Olympic Changes

[the mugs]

Anyone that get's word that players won't be with their NHL team for Olympic reasons, feel free to post here...


GOALTENDER PHIL SAUVE RECALLED FROM HERSHEY

DENVER, Colo. ? The Colorado Avalanche announced this morning that goaltender Phil Sauve has been recalled from the club?s American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

At the time of his recall, Sauve ranked among the AHL goaltending leaders for goals against average (2.43 ? tied 8th), minutes played (2048 ? 4th), shutouts (4 ? tied 1st), and saves (929 ? 5th). His record with the Bears stands at 11-16-6 through 37 games played with a .918 save percentage. He was named the Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week for the period ending February 3 after posting a 2-0-1 record with a 0.65 goals against average and a .980 save percentage.

Sauve, 21, has stopped 130 of the last 132 shots he has faced for a .985 save percentage. He has allowed two goals in his last five starts and eight goals over the course of his last eight games. Sauve is the first Hershey goaltender with three consecutive home shutouts since Ron Hextall accomplished the task in February of 1986.

A six-foot, 180-pound native of Buffalo, New York, Sauve was originally Colorado?s sixth selection, 38th overall, in the 1998 Entry Draft. During his first season of professional hockey with Hershey in 2000-01, Sauve notched a 17-18-1 record with a 2.75 goals against average and three shutouts. He was named Hershey?s Team MVP, Rookie of the Year, and earned the Kenny Smith Player of the Game Award.

Sauve?s recall was necessitated due to Avalanche goaltender David Aebischer?s participation in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games later this week with Team Switzerland.

 

[the mugs]

Buffalo

Buffalo

Satan will be everywhere

Buffalo Sabres forward Miroslav Satan is one of several players who will attempt to play for both their national team in the preliminary round of the 2002 Winter Olympics ice-hockey tournament and their NHL team this week. Satan, the Sabres' leading scorer, has the travel itinerary from Hell but at least he has his team owner's support.

It's going to be difficult but Satan is looking forward to it.

He'll play three games in three nights and four games in five nights. He'll travel four thousand miles through multiple time zones. He'll play at several thousand feet above sea level and then go back down again.

Satan will play for the Sabres tonight when they host the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m. in the HSBC Arena. Then, Sabres owner John Rigas is lending Satan the family jet for the weekend.

Right after tonight's game, Satan will fly 1,966 miles to Evanston, Wyo., because the Salt Lake City airport will be closed for security purposes.

Snap Shots is a round-up of news and views from media outlets across North America and is published every weekday. The opinions expressed in Snap Shots are not necessarily those of the NHL.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compiled by John McGourty
Friday, Feb. 8, 2002

Satan will take a 90-minute drive to the Olympic Village, where he will arrive tomorrow about 4:30 a.m. Satan will pull on his Slovakian sweater for tomorrow's 6 p.m. game against Germany.

That Salt Lake City is 4,554 feet above sea level will make his odyssey even more strenuous, wrote Tim Graham in the Buffalo News. Satan will then fly 1,970 miles to New Jersey, arriving early Sunday afternoon for the Sabres' 7 p.m. meeting with the Devils. He'll fly back to Buffalo and play against the Devils again on Tuesday.

In the meantime, other Slovaks, like Ottawa's Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara, will play for Slovakia on Sunday against Latvia and on Tuesday against Austria.

Sabres defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, who won an Olympic gold and silver medal for Russia during Olympiads in the 1990s, sympathizes with the players from countries involved in the preliminary round. Two teams will emerge to play against the six already chosen for the final round: Russia, Sweden, Finland, Canada, the United States and the Czech Republic.

"The Slovak team is going to play three or four (NHL) guys one game and a different five in other games," said Zhitnik. "It's a schmozzle (mess)."

If Slovakia qualifies for the medal round, Satan will return to Salt Lake City.

"All the hockey fans back home are pumped up," said Satan, a hero in the 1992 Olympics for scoring nine goals in eight games. "This is the time for them, and I just want to be able to play for them."

He hopes his itinerary ends on a podium with a glorious view of the Slovakian flag.

Satan set for 4,000-mile Slovakian scramble

================

Jozef Stumpel is doing some extra travelling also. THe B's play Saturday afternoon at home against Florida. After that, he travels with Boston to Colorado but he will go to SLC to play in a prelim game too. Stumpel could be tired for the Bruins/Aves game on Monday and probably be wiped out Tuesday as the Bruins then travel from Denver to Vancouver for a tilt with the Canucks Tuesday night.

If I can find a real article with better details, I will post.

 

[infinii]

Suave was called up to backup Aebischer who is starting tonight for Avs.