National Hockey League

Back come the Canucks. Three of them. That was Bob Cole's famous and generic call from the 1994 Stanley Cup final as the Vancouver Canucks played the eventual champion New York Rangers.  

"He showed great composure on the game-winning goal," said Head Coach, Todd Richards. "A lot of guys get in that situation and rush it a little bit. Great composure." Umm, could that be because he has scored 412 NHL goals?  

With many spectators eager to witness the first Twin Cities visit of the New York Islanders' star taken first overall in last June's NHL draft, the old man taken No. 1 the same year John Tavares was born turned out to be the hero. Owen Nolan, the grizzly 37-year-old vet with the scariest scowl and meanest goatee in hockey, scored the game-winning goal with 67 seconds remaining Friday night to lift the severely short-handed Wild to a 3-2 victory. With the Wild winless in four games, demolished ...

I had an idea (Belanger) knew I was in front. I was just waiting for it   -Owen Nolan

 

One of the things University of Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves says he loves about his club is its quality depth, which allows him to roll four lines continuously and wear opponents down. Instead of shortening his bench down the stretch of games like many other coaches, Eaves has been utilizing fresh bodies. That helps explain why UW outscored opponents 15-8 in the third period over the first 10 games.  

C hicago Blackhawks' centre Jonathan Toews gets a chance to face the Vancouver Canucks' Willie Mitchell tomorrow night for the first time since that Oct. 21 date between the two teams, when Mitchell's shoulder-to-chin hit concussed Toews and knocked him out of the lineup for six games. In an interview, Toews said revenge is not on his mind. "Most guys, if they could, would go back and fight the guy. I'm not looking for any retribution like that. Obviously, I want to play a great game and show them ...

Most guys, if they could, would go back and fight the guy. I'm not looking for any retribution like that. Obviously, I want to play a great game and show them something like that isn't going to change the way I play. I felt great in the last four games. I haven't thought about going to the corners tentatively for one second. I'm just going to go right in there and mix it up and play my game.   -Jonathan Toews

 

T he James Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson line that powers the Dallas Stars doesn't have a name, but it does have a definite style, on and off the ice. It's simply known as Richards's line, which is apt since he sets the style as the centre and setup man on the ice, with 16 assists in 19 games, and as the mentor off the ice to his two younger wingers. Richards, 29, who is seven years older than his left winger Neal and five years older than Eriksson, takes the role of mentor seriously enough to have Neal living with him.  

Given a night to reflect on the acrobatic stops he made in Thursday's 3-2 overtime victory over Phoenix, Blues goaltender Chris Mason remained unimpressed. "When I make those kinds of saves, it almost feels lucky," Mason said Friday. Luck, however, runs out — and so far, Mason hasn't.

To his credit, he's stuck with it and it looks like it's working   -Rick Wamsley

 

His father Lukasz , a Polish immigrant, almost immediately began to call the boy "Stashu." Later, after the young Musial had grown up to become one of the greatest baseball hitters who ever lived, he'd be known by another nickname in every ballpark in America: "The Man." When he retired in 1963, Musial owned 17 major-league records, 29 National League records, nine All-Star Game records. If you grew up in St. Louis, by now you know the math, which is so familiar that it must have been taught ...

When I talked to Isaac about the change, he was positive   -Mike Singletary

 

O pened in 1971, South Windsor Arena/Hockey 1 has grown from a winter-only skating facility with a tiny skate-sharpening room to a year-round rink with a 30,000-square-foot store, a restaurant and a warehouse. | Owners Leonard and Steve Grigorian, 53 and 52, respectively, move "several million dollars" worth of hockey equipment annually through walk-in and online business, as well as by serving as a distributor for about 500 independently owned hockey shops.| For seven years, the rink was the practice ...