Hockey Capsules: Granato, James first women elected to Hockey Hall

TORONTO (AP) — The Hockey Hall of Fame is no longer just for male inductees.

Cammi Granato and Angela James changed that on Tuesday when they became the first women elected to be enshrined in Toronto. Along with former NHL All-Star Dino Ciccarelli, Granato and James will go in as part of the players category during an induction ceremony in November.

Longtime Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano and the late Daryl (Doc) Seaman — a founding owner of the Calgary Flames — were elected as builders.

While women had always been eligible for induction, the Hall made it easier for them to be voted in when it established a women’s subcategory this year.

Up to four male players are eligible for induction annually, but only Ciccarelli was voted in Tuesday. Eric Lindros and Joe Nieuwendyk were potential contenders among NHL players in their first year of eligibility that didn’t receive enough support.

Women were given their own player category this year, and James and Granato filled the maximum of two female inductees per year.

“This is a day I never really thought would ever happen,” James said. “I’m really honored to represent the female hockey players from all over the world.”

Granato played on the U.S. women’s hockey team for 15 years and led the club to a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Her brother, Tony, played and coached in the NHL.

“I dreamed of being in the NHL my entire life, and this certainly makes up for those dreams,” Granato said. “Being amongst the first women to play at college and later at the Olympics, it certainly was worthwhile being a hockey pioneer.”

James was a four-time world champion with the Canadian women’s team. She starred in the 1970s and early ‘80s in the Central Ontario Women’s League.

“On behalf of everyone in women’s hockey, I am truly honored,” the Toronto native said. “As a kid I went to the Hall and was in awe of those who had been inducted. I am delighted to be able to join them.”

Ciccarelli played 19 NHL seasons with five teams, recording 608 goals and 592 assists in 1,232 games. In nine seasons with the Minnesota North Stars, he led the team in scoring five times.

“This is a tremendous honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Ciccarelli said. “I really appreciate the support of my coaches, the fans and mostly importantly my family throughout my 19-year career.”

The 18-member selection committee includes Scotty Bowman, Pat Quinn, Harry Sinden, Serge Savard and Peter Stastny.

Chairman Bill Hay said he wasn’t worried about a perceived imbalance of male and female players entering the Hall this year when there are so many retired NHL players lined up for induction.

“The selection committee at no time are concerned about the new inductees,” he said. “It’s time for females to be in. Changing the voting regulations to accommodate under the player category for two women, and the maximum of four players who are male, really fits with our long-range plan.”

James, dubbed “the Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey,” was the top scorer for eight seasons and MVP for six in the Central Ontario Women’s League. James was also MVP at eight Canadian championships.

She recorded 34 points for Canada in 20 games over the first four world championships in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997. James scored 11 goals in the inaugural tournament in 1990 when the Canadian women wore pink jerseys to market their game.

“Back in the days when we wore pink uniforms, we did what it took to get our game on the map,” James said. “We didn’t care if we were wearing polka-dots, we just wanted to play.”

James is now a mother of three and works as a sports coordinator at Seneca College in Toronto.

Granato, who lives in Vancouver and is married to former NHL player Ray Ferraro, is the only woman to participate in each of the first nine women’s world championships sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

She is the career leader in goals and points for the United States in the world championship. Granato was Eastern College Athletic Conference player of the year three straight seasons for Providence College from 1991-93. She then played in Canada for the Concordia Stingers, helping them to three Quebec titles.

Granato, James and Canadian defenseman Geraldine Heaney were the first women to enter the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame two years ago. Granato was also the first female player inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

“When you’re younger you are playing because you love the game and you don’t even know the difference between you and the boy next to you and then all of a sudden people start pointing that out,” Granato said.

“You realize there’s these barriers you have to break through, whether it’s someone on the other team bullying you because you’re the only girl, or fighting for ice time when you’re in college.”

Ciccarelli badly broke his leg his second year of junior hockey and was told he would never play again. But he went on to a high-scoring career with Minnesota, Washington, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Florida.

“You get so emotional thinking about this,” Ciccarelli said. “I just lost my mom a few months ago and my dad a few years ago.

