has been out of action since March 7 due to groin problems problémům s třísly. Grebeshkov was traded to Nashville from Edmonton at the trading deadline in the first week of March.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Jordan Leopold didn't finish last night's game against Ottawa after a hit into the boards by Andy Sutton in the first period. There was no penalty on the play, however it's possible that it will be submitted by Pittsburgh for review to the NHL disciplinary commission. Leopold is expected to go through further medical examination however according to coach Dan Bylsma he should be all right.
It's still unclear whether Czech coach Vladimir Vujtek sr. will accept an offer from Sibir Novosibirsk to return to the KHL. According to the Russian sources the negotiations should progress after Vujtek's return from vacation in Asia, which was delayed due to the air travel complications in Europe. Another source has stated that the coach, who previously coached Yaroslavl, Kazan and Dynamo Moscow, has also received another offer from an unnamed KHL club.
The Czech national team will have a few different goaltenders playing with the team. Next week Jaroslav Hübl and Jakub Sedlacek, who were on the roster for the last two exhibition games against Switzerland and Slovakia, will be part of the training camp in Prague. Then the team will be joined by Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta). Depending on the Czech Extraliga relegation outcome the head coach Vladimir Ruzicka might also invite Marek Schwarz from Mlada Boleslav. Tomas Vokoun (Florida) will join the team the following week for the LG Hockey Games in Sweden.
Swiss national team forward Andres Ambühl is finished after one season in the New York Rangers organization. The forward signed a three-year contract with SC Zurych. Ambühl was trying get on the Rangers' main roster however has not played in a single NHL game. He spent the entire season with the farm team in Hartford in the AHL.
The Iceland volcano eruption and the resulting cloud of ash above Europe have affected the World Championships Division I in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Saturday's scheduled game had Croatia and the Great Britain playing however it had to be switched to South Korea against Hungary. The Croatia - Great Britain had to be postponed for three hours as the British team didn't arrive in time for the early game.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Exhibition results: Switzerland - Sweden 0:4 (0:1, 0:2, 0:1). Goals: 17. Pettersson, 24. Nylander, 40. Viklund, 42. Andersson. Germany - Norway 3:0 (0:0, 3:0, 0:0). Goals: 23. Wolf, 25. Rankel, 27. Gawlik. Austria - France 3:3 (1:1, 2:0, 0:2). Goals: 2. Hager, 36. Setzinger, 38. T. Raffl - 11. Gras, 42. Mille, 51. Da Costa.
KHL play off final result - 2nd game: Balashikha - Kazan 1:4, series 0:2.
German DEL play off semifinal result - 4th game: Augsburg - Wolfsburg 3:2, final series score 3:1. Final matchup: Augsburg - Hannover.
Another Czech player has declined national team invitation for the world championships. Forward Josef Vasicek of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl has excused himself due to back problems according to the national team coach Vladimir Ruzicka. They player was scheduled to join the team on Tuesday in Prague.
Under 18 World Championships in Minsk, Belarus - Group A: USA - Canada 5:0 (3:0, 1:0, 1:0). Goals: 6. Zucker, 7. Rust, 18. Zucker, 38. Watson, 47. Rust.
Group B: Russia - Finland 4:5 (1:1, 0:2, 3:2). Goals: 8. Galimov, 51. Kuznetsov, 53. Namestnikov, 60. Barbashov - 2. Hakanpää, 23. Pulkkinen, 27. Pulkkinen, 54. Mäkinen, 58. Asten.
Under 18 World Championships in Belarus - Group B: Czech Republic - Latvia 5:4 (1:0, 2:1, 2:3). Goals: 16. Holik, 23. Holik, 33. Holik, 42. Sekac, 55. Hantak - 26. Pelss, 46. Dilevka, 53. Dilevka, 58. Straupe.
Group A: Switzerland - Sweden 2:10 (0:2, 1:4, 1:4). Goals: 23. Lammer, 45. Martschini - 11. Vestin, 14. J. Larsson, 24. Friberg, 30. Vestin, 31. Rensfeldt, 36. Rask, 45. J. Larsson, 49. Thorell, 54. Thorell, 55. Snall.
Boston Bruins assistant coach Craig Ramsay was hospitalized on Thursday in Buffalo. This happened about an hour before the start of the game against the Sabres when Ramsay felt sudden nausea. According to the head coach Claude Julien, Ramsay felt better and there is a good chance that he will rejoin the team on Friday or Saturday.
New Slovak national team coach Glen Hanlon will not have more players available to him for the World Championships in Germany. Forwards Jozef Stümpel from Astana Barys, Branko Radivojevic and Martin Cibak of Spartak Moscow have declined invites. Questionable are also defenceman Ivan Baranka(Spartak Moscow) and especially the top scorer of the KHL regular season Marcel Hossa of Dynamo Riga.
German forward Jochen Hecht will be out for at least 2-3 weeks after having a surgery on his broken finger. Theoretically he could rejoin his team Buffalo Sabres if they manage to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup final, however it is highly unlikely that he will play again this season. The 32-year old center resumed practice however further examination revealed that his finger required a surgery. Before his injury Hecht didn't miss a single game of the regular season netting 21 goals and 42 points in 79 games.
Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson signed a new two-year $2.7 million contract with Toronto Maple Leafs. In 42 games this season he recorded 16 wins, and goals against average 2.87 and save percentage .902.
Nashville Predators signed two players, whom they drafted in 2009, on Thursday. The newest members of the team are a defenceman Charles-Olivier Roussel, and forward Gabriel Bourque. Roussel will join the farm team in Milwaukee, Bourque is with Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL play off semifinals.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Czech forward Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators) is done for the season. He requires a surgery on a torn ACL in his left knee. The 25-year old forward suffered an injury on March 18 in a game against Atlanta and after a return at the end of the regular season he aggravated the injury in the second period of the first play off game against Pittsburgh. He left the game and did not return. Further medical examination revealed a tear in the ligament which will require a surgery to repair.
KHL play off final result - 1st game: Balashikha - Kazan 2:3.
Slovak Extraliga play off final result - 2nd game: Slovan Bratislava - Kosice 3:6, series 0:2.
SM-Liiga play off semifinal results - 4th games: TPS Turku - Jyväskylä 4:3 in OT, series 2:2, Hämeenlinna - KalPa Kuopio 3:2 in OT, series 2:2.
Swiss NLA play off final result - 3rd game: Bern - Geneva 6:2, series 2:1.
Under 18 World Championships - group A: Belarus - Canada 3:11 (1:4, 2:2, 0:5). Goals: 14. Levsa, 21. Kardashev, 25. Zhevlochenko - 5., 29. & 57. McFarland, 6. & 35. O'Connor, 4. Connolly, 15. Howden, 43. Bournival, 45. McKegg, 46. Spooner, 53. Weal.
Group B: Slovakia - Finland 2:5 (0:1, 2:1, 0:3). Goals: 33. Cingel, 38. Murcek - 10. & 60. Granlund, 40. & 48. Pulkkinen, 57. Paajanen.
