Golden Knights rookie serving up ‘Haguer bombs’ in NHL

Nic Hague can’t shake it.

He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t promote it. But his slap shot earns the same nickname every single team he plays on.

That name: Hauger bomb.

“I don’t know how the guys came up with it here,” Hague said. “I don’t tell anybody that. Just with my last name, I guess it flows.”

The Golden Knights rookie defenseman says his blast first earned the moniker after he used it to score an overtime winner for the Kitchener (Ontario) Jr. Rangers U17 team. His junior team, the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League, used it too, as did the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves.

Now the “Hauger bomb” has reached the NHL, though it has yet to find the back of the net. Still, Knights left wing Max Pacioretty said Hague has the best slap shot on the team. Defenseman Colin Miller vacated that title when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres this offseason.

Miller’s slap shot was recorded at 105.5 miles per hour at the 2015 AHL All-Star Skills Competition. Hague doesn’t quite have that velocity, but his slap shot at least has a memorable nickname.

“I’ve kind of heard it on every team I’ve been on now,” Hague said.

Pavelski reunion

Monday’s game against the Dallas Stars marked the first time the Knights played against center Joe Pavelski since Game 7 of their first-round playoff series against the San Jose Sharks in April.

Pavelski, the former Sharks captain who signed a three-year contract with the Stars in July, was injured off a faceoff in Game 7. Center Cody Eakin cross-checked Pavelski into center Paul Stastny, causing Pavelski to fall and hit the ice hard. He left the game and didn’t play again until Game 7 of the Sharks’ second-round series with the Colorado Avalanche.

Eakin was called for a controversial major penalty on the play that led to a Sharks comeback. Eakin said he hasn’t spoken to Pavelski since Game 7. Pavelski later said he didn’t believe the play warranted a major penalty.

Grey Cup thoughts

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 Sunday to win the 107th Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League championship.

Eakin, one of four Winnipeg natives on the Knights, called his hometown team’s first title since 1990 “wonderful.”

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.