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The New Jersey Devils announced on Thursday that forward Ilya Kovalchuk is retiring from the NHL. "After many conversations with Ilya over the past year on his desire to retire from the National Hockey League, Ilyas decision became official today," said general manager Lou Lamoriello in a statement. "On behalf of the entire organization, I wish Ilya and his family all the best in their future endeavors." Kovalchuk played 11 seasons in the NHL, including the last four with New Jersey. He retires with career NHL totals of 417 goals and 399 assists for 816 points with 516 penalty minutes in 816 games. He added 11 goals and 16 assists in 32 career playoff games. "At first blush, (the news) is pretty shocking," said TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. "And then you think about it for a moment and you say no, its not that shocking at all. We knew coming out of the lockout that there were all sorts of stories saying if he could have stayed in Russia with St. Petersburg he would have done that. He basically came back as a reluctant player after the lockout was over." Kovalchuk scored 89 goals and 112 assists for 201 points in 222 games, while adding eight goals and 11 assists in 23 playoff games with the Devils. He was traded to New Jersey by Atlanta on February 4, 2010. He was Atlantas first choice, and the first overall selection in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. "This decision was something I have thought about for a long time going back to the lockout and spending the year in Russia," said Kovalchuk in a team statement. "Though I decided to return this past season, Lou was aware of my desire to go back home and have my family there with me. The most difficult thing for me is to leave the New Jersey Devils, a great organization that I have a lot of respect for, and our fans that have been great to me." He represented Russia at three Olympic Winter Games, nine World Championships, one World Junior Championship and the 2004 World Cup. "Its sad," said Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates, who spent two years as an assistant with the Devils. "Its sad for our league. Thats one of our good players, were going to miss him." Kovalchuk signed a 15-year, $100 million contract with the Devils in 2010 and leaves $77 million behind with his retirement. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told TSN 1050 Radio on Thursday afternoon that the cap advantage of Kovalchuks contract was roughly $4 million over the first three years of his contract (as his first two years were significantly below his average annual salary). Daly added that the Devils will have to pay it back in cap charges over the remaining 12 years of the contract (roughly $300,000 a year). "The short-term pain of losing a significant asset on the team is a long-term financial gain, even though there is a quarter of a million dollar cap hit over the next 12 years," explained McKenzie. "In the grand scheme of things, thats chump change." It was speculated but not confirmed that Kovalchuk will continue his playing career in the Kontinental Hockey League. Reports from Russian news agencies indicated he will officially sign with SKA Saint Petersburg on Friday. Kovalchuk played for SKA during the lockout and made it clear several months ago that he would stay there if he could. Xavier McDaniel Jersey . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Gary Payton Jersey . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. https://www.supersonicsjerseys.com/870s-rashard-lewis-jersey-supersonics.html . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Bob Rule Jersey . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Danny Fortson Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. WACO, Texas -- With its work in the classroom finished for the semester, No. 4 Baylor was ready to focus on basketball Wednesday night.The Bears had taken an 11-day break for final exams, but they didnt show any rust with five players scoring in double figures, led by Johnathan Motleys 20 points and 10 rebounds, in an 89-59 victory over Southern.Coming off finals, youre always worried, Is the team going to be focused? Are they going to have their legs? Are they going to come out and not be ready to go? Baylor coach Scott Drew said. And we got out to a great start and got separation early. And then, did a good job of maintaining that.The Bears (9-0) hadnt played since a 76-61 win over then-No. 7 Xavier on Dec. 3, but opened on an 11-0 run and scored 15 of the games first 18 points. They turned 11 first-half Southern turnovers into 20 points on the other end.Jared Sam and Shawn Prudhomme scored 24 points each to lead Southern (4-6). They combined to shoot 18 for 27 from the field, but the rest of the Jaguars combined to make five field goals.We finally got Shawn and Jared going, but that was mostly in the second half, Southern coach Roman Banks said. In the first half we had no rhythm. In the second half, we cut it to 19 and we missed a couple layups. That was our last true run at that point.Ishmail Wainright helped Baylor with 14 points and five steals, Al Freeman put in 14 points and Jo Lual-Acuil and King McClure went for 10 apiece. Manu Lecomte and Jake Lindsay both had eight assists for Baylor.Early in the second half, we tried to make some spectacular plays instead of making the easy plays, Drew said. And we want to make sure were operating mmore efficiently, but I think the guys just wanted to excite the crowd a little bit.dddddddddddd The big thing is we were pretty consistent the entire night defensively, holding them to 59 points. And 22 assists on 36 made field goals was very impressive.BIG PICTURESouthern: Prudhomme and Sam came up big for the Jaguars against their toughest opponent to date. If they can find others to help them out, they should be a team to reckon with during SWAC play.Baylor: The Bears have shown a mix of size and athleticism during their perfect start, and both of those were bolstered Wednesday with the addition of Nuni Omot, a 6-foot-9 swingman. Omot missed the first eight games because of an issue with his credits transferring, but scored eight points in his debut.(Omot brings) length, incredible athleticism, the ability to stretch the floor because he shoots the ball so well at 6-9, Motley said. Hes just an awesome athlete. Hell add more athleticism than we already have. Hell add length to our defensive lineup. It will be good when he puts it all together.UP NEXTSouthern will stay on the road for two more games against UAB on Sunday and Nebraska on Tuesday before returning home to close nonconference play against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 28.Baylor finishes its nonconference slate with a neutral-site game at Fort Hood against Jackson State on Saturday before home games against NAIA John Brown on Sunday and Texas Southern on Dec. 21.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. ' ' '