“It would have been nice to enjoy it with my parents, but I’ve got my kids, my family and a lot of friends. We’re going to enjoy this and celebrate it.”

NHL League News

Blackhawks to raise Cup banner against Red Wings

NEW YORK (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins will open a new arena, and the Chicago Blackhawks will unfurl a long-awaited championship banner in the first week of the 2010-11 NHL season.

The league said Tuesday the Blackhawks will mark their first Stanley Cup title since 1961 on Oct. 9 when they host Detroit, a fellow Original Six member.

Pittsburgh, the 2009 Cup winner, will play its first game in the CONSOL Energy Center two nights earlier on NHL opening night against defending Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia. The Penguins had played at Mellon Arena since joining the NHL in 1967.

On New Year’s Day, the Penguins host the Winter Classic against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field — home of the NFL’s Steelers.

For the fourth consecutive season, the NHL also will begin with games in Europe — this time with six teams. The Carolina Hurricanes will play two games against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland; the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks will have a two-game set at Stockholm, Sweden; and the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes will play a pair in Prague, Czech Republic.

Those six games will be spread over the first four days of the season.

Once those clubs return to North America they will all play on Oct. 30 when 28 of the NHL’s 30 teams will be in action on the busiest day of the season. Only Vancouver and Edmonton will be off.

The Blackhawks will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 23 in the lone rematch of this year’s Stanley Cup finals. Just one week later, the NHL All-Star game will return after a one-year break because of the Vancouver Olympics. The Carolina Hurricanes will host the 58th edition of the midseason exhibition for the first time.

The regular season will end on April 10, and the Stanley Cup playoffs will begin three days later.

Ovechkin again up for Hart Trophy at NHL awards

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The script was the same for the past two seasons for Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals.

A tremendous regular season but an early exit from the postseason. Ovechkin and his Capitals earned the Presidents’ Trophy this season, but were knocked out of the playoffs by eighth-seeded Montreal in the first round.

Both seasons also ended with Ovechkin winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP.

On Wednesday, Ovechkin’s personal trophy case might need to be expanded once more since he is again a nominee for the Hart to be awarded at the NHL’s year-ending awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

“It takes everything out of you,” Ovechkin said of the postseason defeats. “Right now, relax and get ready for next year and training camp. Every year, you get more experience. You want to forget about it and worry about next year. It’s life.”

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks are the two other nominees for the Hart. Sedin ended with 29 goals, 83 assists, while both Crosby and Ovechkin tied with 109 points. Crosby had 51 goals to Ovechkin’s 50.

On the flip side, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith won Olympic gold for Canada in Vancouver in February, and then helped Chicago to its first Stanley Cup since 1961. He is a nominee for the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the best defenseman.

“It’s a pretty neat accomplishment,” Keith said of winning the gold and the Stanley Cup. “I felt fortunate to be on a team with a great group of guys.”

Keith is nominated with Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings and Mike Green of the Capitals.

Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the outstanding rookie.

“It feels good. It’s a very big honor,” said Myers said, who was nominated along with Colorado’s Matt Duchene and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. “It’s nice to be put in that group.”

NHL Players’ Association extends CBA until 2012

CHICAGO (AP) — The NHL Players’ Association is extending its current collective bargaining agreement with the league through the 2011-12 season.

The decision to stretch the agreement for another season was made during the union’s executive board meeting on Tuesday. The CBA was originally set to expire after the upcoming season, but the players’ association exercised its right to extend it for a seventh year.

The players also voted to retain the five percent growth factor for next season, which ensures the salary cap will rise for a fifth straight time. As part of the CBA, the players may include five percent of growth in calculations for the following season’s cap once revenues exceed $2.1 billion.

The current cap of $56.8 million is expected to rise to about $59 million. The official number will be announced before the free-agent signing period begins on July 1.

NHL Player and Coach News

Quinn out as Oilers coach, Renney promoted

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Tom Renney figured he would become head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He just didn’t think it would happen so soon.

Pat Quinn was removed as coach of the Oilers on Tuesday after his team finished with the worst record in the league in his first season.

“It’s not my decision,” Quinn said on a conference call from Toronto. “I had been looking forward to coaching the team next year. A decision was made. They’ll have a place for me to continue to help them make their changes, which I will move to.”

