Search for your favorite player or team
© The Hockey News. All rights reserved. Any and all material on this website cannot be used, reproduced, or distributed without prior written permission from Roustan Media Ltd. For more information, please see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
March 21, 2006
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.
Grind-heavy Blues killer a man down
POWER PLAY Just like the offense, the power play struggled until the return of Keith Tkachuk from injury shortly before the Olympic break. Once Tkachuk began to set up shop in front of the net, the Blues took advantage of the powerful point shots taken by Scott Young and Dennis Wideman. Though the power play still ranks in the bottom third of the NHL, it has made major strides since Tkachuk came back. PENALTY KILLING Considering the team’s struggles, the penalty killing hasn’t been that bad. One of the knocks on the team has been that it’s a collection of muckers and grinders, not scorers, but that has been perfect for penalty killing. Veterans Dallas Drake and Ryan Johnson know what they’re doing. Johnson was credited with nine blocked shots against Vancouver March 5,…
Meckler’s moment in time ends longest game ever
Until recently, David Meckler’s only claim to fame was that he was the youngest player in Yale’s freshmen class. But that all changed March 4, when the 6-foot-1, 195-pound right winger scored the winning goal in the longest contest in NCAA Div. I men’s hockey history. Meckler’s sixth goal of the year, at 1:35 of the fifth overtime, gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 victory over Union in the second game of their first round playoff series. And it put Yale, which finished 11th in the 12-team league in the regular season, in the quarterfinals for the first time in three years. The game began at 7 p.m. on Saturday night and ended six hours and 10 minutes later at 1:10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Actual playing time was 141:35, breaking…
Grim Reaper revival
“I am in a culture that I have always had a great passion for…I love the game. The offer was one he expected to get for quite some time, though the exact phrasing of it was the opposite of what Stu Grimson had grown accustomed to hearing: “You wanna stay?” For 12 years as an NHL enforcer of note, the ‘Grim Reaper’ was much more used to reacting to the hockey fighter’s anthem: “You wanna go?” In NHL stops with Calgary, Chicago, Anaheim, Detroit, Hartford, Carolina, Anaheim again, Los Angeles and Nashville, that was his cue to do what he did best – fight. In his new position with the NHL Players’ Association, Grimson will get into his share of scraps, sure, but they will be of the cerebral nature. Grimson is not cut from…
Trading Thornton cuts the power
POWER PLAY Here’s where Boston misses Joe Thornton most. The Bruins ranked ninth in the NHL (19.2 per cent) at the time of his Nov. 30 trade; they’d plummeted to 24th (15.6 per cent) at the season’s three-quarter pole. Injuries also factored greatly. Center Alexei Zhamnov, defenseman Brian Leetch, right winger Glen Murray and point man Jiri Slegr have all missed significant time. PENALTY KILLING Occasionally erratic, but a strength (usually top 10) most of the season – remarkable, considering the erratic goaltending of the first half. Boston gets good results from super-sized defenseman Hal Gill and rookies Milan Jurcina and Andrew Alberts. Selke Trophy candidate P-J Axelsson is one of the best in the business. The addition of blueliner Brad Stuart and center Wayne Primeau in the Thornton trade has also been…
Made possible with the support of
