Hockey
information for minor hockey players,
coaches, parents, referees and fans.
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For the first time since the IIHF World Ranking
was introduced after in 2003, there is a new
name at the top of the standings. By winning
the Gold Medal game, and collecting the maximum
of 1200 points, Sweden has overtaken Canada as
the number-one men's hockey nation. The IIHF
World Ranking take into account the countries'
performance in the IIHF World Championship and
the Olympics over a continuous four-year cycle
The current year (in this case, the Olympics)
counts for 100% of total points available, the
previous year 75%, two years ago 50%, and three
years ago 25%.
The final IIHF
World Ranking for the year will be established
following the 2006 IIHF World Championship
in Riga, Latvia (May 5 – 21).
Here are the top fifteen nations on the men's
side after the Olympics:
1. Sweden 4030
2. Canada 3940
3. Czech R. 3930
4. Slovakia 3805
5. Finland 3765
6. Russia 3725
7. USA 3575
8. Switzerland 3525
9. Latvia 3335
10. Germany 3270
11. Kazakhstan 3100
12. Austria 3045
13. Belarus 3035
14.
Ukraine 3015
15.
Denmark 2990
The complete IIHF World Ranking will be released
shortly.
Directorate
Awards, men’s Olympic
Tournament
Best Goalie: Antero Niittymaki (FIN)
Best Defenceman: Kenny Jonsson (SWE)
Best Forward: Teemu Selanne (FIN)
Olympic Tournament MVP: Antero
Niittymaki (FIN)
Media All-Star Team
Goal: Antero Niittymaki (FIN)
Defence: Nicklas Lidstrom (SWE), Kimmo Timonen
(FIN)
Forward: Teemu Selanne (FIN), Saku Koivu (FIN),
Alexander Ovechkin (RUS)
Triple Gold Club
Sweden’s Nicklas Lidstrom and Fredrik
Modin became the 17th and 18th players to join
the Triple Gold Club, hockey’s exclusive
company for players who have won the Olympic
ice hockey gold, the IIHF World Championship
and the Stanley Cup.
Nicklas Lidstrom (Olympic
gold 2006; IIHF World Championship 1991; Stanley
Cup 1997, 1998, 2002, with Detroit.)
Fredrik Modin (Olympic gold
2006, IIHF World Championship 1998, Stanley Cup
2004 with Tampa Bay.)
For the women, Canada remained as the number
one ranked team following the Olympic gold medal
in Turin.
This ranking is final for 2006 as there is no
IIHF World Women Championship in an Olympic year.
1 Canada 2970
2 USA 2890
3 Sweden 2830
4 Finland 2760
5 Germany 2635
6 Russia 2585
7 China 2485
8 Switzerland 2480
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TURIN, ITALY – Canada’s Women’s
Olympic Hockey Team has successfully defended
Olympic gold, defeating Sweden in the Olympic
Gold Medal game 4-1 on Monday, in Turin, Italy.
With the gold medal,
Canada also moved into 1st place in IIHF World
Rankings. Canada and the U.S. were tied going
into the 2006 Olympics Winter Games.
Canada dominated
the first period, outshooting Sweden 11-2,
and scoring twice. Gillian
Apps (Unionville, ON/Dartmouth College, ECAC)
and Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, QC/Minnesota-Duluth,
WCHA) beat Sweden’s netminder Kim Martin. Cherie
Piper (Scarborough, ON/Dartmouth College, ECAC)
and Jayna Hefford (Kingston, ON/Brampton Thunder,
NWHL) doubled the lead in the second as Canada
held a 22-5 shot advantage after forty minutes
of play.
Sweden replied
with a powerplay goal in the third period,
as Gunilla Anderson’s shot
from the point eluded Charline Labonté. But
the final result was never in doubt, as Canada
skated to a 4-1 win, and a second consecutive
Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey.
The bronze medal went to the USA, who defeated
Finland 4-0 earlier in the day in the bronze
medal game.