Quinn was assigned to the front office as a senior adviser. Edmonton was 27-48-8 with Quinn behind the bench, 33 points below the playoff cutoff in the Western Conference.

He was replaced by his assistant, Renney, who will be running his third NHL team.

“This is a move I would not have made without Pat’s blessing,” Renney said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “The move is certainly in keeping with the process (general manager) Steve Tambellini and I spoke about a year ago when I was offered the associate coach position, although a little earlier then expected.”

Renney has coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. He now inherits a team whose 62 points were just two points more than the franchise low, set in 1992-93. Edmonton won just 18 games at home and nine on the road. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2006.

“We are rebuilding, there is no doubt about that,” Renney said, “but teams have met with success quickly in the past because of sound decisions at the top, and people doing their jobs all the way down the line. We want to be an example of that.”

Tambellini said Tuesday it was important to speed up the Oilers’ succession plan involving Renney and Quinn.

“We spoke last year about bringing these two men in with a wealth of experience in winning, teaching, credibility and leadership,” he said. “When you look at a plan that was in place when I discussed with Pat before he came here as far as a succession plan, the idea, for me, was that after Year 2 I would ask him to take this position as senior hockey adviser.”

But Tambellini said after such a poor season he decided make the change now.

“Obviously, with what happened this year, in regard to the depth of our organization, the fact that we’re rebuilding the Oilers, the fact that we’re going to be young, it made sense to me over the last couple of months when I’d been thinking about this, and how we want to do this, our plan is basically being accelerated by one year,” Tambellini said.

Quinn seemed to be caught off-guard.

“Any good management group has a succession plan,” Quinn said. “I’m aware of the fact that there should be a plan in place. As far as whether or not they told Tom he was going to be the next head coach, I don’t have any knowledge of that.

“All I said to Steve at the start was don’t just play it as an interim coach, as far as I’m concerned, because you’re going to waste the year, or two years. I felt that if you come in as an interim, that’s what you get. If the organization recognizes that, and I mean the players, then it’s tough to hold their feet to the fire when it really counts.”

Quinn replaced fired coach Craig MacTavish on May 26, 2009. It was Quinn’s first head coaching position since being dismissed by Toronto in 2006. Now he will shift within the organization’s hockey operations department.

“Is it a promotion? I’d say not,” Quinn said. “My career has been coaching and that’s why I wanted to come back into the game with Edmonton last year. We went through some tough times, but I was looking forward to continuing to help to change the climate there and continue to help this organization go back to respectability in the sense of winning. I’ll continue to do that, but it’s just going to be in a different capacity, obviously.”

Renney becomes the 10th head coach in franchise history. Before joining the Oilers this season, he spent five seasons as the Rangers’ coach and was fired in February 2009. Renney said Quinn had “set the compass” for where the team needs to go.

“He’s made it very clear where we have to improve ourselves,” Renney said. “I love that fact that Steve, as we discussed a year ago quite honestly, has continued to identify with this plan and kept true to that template, if you will.”

Many thought the Oilers might compete for a playoff spot this season. Then came season-ending injuries to goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, Ales Hemsky, Sheldon Souray and Ladislav Smid, putting the lineup in constant flux.

The Oilers had neither the experience nor depth to compensate. Khabibulin, the team’s major offseason acquisition last summer, made only 18 appearances before being sidelined by a back injury that would require surgery. Rookies Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk were forced to carry the load.

Ducks D Scott Niedermayer retires after 18 seasons

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Less than four months after leading Canada to Olympic gold, Scott Niedermayer felt he could leave hockey on top.

After all, that’s where the Anaheim Ducks’ smooth-skating defenseman spent an incredible amount of his hockey career.

Niedermayer ended his 18-year NHL career Tuesday, retiring after winning four Stanley Cup titles and a wealth of medals and trophies earned everywhere from junior hockey to the Vancouver Games.

And after several flirtations with retirement in recent years, Niedermayer says he’s “100 percent committed” to his decision.

“We were joking on the way in that maybe I changed my mind on the way here,” Niedermayer said.

