Month: April 2009

The Carolina Hurricanes rolled over the New Jersey Devils 4-0 last night, forcing a do-or-die Game 7 in Newark tomorrow night. Carolina Head Coach Paul Maurice made several changes to the lineup from Game 5, including replacing Frantisek Kaberle with Anton Babchuk on the third defense pairing with Niclas Wallin. This move paid immediate dividends

Alexander Radulov scored two goals today as Russia cruised past France 7-2. Radulov got Russia on the board only 1:23 into the first period and logged 20:27 of ice time for the day while skating on the third line with former Ottawa Senator Oleg Saprykin and Konstantin Gorovikov. Russia will face Switzerland on Tuesday, having

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Anton Babchuk will be back in the lineup tonight as the ‘Canes try to even up the series at 3 against the New Jersey Devils.  Babchuk, who led Carolina defensemen in goals (16), had been a healthy scratch for Game 5, when Carolina was consequently shutout by New Jersey.  Babchuk had 9

Well, Monday night, after looking all but done, the Flames got themselves back into their series against the Blackhawks with a 4-2 victory at the Saddledome. Calgary forward Eric Nystrom said this about Nikolai Khabibulin, “He’s a world-class goalie. He’s a great goalie. The way you beat him is just to put pucks there. It’s

The Atlanta Thrashers season ended on April 11, but will continue for Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Anssi Salmela, who was just added to the Finnish roster for the IIHF World Championships.  The World Championships will take place in Switzerland, beginning April 24.  Salmela will be a restricted free agent this summer.  Other Thrashers playing in the

Nikolai Khabibulin was spectacular once again on Saturday night against Calgary in Game 2 of the series between the Blackhawks and the Flames. Khabibulin has a .922 save percentage to go along with a 2.26 GAA in 59 career playoff games; you can say that the ‘Bulin Wall rises to the occasion. Much has been

Tonight marks the beginning of the first round of the NHL Playoffs with 4 games on tap, but meanwhile the Calgary Flames will have one more day to figure out a way to stop the “Bulin Wall”-Chicago goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. There is no denying Khabibulin’s playoff experience (remember the Tampa Bay Lightning’s improbable 2004 Stanley

Ak Bars Kazan forward Alexei Morozov scored just over halfway through the 3rd period of Game 7 of the KHL Finals against Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.  After Wednesday’s loss to Yaroslavl, Kazan was trailing the series 3-2.  However, a win on Friday evened the series at 3, setting up an intensity-filled final game on Ak Bars’ home

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Anton Babchuk has been stellar recently. On Tuesday night, Babchuk had a career-high four assists in a 9-0 win over the New York Islanders, which was the worst loss in Islanders’ franchise history. Babchuk, who will be a restricted free agent after this season, now has 32 points (14 G, 18 A)