Swedish Elitserien play off final result - 1st game: Djurgaarden - HV 71 4:3.
There are more players that will not be able to join the Czech national team for the upcoming World Championships. Zbynek Irgl, who plays in Yaroslavl, Russia, will have a sinus operation, Michael Frolik (Florida Panthers) had a broken nose surgery overseas, and Roman Polak (St. Louis Blues) has a broken collar bone. Another Florida Panthers player Kamil Kreps is also injured.
According to Swedish paper Aftonbladet goalie Henrik Lundqvist is still undecided about joining the national team for the upcoming World Championships in Germany. Reportedly, the New York Rangers goaltender has problems with a hamstring and knee and should be able to give the national coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson an answer within the next week or so.
Danish national team coach Per Bäckman will have to do without the services of forward Mikkel Boedker. After finishing his AHL season, he was called up by Phoenix for the Stanley Cup play offs and the only way he might be available for the World Championships in Germany would be if Phoenix gets knocked out in the first round.
Swedish goaltender Henrik Karlsson, who has even played for the Swedish national team this season has been called up by San Jose Sharks after the end of his Swedish Elitserien season. Karlsson was backing up Färjestad, and now he will be available for the Sharks as they signed him last August and own his NHL rights.
Young Swedish forward Joakim Andersson signed a three-year entry level contract with Detroit. The Red Wings drafted him 88th overall in the 2007 draft.
Buffalo Sabres winger Drew Stafford (concussion) still has not been cleared by the team doctors for full contact and missed the first play off game. It appears unlikely that he will be cleared for the next game. German forward Jochen Hecht has also missed the first game after suffering unspecified upper body injury.
Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell has appeared in practice on Tuesday for the first time since March 14. The talented defenceman was injured when he was hit by Alexander Ovechkin in to the endboards. Campbell suffered a broken collar bone. He was supposed to be out seven to eight weeks however it appears that he might be back earlier. He will not play on Friday in Chicago's first play off game against Nashville.
Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen is receiving whole series of rejections from potential players from the NHL. Mikko Koivu, who has a knee injury will not be joining the team, as well as Saku Koivu, Teemu Selänne, Joni Pitkänen and Sean Bergenheim. Reportedly, other players have also declined include Miikka Kiprusoff, Antero Niittymäki, Olli Jokinen and Niklas Hagman.
New Swiss national team coach Sean Simpson will receive reinforcements from overseas before the World Championships in Germany. Forwards Andres Ambühl (Hartford, AHL) and rookie of Slovak background Juraj Simek (Norfolk, AHL) will join the training camp next week. After Portland's elimination from the junior WHL play off Simpson might also have talented forward Nino Niederreiter and defenceman Luca Sbisa available to him.
Dynamo Moscow might lose two more players from their roster according to the local media. Defenceman Denis Denisov and Swedish forward Mattias Weinhandl might be on their way to SKA Saint Petersburg as both players' contracts have expired. SKA is reportedly also interested in another Swede Tony Martensson, who was supposed to transfer from Linköping (Swedish Elitserien) to Dynamo Moscow but it's being reported that he might also end up in Saint Petersburg.
For the fifth time in a row has Alexander Ovechkin won the Alexander Kharlamov Trophy for the best Russian NHL player presented by the paper Sovietsky Sport. In the polling he received 62 votes, second was Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and third Ilya Kovalchuk from New Jersey.
Ilya Vorobiev will be the Russian national team escort at the World Championships in Germany. He started his career in Dynamo Moscow, however spent most of his professional career in Germany. The 35-year old Vorobiev was part of the Frankfurt club before retiring last year. He also played on the Russian national team during the 1990's. Vorobiev will fulfill the function of team liaison and will take care of the team social comfort at the hotel and arena.
Russian SKA Saint Petersburg is still looking for a new coach to replace American Barry Smith. The team president Alexander Medvedev denied that among candidates are Bengt-Ake Gustafsson or Ralph Krüger. According to the Russian magazine Sport new coach should be named any day now out of the five front runners Hannu Aravirta, Vladimir Yurzinov jr., Vladimir Yurzinov sr., Ivano Zanatta and Vaclav Sykora.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Exhibition games: Switzerland - Sweden 4:5 shootout (0:2, 3:0, 1:2 - 0:0). Goals: 23. Wick, 25. Monnet, 30. B. Plüss, 53. Duca - 11. Granström, 20. Persson, 50. Weinhandl, 57. Rundblad, winning shootout goal Ömark.
Slovenia - Denmark 3:5 (0:0, 1:1, 2:4). Branky: 35. Mursak, 45. B. Golicic, 54. M. Rodman - 33. & 51. Hardt, 53. Damgaard, 54. M. Christensen, 60. Madsen.
German DEL play off semifinal result - 3rd game: Wolfsburg - Augsburg 6:1, series 1:2.
Division III World Championships - group A (Luxembourg): Greece - United Arab Emirates 7:1 (2:1, 1:0, 4:0), Ireland - Luxembourg 6:4 (0:0, 5:1, 1:3). Group B (Yerevan, Armenia): Mongolia - North Korea 1:22 (0:7, 0:9, 1:6), South Africa - Armenia 2:9 (1:4, 1:3, 0:2).
Results from the Under 18 World Championships in Belarus - Sweden - Belarus 7:0 (0:0, 5:0, 2:0). Goals: 21. a 24. Rensfeldt, 36. a 41. J. Larsson, 32. A. Larsson, 34. Friberg, 45. Thorell.
Czech Republic "18" - Slovakia "18" 4:3 (1:0, 2:0, 1:3). Branky: 20. Vachovec, 22. Zamorsky, 28. Frk, 56. Uher - 57. a 60. Simcak, 55. Tvrdon.
Slovak Extraliga play off final - 1st game: Slovan Bratislava - Kosice 2:5.
Results form the Division II group B World Championships in Narva, Estonia: Israel - China 2:7 (2:2, 0:1, 0:4), New Zealand - Romania 1:14 (0:2, 1:8, 0:4), Iceland - Estonia 1:6 (1:3, 0:1, 0:2).
The first Finnish player from the NHL to join the national team for the World Championships is Jussi Jokinen. According to the paper Ilta Sanomat the head coach Jukka Jalonen made the agreement with the forward after the end of the NHL regular season as Carolina didn't make the play offs. Even though Jokinen was left off the Olympic roster he accepted the offer to represent at the World Championships.
Russian team Traktor Chelyabinsk is looking for a new head coach to replace Andrei Nazarov who left the team few days ago. According to the Russian media the new head coach could be Andrei Sidorenko, currently the coach of Dizel Penza of the Russian league. Traktor reportedly approached Valeri Belousov, however the former Magnitogorsk coach declined their offer.
German national team goalie Dmitrij Kotschnew might be moving within the KHL, according to the paper Sport-Express. Apparently, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is the front runner for the Spartak Moscow goalie's services. The Lokomotiv current starting goalie Georgi Gelashvili might be leaving for SKA Saint Petersburg.
