Latest news with #KontinentalHockeyLeague
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bruins have re-signed Marat Khusnutdinov and Michael Callahan, team announced
The Boston Bruins have re-signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov and defenseman Michael Callahan, General Manager Don Sweeney announced. Khusnutdinov, 22, is from Moscow, Russia, and was originally drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Advertisement In 73 career games for the Minnesota Wild, Khusnutdinov totaled 8 assists, 3 goals, for a total of 11 points. During the 2023-24 season, Khusnutdinov played in 49 games with HK Sochi in the Kontinental Hockey League, tallying six goals and 14 assists for 20 points. Khusnutdinov joined the B's during the 2024-25 season, playing in 18 games, scoring 2 goals, 3 assists, for 5 points. Khusnutdinov to a two-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season with an annual cap hit of $925,000. Callahan, 25, is from Franklin, Massachusetts. He was drafted back in 2018 by the Arizona Coyotes in the fifth round of the NHL Draft. Advertisement Callahan was traded to Boston in 2024 for a seventh-round pick. During the 2024-25 season, he played in 45 games for the Providence Bruins, scoring 1 goal, 8 assists, for 9 points. appeared in 45 games with Providence during the 2024-25 season, recording one goal and eight assists for nine points. He also skated in 17 games with Boston in 2024-25, scoring one goal. Callahan has played in 185 career AHL games, all with Providence, scoring seven goals and 29 assists for 36 points. Callahan signed a one-year, two-way contract through the 2025-26 season with an NHL cap hit of $775,000. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Advertisement Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Fox Sports
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Ivan Demidov set for NHL debut with Montreal Canadiens
Associated Press MONTREAL (AP) — Ivan Demidov is set to make his anticipated — and sooner-than-expected — NHL debut on Monday night. The 19-year-old Russian forward is expected to take the Bell Centre ice when the Montreal Canadiens host the Chicago Blackhawks with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. 'He has a unique blend of skill, hockey sense, deception,' general manager Kent Hughes said, highlighting Demidov's ability to move laterally on the ice. 'Let's see how it is. He's going to adjust to a different game of hockey here.' Demidov was the No. 5 pick in last year's NHL draft. He led his Russian club, SKA Saint Petersburg, in scoring with 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 65 games this season, setting a Kontinental Hockey League record for under-20 players despite having inconsistent ice time. Canadiens fans watched from afar while Demidov continued his impressive play in Russia. They've been buzzing with even more excitement since his arrival. A large group of fans waited to greet him when he touched down on Canadian soil Thursday night at Toronto Pearson Airport. Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson said the fervor surrounding Demidov's arrival has been crazy. 'It obviously shows how excited our fans are,' the 31-year-old Matheson said. 'Social media kind of causes it to be way (bigger) than it could have ever been when I was growing up.' The pressure is high, but Matheson said he has been reminding Demidov that it's only a hockey game. 'It's a great time to be a Habs fan,' Matheson said. 'But for him I think it's important to know that he doesn't need to come in and be the savior.' Demidov, who wasn't expected to be made available to the media until after Monday's game, skated on the right wing of Montreal's third line alongside center Alex Newhook and winger Joel Armia at the morning skate. Coach Martin St. Louis said he also would join the team's second power-play unit. Demidov's move to Montreal this season appeared highly improbable a week ago. The slick forward had been expected to join the Canadiens in 2025-26, but he signed an entry-level contract last week after he was suddenly released by SKA more than a month before his KHL contract ran out. Hughes, scout Nick Bobrov and special adviser Vincent Lecavalier drew criticism for visiting their prospect last December in Russia amid the country's ongoing war in Ukraine, but the Canadiens GM believes that trip helped make the early signing possible. 'It's always better to have established relationships, to have gotten the chance to meet them face-to-face instead of only over the phone,' Hughes said of meeting the SKA organization, including coach Roman Rotenberg. At a midseason news conference on Jan. 8, Hughes downplayed the possibility that Demidov would join the Canadiens this season. So what changed? 'Two things: They were eliminated earlier than expected, and we have a chance to make the playoffs,' he said. Hughes also said he didn't ask for Demidov's early release during his visit in December. 'If we left for Russia and upon arrival tried to ask for his release, I think, for me at least, I would've seen it from their side as disingenuous,' he said. Demidov skated with the Canadiens' extras Saturday morning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, but watched that night's game against the Maple Leafs from the press box. His entry into the lineup comes at a key moment for Montreal. The Canadiens (39-31-10) held the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 88 points — three more than the Columbus Blue Jackets with two games remaining for both teams — entering play Monday. A win against the lowly Blackhawks (23-46-11) would secure their place in the playoffs and set up a first-round series against the Washington Capitals. ___ AP NHL:
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citing war in Ukraine, dozens of groups call on NHL to reject hockey matchups with Russian league
