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‘He has that fire:' Meet James Hagens, Boston College's top NHL draft prospect
‘He has that fire:' Meet James Hagens, Boston College's top NHL draft prospect

Yahoo

time23-06-2025

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

‘He has that fire:' Meet James Hagens, Boston College's top NHL draft prospect

On Friday night, a lifelong dream will come true for James Hagens. The only question is how early. The 18-year-old from Boston College is a no-doubt first-rounder in the NHL Entry Draft. The No. 3 ranked North American skater according to NHL Central Scouting, Hagens falls between No. 2 overall and No. 5 in most pre-draft rankings. In a poll at The Athletic, evaluators were unanimous in voting Hagens as the 'best hands' in his entire class. Advertisement No matter where Hagens goes, he's going to relish the moment. That's the advice he's received from Boston College teammates like Ryan Leonard, Gabriel Perreault, and Jacob Fowler, all of whom have been drafted in the early rounds over the past two seasons. 'They all say the same thing: Just be grateful. Take it all in,' Hagens said. 'It goes by quick. This summer is a little crazy, but this is something you'll remember for the rest of your life. So these are all really special moments that you have to make sure you cherish with yourself and your family. It's just something to be grateful for.' Hagens has a chance to be drafted the highest of the bunch. 'I've had to work for everything' The son of two teachers, Hagens grew up on Long Island in Hauppauge, NY. His father, Michael, played defenseman for Division III SUNY-Brockport (1997-2000), and was quick to get the family hooked on hockey. Advertisement He built a backyard rink and all three of his children took to it. Hagens' older brother, Michael, is also a defenseman at Boston College, while his younger sister Emma plays at the Portledge School. Growing up they ventured to Islanders games at Nassau Coliseum and Hagens had a picture with Matt Martin on his bedroom wall. A playmaking forward on the smaller side, he liked watching clips of Blackhawks star Patrick Kane. After being coaching by his father on the Long Island Royals, Hagens starred at Rhode Island powerhouse Mount St. Charles and the US National Development Team Program before landing at Boston College as a 17-year-old last fall. Feeling he'd accomplished enough after two seasons of juniors, he was ready to raise the bar. 'I wanted to be challenged at the college level,' Hagens said. 'I wanted to join Boston College and I wanted to be pushed every day, playing against guys that are older and stronger that will push you and get you ready for the NHL... I knew that it would be the best step in getting me ready.' Advertisement Though it all, Hagens has carried a work ethic his parents instilled in him at a young age. When he attended the NHL Combine in June, he was hopeful that it stood out to teams. 'Just how high my compete level is,' Hagens said. 'I love winning. I will do anything to win. Something that's helped me get to the point where I am today is just how hard I've been able to work my whole life. 'Nothing has ever come easy. I've had to work for everything that I've ever gotten before. And that's something I'm super grateful for. That's something that's just within my family. That's something I was raised up, taught from my parents and my coaches. So going into those meetings, just really expressing how hard I compete and how badly I want to be on a team and hopefully win a Stanley Cup someday.' 'He has that fire' When Hagens arrived at Conte Forum, his new coach Greg Brown was struck by his demeanor right away. Advertisement 'He's a happy kid,' Brown said. 'He comes into the rink every day with a smile. Just excited to be there. You can feel his positive energy when he comes into the locker room.' As a teenager playing in rough-and-tumble Hockey East, Hagens acclimated to the competition quickly. He was named the Rookie of the Month in November, and once he returned from an exceptional World Juniors tournament — five goals, four assists en route to a Gold Medal — in January, Brown saw Hagens raise the bar even higher. 'You could see when games were tight, that he would elevate and really want to assert himself and try and take over the game,' Brown said. 'Or (have) a major impact in the game. So he has that competitiveness. He has that fire.' Hagens wound up with 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games as a freshman. The goal total wasn't huge, but Hagens was centering a line with NHL-bound wingers in Leonard and Perrault. He was happy to make the right play to set a teammate up. Hagens just wanted the 27-8-2 Eagles to win games. Advertisement Though it wasn't a Macklin-Celebrini-style explosion, he was pleased to be producing at a point-per-game rate given the level of competition he was facing. 'You're playing against guys that are 25, 24-year-olds every night,' Hagens said. 'It's tough. It's hard hockey, but I'm super grateful to be able to have the year I was able to have with the group of guys we did have.' Away from the rink, there was one other thing that stood out to Brown. 'He cares,' Brown said. 'He cares about his teammates. He wants to do the right things. He wants to learn. There's a lot of — it's not just going out there to show off his skill package. He wants to play the right way within the frame of the game and that's not always easy for guys who grow up always being the best guy on the ice. He wants to understand the big picture of how it all works and then be able to be as big a factor as he can within that framework.' 'Getting drafted has been my dream' Now comes the uncertainty for Hagens. Advertisement After earning spots on the US Development Team and at Boston College, he won't have agency in where he's drafted. It could be his hometown Islanders at No. 1 overall, the Bruins at No. 7, or anywhere from East Coast to West. If he slides to Boston, Hagens said he'd be embrace being a Bruin. 'I love Boston,' Hagens said. 'Being at Boston College, we're right in the middle of Boston there. So it's a beautiful city. Only great things to say about it. I love it there.' After the draft, Hagens said he doesn't know if he'll be back in Chestnut Hill for another season. That's a conversation he'll need to have with the team that drafts him and his family. NHL teams retain the rights of their draft picks throughout their college careers, so there's no rush for most selections. Advertisement Brown would certainly welcome him back with open arms. 'He's a driver on our team,' Brown said. 'A key guy. All over the ice, but especially in offensive situations. He's able to create offense where there seems to be none, and that's not an easy thing to do. I also think he would grow his leadership in the locker room and on the ice coming back as a sophomore.' Over the past year, there's been plenty of speculation about where he'll land next, but Hagens is doing his best to embrace the noise. Sooner or later, he knows his name will be called, and he'll be one step closer to the NHL. 'Honestly, you just kinda have to be grateful about it,' Hagens said. 'Being able to hear your name in those conversations and obviously leading up to the draft now, being allowed the opportunity to get drafted into any organization in the league, it's something you have to be grateful for. It's one step in your process, but you just have to be ready. Advertisement 'Getting drafted has been my dream my whole entire life. That's why I started playing hockey. That's why I still play. I'm really just grateful for everything right now. The noise will always be there, but you just have to make sure you're living in the moment.' Read the original article on MassLive.

