A pair of Philadelphia Flyers will be representing their home countries at the upcoming World Championship.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will play for France, while Christian Marti is joining team Switzerland, the Flyers announced Thursday.

Bellemare led all Flyers forwards in shorthanded ice time and collected 14 points in 74 games this season. Since 2003, he's only missed one opportunity to represent France in the tournament, and that was due to injury last season.

Marti spent most of his 2015-16 campaign with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, appearing in 27 games. He also played in two contests for the ECHL's Reading Royals.

The World Championship begins Friday in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia.

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BOUCHERVILLE, Que. - Benoit-Olivier Groulx, son of Gatineau Olympiques coach Benoit Groulx, is the top-rated player for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft on June 4 in Charlottetown, the league announced Thursday. The list of the top...

Jaromir Jagr isn't going anywhere.

The legendary forward has agreed to a one-year deal to remain with the Florida Panthers, the club announced Thursday.

The extension is worth $4 million with another possible $1.5 million in bonuses for games played, reports Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

"Jaromir is a Hall of Fame player and had an excellent season playing alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau," said general manager Dale Tallon. "His track record speaks for itself, ranking third all time in points and goals. He has been a great fit with our organization and we are excited to have him back for next season."

"Jaromir has had a tremendous influence on our younger players and has been a key offensive contributor on our team," added head coach Gerard Gallant. "We are happy to have him back as we look to build off this year’s playoff appearance."

The 44-year-old led the Panthers with 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) in 79 regular-season games. He also passed Gordie Howe (1,850) to claim third all time in points, and sits only 19 points back of Mark Messier for second.

Jagr is also a finalist for the 2016 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

He recorded only two assists in six games as the Atlantic Division winners fell in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, perhaps providing further impetus to return and try to go out on the highest of notes - unless, that is, he makes good on his ambition to play into his 50s.

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John Chayka was officially named the new general manager of the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

Chayka, 26, joined the club last season as assistant general manager/analytics, and, under Don Maloney, was involved in all areas of hockey operations.

"We're very pleased to name John as our new general manager," said Gary Drummond, who was also appointed president of hockey operations Thursday. "John is among the best and brightest minds in hockey. He is knowledgeable and driven and has an incredible passion for the game. He brings an innovative approach to assessing talent and looking at player development and combined with his strong analytics expertise, we feel that he's the right choice for the direction we want to go with our franchise."

"I am extremely grateful for this opportunity," Chayka said. "(The Coyotes) are excited about the challenge ahead and focused on taking our team to the next level. We have a great core of players and prospects here and a very bright future ahead of us."

Chayka comes from a heavy analytics background, which will likely be evident in how he goes about his role.

Chayka: "We're going to be open to using any and all tools available to us to help us make better decisions at the end of the day."

— Sarah McLellan (@azc_mclellan) May 5, 2016

Chayka becomes the tenth GM in the history of the Coyotes (dating back to the Winnipeg era), and the sixth since the club moved to Arizona in 1996.

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The Arizona Coyotes signed Dave Tippett to a five-year extension, the team announced on Thursday. He'll serve as the club's head coach and executive vice president of hockey operations. The Coyotes announced the deal as they introduced new general manager John Chayka.

In addition to his duties behind the bench, Tippett, who has been with the organization since the 2009-10 season, will be involved in the team's hockey personnel decisions as well.

Arizona owns a 193-126-57 record in the five years with Tippet at the helm.

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Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome is bribing fans in an attempt to land former junior teammate, Connor McDavid, on the cover of NHL 17.

Strome took to Twitter on Thursday asking fans to retweet him 2,500 times in an effort to score McDavid some votes to be on the cover of the next installment of the popular hockey video game.

Strome promised that if he hit his target of retweets, he would post an embarrassing picture of the Edmonton Oilers' star.

Just over an hour later Strome hit his goal and below was the result:

Here you go everyone... As promised an embarrassing pic of @cmcdavid97 keep voting!! #NHL17McDavid pic.twitter.com/4j1eDT6Dyj

— Dylan Strome (@stromer19) May 5, 2016

The picture appears to be McDavid donning tanning bed glasses. Not the most embarrassing photo, but it surely helped McDavid's chances.

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The St. Louis Blues don't impress them much.

In advance of a huge Game 4 on Thursday, the Dallas Stars spent part of the day blaring Shania Twain jams in the locker room.

The players enjoyed an audience in the form of waiting media members.

First time I've seen interviews in a dressing room delayed while players finished singing Shania Twain but here we are.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) May 5, 2016

Jason Spezza, in particular, seemed to be quite into it.

I wasn't prepared for the Shania Twain sing-a-long happening when the Stars room opened, led by Jason Spezza. "You're still the onnnne..."

— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) May 5, 2016

Down 2-1 in the series, the Stars are surely hoping that from this moment, things will only go up from here.

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Alberta's professional sports teams are contributing to relief efforts after raging wildfires forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the city of Fort McMurray and other northern municipalities. The NHL's Edmonton Oilers and...

Brad Richards plans to clear his head before deciding if he wants to give it another go in the NHL.

The Detroit Red Wings forward is coming off his 15th season in the league and admits the last three years have been draining.

"Going to go get away and relax for a bit," Richards said last week, according to MLive.com's Brendan Savage. "Three teams in three years, a lot of hockey, so I think mentally I think I need to just go recharge the batteries."

Richards had 10 goals and 28 points in 68 games in his first season with the Red Wings - a team that faltered in the first round of the playoffs, but that he still felt honored playing for.

"It's an honor to play for this organization," said Richards. "I think it's one of the Original Six great traditions. But I'm talking to you today and I've been fortunate the last two years to play 'til June and you get spoiled. Watching playoff games now and there's nothing like that time of year.

"As far as playing for the Wings and wearing the jersey, all that stuff's been an honor. But obviously the season didn't go the way I wanted it to or the team wanted it to."

Richards' totals with the Red Wings were the lowest of his career and marked the sixth-straight season in which his points per game has declined.

The 2004 Conn Smythe Trophy winner enjoyed his 36th birthday Monday and admits the thought of retirement is looming.

"Guys that I grew up and started my career with are retiring," said Richards. "It's probably going to creep into my mind here in the next month a little bit too in what I want to do. I'm not there yet where I want to say I'm retiring. I need to get away and kind of see mentally how I feel and where I'm at.

"It's a young man's game now and it's hard to start a family and all that stuff and put in the time and effort it takes to stay in shape against some of these young guys. You do have to make sure you're 100 percent all in mentally. The offseasons so big at this age."

If Richards calls it a career, he'll conclude his time in the league with 298 goals and 932 points.

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Ryan Reaves doesn't get why his blown kiss is a big deal to the Dallas Stars.

The gritty St. Louis Blues forward directed the gesture towards the Stars' bench after a fight with Curtis McKenzie in Game 3, and Dallas captain Jamie Benn took great exception.

No big deal, says Reaves.

Reaves on Benn saying he'll remember the kiss: "Did he catch it and put it in his pocket? ... I don't know why that's a big deal to him."

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 5, 2016

The Blues won Game 3 and have a 2-1 advantage in the series, so it remains to be seen how, or even if, the Stars will respond in a must-win situation in Game 4 on Thursday.

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