Author Archive for Adrian Fung
Adrian Fung (@PenguinsMarch) contributes game reports, opinions, analysis and features, mostly about the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has covered the World Hockey Summit, Kraft Hockeyville, World Junior Championship exhibition games, CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, MasterCard Memorial Cup and NHL Rookie Tournament for Hockey Independent. twitter.com/PenguinsMarch
One year after World Hockey Summit: Player safety
We continue our retrospective this week on the first anniversary of the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit by turning our attention to a topic that is of utmost concern to all hockey stakeholders: player safety. At Air Canada Centre last year on Day 2 of the Summit, a panel of distinguished speakers reviewed threats to safety [...]
One year after World Hockey Summit: NHL players and the Olympics
It was one year ago tonight that the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit commenced in the historic Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. High-profile decision makers and players from Canada, the United States and Europe assembled for four days to discuss ways to improve and grow the game of hockey worldwide. The [...]
Crosby and concussion recovery: Fine line between optimism and pessimism
The latest little meteor of Sidney Crosby concussion recovery news floated innocently down through the Twittersphere last Sunday afternoon. SiriusXM satellite radio NHL Home Ice producer Josh Rimer tweeted “Also hearing from 3 sources now that Sidney Crosby won’t b ready 2 start season. I hope its not true because the NHL needs its best [...]
Jaromir Jagr: His time. His terms. His way.
In the end, we all forgot that fixating one’s mind on Jaromir Jagr is like fixating one’s eyes on the sun. It’s a pleasing sight at first, but after a while, it’s bad for one’s optical health. Although Pittsburgh offered a 1 year deal believed to be worth $2-million, Jagr signed a $3.3-million, 1 year contract with the Philadelphia [...]
Beam me up, Scottie? Longshot Plan B for Pens as free agency begins
In the last post, the developments in the pursuit of Jaromir Jagr were explored while an outline was also given describing the remaining salary cap space available to the Penguins. Pittsburgh needs to sign talented young prospect Dustin Jeffrey who showed flashes of his offensive creativity during the past season before suffering a season-ending knee [...]
The Courting of Jaromir Jagr and the Kennedy Question for the Penguins
Over the past seventy-two hours, it really has been quite remarkable to follow the minute-by-minute twists and turns in the drama entitled The Courting of Jaromir Jagr. For the city of Pittsburgh, time will tell whether this drama will be remembered as a comedy with a happy ending or a tragedy with a disappointing ending. Actually, that [...]
Pens first round draft choice improves blue line of to-Morrow
Reaction to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ selections at this past weekend’s 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota were mixed. With their top four defencemen at the NHL level signed through at least 2014 and seven under team control through 2013, many wondered why the Pens took a pair of blueliners with their first two draft choices [...]
Quick picks: Selections for 2011 NHL Awards
Another season of hockey has come to a close and tonight’s annual NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas will mark the unofficial close of the 2010-11 campaign 48 hours before the unofficial start of the 2011-12 pre-season when the NHL Entry Draft takes place in Minneapolis. Tonight, honours will be bestowed on high achievers from the [...]
Just business: Winnipeg officially back in NHL, fans await team name
Yesterday, in a move that surprised few, the NHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale and relocation of the now-former Atlanta Thrashers franchise to Winnipeg and True North Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group that brought major professional hockey back to the Manitoba provincial capital. The sticker price for the Thrashers, who spent eleven seasons [...]
The simmering sickness inside the heart of many, unleashed
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9 Five days have passed since the shocking riots in Vancouver cast an indelible pall over the night of Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and yet the shock still remains. When looking back on June 15, 2011, [...]
Game 7: A tale of “three” goalies in truly bizarre 2011 Stanley Cup Final
As a wise man once said, the two sweetest words for any sports fan are: “Game 7″. For the fifth time in the past eight NHL seasons, the championship series will go the distance. Game 7 between the Bruins and Canucks will be played tonight at Rogers Arena in Vancouver to conclude the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. This series [...]
Vancouver has waited since 1915 for another Stanley Cup win
Exactly seventeen years ago today, the scene in Vancouver was very similar. The city buzzed with hope after the previous night’s Stanley Cup Final game on home ice moved the Canucks within one win of capturing the franchise’s first-ever championship. On June 11, 1994, the Canucks defeated the New York Rangers at Pacific Coliseum 4-1 in [...]
Odd link between the Pens and Atlanta Thrashers’ demise
Much ink has been used over the past week detailing the downfall of NHL hockey in Atlanta for another generation of Georgian fans and the related relocation of the city’s franchise, like the Flames in 1980, up north to Canada, this time to Winnipeg. Many factors force a team to move to a different place: fan apathy for [...]
What will be legacy of “watershed” 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup?
The 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup wrapped up last Sunday evening at Hershey Centre with a competitive championship final game won 3-1 by the Saint John Sea Dogs over the tournament host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Some obvious disappointment was palpable throughout the arena as Majors’ fans, still stinging from an overtime Game 7 loss in the OHL [...]
On the ice: Sea Dogs celebrate MasterCard Memorial Cup victory
When Saint John Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas raised the MasterCard Memorial Cup over his head at centre ice tonight after receiving it from CHL commissioner David Branch, a cheer went up from the Sea Dogs and their many fans inside Hershey Centre that could be heard all the way in New Brunswick and the [...]
SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS WIN 2011 MASTERCARD MEMORIAL CUP
The Saint John Sea Dogs are 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup Champions. With a 3-1 victory tonight over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors at Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, the Sea Dogs captured the first MasterCard Memorial Cup in the six year history of the franchise. The win gives the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League its first Canadian national championship crown since the [...]
Ryan Ellis: Player and Defenceman of the Year at 2010-11 CHL Awards
Ryan Ellis, star defenceman of the Windsor Spitfires, brought a fitting conclusion to his illustrious major junior career this afternoon when he won the two trophies presented at the conclusion of the 2010-11 CHL Awards Ceremony at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Ellis, 20, captured the CGC Defenceman of the Year Award and the CCM Player [...]
Saint John Saturday practice: Kelly, Thomas, Huberdeau ready to play
The well-rested Saint John Sea Dogs held their last off-day practice this morning at Hershey Centre in preparation for tomorrow’s championship final game of the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup against the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Saint John will take the ice tomorrow having not played since Tuesday when they lost in overtime to the [...]
Majors’ Smith-Pelly, Coach Cameron speak on eve of Memorial Cup Final
The host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors did not practice this morning after winning last evening’s semi-final game 3-1 against Kootenay. On the penultimate day of the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup, some players and head coach Dave Cameron spoke about tomorrow night’s championship final game against the Saint John Sea Dogs. twitter.com/PenguinsMarchHockey Independent on Facebook Big [...]
Ice Storm: Kootenay rampage ousts Owen Sound from Memorial Cup
TIE-BREAKER: Kootenay (WHL) 7, Owen Sound (OHL) 3, Two nights ago, the Kootenay Ice were an overtime goal away from being the first team eliminated from the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Tonight, the Ice knocked out the Owen Sound Attack with a comeback 7-3 win in the tie-breaker game at Hershey Centre and advanced to tomorrow’s [...]
