NHL News: Darryl Sydor Retires, Maxim Lapierre resigns
Defenseman Darryl Sydor retired after 18 seasons
After playing for 18 seasons in the National Hockey League, defenseman Darryl Sydor has finally announced his retirement from the game. Sydor played 1291 games in his career, scoring 507 points with 409 assists, giving him an all-time ranking of 16 among NHL defensemen. Sydor ended his career with the Saint Luis Blues, playing only one season for them. During a majority of his career, Sydor played for the Dallas Stars. Sydor won the Stanley Cup on two different occasions in his career.
During the 2003/2004 season, the Dallas Stars traded Sydor to the Columbus Blue Jackets and in a twist of fate the defenseman was traded again to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The trades turned out to be fortunate enough for the defenseman because the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to win the 2003/2004 Stanley Cup. However, fate robbed him of a Stanley Cup win when Sydor was traded in the 2007/2008 season to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A year later, the Penguins traded him once again in the middle of the season back to the Dallas Stars in the same year when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.
The six foot one, two hundred pounds Sydor accumulated 755 penalty minutes in his career. He was the seventh overall draft pick for the Los Angeles Kings in 1990. In his only playoff game, the defenseman scored the crucial goal against the Buffalo Sabres, propelling the Dallas stars into the championship finals.
Darryl Sydor is retiring only from the ice though. He would continue to be a part of the NHL as an assistant coach to Mike Yeo for the Houston Aeros. Sydor along with Brian Wiseman were named for the position on Tuesday. The nominations of Yeo, Sydor and Wiseman are completely new additions to Aero’s coaching. Yeo said that he was looking for someone passionate about the game and who had a great character and work ethic. That just spells “Sydor.”
Yeo already had a run-in with Sydor when he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yeo considered it his good fortune to have seen Sydor’s professionalism firsthand. He said that he had always believed that Sydor could perform the coaching tasks proficiently and “this is a great opportunity for him to get started.” Sydor would be quiet satisfied by the opportunity to teach and coach young players with the skills he acquired in his illustrious NHL career. Bearing that in mind, Sydor approached the Saint Luis Blues for an assistant coaching position which eventually went to Scott Mellanby.
Habs Sign Maxim Lapierre for another year
The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed forward Maxim Lapierre for another year for $900,000. As a restricted free agent, Lapierre had the right to Salary Arbitration but he chose to enter into negotiation with the Habs. Lapierre acknowledged that he didn’t have the kind of leverage in terms of performance to successfully earn himself a more lucrative contract through the arbitration process. His only regret, however, was the duration of the contract. Lapierre said that he would have liked a longer deal but considered this contract as an opportunity to prove his worth and come back stronger next year.
Lapierre certainly has a lot to prove since his performance thus far has been nothing more than ordinary. In 76 games last season he managed 14 points (7-7-14) with 61 penalty minutes. Admitting his own short comings, he said that this was not his best year, and his 72 point NHL career suggests that he is indeed capable of more. This year could be his breakout year, paving the way for the 25-year-old youngster to make a name for himself in the NHL.
“I want to play with this team for a long time and finish my career where it started – right here with the Canadiens,” Lapierre said while professing his commitment to the team. After Lapierre, Carey Price is the only Canadien who is yet to be signed. The remainder of the Canadien roster has either been signed or told already that they would not be signed.
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