Fake Miller Guarantees Victory
MSNBC Punked by Prank Caller
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Defense has some mental lapses
What a game!
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Russia sent packing
Canada stomps all over Russia
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Miller magic propels US
A shocker in Vancouver
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Olympic Hockey Blog
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Written by LeNoceur
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 15:36 |
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Mr. and Mrs. Polak, of Ostrava, Czech Republic, must have been overjoyed on that day in April 1986 when their son, already two feet tall and 28 pounds (and sporting a five o'clock peach fuzz), finally ejected from his mother's birth canal. So overjoyed, or perhaps befogged by knockoff Eastern Bloc painkillers, they apparently envisioned a future wherein their son would somehow grow up to be an offensively minded skater for the Polish national team.
Unfortunately, Roman Polak is not a roaming Polock. He's a brawny stay-at-home defenseman for the St. Louis Blues and the Czech Olympic Team.
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Written by Sean Payton
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Monday, 11 January 2010 20:52 |
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Photo from Life.com. Bitchin' "C" courtesy of Paint.
The captain of Team USA will be New Jersey's Jamie Langenbrunner. His Devils teammate Zach Parise, Ryan Suter (Predators), Dustin Brown (Kings) and Brian Rafalski (Red Wings) will wear the A's for USA.
Most of the roster will be wearing the same number they wear with their current NHL teams. However, there were a couple of number conflicts.
- F Dustin Brown will be wearing #32, reversing his usual #23 (Chris Drury is wearing #23).
- Because Brown is switching to #32, his teammate G Johnathan Quick will be wearing #29.
- F Joe Pavelski will be wearing #16, doubling up his customary #8 (Mike Komisarek is wearing #8).
- F Bobby Ryan will be wearing his former #54 (Zach Parise is wearing #9).
Is Langenbrunner the right choice to lead this young team? Should Drury have been named an alternate captain (Suter isn't wearing an A for Nashville)? We want to hear from you.
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Written by Vancity Canuck
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Monday, 11 January 2010 15:35 |
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Christian Ehrhoff was born July 6th, 1982 in Moers, Germany. Ehrhoff, a 6'2" defenceman, weighs in at 200 lbs and has a left handed shot. He gets plenty of time on the powerplay and has been very consistent on the blue line this year for the Canucks. He also loves video games.
So besides his love for video games, what do we know about Ehrhoff?
Please click "Read More" to continue...
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Written by Cole Jones
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Monday, 11 January 2010 09:45 |
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3 Selke Trophies.
1 Stanley Cup.
2 NHL All-Star Appearances. 1 SM-liiga All-Star Appearance.
1 Raimo Kilpio Trophy.
2 Bronze Medals. 4 Silver Medals. 1 Gold Medal.
Jere Lehtinen isn't a stranger to being recognized for his outstanding two-way hockey, but these awards don't even begin to describe everything he brings to the ice.
When you talk about Jere Lehtinen, you immediately think of the Selke Trophies and his reputation as one of the greatest defensive forwards of all-time. What gets lost in his sterling defensive game is the offensive statistics that he's put up at the same time. For most of his career, he was Mike Modano's right-hand man on the top line of the Dallas Stars, which acted not only as their primary scoring line, but also their premier checking line. During his dedicated defensive duties, he's found away to amass 507 career points. Good for 9th in franchise history.
Jere Lehtinen has been as much a fixture for the Finnish national team as the Dallas Stars. Between the Olympics, the World Championships, and the World Cup of Hockey, Jere Lehtinen has worn the Suomi sweater in 10 tournaments already. The Vancouver Olympics, his fifth, will make it 11. Simply put, Jere Lehtinen is pure metal.
Jere Lehtinen excels at doing the little things that help teams win. In recent years, he's had struggles staying healthy enough to contribute to the Stars over the course of the season, but when he's in the lineup, he's rarely caught out of position and always puts forth his best effort. I can also count on one hand the number of bad penalties he's taken. How he hasn't won a Byng is beyond me.
The nation of Finland knows exactly what they're getting when they name Jere Lehtinen to their Olympic roster. He's got the history and the hardware to back up his pedigree, and they're expecting #26 to bring them their 4th medal in their past 5 Olympics berths.
 Cole Jones covers the Dallas Stars at The Other 6 Seconds in addition to his work on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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Written by Sean Payton
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 23:07 |
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The XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan was the first time the NHL allowed its players* to participate in the Olympic Ice Hockey tournament. Depite the fact that the US and Canadian teams sported rosters that largely read like Hall of Fame ballots, the Czech Republic won gold. Though the team featured a roster of largely NHL players, true offensive NHL stars were few and far between - a mullet rockin' Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Martin Straka, a really young Milan Hejduk. But none of that mattered because they had Dominik Hasek.
