Mark Johnson (pictured above, left), part of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” men’s Gold-Medal Olympic hockey team is going to share his experience this year as the coach of the 2010 women’s Olympic hockey team. Johnson, who played for Wisconsin during college and for 11 seasons in the NHL, is currently the head coach of the Wisconson women’s hockey team, a team he led to the NCAA title game for the last three seasons, winning twice. Johnson will be taking a year’s leave of absense from his regular coaching duties for this Olympic opportunity.
“I just get goose pimples. I just …read more

The Beijing Games are barely over, but ESPN is already looking to 2010 with their picks for athletes to watch in Vancouver. They mention that the host country always has an advantage (due to patriotism and strong support from the crowds) and that Canada always excels at the Winter Games. Look for a particularly strong showing from the Canadians at the Vancouver Games. The Canadian men’s hockey team, the “north of the border” equivalent to the US men’s basketball team, is sure to be in the mix for the Gold Medal. Others to watch include:
Apolo Anton Ohno – This …read more

It’s a bit of a long weekend for me probably because I’ve got too much time. Don’t believe me? Well, check out a few of the things that I’ve stumbled upon, feel free to just check out the ones that interests you:
Baptism of snow for the Olympic Games
Beijing 2008: Olympic ticket for three volleyball teams
How the U.S. can win Olympic gold in Vancouver
National sprint team still unsure of Beijing Olympic ticket
Barbara Kendall, an IOC member on course for Beijing 2008
Burke-Wilson would be perfect Olympic hockey ticket
VANCOUVER 2010: With Two Years To Go, VANOC Launches Volunteer Programme
Victory matters to Hoy …read more

LIBEREC, Czech Republic – The U.S. National Junior Team fired 49 shots on goal in helping it to a 3-2 win over Russia in its third preliminary-round game at the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship here tonight.
“Our guys played with deep belief in themselves,” said U.S. Head Coach John Hynes. “Our commitment to team play was evident and I thought as the game wore on, we showed good survival skills when we needed to. We definitely took another step forward.”
Team USA forced five straight Russia penalties to start the game and eventually capitalized on a five-on-three power …read more

To each his own, eh? :lol:
According to the SLAM! Sports article that I read, Teemu Selänne had claimed that winning the Stanley Cup is far better than winning a gold in the Olympics. Quite interesting.
To give him credit, he did say that “The Olympics is only one game for the gold. The Stanley Cup is 30 teams in the league and how much you play and how much you travel. You can go a long time without ever having a chance. And you can no longer just go out and find a team to win a Cup.”
He did raise a …read more

I stumbled upon a post in one of them Hockey forums and I read up on who Scott Niedermayer is. Niedermayer happens to be a grand slam winner of the Stanley Cup, World Cup, Olympics, and World Championships. He’s known for “his outstanding skating stride, and knack for leading or joining the offensive rush” (Wikipedia). Niedermayer currently is a player for NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.
But this hockey player is not the focus of this post but Teemu Selänne aka “The Finnish Flash”. He also is a player for the Anaheim Ducks. But according to the post, he has a grand slam …read more

CHAMONIX 1924
January 25, 1924
It was held in France, 83 years ago!
But, of course, they didn’t know what it was while it was going on. The IOC just named it as such afterwards. Originally, the competition was called International Sports Week 1924.
Trivia: First event to be decided on was the men’s 500m speed skating where Charles Jewtraw (US) won the first gold.
There were 258 athletes (11 women, 247 men) of 16 nations competed in 16 events of 6 sports (Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Skating and Skiing).
Source: www.olympic.org

In Ice Hockey, I heard that Sweden is the country to watch out for in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
They are the first country to win both the Olympic gold and the World title in the same year. They beat Finland in the last Winter Olympics in Torino and beat the defending champion, Czech Republic in the Hockey World Championships.
Quite impressive, eh? Well, wait till you hear that no team has ever managed to win the double in international hockey. There have only been six instances that the Olympics and World Championships were played on separate tournaments in …read more

Alexander Ovechkin is Russian. Sidney Crosby is Canadian. What do they have in common? Hockey and NHL for starters.
The former plays for Washington Capitals and the latter for Pittsburgh Penguins. Both are contenders for the NHL rookie of the year.
If you’re big on this scene, you would’ve heard of the Ovechkin-Crosby debate, which is over an intrigue as to whose fresh face to put to the league’s new, carefully crafted image.
Does that face, though, belong to Crosby, the polished, media-savvy, all-Canadian boy, or Ovechkin, the edgy Russian with the smoky visor and a Darth Vader-like nasty streak?

It’s the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and the Olympian I’m referring to is Vladislav Tretiak.
And it was a unanimous decision, mind you.
Aside from the fact that he was the only candidate, he does have with him fantastic credentials. Heh. ;)
He’s the former Soviet goaltender. He won ten world titles and three Olympic titles for the all-conquering Soviet hockey team in the 1970s and 1980s and was also featured in the 1972 series against the NHL All-Stars. He also happens to be a member of the parliament. Ha. Oh, yea — he is the first Russian to be inducted into the …read more