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." Andrei Vasilevskiy Lightning Jersey . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct. Victor Hedman Lightning Jersey . The pair ended pointless droughts when they each scored two goals in a 6-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets that halted a two-game losing skid for the Stars (15-11-5). http://www.lightningproshop.com/callan-foote-jersey/. Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. Andrej Sustr Jersey .C. United have acquired midfielder Alex Caskey from the Seattle Sounders for a third-round pick in the 2016 MLS draft. Martin St. Louis Jersey . So he and his Toronto FC teammates say they will have no problem getting up for their Amway Canadian Championship final against rival Montreal Impact, even if the result doesnt count toward Major League Soccer standings.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to record a point for the 13th time in their last 14 games on Tuesday night when they take on the visiting Winnipeg Jets. Chicago won for the third time in its past four games on Sunday despite hitting the ice with heavy hearts. Having returned from a shootout loss in Columbus the previous night, the Blackhawks learned that 34-year-old assistant equipment manager Clint Reif had passed away sometime Sunday morning. The Hawks held a moment of silence for Reif prior to the game and then managed a 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Antti Raanta made 31 saves for his third career shutout, while Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists. David Rundblad, Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg lit the lamp as well, improving the Blackhawks to 11-1-1 in their past 13 games. Its really tough to describe, something that still hasnt really sunk in for most of us, but we were definitely playing with heavy hearts out there, said Toews. Added Patrick Sharp, who had three assists, Normally when the game starts, you can kind of turn off whatever issues you have going on in your personal life, but tonight, I dont think anybody was able to do that. It was very quiet on the bench, very quiet in the locker room and we wanted to make sure we had a good game for Clint and his family. The Blackhawks are likely to start Corey Crawford for the second time since he returned from an eight-game absence caused by a lower-body injury. He made 17 saves on 19 shots in the loss to the Blue Jackets, his first action since Nov. 29, and is 3-2-0 in his career versus the Jets with a 1.dddddddddddd61 goals against average and .936 save percentage. Center Brad Richards is questionable after missing Sundays game with an upper-body injury. The Jets come to the United Center off the heels of a 2-1-1 homestand, capping the residency with a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Winnipeg led 3-1 at one point, but the Flyers scored twice in the third frame and then netted the winning goal 10 seconds into overtime. Dustin Byfuglien was one of three goal-scorers for the Jets, but he also lost the puck behind his own net early in OT that led to Philadelphias goal. Matt Halischuk ended a 27-game span without a goal and Mathieu Perreault also lit the lamp to give him three goals and four assists over a seven-game point streak. Ondrej Pavelec made 19 saves in the loss, one that dropped the Jets to 7-1-4 in their last 12. We stopped making simple plays. Its not that we couldnt make simple plays, we stopped trying to make simple plays and opted for a safe option, Jets coach Paul Maurice said. Maurice may continue his goaltender rotation tonight and give Michael Hutchinson the start. He has won three of his past four games and is 7-2-2 on the season with a 1.73 GAA and .940 save percentage in 12 games (10 starts). That includes a 33-save shutout in his only career start versus the Blackhawks, which came on Nov. 2 in Chicago. 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