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Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Phil Thompson: It didn't take long for Stan Bowman to get another chance. You can forgive yourself for not forgiving him quite yet.

Sports / Hockey /

CHICAGO — Some people have an admirable capacity to forgive.

Look no further than former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach finding it in himself to have a phone conversation with former general manager Stan Bowman, who by his own admission failed Beach with his silence when Hawks senior management neglected to act on Beach’s sexual ...Read more

Sharks' Alexander Wennberg explains why coming to San Jose 'felt perfect'

Sports / Hockey /

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Shortly after he signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent this month, Alexander Wennberg couldn’t help but give the Eklund family a call.

Wennberg, then 18, was Christian Eklund’s teammate with Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League a dozen years ago. Now, Wennberg, who turns 30 in September, will play with ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Now that the makeover is complete, what are we to make of Lightning?

Sports / Hockey /

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Put down the tissues and grab your wits. Crying time is over, and you’re going to want to see this.

Two weeks after the saddest goodbye in franchise history, the Lightning are a different team. Less lovable but maybe more formidable. Less recognizable but more rational.

Steven Stamkos and Mikhail Sergachev are gone while ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

The case for Victor Hedman as the Lightning's next captain

Sports / Hockey /

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — This wasn’t the way Victor Hedman envisioned his days playing alongside his best friend ending.

The defenseman joined the Tampa Bay Lightning one year after forward Steven Stamkos, and the two were teammates for 15 seasons. They grew from teenagers into grown men, pillars of the team’s championship success. They loved ...Read more

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jason Mackey: Recent Penguins history has featured defensive rebounds. Could Erik Karlsson and Ryan Graves be next?

Sports / Hockey /

PITTSBURGH — Sergei Gonchar's list of accomplishments is not short.

Twenty NHL seasons and 1,301 games played. More points (811) than any other Russian-born defenseman. Nine times in the top-10 of Norris Trophy voting. Hoisting the Stanley Cup as a player and coach while also winning Olympic medals for his country.

But something Gonchar ...Read more

Jason Kempin/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jason Mackey: Penguins must make good on FSG's 'massive' investment in player development

Sports / Hockey /

PITTSBURGH — What Brayden Yager represents for the Penguins took about seven seconds to detect Wednesday in the championship game of their development camp-closing four-on-four tournament.

Their first-round pick in 2023 corralled the puck at the blue line, ducked his left shoulder to gain position and found another gear, flipping a shot past ...Read more

Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

Sergei Murashov shines, Owen Pickering captains winning team to close out Penguins prospect camp

Sports / Hockey /

With time winding down and about 10 seconds left Wednesday afternoon in the championship game of the 4-on-4 tournament that closed Pittsburgh Penguins prospect camp, top-billed forward Brayden Yager of Team 3 skated in from the left side and fired a wrister toward the net.

With the score 2-1 and bragging rights on the line, defenseman Owen ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Lightning forward prospect Ethan Gauthier is learning how to be a pro

Sports / Hockey /

BRANDON, Fla. — As one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s top prospects, forward Ethan Gauthier has picked up quickly on the importance of learning the ins and outs of being a pro.

He used his second development camp last week as an opportunity to watch everything around him, including the NHL players at TGH IcePlex who were doing informal ...Read more

Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America/TNS

What does Mike Grier expect from the Sharks this season?

Sports / Hockey /

SAN JOSE, Calif. – With the San Jose Sharks upgrading their roster for the upcoming season and enjoying a newfound excitement around the team, it’s natural to wonder when they might start to become legitimate playoff contenders again.

But Mike Grier, who has taken a methodical approach to rebuilding the Sharks since he was named the team’...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Newest Bruin Nikita Zadorov is in it to win it

Sports / Hockey /

BOSTON — To think the impact of Nikita Zadorov’s signing by the Bruins will be comparable to that of Zdeno Chara 18 years ago would be unfair to both Zadorov and to what Chara accomplished as a Bruin.

Chara’s signing is arguably the best free agent signing in hockey history and, to Zadorov’s credit, the B’s newest blue line beast has ...Read more

Grant Halverson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Carolina Hurricanes hire Doug Warf to be new team president, oversee PNC Arena renovations

Sports / Hockey /

The Carolina Hurricanes turned to a familiar face in hiring its new team president.