Rocket lose 3-2 to Checkers in four games
Rocket lose 3-2 to Checkers in four games

CTV News

time04-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • CTV News

Rocket lose 3-2 to Checkers in four games

Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent watches play during third period AHL hockey action in Laval, Que., on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) The Laval Rocket saved their best for last, but the last goal they allowed was a big part of what went wrong in the Eastern Conference Final. Jesse Puljujarvi broke the deadlock late in the third period, and the Charlotte Checkers beat the Rocket 3-2 on Tuesday night to advance to the Calder Cup final. The Montreal Canadiens' secondary team could be blamed for letting a 2-0 lead slip in the second period, but they looked much more structured in the final third. As the minutes ticked away, extra time seemed inevitable. Then came the fatal error with 2:04 remaining. The game did not go to plan. Puljujarvi deflected a pass from Rasmus Asplund into the neutral zone and outran Brandon Gignac into enemy territory. The puck was out of his reach when goalkeeper Jacob Fowler and defenceman Zack Hayes were caught in the middle. Hayes dived and pushed the disc onto the blade of the Finn's stick, who sent it into a net abandoned by Fowler's exit. Two minutes later, the Rocket's season was over, swept aside in four games. 'I have to read up on him (Hayes). When you're trying to get back into a series, I have to be better at it. I want to learn from that and not make that mistake again,' said Fowler, who got his first start in this series after two appearances replacing Cayden Primeau. In front of the media, the 20-year-old admirably took the blame for the goal, but head coach Pascal Vincent was far from pointing the finger. 'It's a game of mistakes. These things happen, and it happens so quickly. It's easy to look at a goalkeeper or a defender who's made a mistake, or the combination of the two, but how many mistakes have been made in front of them, and we don't talk about it because it doesn't end in a goal. I'm proud of Jacob tonight,' said Vincent. It was a sentiment shared by the players in the dressing room. 'This is a team sport and everyone makes mistakes. You can't point the finger at anyone. I'm proud of this group,' said striker Joshua Roy. On the brink of the abyss, the team played the best game of the final but once again fell victim to turnovers that slowed their momentum, suffering the consequences of the Checkers' opportunism. Although the defeat was difficult to digest, Vincent preferred to keep his men's last public performance in mind rather than look back on the three previous under-performances. 'We asked the lads to keep believing, and they did. We asked them to empty their tanks, and they did. I think we deserved a better fate tonight,' he said. 'It was our best game of the series, and it's going to take a bit of time to digest because we've had such a great season, but when we take stock, there are going to be a lot of positives. That was our identity tonight.' With their eighth consecutive win, the Checkers will be in the American League Final for the first time since 2019. That year, they lifted the Calder Cup. The Florida Panthers' farm club now awaits the winner of the Western Association final, between the Texas Stars and the Abbotsford Canucks. Roy and Owen Beck threaded the needle in defeat, while Fowler made 23 saves. Justin Sourdif and MacKenzie Entwistle also got things moving for the Checkers, who were coming off a sweep at the expense of the Hershey Bears, two-time defending Calder Cup champions. Kaapo Kahkonen turned away 23 pucks. Unable to close the books Nobody was surprised to see the Rocket playing with a lot of energy at the start of the first period. The Checkers, however, resisted well. The two teams then played a real game of chess, during which there weren't many chances to score. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Lucas Condotta were denied by Kahkonen in quick succession, while Puljujarvi was denied by Fowler in the enclave. Then, during a numerical disadvantage, Alex Barré-Boulet took advantage of a miscalculated rebound from the boards by defender Trevor Carrick to break free, but he was unable to open the scoring. The Rocket finally found a way to take the lead for the first time in this series, with Roy winning his battle in the enclave and deflecting a shot from Gustav Lindstrom's point to hit the target with just 45 seconds remaining. Momentum was often the issue during the series, and the Rocket maintained it early in the second period. Sustained pressure from Roy and Gignac allowed Beck to accept a pass from Noel Hoefenmayer to double his side's lead. Unfortunately for Pascal Vincent's team, they shot themselves in the foot. Just 1:40 after Beck's goal, Harvey-Pinard allowed a turnover in the attacking zone, and Sourdif came in overtime. Sourdif made the right decision and fired home to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Rocket was able to work for five minutes with an extra man after Riley Bezeau was awarded a major penalty for checking Lindstrom in the head, but his lack of execution hurt them. Sean Farrell committed a turnover in the centre, and on a two-on-one build-up, Entwistle deceived Fowler in the same way as Sourdif. The Checkers gave their opponents a little warning in the fifth minute of the final third, but Wilmer Skoog's shot hit the post to Fowler's right. As the pressure mounted, caution was the order of the day, although some attacks ended up close to the net of both goalkeepers. The score remained unchanged until Puljujarvi's heartbreaking goal. – This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 3, 2024.

