Latest news with #JamesHagens
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
With Adam Sandler announcing his pick, Boston College's James Hagens happy to be drafted by Bruins
Growing up on Long Island, James Hagens wanted nothing more than to be selected by the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Islanders. Though that dream failed to materialize at the NHL draft on Friday night, the 18-year-old Boston College center was more than happy with the consolation. Hagens is not only staying in Boston, after being selected seventh overall by the Bruins, he enjoyed the extra bonus of having his name announced by Adam Sandler.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Adam Sandler's NHL Draft Cameo Leaves Bruins Pick Overjoyed
Adam Sandler's NHL Draft Cameo Leaves Bruins Pick Overjoyed originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Although not exactly a hockey movie, "Happy Gilmore" has become a staple of sports pop culture because of its eponymous protagonist played by Adam Sandler. Advertisement In the movie, Gilmore, who has failed in his dream to have a career in hockey, is always seen wearing a Boston Bruins jersey even while playing golf. That has resonated with hockey fans in real life, particularly with Bruins supporters. During Friday night's 2025 NHL draft in Los Angeles, Sandler, wearing a Bruins jersey, made a surprising pre-recorded video appearance as 'Happy Gilmore' to announce Boston's pick at the No. 7 spot in the first round. 'My name is Happy Gilmore. How are you?' Sandler began in the pre-recorded video. 'Proud to be part of the 2025 NHL Draft. The Boston Bruins select from Boston College, James Hagens. Way to go, homie!' The 18-year-old Hagens certainly liked the Bruins' move to enlist the help of Sandler to announce the selection. Advertisement "I'm so excited. I'm so excited to be back in Boston and to have Adam Sandler make the pick, it was special," Hagens said after (h/t staff writer Anna Kulesa). James Hagens is selected by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Lee-Imagn Images Hagens played 37 games for the Boston College Eagles during his freshman season in the 2024-25 campaign, scoring 11 goals and dishing out 26 assists for 37 points. Viewed as a future top-line center in the NHL, Hagens' debut for the Bruins will be highly anticipated by their fans, who are eager to see Boston become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender again after the team went just 33-39-10 to miss the NHL playoffs in the 2024-25 season. Advertisement The Bruins still have work to do in the draft this coming Saturday, as they have six more picks lined up heading into the final day of the event. Related: Fans Moved by Islanders' Meaningful Gesture Toward Matthew Schaefer This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Bruins' tank pays off as James Hagens gives them an NHL Draft first-round steal
BOSTON — By selling off Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand in a four-day span in March, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney made a decision that no exec ever hopes to make. Accumulating points would no longer be a priority. He would not mind if the Bruins faded for the rest of the regular season to improve his odds of drafting a game-changing teenager. Advertisement On Friday, three-plus months after creating a roster that was designed to lose, the general manager felt a degree of solace for his suffering. James Hagens, once considered a possibility to go No. 1 in the 2025 NHL Draft, was still available when the Bruins were up at No. 7. Sweeney had no choice but to make the 18-year-old center the team's highest selection since Tyler Seguin was picked at No. 2 in 2010. One reason prospect experts once had Hagens atop their 2025 lists was the way he set up his 2024-25 freshman season at Boston College. The prior year, Hagens went on a rampage with the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 team, scoring 39 goals and 102 points in 58 games. For perspective, Hagens' point sum tied him in the U.S. NTDP record books with Patrick Kane's 2005-06 output, eighth-most in program history. 'He's excelled against his peer group at every opportunity he's had,' Sweeney said Friday. 