GLENDALE Anthony Beauvillier Jersey , Ariz. (AP) The Arizona Coyotes have undergone massive changes in recent years, parting ways with key players while overhauling their roster.Defenseman Oliver Ekman Larsson has been the one constant and he’s going to be in the desert a long time.The Coyotes signed the two-time All-Star defenseman to an eight-year contract extension on Sunday that averages $8.25 million per year.The contract comes on the heels of a six-year, $33 million contract Ekman-Larsson signed in 2013.Arizona also signed Niklas Hjalmarsson to a two-year contract averaging $5.5 million per year, locking up its top two defensemen, and added forward Michael Grabner to a three-year contract averaging $3.35 million.”Oliver is one of the NHL’s premier defensemen and we are ecstatic to have him signed for the long-term,” Coyotes GM John Chayka said. ”He’s a special player and person and we want to build our team around him. You can’t win in this League without a star, elite defenseman and we’re fortunate to have that in OEL. We look forward to many years ahead with him as our leader on and off the ice.”The 26-year-old Swede was an All-Star for the second time in his career last season, finishing with 14 goals and 28 assists. Ekman-Larsson is second among Arizona defensemen with 102 career goals and 290 points since being selected with the sixth overall pick of the 2009 NHL draft.”This is a very happy day for me and my family,” Ekman-Larsson said. ”I have always loved living and playing in Arizona and this is where I want to be. I signed with the Coyotes because I believe in our team, I believe in our fans and I believe in this market and I want to win here.”Ekman-Larsson has taken over a leadership role with the Coyotes since the team parted ways with long-time captain Shane Doan last offseason and overhauled their roster with younger players. Arizona recently traded Max Domi, one of its top young players, to Montreal for young scorer Alex Galchenyuk.The 30-year-old Grabner had 27 goals and nine assists in 80 games with the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils last season. The Austrian forward has scored 20 or more goals four times in nine seasons, including 27 each of the past two.Grabner has 158 goals and 91 assists with five teams since being selected with the 14th overall pick of the 2006 draft by Vancouver.— GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Lyndsey Fry could have continued playing hockey. She had a stellar collegiate career Authentic Brock Nelson Jersey , a degree, an Olympic silver medal placed around her neck, so playing professionally was a logical next step.The grueling rehab from hip surgery it would take to get back to an elite level was not all that appealing. Nor was playing in a women’s professional hockey league on a less-than-livable salary — or being away from her family.Fry could have gone into the financial world, maybe work on Wall Street. She had a Harvard education, so there was an expectation to get a “Harvard” job. It certainly would pay well. That wasn’t the right fit, either. She didn’t have a passion for it.Fry coveted more than money and fame. She wanted to pay back a community that helped a little girl in Arizona with plastic skates strapped onto her shoes transform into one of the world’s best hockey players.Now working with the Arizona Coyotes, she’s doing just that.“I never would have dreamed I would be in this role,” she said. “I just kind of hoped to be able to help where I could, coming back to the Valley. To be in this role and really having some leverage to do what I set out to do has been really, really incredible.”Growing up in Arizona, Fry had limited opportunities to play hockey, particularly against other girls.In her new role with the Coyotes, she will make sure other hockey-mad girls like her will get the chances they deserve.Fry returned to the Valley of the Sun to earn an MBA at Arizona State and worked with the Coyotes as an instructor at various clinics. She also teamed with Coyotes director of amateur hockey development Matt Schott to run the Small Frys, a continue-to-play program for girls 6-12 who have gone through the organization’s Little Howlers program.Fry took on a bigger role with the Coyotes in November Casey Cizikas Jersey , when she was hired as a brand ambassador and special adviser to president and CEO Ahron Cohen. Fry’s primary focus is to grow hockey around the state, particularly women’s hockey, and to assist Cohen in engaging the hockey community in Arizona.“The thing that was instantaneously obvious to me was her unbelievable passion for growing hockey and being a part of this community,” Cohen said. “From that moment, I said we have to find a way to get Lyndsey involved with us here. She just naturally radiates positivity and people just want to talk to her.”Hockey has already seen a rise in the desert.In 1996, the year the Coyotes arrived from Winnipeg, there were about 2,100 registered youth and adult hockey players. The state had three rinks, two in Phoenix, one in Flagstaff.Hockey has boomed in Arizona over the past five years, increasing 109 percent to more than 8,600 players, making it the No. 1 state for growth in the NHL. Arizona is third for youth hockey growth over the past five years, up 88 percent to 4 http://www.islandersfanproshop.com/authentic-cal-clutterbuck-jersey ,500 players, and is No. 1 in girls’ hockey growth, up 152 percent to nearly 800 players.Fry should only boost those numbers.She and Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews are Arizona’s greatest hockey success stories, players who overcame long odds to reach the pinnacle of their sport. By returning to the Valley of the Sun, Fry gives girls hockey players an up-close look at what’s possible with a little work and dedication.“She’s very inspiring for a lot of kids out there,” Cohen said. “The two greatest success stories in terms of hockey in Arizona are her and Auston Matthews. It’s pretty cool to see kids look up to her and I’m hopefully five and 10 years from now we have a whole lot more kids like Auston Matthews and Lyndsey Fry playing at the highest level because of the work that Lyndsey and this Coyotes organization has done.”Fry had a long road to the top.Inspired by the 1990s “The Mighty Ducks” movies, she first started skating with plastic skates strapped to her shoes. She played a year of roller hockey and switched to the ice when a rink was built in her hometown of Chandler.Fry was forced to play against the boys at a young age because the number of girls players could nearly be counted on one hand. She held her own against the boys and when it came time to play at the elite girls level, there wasn’t much competition, so she ended up playing for a team in Colorado.Fry made the trip to Colorado every two weeks for games and practices, staying with families in the area, including former NHL player Pierre Turgeon. She became good friends with Turgeon’s daughter, Liz, and made a vow at their final game together that they’d play again with each other on the U.S. Olympic Team.The reunion never took place.While Fry was a freshman at Harvard in 2010, Liz Turgeon was killed in a car crash Matt Hunwick Jersey Womens , devastating her family and her close friend. Fry nearly quit hockey, but the help of friends and family — and vow with Liz — pulled through and dedicated herself to the sport they both loved.“I just kind of called on her memory to help push me through,” she said.Fry pushed herself into the sport’s brightest spotlight, becoming a key member of the U.S. Olympic Team that took silver at the 2014 Sochi Games. On the podium in Russia, her thoughts veered toward the road behind her and what lie ahead.“It was like a movie,” she said. “I kept having these flashbacks of all the people who helped me get to that moment,” she said. “Most of those people were from the Arizona hockey community and I knew that I wanted to give back to that.”Now back home, Fry is making the most of it, using her skills on and off the ice to push hockey in Arizona forward.