The team announced Monday that Doug Warf would be president of Hurricanes Holdings, LLC, and would oversee the Hurricanes’ business operations and the operation of PNC Arena.

From 2007-17, Warf served as executive director of the Hurricanes Foundation, ...Read more

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jason Mackey: How interactions with 'Mr. Crosby' continue to bewilder, motivate younger Penguins

Sports / Hockey /

PITTSBURGH — Owen Pickering looked down at his phone and froze.

Despite having plenty of confidence and a naturally outgoing personality, Pickering really hadn't prepared for this moment — getting a text message from Sidney Crosby shortly after he was drafted in 2022.

Crosby normally goes old school in these settings, opting for a phone ...Read more

Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Jett Luchanko, Hunter McDonald, and Noah Powell stand out in Flyers development camp

Sports / Hockey /

Brendan Shanahan was asked when he made the Hockey Hall of Fame how he wanted to be remembered.

“That I was involved,” he told this reporter. Considering he won three Stanley Cups and notched more than 1,300 points during his NHL career, it’s fair to say: mission accomplished.

The players skating at the Philadelphia Flyers development ...Read more

Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Should Celebrini and Smith be the Sharks' top two centers this season?

Sports / Hockey /

SAN JOSE, Calif. – There’s little question that Macklin Celebrini will provide a significant boost to this season’s San Jose Sharks team.

A tremendously skilled and dynamic two-way center with a nonstop motor and an off-the-charts compete level, Celebrini has the clear potential to be the Sharks’ next franchise player. By all accounts, ...Read more

Jason Kempin/Getty Images North America/TNS

Is Brayden Yager ready for the NHL right now? The Penguins say the door will be open.

Sports / Hockey /

PITTSBURGH — Kyle Dubas was waiting Friday with a message to deliver when the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects arrived in Cranberry, Pa., for the Penguins’ annual development camp.

Pittsburgh’s president of hockey operations, who has pivoted into something of a rebuild in his second year on the job, told 48 wide-eyed prospects in the room...Read more

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images North America/TNS

Phil Thompson: Blackhawks have taken a step forward with veteran signings -- and should be judged accordingly

Sports / Hockey /

CHICAGO — A crooked smile crept across Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s face as he reflected on his full-circle moment with free-agent “pickup” Teuvo Teräväinen.

“It’s funny, this is way back … I picked Teuvo up from the airport when he first came over,” Davidson said. “I don’t even know if he remembers ...Read more

Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America/TNS

San Jose Sharks sign Macklin Celebrini to entry level contract

Sports / Hockey /

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks have signed center Macklin Celebrini, the first-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, to a three-year, entry-level contract, starting a new era for the franchise.

“Macklin is not only a special player on the ice, but he is a poised, confident and intelligent young man off of it,” San Jose Sharks ...Read more

Candice Ward/Getty Images North America/TNS

Geoff Baker: Kraken draft pick Nathan Villeneuve insists bounty on opponent is 'normally not who I am'

Sports / Hockey /

SEATTLE — There’s a clip from the iconic 1977 satirical hockey movie “Slap Shot” that briefly forced Kraken draft pick Nathan Villeneuve to stop using his cellphone.

“I was tired of opening my phone and seeing the same meme texted to me a thousand times,” Villeneuve, 18, said this week at the Kraken’s annual development camp after...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Adam Hill: Sorry, fans, but Knights probably right on Jonathan Marchessault

Sports / Hockey /

LAS VEGAS — Golden Knights fans, it’s completely fine to be all in your feelings this week about the departures of some beloved players.

At the same time, it’s OK to acknowledge the organization probably made the right decision on most of those contracts, even if it feels like you are betraying people you have come to love cheering for ...Read more

Claus Andersen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Knights face uncertainty with goaltending after signing Samsonov

Sports / Hockey /

LAS VEGAS — Next season just became important for the Golden Knights’ goaltending department.

Not just for 2025, but beyond.

The Knights shook up their netminder situation in the span of 48 hours, starting with the trade of Logan Thompson to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

They followed that by signing former Toronto Maple Leafs ...Read more