Even though the Lithuanian-born Russian defenceman Darius Kasparaitis has not played in over a year due to a serious injury, he is considering transfer to Swedish team AIK Stockholm from KHL team SKA Saint Petersburg. According to the Swedish website hockeyexpressen.se Kasparaitis stated that it's not a question of money but rather family, as his wife and kids live in Stockholm and he would like spend more time with them and less time travelling.
Atlanta Thrashers have made some management changes. After not making the play offs this season the club fired the head coach John Anderson and his assistants Randy Cunneyworth, Todd Nelson and Steve Weeks. Don Waddell was named the team president, and Rick Dudley will take over as the general manager.
Under 18 World Championships in Belarus results - group A: Switzerland - USA 1:5 (1:1, 0:2, 0:2). Goals: 12. Hofmann - 13. a 25. Czarnik, 40. Arnold, 49. Clendening, 53. Zucker.
Group B: Latvia - Russia 0:9 (0:2, 0:4, 0:3). Goals: 8., 23. a 26. Namestnikov, 21., 41. a 44. Kuznetsov, 6. Nestorov, 34. Zheldakov, 58. Shalunov.
Davis Payne, who just finished his season with St. Louis Blue after joining as the head coach in January will be the head coach for the next season. The 39-year old coach, currently the youngest NHL coach, was officially named to the function today, according to the paper The St. Louis-Dispatch. Payne lead the team to 23 wins in 42 games this season.
Former NHL forward Josef Beranek officially retired today. The 34-year old player made the announcement at a press conference in Prague. He will be coaching the Slavia Prague junior team and also will be the first team assistant to head coach Vladimir Ruzicka.
The Swiss national team coach Sean Simpson will have to do without more players from his original roster of invitees for the World Championships in Germany. After Severin Blindenbacher and Patrick von Gunten, defenceman Rafael Diaz is also not going to join the team due to torn ligaments in his foot, which is also the case for his colleague Fabian Schnyder.
Naturalized Austrian defenceman Darcy Werenka is leaving Vienna Capitals after seven seasons, according to local paper Krone. The team has not offered a new contract to the 37-year old Edmonton-born player. The paper has stated that Werenka confirmed this in a recent interview with the paper.
The German national team coach Uwe Krupp will not be able to utilize the services of Manuel Klinge at the World Championships. The 25-year old Kassel forward excused himself as he's having problems with a slipped disc and his doctors recommended against his start. Also, Florian Busch, who has a bruised chest, is uncertain to join the national team. The club doctor is skeptical about his current condition improving enough for Busch to be able to join the team.
Czech forward Vaclav Prospal will not be joining his national team for the upcoming World Championships. The New York Rangers forward is battling fatigue and knee problems and thus turned down the invitation from the Czech national team coach Vladimir Ruzicka.
New York Rangers star Marian Gaborik and Tampa Bay defenceman Andrej Meszaros will not join the Slovak national team at World Championships in Germany in May. Both players received a recommendation against their start by their teams due to health issues. New Slovak national team coach Glen Hanlon will have to find replacements elsewhere.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Recap of the NHL regular season trophies and awards:
President’s Trophy (regular season winner) - Washington Capitals - 121 points
Art Ross Trophy (most points) - Henrik Sedin (Vancouver) - 112 points (29 goals & 83 assists)
Maurice Richard Trophy (top goal scorer) - Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) & Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) - 51 goals
Williams Jennings Trophy (goalie on the team with the fewest goals scored against, min. 25 games) - Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) - 191 goals
Bud Light Plus-Minus Award (highest individual plus/minus statistic) - Jeff Schultz (Washington) - +50
Roger Crozier Award (highest save percentage, min. 25 zápasů) - Tuukka Rask (Boston) - .9312
Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk announced earlier today that they will not extend contra with goalie Marty Turco. The 34-year old Turco has spent his entire NHL career in Dallas, which drafted him 124th in the 1994 draft. He is in the final season of his four year $22.8 million contract and will become unrestricted free agent on July 1. According to Nieuwendyk the new number one goalie will be Kari Lehtonen.
Pittsburgh Penguins have made the decision on the backup goalie for Marc-Andre Fleury for the next two seasons. The team management has extended goalie Brent Johnson's contract for two more seasons. Johnson started in 23 regular season games this season, with goals against average 2.76 and save percentage .9057. The 33-year old goalie will make $1.2 million over the next two seasons.
The upcoming weekend will not have any changes in the Czech Republic as the local government has declared Saturday and Sunday days of mourning in regards to the Polish government plane crash and deaths of the Polish president and members of his cabinet. The only thing that the government has asked was that organizers of games and events observe a minute of silence in memory of those killed in the disaster.
Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga will have the same coaching pair as this season - Vladimír Jeřábek & Ladislav Lubina, who reached agreement with the team management for another season. Mojmir Trlicik is the only one leaving the team management. The management stated that they were happy with the final result of the club and never considered any changes.
Results from the division II group B World Championships in Narva, Estonia: Romania - Israel 20:0 (7:0, 8:0, 5:0), China - Iceland 1:3 (0:0, 0:1, 1:2), Estonia - New Zealand 17:0 (3:0, 8:0, 6:0).
German DEL play off semifinal result - 3rd game: Hannover - Ingolstadt 5:4 in OT, final series score 3:0.
Results from the Under 18 World Championships in Minsk, Belarus:
Finland "18" - Latvia "18" 7:2 (2:1, 4:1, 1:0). Goals: 7. a 25. Pulkkien, 16. Salmivirta, 36. Raitainen, 37. Hakanpaa, 40. Hovinen, 58. Teppo - 14. Kolesnikovs, 39. Delivka.
Canada "18" - Switzerland "18" 1:3 (0:2, 1:0, 0:1). Goals: 30. Howden - 10. Hofmann, 18. Guerra, 60. Vermin.
Czech Republic "18" - Russia "18" 1:4 (0:1, 1:1, 0:2). Goals: 40. Vachovec - 8. Barbashov, 30. Shalunov, 49. Antipin, 58. Namestnikov.
Sweden "18" - USA "18" 4:2 (0:1, 1:1, 3:0). Goals: 34. a 50. J. Larsson, 47. Snall, 60. Rask - 4. Balisy, 23. Saad.
The best scorer of the Austrian Hockey League regular season Warren Norris (35 goals) will be staying in Graz in the next season, where he joined from Klagenfurt last summer. The 35-year old Canadian extended his contract. Also signed by Graz was Jean-Philippe Pare, and 19-year old forward Max Wilfan, who played in Swedish lower league in Grums.
Colorado Avalanche are hoping that they will have forward Matt Duchene available for the first game of the their play off series against San Jose. The 2009 third pick overall is suffering from a upper body injury. The young forward did participate in full practice on Monday so there is hope that he might make it for game one. Duchene played in 81 games this season and scored 24 goals and 31 assists.
