Russia - Finland WC 2014, Malkin breaks Haula jaw with dirty cross-check

If you haven't seen it, this is worth a look. In the championship game of the World Championship, Russian forward Evgeni Malkin's cross-checked  Finland's Erik Haula in the face and injured him. I think this is one of the dirtiest cross-checks that I have seen this season. It was blatant, and one could make that argument that it was an attempt to injure. Uh-yeah, obviously. Malkin broke Haula's jaw with that bush league move.

According to Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune, Haula will not need surgery, that is very good news. The Russian ended up winning the game.  As you can see from the video the reffing was very suspect. 

Russo's Rants -- Some Wild news: Center Erik Haula, who left the day after the playoffs to represent Finland in the world championships, broke his jaw in the gold-medal game against Russia when he was cross-checked in the face by superstar Evgeni Malkin. No penalty was called. Haula sustained a nondisplaced fracture that will not require surgery. The injury will take three to four weeks to heal, the Wild says.

Captain Scores a lot - Mikko Koivu

Mikko Koivu with the puck that he used to become the new #mnwild all-time leading scorer! pic.twitter.com/cbjjk8WIRx
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 19, 2014

Congrats to the Wild Captain for becoming the All-Time leading scorer for the Minnesota Wild

Noora Raty's retirement letter.

Retirement slipped out of my mouth today so here's more clarification from me so people can stop asking #thankyou pic.twitter.com/8ukoRVKBJc
— Noora Räty (@Nooraty41) February 15, 2014

Noora Raty is probably the best female goaltender in the world, and she's has a lot of valid points. Raty's retirement letter said a lot of things that many of us grapple with as we move forward in our adult lives. Women's hockey is good hockey and the product has grown on the ice and she is definitely one of  the pioneers in the sport. I consider myself lucky enough to seen her play in person.  I wish her good luck in what ever she does. 

@Nooraty41 Noora you nailed it down I will do my best to convince people that there is a solution and it's the one you described#Respect
— Peter Elander (@elanderp) February 16, 2014

Related articles

• Finland, Russia play for women's hockey 5th place (miamiherald.com)

Haula in trouble in Stillwater...

According to the Star and Tribune Gopher's Junior Erik Haula had a bit of an incident outside a Stillwater Bar at closing time. You got to know that WCHA fans of opposition teams are going to have a good time with this one.

An "extremely intoxicated" Minnesota Gopher hockey player stood on a street in Stillwater after bar closing time and urinated for others to witness, police said.

Forward Erik Haula, 21, was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct early Saturday and then turned over to a friend, whom police described as "somewhat sober."

The officer wrote in his report that he witnessed Haula "urinating while standing on Water St. on the west side of the Freight House [restaurant and bar] in plain view of the bar crowd after bar closing."

The officer also noted in his report that even though "it was clear that he was extremely intoxicated," the 2009 Minnesota Wild draft choice "was very cooperative. No problems."

Garry Bowman, a spokesman for the Athletic Department, said Friday that "Coach Lucia is aware of the incident. He has spoken to Erik and will handle it as an internal team matter."

Haula, a native of Finland, will be a junior this coming season for the Gophers. He led the team last season with 49 points, scoring 20 goals and earning 29 assists.

It is too bad that the Minnesota Gophers don't travel to Grand Forks, ND this season.

First off, I realize the college kids drink but peeing in the street after a bar closes is stupid – and is grounds for being arrested and or cited – just as peeing in an elevator is – neither offense is really better than the other one.

Malkin's hat trick...

You have to wonder if Finnish goalie Petri Vehanen is going to see Evgeni Malkin in his nightmares, talk about being lit up like a pinball machine. Malkin and the Russian beat the defending champion Finland 6-2 to advance to the World Championship final against the winner of the Czech Republic and Slovakia game.

I think by watching the video you can see why Malkin is one of the best forward'sin the world right now. With one game remaining, Malkin is tied for second in scoring with Henrik Zetterberg with 15 points.

Related articles

• Malkin tears Finland apart

  ---

Salmela suspended for three games

The IIHF was suspended Finnish defenseman Anssi Salmela for three games for this brutal hit on USA defenseman Alex Goligoski.

HELSINKI – The IIHF Disciplinary Panel has suspended Finland’s defenceman Anssi Salmela for three games following his violent boarding on USA’s defenceman Alex Goligoski.

