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”Johnny Hockey” is getting an additional title: part owner.Calgary Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau is a member of an NHL-laden ownership group that purchased an equity stake in the U.S. Hockey League’s Dubuque Fighting Saints on Thursday. The group includes Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons Jordan Schroeder Jersey Womens , former Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, and Florida Panthers executive chairman Peter Luukko.Gaudreau and Girgensons were teammates on the Dubuque team that won the USHL championship in 2011. Luukko’s son Nick was also on the team. Their ownership group is titled Saints4Life Acquisitions.”The first day I stepped into Dubuque, I knew it was a special place,” Gaudreau said in a statement issued by the league. ”I have a lot of special memories in Dubuque, including winning it all in 2011. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”Gaudreau was the USHL’s rookie of the year in 2011, when he was also drafted by Calgary. He eventually went on to win college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award at Boston College.Girgensons described being part of the ownership group as a way to pay back the team for playing a key role in his development. A year after moving to North America from his native Latvia, Girgensons spent two seasons with the Fighting Saints and was preparing to play college hockey at Vermont before being selected by Buffalo in the first round of the 2012 draft.”It’s a team that really got me to where I am today,” Girgensons told The Associated Press by phone.Never envisioning the opportunity to be an owner, Girgensons joked he might need to contact Sabres owner Terry Pegula for a few pointers.Edmonton Oilers president and general manager Peter Chiarelli will remain a part owner of the team. Philip Falcone, who previously was a part owner of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, is departing as the Fighting Saints’ principal owner.The Fighting Saints have won two championships since returning to the USHL in 2010 following a nine-year absence.Luukko immediately jumped aboard when he saw how his son’s experience in Dubuque helped prepare him for college.”I know from my son’s perspective and others that I’ve talked to, they come in as pretty mature people heading into their university experience,” he said.”Being involved in the National Hockey League for over 25 years, this is a chance to be able to be part of the development of young players and what is actually a good business also Matt Calvert Jersey Womens ,” Luukko said. ”Listen, I don’t belong to a country club, so really this will be my fun.”— SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers, in dire need of a home game, will get just that on Saturday night when the Chicago Blackhawks visit the BB&T Center.Counting Chicago, Florida will now play eight straight home games, and time in the Sunshine State is needed, according to coach Bob Boughner.“We’ve been on the road 30 of the first 40 days this season,” said Boughner, whose Panthers concluded a six-game road trip on Friday night with a 4-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes. “That includes a European trip thrown in there. But there’s no time to dwell on excuses.”Article continues below ...Friday’s game ended a 2-4-0 Panthers trip that was a disaster for reasons that go beyond the four losses. The Panthers on Monday also lost second-line center Vincent Trocheck, an All-Star in 2017, to a broken ankle. He is expected to miss at least a couple of months and possibly the rest of the season.In addition, the Panthers on Friday lost starting goalie Roberto Luongo to an injury for the second time this season. Luongo is said to be day to day Cale Makar Jersey Womens , but backup James Reimer is expected to start against Chicago, and Michael Hutchinson could be called up from their American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield.Meanwhile, the Blackhawks lost 4-2 on Friday night at the Tampa Bay Lightning, getting one goal each from Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov.The goal by Anisimov, his third of the season, is a positive sign for the Blackhawks, who are top-heavy on offense.Patrick Kane has 12 goals this season and Toews has 11, including a six-game points streak. Alex DeBrincat has nine goals and Brandon Saad has seven.But beyond those four forwards, no one else has more than three goals.As a result, Chicago has scored an average of just 1.8 goals in the past 13 games.Blackhawks losses have piled up during that stretch as the team has gone 2-8-3 heading into the game against the Panthers.“We’re hurting for offense right now,” Kane said. “You take it upon yourself as a player who is supposed to score and produce. It would be nice to be able to do that more often.”It would be also nice to get more secondary scoring, something Chicago has yet to establish this season.The Blackhawks, who have won three Stanley Cup titles this decade — 2010, 2013 and 2015 — lack depth and overall team speed. They fired coach Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6 and the new boss Riley Nash Jersey Womens , Jeremy Colliton, has had similar issues with a flawed roster.As for the Panthers, winger Mike Hoffman’s franchise-record 17-game points streak ended Friday.In addition, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov played 22:33 — tops among Florida’s forwards — as Boughner tried in vain to make up for the loss of Trocheck.“You never want to use (Barkov) that much,” Boughner said. “We have a back-to-back situation against Chicago.“But ‘Barky’ is an elite athlete. He’s in great condition. I think he will be fine (against Chicago). But when you are missing someone like (Trocheck), you have to double up someone’s minutes.“I thought (Nick Bjugstad) did a decent job at center filling in on that second line.”Asked about going home, finally, after being so road weary, Boughner sighed.“It’s a relief,” he said. “It’s been a long month.”