Kacey Bellamy, a three-time Olympian who helped the United States end a 20-year gold medal drought at the 2018 Winter Games, announced her retirement Tuesday.
Bellamy, who turned 34 in April, was a 15-year veteran with the U.S. women’s national team.
“Hockey has given me the most incredible memories, and as tough of a decision that this is, I know in my heart it is right,” Bellamy said. “So I’ve decided to step away from the game and start the next chapter in my life.”
The Massachusetts native also won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. The defenseman also played in nine International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships, one of only two players to win eight gold medals. The 2020 worlds were pushed to this year and were rescheduled for May 6-16 in Nova Scotia, Canada, before local health officials scrapped plans to hold the tournament.
Kelli Stack, a longtime teammate with Bellamy, was surprised by decision with the 2022 Beijing Olympics only nine months away. She said the decision was easier for Bellamy with so much unknown because of COVID-19. Playing in tournaments means being secluded in a hotel room off the ice.
“It’s not like she’s going to be missing out on a ton of memory building with her teammates,” Stack said.
Bellamy has been a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association since its founding in 2019, trying to strengthen women’s pro options after playing in both the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the National Women’s Hockey League.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, who played with Bellamy for all of her career with the U.S. national team, said not being able to play because of the pandemic has been devastating for players, especially nearing the end of their careers. Bellamy had been training as always.
“There are such limited opportunities to compete, and then those means, the main reason we train the way we do, those competitions are taken away I think this is a difficult position to put those older players in,” Lamoureux-Davidson said.
Lamoureux-Davidson said Bellamy helped loosen up the locker room while competing hard every day, making her someone others hated to play or even practice against.
“The reason she’s been so impactful, not just on the ice, but her leadership off the ice is immeasurable, and it will be greatly missed on Team USA,” Lamoureux-Davidson said.
Bellamy played 130 games with the U.S. national team and scored 11 goals with 38 assists. She played 166 games as a pro, scoring 22 goals with 83 assists. She scored 27 goals with 80 assists in college at New Hampshire. Bellamy made her first U.S. national team after her freshman year.
Bellamy was an assistant hockey coach at Merrimack College between September 2014 and July 2016. She also was part of the 2017 U.S. team that threatened to boycott the world championships that year for a better contract.
Meghan Duggan, captain of the U.S. Olympic gold medalists in 2018, said she’s thrilled for the woman who was one of the bridesmaids at her 2018 wedding and knows Bellamy will succeed in whatever she chooses to do next.
“The team in the program will certainly miss her from an honest perspective, from a leadership perspective, like she’s just a top-notch athlete,” Duggan said. “But with that being said, you know, her resume speaks for itself.”
DETROIT — Detroit Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana practiced for the first time in two months, returning to the team after entering the player assistance program of the NHL and NHL Players’ Association.
Vrana declined to specify why he entered the program.
“There’s bigger things than hockey in life and you have to get it in order,” Vrana said. “You have to make some decisions that are important in your life and then hockey.”
The 26-year-old Vrana had a goal and an assist in a win at New Jersey in October and two days later, he didn’t play against the Los Angeles Kings due to personal reasons.
Vrana, from the Czech Republic, has 98 goals and 91 assists in 323 career regular-season games.
He was selected by Washington with the No. 13 pick in the 2014 draft. Detroit acquired Vrana in a trade with the Capitals in April 2021, along with Richard Panik, a first- and second-round pick in exchange for Anthony Mantha. Last year, the Red Wings gave him a three-year contract worth $5.25 million per season.
The NHL and NHLPA started the player assistance program in 1996, giving players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The jointly funded group assists players and their families with mental health, substance abuse and other matters.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Moore agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $21 million on Thursday.
Moore, a Southern California native acquired in a trade with Toronto in February 2020, is now under contract through the 2027-28 season.
The 27-year-old Moore has seven goals and 11 assists while appearing in all 32 games this season for Los Angeles, which began the day in third place in the Western Conference.
Moore, who grew up in Thousand Oaks, has 107 career points in parts of five NHL seasons with the Kings and the Maple Leafs. Toronto signed him as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Denver in July 2016.
Moore has grown into a key two-way player for the Kings, who ended a three-season playoff drought last spring.