'His production at the program is among the best that's ever played. There's been some pretty special players. In college hockey, he played on a top line. We believe in the player and what he's done. He won a gold medal at World Juniors against the best players in his age group and all across the world.' Hagens became one of the players to watch in the first round for another reason. A native of Hauppauge, N.Y., there was a chance for him to be claimed by his hometown team. The New York Islanders traded Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday for Nos. 16 and 17 and Emil Heineman. The Islanders could have bundled the back-to-back picks to move up and select the Long Island native. New GM Mathieu Darche admitted there was an attempt. Mathieu Darche confirms on ESPN that the @NYIslanders tried to move up, when asked about Hagens. — Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 28, 2025 Hagens said he was not following the chatter. 'I stay away from all that stuff,' he said. 'I had no idea where I was going to end up. I'm so grateful I'm ending up in Boston and I'm a Bruin.' The Bruins considered trading the seventh pick for multiple later selections. But they concluded the chance to draft the dynamic center not one worth ceding. Advertisement 'We had some opportunities,' Sweeney said. 'But we just felt that when James was there, we had to make the selection. And wanted to make the selection.' The 5-foot-11 Hagens, who said he's up to 190 pounds, is a playmaking center with a good shot. Scouts have used Jack Hughes and Logan Cooley as NHL comparables. He is at his best when he controls the puck and plays at high speed. Hagens applied his strengths to the max at the U.S. NTDP. So it was perhaps with a degree of disappointment that the six teams picking before the Bruins assessed Hagens' freshman output at BC: 11 goals and 37 points in 37 games. They were not video-game numbers. But his 37 points were good enough to place him No. 3 on the roster, only behind NHLers-in-waiting Ryan Leonard (49) and Gabe Perreault (48). 'There's no shame in the type of year he had, playing on the top line on one of the top teams in the country,' Sweeney said. 'There's no concern on our part that he took a step back from a production standpoint.' Hagens played with pace and skill, but also with a sprinkle of deference to Leonard and Perreault, his older top-line partners. 'I thought this year was really good,' Hagens said. 'You've just got to go out and prove next year and prove to everyone that there's nothing wrong. I'm in the spot where I want to be. I want to be a Boston Bruin.' Whether a pro push is imminent is unknown. Hagens said he will speak with the Bruins about where he should play in 2025-26. It's likely he will return to BC for his sophomore season. Hagens noted the Beanpot and the NCAA championship as two objectives. Assuming Hagens stays with the Eagles, he will have more responsibility to take another step. Leonard and Perreault are gone. So is Jacob Fowler, one of college hockey's top goalies for his two BC seasons. It will be up to Hagens to lead the offense. Fellow Bruins prospects Andre Gasseau, Oskar Jellvik and Dean Letourneau will be part of that cohort, too. Advertisement 'He'll probably look to generate a bit more, look to have a shoot-first mentality at times,' Sweeney said. 'He had a chance to play with Ryan Leonard, who can really fire a puck. Chances are, especially as a young player, you look to make sure he has the puck in his hands plenty of times. He did a really good job of that and distributing. But they have lost a lot of players. It will be a good opportunity for several of our guys who are at that university to take that step. He'll be right at the front of the line. He'll have the hard matchups again against the other top lines in college hockey. It will be a good test for him.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
NHL Draft: Boston Bruins Steal James Hagens In 'A Dream Come True'
LOS ANGELES – The Boston Bruins pulled off a great feat at the 2025 NHL draft: they got a super-talented player lower than expected, while adding another chapter to the rivalry between Boston sports fans and New York sports fans by snapping up center James Hagens. While New York Islanders supporters hoped their franchise would use two first-rounders it got for moving Noah Dobson to trade up and select the Long Island native, Hagens ended up going seventh overall to the Bruins, who got a little help from Happy Gilmore himself in making the pick. Advertisement "You're just sitting, waiting to hear your name called and when you hear Adam Sandler call it, it's pretty cool," Hagens said. "This is a really cool moment." Hagens, of course, knows Boston well. He just finished his freshman season at NCAA Boston College, where he helped the Eagles rank at or near the top of the national polls pretty much all season. "It's the coolest thing in the world," Hagens said. "It's close to home, so