All the players
and most members of the staff with Canada’s Women’s Olympic Hockey
Team will be remaining in Turin, through the
closing ceremonies. Most of the players
and staff will be returning to Canada on February
27th, and further details will be released later
this week.
Women’s hockey has been an Olympic event
since the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Canada
captured silver at the inaugural women’s
hockey event in Nagano, Japan in 1998, and gold
at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
For more information
on Canada’s Olympic
Women’s Team, visit Hockey Canada’s
official website at www.hockeycanada.ca.
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TURIN, ITALY – Canada’s Women’s
Olympic Hockey Team has advanced to the semi-finals
at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, after finishing
in 1st place in Group A, following an 8-1 win
over Sweden at the Palasport Arena on Tuesday.
Gillian Apps (Unionville,
ON) scored a hat trick, and Danielle Goyette
(St-Nazaire, QC) added two power play goals,
as Canada handed Team Sweden an 8-1 defeat. Sweden
will advance to the semi-finals, as the 2nd
place finisher in Group A, and will face the
winner of Group B.
Canada, on the
strength of a 3-0 record will now face the
team that finishes second in Group B, which
will be the loser of the Finland/USA game which
will take place late on February 14th. Canada’s
semi-final game will take place on February 17th,
at the Palasport Arena, at 17:00 (local)/11:00
(ET) or 21:00 (local)/15:00 (ET).
The top two teams
in Groups A and B advance to the semi-finals.
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Mats
Naslund, one of Sweden’s most accomplished players,
is the new manager of the Swedish men’s national
team. This was announced by the Swedish Ice
Hockey Association on Monday. Naslund will
join the national team Tre Kronor and head-coach
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson for the Ceska Pojistovna
Cup in Czech Republic in September, the first
of four annual tournaments that are part of
the European Hockey Tour.
According to the Swedish
Ice Hockey Association the agreement is only
for this tournament, but both parties have
expressed the ambition to make this a permanent
assignment if the initial test period proves
be successful.
Naslund’s first major
undertaking would be, along with Gustafsson,
to select Sweden’s national team for the 2006
Olympic Winter Games in Turin, February 10-26.
“I
hope this test will work out fine so we can
work together for a long time”, said national
team head coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, who assumed
the head coach position just prior to the 2005
IIHF World Championship in Austria. “It is thirteen
years ago that we last were on the same team.
It was as players on the 1992 Olympic team in
Albertville.”
“Me and Bengt-Ake go
along well”, said Naslund in the media release. “Now
I will have an opportunity to see if this works
out, before I commit myself for a longer period.”
Mats
Naslund, 46, was inducted to the IIHF Hall
of Fame in May 2005, as one of only 16 players
to have won the Olympic gold medal (1994 in
Lillehammer), the IIHF World Championship (1991
in Finland) and the Stanley Cup (1986 with
the Montreal Canadiens). Also Gustafsson is
an IIHF Hall of Famer, being inducted in 2003.
Naslund, who represented
Sweden in 176 international games, also played
in the 1980 and 1992 Olympics, as well as in three
Canada Cups (1984, 1987, 1991) and in five IIHF
World Championships.
He was named to
one of the three forward spots on the Swedish
all-time All Star Team as selected by the Swedish
fans in 1987. Naslund, the last Montreal Canadien
to record a 100-point season (110 in 1985-86),
was the first European to win the NHL’s Lady Byng
Trophy (combining high standard of playing with
gentlemanly conduct) in 1988.
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Hockey Canada announced
on Monday that forward Todd Bertuzzi has been
added to Canada’s Olympic Orientation camp roster.
With the NHL’s reinstatement
of the Vancouver Canucks’ Bertuzzi on Monday,
the native of Sudbury, ON was invited to attend
Team Canada’s Men’s Olympic Orientation camp in
Vancouver and Kelowna, BC, August 15-19th.
