Archive for May, 2009

Lets watch Hodgson and co. in the Calder Cup Finals!

by Farhan Devji on May 25, 2009 in Uncategorized with No comments

With their win tonight, the Manitoba Moose have advanced to the AHL Calder Cup Finals for the first time in the history of their franchise. The series will start on Saturday when the Moose go head-to-head with the Hershey Bears, Washington’s AHL affiliate. Unfortunately, however, there are no plans for these games to be aired on television at the time being. Therefore, I suggest we flood these outlets with requests to pick up the series and hopefully one of them will change their mind!

The Score’s contact form (just select Feedback – The Score): http://www.thescore.com/scoretv/contact.aspx
Sportsnet’s (select TV Programming Questions): http://www.sportsnet.ca/pressroom/contact/
NHL Network’s: http://www.nhlnetwork.com/en_US/aboutUs/contactUs

Let’s get this done!

Jonas Gustavsson rumors

by Farhan Devji on May 9, 2009 in Uncategorized with No comments

I spoke to coveted Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson’s Swedish-based agent Pär Larsson this morning and here’s what I learned from our short conversation.

- There are currently 2-4 teams still in the running to acquire Gustavsson’s services, and this list will be trimmed down further after the World Championships come to an end.
- When Gustavsson returns home, he will have a sit down meeting with Larsson to settle on a team.
- Gustavsson’s party has had talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Larsson suggests they haven’t come to the point where they’re ready to call the Leafs the “frontrunners” just yet.
- When asked about Vancouver’s interest in Gustavsson, Larsson responded: “We will look for the best option for Jonas and if it’s Vancouver, time will tell.”

According to one of my sources based in Sweden, Vancouver has shown interest but Toronto and Dallas should indeed be considered the frontrunners to acquire Gustavsson’s services.

Markus Naslund retires

by Farhan Devji on May 5, 2009 in Uncategorized with No comments

If you haven’t already heard, long-time Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund announced his retirement on Monday. Despite what anyone says, Naslund will always be one of the greatest Canucks of all time. Just a few tidbits:

- I spoke to the Director of Sports (aka. General Manager), Fredrik Andersson, of the MODO Hockey Club of the Swedish Elite League yesterday, and he informed me that he has yet to speak with Naslund about the prospect of him joining the team. However, Andersson will be giving Naslund a call in the upcoming days to discuss his future. Andersson says if Naslund has any interest in playing for MODO, they’ll make a spot for him on the team. Naslund played with the MODO Hockey Club before he was drafted, and expressed interest earlier in his career to return to his hometown of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden to join the club again upon his retirement.

- I also interviewed Naslund’s long-time line-mate Brendan Morrison, and current Canucks prospect Michael Grabner (who roomed with Naslund at his first Canucks training camp) yesterday, about Naslund’s retirement and his career as a whole. Look out for my Markus Naslund article – and correlated audio piece – in the upcoming days, with both Morrison and Grabner’s reaction and more.