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December 7, 2015
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
THE BLUE ICE IS TOO GREEN
THINK OF THE 2016 WORLD CUP AS A Franken-tournament or, for the younger crowd, a Megazord tournament. Part of the field is powerful and predictable. Seeing Canada, the U.S., Sweden, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic ice their best players should mimic Olympic-caliber action. The World Cup’s other two appendages, though, are wild cards. Team Europe and Team North America could compete seamlessly with the other six teams or implode like rejected bodily organs. The Euros mix the world’s best from all the other remaining nations into one squad, while Team North America’s pool includes Canadian and U.S.-born players aged 23 and younger as of Sept. 1, 2016. Detractors might call the World Cup a shameless money grab by the NHL. The league and NHL Players’ Association will split the revenue, expected…
GOALIES NOW ALL ABOUT THAT BASE
. 915 The league-wide save percentage in 2014-15. It was the highest mark since the NHL began recording the statistic in 1982-83 WE’RE LIVING IN THE GREATEST goaltending era the sport has ever seen. The modern-day legends – Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy – still stand in a league of their own, but, across the board, today’s keeper is bigger, stronger, faster and more fundamentally sound than his forebearer. In an age with stick technology that allows snipers to shoot harder and more accurately, how have goaltenders gotten to the point where they’re increasingly unbeatable? If you ask former NHL netminder Steve Valiquette, now a broadcaster with the MSG Network who runs his own goaltending school, it’s all in the training. Like no time before, goaltenders are brought up learning the fundamentals…
DURABILITY
TUUKKA RASK Looking back, Tuukka Rask understands why everyone made such a fuss a few years ago. Long, lanky and, most important, young, Rask hadn’t been able to hang onto the No. 1 job he took from Tim Thomas as a 22-year-old rookie in 2009-10. Instead, he spent the next two years in a backup role. “When it’s your first time doing something, when you don’t have that experience, you handle things differently,” Rask said. “You let yourself get high and low, you can’t stay even. That’s probably what happened.” “I GUESS PEOPLE WERE QUESTIONING IF I COULD PLAY 60, 70 GAMES – Tuukka Rask It hasn’t happened since. For the past two seasons, Rask has made a minimum of 70 appearances (playoffs included), reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2013, which started…
SILVER BULLET
FILIP GUSTAVSSON HAS set a pretty high bar for himself this season. The elite 2016 goaltending prospect was Sweden’s netminder at the summer Ivan Hlinka tournament, which takes place every August in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Canada lords over the affair (the U.S. does not send the NTDP kids), but the Swedes finished second in large part due to Gustavsson. “He was outstanding,” said one NHL scout. “I’d say he carried the team to the silver medal.” The Lulea goalie, who has played most of the season with the SHL squad’s under-20 team, is big and fast, which allows him to cover a lot of net. Some of his best work at the tournament came against archrival Finland in the semifinal, where he stopped 38 shots in a 2-1 win, including…
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