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July 1, 2020
In the July edition of The Hockey News, we have features on Tuukka Rask, Elvis Merzlikins, projected rosters for the 2022 Olympics, and what the NHL will look like in 2020-21. Plus: some of the games biggest names tell us the best advice they ever received, who are the NHL's best bang-for-buck players, and much more.
Imagining Beijing 2022: Olympic Athletes From Russia
THIS IS A MAJOR contender, stacked at forward and the most loaded in net. If the Olympic Athletes from Russia – still banned from participating officially as Russia – can get out of their own way, they should have a real shot at defending the gold medal they won at the NHL-less 2018 Olympics. Special thanks to regular THN contributor Slava Malamud, who acted as a consultant. Reminder: center Evgeny Kuznetsov’s four-year IIHF ban for testing positive for cocaine in 2019 bars him from competing in 2022. FORWARD LINE 1 > A. Panarin (30), E. Malkin (35), N. Kucherov (28) Just a deadly line – because you can’t key on any of them to be the shooter or the puck-carrier or the passer. All three are wizards with the puck, and all three…
ELVIS LIVES TO ‘ROCK AND ROLL’
WHEN ELVIS Merzlikins came to North America last summer, the affable Latvian netminder brought with him a rock-star aura from his time dominating the Swiss League. But was he ready for the NHL, the best league in the world? In the end, the answer was a resounding ‘yes,’ as the rookie helped Columbus stay afloat in the East, despite losing a ton of talent in the off-season. But after signing a two-year, $8-million contract extension in late April, Merzlikins revealed that his journey to the NHL was pretty daunting, despite his confident reputation. “I had huge confidence on European ice, not North American ice,” he said. “I saw a cloud, or a fog, because I didn’t know what to expect.” It didn’t help that Merzlikins couldn’t buy a win early on. He…
Imagining Beijing 2022: Canada
GIVEN THAT DOUG Armstrong was GM of the champion World Cup squad in 2016 and he’s since added a Stanley Cup to his resume in St. Louis, he’s my imaginary pick to construct the 2022 Canadian team. As always, Canada boasts unrivalled forward depth, with legit frontline stars all the way down to the fourth line and some not even making the team, but the blueline doesn’t look as formidable as those of previous best-on-best Canadian teams. FORWARD LINE 1 > J. Huberdeau (28), C. McDavid (25), N. MacKinnon (26) McDavid and MacKinnon are the two fastest players of their generation with the puck on their stick. They’d be a joy to watch. The cerebral, underrated Huberdeau complements any line he plays on. FORWARD LINE 2 > B. Marchand (33), S. Crosby (34), P. Bergeron (36) This…
BREAKING INTO THE BOYS’ CLUB
FLORENCE SCHELLING already had quite the resume. She’s one of the top goaltenders in women’s hockey history, having won the Olympic tournament MVP representing Switzerland in 2014. She was a Patty Kazmaier finalist when she played Div. I college hockey at Northeastern. In the last three seasons of her career, playing for Linkoping in the SDHL, her worst goals-against average and save percentage were 1.65 and .938. She’s the only woman to compete in the Swiss Men’s National B League, too. She retired in 2018 with a list of accolades that could earn her Hall of Fame juice someday. And yet, with all due respect to her accomplishments to this point, what she accomplished in early April may eventually define her hockey career more than anything else. SC Bern of the Swiss…
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