Hasek was, by all accounts, the difference. Hasek allowed 4 goals in 3 games in Group play, but his best was yet to come. In the Final Round, the Dominator allowed 2 goals in 3 games. 1 against the United States, 1 against Canada and finished it off with a 1-0 shutout of Russia. Hasek won the Olympic games best goaltender award.
How good was Hasek? Following Canada's shootout loss to the Czechs, Wanye Gretzy said "I think right now he's the best player in the game. He's at a level that nobody else is at right now. He's just sensational.... There are few times in sports when you see a guy get into a zone or a stratosphere that others only wish they could be." Hasek stopped Theoren Fleury, Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan in that shootout.
The Americans were so frustrated after outshooting the Czech 39-19 but coming away with a 4-1 loss, that several players trashed their rooms in the Olympic Village. (classy!) This save was on Brett Hull, the 3rd best goal scorer in NHL history.
The gold medal winning goal against Russia came from an unlikely source, Peter Svodoba, a defenseman who only had 58 goals in his 1028 NHL games. With only 11 minutes left in the 3rd, Svodoba blasted a slapshot from the point past Russian netminder Mikhail Shtalenkov to score the biggest goal in Czech Republic history.
Another quircky thing about this team was their threads. The Nike uniforms the Czech team wore were very unique - particularly, the very large CZECH on the back of the jersey. These uniforms made another appearance in Salt Lake City in 2002, but did not bring the same luck.
1998 Czech Republic Olympic Results:
- Group C Match #1 CZE 3, FIN 0
- Group C Match #4 CZE 8, KAZ 2
- Group C Match #6 RUS 2, CZE 1
- Quarter-Finals CZE 4, USA 1
- Semifinals CZE 1, CAN 1 (CZE wins shootout)
- Finals CZE 1, RUS 0
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Written by Greg Ezell
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 16:21 |
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Thomas Greiss in the DEL
Like I mentioned when I did a player profile on Marco Sturm, not many of the players on the German Olympic Team will be known to the average hockey fan and here is one of them. Thomas Greiss currently plays for the San Jose Sharks, drafted 94th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry draft.
Greiss played his first game in the NHL on January 13, 2008 and has been a backup to Evgeni Nabokov since the 2007-2008 season. This year, Greiss has 6 starts with a record of 4-3 a GAA of 2.66 and a save percentage of .913. For a backup, his numbers are okay, but he is still a young hockey player who need growth.
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Written by Jenna
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 15:33 |
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See? I already have the jersey, complete with the "C" and all..
When Team Canada released the 2010 Men's Olympic hockey team, twitter exploded with so-and-so was snubbed or so-and-so doesn't deserve a spot. There were also the few trying to be the voice of reason and rationalize both the picks and non-picks. For the most part, I stayed out of it.
As a Coyotes fan, my twitter consisted of mostly Shane Doan talk. Most Phoenix fans were angry, a few were not. Me? I was upset but not overly pissed. I get that picking an Olympic team is a huge task and you will not be able to please everyone. I do want Shane on the Olympic team, I think he deserves it. But if he were on, who would have been the player left off? When Patrice Bergeron got injured, everyone was clamoring to say so-and-so should replace him. He is the obvious choice. But what if he is able to play? What if he didn't get hurt? Who do I think Shane Doan would replace?
This is such a loaded question because I truly believe that each player was chosen (or not chosen) for a reason. I may not understand all the reasoning but I know there is a reason. This is my disclaimer on my choices: I am not a stats person, which makes me much less qualified to make this decision. I go by what I see in games because I feel that is a better measurement. To me stats don't always tell the whole story. Numbers can always be manipulated to show what you want them to show (see: Enron, Tyco, WorldCom etc). I could look up all the stats in the world but that usually won't change my opinion (see: my hatred of Jovo).
In looking at the forwards on the team, the RW are Jerome Iginla and Corey Perry. Out of those two, I would choose Doan to replace Perry, mostly because he is a Duck and I have massive respect for Iginla. He is pretty much like the Doaner of the Flames (gotta love my reasonings eh?). The LW include Heatley, Marleau, Morrow and Nash. Talented LW. I want to say replace Heatley with Doan. Doan is a much better leader and less selfish, but Heatley can score more. Nash, I just hate him because of his amazing goals on the Coyotes, but he is just damn good. Marleau and Morrow: I am pretty indifferent on both of them. I don't really follow either of them, so I do not feel qualified to make an opinion on either of them. Out of the two, I would say Doan would replace Morrow but only because we have seen the Sharks more this year then the Stars so far. Centers: Bergeron, Crosby, Getzlaf, Richards, Staal, Thornton and Toews. Out of this list, I would say Staal, just because he hasn't had his best season so far (I say this because my friend constantly bitches about how bad he is for her fantasy team haha).
