Across the pond, as Denmark’s national hockey team secured its first-ever berth to the Olympics, several reports emerged that the NHL is nearing an announcement that its players will participate in the 2022 Beijing Games.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported on Sunday that an NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, and International Olympic Committee are close to an agreement.
By Ian Oland 3 weeks ago
After being bought out by the New York Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist signed with the Capitals ahead of the 2020-21 season, hoping that his career would have a fairy-tale ending like Ray Bourque’s. Instead, a heart condition, that worsened over the offseason, ended Lundqvist’s season before it began.
The goaltender went to extreme measures to try and find a way to come back to the NHL. According to GP’s Johan Rylander and the Rangers’ blog Forever Blueshirts, who presented an English translation, Lundqvist chose to have his faulty aortic valve replaced by one made of cow tissue, instead of a mechanical valve, to avoid going on blood thinners. The decision gave Hank a better chance of returning to the Capitals, but he will have to have another heart surgery in the future.
Vladislav Tretiak, the president of the Russian Hockey Federation, confirmed that Evgeny Kuznetsov will not play in the 2022 Winter Olympics after some aspirational talk Kuzy’s four-year ban from the IIHF could be ended early.
Kuznetsov was suspended from international competition for testing positive for cocaine in the summer of 2019. His ban will keep him out of the Beijing Olympics and the upcoming World Championships.
Look, we’re all friends out here. Sure, the Rangers have been kinda mean to our favorite team and appear dead set on getting fighty with them again, but in the end, we all love hockey and are here to bring each other up. …Right?
That’s why, when the Rangers announced on Friday that they were retiring Henrik Lundqvist’s number 30 next season, I took to the RMNB Twitter to make a suggestion to our rivals to the north.
For hockey fans that like violence with a side of hockey, the Capitals and Rangers’ season opener promises to have fireworks for a third straight game.
Shortly after a Tom Wilson-inspired line brawl saw the Capitals enforcer punch Pavel Buchnevich from behind and manhandle Artemi Panarin, the Rangers cleaned house and remade their team with toughness in mind, acquiring three players not afraid to mix it up. New Rangers GM Chris Drury traded for and signed Barclay Goodrow to a huge longterm deal, inked Jarred Tinordi to a two-year contract, and traded for heavyweight enforcer Ryan Reaves – the self-proclaimed solution to your Tom Wilson problem.
While Reaves hasn’t commented on the Wilson-Rangers beef since being acquired by NYR, he did address it in May while still a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. During an interview on John Scott’s podcast, Reaves shared his opinion on the kerfuffle, how the NHL handled the situation, and what he would have done if he were on the Rangers.
By Ian Oland 4 weeks ago
Alex Ovechkin signed a five-year, $47.5 million extension with the Washington Capitals in July, but hedged in a recent interview that he may have some hockey left after his age-40 season in the NHL.
While speaking to Sergei Fadeichev of TASS, Ovechkin left the door open that he would still finish his career with Dynamo Moscow, the team that gave him his start in professional hockey.
By Ian Oland 4 weeks ago
Nic Dowd took his one-year-old son Louie to the rink on Friday and it appears to have been both a joyous and productive practice.
Nic taught Louie how to skate, using the help of a steel trainer, and also propped him in the crease to shoot home some rebounds.
Dad even taught son how to properly celebrate.
Shortly after Henrik Lundqvist retired from hockey this morning, the New York Rangers made an announcement of their own.
The team will retire Lundqvist’s number 30 at Madison Square Garden next season. What was already a foregone conclusion took the Rangers’ less than two hours to decide and announce.
Henrik Lundqvist, 39, announced his retirement from hockey on Friday after 15 seasons in the NHL — all with the New York Rangers.
The King held a press conference at Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden, to say goodbye to the sport he so dearly loved. The speech began a few minutes after 3 PM (Swedish time) or 9 AM Eastern Time.
The venue was personally significant. Scandinavium Arena is where Lundqvist watched his first professional hockey game as a kid. The barn is also home to Frölunda HC – the team he dreamed to play for and would later star with as a young adult before moving on to New York Rangers and the NHL in 2005.
By Ian Oland 1 month ago
Henrik Lundqvist is calling it a career after a heart condition caused him to miss the entire 2020-21 season.
Lundqvist announced his retirement during a press conference at Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. The barn is where Lundqvist watched his first professional hockey game as a five-year-old and is the home to Frölunda HC – the team Lundqvist would star with as a teenager before moving on to the NHL during the 2005-06 season.
The King ends his career never having played a game for the Washington Capitals. He leaves the game with 459 wins, the sixth-most victories in NHL history and the most among goalies who played every game of their career with one team (New York Rangers).
By Ian Oland 1 month ago
