FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

One of the great things about sports is the unpredictability and the fact that, if you watch enough, you're going to see something that you have never seen before. Monday was one of those days for anyone watching the IIHF World Hockey Championship qualifying round. Chances are, like me, you weren't. But that's what's so great about blogs. We're here to pick up the pieces and show you what you missed. What you and I missed was one of the craziest bounces a puck has taken in recent memory.

Monday, Canada and Finland were squaring off in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The game was a blowout as Canada was leading 4-1 during the third period. Shane Doan, who you may remember from the Phoenix Coyotes, took a slapper from the right faceoff circle, which went right by the Finnish goaltender, Niklas Backstrom who usually backstops the Minnesota Wild. The goal looked innocent enough if it weren't for the befuddled look and body language of Backstrom and his defenseman Sami Lepisto. They might have been the only people who knew what had happened, until the TV broadcast played a slow motion replay.

Doan's shot, oddly enough, was way off target. It was so off target that it deflected off Lepisto's helmet and into the back of the net. Seriously. I'm not able to embed the video here, but if you check it out and fast forward to the :39 mark, it's plain as day. Slapshot. Off the defender's noggin. Past the netminder for a goal. It really doesn't get any luckier than that. And thankfully, Lepisto appears to be OK.

This isn't the first time that Finland has been involved in a controversial goal during these World Champs, either. On Sunday, the Finns were gifted a goal by the video replay officials. In that instance, the puck clearly went through the side of the net but was not disallowed. They went on to win that game against Team USA, 3-2.

Once again, FanHouse has gotten passed an English translation of an interview that's appeared in the pages of Sovetsky Sport. Today, we're able to share a translation of an interview conducted by the folks at Sovetsky with Atlanta Thrashers winger Ilya Kovalchuk. He's in Quebec City with the Russian National Team competing in the IIHF World Championships. Thanks once again to Sovetsky's Washington correspondent, Dmitriy Chesnokov, for giving us a hand translating an article by Sovetsky's Pavel Lysenkov.

Only Ilya Kovalchuk came to the mixed-zone after Russia's game against Switzerland. Even the event organizers were stunned at such "variety" of players. It got better when Sushinsky and Nabokov showed up. But until then Kovalchuk, like a media-relations rep, was speaking for everyone. But mostly for himself.

On the 18th minute of the game it looked like you scored your first goal of the tournament. But the goal was given to Ovechkin.

"Without a doubt, Sasha [Ovechkin] redirected my shot with his stick. He needs goals more than I do. We'll do our best to make Ovechkin the best scorer of the tournament," – Kovalchuk joked.

Once again, FanHouse has gotten passed an English translation of an interview that's appeared in the pages of Sovetsky Sport. Today, we're able to share a translation of an interview conducted by the folks at Sovetsky with Sergei Fedorov, late of the Washington Capitals. Fedorov is in Quebec City with the Russian National Team competing in the IIHF World Championships. Thanks once again to Sovetsky's Washington correspondent, Dmitriy Chesnokov, for giving us a hand.

Sergei Fedorov scored the game winner against Switzerland (5:3). After the game he met with Pavel Lysenkov at Hotel Concorde, right after dinner.

To be honest, the plans were to do a long interview with questions about the distant Soviet past [the last time Sergei played at the Worlds was when the Soviet Union still existed]. To debut for Team Russia at World Championships at 38 is a unique fact in itself. Just for that fact one can write odes to Sergei. But Fedorov did not want to talk about it:

"Oh, no, I will only talk about the game against Switzerland. If I start kicking up the past, my brain will start working backwards. And I need to look forward and not lose my concentration. Playoffs are close."

Every once in a while, FanHouse gets passed an English translation of an interview with Washington's Alex Ovechkin that's appeared in the pages of Sovetsky Sport. Today, once again, we're able to pass along a translation of his most recent talk with the folks at Sovetsky after he was named "Athlete of the Month," by the newspaper and one of its television partners.

The biggest news in the interview -- it looks like the refs working the worlds are getting the same sort of reviews the refs working the Stanley Cup Playoffs are getting. In other words, they stink (but you already knew that). Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov, Sovetsky Sports' Washington correspondent, for the translation, which follows:

As a result of a poll conducted by "Sport" [Russia's public sports channel] and Sovetsky Sport [Russia's largest newspaper], Washington Capitals and Russian national team forward Alexander Ovechkin was named Athlete of the Month in April. Alex received 51.4% of the vote, overtaking Evgeni Malkin who received 48.6%. This interview Alexander Ovechkin gave to Pavel Lysenkov and Vitaly Slavin of Sovetsky Sport in Hotel Concorde two hours after the end of the Russia-Sweden game [3:2], where Alex the Great scored the game winner.

Today, Finland faced off against Team USA in the qualifying round of the IIHF World Hockey Championship. Finland won the game 3-2 but what happened on their second goal is beyond belief. Trust me, this isn't sour grapes on my part. Frankly, I really couldn't give a hoot about international hockey but the ruling on this play is unbelievable. You can check out the video on TSN since it's not on YouTube just yet.
Basically what happens is that Finland's Ville Koistinen took a one timer from the left faceoff circle and the goal went through the net. Yes, I said through. Team USA, naturally, is pretty upset about this but the goal does not get overturned. OK, so the refs missed the call. Not so bad, right? Wrong. The kicker here is that the goal was reviewed and still wasn't over turned. Seriously.