Defenceman Chris Pronger is Philadelphia Flyers' most valuable player of the regular season (Bobby Clarke Trophy), and he also won the Barry Ashbee Trophy for the best defenceman. Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy for the most improved player went to defenceman Matt Carle. Ian Laperriere received the Gene Hart Memorial Award which is awarded to the player who has the best rapport with the fans.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The first star of the last week of the NHL regular season is Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. Second star is forward Eric Staal of Carolina, third another forward Nicklas Bäckström of Washington. Crosby put up twelve points in four games. In the last game against New York Islanders he scored two goals and with 51 tied Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy awarded to the top goal scorer in the regular season.
It took only few hours after the end of the NHL regular season for the new Tampa Bay owner to start management "clean up". General manager Brian Lawton and head coach Rick Tocchet were let go. Vinnik stated that the team wants a clean start in order to become a world-class organization and thus they decided to fire both the GM and the head coach.
Czech player Dusan Frosch is changing teams within the German league. The 28-year old forward will not be back with Kölner Haie of Cologne where came to last year from Straubing. His next team will be Nuremberg where he will join American Jeff Likens, who's currently playing for Ausburg and trying to get to the DEL finals.
Only couple days after the expiration of his national team suspension, Eisbären Berlin forward Florian Busch has been added to the national team roster by the German national team Uwe Krupp. Krup stated that there was no doubt about Busch's place on the national team as he's one of the best German forward. Busch was suspended from the national team during a doping scandal which dates back to March 2008. For the last couple of years he's been going through appeals with German and Swiss courts and was finally granted his appeal in December 2009 and was eligible to return to the national team on April 9.
Canadian forward Joey Tenute is leaving Frankfurt after only one season for a different team within the German hockey league. He recently agreed to terms with Hamburg, where he signed a one-year contract. This season the former Washington Capital played in 53 regular season games (15 goals & 30 assists), and four play off games (1 assist).
The most productive player of the regular season of the German DEL Jeff Ulmer will stay in Frankfurt, where he returned last summer after a season spent in three different European leagues. The 33-year old former New York Ranger signed a new two year contract with Frankfurt which made it to the DEL play off quarterfinals. Ulmer scored 37 goals and added the same amount of assists in 56 regular season games, in play offs he scored two goals in four games.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Vancouver's Henrik Sedin won the Art Ross Trophy while Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and the Lightnings' Steven Stamkos shared the Maurice Richard Trophy. Sedin took home the points trophy thanks to his 112-point mark, three better than Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Sedin is the first Canuck to ever win the Art Ross and became the ninth player in the past nine seasons to win the hardware.
Division II group B World Championship in Narva, Estonia results: Romania - Iceland 8:3 (2:0, 2:1, 4:2), Israel - New Zealand 4:5 (0:1, 3:3, 1:1), Estonia - China 15:0 (5:0, 6:0, 4:0).
Exhibition game in Budapest result: Hungary - Norway 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:0). Goals: 24. Ladanyi, 48. Peterdi - 29. Mostue.
KHL play off semifinal result: Balashikha - Yaroslavl 2:1, final series score 4:3. KHL final: Balashikha - Kazan.
German DEL semifinal results - 2nd games: Ingolstadt - Hannover 1:4, series 0:2, Augsburg - Wolfsburg 1:0, series 2:0.
Swedish Elitserien results - 10th round relegation: AIK Stockholm - Växjö 2:0, Leksand - Almtuna 2:1, Rögle - Södertälje 3:2 in shoot out. Södertälje and AIK Stockholm will stay in the Elitserien.
Under 16 exhibition game result: Czech Republic "16" - Slovakia "16" 6:3 (1:1, 3:1, 2:1).
Swiss national team coach Sean Simpson will not be able to count on three players for his World Championship team, who turned his invitation down. Defencemen Severin Blindenbacher and Patrik von Gunten, and forward Julien Sprunger, who couldn't be convinced to play for the national team after a tough season during which he suffered a neck injury.
Canadian defenceman Patrick Traverse is changing teams after one season within the German DEL. The 36-year old Montreal-born player left Düsseldorf and signed a one year contract with Hamburg. The former Ottawa, Boston and Montreal defenceman was the most productive Metro Stars player in the play offs with four assists in three games, he played in 53 games of the regular season (3 goals & 29 assists).
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Results at Division II group B World Championships in Narva, Estonia: New Zealand - Iceland 1:3 (0:0, 0:2, 1:1), China - Romania 3:4 (2:0, 1:1, 0:3), Estonia - Israel 17:3 (5:0, 4:2, 8:1).
Swiss NLA play off final result: - 1st game: Bern - Geneva 3:2 in OT. Swiss NLA relegation result - 1st game: Biel - Lausanne 4:2.
Ottawa Senators will not have Russian forward Alexei Kovalev available for the NHL play offs. He tore the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his left knee in Thursday's game against Tampa Bay and will require a surgery. Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray announce that the 37-year old forward will need the 4 month off-season to recover for the next season.
KHL play off semifinal result: Eastern Conference - 6th game: Kazan - Ufa 2:1, final series score 4:2.
Finnish SM-Liiga play off semifinal results - 1st gamesy: Jyväskylä - TPS Turku 4:2, KalPa Kuopio - Hämeenlinna 2:3.
Under 16 exhibition result: Czech Republic "16" - Slovakia "16" 6:2 (4:0, 2:0, 0:2).
Pittsburgh Penguins Forward Alexei Ponikarovsky will miss the last two games of the regular season against Atlanta and New York Islanders. The 30-year old Ukrainian was suspended by the NHL for his hit to the boards on Josh Bailey in Thursday's game against the Islanders. Ponikarovsky will also pay a $22,000 fine.
Minnesota Wild will be the host of the 2011 NHL draft which will take place on June 24 and 25 at the Xcel Energy Center. The official confirmation is expected today at a press conference in St. Paul. This will be the second time that the draft will be held in Minnesota. In 1989 Quebec Nordiques picked Swedish forward Mats Sundin first overall.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Injuries of Chicago's Slovak forwards Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky are not serious. Hossa didn't finish Wednesday's game against St. Louis, but according to the paper Chicago Sun-Times the winger did leave with the team for the next game in Colorado. Kopecky is suffering an unspecified upper body injury. There is no additional information regarding the nature of the injury, however it shouldn't be anything serious.
Buffalo Sabres might have the top rookies of 2009-2010 season in the two top hockey leagues in North America. Defender Tyler Myers is one of the serious candidates for the Calder Trophy in the NHL, and Tyler Ennis won the award for the top rookie in the AHL. The Portland forward won the AHL rookie statistics as he picked up 65 points in 69 games.
The 2011 NHL All-Star game will be hosted by Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Originally, the exhibition was slated for Phoenix, but due to the bankruptcy proceedings after Coyotes' financial troubles NHL has decided to find a different location. There was no All-Star game this season due to the Olympic Games in Vancouver, the previous All-Star game was in January 2009 in Montreal.