it's nice for my parents. I wanted to go to school in Boston, and turns out I'm a Boston Bruin now, so it all worked out. It really is a dream come true." 2025 NHL Draft Tracker: Round 1 Picks, Reports, Rankings And More 2025 NHL Draft Tracker: Round 1 Picks, Reports, Rankings And More The 2025 NHL draft day is here. Check out the picks and scouting reports of the first round as they come in, as well as draft rankings and much more prospect coverage. Advertisement No doubt the Bruins were pinching themselves when their turn came, and Hagens was still on the board. The gifted pivot was a pre-season front-runner to go first overall, but as time went on, other players caught up and passed him. It's truly not an indictment of Hagens, who won world junior gold with Team USA and had a very impressive college season, given his age. But his frame is smaller than some of the other centers that went in front of him, and as history indicates, smaller players tend to get dinged on draft day, particularly in the first 10 selections. From the sounds of it, the Bruins kept pretty good tabs on Hagens this season. "I talked to them a lot," Hagens said. "My sister had a tournament in Boston so I drove her up, and I was able to meet with one of their scouts there. I was in contact with them a lot, obviously being close to them at Boston College." James Hagens walks up to the stage after Adam Sandler announced him as the Boston Bruins' pick. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images) If Hagens needs any more inside info, he can just call up some of his Boston College teammates: Andre Gasseau, Dean Letourneau and Oskar Jellvik had already been drafted by the Bruins in previous classes. Advertisement As for all the hype about him potentially going to his hometown Islanders, Hagens wasn't going to bog himself down in what-ifs before the picks were actually made. "I blocked it all out," he said. "I didn't know what was going to happen. You're not sitting in those rooms, and I'm really happy to be a Boston Bruin." For a franchise in desperate need of centers now and in the future, the Bruins now have a very good option once Hagens is ready to turn pro – and it won't take long. Promo image credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Associated Press
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
NHL Draft Team By Team Results
1. (10) Roger McQueen, C, Brandon (WHL). 1. (7) James Hagens, C, Boston College. 1. (9) Radim Mrtka, D, Seattle (WHL). 1. (18) Cole Reschny, C, Victoria (WHL). 1. (32) Cullen Potter, C, Arizona State. 1. (3) Anton Frondell, C, Djurgarden (Sweden). 1. (25) Vaclav Nestrasil, RW, Muskegon (USHL). 1. (29) Mason West, C, Edina High School (Minn.). 1. (14) Jackson Smith, D, Tri-City (WHL). 1. (20) Pyotr Andreyanov, G, CSKA Jr. (Russia-Jr.) 1. (13) Carter Bear, LW, Everett (WHL). 1. (31) Henry Brzustewicz, D, London (OHL). 1. (5) Brady Martin, C, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 1. (21) Cameron Reid, D, Kitchener (OHL). 1. (26) Ryker Lee, RW, Madison (USHL). No First Round selection 1. (1) Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie (OHL). 1. (16) Victor Eklund, Djurgarden (Sweden-2). 1. 1. (17) Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie (OHL). No First Round selection 1. (23) Logan Hensler, D, Wisconsin. 1. (6) Porter Martone, RW, Brampton (OHL). 1. (12) Jack Nesbitt, C, Windsor (OHL). 1. (11) Benjamin Kindel, C, Calgary (WHL). 1. (22) Bill Zonnon, RW, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL). 1. (24) William Horcoff, C, Michigan. 1. (2) Michael Misa, C, Saginaw (OHL). 1. (30) Joshua Ravensbergen, G, Prince George (WHL). 1. (19) Justin Carbonneau, RW, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL). 1. (8) Jake O'Brien, C, Brantford (OHL). No First Round selection No First Round selection 1. (4) Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton (QMJHL) 1. (15) Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle (WHL). No First Round selection 1. (27) Lynden Lakovic, LW, Moose Jaw (WHL). 1. (28) Sascha Boumedienne, D, Boston University. 1. (32) Cullen Potter, C, Arizona State. No First Round selection 1. (29) Mason West, C, Edina High School (Minn.). No First Round selection 1. (20) Pyotr Andreyanov, G, CSKA Jr. (Russia-Jr.) No First Round selection No First Round selection No First Round selection No First Round selection No First Round selection 1. (26) Ryker Lee, RW, Madison (USHL). 1. 1. (17) Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie (OHL). 1. (24) William Horcoff, C, Michigan. 1. (30) Joshua Ravensbergen, G, Prince George (WHL).