Let's review:

1. The puck went through the side of the net.
2. The play was reviewed.
3. Video revealed that the puck really did go through the side of the net, which negates the goal.
4. The play was ruled a goal.

If that's not the most illogical thing I've ever heard in regards to hockey then I don't know what is. Congratulations IIHF referees, you're worse than your NHL counterparts. And you, dear reader, thought that wasn't possible!

I have no idea what anyone is saying in the following video or what kind of a dance move the goalie pulls, but that doesn't make this any less entertaining or enlightening. Just remember folks, always keep your head up -- even if you're not named Eric Lindros.



I'll score it a 7/10 on creativity and a 9/10 for the "celebration quality" category.

h/t to Going Five Hole via Southern Bohemian Ho(c)ke(y).

We've already seen how a small crowd of about 4,000 Slovakian hockey fans puts over 15,000 NHL fans to shame with their enthusiastic post-game celebrations. NHL fans simply race for the exits while the Slovaks party like its 1999.

Now, how about during the game, during those frequent breaks and intermissions? NHL teams run boring trivia contests, fire t-shirts from a cannon, or give us a bit of eye candy with the Ice Girls. *yawn*

Over in Slovakia, they have a more entertaining solution to in-game stoppages: Pole Dancing! (Don't worry, it's safe for work). During a game in Skalica, they put out this makeshift pole-on-a-puck out onto the ice for a cute chick to dance around with. Quite the show, eh?

Don't you think a few NHL teams could stand to use this awesome marketing technique?

(Big hat-tip to 'Vakfan' for the find)

In America, you play hockey.
In Soviet Russia, hockey plays you!

That type of joke, popularized by Yakov Smirnoff, pokes fun at America's cold war foe, the USSR. Soon that same nation, now a democracy, may form a hockey league that may be nothing to laugh at. The Toronto Star is reporting that Russian businessman Alex Medvedev, owner of the European natural gas supplier Gazprom, is leading efforts to create a league rivaling the NHL in Russia and western Europe. Whether or not this will ultimately be successful is anyone's guess, but one thing is for sure -- Medvedev has the money to do it. According to Wikipedia, Gazprom showed revenue of about $83.6 billion in 2006.

If the league can gain enough steam, let alone get off the ground, is something that remains to be seen. There's certainly interest in a European league as many countries are fed up with the NHL's transfer agreement, including Russia, which is not bound to any transfer agreement with the league right now. I imagine some type of league that spans Europe would be a huge success, similar to the UEFA Champions League in soccer. Imagine teams from Germany, Russia, Sweden and the like competing year round. In addition, Medvedev's deep pockets could lure many European players into passing on the NHL and staying on their home continent to play the sport they love. Those don't seem like bad theories to build on from my distant point of view. As of right now, the league plans to start in Western Europe, leaving open the option for further expansion.

Medvedev said the new league would probably start with teams in Western Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, and could also feature clubs in cities such as Kiev, Ukraine; Riga, Latvia; and Astana, Kazakhstan.

Teams are already feigning interest as Jokerit, the most successful team in Finland's Elite League, is not opposed to the idea of abandoning it's native league and joining up with the new Russian startup.

Jokerit, one of the most popular teams in Finland's elite league, would be a candidate to join, its owner said, even if it meant abandoning its domestic league.

Harry Harkimo, who also owns Jokerit's 13,464-seat arena in Helsinki, said his team would probably break even this year, even though it has more than 30 sponsors, plays in the largest arena in Finland, and receives several million dollars from broadcast contracts.

"A new league could mean more broadcast and sponsorship revenue," he said.

But there's still a punch line to all of this. While the league seems to have serious backing, one of the prime consultants in getting things up and running is none other than former NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow (cue the laugh track).

This video goes all the way back to the lockout, which would have been the 2004-05 season. That year, lots of NHL players went overseas to stay on top of their game including Zdeno Chara and Sheldon Souray. This video pays tribute to the pair, who signed on with Farjestads BK Karlstad of Elitserien (a.k.a. the Swedish Elite League). Marian Gaborik, Mike Comrie and Martin Gerber were also on the team but did not kick the crap out of as many people. If you're like me and have the attention span of a goldfish, congratulations on making it this far into the post, and also fast forward to the :50 mark of the video to watch Chara absolutely destroy a guy. For the rest of you, enjoy the highlights and Swedish music. I assume that the music is Swedish, but I can barely speak my native language, English, half the time so don't take my word for it.


Man, that was some pretty intense stuff. Not nearly as deathly intense as Lenny Clarke, but intense nonetheless. I would say it ranks somewhere between watching the Omen for the first time (the original version) and sitting on the Calgary bench in front of Mike Keenan for a game.

If you were wondering, Farjestads BK finished the regular season in fourth but led the league in penalty minutes. Naturally. Chara and Souray combined for 249 minutes, finishing second and third on the team to Emil Kaberg who had 213.