Latest news with #Koepke
Boston Globe
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Who needs practice? Minnesota trio meshed well playing together for first time in Bruins' win over Lightning
In a season of so much gone wrong for the Bruins, Koepke, Mittelstadt and Lettieri at least for one afternoon delivered a motherlode of joy in the Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Three Minnesota guys coming full circle, playing together in the NHL,' said a smiling Koepke, musing over the newly-minted 3M brotherhood, 'it's pretty cool.' Advertisement Until Saturday, the three Minnesotans never played on the same line at any level, be it as amateurs or pros. Koepke, from Two Harbors, often lined up against Mittelstadt, from Eden Prairie, in their high school hockey days. Lettieri, 30 years old and four years their senior, grew up in Excelsior. But in the global mix master of circumstance and caprice that is the NHL, Friday's acquisition of Mittelstadt, the slicker talent of the three, had the 3Ms shaking hands for the first time as teammates a mere three hours prior to puck drop on Saturday. Practice? Forget practice. They jumped out there for the pregame warmup, rolled through their line rushes as the few minutes allowed, and went to work — accumulating an aggregate 46:24 in ice time. It likely earned them the right to work together again Tuesday when the Related : Asked postgame Saturday if he would lobby GM Don Sweeney to import, say, a handful of other Minnesotans, a smiling Koepke said, 'Yeah, bring 'em all in!' Advertisement Vinni Lettieri congratulates Cole Koepke after Koepke gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the second period against the Lightning on only the Bruins, still clinging to the slim hope of locking down a wild-card playoff seed in the East, could dip into the Land of 10,000 Lakes to find all their answers over the remaining 17 games of the regular season. Even with the blanking of the Lightning, they awoke Sunday with their .508 points percentage ranking 13th in the conference. They have some serious leapfrogging to do in the standings to get into the top eight, and precious little time to leap. 'If you keep playing the way we have the last couple of games, the bounces will go your way eventually,' said interim coach Joe Sacco, prior to boarding Saturday night's charter flight back to Boston. 'We got some … and we were able to extend our lead. That doesn't necessarily mean you can breathe easier [within a game], but it helps your psyche at times.' Koepke's first goal midway through the second period snapped the scoreless tie. Mark Kastelic provided a touch more oxygen with his goal, off a shot from outside the blueline, for the 2-0 lead, with 6:44 to go in regulation. The Bruins, their lineup turned inside out on Friday with all of Sweeney's deals, were a league-worst 1-6-2 in their prior nine games. The red-hot Lightning were 10-1 in their last 11. For those with the itch for the growing world of legalized sports gambling, good luck identifying dead-certain NHL wagers. 'We still have to look and see who fits where,' said Sacco, when asked to appraise the overall look of a remade roster, and what impressions his new lines made in Tampa. 'It's opportunity, right? They need to take advantage of it — and good for them today.' Advertisement *** Brandon Carlo, among the vets wheeled out Friday by Sweeney, made his Leafs debut Saturday in his home state of Colorado, where Charlie Coyle's Avalanche rolled up a big 7-4 win. Carlo logged 22:04 in ice time and led the Leafs with six blocked shots. Coyle (swapped for Mittelstadt), making his Avalanche debut, assisted on one of the seven goals and logged 11:44 . . . After an off-day Sunday, the Bruins return to work late Monday morning at Warrior, the start of a busy week that will see the Panthers (Tuesday) and Lightning (Saturday) come to town — around a quick up and back to Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday … Decades ago, Minnesota delivered Tommy Williams to the Bruins. A proud son of the Iron Range (Duluth), the dynamic skating Williams was only 21 when he cracked the Bruins' roster for the start of the 1961-62 NHL season — a time when Americans occupied NHL roster spots on par with the frequency that snowflakes piled up on Miami Beach. Williams produced admirably (232 points in 391 games) across some very lean years on Causeway Street only to be dished to the expansion North Stars on May 7, 1969. Exactly one year and three days later, Derek Sanderson fed Bobby Orr for the goal that delivered the franchise's first Cup win in 29 years. Timing, ya know? Other than Ken Hodge, born in Birmingham, England, every member of that '70 Cup team was born in Canada. Advertisement Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at
Fox Sports
08-03-2025
- Business
- Fox Sports
New-look Bruins beat Lightning 4-0, day after making a flurry of rebuilding moves at trade deadline
Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Boston Bruins got off to a good start in their new era. Cole Koepke had a career-high two goals to lead Boston in a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday, one day after being active sellers at the NHL trade deadline. Koepke scored twice against his former team, Mark Kastelic and Nikita Zadorov also had goals. All three players are in their first season with the new-look Bruins. Boston's boldest move was dealing captain Brad Marchand, the last remaining player from its 2011 Stanley Cup championship team, to the Florida Panthers. 'It was a tough day,' said Bruins forward David Pastrnak, one of the last familiar faces still wearing the black and gold for the Boston Bruins. The rebuilding franchise will receive a second-round draft pick from Florida and the compensation could become a first-rounder if the Panthers win two rounds in the playoffs and the 36-year-old wing plays in half their playoff games games. Boston also sent forward Justin Brazeau to Minnesota, forward Charlie Coyle to Colorado and forward Marc McLaughlin to New Jersey along with defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto. Forward Trent Frederic was traded to Edmonton earlier in the week, sparking the start of the fire sale. 'We didn't burn it down," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney insisted. The Bruins are in a pack of teams with a potential chance to earn a wild card in the playoffs, but they will have to move on without a lot of familiar faces. 'That's the worst part of our business,' Pastrnak said on ABC during an intermission interview. Boston's management clearly decided it was time to move on. The Bruins earned 100-plus points in each of the last six non-pandemic seasons, including two years ago when they won an NHL-record 65 games, but their only extended playoff run was a trip to the 2019 Stanley Cup final. ___ AP NHL: recommended
