Switzerland
Ron Wilson, an alumnus from Providence College, was playing for Davos in the Swiss National League A in 1985 when pivotal Minnesota North Stars defenseman Craig Hartsburg was injured. Embroiled in a battle for a playoff spot, Minnesota were in tough to find a stabilizing replacement to hold down the North Stars backend whilst Hartsburg recovered. Ron Wilson, a standout collegiate defender who never rose above major league stopgap, became the go-to-guy having already played 13 games for the North Stars the season previous. A span that bullet pointed five seasons in Switzerland.
A grizzled journeyman by age 30; Wilson would provide stellar coverage in Hartsburg’s absence securing an presence on the North Stars blueline in the 1986-’87 season before completing his NHL playing career with Minnesota a year later.
After tonight's snoozer, let's move on to a bigger and better subject.
Some of you may have watched a surprising Norway side battle Switzerland to the bitter end for a quarterfinal birth in their final preliminary game at the Olympics; if so, try to recall a 5'7, 160-pound speedster working a stick as tall as the man himself.
The gold medal game is upon us, and fittingly, Canada will face off against their US rivals in a battle of hockey's elite. The US team, led by Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, and of course Ryan Miller, will look to grind out another victory over Team Canada, while the Canadians will seek to avenge a tough 5-3 loss to the Americans in the round-robin phase of the tournament.
Canada’s Men’s Hockey team has met its first challenge in the 2010 Olympics. Team Switzerland came in to upset Canada the same way they did 4 years ago with a 2-0 victory in Turin. Martin Brodeur’s 21 saves in the 3-2 win were not as impressive as his clutch saves in the shootout.
Turns out Martin Brodeur will be getting some rest as Roberto Luongo will be starting in net for Canada tomorrow against Norway. Â Brodeur will see the start Thursday against Switzerland. Â After the jump you can take a look at the line combinations for some of the participating countries.
For the second year in a row, Team Canada fell 2-1 to the Russians in yesterday's gold medal game at the 2009 World Hockey Championships in Switzerland. Ilya Bryzgalov made 37 saves and the Russian defense managed for the most part to keep a prolific Canadian offense in check. [more…]
It's not yet time to pack away the sticks and skates for some of the Leafs players. A pair of Maple Leaf defensemen, Luke Schenn and Ian White were informed on Saturday night that they would have a chance to represent Team Canada at the upcoming World Hockey Championship which begin April 24th in Switzerland. Jason Blake will lace 'em up for Team USA while Niklas Hagman will don the Finnish colors. [more…]
The rash of injuries on the Maple Leafs' blueline, coupled with GM Brian Burke's preference for physical players on the back end, have led the team to re-sign a familiar face.
ESPN's Pierre LeBrun is reporting that Brian Burke has been kicking the tires on a more adequate back-up for Vesa Toskala than Leafs' current incumbent, the antiquated Curtis Joseph. What was initially tabbed as win-win move has proved to be a misstep engendered by nostalgia. The mandate wasn't overly demanding for Joseph as the logic was that Vesa Toskala, coming off an impressive first year as a full-fledged starter, would only require relief for 15 games on the season. This hasn't worked out for two reasons - Curtis Joseph has not proven adequate enough to play at a passable level for 15 games on the season (4.12 GAA, 0.843 SV%) and Toskala hasn't by any stretch of the imagination been the unquestioned starter he was last season. [more…]
With the imposition of the salary cap taking some clout away from the financial Super Powers (or so they say), the "new" NHL focuses upon the importance of successful drafting and a constant flow of young players on cheap, entry-level contracts. With scouts now being dispatched to all corners of the globe, it's getting to be quite a small world. The boundaries of the Hockey Community are ever-growing, and we're starting to find ourselves with a neat little global village forming in the NHL. [more…]