The incident occurred at 5:03 of the third period in Finland’s preliminary-round game against the United States on Sunday.

Anssi Salmela received a five-minute major plus an automatic game misconduct penalty for a violent boarding that caught Goligoski in a defenseless and vulnerable position and which resulted in Goligoski hitting his upper body, head and face into the boards.

The panel especially took into consideration the ruthlessness of the act, which could have resulted in a serious injury, which now Goligoski was fortunate to escape.

Related articles

• Finland D Salmela suspended three games for reckless hit
• Anssi Salmela Suspended 3 Games For Hit In World Championships
• PHT: US shuts out Finland, reaches worlds quarters

NHL Network remains exclusive home of IIHF WJC

Image via Wikipedia Here is the hockey schedule for the WJC tourney that starts the day after Christmas. All of the games will be on the NHL Network. That's channel 215 on DirecTV.


2012 IIHF World Junior Championship - NHL Network-U.S. Broadcast Schedule
Dec. 26 - Jan. 5   

Date	Game	Time (EST)
Mon., Dec. 26	Canada vs. Finland	3:30 p.m.
	USA vs. Denmark	8 p.m.
Tues., Dec. 27	Denmark vs. Czech Republic	8 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 28	Finland vs. USA	3:30 p.m.
	Czech Republic vs. Canada	8 p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 29	Canada vs. Denmark	8 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 30	Czech Republic vs. USA	3:30 p.m.
	Finland vs. Denmark	8 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 31	USA vs. Canada	8 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 2	Quarterfinal #1	5:00 p.m.
	Quarterfinal #2	9:00 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 3	Semifinal #1	5:00 p.m.
	Semifinal #2*	9:00 p.m.
Thur., Jan. 5	Bronze-Medal Game	3:30 p.m.
	Gold-Medal Game	8:00 p.m.

Mikael Granlund postage stamp in Finland

 

S/T Hockey Wilderness... Wild Prospect Mikael Granlund now has his own stamp in his native country of Finland. Granlund became even more famous after his impressive lacross style goal against Russia in the World Hockey Championship earlier this month.

Related articles

• Mikael Granlund Goal: Sick Lacrosse Move Lifts Finland Over Russia In World Championships (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Granlund's lacrosse goal gets him a postage stamp in Finland (tsn.ca)
• Finland's Mikael Granlund scores highlight-reel goal at world championships (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Mikael Granlund Goes Top Shelf For A Goal At The World Championship (thebiglead.com)

Wild prospect Mikael Granlund to stay in Finland this year

According to Star Tribune beat writer Michael Russo the Minnesota Wild's  top prospect Mikael Granlund will be staying in Finland this year and not coming to North America to play. This is going to be a disappointment to many Wild fans because the Wild are starved for offense and this kid is proving to be the real deal which is evident from his lacrosse style goal in the video above.

Michael Russo; Star Tribune ---Despite Mikko Koivu's attempt to persuade him to play for the Wild next season, highly touted 19-year-old Mikael Granlund will remain in Finland another year, one of his representatives said Thursday.

"The game plan is he's going to be entering the army and fulfilling his service and finishing high school, and we'd come over a year from now," agent Todd Diamond said.

"Mikael prefers when he comes over to Minnesota, hockey is the only thing he needs to focus on in his life. He wants to get all these so-called housekeeping things out of the way and, a year from now, get ready to hopefully crack the lineup."

Diamond said Granlund has received permission from the Finnish Army to attend the Wild's July 10-17 development camp. Diamond said the plan is to sign "this time next year."

"We believe Minnesota is a really good spot for him and the right environment for him to succeed in the future. It's the Finland of the United States in some ways," Diamond said.

Granlund, the Wild's first-round draft pick in 2010, helped lead HIFK to an SM-Liiga championship, then Finland to a world championship.

Wild prospect Mikael Granlund impersonates Mike Legg

This is an amazing goal by Mikael Granlund it's simply one of the best of the year. I am not sure I can do Grandlund's goal justice by trying to describe it. I hope the Wild get him in a uniform next season right away because this kid is the real deal. Granlund was big for team Finland during the IIHF World Championship.Granlund is 9th in scoring with (2g-6a-8pts) in 8 games for team Finland.