We found this gem over at With Leather and it’s an instant classic.  Patrick Roy was known for being a brick wall in goal.  His son will be known for having a fist of fury.  Roy’s son, playing in some small Quebec League, joins a fracas that only cements the greatness of hockey at any level.  Enjoy.

It’s not often that we give hockey some love on Sportable. That doesn’t mean, however, that we aren’t still paying attention to it. Check out this goal from Rick Nash against the Coyotes. Goal of the year? How about goal of the 21st century. I still can’t believe what I just saw.

The Anaheim Ducks have taken a 1-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup Finals. This victory will certainly give the Ducks as psychological boost as they managed to sneak in the go ahead goal with only 2:51 remaining in the third period.

After giving up a goal just 98 seconds into the game it looked like the Ducks could be in for trouble. They also found themselves down 2-1 and in danger of giving up a third goal when the Senators were on two man power play advantage. The Ducks defense held firm, however, and they were able to complete their comeback and take the win. The Ducks team played a physical game, exactly the style that they needed to play in order to win. This style lead to them taking a few penalties that probably could have been avoided, but luckily for the Ducks, these penalties did not mean disaster.

The Ducks managed to keep the Senators first line from being effective, and by shutting down this first line, they were able to contain the Senators offense. The Ducks found their winning formula in game one, they will just need to duplicate it throughout the series. The Senators meanwhile, showed their rust after having a long layoff and will need to pick up the pieces for the second game.

The United States has put up piss poor performances in recent international competitions, and it looks like they might have one more to add to the list. This time it won’t be a national team representing the United States, it will be a team from the NHL representing the organization.

There has been an agreement reached between the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation which will allow an NHL team to participate in a new tournament against the winner from the European Champions Cup and at least one other European team. I think that this is a great idea, and should provide the NHL team a chance to play against the best that Europe has to offer, teams that I am assuming will find a way to beat the NHL team based off our past successes. Then again, I don’t quite know how much popularity that this tournament will have here in the United States. It might be good for the international game as they get to experience the NHL, but it really does nothing for us here.

People don’t really care for hockey, and seeing an NHL team face off against European teams, that really won’t have that much appeal. I expect this tournament, which won’t be held until 2008, to get about the same ratings as the NHL All-star game, if it is even televised.

In one of the least shocking playoff series in history, the Anaheim Ducks have clinched a spot in the Western Conference Finals. With a win last night over the hopelessly under matched Vancouver Canucks, the Ducks have assured themselves a spot in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year.

The Ducks will be facing either the San Jose Sharks or the Detroit Red Wings in their upcoming series, and based off what everyone is saying, it really doesn’t matter who. The Ducks may only be the two seed, but everyone has already crowned then Stanley Cup Champions, basically saying that this should be the team that wins it all. I’d say that’s a lot of pressure to live up to, but If there is any team that can do it, it’s the Ducks. The Canucks put up a decent fight in this series, sending two games to double overtime and another to overtime, and even snuck away with a victory, but in the end, the Ducks were just too good. The 4-1 series victory assures the Ducks a good resting period since the Sharks and Red Wings are tied at two games apiece.

While everyone is practically handing the Ducks the Cup, I will be interested to see how their series plays out. They will have a definite advantage over whatever team the play based off the simple fact that they’ve had more rest. And yes, they’re probably a better team than both the Sharks and the Red Wings. But this is playoff hockey, and that means all bets are off.

That’s right, the country made famous by Borat has actually done something besides being the brunt of jokes. They’ve absolutely stomped out everyone that they have faced in the Asian Games hockey tournament.

Their most notable rout happened the other day against Thailand in which they issued a 52-1 beat down. At that point doesn’t it just get boring? I mean, how many goals can you really score before you just start to feel bad for the other team. I think around 20-0 I’d be ready to throw in the towel and just stop scoring against the other team. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan should be looking for another goalie. How the hell do you give up a goal to Thailand. Even worse, they only took five shots and got one in. That’s an awful ratio by the goalie, get him out of there.

The Kazaks simply overwhelmed their opponents so far in the tournament. They’ve advanced through the group stage scoring 90 goals while giving up just one. The 52-1 beating of Thailand came after a 38-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates. I guess that’s what happens when the 11th ranked team in the world takes on unranked teams.

Did anyone even know that Kazakhstan had a hockey team? Not just a hockey team, but the 11th ranked hockey team in the world. How did this happen? Oh wait, I remember now, no one cares about hockey. Congrats Kazakhstan, you’re going to win a tournament few people knew was happening, in a sport that fewer people care about.