Russian Omsk is slowly changing their roster and several players are not in the plans of the management for next season. According to local media they want to get rid of defenceman Anton Babchuk, who has a contract for another season, according to another source Canadian forward Eric Perrin also will not be back with the team.
Russian team Traktor Chelyabinsk will have a new head coach. Andrei Nazarov, who is also national team assistant for North America, has finished with the team. Apparently it was his own decision to leave the team. Russian media are speculating that he will be replaced by Valeri Belousov, who was until recently coaching Magnitogorsk.
Former Swiss forward Michel Turler died on Friday evening at the age of 65. Longtime player for HC La Chaux de Fonds and Biel, with which he won the Swiss title six times, he was one of the best scorers in Switzerland of his time. With the national team he played in 110 games and scored 54 goals, he also participated in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. His Biel team recently raised jersey with his number 10 to the rafters of their arena.
In the memory of Brendan Burke, who worked for the University of Miami hockey team and was killed in a car accident on February 5, the US Hockey federation will establish an internship for students, who study in the sports management field. Every year several university graduates will participate in the program. Brendan Burke was the son of Brian Burke, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager who led the US national team at the Vancouver Olympics.
Pat Burns, former NHL coach, has been released from the hospital where he was treated for lung and large intestine cancer. The 58-year old former Stanley Cup winner with New Jersey, which he won in 2003, was hospitalized on Sunday. Burns coached in the NHL between 1998-2004 and finished with 1019 games coached.
Sidney Crosby has become the third youngest player in the history of the NHL to reach 500 points. The Pittsburgh forward scored a goal and added three assists in Thursday's game against New York Islanders at the age of 22 years and 244 days. Faster were only two legends, Wayne Gretzky (21+52) and Mario Lemieux (22+172).
Thursday, April 8, 2010
KHL play off semifinal result: Eastern conference - 5th game: Ufa - Kazan 2:1, series 2:3.
Finnish SM-Liiga play off quarterfinal result - 7th game: Jyväskylä - Kärpät Oulu 2:0, final series score 4:3. Semifinal pairings: Jyväskylä - TPS Turku, KalPa Kuopio - Hämeenlinna.
Relegation result - 5th game: Ilves Tampere - Jokipojat Joensuu 4:2, final series score 4:1.
Swedish Elitserien play off semifinal results - 5th games: HV 71 - Skelleftea 4:1, final series score 4:1; Djurgaarden - Linköping 5:1, final series score 4:1.
Czech Extraliga play off semifinal Bili Tygri Liberec - Eaton Pardubice 1:4, final series score 0:4.
Legendary Russian defenceman Alexei Kasatonov is the new assistant coach with SKA Saint Petersburg. The club has not announced the name of the new head coach that will replace Barry Smith, however Kasatonov has been named the first assistant. The Olympic and world champion has coached teams in the Russian Major league - Rys Podolsk and Krylya Sovetov Moscow.
Slovak defender Lubomir Visnovsky suffered a season-ending injury. The Anaheim player broke his right hand on Tuesday in a game against Los Angeles and will require a surgery. He will not play in the last three Ducks games. Visnovsky indicated earlier this season that he would not be playing at the World Championship in Germany.
The Slovak national team is getting another reinforcement in defenceman Richard Lintner. The defender, who played in Dynamo Minsk in Belorussia this season, broke his arm in January and could not participate in the Vancouver Olympics. The former New York Rangers and Nashvillu defenceman is practicing and has a chance of making the final team for this year's world championship.
Keith Tkachuk has decided to end his career at the age of 38. He did not play in the last game against Chicago due to an injury, but will play on Friday in the last home game of the season and will make the trip to Nashville on Saturday. If everything goes according to the play he will end up with 1202 NHL games. His 1063 points makes him fourth American-born player in the history and same goes for his 2219 penalty minutes.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Swedish Elitserien play off semifinal results - 4th games: HV 71 - Skelleftea 3:2 in OT, series 3:1; Djurgaarden - Linköping 2:1 in OT, series 3:1.
German DEL play off quarterfinal - 5th games: Hannover - Nuremberg 4:3, final series score 3:2; Eisbären Berlin - Augsburg 2:6, final series score 2:3. Semifinal pairings: Wolfsburg - Augsburg, Hannover - Ingolstadt.
German defenceman Dennis Seidenberg came to Boston from Florida just about a month ago however will not be able to play for the rest of the season even if the Bruins make it into the play offs. He had a surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his forearm and will be out of action for eight weeks.
Russian club Metallurg Magnitogorsk has a new coach who will lead the KHL team in the next season. Finnish coach Kari Heikkilä has reached agreement with the team management, the coach's agent confirmed this to the paper Sovetskiy Sport adding that contract will be signed shortly. Heikkilä will replace Valeri Belousov, who didn't succeed in the play offs where Metallurg lost to Kazan in the quarterfinals.
It appears that there is a controversy regarding the Swiss national team coaching staff. The national federation is clashing with the head coach Sean Simpson regarding the naming of the second assistant coach. Simpson, together with assistant Andy Murray, would like to see another Canadian Doug Shedden as part of their team but the Swiss hockey federation is pushing for Swiss coach Felix Hollenstein.
Czech forward Robert Reichel has retired at the age of 38. After spending last several seasons as a captain and manager in Litvinov of the Czech Extraliga he's moving into the function of coach. The Olympic champion and three-time world champoint will be coaching together with the existing head coach Jiri Kucera. The centre played in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs. Reichel was drafted 70th overall by the Flames in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 830 career NHL games, scoring 252 goals and 378 assists for 630 points.
Vancouver Canucks received some good and bad news before the play offs. Defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, who injured his knee last week, should be available in the near future, but forward Ryan Johnson will be out four to six weeks. He suffered a broken foot while blocking a shot. Another player made a comeback after a month on the injured reserve - Steve Bernier (hamstring).
Pittsburgh forward Yevgeni Malkin missed his eighth game in the last ten. The Russian forward did come out for the warm up before the game against Washington however left shortly for unknown reasons. The Penguins also missed Chris Kunitz who injured his shoulder on Saturday. Capitals rested few players - Mike Green, Eric Belanger and Brendan Morrison.
Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara finished Monday's game against Washington with a broken nose. He suffered the injury at the beginning of the second period when he got hit in the face by Alexander Semin. Chara left the game momentarily however returned to finish the game. He should not miss a game but he did skip Tuesday practice.
Colorado Avalanche won 4:3 against Vancouver in shootout on Tuesday and assured themselves a spot in the Stanley Cup play offs. However they will be without the services of forward Peter Mueller. The player who has 20 points in 15 games since coming over from Phoenix at the trading deadline, suffered a concussion on Sunday after being checked into the boards by San Jose defenceman Rob Blake. It is unknown if Mueller will be ready to return for the play offs.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Red Bull Salzburg are the Austrian champion for the third time in the last four years. The 2007 and 2008 champions beat Linz in the second overtime of the sixth game 4:3 in Linz and won the final series 4:2. The winning goal was scored by Canadian defenceman Doug Lynch, which decided the game, series, and season in the third minute of the second overtime. Salzburg lost the first two games of the final but turned the series around and ended up winning the championship.
