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NEWARK, N. Authentic Texans Jersey .J. -- Jaromir Jagr has decided to remain with the New Jersey Devils for another year. "I was happy being here," the 42-year-old Jagr said Thursday in a conference call from Belarus, where he is playing for the Czech Republic in the world championships. "There was no reason to change. There was no reason to test free agency. What would happen? Someone might give me more money, but nobody can guarantee me that Id be happy someplace else. If Im happy, then theres no reason to go anywhere else. I play my best hockey when Im happy." The Devils did not release terms of the contract. Jagr said it was a one-year deal. The contract is believed to be worth $6 million with incentives. "I like having one-year deals," Jagr said. "If something goes wrong, you never know if you have a long contract and say have three years left. One year is good for everybody. I think both sides wanted to get this done quickly. Lou (Lamoriello, the teams president and general manager) wanted to do it, because he wanted to see the direction where hes going with the team." Jagr was the Devils leading scorer this, finishing with 24 goals and 43 assists for 67 points. "Id truly like to score more goals," Jagr said. "I feel like I can play with the guys we have. We have a better chance to play better. We have a good group of guys and thats very important. I like to play a lot, because I dont get tired." Jagr will turn 43 in February of next season, his 21st year in the NHL. A two-time winner of the Stanley Cup when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jagr has 705 goals and 1,050 assists. The Devils missed the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons. "We made a lot of mistakes early," Jagr said. "But we were able to play good against the good teams. We lost a lot of points to teams that didnt make the playoffs. It put us in a position where we had to win almost every game and that was too much pressure. We didnt have any great superstars, but we had good goal scorers that give us a chance to compete against anybody and beat anybody. Its just my feeling, but we didnt have to be great to win games, if we work hard." Jagr said that he liked the camaraderie in the Devils locker room. "We have a lot of fun," Jagr said. "We have a loose atmosphere. Theres not a bad guy in the room. Maybe we need a bad one to get in the playoffs." Jagr was named Thursday as one of the three finalists for the Bill Masterton Award, given to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey," along with Manny Malholtra of the Carolina Hurricanes and Dominic Moore of the New York Rangers. "It means a lot that the hockey writers picked me," Jagr said. "Hockey writers can be very picky, so for them to pick me means a lot. I just love the sport and follow the laws of the sport." Jagr said he plans to keep playing after next season. "Theres no reason to stop," Jagr said. "I want to play for as long as I can. As long as I work hard, I am going to continue to play." Whitney Mercilus Jersey . 31 as the deadline to submit an Olympic hockey roster, the deadline has changed. After appeals from some top European countries - namely Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czech - over the past 24 hours, the National Hockey League, NHL Players Association and the IIHF agreed to move the date to Jan. Johnathan Joseph Jersey . Headlining the 27 players were first-round NHL draftees Rasmus Ristolainen and Teuvo Teravainen. Both players are returnees from the 2013 Finnish World Junior team.AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Venus Williams fell short in her attempt to capture her first title in more than a year, losing to Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the final of the ASB Classic on Saturday. Second-seeded Ivanovic looked headed for a routine victory in the matchup between former world No. 1s, winning the first set in 35 minutes and holding match point at 5-3 in the second. But Williams fought back to break Ivanovic twice to capture the second set and force a decider. Williams opened the third set with two double faults to drop serve, however, and played under pressure the remainder of the match. She held two break points in the final game before Ivanovic won four straight points to close out the match. Williams was playing in her first final since winning her 44th career title at Luxembourg in October 2012. The seven-time Grand Slam champions ranking has fallen to 47th as she has battled injuries and Sjogrens syndrome, a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease, over the past two years. Williams had an 8-1 record against Ivanovic heading into the match, with the Serbs only win coming at the 2008 Australian Open. DeAndre Hopkins Womens Jersey. "She played so well. Weve played a lot of great matches and this is another one," Williams said. "I just kept fighting despite the odds. She was playing so well." Ivanovic, a former French Open champion, captured her 12th WTA singles title and her first since Bali in 2011. "It was very tough," Ivanovic said. "Venus showed again what a great sport she is in what shes done today and over all these years. Williams sister Serena is playing later in the day against Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Brisbane International, another Australian Open tuneup event. Venus said the sisters made a pact before the finals that they would both bring home the trophies Saturday. "Ill just be rooting for Serena tonight," she said. "I couldnt keep up my end of the bargain. I just played too tough of a player but hopefully she can make it at least one win today." wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