Niedermayer will stay with the organization as a consultant to general manager Bob Murray.

The 36-year-old Niedermayer had 172 goals and 568 assists in the NHL, winning one Norris Trophy as the top defenseman while perennially holding a spot among the league’s elite. After starting out as a hotshot teenage blueliner for the New Jersey Devils, he spent the last five seasons with the Ducks, leading them through multiple postseason runs with flecks of gray and white in his playoff beard.

“I’ve been very lucky,” Niedermayer said, reading from several sheets of handwritten notes at a news conference at the Honda Center with his wife and four sons in the front row. “I’ve had a lot of help and been supported by many great people, and I’ve made a lot of great friends. I couldn’t have asked to be part of two better organizations than the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks. Both have treated me very well and have always been committed to winning.”

And did they ever win with Niedermayer eating up minutes and running their offenses from their blue line.

Niedermayer likely has won more championships at more levels of hockey than any player of his generation. In addition to his two Olympic gold medals and four Stanley Cup rings, he won a Memorial Cup title in junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers and gold medals in the IIHF world championships and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

“It wasn’t easy at the start, but I was put in situations to be able to have some success, and it’s paid off,” Niedermayer said. “What my legacy will be will probably be different for each person I’ve crossed paths with. I’ve done my best, and the teams I’ve been with have been the priority for me. That was preached to me from early on. Even in youth hockey, my parents would talk a lot about that.”

Niedermayer capped his career with the gold-medal victory in his native British Columbia.

He only missed the playoffs twice as an NHL regular — in 1996 with New Jersey and again this spring with the Ducks, when he compiled a career-worst minus-9 rating for the struggling club.

Niedermayer has considered walking away from hockey for several years. After the Ducks won their only Stanley Cup title in 2007, he skipped the first 28 games of the following season while contemplating retirement before deciding to return.

While Niedermayer still will have a voice in the organization, coach Randy Carlyle has no idea how Anaheim will recover from losing its second cornerstone defenseman in two years, following Chris Pronger’s departure last July.

“He was a player who came in here and performed at a very high level, represented our hockey club, led our hockey club both on and off the ice, and was a consummate pro,” Carlyle said. “Now the torch will be passed to younger players like Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan to lead other players who are coming into the fold.”

Niedermayer has been among the best offensive defensemen of his era ever since he scored 40 points as a 19-year-old rookie with the Devils in the 1992-93 season. He won his first Stanley Cup in 1995 before adding championships in New Jersey in 2000 and 2003.

He won the Norris in 2004 and signed with Anaheim after the NHL lockout, choosing to play alongside his brother, Rob.

His arrival immediately elevated the Ducks, who won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with Niedermayer and Pronger playing nearly 30 minutes per game apiece, thoroughly controlling many games in alternating shifts on the blue line. Niedermayer won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP with 11 points in 21 games.

“To be honest, I never had a list (of goals),” Niedermayer said. “I mean, how do you say you want to win four Stanley Cups, or two Olympic medals, or things like that? I didn’t when I was 14 or 15. Of course, you dream of playing in the NHL, but that still seems like a dream as well. My goal was just to get on the ice and work as hard as I could to help the team, and I tried to stick with that.”

The Ducks traded Pronger to Philadelphia and allowed defenseman Francois Beauchemin to leave for Toronto last summer, and Anaheim immediately suffered. After getting off to a terrible start, the Ducks failed to make the playoffs despite having eight Olympians on their roster, finishing 11th in the Western Conference with 89 points.

“It’s another time to change the makeup of the hockey club,” Carlyle said. “I have my opinions, but in the end, it’s management’s decision to go out and fill some of the spots that are vacant. And defense is one of them.”

-- Greg Beacham

Panthers deal Horton to Bruins for Wideman, picks

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins haven’t won the Stanley Cup in almost four decades, and their latest run at a championship was derailed by the most spectacular collapse in NHL history.

To a former Florida Panther, that’s a dream scenario.

Fed up after not even making the playoffs in the first six seasons of his career, Nathan Horton asked the Panthers to trade him and they obliged on Tuesday, sending him and fellow forward Gregory Campbell to the Boston Bruins for defenseman Dennis Wideman and a pair of draft picks.