Russian KHL play off semifinal result - 4th game: Kazan - Ufa 2:4, series 3:1.
Finnish SM-Liiga relegation result - 4th game: Jokipojat Joensuu - Ilves Tampere 2:1, series 1:3.
Swedish Elitserien relegation results - 8th round: Almtuna - Växjö 4:0, Leksand - Södertälje 3:2 in OT, Rögle - AIK Stockholm 4:5.
Swiss paper Tages Anzeiger published a report stating that Zurych is keenly interest in defenceman Timo Helbling, who's reported about to be let go by Lugano. The 28-year old former Tampa Bay and Washington defender spent last three seasons in Lugano. This season he scored one goal and six assists in 46 game and was the most penalized player of the regular season in the Swiss NLA (168 penalty minutes).
Finnish coach Jarmo Tolvanen is leaving his Hungarian team Alba Volan Szekesfehervar after only one season even though the team made it to the quarterfinals of the Austrian league where his team got eliminated by the Vienna Capitals. The team management and the coach couldn't agree on the team's future and therefore decided to end the coach's contract.
Swiss goalie Lars Weibel's first international contract is ending right after the first season. Coach of the German team Kölner Haie Bill Stewart confirmed to website Eishockey News, that the former Swiss national team member is finished with his team. "I told him on Friday before Easter," the coach stated regarding the former team starter, who didn't see any ice time during the play offs.
Canadian forward Graig MacDonald is changing teams after his first season in Europe; he is moving with the German league. The 33-year old Nova Scotian is leaving Düsseldorf for Mannheim, where he signed one year contract. The former NHL player (Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay), scored two goals in the German league play offs, in the regular season he accumulated 42 points (19+32).
The Vancouver Olympic Committee has started auctioning off valuable Olympic souvenirs and sparked quite a bit of interest. The most valuable was the Sidney Crosby jersey from the Switzerland game which brought in $35,034. One of the pucks from the overtime of the final game against the US fetched over $13,000.
Third Canadian coach might be joining the Swiss national team. The head coach Sean Simpson is working with Andy Murray, and now there are speculations that Doug Shedden could become another assistant coach. The former Finnish national team coach was coaching this season Swiss team Zug which was eliminated in the league play off semifinals on Sunday.
Canadian forward Martin Kariya might be returning to the Swiss National League A. Brother of Paul Kariya played in Switzerland during the 2008-09 season, when he played for Langnau. After that he signe with Dynamo Riga in Latvia, and now HC Ambri-Piotta Quinto has expressed interested in his services.
The general manager of the Slovak national team Peter Bondra has received some exciting news before the next month's World Championship in Germany. In case of his team's elimination in the NHL play offs Zdeno Chara will join the team. The Boston Bruins defender and one of the best defencemen in the NHL promised his participation at the championship should his Bruins be eliminated from the Stanley Cup play offs. This has been reported by the official website of the Slovak hockey federation.
Jonathan Bernier of Manchester was selected as the top goalie of the year in the American Hockey League. At 21 years he is the youngest recipient of the Baz Bastien Award since 1999 when Martin Biron won at 21. Bernier leads the league statistics in save percentage (.937), shutouts (9) and number of saves (1807).
NHL announced the nominations for the Mark Messier Award, which is awarded to NHL team leaders. The selections, out of which the three finalists will be selected later, are Jamie Langenbrunner (New Jersey), Nicklas Lidström (Detroit), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) and Mike Richards (Philadelphia).
It looks like none of the players that represented Canada at the Vancouver Olympics will be available for the World Championships in Germany in May. However, general manager Mark Messier does have some other options available to him. He reached tentative agreement with Steven Stamkos and Steve Downie, while Martin St. Louis turned him down.
San Jose signed a Princeton University forward Cam MacIntyre.
Washington offered a three-year rookie contract to defenceman Dustin Stevenson of Le Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Vancouver signed a contract with 23-year old goalie Eddie Lack, currently a backup in Brynäs of the Swedish league.
Three players who were drafted by the Thrashers in last year's draft, have signed trial contracts with Atlanta's farm team in Chicago - goalie Edward Pasquale and defencemen Ben Chiarot and Cody Sol.
Edmonton Oilers have, in addition to Linus Omark, signed a center Chris Vande Velde to a two year contract.
Monday, April 5, 2010
According to a published report in the Dallas Observer, Brett Hull is attempting to bring Wayne Gretzky and Mike Modano on board to put together a group to purchase the Dallas Stars from owner Tom Hicks. Other sources report that Modano is not even aware of the situation whilst Hull and Gretzky have not spoken on the subject in over six weeks.
Finnish SM-Liiga play off quarterfinal results - 5th games: Jyväskylä - Kärpät Oulu 3:4 in OT, series 3:2; KaIPa Kuopio - Tappara Tampere 4:3 in OT, series 3:2; IFK Helsinki - Hämeenlinna 2:3, series 2:3.
Russian KHL play off semifinal results: Western conference - 4th game: Yaroslavl - Balashikha 6:1, series 2:2. Eastern conference - 3rd game: Kazan - Ufa 3:2 in OT, series 3:0.
Swedish Elitserien play off semifinal results - 3rd games: Skelleftea - HV 71 2:3 in OT, series 1:2, Linköping - Djurgaarden 2:0, series 1:2.
Slovak goalie Jaroslav Halak of Montreal has been named the first star of the week in the NHL. The second and third stars went to two Finnish players - forward Saku Koivu of Anaheim and Boston goalie Tuukka Rask. The 24-year old Halak recorded two shutouts in games against Philadelphia and Buffalo. He improved his goals against average to 2.31 and his save percentage to .927.
The Belarussian national team made a head coach change. The head coaching job now belongs to Eduard Zankovec, previously assistant coach with the natinonal team and Russian club team SKA Saint Petersburg. Zankovec took over from Mikhail Zacharov, who led the Belarussians at the Olympics, but is the head coach of Ukraine. Zankovec might be able to work assistants Dave Lewis, Alexander Andriyevsky or Vladimír Tsyplyakov.
Swedish national team forward Linus Ömark, who has recently concluded his contract obligation with Russian Dynamo Moscow, is set to arrive in the NHL. The last year's world championship in Switzerland participant has, according to the server hockeykanalen.se, signed a two-year contract with Edmonton. Oilers drafted Ömark 97th overall in the 2007 NHL draft. The Canadian club wanted the Swedish forward last season but Ömark decide to sign with Dynamo Moscow instead.
German DEL play off quarterfinal results - 4th games: Nuremberg - Hannover 4:1, series 2:2; Ingolstadt - Frankfurt 3:2 in OT, final series score 3:1; Augsburg - Eisbären Berlin 3:5, series 2:2.
Swiss League play off semifinal result - 6th game: Zug - Geneva 2:7, final series score 2:4. Geneva will meet Bern in the league final.
