Category Archives: Hockey News

Eberle, Islanders haven’t opened extension talks

It's been all quiet on the Jordan Eberle contract extension front.

The New York Islanders forward says he has yet to begin discussing a potential new deal with the club.

"I haven't had any conversations with anybody," Eberle told NHL.com's Brian Compton on Tuesday. "Going into the summer, I was trying to focus on me and being the best I can be, and come into the camp the best I can be. Once that happens, you start trying to fill a role and try to make this team as good as it can be."

Eberle is entering the final season of the six-year, $36-million deal he signed in the summer of 2012, and as a result, could have started negotiating an extension July 1.

He notched 25 goals and 59 points in his first season with the Islanders after being traded by the Edmonton Oilers for forward Ryan Strome last summer.

The Islanders' eventful offseason was punctuated by John Tavares leaving for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the first day of free agency, but it also included Garth Snow being dismissed from his GM role, Lou Lamoriello taking it over in addition to president of hockey operations duties, Doug Weight being fired from the head coaching position, and Barry Trotz being named his replacement.

Eberle isn't the only pending UFA forward on the club, as Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are among the other players up front that the club will need to negotiate with lest they hit the open market next July.

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Rangers to retire Vic Hadfield’s No. 11

Vic Hadfield will be the 10th player to have his number retired by the New York Rangers.

Hadfield's No. 11 will be raised to the rafters in an on-ice ceremony before a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 2, the Rangers announced on Tuesday.

The former forward played parts of 13 seasons with the Rangers from 1961-62 to 1973-74, ranking fifth in franchise history in career goals (262), 10th in assists (310), and ninth in points (572).

He was a two-time All-Star and the first Ranger to score 50 goals in a season, accomplishing the feat in 1971-72, which was also when his three-season stretch as the Rangers' captain began.

He finished his career playing three campaigns with the Pittsburgh Penguins after a trade following the 1973-74 season.

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Chara, Krug among Bruins who won’t travel to China for preseason games

The list of Boston Bruins players not heading overseas for their preseason games in China continues to grow, with action set to begin in just over a week.

During the Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament on Tuesday, head coach Bruce Cassidy announced that Noel Acciari, Zdeno Chara, Danton Heinen, Torey Krug, and Sean Kuraly won't make the trip to China for two preseason games against the Calgary Flames, the first in Shenzhen on Sept. 15 and the second in Beijing on the 19th.

Heinen and Kuraly have been excused by the team after they went to China as part of the Bruins Global trip this summer. Meanwhile, Krug and Acciari are both coming off injuries and will play games in Boston. Both are expected to be ready for the beginning of the regular season, the team stated.

Last week, forward Patrice Bergeron told reporters he wouldn't be participating in the games as he continues to rehab from offseason surgery. However, like Krug and Acciari, he is expected to be in the lineup for the team's season opener against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 3.

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Capitals asked to stop doing keg stands out of Stanley Cup

The Washington Capitals might be celebrating their Stanley Cup win just a little too enthusiastically.

Capitals players have been frequently doing keg stands out of the Cup during the trophy's turn with each member of the roster this summer. However, it's become evident that keg stands could damage the Cup, and now players and team staff have been asked to refrain from performing them.

"We ask them politely not to do it," Philip Pritchard, the Hockey Hall of Fame's Keeper of the Cup, told Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post. "We're trying to preserve the history of the Stanley Cup. We don't want any unnecessary damage to it or a person, in case they drop the person or he presses too hard or something."

The Capitals are the first team to regularly perform keg stands out of the Cup. Jimmy Fallon even did one when Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby made their appearance on "The Tonight Show" in June.


Pritchard says the Cup will be taken apart and cleaned at the end of the summer, and he'll be able to see what kind of stress doing keg stands has had on it.

"We'll see what happens as we move forward with the Cup," Pritchard said. "At the end of September, the Cup is going in to get engraved and updated and cleaned and everything, so we'll see how it is because we have to take it apart then and everything. We'll know probably more then in early October, once it's back for the home opener. Our biggest thing is respect for it."

For now, it seems the Capitals and subsequent teams will have to resort to celebrating in water fountains.

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Senators name Kelly development coach

The Ottawa Senators have appointed Chris Kelly as their new development coach, the team announced Tuesday.

Kelly, along with fellow development coach (and former Senators forward) Shean Donovan, will work closely with the club's prospects.

The 37-year-old Kelly played eight of his 15 years in the NHL with the Senators, where he put up 80 goals and 188 points in 545 games. Over his NHL career, Kelly tallied 123 goals and 291 points in 845 games.

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Senators’ Boedker excited to return to Canada

Mikkel Boedker played his junior hockey in Canada, but after stints with three American clubs in 10 NHL seasons, an offseason trade will bring the Danish winger back to the Great White North.

A June trade sent Boedker from the San Jose Sharks to the Ottawa Senators, and while on the surface it looks like he's leaving a contender for a team in a tailspin, Boedker is intrigued by the Senators' potential.

"I'm very much (excited)," Boedker told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. "It's a good opportunity to play some good hockey and join a Canadian franchise that's about to turn the ship around. It's good to be part of something like that."

The hope is that Boedker will offset some of the production lost from forward Mike Hoffman, who was shipped to the Sharks in the same deal (then later flipped to the Florida Panthers).

Boedker finished with 37 points in 74 appearances last season, however 29 points came in the 45 games once the calendar turned to 2018. The 28-year-old believes the Senators can have a similar turnaround this season after finishing in 30th place last season.

"When people talk about Ottawa I don't think they give them enough credit because I think there's a lot of capable players and a lot players that have done some damage in their careers on the stats sheet," Boedker said. "I still think it's a very capable team and we've just got to get back to that. We've just got to get back to where it's all in every night and every night matters."

The Senators kick off the 2018-19 campaign against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 4.

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