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Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Peter Mueller Re-Signs With Czech Champs
American forward Peter Mueller, 37, has re-signed to play another season with Kometa Brno, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Tuesday. Mueller was a member of the Kometa team that won the Extraliga title last month, although the team sat 13th out of 14 teams when he signed in October, eight games into the season. Mueller had previously played for the team from 2018 to 2022. 'Peter has never hidden the fact that Brno is his second home,' Kometa sports manager Tomáš Vincour said when Mueller returned there last fall. 'He has a really strong emotional relationship with Kometa and its fans, which played a big role in his return.' Originally from Bloomington, Minn., Mueller starred in junior hockey for the WHL's Everett Silvertips and was chosen eighth overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. However, he never lived up to his potential in the NHL. He recorded 54 points his rookie season in 2008-09, but was never able to reach that total again. In 297 NHL games over six season with the Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers, Mueller scored 63 goals and added 97 assists for 160 points with 98 penalty minutes. Mueller has played in Europe almost continuously since 2013 – he returned to play the 2016-17 season with the AHL's Providence Bruins. Otherwise, in addition to Czechia, his career has taken him to Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Germany. Kometa Brno Returns To Top Of Czech Extraliga Kometa Brno is once again the champion of the Czech Extraliga, defeating Dynamo Pardubice 3-0 in the seventh and decisive game of the finals on Tuesday night in Pardubice. It was the second series in a row that the team won a seventh game on the road. Internationally, Mueller has represented the USA at two U-18 World Championships (winning gold in 2005), two World Junior Championships and two senior men's World Championships. In his first tour of duty with Kometa, he was the Extraliga MVP in 2018-19 and led the league with 64 points in 2020-21. Last season, he had 36 points in 36 regular season games and then 13 points in 20 playoff games. Mueller's first-period goal in Game 7 of the finals against Dynamo Pardubice turned out to be the series-winner in a 3-0 Kometa victory. In addition to Mueller, Kometa has under contract for 2025-26 25-year-old defenseman Filip Král, who played two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023-24 and whose NHL rights are currently retained by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Radim Zohorna Signs With Swedish Club Czech forward Radim Zohorna, 29, has signed a two-year contract with Färjestad BK, the SHL club announced on Friday.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
It has been a wild ride for new Bruin Marat Khusnutdinov, who is getting acclimated quickly
It's been hard not to notice that Khusnutdinov knows his way around on the ice. In his five games with Boston heading into Thursday night's game with Golden Knights, the 5-foot-11-inch, 176-pounder has provided energy, creativity, and some scoring touch. All are elements the Bruins need if they're going to make a final push for the postseason over the last 13 games. Advertisement Khusnutdinov had been playing a fourth-line role and killing penalties with the Wild until a recent AHL demotion that was disappointing not only for the player but also Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Prior to hosting the Bruins March 2, Guerin sent Khusnutdinov to Iowa in a salary cap move after the team had acquired Gustav Nyquist. 'To be honest with you, it stinks. It stinks for him because he's been here all year, he's played hard, he's played well,' Guerin had said. 'This is not your regular demotion. There's a lot more to it. Yeah, it sucks.' Less than a week later, Guerin had to deliver another message to Khusnutdinov. 'I go with Iowa to Rockford [for a game against the Icehogs], six or seven hours on a bus and after bus, Guerin called me and said, 'We traded you to Boston. Good luck,' " said Khusnutdinov. With the trade comes opportunity. The Bruins have allowed Khusnutdinov to play a top-six role with Elias Lindholm and Lauko, and he's getting time on the second power-play unit. He was playing just over 11 minutes per game with the Wild, including 1:30 of penalty kill time. Joe Sacco has rolled out Khusnutdinov for nearly 15 minutes per game and allowing him to start the majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. Khusnutdinov is thrilled with the role reversal. Advertisement 'Glad to be here. And it's a new experience. It's a new team for me and I have more ice time, second power play. It's what I want,' he said. 'Yeah, it's a perfect, it's more ice time. I can show my skill. It's more momentum, more shots. I think it's good for a player if you play top six. I'd say unbelievable.' After representing Russia at several international tournaments (the U-17 Hockey Challenge, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the U-18 World Championships, and the World Juniors), Khusnutdinov spent parts of five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. He signed with the Wild, who drafted him 37th overall in 2020, in February of 2024. He'd been with the Wild since coming to America. '[The Kontinental] is different. I think it was a good time for me to go to United States,' he said. 'I'm young. I think it's a level up for me.' Khusnutdinov spoke virtually no English when he arrived. 'We have English in school in Moscow, but I don't have too much time,' he said. 'I play in U-16, U-17, U-18 national team and we just go to tournaments, then back to school for one month, then go one month to hockey.' He credited Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov for teaching him English and said he will concentrate on learning more this summer. A center normally, Khusnutdinov has been playing left wing with the Bruins, which has been a bit of an adjustment, but otherwise he feels comfortable playing the Bruins' style. 'We play fast. I think a fast game is good. I'm feeling perfect in this system,' he said. It's a small sample size, but Sacco likes what Khusnutdinov has done with his chance. Advertisement 'He plays with some pace and he's on top of pucks quickly. So, we like that. We like that part of his game,' said Sacco. 'I think the one thing he's got to continue to work on is just away from the puck, but that's something that we can build into his game, hopefully.' Fellow Muscovite Nikita Zadorov has enjoyed having Khusnutdinov around. 'He's a great kid,'' said Zadorov. 'He brings joy every day. He is smiling all the time. He's kind of quiet on his own a little bit. But I mean, you can see he's been leader, leader in his clubs where he played for. He's been captain everywhere so he can bring some leadership to the young guys as well and lead by example as well. And he's been playing well. He is skilled, he's fast, he sees the ice pretty well. He protects the pucks really well down low, so you can make plays and he's been great so far.' A restricted free agent, Khusnutdinov would welcome the opportunity to extend his stay in Boston. 'A hundred percent,' he said. 'It's an unbelievable team and an unbelievable city. If I signed a contract here and stayed, I'd be so happy.' **** Sacco went with the status quo on the lineup against the Golden Knights, preferring to let recent call-ups Fabian Lysell and Michael Callahan have more time to acclimate. 'Both guys will get an opportunity to draw in here at some point on the trip,' said the coach ... Brazeau has yet to register a point in seven games with the Wild ... Charlie Coyle has one assist in a half-dozen games with the Avalanche ... Brandon Carlo has an assist and is a plus-1 in six games with the Maple Leafs ... The greatest Bruin of them all, Bobby Orr, turned 77 Thursday. Wrap your head around this: At the end of the 1969-70 season, Orr took home the Art Ross (leading scorer), Hart (regular-season MVP), Norris (best defenseman), and Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) trophies. Oh, and the Stanley Cup, too ... Song of the night: 'Viva Las Vegas,' by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires. Advertisement Jim McBride can be reached at