The largest fan argument I have seen for Shane being left off is his slow start to this season. Shane Doan? A slow start? What? No.... Shane would NEVER have a slow start! /sarcasmhere Doan has notoriously been a slow starter. Last season was an abnormality. This season is typical. When does Shane pick up the pace and really start getting his points? January and Februay. That is perfect timing for the Olympics. He has already started to play much better. He has played exceptionally better these last few games. He got two goals in the Oilers game, one being the game winner in OT.
Although, after last night I am not so sure about this point. See, Shane Doan cut his hair. Hair? Yes, hair. Shane Doan normally cuts his hair short in the summer and lets it grow long over the season. The longer it gets, the better he plays. This year he came to camp with long hair. He got off to a slow start. Now he goes and cuts his hair mid-season and he has a horrible game last night.
I wasn't picked for the Olympics, this makes me ANGRY!
Team Canada knows Shane and they know how well he performs for them (although, I'm telling you... this hair cut thing has really thrown him off). He has always answered the call of his Country. He has always been there for them (no thanks to all the years of Coyotes poor play). He has helped Team Canada win two gold and two silver medals in Worlds. He has also gotten the game winner for one of those games and scored a hattrick (something he can't do in the NHL) in another game. He also participated in the 2006 Olympics team, which did not even place in the top three. Shane Doan needs the chance to make it right, to earn what he deserves, something big and shiny.
Shane Doan would have been a solid choice for Team Canada. He does not disappoint. He would have played his heart out for Team Canada and he would have made a difference in a game (much like he does day-in and day-out on the Coyotes). You could not ask for a better player then Shane. He is a solid player, an excellent leader and a great guy to have in the locker room. Yes, he cut his hair but hopefully that will not affect his play for the second half of the season. Yes, he got off to a slow start but that is typical for him. This probably would have been his last chance to play for Team Canada in the Olympics. Even if NHLers play in four years, Shane Doan may be past his prime by then. He will be 37. Sure guys like Robert Lang are still playing at that age but they are not serving their Country. It would have been nice to see Shane Doan win the gold and a Stanley Cup during his career. I guess we will just have to settle for the latter.
 Jenna Volden covers the Phoenix Coyotes at Hipchecks in addition to her work on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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Written by Blythe Brumleve
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Friday, 08 January 2010 11:42 |
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 It's no secret hockey is Canada's NFL, so when the US hockey team roster was announced it seems anticipation is building for the US team to take down Canada.
The 2010 Olympics will drop the puck on its men's ice hockey competition on Feb. 16 and award medals on Feb. 28
Canada, as usual, will have a STACKED team while the US is the youngest men's hockey team since the NHL started sending its players to the Olympics in 1998. .
Having been around Canadian hockey players, I know first hand how much our neighbors to the north HATE losing to the US. What is more serious to think about is how many Canadians will be hanging themselves in a bathroom when and if the US team creams Canada in the Olympics.
Hit the jump to see video analysis of each country's roster and let us know in the comments if you think the US has a realistic chance to win gold.
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Written by Cole Jones
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Friday, 08 January 2010 02:43 |
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As the resident Dallas Stars expert for the Bloguin Olympic Hockey Blog, as well as a general connoisseur of selfless defensive hockey, it's only fitting that I'm the one who gets to write the profile of Karlis Skrastins. The average hockey fan may not know much about the rugged captain of the Latvian national team. He plays a fairly nondescript game and generally flies under the radar on the Dallas Stars blueline, but when it comes to international competition, he is the heart and soul of the Latvian entry. One of only 2 current NHLers to be named to the Latvian roster, Karlis is joining fellow defenseman Oskars Bartulis (Flyers) on the national team. Your heart has to go out to Raitis Ivanans. On a national team with only 2 NHLers, somehow the Kings tough-guy was skipped over entirely... by pretty much the entire roster of Dynamo Riga. Ivanans is the only Latvian NHLer to be left off the Olympic roster.
What Karlis Skrastins brings to the table is a tremendous work ethic and an uncanny ability to block shots. At 35 years old, he brings the same intangibles and veteran steadiness to Latvia that earned him a two year contract with the Dallas Stars this past summer. He's a steady and responsible defender, widely considered to be a great locker room presence, and really everything a lesser-power in the hockey world could ever ask for in a captain. In addition to his defensive prowess, he's also tough as nails. He's not an over-the-top aggressive head hunter that grabs your attention with his explosive body belts, but he plays a quietly physical game and finds a way to impose his will on the opposition throughout the bumps and bruises of an NHL season. In 2007, he became the NHL's record holder for most consecutive games played by a defenseman. His iron-man record surpassed Tim Horton's 486 game streak, and ended up at 495. Since joining the Stars, it's been pretty difficult to knock him out the lineup. The only game he missed was caused by having his finger almost sliced off by the skate of an Anaheim Duck. Shortly after that, he netted his first career two goal game as the Stars defeated the hated Red Wings in Dallas, stitches and all.
