December 21st

JAMES, HEANEY, LEMIEUX PICKED FOR IIHF HALL OF FAME

Canadian women's hockey pioneer Angela James has broken the gender barrier in the IIHF Hall of Fame players category along with former teammate Geraldine Heaney and American Cammi Granato.
The three will be the first women inducted into the international hockey shrine, the Zurich-based International Ice Hockey Federation announced Thursday.

Mario Lemieux, Igor Larionov, Frenchman Philippe Bozon and builder Art Berglund, the Canadian-born manager of U.S. national teams for many years, also will be inducted.

Angela James played for Canada in the first four officially-sanctioned IIHF women's world championships, starting with the inaugural tournament in 1990 in Ottawa, when she scored 11 goals in five games, and in all scored 22 goals in 20 world championship games along with earning eight MVP awards in Canadian women's championship play.

Geraldine Heaney was born in Northern Ireland and began playing hockey at age 13 after her family moved to Toronto. She was the first woman in the world to win seven consecutive IIHF world championships, capping her playing career with a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics. She also won Winter Games silver in 1998, and played a record 125 games for Canada, and her 27 goals and 66 assists made her the all-time leader in scoring by a Canadian defenceman. She is 40 now and head coach of the women's team at the University of Waterloo.

Cammi Granato evolved into the most well-known female hockey player in the United States. The 36-year-old began playing hockey with her siblings, including big brother Tony, who went onto an NHL career. She played in every IIHF world women's championships and Olympics from the start in 1990 until 2005, which was the year she led the U.S. to its first world title and denied Canada a ninth in a row. As captain, she led the U.S. to gold in 1998 when women's hockey was an official Olympic sport for the first time. She was honoured with the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2007 for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

Mario Lemieux was captain of Canada's victorious 2002 Olympic an 2004 World Cup of Hockey teams. He first represented Canada at the 1983 world junior tournament and at age 19 he skated in the 1985 world tournament. It was in the 1987 Canada Cup tournament, during which he amassed 18 points in nine games, that he was recognized as a dominant offensive force in the sport. The owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lemieux was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto after a stellar NHL career in which he amassed 1,723 points. He helped Pittsburgh win two championships and got the MVP nod both times. He won six scoring titles, was named MVP three times, was picked by his peers as outstanding player four times.

Igor Larionov was on the Soviets' victorious Canada Cup team in 1981, won Olympic gold in 1984 and 1988 and was in on four IIHF world championships. He played in the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup tournaments and at age 41 captained Russia at the 2002 Olympics. He was a member of eight Soviet-champion Red Army teams, and he helped the Detroit Red Wings win three NHL championships. He is one of 19 members of the Triple Gold Club for players who have one Olympic gold, world championship gold and the Stanley Cup.

Philippe Bozon, a youth hockey coach in Geneva now, is the best-known player in French hockey history. He played in four Olympic tournaments and in 12 world championships. He played three QMJHL seasons with the St-Jean Beavers before becoming the first Frenchman to play in the NHL. He got into 163 games with St. Louis from 1992 to 1995.

Art Berglund was born in Fort Francis, Ont., but moved permanently to the United States after attending Colorado College. He was on the administrative staff of more than 30 U.S. teams in tournaments around the world including the Olympics. He received the Lester Patrick Award in 1992. He retired from his job at USA Hockey in 2005 but continues to serve as a consultant.

The IIHF Hall of Fame was introduced in 1997 and now has 150 inductees from 22 countries.


SNOW CRITICAL OF LUCIA'S COACHING

New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow criticized University of Minnesota Mens Hockey Head Coach Don Lucia's coaching, saying that was the reason sophomore Kyle Okposo is leaving the Gophers hockey program and negotiating a contract with the Islanders.

In a telephone interview Snow said he wasn't happy with the Gophers program and that they weren't coaching Okposo to make him a better player. When asked for specifics Snow said "(Okposo) just wasn't getting better - bottom line. And to me, that's the frustrating part. We entrusted the coach there to turn him into a better hockey player, and it wasn't happening. We feel more comfortable in him developing right under our watch."

Okposo's decision to leave the Gophers program was announced on Wednesday, and he is currently playing on the U.S under-20 national team at the IIHF championship in the Czech Republic.

Lucia is in his ninth season as Minnesota's coach and led the program to NCAA championships in 2002 and 2003, and in 21 seasons has over 500 wins and has produced several NHL-quality players under his tutelage.


After hearing Garth Snow's comments I checked the Islanders media guide and also the University of Minnesota athletics webpage, and found no indication that Gophers are associated with the Island, which dumbfounded me as to why Snow would make the comments he did.

Last time I checked Lucia's coaching responsibility's include teaching his players his system, not the Islanders or any other NHL teams, and most importantly to make sure his kids go to class and graduate. College hockey isn't the AHL or Canadian Juniors. The other interesting thing about Snow's comments is that he went to and graduated from the University of Maine in 1993 before turning pro. I'm curious to know if the Blackbears checked with the Flyers to incorporate their system with the one they taught every kid who goes to Maine and also with any other NHL draft picks playing on the team? It seems to me like the front office has changed Snow, and he isn't preaching what he was taught in education before hockey.


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