Wayne Gretzky, Team Canada’s
Executive Director, along with the management
and coaching staff of Canada’s Men’s Olympic team,
made the announcement on Monday.
With the addition of Bertuzzi,
Canada’s Olympic Orientation Camp roster is 37
players: four goaltenders, 12 defensemen and 21
forwards.
Click here for TEAM
CANADA ROSTER
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KELOWNA – Team Canada
Executive Director Wayne Gretzky announced on
Friday that Dallas Stars assistant coach Andy
Moog has been named goaltending consultant for
Canada’s entry at the 2006 Winter Olympics in
Turin, Italy.
Moog will assist Canada’s
management and coaching staff with preparations
and scouting related to goaltending.
“We’re pleased to welcome
Andy Moog aboard as our goaltending coach for
the 2006 Olympics,” said Gretzky. “We’re very
familiar with his coaching abilities as he has
done extremely well in his role as goaltending
coach for the Dallas Stars. We expect that he’ll
bring the same level of success and professionalism
to Team Canada.”
Moog, 44, served as goaltending
consultant for Team Canada at the 2002 Olympic
Games and both the 2001 and 2002 World Junior
Championships and World Championships. The native
of Penticton, British Columbia, played for Team
Canada at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary
and posted a perfect record of 4-0 and a 2.25
goals-against-average.
In 2005-06, Moog will
enter his fourth year with the Dallas Stars as
the team's assistant coach and goaltending coach.
He works closely with Dallas’ management in the
areas of goaltender coaching and advising, pro
scouting and consulting in goaltender personnel
decisions.
Boasting 18 years of NHL
experience with Edmonton, Boston, Dallas and Montreal,
Moog retired following the 1997-98 season after
appearing in 713 career NHL games. Over his career,
Moog posted a 372-209-88 record with a 3.13 goals-against-average.
His 372 career wins places him 12th all-time in
wins by a goaltender.
A three-time Stanley Cup
winner with Edmonton (1984, 1985, 1987), Moog
appeared in 175 games with the Stars from 1993-1997,
collecting a 75-64-26 mark with a 2.74 goals-against-average.
Among Stars' goaltending franchise-leaders, Moog
currently ranks fifth in goals-against-average
(2.74), tied for fifth in shutouts (8), sixth
in games played (175) and sixth in wins (75).
Appearing in the Stanley
Cup Finals six times, Moog was a member of three
Presidents' Trophy clubs (1986, 1987, 1990) and
shared the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals
allowed in the NHL with Reggie Lemelin in Boston
in 1990.
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The Olympic ice hockey schedule for the 2006
Winter Games in Turin, Italy was presented to
the participating nations during the IIHF Semi-Annual
Congress in Belek, Turkey (September 30 – October
2).
Defending 2002 Olympic men’s gold medallist Canada
will face host Italy on opening day, February
15 at the 10,500-seat Palasport Olympico. The
opening day also features the match ups of Germany
– Czech Republic, and Russia – Slovakia. Both
Finland and the U.S will also play on the first
day of action against qualifying teams, which
will be determined later.
Click here for the complete men’s
and women’s schedules or go to www.IIHF.com.
“We feel very privileged to play the host nation
on the opening day of the Olympic tournament”,
said Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson on
hand in Turkey for the IIHF Congress. “This will
be a big game in Canada, especially considering
the vast Italian community in our country.”
The IIHF along with the IOC and the Turin 2006
organizers have constructed a compressed 12-team
men’s schedule, which will see teams play six
games in the opening eight days. The teams that
end up in the Gold Medal game will play eight
games in twelve days. The final is on February
26.
“We have done this in order to accommodate the
NHL if it decides to make a break in their schedule
just like in 1998 and 2002 and to make the entire
player pool available for the greatest sport event
there is”, said IIHF President René Fasel.
“But this schedule works perfectly for all scenarios.”
