Milan’s Antti Niemi earns first EURO shutout

Milan 2, Belfast 0 Milan’s Antti Niemi recorded the first shutout in EURO League history, stopping the Belfast Giants by a 2-0 score. Milan (2-0) outshot Belfast (1-1) 32-25. Milan’s powerplay wasn’t as impressive as Niemi was. The Guerriero went 0 for 7 with the man advantage.  Matt Moulson and Jordan Staal scored for Milan…

Brodeur turns away 35 Helsinki shots

Gothenberg 4, Helsinki 1 Martin Brodeur is wanted in Finland for grand theft after stealing a game for visiting Gothenberg on Monday. It was the opening game of the season for both his club and Helsinki. The 39-year-old who is earning $5.2 million this season, turned away 35 shots, allowing just one goal, a third…

OPENING DAY: Bern flies out of the chute

Bern 6, Geneva 2 Bern was ready for the first big battle between Swiss powerhouses, blitzing the Geneva Generals for five goals in the first period on the first day of EURO Hockey League action. The Bears outshot Geneva 17-3 in the first period and 38-23 in the game to come away with a 6-2…

Minsk goes on a mini shopping spree

Minsk added five players through free agency today, Bern added four more and five other teams also added at least one player. The Hussars hope Jonas Gustavsson will become a monster in Minsk, signing him to a $1 million deal. They also scored a pair of defensemen for $800,000 each and a pair of forwards…

Bern, Milan pick up 14 free agents

Some people collect baseball cards. Some collect Beanie Babies. EURO general managers skates21 and jkellyAT apparently collect humans. More than half of the 27 players who signed free agent contracts today did so with either Bern or Milan. Bern signed 8 players including goalie Nicklas Backstrom, defensemen Anton Volchenkov and Ron Hainsey, and forwards Martin…

Coach Hitchcock signs with London

  Ken Hitchcock will takes his Jack Adams trophy and English surname to London to coach the London Knights in the EURO Hockey League. Hitch was one of seven men who will make $1.5 million during each of the next three years in Europe. Two other Ahearne Division teams landed the bench bosses for which they…

European employment rate up 264 players

Ethan Moreau gets the dubious distinction of being the final player selected in the first EURO Hockey League draft.  The cagey veteran was the 264th player chosen. No word yet  on whether he’ll be sporting the number 264 as his Milan  jersey number or if a more traditional number will be given to him. Speaking…

The $7.35 Million Dollar Man

With only 13 picks left in the first ever EURO Hockey League draft, Alaska native Scott Gomez admitted he is starting to get nervous about not being drafted by a single team. “I have to admit, I’m starting to wonder,” Gomez said from the same seat he’s been in at Vienna’s Mozart Ice Stadthalle since…

Ahearne Division preview

By dcallow This is the 4th part of 4 in the season preview series. Today we are looking at the second division in the Northern Conference, being the Ahearne Division that comprises of the Northwestern teams. As always, I rate goalies, top 4 D, and top 6 offence out of 10, the “future” potential of…

Kharlamov Division preview

By dcallow This is the 3rd part of 4 in the season preview series. Today we are looking at the first division in the Northern Conference, being the Kharlamov Division that comprises of the Northeastern teams. As always, I rate goalies, top 4 D, and top 6 offence out of 10, the “future” potential of…