Russian power forward Valeri Nichushkin was highly praised after helping the Colorado Avalanche run a 7-0 demolition job on the Tampa Bay Lightning and take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday. Nichushkin scored his seventh and eighth goals of the playoffs thus far in the rout, and …
Read More »Ice hockey official injured in bizarre incident (VIDEO)
Ice hockey fans are accustomed to the occasional injuries which are part and parcel of a such a full-contact sport – but the one which took place at Friday’s Game 3 playoff between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes was perhaps the most unusual seen in recent NHL history. After the …
Read More »Hockey league bans Russians from draft
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) revealed on Wednesday that players from both Russia and Belarus will be considered ineligible for selection in the upcoming import draft on July 1 due to the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, in what is the latest sporting penalty being levied against the two countries. …
Read More »Hockey commentator refuses to use name of Russia’s biggest star
A hockey commentator in Finland went two whole NHL games without saying the name of Washington Capitals star player Alexander Ovechkin at the weekend. Viasat pundit Tero Kainulainen set himself the challenge which he later referenced on Twitter. “I tried not to mention the name of the visitors’ captain,” he wrote, …
Read More »Canadian coaching icon leaves Russian hockey giants
Former Stanley Cup-winning coach Bob Hartley has announced at a Monday press conference that he is to step down as coach of KHL team Avangard Omsk, four years after first linking up with the team. The 61-year-old’s decision to leave comes shortly after his team were eliminated from the Gagarin Cup …
Read More »Ruling the ice with an iron fist: The story of Russia’s first hockey enforcer
Fighting isn’t welcome in the majority of sports, but ice hockey has always been different. Fist fights have come to occupy a special place as part of the action on the ice. And while in the modern era the sports authorities have cracked down, in the ’80s and ‘90s a …
Read More »Russian hockey heartbreak as Finns make Olympic history
The Russian men’s ice hockey team fell agonizingly short in its quest to retain its Olympic title, losing a tense final against Finland in Beijing on Sunday. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) stars had been hoping to make it back-to-back gold medals following their success in PyeongChang four years ago. …
Read More »National hockey teams ‘thrown off plane in mask row’
Russian players and staff were not allowed to take a flight because outraged Canadian passengers complained that they were not wearing masks, an official caught up in the alleged incident has said. Otakar Cerny, the team manager of the Czech side, who were also due to take the flight from Calgary …
Read More »World hockey championship canceled midway over Omicron
A global ice hockey governing body canceled the remainder of its world junior championship due to concerns over Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, after infections among players led to three forfeited games in just two days. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced the move on Wednesday, stating that the …
Read More »Russian ice hockey in mourning after death of 16-year-old star
The news of Rodionov’s tragic passing was confirmed by his club Dynamo Moscow on Saturday. “During the Moscow Open Championship match between Dynamo and CSKA on November 21, [Rodionov] returned to the bench after a change and lost consciousness,” a statement on the club’s official website read. “He was promptly provided …
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