December 28th

SAKIC OUT FOR THREE MONTHS

Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic will undergo hernia surgery Friday that will keep him out of action for up to three months.

Sakic has been out since Nov. 30, missing 12 games. His recovery will keep the 38-year-old captain out of action for eight to 12 weeks. Before sitting out against San Jose on Nov. 30, Sakic, who has seven goals and 15 assists in 24 games this season, had played in 232 consecutive games dating to Jan. 6, 2004.

Sakic, in his 19th NHL season, ranks eighth on the NHL's career points list with 1,611. He is 11th in assists (994) and 14th in goals (617).


WORLD HOCKEY JUNIORS ROUNDUP

Kyle Turris, the University of Wisconsin forward, scored two goals for Canada and Steve Mason got the shutout as the Canadians beat the Slovakians at the World Junior Hockey Championships Thursday in Pardubice, Czech Republic.

Julius Hudacek made 32 saves in net for the Slovaks. Hudacek was coming off a 46 stop performance the day before versus Sweden.

The win was the 20th win in a row for Canada, a string that goes back to the championship game loss in 2004. And it leaves the Canadians 2-0 in Pool A after an opening-day 3-0 victory over the host Czechs.


Russia (2-0) stayed unbeaten after a close 5-4 game with Kazakhstan. Alexei Cherepanov, selected in the first round by the New York Rangers in the NHL entry draft in June, scored in his tournament debut after missing the team's first game due to illness.

Viktor Tikhonov, grandson of the legendary Russian national coach of the same name, scored for the second consecutive game. Also, for the second straight game, the Russians trailed after the first period, down 2-0 to Kazakhstan before scoring two quick goals early in the second.


Florida Panthers prospect Michael Frolik scored a natural hat trick in the first period as the host Czechs rebounded from their opening loss to Canada with a 5-2 win over Denmark.


Finland earned its first win of the tournament, 4-3 over Switzerland. Jarkko Malinen's goal was the difference, while Riku Helenius, Tampa Bay Lightning property, made 25 saves for the winners.


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