Milan Hejduk of Colorado Avalanche reached 700 point threshold and became the 7th Czech player in the NHL history to do so. He contributed to the Colorado win on Sunday against San Jose with two assists. The 34-year old Olympic champion from Nagano, who has spent his entire NHL carrier with the Avalanche, has reached the milestone in his 837th game. Hejduk is also second highest Czech goal scorer in the NHL history with 335 goals right behind Jaromir Jagr (646 goals) and has also added 365 assists.
Washington Capitals have won the President's trophy for the best team of the NHL regular season for the first time in history. They can thank the San Jose 4:5 overtime loss to Colorado on Sunday. San Jose is the second best team in the league standings and has 107 points with three games left and Capitals have 114 with four more games left.
Last year the most sought after player was Swedish goalie Jonas Gustafsson and this year it appears to be Finnish goalie Jussi Rynnäs. The 22-year old goalie has apparently attracted the interest of at least five NHL teams. According to ESPN the interested teams are Dallas, Anaheim, Edmonton, Philadelphia and Montreal.
The Swedish hockey federation is trying to make sure that their young players stay within the Swedish hockey program as long as possible. The federation will offer talented young players national team contracts which would obligate the players to stay within the Swedish hockey program until the age of 22. Only then they will be allowed to leave for the NHL. Players without such contract will not be able to play at junior world championships and if a player breaches his contract he will be fined $100,000 according to CBS.
Slovak national team forward Jozef Stümpel is going to move within the KHL. Stümpel is ending his stay with Kazakh Barys Astana and, according to the paper Sport-Express, has the former Los Angeles, Boston and Florida forward reached agreement with Belarussian Dynamo Minsk. The same club has been reported to be negotiating with Stümpel's countryman and friend Zigmund Palffy.
The Russian transfer market opens officially on May 1, however there are already interesting speculations regarding upcoming deals. One such speculation is regarding the German national team goal of Russian descent Dimitrij Kotschnev, who's been playing for Spartak Moscow until now. According to the paper Sport-Express Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is very interested in his services.
Slovak forward Marcel Hossa might be changing teams in the KHL. The Dynamo Riga player has an offer from Kazan, however Riga is still interested in his services. Hossa had an offer to move last year as well however decided to stay. According to the paper Sovetskiy Sport, the former Montreal and New York Rangers forward is still deciding, but already has a verbal understanding with Kazan.
Yunost Minsk has won the Belarussian Extraliga title for the fifth time in history. As the best Minsk team - Dynamo does not participate in the league Yunost met Shakhtar Soligorsk in the play off final. The Minsk team won the series in seven games. Artem Senkevich scored the winning goal in the overtime of the seventh game.
Los Angeles Kings signed forward Brandon Kozun, who's currently the captain of Calgary Hitmen in the WHL. The Kings drafted him in the 6th round of the 2009 draft. Kozun has dual citizenship and has decided to play for the Canadian national team for which he played in the last World Junior Champtionships.
Colorado Avalanche has made contract offers on Saturday to two Boston University defencemen - Kevin Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen. The former was picked by the Avalance 14th overall in 2007 and the latter in the second round of the same draft. Cohen scored the winning goal of the last year's NCAA final and was named the tournament MVP.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Coach Jim Johnson, who was named Rick Tocchet's assistant in Tampa Bay at the end of February, is returning to coach the Lightning farm team in Norfolk until the end of the season. His objective is clear - ensure that Admirals, with whom he won 13 out of 17 games after being named the head coach in January, make the play offs.
The Swiss national coach Sean Simpson had to make a few changes on his team before the training camp for the World Championships in Germany. Andrey Bykov (shoulder) and Thierry Paterlini (elbow) had to drop out of the Olten camp due to their injuries. Completely fit still aren't Patrik Bärtschi and Julien Sprunger. Alain Berger, Adrian Brunner, Gregory Sciaroni and Tristan Vauclair were called up in their place.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Slovak Extraliga play off semifinal result - 4th game: Nitra - Slovan Bratislava 2:5, Slovan wins series 0:4.
Swedish Eliteserien play off semifinal results - 2nd games: Djurgaarden - Linköping 3:2 OT, series 2:0, HV 71 - Skelleftea 3:5, series 1:1.
German DEL play off quarterfinal results - 3rd games: Wolfsburg - Düsseldorf 3:1, Wolfsburg wins series 3:0, Hannover - Nuremberg 2:5, series 2:1, Eisbären Berlin - Augsburg 3:5, seris 1:2.
Phoenix Coyotes have made an entry-level contract offer to defenceman Mathieu Brodeur, whom they drafted in the third round of the 2008 draft. The 19 year-old defender will be reporting to the Poenix AHL farm team in San Antonio after the conclusion of the season in Cape Breton of QMJHL (first round play off loss to Moncton).
After more than two months Chris Osgood is returning to start for Detroit. With the exception of substitution on March 3 against Vancouver (3:6 loss) the last time the 37 year-old veteran started last on January 27 against Minnesota (2:5 loss). Rookie Jimmy Howard started the next 24 games in a row. Coach Mike Babcock wants to spread the load in the end of the regular season and Osgood should start at least two games between now and the start of the play offs.
Atlanta Thrashers forward Colby Armstrong was punished by a two-game suspension for his elbow-to-the-head hit on Mathieu Perreault, which occurred in the Thursday's game against Washington. He will be eligible to return on Friday when the Thrashers play the Capitals again. Armstrong will in the meantime donate $25,000 into the player fund.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Another step in resolving goaltending problems in Philadelphia might be the signing of Sebastien Caron. The 30 year old goaltender, who has previously played for Pittsburgh, Chicago and Anaheim, is returning to the NHL after three seasons in Swiss Fribourg-Gotteron. He's going to back up Brian Boucher tonight against Montreal and maybe in further games, as injured ohan Backlund (hamstring) won't be available until Sunday at the earliest.
KHL play off semifinal results: Western conference - 2nd game: Balashikha - Yaroslavl 1:2 OT, series 1:1. Eastern conference - 1st game: Ufa - Kazan 3:4, series 0:1.
Finnish SM-Liiga play off quarterfinal results - 3rd games: Jyväskylä - Kärpät Oulu 2:0, series 2:1, KaIPa Kuopio - Tappara Tampere 3:2 OT, series 2:1, Lukko Rauma - TPS Turku 0:1, series 0:3, IFK Helsinky - Hämeenlinna 7:0, series 2:1.
Montreal Canadiens will miss forward Sergei Kostitsyn for some time. The 23 year-old Belorussian left Wednesday's game with Carolina with undisclosed lower body injury and will not be available for, at least, Montreal's Friday game in Philadelphia. Kostitsyn has played in 44 games so far this season, scoring six goals and adding ten assists.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The NHL announced its players of the month for march. The first star is Phoenix forward Lee Stempniak, second is Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard and third Vancouver center Henrik Sedin. Stempniak has scored 13 goals and added 3 assists in 14 games since coming over from Toronto. Howard recorded 12 wins in 15 games, one shutout, and his save percentage neared 92%. Sedin moved back to the top of NHL scoring with 24 point in 15 games.