Basically, he looks like a cleaned up Geico caveman, blocks more shots than most goalies (Marty Turco, at least), and plays a selfless defense-first brand of hockey that any self respecting hockey fan would adore. I defy you to dislike the guy. He's one of my favorite players in the league, and has been for years. He, along with my love of underdogs, gives me more than enough reason to tune in to Latvia's games once the puck drops in Vancouver.
Cole Jones covers the Dallas Stars at The Other 6 Seconds in addition to his work on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog.
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Written by Greg Ezell
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 11:27 |
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To the America hockey fan, the names from Team Germany will mostly be unknown. Guys like John Trip (Hamburg Freezers - DEL) and Jason Holland (DEG Metro Stars - DEG) will grace the lips or the mind of a North American fan who doesn't follow the DEL. To be fair, NHLers like Alexander Sulzer (Nashville Predators) and Thomas Greiss (San Jose Sharks) aren't well know either, unless you follow the specific team. There is, however, a player on the 2010 German Olympic roster that is known throughout the NHL; Marco Sturm.
Sturm was drafted by the San Jose Sharks (21st overall) in 1996 and eventually traded to the Boston Bruins in a deal that saw Bruins superstar Joe Thornton headed west. Internationally Sturm has played in the World Juniors Championship (1995, 1996), European Junior Championship (1995, 1996), Ice Hockey World Championship (1997, 2001, 2006, 2008), World Cup (1998) and the Olympics (1998, 2006, 2009).
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<< Start < Prev 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next > End >>
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Page 18 of 19 |
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Olympic Hockey Blog on Twitter
Standings
| Group A |
| Team | W | L | Pts |
| USA |
3 |
0 |
9 |
| Canada |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| Switzerland |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Norway |
0 |
3 |
1 |
| Group B |
| Team | W | L | Pts |
| Russia |
2 |
1 |
7 |
| Czech Republic |
2 |
1 |
6 |
| Slovakia |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| Latvia |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| Group C |
| Team | W | L | Pts |
| Sweden |
3 |
0 |
9 |
| Finland |
2 |
1 |
6 |
| Belarus |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Germany |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Teams in Bold receive byes into the quarterfinals
Schedule/Results
| Date | Time | Matchup |
| 2/16 |
12:00 PM |
USA 3 Switzerland 1
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| 2/16 |
4:30 PM |
Canada 8 Norway 0
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| 2/16 |
9:00 PM |
Russia 8 Latvia 2
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| 2/17 |
12:00 PM |
Finland 5 Belarus 1
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| 2/17 |
4:30 PM |
Sweden 2 Germany 0
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| 2/17 |
9:00 PM |
Czech Republic 3 Slovakia 1
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| 2/18 |
12:00 PM |
USA 6 Norway 1
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| 2/18 |
4:30 PM |
Switzerland 2 Canada 3 F/SO
|
| 2/18 |
9:00 PM |
Slovakia 2 Russia 1 F/SO |
| 2/19 |
12:00 PM |
Belarus 2 Sweden 4 |
| 2/19 |
4:30 PM |
Czech Republic 5 Latvia 2 |
| 2/19 |
9:00 PM |
Finland 5 Germany 0 |
| 2/20 |
12:00 PM |
Norway 4 Switzerland 5 F/OT |
| 2/20 |
4:30 PM |
Latvia 0 Slovakia 6 |
| 2/20 |
9:00 PM |
Germany 3 Belarus 5 |
| 2/21 |
12:00 PM |
Russia 4 Czech Republic 2 |
| 2/21 |
4:40 PM |
Canada 3 USA 5 |
| 2/21 |
9:00 PM |
Sweden 3 Finland 0
|
| 2/23 |
12:00 PM |
Belarus 2 Switzerland 3 F/SO
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| 2/23 |
4:30 PM |
Germany 2 Canada 8
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| 2/23 |
7:00 PM |
Latvia 2 Czech Republic 3 F/OT
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| 2/23 |
9:00 PM |
Norway 3 Slovakia 4
|
| 2/24 |
12:00 PM |
Switzerland 0 USA 2
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| 2/24 |
4:30 PM |
Canada 7 Russia 3
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| 2/24 |
7:00 PM |
Czech Republic 0 Finland 2 |
| 2/24 |
9:00 PM |
Slovakia 4 Sweden 3 |
| 2/26 |
12:00 PM |
Finland 1 USA 6
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| 2/26 |
6:30 PM |
Canada 3 Slovakia 2
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| 2/27 |
7:00 PM |
Finland 5 Slovakia 3
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| 2/28 |
Overtime
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USA 2 Canada 3 F/OT
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All Times Pacific
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