I seem to be on a Dane streak. Here’s my latest story, on the Danes, on iihf.com.

Closing the gap

Edit: Here’s a recap of Sweden v France game.

The best World Championship site is iihf.com, so check it out. I’ll just throw here these two previews that have been posted, and will post some more behind-the-scenes stuff here in the future. Like how I saw a young woman interview Team Russia’s assistant coach, interrupt the interview for a second, lean towards the coach, and wipe his cheek clean from bread crumbles, then continue with the interview.

But here are the previews:

Finnish Lions and Tre Kronor.

Here’s my latest blog entry on nhl.com.

Hopefully, Avery’s initiative is an inspiration to other NHLers, wondering what to do when there’s no need to hang around the rink anymore. And, well, here are a few suggestions for internships that might be a great match.

Read it here or after the jump.

Continue reading →

Here’s a piece I wrote for The Hockey News a couple of months ago but forgot to post here. Anyway, this is Victor Hedman. Don’t worry, you’ll hear that name again in the future, many times.

Click the image to get the pdf.

Cough, cough. Dusting off the old archives again. The Bruins took the Habs to Game 7, so I’d better get this one out while I can.

Without further ado: “Maybe not this year, but Koivu will return to glory” on ESPN.com in May, 2006.

HV71 took home the Swedish championship last night.

It would take a leap of faith and a lot of courage to call Johan Davidsson’s playoff beard and moustache cool. Yes, that style was cool in the 1620s when d’Artagnan and Arhos, Portos, and Aremis were involved in the English-French intrigues, but maybe now is not the time to bring it back.

Here’s my take on that.

Yes, the World Championship tournament begins in 14 days.

And don’t forget, every May, the World Championship gives thousands of hockey fans a nice excuse to travel around the world, mostly in Europe, see some great hockey, paint their faces in their national colors, and enjoy life.

Click the image to get my take on the tournament in this week’s Hockey News.

Ovechkin fever is raging in Russia. I spoke with a couple of Russian fans today.

“I’ve been an NHL fan since 1994 and I try to follow it every possible way. I read NHL.com, TSN and ESPN, I even followed the Ducks run to the Cup in 2003, but back then, it was impossible to watch the games at home, and the only place to see them was a fancy sports casino,” Shelestenko says.

Here’s the story.

Three years ago, Kenny Jönsson came to Sweden to play during the lockout. Last night, his Rogle took the step back to the Swedish Elite League. Here’s what Jönsson had to say about things in 2005, when his NHL comrades had returned to North America and he stayed with the small club, one step below the Elite League.

Continue reading →

Here’s a little something I was thinking about today. It’s a little story about Ed Belfour whom I happen to like, but who’s been a little unlucky recently.

Just two games earlier, Belfour had shut out Mora, Leksand’s archirival, some 30 miles from Leksand, and was celebrated as the savior he was supposed to be. In the away game against the same Mora, Belfour had a save percentage of .840 when they lost 4-3.
And then there was the game against Rogle.

Read the whole piece here.