Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ray Emery has been named this weeks Player of the Week by the National Hockey Association. Emery played in three games this past week going 3-0-0 with a .957 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against-average. Emery also recorded his first shutout of the season in a game against the Saskatoon Wildcats.

Other player nominated for the award this week were Saku Koivu of the Montreal Barracudas who put up seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in four games with a plus three rating, as well as Detroit Phantoms forward Brian Rolston who registered six points (5 goals, 1 assist) with a plus one rating in two games.

An interesting storyline that has developed that last few seasons in the National Hockey Association, is the continued rivalry between the Manhattan Warriors, Florida Panthers and North Carolina Eagles. This is a rivalry that that stems from the fact that all three teams are owned by siblings who are constantly trying to out do one another and get the upper hand in the standings.

Last night, we saw that rivalry continue with the Florida Panthers and North Carolina Eagles playing one another, with each club looking to gain some momentum. On this occassion, it was the Panthers coming away with 4-3 victory, despite coming close to losing the game because of two late goals by the Eagles.

"We seemed to fall back on our heals in the third period," said captain Nicklas Lidstrom after the game. "We played some very good hockey in the first two periods, but when that third period came around, we were not the same team."

These two teams will continue their rivalry on Tuesday when the Panthers will play host to the Eagles in Florida with brother Dan Bagnato of the Warriors looking on and waiting.

Ryan Miller made twenty-nine saves, and the Ottawa Vampyres scored five goals to win their fourth straight game, bringing themselves to within three points of top spot in the entire league.

Five different players scored to the Vampyres tonight which is becoming a common theme on this team with the exception of Thomas Vanek who has nine goals on the year. Coach Guy Carbonneau has put together a system of balanced scoring where every single line can hurt you, and other teams around the league will need to adjust to this system if they plan on defeating the Vampyres going forward.

"I really like the way our team is playing,: said Carbonneau. "We're getting contributions from everyone with all of the guys giving it their all night in and night out. We just need to keep things going like this for another sixty-nine games."

The Vampyres will now have three days off before playing host to the Quebec Remparts on Saturday night.

Goaltender Martin Biron of the Saskatoon Wildcats has been named the Player of the Week by the National Hockey Association. Biron played in four games last week posting a 3-1-0 record with a 1.50 goals-against-average and .953 save percentage.

Other players nominated for the award included the likes of Radek Martinek of the Halifax Hurricanes who recored eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in four games with a plus three rating as well as Manhattan Warriors forward Sydney Crosby who put up eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in three games with a plus three rating.

The Seattle Thunderbirds climbed to the top of the American Conference tonight, thanks to a 3-0 victory over the Las Vegas Outlaws. The win not only gave the Thunderbirds top spot in the American Conference with seventeen points, but also four wins in a row and seven wins in their last ten games.

Recent trade acquisition Jean-Sebastein Giguere made nineteen saves in the game to give him his first shutout of the season. Although Giguere did not need to make any huge saves during the game, he did add a calming influence to the team which is somtimes just as important.

"Giguere was great out there for us tonight," said coach Pat Quinn after the game. "He adds an element to our team that will make us stronger in the long run. Not only is he a great goalie, but he's a great leader in our dressing room."

Seattle will try to continue their winning ways when they play host to the equally tough Yellowknife Ice Dragons tomorrow night.

The Edmondton Roadrunners played host to the Vancouver Canucks last night with both teams looking to build some momentum, but with very different reasons. Edmonton was desperately looking to climb out of the Canadian Conference basement, while Vancouver was looking to climb to the top of the Canadian Conference.

Unfortunately for Edmonton, it was Vancouver who was granted their wish thanks to an offense that exploded for eight goals on route to an 8-2 beating of Roadrunners. Brendan Shanahan, Christian Ehrhoff and Peter Forsberg each scored two goals and three points with Ehrhoff being named the games first star.

"We really seemed to be on our game tonight," said Forsberg. "We pressured them in their own zone for a large part of the game and started to get under the skin of Ed Belfour I think."

These two teams will get right back at it again in Vancouver on Thursday night for the second game of their home-and-home series.

The National Hockey Association has named Halifax Hurricanes winger Tomas Holmstrom it's Player of the Week. Holmstrom was an integral player this past week for the Hurricanes and their rise to the top of the American Conference standings. In five games, Holmstrom put up nine points (5 goals, 3 assists) while also posting a plus four rating.

Other players nominated for the award were Olaf Kolzig of the Quebec Remparts who posted a 3-1-0 record with a 1.60 GAA, .919 SV% and one shuthout, as well as Vincent Lecavalier of the Prince George Norsemen who had six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in four games with a plus one rating.