NHL International Hockey

Among the United States' best hopes for a medal in Vancouver next February is the women's ice hockey team, which has won one of the three gold medals awarded in the sport's brief Olympic history. Host Canada has won the other two, and the United States and Canada will clash in the final tournament before Vancouver 2010 in the Four Nations Cup, which opens today in Finland.

The U.S. is the defending champion in the event, beating Canada 3-2 in the finals last year. The American women have won either gold or silver in the Four Nations Cup every year in which the U.S. has participated, as has Canada.

Next year, the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships will be held in Regina and Saskatoon, cities in the Saskatchewan province of Canada. To honor the province and their CFL football team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hockey Canada has decided to unveil a green version of the team's jerseys to be worn twice during the tournament.

In a press release, Hockey Canada COO Scott Smith had high praise for the jerseys. "We believe fans in Saskatchewan, and throughout Canada, will rally around the green jerseys prior to and during the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship," he said.

They're rallying all right, but it's not the kind that Smith had in mind.

FanHouse is previewing the prospects of the top players and teams with high picks in Friday's NHL Draft. This is the fifth post in a six part series.

In this year's draft there's one defender that is head and shoulders above all the rest -- literally and talent wise. The 6-foot-5 Victor Hedman from Sweden is the best defenseman in this year's draft and is a unique talent for both his size and speed. At only 18, Hedman has been playing on the top defensive pairing for Modo in the Swedish Elite League and should be a solid defender in the NHL for years to come.

That picture pretty much sums up the entire third period of Sunday's 4-0 Boston win. As the Carolina Hurricanes were getting dominated in every aspect, Scott Walker decided to take out some of his frustrations on Aaron Ward by punching him in the face.

---

---

Tomas Surovy played 126 games in the NHL, scoring 27 goals over parts of three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He hasn't suited up in North America since the 2005-06 campaign, and has spent the past three years playing for Lulea HF and Linkoping HC of the Swedish Elite League.

He's also representing his native Slovakia at the World Championships in Switzerland. Why is this relevant? Because during Saturday's 8-0 loss to the Czech Republic, Surovy had a meltdown of sorts and took out his frustrations on teammate Jaroslav Halak. Video after the jump.

Whether or not you like the shootout, I think we can agree that one gift it has given us is some sweet highlight reel goals. The most recent of these goals comes to us from a friendly game between Sweden and Switzerland. The game ended up going to a shootout, with Sweden's Linus Omark (a fourth round pick of the Oilers in '07) pulling this move. He grabbed his pitching wedge and chipped the puck right over the sprawling goalie. Video after the jump.

A couple of weeks ago, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal kicked up plenty of dust when he reported that the Edmonton Oilers were in the midst of completing a deal that would return Jaromir Jagr to the NHL.

Though he took some heat for his reporting at the time, Staples was vindicated a few hours ago when the Kontinental Hockey League issued a press release that referenced an interview that Jagr gave to Denik Sport where he confirmed that a deal indeed almost did get done. But while the deal didn't get done in time for this season, Jagr later left the door open for a return to the NHL, though he again insisted that a return to America wasn't his idea.

It's been said for years that the way to get a sports fan hooked on the NHL is to get them into an arena to see a game live. After all, it's one thing to "know" that NHL players are bigger, faster and stronger than the rest of us, but to appreciate the speed and violence of a collision sport like NHL hockey you need to get a look at it up close.

Then again, it's another thing entirely to understand just how dangerous a shift on the ice can really be. During my own decidedly mediocre recreational hockey career, I had a near death experience with a slap shot off the stick of a former small-time college hockey player, and after having the life nearly scared out of me, came away with a new appreciation for players who regularly throw their bodies in the path of a piece of vulcanized rubber traveling at better than 100 mph.

Which leads me to the story of an old friend of mine, Jeff Grimshaw, a man who got a chance to experience first hand what it's like to get crushed by an NHL player, something he experienced at the hands of one of the game's greatest tough guys, Willi Plett.