“I’m excited to go to a new start and a stable and historic and successful franchise,” Horton said in a conference call with reporters. “This is what every kid dreams about: To be on an Original Six team and play for the Boston Bruins. I think if you’re a young kid and you’re coming in, it’s a dream come true.”

Although the Bruins haven’t won the Cup since 1972, they’ve made the playoffs in three straight years and six of the last eight seasons. Last season, they reached the conference semis as the No. 6 seed, then took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Flyers.

Philadelphia stretched it to the maximum and fell behind 3-0 in Game 7 before coming back to eliminate the Bruins and, eventually, reach the Stanley Cup finals. It was just the third time in NHL history a team has blown a 3-0 lead in a postseason series.

“It was a flip of the coin to get to the conference finals, and I think that’s pretty impressive. It’s not a good feeling. I’ve never been there, but I’m hoping to get there soon,” Campbell said. “I can’t imagine the feeling that the Boston players (had), how they felt being up 3-0 and being up 3-0 in Game 7. I’m sure it’s a learning experience for them.”

And an experience the newest Bruins would love to try for themselves.

Florida hasn’t made the playoffs since 2000, and it hasn’t won a postseason series since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1996 — the franchise’s third year in existence.

“That’s the best part of playing hockey is the playoffs,” Horton said. “When you don’t make them for seven years, it’s too long.”

The Panthers get Wideman, whose development seemed to stall last season, along with the No. 15 overall pick in this weekend’s draft and the Bruins’ third-round pick next year. Wideman increased his point total in every season of his career until this one, when he dropped from 50 points to 30 and a career-low six goals.

“Dennis had a terrific three years in Boston. He hit a couple of bumps along the way this past year. This happens sometimes with skill players and their confidence,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “He rebounded to be one of our best players in the stretch run and in the playoffs. He is a clutch competitor and is one of the best passers in the game.”

Horton has been Florida’s top goal-scorer since he joined the team as an 18-year-old and the third overall pick in the 2003 draft. He had 20 goals and 37 assists in 65 games last season despite missing two months with a broken leg.

Campbell, 26, is the son of Colin Campbell, the NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations and league disciplinarian. He had career highs of 13 goals and 76 penalty minutes two seasons ago, and had two goals, 15 assists and 53 penalty minutes last season.

Boston scored only 206 goals last season, the fewest in the Eastern Conference; Florida was next with 208. Chiarelli noted that Horton, who is 25, has already scored at least 20 goals in five consecutive seasons, including a career-high 31 in 2007.

But he has also played for five coaches in seven seasons.

From that perspective, even the Bruins look stable: Claude Julien was the team’s seventh coach in seven seasons when he took over in 2007, but he has lasted three years.

“(Horton) obviously was frustrated with what’s gone on in the past and was leaning toward maybe if we could help him out, seeing what was out there for him. And that’s how this all began,” new Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said. “We’ve got to move forward here. We’re certainly not in a position to sit still. ... We have a lot of work to do.”

-- Jimmy Golen

Sharks will let Nabokov leave as free agent

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The San Jose Sharks will not offer goaltender Evgeni Nabokov a contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next week, cutting ties with one of the franchise’s cornerstone players.

General manager Doug Wilson announced the decision Tuesday in a pre-draft news conference, shortly after delivering the news personally to Nabokov.

“He’s been outstanding for this organization, a big part of our successes,” Wilson said. “I have great respect for him as a player, as a man and a teammate.”

Nabokov said at the end of the season that he would like to remain in San Jose, but noted that it was not his decision entirely. Nabokov made $6 million last year in the final season of his five-year contract.

Wilson noted a direction in the NHL in which teams have had great success with lower-paid goaltenders, most recently with Chicago winning the Stanley Cup with Antti Niemi, who made $827,000 this season.

“If you look at the trends in this league the last four or five years in particular and the dollars that are dedicated to that position,” he said. “If you’re dedicating $5 or $6 million, that’s coming out of somewhere else.”

Nabokov has been one of the top goalies in the league the past few years, winning an NHL-best 131 games over the past three seasons. He has a 293-215-29 record in 10 seasons with the Sharks, with a 2.39 goals against average.