As one Russian hockey star is being lauded for his accomplishments in the NHL, more than two dozen groups are calling on the North American league to reject the idea of on-ice matchups with the league from his homeland, Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. The day after Alexander Ovechkin became the top goal scorer in NHL history, a coalition of Ukrainian-American and Ukrainian-Canadian organizations argued that such matches 'would be an affront to millions of American and Canadian NHL fans and to people of Ukrainian descent in both countries.' The group urged NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in a letter Monday to 'express prompt, public and unequivocal opposition to this suggestion.' It was signed by more than 30 humanitarian and community organizations. 'We call on you to reject any collaboration between the NHL and the KHL or any competition between the two league's players. Such initiatives would forever stain your organization's reputation, facilitate the broader reintegration of the Russian Federation into world sporting bodies, undermine the NHL's own stated values, and alienate millions of hockey fans," the letter said. The letter, first reported by NBC News, comes after a call last month between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Putin suggested that American and Russian skaters play matches against one another. According to the Kremlin, Trump 'supported' the idea. The NHL said Monday it was "not part of the original conversation, and there have been no further discussions." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month that while hockey was mentioned on the leaders' call, the White House is 'more interested in securing a peace deal than scheduling hockey games right now.' Last month, the NHL said that it was aware of the conversation but that it was 'not a party to those discussions, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time,' The Associated Press reported. Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based organization that co-signed and helped send the letter to the NHL, hoped for a stronger position from the league. 'So the NHL has come out with a statement that most certainly did not put to rest concerns and worries,' said Razom for Ukraine's director of public engagement, Daniel Balson. 'Our letter simply asks for the NHL to make plain and public its opposition to any such collaboration. 'As NHL and KHL players would ostensibly be playing together on the ice, Russian bombs would be raining fire on Ukraine civilians.' The Russian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. 'The Kremlin has a long history of using sports to whitewash its crimes. Certainly hockey, but really across the board, Putin's interested in portraying Russia as a modern member in good standing of the international community that wins medals and demonstrates athletic excellence,' Balson said. 'But of course, this is all belied by the fact that, as we're having this conversation, Russia's military are committing war crimes in Ukraine, they're occupying territory, and they're killing many, many innocent individuals, innocent civilians, including hundreds of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives.' Hours before the coalition sent the letter, Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals star, scored his 895th career goal, topping Wayne Gretzky's record. Ovechkin has long been seen as closely tied to Putin, even smiling with him in his Instagram profile picture. And Putin congratulated Ovechkin on his milestone goal. Ovechkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. 'This is somebody who has proudly proclaimed his affiliation with a Russian leadership that is unrepentant in its abuse of some of the most vulnerable Ukrainians in the world, that's territorially expansionist, that has launched an unprovoked and incredibly violent aggression and that has kidnapped kids. It's incumbent on somebody like Ovechkin to dissociate himself from the Kremlin,' Balson said. At the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ovechkin told reporters: 'Please, no more war. It doesn't matter who is in the war, Russia, Ukraine, different countries.' This article was originally published on
Telegraph
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Putin offers Trump ice hockey match
Vladimir Putin proposed organising ice hockey matches between US and Russian NHL players during his phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Kremlin said. The idea, which the Kremlin said Mr Trump supported, would see special games set up in both Russia and the US with teams composed of players from each country's top flight professional league. There are around 60 Russian professional hockey players in the US and Canada's National Hockey League, while around a dozen Americans play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. Details of the plan were featured at the very end of the Russian readout of the 90-minute-long call, in which Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days. Russia is barred from competing in international hockey tournaments until at least 2026, but has historically maintained a strong rivalry with the US in the sport. At the 1980 Winter Olympics, a US team made up of college players and amateurs upset a powerhouse Soviet team that had taken the gold medal at nearly every Olympic Games since 1954. The US's 4-3 win was dubbed the 'miracle on ice' and is considered one of the country's greatest sporting moments. In February 2020, Mr Trump brought members of the 'miracle' team on stage at a rally in Las Vegas. The now middle-aged former players, most wearing Maga caps, stood alongside Mr Trump as he told the crowd that the match was 'one of the greatest moments in the history of sports'. Last month, the US president was called into the US hockey team's locker room before a game against Canada, where he told players he had 'great respect' for them and that he was a 'hockey fan'. Putin is also a well-known hockey fan and occasionally plays against government officials and retired professionals in exhibition matches broadcast on Russian television. In 2019, he scored eight goals in a game against former NHL stars in Sochi.
