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Hockey updates by Aaron Joseph.

Vancouver Canucks

General News: Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment: Stanley McCammon resigned last October as President of the Vancouver Canucks and is now replaced by New Yorker Chris Zimmerman. Zimmerman was introduced at a press conference by Co-owner Francesco Aquilini who bought one half of the team from John McCaw of Seattle two years ago. Zimmerman who has been a fan of hockey from the age of nine - he played four years at Vermont - said “I want to make the Canucks the most successful franchise in hockey and Orca Bay the most desirable place to work, bar none.”

Canucks vs. Capitals
The Vancouver Canucks came back strong from their away game road trip to win against the Washington Capitals in a shootout. Early in the first period the ‘Canucks dominated over the opposition with two goals (#38 Bulis and #9 Pyatt) against the Capitals’ Goalie, Olie Kolzig; Who despite losing the game made spectacular saves throughout the night.

The second period proved successful for the Capitals who scored two points against Vancouver mid-way through the second period - one of the goals scored was by #8 Alex Ovechkin, who has proven himself to be a very skilled player.

Tied at 2-2 both teams played hard in the third period, but no goals were scored. Overtime was the same story, but this time with Canucks fans shouting and chanting for their team to score.The tied game led to a shootout that every Canuck fan in the stadium enjoyed, especially when the home team had gotten two goals past the Capitals’ goaltender, to win the game.

Note: Fans at the game were the first to witness GM Place’s new and improved High Definition digital scoreboard. The new scoreboard is approximately 13.5 feet by 24 feet and is noticeably better than the previous one. The screens displays the usual as well as Videos, advertising for sponsors, events and scores from other games in the National Hockey League.

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Emery Standing Tall for Ottawa

by Ken Henry


Ray Emery is making Ottawa Senators GM John Muckler look a little foolish these days.

After Muckler decided not to re-sign Dominik Hasek in the offseason, many thought the starting goaltending job would fall to Emery, who had a brilliant rookie season and was a rock in place of the oft-injured Hasek. Instead, Muckler signed Carolina Hurricanes castoff Martin Gerber to a three-year, $11.7-million deal with the hopes his goaltending issue would be solved. It hasn’t.

Early in the season, Gerber has struggled to find any sort of rhythm.

As of press deadline, the 32-year-old had just one victory in three games to go along with a questionable 3.77 goals against average and an .878 save percentage.

Emery, on the other hand, has earned one win in two starts while posting a 1.68 goals against average ˆ the fourth best mark in the NHL ˆ and a .942 save percentage.

Now, head coach Bryan Murray isn’t tipping his hand who he may go with the rest of the season. “I like to win,” Murray told the Ottawa Citizen. “If you win you have a chance to play again.” For his part, the 24-year- old Emery, who is one of the few Black players in the NHL, isn’t just hopeful that he can continue his strong play, but that Gerber will come around as well “I’m a competitive guy, that’s part of it, but at the same time, I want to see the team win. It’s not like I wish bad things for Marty or anything,” said Emery, who set an NHL record last year for most consecutive wins to start a career (nine).

Five months later, he tied an NHL record for most victories in one month with 12. “You can have two goaltenders playing well,” continued Emery, who was born in Cayuga, Ont. “I like having the other guy playing well and going back and forth. It always keeps you on your toes.”

Iggy’s happy
Jarome Iginla, the heart and soul of the Calgary Flames, is having another solid start to the season despite the fact projected line mate Alex Tanguay is struggling.

Tanguay, acquired from Colorado in the offseason to complement Iginla, has been demoted to the third line. Iginla, meanwhile, has been Iginla.

The 29-year-old has five points in five games to start the season.

Slow start for Carter
Anson Carter’s had a so-so start with his new team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Carter has a goal in four games. Meanwhile, the guys he would have been playing with in Vancouver had he stayed here ˆ Daniel and Henrik Sedin ˆ are having a great start to the campaign. The twins have combined for 16 points in seven games.

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Elsewhere in Hockey

The WHL Returns to Edmonton:

After two difficult years, the Edmonton Ice left the city for Cranbrook and 1998 and were renamed the Kootney Ice.

The Edmonton Oilers of the NHL have been granted a major Junior hockey league franchise and will join the WHL for the 2007/2008 season. Edmonton’s team will play in Rexall Place which is also the home of the Oilers. WHL Commissioner Ron Robinson said, “we are very pleased to be re-establishing a WHL franchise in the Edmonton market. We believe under the Oiler’s ownership, the franchise will become one of the most successful in the WHL.”

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Chilliwack: The expansion Bruins start play in September.

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Pittsburgh: Dallas Maverick’s (NBA) owner Mark Cuban may be looking to shake up the NHL. He and NFL Quarterback Dan Marino have joined with a New York City moneyman in trying to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s group, which is selling the franchise. Both Cuban and Marino are Pittsburgh natives and say they have no interest in moving the team from the city.

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Emery’s run ends

Goalie Ray Emery, who is Black, had a great regular season for the Ottawa Senators, but, like his teammates, struggled at times during the playoffs and watched in horror as his Sens lost in Round 2 to the Buffalo Sabres. Now he’s up for contract, and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s in Ottawa’s plans for next year.

“I want to play here next year and I want to prove myself and earn the No. 1 job next year,” Emery told the Ottawa Citizen. “But I don’t expect to be given that. I don’t know what kind of situation I’ll be in. I know I want to be back, but I haven’t had that discussion with them yet.”

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