Czech defenceman Marek Malik might be leaving Servette Geneva after this season, according to the Swiss media. Servette is curently in the semifinals of the Swiss play offs against Zug. According to the daily Le Matin, Lugano has expressed great interest for the 34 year-old Czech, who has previously played in the NHL (Hartford, Carolina, Vancouver, NY Rangers, Tampa Bay). Apparently a contract offer is on the table already. Whether he stays or goes depends on how many international forwards will Geneva sign for next season. The Swiss league restricts teams on how many non-Swiss players they can carry on their rosters.
German forward and member of the German national team Christoph Melischko is moving after two seasons to a new team. The 26 year-old player is leaving Kölner Haie and signed two-year contract with Kassel. Melischko played in 51 games regular season games (3 goals, 4 assists) and three play-off games (1 goal).
Czech coach Marek Sykora is going to be the new coach of Dynamo Minsk, according to the Belorussian media. The 61 year-old coach has taken his last team Yekaterinburg to the KHL play-offs, however declined a contract extension from them, stating that he wanted to return home but in the end it appears that he has agreed to stay in the KHL. Sykora was also the point of interest for Nizhny Novgorod and new team Lev Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic) which is trying to join the KHL.
The AHL has announced on Wednesday some of the winners of individual trophies for the 2009-2010 season. The All-Rookie team was announced: goalie Alex Stalock (Worcester), defencemen John Carlson (Hershey) and P.K. Subban (Hamilton), and forwards Logan Couture (Worcester), Lars Eller (Peoria) and Tyler Ennis (Portland).
The nominations for this season's Hobey Baker Award, the annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's ice hockey player, have been announced: forwards Bobby Butler (New Hampshire), Blake Geoffrion (Wisconsin), and Gustav Nyquist (Maine). Butler has already signed a free-agent contract with Ottawa on Monday, Nyquist was drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 draft by Detroit, Geoffrion was drafted by Nashville in 2006 as their 4th round pick.
Florida Panthers forward Rostislav Olesz did not play in Wednesday's game in Buffalo due to a hand injury. The Panthers recalled Jeff Taffe in his place and it's currently not clear how long will Olesz be out of the Florida line-up. He played 73 games this season, in which he amassed 27 points (13 goals).
Anaheim Ducks forward Teemu Selänne scored his 601st NHL goal in Wednesday's game again Colorado Avalanche. This ties his countryman Jari Kurri for the 17th spot for goal-scoring of all time. "Six hundred was bigger for me, but 601 is huge, too, because Jari was my idol. I feel very honored," said Selänne. Selänne has played in 1182 regular season games.
Ottawa Senators signed a junior goalie Robin Lehner to a three-year entry level contract. He currently plays for Sault Ste. Marie in OHL and Swedish junior national team and was drafted by Ottawa in the second round of last year's draft. Since his team was eliminated in the first round of the OHL play-offs he will join Binghamton of the AHL.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The management of Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of KHL announced few hours after the end of the KHL regular season that their second most productive player Jaroslav Bednar will not be re-signed for the next season. The 33 year old Czech forward, who spent one season with the team, amassed 34 points (14 goals and 20 assists). The only other player to have more points on the team was another Czech forward Pavel Brendl, who scored 27 goals and added 10 assists.
Avangard Omsk has closed out their regular KHL season with five straight losses. In the last, 56th game of the season, they lost 2:3 to Dinamo Minsk with contribution of Jaromir Jagr. While in the penalty box in the 48th minute Dinamo scored to go ahead 2:1. Avangard evened the score 41 seconds later however Minsk scored their winning goal couple of minutes later. Dinamo Minsk ended up last in the Bobrov Division of KHL.
Adam Burish is one step closer to returning to the NHL this season. The Chicago Blackhawks forward injured his knee in an exhibition game against Minnesota in September. He has been cleared by the team doctors. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville will be able to use him against Detroit however his return is more likely on Wednesday against Los Angeles Kings.
Shortly after the management of Torpedo Nizhnyj Novgorod announced that the current coach Yevgeniy Popichyn will not be leading the teams into the next season, further player changes were announced. The management decided not to re-sign five players - Czech goaltender Martin Faletr, Swed Joakim Lindström, Grigori Shafigulin, Andrei Zabolotnev, and Viktor Alexandrov.
Russian team Metallurg Magnitogorsk is not only interested in Finnish defenceman Niskala (as previously reported) but is also trying to land Czech forward Jaroslav Hlinka who currently leads Swedish Linköping. The information was published by the Swedish paper Expressen. No further information was made available. Hlinka has previously played in Russia five seasons ago when he played for Ak Bars Kazan. He could possibly join three of his countrymen in Magnitogorsk - Tomas Rolinek, Jan Marek, and Jaroslav Kudrna.
For the first time since his "gold" goal in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games has Sidney Crosby scored. His two goals helped his Pittsburgh Penguins turn around the game against Dallas Stars. The Pens were losing 1:3 at the start of the second period but they scored five unanswered goals and ended up winning 6:3. His two goals propelled Crosby to the lead of the goal scoring race past Alexander Ovechkin of Washington Capitals.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
According to the newspaper Sport-Express there are four KHL teams that expressed interest in Bengt-Ake Gustafsson who is currently coaching the Swedish national team. The 2006 Olympic champion coach is leaving the national team after the upcoming World Championships in Germany. The closest team to signing Gustafsson is SKA Saint Petersburg, which is currently coached by American coach Barry Smith whose fate will be determined by the play-off results.
Russian team Torpedo Nizhnyj Novgorod is not planning on utilizing the services of the current coach Yevgeniy Popichyn in the future. Torpedo has not achieved expected results and, according to local media, the management is looking for a replacement before the next season. Among the names mentioned as candidates for the job are Fedor Kanareikin and Kari Heikkilä.
The KHL has signed a contract of cooperation with Czech team Lev Hradec Kralove, which could join the Russian based league next season. According to the website khl.ru the contract has moved the realization of the project another step up. Upcoming key negotiations will address economic questions with team management, the city of Hradec Kralove, as well as the Czech Hockey Federation. The Czech side must submit their guarantees by April 1.
Finnish national defender Janne Niskala has sparked interest of the Russian team from Magnitogorsk, which has reportedly approached him with a contract offer for next season. This is according to the Swedish newspaper Expressen. The bronze medallist from Vancouver has not confirmed this information so far. Niskala is currently playing for Swedish team Frölunda. He has also recently played in the NHL for Nashville and Tampa Bay.
The Montreal Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre has been punished by four game suspension for his dangerous hit on Scott Nichol of San Jose Sharks into the end boards. The earliest he'll be able to come back is March 13 against Boston Bruins. Montreal has called up Ben Maxwell from Hamilton of AHL to take Lapierre's place. Nichol will be out at least the same amount of time due to the shoulder injury suffered as a result of the hit.
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