(Zenit St. Petersburg), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan) Defen

NEW YORK -- Hockey rarely gets much attention in Norway, a skiing-obsessed nation that turns to soccer when the snow melts. Mats Zuccarello is changing that. Zuccarello is only the seventh player from Norway to make it to the NHL, and hes the first to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. Now, "Zucca" has Norwegians staying up late to watch New York Rangers games and checking the stats to see if he scored. "A lot of Norwegians have fallen in love with Zuccarello," says Roy Kvatningen, sports editor for Norwegian online paper Nettavisen. "First and foremost because hes successful at what he does. He won the scoring title in Norway, he won the scoring title in Sweden, and now hes playing on the biggest stage in the world. "Hes also got a cool name and a good personality: confident, but down to earth." Former teammates of Zuccarello and his mother are being interviewed by Norwegian media. Downhill skier Kjetil Jansrud and players on the national soccer team have sent him congratulatory messages. In his fourth NHL season, all with the Rangers, Zuccarello notched 19 goals and 40 assists in 77 games. He added four goals and seven assists in 20 post-season games to help New York get to the finals for the first time in 20 years. "Some people, like my close family and friends that have been following me since I was young, are really excited," he said. "I told everyone its a huge opportunity for me to play, but at the same time nothing is won yet." The affable 26-year-old winger hopes his success will build up hockey at home, but he knows it will take a lot more than that. "I would love to be a role model for younger players back home and create some more buzz around hockey," he said. "Hopefully this can help. If I was Norwegian or not, I would be equally happy to play in the Stanley Cup finals." Norway finished last in the Sochi Olympic hockey tournament. Zuccarello believes a greater commitment is needed within the country before success outside of it can be reached. "We have 25 rinks. There is no ice in the rinks during the whole summer," he said. "... How are you supposed to be a good hockey player when you go four months with no ice?" Zuccarello says Norway hasnt made a commitment to hockey since Oslo hosted the 1952 Olympics. "Nothing," he said in a frustrated tone. "We have one new rink in Norway that is not from 52. They have renewed it a little bit, but our main rink in Oslo was built in 52, and thats not good enough. Its got to start from the top. Its going to cost money, but the government has money. Youve got to use it to get new rinks, get people excited to go to a hockey game with new seats. Norway is considered the "little brother" in hockey circles to Sweden and Finland. Sweden has 10 times as many rinks than Norway, Kvatningen said. Zuccarello was fortunate to attend a hockey-centric high school and then played three seasons in Norways elite league. From there he went to Modo in Swedens premier league before signing a free agent deal with the Rangers in 2010. He watched the Stanley Cup finals as a youngster in the early morning hours. The first one he recalls was the Colorado Avalanches victory over Florida in 1996 when he was 8. The Avalanche, with Swedish star Peter Forsberg, was Zuccarellos favourite team. They won that series in a four-game sweep -- ending it with Uwe Krupps goal in triple overtime. "I remember waking up. I was going to school, I turned on the TV and Uwe Krupp scored the overtime winner," Zuccarello said. "I didnt think it was live. I thought it was taped." He might be about to create a lot of sleepless nights for grown-ups and kids alike back home once this series against the Los Angeles Kings begins Wednesday. Family members and friends are planning to make the trip to New York to see him play live in Games 3 and 4. They will have to make room for other Norwegian tourists who are looking to make the trek, too. "I know already that more Norwegians have been travelling to New York to catch a game at Madison Square Garden," Kvatningen said. "Even if theyre not hockey fans, its a great experience for Norwegians to go over there and see a small Norwegian guy getting celebrated." Ian Happ Jersey .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Joe Pepitone Jersey . The third-ranked Buckeyes were down eight points to Notre Dame with less than 2 minutes to play and their offence was nowhere to be found. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2540t-lee-smith-jersey-cubs.html . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Benito Santiago Cubs Jersey .Y. - Alex Rodriguez paid $305,000 for evidence that could be used in the case involving the Biogenesis of America drug clinic, the Daily News reported Saturday. Joe Maddon Cubs Jersey . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them.MOSCOW - Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was included in Russia coach Fabio Capellos preliminary squad for the World Cup on Monday. Pogrebnyak made the 30-man list despite not having played for Russia since Capello took over as coach in 2012. But there was no recall for former Arsenal forward Andrei Arshavin or former Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. Up front, Pogrebnyak faces competition from regular strikers Alexander Kerzhakov and Alexander Kokorin. Midfielder Roman Shirokov, who has captained Russia in each game the team has played since October, made the cut despite being loaned out by Zenit St. Petersburg following a reported dispute with club officials. CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and centre back Sergei Ignashevich are among seven to have been on the Russia squad that reached the semifinals of the 2008 European Championship, widely considered the countrys greatest football achievement since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Four players — Terek Grozny defender Andrei Semyonov, FC Krasnodar midfielder Yuri Gazinsky, Rubin Kazan midfielder Pavel Mogilevets and Amkar Perm forward Maxim Kannunikov — have never played for Russia. The 30-man squad will be cut down to a final 23 by June 2, 10 days before play starts in Brazil. Russia, the 2018 Worldd Cup host, will face South Korea, Belgium and Algeria in the group stage in Brazil.dddddddddddd The Russians will play home friendlies against Slovakia on May 26 and Morocco on June 6, with a match at Norway on May 31. ___ Squad: Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Yuri Lodygin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan) Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasily Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Georgy Shchennikov (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Alexei Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow), Andrei Eshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Andrei Semyonov (Terek Grozny) Midfielders: Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Yuri Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Yuri Gazinsky (FC Krasnodar), Roman Shirokov (FC Krasnodar), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan), Viktor Faizulin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Oleg Shatov (Zenit St. Petersburg) Forwards: Vladimir Bystrov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Artyom Dzyuba (FC Rostov), Alexei Ionov (Dynamo Moscow), Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow), Maxim Kannunikov (Amkar Perm), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Reading), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow) ' ' '