Canadiens Farm Team Drops Game One
Canadiens Farm Team Drops Game One

Yahoo

time30-05-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Canadiens Farm Team Drops Game One

The AHL Eastern Conference Final got underway Wednesday night at Place Bell, and the Charlotte Checkers dominated the Laval Rocket, at least on the scoreboard, winning 5-1. The Montreal Canadiens' farm team had not played the Florida Panthers' farm team since 2018, and they'll need to adapt in a hurry if they don't want to see the series slip between their fingers. Following the Rocket's morning skate, it looked like Jacob Fowler would be getting the start since he was the first goaltender off the ice, but when the puck dropped on game one, Cayden Primeau was between the posts. Unfortunately for the veteran, he wasn't in the same superb form he had in the divisional final, and he surrendered four goals in just 19 shots for a mediocre .789 save percentage. Charlotte scored twice on its first three shots. Advertisement Former Canadiens Player Chooses Switzerland Could The Canadiens' Second-Line Centre Be In New York? Canadiens: The Grades Are In – Joel Armia Meanwhile, the Rocket took 31 shots on Checkers netminder Kaapo Kahkonen, but Oliver Kapanen was the only one who got a puck past him. It wasn't for lack of trying. Pascal Vincent's men got their opportunities, especially since the Checkers were far from being disciplined, getting seven penalties before things got ugly. Both teams were assessed tons of penalties with just over two minutes left in the game. It was a tough night at the office for veterans Alex Barre-Boulet and Laurent Dauphin, the pair who lead the Rocket in points with 10 and nine points, respectively. They finished the night with a minus-four rating and struggled to find lanes to the opponent's net. The Rocket will need to turn over a new leaf in a hurry since game two is set for Thursday night. Vincent's team would do well to be ready from puck drop since the Checkers scored early in each period on Wednesday. They scored within two minutes of the start of the first and second frames and 31 seconds into the final frame. Advertisement Jacob Fowler should be back in the net tonight, as it's the second part of the back-to-back. Additionally, Vincent hasn't said he'd move away from the alternation system he put into place since Primeau returned from the NHL once the Canadiens were eliminated. Game two will be a must-win affair for Laval, as games three through five will be played in Charlotte. Losing both home games to start the series would put the Rocket in a tricky situation, to say the least. Game two is set for 7:00 PM and will be broadcast on RDS. Photo Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story. Advertisement Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @ and Threads @karinehains. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

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