Bob Nicholson echoed the sentiments of René
Fasel:
“Our choice is obviously to have a best-on-best
tournament”, said Nicholson. “We won the gold
medal for the first time in 50 years in Salt Lake
City with our best players and we want to repeat
this feat with our best players.”
Art Berglund of, USA Hockey’s International Director
says that his national team program is prepared
for all scenarios.
“We have a plan for both situations”, said Berglund.
“Our player pool has widened so much that we feel
that we can put together a very competitive team
even if the NHL players won’t be made available.
But we know that the NHL players want to play
and it is our prime objective to select a team
from our top pool and to be able to name the best
we can have.”
Canada, also two-time defending IIHF World Champions
and the number one-ranked team in the IIHF World
Ranking, plays in Group A with the Czech Republic,
Finland, Germany and a qualifying team to be decided
later. The four top teams advance to the quarter-final.
Sweden, the top ranked team in Group B, takes
on Slovakia, USA, Russia and two qualifying teams
to be decided later. Click here for the Olympic
qualifying procedure.
Also in the women’s tournament, Canada starts
against host Italy. Canada beat USA for the gold
medal in Salt Lake City 2002. Three teams in the
eight-team Olympic women’s tournament are still
be to decided by qualifying tournaments in November
2004.
In women’s Group A, Canada faces Sweden, Italy
and one qualifying team. USA, the top seed in
Group B, plays Sweden and two qualifying teams.
Both schedules are subject to change. They will
be final once approved by all participating nations.
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The IIHF
Council decided during its meeting on March 23
in Zurich that both men’s and women’s groups for
the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy
(February 10 – 26) will be based upon the 2004
IIHF World Ranking.
Click
here for more information and the formula behind
the IIHF World Ranking system.
The men’s
2004 IIHF World Ranking will be determined immediately
following the conclusion of the 2004 IIHF World
Championship in Czech Republic (April 26 – May
9) while the women’s 2004 IIHF World Ranking will
be established immediately following the 2004
IIHF World Women Championship in Canada (March
30 – April 6).
Men’s
Olympic Preliminary Round Groups:
The following formula will be used in determining
the men’s Olympic Preliminary Round Groups (12
teams):
Teams ranked 1, 4, 5, 8 to the quarter finals
Teams ranked 9 & 12(Italy - host)
Team ranked 2, 3, 6, 7 to the quarter finals
Teams ranked 10 & 11
Current
standings of the 2003 IIHF World Ranking:
1. Canada
(3685 points),
2. Sweden (3610),
3. Czech Republic (3560),
4. Finland (3525),
5. Slovakia (3480),
6. Russia (3480),
7. USA (3330),
8. Germany (3240).
9. Switzerland (3135),
10. Latvia (3060),
11. Ukraine (3010),
12. Austria (2970).
The top eight
ranked teams in the 2004 IIHF World Ranking will
get an automatic entry to the 2006 Olympic Winter
Games. Host Italy (pre-determined ranking 12)
will get a direct entry to the Preliminary Round
while the remaining three teams will be determined
following the Olympic Qualification Tournaments
in February 2005.
Olympic Preliminary Round Groups:
The following formula will be used in determining
the women’s Olympic Preliminary Round Groups (8
teams):
Teams ranked
1, 4, to semi-final
Teams ranked 5 & 8
Teams ranked
2, 3, to semi-final
Teams ranked 6 & 7
Current
standings of the 2003 IIHF World Women’s Ranking:
1. Canada
(1800 points),
2. USA (1740),
3. Finland (1655),
4. Sweden (1625),
5. Russia (1620),
6. Germany (1565),
7. China (1545),
8. Kazakhstan (1490).
The top
four ranked teams in the 2004 IIHF World Women’s
Ranking will get an automatic entry to the 2006
Olympic Winter Games. Host Italy (pre-determined
ranking 8) will get a direct entry to the Preliminary
Round while the remaining three teams will be
determined following the Olympic Qualification
Tournaments in February 2005.
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