Moore would have been an unrestricted free agent next summer after making $1.875 million this season.
CHICAGO — Soaked with beer and still wearing his No. 8 jersey, Alex Ovechkin held three pucks in his right hand as he posed for a picture with the rest of the jubilant Washington Capitals in the visiting locker room at the United Center.
Three pucks that added up to 800.
Ovechkin became the third NHL player to reach 800 career goals when he scored three times, touching off a wild celebration for his team and an appreciative Chicago crowd.
“Soon as it happened, kind of relief,” Ovechkin said after Washington’s 7-3 win over the Blackhawks. “Kind of happiness in general.”
Ovechkin scored on his first two shots, beating Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek 24 seconds into the game before stuffing one home on a power play with 11:46 left in the first period. The 37-year-old winger then completed his 29th career hat trick when he knocked Anthony Mantha‘s pass over a sprawled Mrazek 6:34 into the third.
“When he got the first goal today, I was like, `This is the night,”‘ teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov said.
The rest of the Capitals jumped off the bench to celebrate after the milestone goal, and hats rained down on the ice from the crowd of 16,181. Fans in Chicago then chanted “Ovi! Ovi!” – drawing a wave from Ovechkin.
The star forward moved within one goal of Gordie Howe for second all-time. Wayne Gretzky holds the record with 894 goals.
“It’s a big number,” Ovechkin said. “It’s the best company (you can) ever imagine since you started playing hockey.”
Ovechkin also praised the crowd for its response.
“Even in the warmup, I was feeling that energy right away,” he said. “The fans watch me and the fans want to see that historical moment.”
When it was over, Ovechkin jumped onto the ice one last time to salute the cheering fans. He then gave his stick to a boy wearing a Capitals jersey above the tunnel to the visiting locker room.
Shortly after he got to the back, he was showered with beer by his chanting teammates. Goaded into making a speech, Ovechkin said it was special to accomplish the feat with the team.
“It was awesome,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was just awesome to be on the bench and be a part of it, a part of history.”
Ovechkin has seven goals in his last four games and a team-high 20 on the season. His previous four goals were all empty-netters.
The Capitals play seven of their next nine at home.
“I think once he’s going to be No. 1 he can have a sense of relief,” Mantha said. “Until then, I think he’s on the hunt, and that’s what we love about him.”
Ovechkin has been one of the NHL’s most dangerous scorers practically since he got two goals in his debut with Washington on Oct. 5, 2005, against Columbus.
The 12-time All-Star has nine seasons with at least 50 goals, including a career-high 65 during the 2007-08 season. The three-time MVP, who won the Stanley Cup in 2018, had 50 goals and 40 assists in 77 games last season.
“It’s mind blowing,” Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. “How many guys can score goals at his rate in the season, let alone year after year after year? He’s one of a kind, for sure.”
LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights leading scorer Jack Eichel was placed on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury, the club confirmed.
The designation means Eichel must miss at least seven days dating back to when he couldn’t physically play.
Defenseman Zach Whitecould left with a lower-body injury, and was placed on long-term IR, the team confirmed. That designation means Whitecloud will miss at least 10 games and 24 days.
The Knights announced on Twitter they recalled Jonas Rondbjerg, Brayden Pachal and Kaedan Korczak from their American Hockey League affiliate in Henderson, Nev.
Eichel has missed three of the past four games. He played in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers but was out of the lineup in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.
Eichel leads the Knights with 13 goals and 29 points, and his 16 assists are third.
His injury is the latest blow to the Knights, who lead the Pacific Division with 41 points.
Defensemen Shea Theodore (lower body) and Alex Pietrangelo (family illness) also have been out.
The Knights, who next play at Winnipeg, are expected to announce more roster moves.
Vegas acquired Eichel in November 2021 in a high-profile trade with the Buffalo Sabres. He was drafted second overall by the Sabres in 2015 but got into a dispute with the team over what kind of surgery he should undergo for a herniated disk, which ultimately led to his departure.
Vegas agreed to let Eichel have artificial disk replacement, which no NHL player had undergone to that point. After recovering from the procedure, Eichel made his debut in February for the Knights.

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