It's almost here!

NHL 2009 has been shipped to retailers! Electronic Arts released today that the games for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are on their way to retailers. They will be available for sale Thursday (Sept 11).

What makes this game better than before? Well, i'll tell you! (did you expect anything else?). To celebrate the Montreal Canadiens 100th season, they have compiled the Habs dream team. Yes, my friends, that means 21 of the best players in Candiens history. Yes, my friends, that also means Maurice Richard is going to be flying down the ice helmet-less with numereux neuf on his back.



Remember the 2006 Olympics in Torino when an outspoken member of the United States women's hockey team (*cough cough* Angela Ruggiero *cough cough*) complained that Canada was being unsportsmanlike by running up a 16-0 score on the host team, Italy?

Remember how it sparked a debate over embarrasing a team? In the end Team Canada's defense was that home-ice advantage in the final is determined by goal differential and they needed to take the goals when they came. How could Canada know that the Team USA was going to choke and bow out in the Semi-Final?

Anyway I'm just setting the scene for this next story... Because if 16-0 sparked a bit of a debate... what will this do?

2008-09-09 15:40:00

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - With more goals than minutes in the game, Slovakia's women's ice hockey team claimed an amazing 82-0 victory over Bulgaria in Olympic qualifying.

Slovakia outshot the Bulgarians 139-0 during the 60-minute game, played in Latvia. The margin of victory is a record for a women's International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned event.

"We took it as training," Slovakia coach Miroslav Karafiat said after Saturday's game.

Janka Culikova led Slovakia with 10 goals, while Martina Velickova scored nine. Fourteen different players scored at least one goal.

Slovakia, which also beat Croatia, Latvia and Italy, advanced to another qualifying group with Germany, Kazakhstan and France. The winner will secure a spot at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Bulgaria was eliminated after scoring one goal and conceding 192 in the tournament.

The Slovakian men's team clinched its biggest ever victory against the Bulgarians 14 years ago when they won 20-0.