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A very light mood surrounded the Russian men's hockey team before their opening game with Latvia. Smiles, jokes, and grins all around from the moment they got together, Head Coach Slava Bykov held a 45-minute practice session during the morning that accomplished very little. The giddy mood could not be removed. After watching the U.S. and Canadian teams put up victories earlier in the day, the ice surface would not be ideal ...

The board is set, the pieces are moving, and the day has finally come when Team Russia hits the ice in Vancouver in search of their first Olympic Gold medal since the Unified Team in 1992. General Manager Vladislav Tretiak has assembled what he believes to be the best squad since the fall of the Soviet Union, but can it actually live up to those lofty expectations? Well, here to answer that ...

When you think of an impact player, you think of someone who can change the outcome of a game, playing his best hockey when the stakes are at their absolute highest. Luckily for the hockey fans who have the priviledge of witnessing the Vancouver games, there are quite a number of impact NHL players who will wear their national colors for the next several weeks. But if by impact player, you ...

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins demolished the New York Rangers 8-3 at the Mellon Arena. It was the largest goal total the Penguins had put on the board since a 9-2 obliteration of the other New York-based team that dated back to nearly a year ago. Although, through the first two periods, the game was very tight. The Rangers had even made it a 4-3 hockey game early in the third ...

Take it to headquarters - "Air Raid, Mellon Arena." This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. We need your undivided attention. For the first six weeks of the season, the names Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have gone missing at the top of the NHL's point leaders, for various reasons. Crosby's wingers have been disappointing to say the least, with Chris Kunitz on the Injured Reserve and ...

As Thursday and Thanksgiving approaches, it's a time to give thanks for the things we have in life—in the work place, at school, at home, and in the world of sports. Being a Penguin fan since I first set foot in the 'Burgh in 1999, I've seen good times, dreadful times, and then back to the top once more. From the moment Sidney Crosby was drafted in 2005, Penguin fans have had a lot of reasons ...

"...Gonchar lugs the puck out of the Penguins' end, tries to run the gauntlet through center ice. He dumps the puck in around the wall for Sidney Crosby, Crosby to Malkin. Malkin works his way up the half wall, back to Gonchar. Sergei Gonchar steps in, fires wide. "Crosby gathers the rebound behind the cage, under pressure and he's hit hard from behind, but makes the play to Billy Guerin. Guerin, ...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins started the season tying the best October record by a defending Stanley Cup champion, they exceeded everyone's expectations. Nobody thought the team would shoot out of the gate looking like a juggernaut that just cleaned the deck with opposing teams. But they did. And they were winning without playoff hero Max Talbot . It was all too good to be true in the Steel City. Penguin players were ...

After a short break for the annual Karjala Cup in Finland, the KHL has resumed play. After 20 games of a season, a better picture of who the top teams will be comes into clearer focus. So let's check out the rankings. (All records are as of 11/12/2009) á The Elite Salavat Yulaev Ufa (16-3-3, first-Chernyshev) Last Five: 5-0-0 Salavat Yulaev is absolutelyáon fire under Russian national coach Vyacheslav Bykov and have been scoring goals at ...

Two weeks ago, the Penguins were sitting at the top of the NHL and looked next to unbeatable, with four lines performing at a very high level. The 5-1 hammering of St. Louis was one of the most dominant three periods of hockey you'll see, outshooting the Blues 20-3 in the first and 43-23 in the game. That now seems like a very long time ago. The following afternoon, Head Coach Dan ...