Associated Press
08-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
New-look Bruins beat Lightning 4-0, day after making a flurry of rebuilding moves at trade deadline
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Boston Bruins got off to a good start in their new era. Cole Koepke had a career-high two goals to lead Boston in a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday, one day after being active sellers at the NHL trade deadline. Koepke scored twice against his former team, Mark Kastelic and Nikita Zadorov also had goals. All three players are in their first season with the new-look Bruins. Boston's boldest move was dealing captain Brad Marchand, the last remaining player from its 2011 Stanley Cup championship team, to the Florida Panthers. 'It was a tough day,' said Bruins forward David Pastrnak, one of the last familiar faces still wearing the black and gold for the Boston Bruins. The rebuilding franchise will receive a second-round draft pick from Florida and the compensation could become a first-rounder if the Panthers win two rounds in the playoffs and the 36-year-old wing plays in half their playoff games games. Boston also sent forward Justin Brazeau to Minnesota, forward Charlie Coyle to Colorado and forward Marc McLaughlin to New Jersey along with defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto. Forward Trent Frederic was traded to Edmonton earlier in the week, sparking the start of the fire sale. 'We didn't burn it down,' Bruins general manager Don Sweeney insisted. The Bruins are in a pack of teams with a potential chance to earn a wild card in the playoffs, but they will have to move on without a lot of familiar faces. 'That's the worst part of our business,' Pastrnak said on ABC during an intermission interview. Boston's management clearly decided it was time to move on. The Bruins earned 100-plus points in each of the last six non-pandemic seasons, including two years ago when they won an NHL-record 65 games, but their only extended playoff run was a trip to the 2019 Stanley Cup final. ___
Boston Globe
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Cole Koepke settles back in with Bruins after recovering from big hit delivered by friend and foe
Coincidentally, Koepke and Raddysh are friends going back to their time together in the Lightning organization. Raddysh reached out to check on Koepke in the aftermath of the hit. 'We were together in Syracuse [of the AHL] for a couple of years and then back and forth in Tampa together, too,' said Koepke, who skated as the left wing on the fourth line against the Jets. 'So, I'm actually pretty good friends with him and, yeah, he did reach out and I talked to him a little bit.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Koepke said hits like the one he absorbed are inevitable, especially given the speed of an NHL game. Advertisement 'Plays happen quick. Hockey's a physical game, guys are going to hit you and you're going to hit guys and sometimes you're going to be on the bad side of the hit and it's just part of the game,' he said. 'You've just got to do a good job of trying to put yourself in good positions and brace yourself when it's coming.' Related : Koepke was quick to point out that there was no malice in Raddysh's actions. 'I don't ever think anyone's intentionally trying to injure anyone,' he said. 'So, with him reaching out and we were just talking through the play and kind of what happened. He wasn't trying to hurt me by any means. That's not the kind of guy he is. I was trying to get the puck out. He was trying to be physical doing his job as well. So, it's just unfortunate the way it played out, but there's no bad blood between us.' Koepke ended up missing five games, returning to action Advertisement 'I'm feeling good. It's never a fun situation when you're not able to play, but the training staff have done a good job helping when we get back into any shape and get healthy. And it's good to be out there with the team,' said Koepke, who went into Thursday's game with a career high seven goals and 12 points. 'It's unfortunate the way the [Sabres] game went, but regardless, it was nice to be back.' Milestone for McAvoy in return As expected, Charlie McAvoy returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a wrist injury. McAvoy entered the game ― the 500th of his career ― leading Boston's defensemen with five goals and was second to Mason Lohrei in points with 20. He paired with Lohrei (3 goals, 23 points) against the Jets. 'It's great to have [McAvoy] back. He seems to be in really good spirits right now,' said interim coach Joe Sacco following morning skate. 'So, we're excited to get him back in our lineup and obviously help stabilize the backend for us.' Related : McAvoy, who was named a Team USA alternate captain for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off earlier in the day, also slotted in the quarterback spot on the top power-play unit along with David Pastrnak , Pavel Zacha , Elias Lindholm , and Brad Marchand . Lohrei had been running the power play in McAvoy's absence. 'We like Charlie on his entries. He gets the puck in for us. That's been an area that we've struggled in with our power play,' said Sacco. 'Once we get it set up, we seem to have a little bit more success, so we're hoping Charlie can drive some of the entries for us, help us get in a little bit cleaner on the power play so that we can set up and create some more.' Advertisement Hockey is for Everyone celebration The game marked the According to the club, the NHL initiative 'uses the game of hockey and the National Hockey League's global influence to drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.' During the starting lineup announcement, the Bruins welcomed six players representing the LGBTQIA+, sled hockey, deaf, special hockey, adaptive hockey, and women's hockey communities. Washington victims remembered The Bruins held a moment of silence for the victims of the Wednesday night Brandon Carlo also returned to action after the defenseman missed the loss to the Sabres because of an illness … Winger Max Jones was assigned to AHL Providence … Parker Ford of the Wakefield, R.I., Fords made his NHL debut for the Jets. The forward played four seasons at Providence College and captained the Friars in 2022-23 … Pastrnak entered the game with assists in eight straight games. His assist in Buffalo gave him 787 career points, jumping past David Krejci for ninth on the Bruins' all-time list … Song of the night: 'tv off,' by Lefty Gunplay ). Jim McBride can be reached at
