Monday, February 14, 2005
EuroUpdate: Valentine's Day Edition
Pannon GSM Cup – “Slovensko vít’azom Pannon GSM Cupu!”
That’s right, kiddies, Slovakia took home the Pannon GSM Cup with a 2-1 shootout over Canada’s Castaways (Yeah, another shootout loss for the Canucks).
Canada - Slovensko 1:2 on Penalty Shots (0:0, 0:0, 1:1 - 0:0, 0:1)
Goals: 54. Banham (Pollock) - 56. Nagy (Stümpel), Peter Pucher (winning penalty shot)
Lineups:
Canada: Passmore - Ch. Joseph, Pollock, Van Impe, Delmore, Kurtz, Furey, Bannister - Maneluk, Metropolit, Green - A. Schneider, Herpeger, Banham - Gordon, Gardner, Adams - Gainey, E. Schneider, Leed.
Slovensko: Stana - Podhradský, Strbák, L. Cierny, Suchý, Smrek, Starosta, Stehlík, S. Hudec - Satan, Stümpel, Nagy - Ciernik, Rastislav Pavlikovský, Marcel Hossa - Országh, P. Pucher, Bartecko - Kukumberg, Róbert Petrovický, Radivojevic
No big bling for $lovensko – My pal Daniel wanted to correct me on something. It turns out that the 80,000,000 Forint(s) sum was not the prize money for the winning team, but the actual budget for the tournament itself. (D’oh!). The Slovaks won’t be returning home with quite as much bling as I had stated before ($20,000/player)
Swift Reaction to Scandal in Sweden (from the AP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Three NHL players, in Europe during the lockout, were suspended on Saturday for the rest of the season by Sweden's ice hockey federation after being accused of rape.
Kristian Huselius and Andreas Lilja of the Florida Panthers, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henrik Tallinder reportedly told police they had consensual sex with the 22-year-old woman in their hotel room after meeting her in a bar early Wednesday.
Authorities released the three players after questioning Thursday -- hours before the Swedish national team played the Czech Republic -- and said Friday they didn't have enough evidence to charge them.
"By their actions, these players have damaged Swedish hockey, other players, officials and this girl," Swedish Ice Hockey Association chairman Christer Englund said. "They went out during a national team gathering and they brought the girl to the room. We can't accept what happened."
After being examined Thursday at the Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm, the woman told police she had been raped.
The players quit the team Friday morning in the midst of the Sweden Hockey Games, the last event on the European Hockey Tour.
With the NHL shut down by the season-long lockout, Huselius and Tallinder are playing in Sweden's Elite League for Linkoping, while Lilja is playing for Mora. Huselius leads the league in scoring.
Huselius and Tallinder were banned from Linkoping's activities until Monday, when the club's board will meet again to decide if they have a future with the team.
"Until then we'll collect as much information as possible," club director Mike Helber said. "We'll also talk to the players. But it's clear that they have showed bad judgment just by staying out late. What has happened is really, really bad."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
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The rape charges have been dropped (for now), and it’s somewhat surprising to see that the Club teams and the league are banning some very key players just before playoff time. It seems the league and the clubs are delivering a ‘guilty’ verdict before the law courts do. We’ll just have to see if any of the players makes an appeal.
Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day to all of my readers...let’s end on a happy (Blue)note!
That’s right, kiddies, Slovakia took home the Pannon GSM Cup with a 2-1 shootout over Canada’s Castaways (Yeah, another shootout loss for the Canucks).
Canada - Slovensko 1:2 on Penalty Shots (0:0, 0:0, 1:1 - 0:0, 0:1)
Goals: 54. Banham (Pollock) - 56. Nagy (Stümpel), Peter Pucher (winning penalty shot)
Lineups:
Canada: Passmore - Ch. Joseph, Pollock, Van Impe, Delmore, Kurtz, Furey, Bannister - Maneluk, Metropolit, Green - A. Schneider, Herpeger, Banham - Gordon, Gardner, Adams - Gainey, E. Schneider, Leed.
Slovensko: Stana - Podhradský, Strbák, L. Cierny, Suchý, Smrek, Starosta, Stehlík, S. Hudec - Satan, Stümpel, Nagy - Ciernik, Rastislav Pavlikovský, Marcel Hossa - Országh, P. Pucher, Bartecko - Kukumberg, Róbert Petrovický, Radivojevic
No big bling for $lovensko – My pal Daniel wanted to correct me on something. It turns out that the 80,000,000 Forint(s) sum was not the prize money for the winning team, but the actual budget for the tournament itself. (D’oh!). The Slovaks won’t be returning home with quite as much bling as I had stated before ($20,000/player)
Swift Reaction to Scandal in Sweden (from the AP)
Kristian Huselius and Andreas Lilja of the Florida Panthers, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henrik Tallinder reportedly told police they had consensual sex with the 22-year-old woman in their hotel room after meeting her in a bar early Wednesday.
Authorities released the three players after questioning Thursday -- hours before the Swedish national team played the Czech Republic -- and said Friday they didn't have enough evidence to charge them.
"By their actions, these players have damaged Swedish hockey, other players, officials and this girl," Swedish Ice Hockey Association chairman Christer Englund said. "They went out during a national team gathering and they brought the girl to the room. We can't accept what happened."
After being examined Thursday at the Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm, the woman told police she had been raped.
The players quit the team Friday morning in the midst of the Sweden Hockey Games, the last event on the European Hockey Tour.
With the NHL shut down by the season-long lockout, Huselius and Tallinder are playing in Sweden's Elite League for Linkoping, while Lilja is playing for Mora. Huselius leads the league in scoring.
Huselius and Tallinder were banned from Linkoping's activities until Monday, when the club's board will meet again to decide if they have a future with the team.
"Until then we'll collect as much information as possible," club director Mike Helber said. "We'll also talk to the players. But it's clear that they have showed bad judgment just by staying out late. What has happened is really, really bad."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
---
The rape charges have been dropped (for now), and it’s somewhat surprising to see that the Club teams and the league are banning some very key players just before playoff time. It seems the league and the clubs are delivering a ‘guilty’ verdict before the law courts do. We’ll just have to see if any of the players makes an appeal.
Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day to all of my readers...let’s end on a happy (Blue)note!
