Tag Archives: Hockey

Blackhawks’ Panarin apologizes for ‘insensitive comments’ in old interview

Chicago Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin has issued an apology for what he referred to as insensitive comments said in an old Russian television interview.

"In 2012, I was a guest on a Russian TV show and made insensitive comments that I deeply regret," Panarin said in a statement the Blackhawks released to Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune. "I understand my comments are offensive and I apologize for my hurtful words."

According to Hine, Panarin was asked in the interview what he could never do, and Russian-speaking sources confirmed his answer was, "Have sex with a black woman."

The sources added Panarin and the television host appeared to be joking around, and Panarin's response may have been an attempt at humor.

The Blackhawks added, "On Sunday, we were made aware of the video from Artemi's appearance on a Russian TV show in 2012. We immediately addressed the matter with him. His comments in the video in no way represent the values of our organization. He has apologized and understands the offensive nature of his words."

Panarin has emerged as one of the Blackhawks' best player over the past two seasons and recently signed a two-year, $12-million contract extension.

The apology comes days after the NHL wrapped up "Hockey Is For Everyone" month.

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Thornton notches 1,000th career assist

Make it quadruple digits for Jumbo Joe.

San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton picked up the 1,000th assist of his career with a helper on Joe Pavelski's empty-netter against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.

Thornton became the 13th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat, recording his 1,382nd point in his 1,432nd game.

The 37-year-old ranks 23rd on the league's all-time points list, and his 1,000th assist pulled him to within 16 helpers of Joe Sakic for 12th all time in that category.

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Watch: Rangers’ Zibanejad outshines Lightning with OT breakaway winner

Mika Zibanejad played the role of hero for the New York Rangers.

The Swedish center scored the lone goal of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy on the breakaway to earn his team the extra point.

The goal was his ninth of the season and second game-winner.

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Watch: Capitals’ Oshie goes backhand shelf on Stars

That escalated quickly.

The puck, that is, fired from the back of T.J. Oshie's stick and past Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars for quite the impressive goal.

The tally was Oshie's 25th of the season, bringing the Washington Capitals winger to within one of his career high.

It also brought Washington to within one in an eventual 4-2 loss.

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Watch: Byfuglien takes out 3 players at once

This would be the bowling equivalent of picking up a spare.

Dustin Byfuglien was the human bowling ball Monday night, taking out two San Jose Sharks as well as teammate Toby Enstrom.

Marcus Sorensen and Justin Braun were the opponents who ended up in the heap, and somehow, everyone emerged unharmed.

To think, Byfuglien was actually trailing the play when the Sharks broke into the Jets' zone.

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Bruins’ Marchand scores 30 goals for 2nd straight season

Brad Marchand is turning into an elite goal-scorer.

For the second season in a row, the Bruins winger has scored 30 goals, a feat not achieved in Boston in more than a decade.

His 30th this season came on the power play Monday in Ottawa in what ended up being a loss for the Bruins.

Marchand scored 37 goals in 77 games last season, a mark he could match or even top in the final 16 games.

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Stars still have Holtby’s number

Braden Holtby will have to wait until next season to finally beat the Dallas Stars.

The Washington Capitals goalie, who's posted a victory over every other NHL team, entered Monday's action in search of his first career win against Dallas.

Instead, Holtby found himself on the bench in the second period after allowing three goals on 11 shots, continuing a run of poor play in games against the Stars.

In fairness, Devin Shore's opening goal came after a lengthy interference review, and Radek Faksa scored off an egregious turnover in front of the net.

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Capitals fans assemble furniture on Swedish Heritage Night

It's Swedish Heritage Night at Verizon Center in Washington, so what better way to honor the Scandinavian nation than to put together a dresser?

The Capitals had fans assemble furniture, IKEA-style, before their game against the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

Swedish ambassador to the United States, Bjorn Lyrvall, was on hand for the festivities, and the Tre Kronor spirit was well-represented.

The Capitals boast a trio of Swedes - forwards Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson, and Austrian-born Swedish national Andre Burakovsky - while the Stars have three of their own: defensemen John Klingberg and Patrik Nemeth, and forward Mattias Janmark.

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McPhee after 1st signing: Vegas likes players who haven’t had it easy

The Vegas Golden Knights will gladly take a player the Minnesota Wild chose not to keep.

In fact, the experience of being drafted in 2014 but not signed to an entry-level contract should serve Reid Duke well, says general manager George McPhee.

Related: 3 things to know about Reid Duke

Duke, a 21-year-old forward, became the first player signed by the Golden Knights after agreeing to terms on an entry-level deal Monday. He's well-acquainted with assistant GM Kelly McCrimmon, who owns Duke's junior team, the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings.

In 306 junior games in Brandon and Lethbridge, Duke recorded 113 goals and 137 assists for a point-per-game average of 0.82.

"It’s pretty amazing, everything that’s gone on in the last years of my junior career leading up to this moment," Duke added, according to the team's Twitter account. "I’m just a part of everything going on. It’s exciting for everyone involved."

A big day for Vegas, but plenty of work yet to do.

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GMs focus on future of game during Day 1 of meetings

There's no such thing as a bad idea.

That appeared to be the theme of the first day of general manager meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., where the group of 31 gathered Monday to talk about the future of the NHL.

Here are some of the things that were discussed:

1. Placing one faceoff circle in each offensive zone: "One of our comments is a lot of times the puck's won and now it's all of a sudden a board battle," said Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. "But if you put one faceoff circle right in the middle of each end zone - you're right in front of the net."

2. Eliminating the loser point: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello proposed reverting back to the old point system.

3. Rule changes to increase offense: Many ideas were bounced around, such as increasing zone and net size, but a big one appears to have been making it illegal to leave your feet to block a shot.

"That was mentioned a long time ago by Bob Gainey," said New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero. "Everybody thought he was crazy. But that's what you try to do - look 15, 20 years ahead. What is good for the game? The quality of the game is most important."

The GMs will gather again Tuesday and it's expected they'll talk in more concrete terms about the offside rule, the length of video reviews, and bye weeks.

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