Tuesday, May 31, 2005

28 year old Czech Striker, Marek Jankulovski of Udinese has been sold to AC Milan. He joins PSV Eindhoven's Swiss international Johan Vogel in the space of the last few days as Milan's season ending purchases. Current Milan striker Jon Dahl Tomasson wants to stay at the club despite, he says, being flattered by interest from La Liga's Deportivo LaCoruna. Juventus fans were reassured by goalie Luigi Buffon that he is not moving away from the club next season. Juventus coach Fabio Capello appears to have his sights firmly set on Atletico Madrid defender Luis Perea who has been in top form since moving to Spain. Meanwhile Atletico are hot on the chase for Arsenal's Brazilian midfielder Edu. Real Madrid's Ivan Helgera is linked with Italian Champs Juventus. Helguera has previously played for AS Roma and has only 1 year left to go on his contract with Madrid.



The last day of the La Liga had a dramatic finish with relegation & Champions League spots being decided. Mallorca were on the brink of being eliminated and their 1-1 draw with Real Betis, ensured that it would be Levante who would be playing in the second division next season. Betis, who finished fourth on the strength of the draw, meant that it would be them and not Espanyol who joined surprise team of the season Villareal CF in the qualifying stages of the Champions League. Deigo Forlan scored twice & created another in his club's 4-1 beating of Levante and finished as the shock leader in goals scored in Spain. 5 goals scored in two games got him the goalden boot in Europe along with Theirry Henry of Arsenal. Villarreal will be one to watch out for next season. It will be interesting to see if they will sign on any big name players to have a good showing in the Champions League next season. I don't think they have the strength in squad to play as well as they did this season, in both La Liga as well as in Europe. Milan Baros has not rulled out the possibilty that he may join Valencia or even another club, despite Liverpool winning the Champions League.



And ofcourse, veteran Russian midfielder Valery Karpin's, professional career came to an end as he played his last game for Real Sociedad & he received an ovation from both sets of fans as he left the field in the closing moments. He had played for CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow & Celta Di Vigo before joining for Sociedad three seasons ago - for the second time.



Jocelyn Thibault is the goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks. BORN: Montreal, Quebec, January 12, 1975. HOME: Hinsdale, Illinois. HEIGHT: 5'11" WEIGHT: 170 lbs. UNIFORM #: 41 (Colorado, Montreal, Chicago). CATCHES: Left & JUNIOR TEAM: Sherbrooke Falcons, QMJHL. He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the 10th round, sixth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry draft. He went on to play for the Nordiques, continuing after they moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche, and also for the Montreal Canadiens. In 1995, he was traded to the Canadiens for Patrick Roy. After playing with the Canadiens, he was traded to the Blackhawks for Eric Weinrich, Jeff Hackett and Alain Nesraddine. In the 2002-03 season, he made his first appearance in the 2003 NHL All-Star Game.





Song for the day - "Feeling Way Too Damn Good" - NICKELBACK