Nabokov went 44-26 with a 2.43 goals against average last season, helping the Sharks reach the Western Conference final this year, where they were swept by Chicago.

The Sharks will give a chance to backup Thomas Greiss, who started 11 games this season and also played for Germany in the Olympics, as well as minor league goalie Alex Stalock, who won 39 games and had a 2.63 goals against average with Worcester in the AHL.

Wilson said the team would also look to add a veteran goalie either through a trade or free agency to pair with one of the younger goalies. Among the goalies eligible to become unrestricted free agents are Dallas’ Marty Turco, St. Louis’ Chris Mason, Philadelphia’s Michael Leighton and Washington’s Jose Theodore.

“The goaltending market is very deep,” Wilson said. “There’s lots of goalies that are out there that you can supplement or build a tandem with what you have. Make no mistake, we’re very pleased with the goaltenders we have in our system and they’ll be given an opportunity.”

With a decision made not to try to retain Nabokov, the focus for the Sharks turns to the other unrestricted free agents, most notably leading goal scorer Patrick Marleau. The decision to let Nabokov leave could free up more money for Marleau if necessary.

Forwards Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra, and defenseman Niclas Wallin are also among the unrestricted free agents the Sharks want to keep. Wilson is also looking to lock up restricted free agents Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi.

“I would like to get all the pieces done prior to the draft,” Wilson said. “That would be my home run.”

The Sharks will lose at least two key players from the team that reached the Western Conference final, with captain Rob Blake announcing his retirement last week.

But Wilson believes there is plenty of help coming through the system with some young players who can complement stars like Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle to maintain the Sharks’ position as a perennial contender.

“We think this team is going into a four- or five-year window,” Wilson said. “Just look at the age of the team with Blakey not being back and Nabber not being back. We’re a young team actually coming into its prime. Now I have to forecast the dedication of dollars going forward.”

-- Josh Dubow

Canadiens sign Plekanec to 6-year contract

MONTREAL (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens signed leading scorer Tomas Plekanec to a six-year, $30 million contract on Tuesday.

The center was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Plekanec led Montreal last season with 70 points, including 25 goals. He added four goals and seven assists in 19 postseason games to help the Canadiens make a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals. His regular season was a big improvement from 2008-09 when he had 20 goals and 39 points.

“I knew I had a bad year the previous year and I wanted to start strong, and I had a good start,” Plekanec said from his home in Kladno, Czech Republic. “I knew I had to get stronger mentally and that’s what happened.”

Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri clicked on a line with winger Andrei Kostitsyn. He had played with Kostitsyn and former teammate Alex Kovalev before that.

“I wanted to prove that I could do it without Kovy,” he said. “Obviously playing with Cammalleri, and with Andrei for some of the games, was helpful for me and the team.”

Plekanec is also a strong defensive player who is adept at taking faceoffs.

“I’m asked to play a two-way game and I do it,” he said. “My job is the same in the playoffs — to play a two-way game and help the team win, not (just) score goals. I will do the same for another six years.”

In 393 career NHL regular-season games, the Czech Olympian has 103 goals and 151 assists.

Plekanec was drafted in the third round by the Canadiens in 2001.

“I’ve been part of the organization for eight years and I have a chance to be part of it for another six years, so I know what’s it all about and I love everything about it,” he said. “There was no question of wanting to leave.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Canadiens signed fourth-line winger Mathieu Darche to a one-year contract worth $500,000.

Wild sign newly acquired Staubitz to 2-year deal

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild have signed right wing Brad Staubitz to a two-year, $1.15 million contract.

The deal was announced Tuesday, the day after the Wild acquired Staubitz from San Jose for a fifth-round pick in this weekend’s draft.

Staubitz would have been a restricted free agent. He will make $550,000 this season and $600,000 next season.

The 25-year-old Staubitz had three goals, three assists and 110 penalty minutes in 47 games last season for the Sharks, his first full NHL season. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta, went undrafted and made his NHL debut in 2008.

The Wild have been trying to add more gritty players, and Staubitz fits that role as a frequent fighter. He did not appear in any playoff games for the Sharks this year.