NHL fans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction of goaltender masks.  On November 1, 1959 the New York Rangers were hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the Madison Square Garden.
Rangers forward, Andy Bathgate, was pretty irritable with Habs netminder, Jacques Plante, who, he says, rubbed it in when the Rangers were beaten at home.  He also was a bit upset about an altercation with the goalie that almost left Bathgate in the hospital.

“The puck was dumped in and it wasn’t a hard shot,” Batgate recalled.  “I thought I could beat him to the puck but all this was happening …read more

I had the chance to meet Hockey Night in Canada commentator and former NHL goalie, Kelly Hrudey, and current Calgary Flames defenceman, Robyn Regher, at the grand opening of CrossIron Mills in Balzac, Alberta.  There were so many hockey fans, it was crazy.  I’m used to seeing jerseys since I live in a suburb of Calgary but it was nice to see fans of all teams congregating.
I have got to say that Hrudey has been one of the nicest sports personality’s I have ever met.  I had my three kids with me and my husband and he wasn’t rushed or …read more

There were a couple trades and deals that I expected to happen.  I expected to see the Calgary Flames sign a deal with Jay Bouwmeester (they did).  I wanted the Sedin twins to get a decent deal, preferably with the Vancouver Canucks (they did).  I was hoping a deal would put an end to the Dany Heatley drama (it didn’t).

There were, however, a good number of free agent signings yesterday.  Check out the list below (I sorted it alphabetically by team) and let me know what you think of these deals.  Montreal had the most acquisitions and while they look …read more

In our nation’s capital, Canada’s junior hockey team took home their fifth consecutive gold medal by beating Sweden 5-1 today at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships.  It was an interesting and intense game as Team Canada kept their “drive for five” alive!

These are juniors we are talking about so I try to be nice and fair but Sweden’s goaltender, Markstrom, is a real drama queen.  I think that the Canadians definitely had some questionable plays but his reactions to getting bumped, hit or even shot at were nothing short of ridiculous, at times. 

Moving on… P.K. Subban opened …read more

I was on the edge of my seat during the thrilling semifinal game between Canada and Russia at the 2009 World Junior Championship. 
It was really a game of cat and mouse with both teams edging each other out.  I thought it was all over when Russia took the lead in the final minutes of the game but with just 5 seconds left in the third period, Canada scored and forced the game into overtime. 
The OT was really intense with the Canadians putting a lot of pressure on the Russian goaltender and, in the end, neither team scored.
In …read more

Team Canada and Team Russia have advanced to the semifinals at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario.  This is the first truly exciting match-up for me at the tournament (I’m sure everyone is looking forward to it).

Last year Canada squared off against USA during the semifinals and Russia faced Sweden.  Ultimately, the Canadians beat the Swedes in the Gold medal match with a final score of 3-2.
Watch it live on TSN, TSN HD and TSN.ca at 7pm et/4pm pt.
image: TSN

Team USA was shocked yesterday to be eliminated in a 5-3 loss against Slovakia.  The Americans failed to even make the semifinals which is the first big surprise of this year’s tournament.

Slovakia will face Sweden in the semifinals today.
image: TSN

The 2009 NHL Winter Classic went off without a hitch today and the rink looked amazing!  The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley Field 6-4 today.

I had a lot of fun watching it but I had to keep reminding myself that this was an outdoor game because the rink and visual clarity (over last year’s snow-fest) was just perfect.  Watch the highlights:

Here’s the scoring summary:
DET: Samuelsson, M. (PPG, 09:50 in 1st), Hudler, J. (01:14 in 2nd), Hudler, J. (12:43 in 2nd), Datsyuk, P. (17:17 in 2nd), Rafalski, B. (PPG, 03:07 in 3rd), Lebda, B. (03:24 in …read more

I’ve been off-duty for the last couple days enjoying the turkey-fest at my home but here’s an update on what’s happened so far in the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa.
PRELIMINARIES
December 26

Latvia 1 – Russia 4 – Ottawa Civic Centre
Germany 2 – USA 8 – SBP Arena
Finland 1 – Sweden 3 – Ottawa Civic Centre
Canada 8 – Czech Republic 1 – SBP Arena

December 27

Slovakia 7 – Latvia 2 – Ottawa Civic Centre
Kazakhstan 2 – Germany 9 – SBP Arena

December 28

Russia 5 – Finland 2 – Ottawa Civic Centre
Kazakhstan 0 – Canada 15 – SBP Arena
Sweden 3 – Slovakia 1 …read more

 
An elf-free Santa Claus was spotted sitting on the steps of GM Place at a Vancouver Canucks game on December 16, 2008.  Too bad they lost 2-1 against the visiting Ottawa Senators.  I would have paid cash money to see Santa swearing over officiating or something… That would have made the news!
image: Newscom