Japan Withdraws From 2011 IIHF World Championships

The recent developments in Japan left its people coping with the shock and doubling their efforts to recover in order to get things back to normal. As a part of these efforts, the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation announced that it has withdrawn from three much-anticipated world ice hockey events in 2011.

These events are the IIHF World Championship Division which is to be hosted in Budapest, Hungary, the IIHF World U18 Championship Division in Riga, Latvia, and the IIHF World Women’s Championship Division in Ravensburg, Germany.

This decision to withdraw from all three world ice hockey competitions was made by the JIHF in the form of a letter to the IIHF stating that the choice not to participate was on moral grounds and as a mark of respect at a time of national grief.

While the IIHF had earlier sent its condolences to the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation, their response to the said letter suggested that they had accepted JIHF’s decision to not participate in the upcoming competitions without any reservations.

The reason for this was due to the fact that several family and friends of the members of the ice hockey community in Japan were victims of the tragedy that happened not so long ago; therefore, perhaps, it was fitting to withdraw from their participation as a sign of respect at the dead and to comfort their bereaving loved ones.

What this means for the IIHF is that they will have to revise the schedules, with the omission of Japan, in order to prevent any confusion about the play dates, so that they can accommodate the other teams that will participate in the competition.

Dallas Stars: The Most ‘Patient’ Team in the NHL?

They say that patience is a virtue, but does it count in the NHL and in a sport where speed and power count for a lot?

In the case of the Dallas Stars, the perception of them being the most patient team in the NHL League has changed, much to surprise of fans and experts alike. And this is because they have recently called up Tomas Vincour, the 20-year forward who has been struggling in the minor league for some time now.

The reason for this surprise is because the Dallas Stars have been known to be the most patient team in the NHL when it comes to players who they consider to be prospects. Since the average time it takes for a player to make their debut in the NHL is about 3.3 years after being drafted, Tomas Vincour has made it in record time, it seems, as he is due to make his debut in roughly about 1.5 years.

Interestingly, the league average for prospects to make their debut is about 2.6 years, and which only gets one think as to whether the second-year manager Joe Nieuwendyk is playing by completely rules.

And since the connection between how patient a team is in developing these prospects and how often they make the playoffs is pretty good, there’s no doubt that patience is indeed a virtue in this case. Yet in regards to Tomas Vincour, statistics reveal that most Stars draftees are able to contribute early.

Ice Hockey’s Winter Classic

Once confined to dark and dingy arenas or frozen ponds, ice hockey and more specifically the National Hockey League (NHL) has discovered a new mainstream venue to display its brand of physically action and graceful and play. Beginning last season with a classic match-up of two of the original six teams – the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Redwings — the leagued launch the Winter Classic, a regular season game played outdoors in one of North America’s legendary sports venues. Keeping in the spirit of “home ice,” last year’s game took place at Wrigley Field, with both teams marching out across the covered infield to take the ice. 

This season’s match-up featured another clash of two arch rivals as the Washington Capitals traveled to Pittsburgh’s Heinz field to battle the Penguins. Beyond the thrill of players and fans who enjoyed this rare moment of outdoor hockey, the addition of an HBO Sports documentary, chronicling both teams’ road to the Winter Classic, created a unusually excitement around the regular season match-up. While neither teams’ playoff destiny would be determined by the game and no one would leave the ice hoisting hockey’s legendary Stanley Cup, every one at the stadium or watching the telecast that day in January felt an incredible sense of exhilaration. 

In just two seasons, the NHL’s mid-season event, has gone for another game of professional hockey, to a highly anticipated sporting event. This large national stage has in turned helped the sport once again reach out to new fans.

Bauer Hockey invests on new facility

One of the largest ice hockey manufacturing companies, Bauer Hockey, Inc. recently doubled the size of their office by starting construction of their brand new global home base. The company’s global HQ will thus be relocating from its current office in Greenland, N.H. to Exeter which is nearby. Bauer’s new office building will be located at 100 Dornan Drive, and is twice the size of the company’s current office. With the increased office space, the company expects to expand its product volume to meet increasing demand for its high quality ice hockey equipment.

Also relocating operations are Bauer’s global support teams, administrative staff, and its executive management group, along with global departments. The new building will also be housing the company’s sales and marketing departments all under one roof. The company, meanwhile, is retaining its existing office in Mississauga, Ontario where its Canadian sales and marketing teams are based. Bauer will also be maintaining its highly reputable Research, Design and Development Center in St. Jerome, Quebec, as well as its remote European offices in Germany and Sweden.

Bauer Hockey Chief Executive Officer and President Kevin Davis says that it is an exciting time for the company. Their new building shall stand for the high quality standards that their products are recognized for. Davis adds that their new facility shall feature technological upgrades apart from the increased working space that should enable their business to expand comfortably. Of the 262,000 square feet of new office space, around 56,835 had been leased.

Ducks Wins in the 10th Round of the NHL

EDMONTON, Alberta – Ducks rival Nikolai Khabibulin makes waves as he stops Anaheim over and over again in every shootout, as their team mate Cam Fowler watches them closely. But once he got the unexpected opportunity to score, he did it with all hopes of winning the game.

Cam Fowler scored with the said opportunity and led his team to win (3-2) versus Khabibulin’s Edmonton Oilers in period three of their game in round 10 of the NHL. The game was won by Fowler shooting a simple field goal instead of his usual fancy moves.

The just-turned 19 rookie defenseman made history in his 24^th game in the league. During the interview held after the game, Fowler stated “I wanted to shoot”. He also added: “I didn’t want to risk putting a move on because Khabibulin had already made some really nice saves on guys that have way better moves than me. I thought my best chance was to go in and pick a spot. Luckily it found the back of the net.”

Before the unexpected field goal of Fowler, the Ducks had all the possible opportunities to score and win the game. But throughout the shootout of every round, Khabibulin was there to stop them. In the first round of the game, Joffrey Lupul scored for the Ducks, which was eventually answered by Edmonton’s top draft pick of the year Taylor Hall.

Everything was even because of the 30 stops made by Kahbibulin, save for the field goal scored by Cam Fowler.