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Sabres’ Evan Rodrigues scores first NHL goal; kids score NHL college scholarships

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Buffalo Sabres, Christopher Gibson, Ed Snider, Evan Rodrigues, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, Hockey is for Everyone, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Rochester Americans

Lots of congratulations to go around for last week’s hockey exploits.

Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues gets his first NHL goal in his second game.

Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues gets his first NHL goal in his second game.

First, congrats to Buffalo Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues. We profiled him earlier in the National Hockey League season as part of a look at the talented players of color on the Rochester Americans, the Sabres American Hockey League farm team.

The Sabres called Rodrigues up and the former Boston University standout responded by scoring his first NHL goal Saturday in his second game in the bigs.

The tally came against the New York Islanders and rookie goaltender Christopher Gibson, another player of color who earned plaudits last week when he backstopped a 4-3 comeback overtime victory against the Washington Capitals in his first NHL start.

Gibson was unable to pull off a second miracle Saturday and he lost to the Sabres 4-3 in overtime.

Nothing like a first @NHL goal. E-Rod will get that puck.https://t.co/WxnJoYzRGG

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 10, 2016

1st @NHL goal and a huge smile to go with the puck. Congrats, @evanr17! pic.twitter.com/45JcWvQ0vU

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 10, 2016

Hockey high-fives also go to Akeem Adesiji, Prasanthan Aruchunan, Katherine Baker, and Ava Olsen, the 2016 recipients of  NHL/Thurgood Marshall College Fund academic scholarships.

The NHL and TMCF have partnered to award scholarships to academically-eligible participants of the league’s Hockey is for Everyone initiative since 2012.

“These outstanding young people are skating toward a bright future,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “While Hockey is for Everyone programs provide the structure, discipline and life lessons that our sport teaches so well, each of our scholarship winners was committed to proving the path to higher education can be paved with ice.”

Columbus Ice Hockey Club's Akeem Adesiji, one of four 2016 NHL/Thurgood Marshall Fund scholarship recipients.

Columbus Ice Hockey Club’s Akeem Adesiji, one of four 2016 NHL/Thurgood Marshall Fund scholarship recipients.

Hockey is For Everyone programs are nonprofit organizations across North America that provide youth of all backgrounds the chance to play hockey at little or no cost and serve as a means to encourage them to stay in school.

In addition, program participants learn essential life skills through the core values of hockey: commitment, perseverance, and teamwork.

Katherine Baker of Washington's Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club wants to own her own ice arena someday.

Katherine Baker of Washington’s Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club wants to own her own ice arena someday.

Adesiji was a center for the Columbus Ice Hockey Club and has been playing the sport since he was eight years old. He intends to study environmental science. Founded in 1999, Columbus Ice serves more than 3,000 youth hockey players each year.

Aruchunan played right wing for the Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS) at Toronto’s Jane-Finch Chapter. The program focuses on high-risk communities in Toronto by making hockey accessible to youths in neighborhoods troubled by gangs or drugs.

Aruchunan wants to attend the University of Waterloo and major in mechanical engineering.

Prasanthan Aruchunan hopes the NHL/TMCF scholarship will help him launch a career in mechanical engineering.

Prasanthan Aruchunan hopes the NHL/TMCF scholarship will help him launch a career in mechanical engineering.

“It’s a gift and I have to take advantage of it,” he told NHL.com of the scholarship. “I want to show other kids in my community you can be successful, and I want to be a role model for them. I come from a community where money is an issue for almost everyone. I want to inspire kids in the next generation.”

Baker was a defenseman for  Washington D.C.’s Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club. Founded in 1976 by Neal Henderson. it’s the nation’s oldest minority youth hockey program. She started playing hockey at nine years old and aspires to own an arena someday so more kids to play hockey.

Snider Hockey's Ava Olsen loves to play hockey and hopes to cover the game someday as a journalist.

Snider Hockey’s Ava Olsen loves to play hockey and hopes to cover the game someday as a journalist.

Olsen was a center for Philadelphia’s Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. She began playing hockey at 13 and she plans to major in business or marketing in hopes of working in the sports industry as a hockey journalist.

Snider Hockey, created in 2005 by Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider, serves thousands of Philadelphia-area youth by providing full equipment, ice time, and coaching at no cost to their families. Snider has called the foundation his legacy.

 

 

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Christopher Gibson wins 1st NHL start, secures playoff spot for N.Y. Islanders

07 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Alex Ovechkin, Christopher Gibson, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins., Sidney Crosby

There was no pressure on New York Islanders rookie goaltender Christopher Gibson Tuesday night when he faced the Washington Capitals.

Traded from Toronto on the first day of training camp, Gibson clinches playoff spot for Islanders in first NHL start.

Traded from Toronto on the first day of training camp, Gibson clinches playoff spot for Islanders in first NHL start.

He was only making his first National Hockey League start against superstar sniper Alex Ovechkin and the team with the league’s best regular season record with a Stanley Cup playoff berth on the line.

Gibson showed his mettle, making 29 saves in a 4-3 comeback overtime Islanders victory against Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals in D.C. that secured team’s third playoff spot in four years.

“Right now, it’s the best night of my life so far,” Gibson told NHL Tonight via the highlight show’s arena camera. “I never thought my first game would be against the Washington Capitals. Especially going to OT and winning in overtime, it’s been unbelievable.”

Islanders Head Coach Jack Capuano told reporters that Gibson “gave us a chance to win, and he was our best player tonight.”

Tuesday night’s best player wasn’t on the Islanders roster last Sunday. The team called him up from its American Hockey League farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, because of injuries to goalies Jean-Francois Berube and Jaroslav Halak.

.@CGibber37 made 29 saves in his first NHL start as #Isles rallied for OT win! Check out his segment on #NHLLive:https://t.co/kujVQlMmJg

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 6, 2016

Doesn't get much better for your first @NHL win! Congrats @CGibber37! pic.twitter.com/CnRlvAbr7k

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 6, 2016

Gibson, 23, was born in Karkkila, Finland. His mother is Finnish and his father hails from St. Lucia. After playing four seasons playing for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Gibson was chosen by the Los Angeles Kings with the 49th pick of the NHL Draft in 2011.

But Gibson didn’t sign with the Kings, and ended up signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He bounced between the Leafs’ farm teams – the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL and Toronto Marlies of the AHL – in the 2013-14 season.

The Leafs traded him to the Islanders on the first day of training camp in September for Michael Grabner and was assigned to Bridgeport where he has a 19-11-3 record and a 2.70 goals-against average.

Tuesday was his first NHL start, but he played in his first NHL game on Jan. 2, 2016, relieving starting Isles goalie Thomas Greiss in a tilt against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He gave up one goal in a 5-2 Penguins victory.

Brent Thompson, Gibson’s head coach in Bridgeport, told the Islanders website reporter Cory Wright that the goaltender is “one of the hardest-working kids both on and off the ice.”

“If there’s an opportunity to get on the ice early, he’s on the ice early, doing extra, we always do extra shooting,” Thompson told Wright. “His conditioning, he takes pride in that. I think you couldn’t ask for a better kid all around. He’s got great character, a great work ethic and it’s really nice to see him get that kind of reward with his first NHL win.”

 

 

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