Simon Gagne, pictured above with Justin Williams Saturday night, scored two goals in his return to action for the first time since hoisting the Stanley Cup in June.
It was a charity game though. So, no – he hasn’t agreed to a deal somewhere in Europe or the ECHL.
Instead, it was Team Philly vs Team New York – two squads made up of NHL players – in a game to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Gagne, signed by the LA Kings as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2011, played center this weekend – with Flyers’ jack-of-all-trades, Scott Hartnell, on his left and Williams lined up on the right side.
After scoring the first goal of the game for his team, Gagne joined Williams and Blackhawks tough guy Dan Carcillo for a little dance number in front of their bench (note: video has yet to surface – with YET being the operative word).
Another goal from Gagne later in the game still wasn’t enough for Team Philly.
Team New York had the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Henrik Lundqvist, in net and he put on a show between the pipes – stopping 56 shots, en route to a 10-6 win.
A sellout crowd of over 10,000 fans were also treated to four goals by James Neal of the Pittsburgh Penguins and one goal from Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan, in what was his final North American appearance before heading overseas to join Anze Kopitar – see link below for more info on that story.
After the game, Williams was already looking ahead to playing some higher stakes hockey.
“Hopefully at some point we get back soon and we (the Kings) can benefit from the extra added rest that we’ve gotten,” he said. “When you end your season with a win and you’re the champs, obviously we have a good taste in our mouth right now from the last time we played…But at the same time, [we’re] extremely frustrated we’re not playing a meaningful hockey game right now.”
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One more shot from the charity game (more here)…
Kopitar Out, Can Watch His Son Against Arizona
Per recent tradition, it will be the Kings and Coyotes in a pair of split-squad games to open up preseason on Tuesday night.
LA captain Anze Kopitar will not suit up, but he will get a chance to watch his son play.
Allow us to explain…
“Last season when [Jaret Anderson-Dolan] made the team out of camp and […]