NHL Commissioner meets with Kyle Beach, offers league's help
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has talked to Kyle Beach about what the league can do to better protect its players after Beach said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach in 2010 and his allegations were largely ignored by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Amid scandal, Quenneville resigns as Florida Panthers coach
Joel Quenneville resigned as coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday, two days after the second-winningest coach in NHL history was among those implicated for not swiftly responding to allegations by a Chicago Blackhawks player of being sexually assaulted by another coach during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Quenneville's meeting with Bettman may decide Florida fate
The Panthers are rolling this season but coach Joel Quenneville being named in a report detailing how the Chicago Blackhawks mishandled sexual assault allegations that an assistant on his staff sexually assaulted a player during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010 could derail Florida's hopes.
NHL to investigate claim Sharks’ Kane bet on own games
The NHL said it will investigate an allegation made by Evander Kane’s wife that the San Jose Sharks forward bet on his own games and has intentionally tried to lose for gambling profit. The league said Saturday night on Twitter that it was made aware of the social media posts by Anna Kane and plans to conduct a full investigation. The NHL said: “The integrity of our game is paramount and the League takes these allegations very seriously.”
news.yahoo.comBob Plager, a St. Louis Blues great, dies in a car accident
“Few men in the history of our game were more closely connected to a city and a franchise than Bob Plager was to St. Louis and the Blues,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “In the lineup for the Blues’ inaugural game on Oct. 11, 1967, he assisted on the first goal in franchise history and committed the Blues’ first penalty that night – thus commencing a 54-year association with the organization.”
chicagotribune.comBlues hockey great Bob Plager killed in car accident
FILE - In this Thursday, Feb 2, 2017 file photo, Former St. Louis Blues player Bob Plager waves to fans while speaking during a ceremony to retire his number before an NHL hockey game between the Blues and the Toronto Maple Leafs in St. Louis. Former St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager was killed Wednesday, March 24, 2021 in a car crash in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)ST. LOUIS – Former St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager was killed Wednesday in a car crash in St. Louis. “It is unimaginable to imagine the St. Louis Blues without Bobby Plager,” the team said in a statement. “He was an original 1967 member of the St. Louis Blues, but also an original in every sense of the word.
NHL could net over $600 million for rights package, but it needs NBC
Media pundits believe the rights package of NHL's new seven-year deal with ESPN is worth $400 million per year. But post-breakup, ESPN continued to value NHL content by centering coverage around longtime analyst Barry Melrose. Dan Cohen, senior vice president of Octagon's Global Media Rights Consulting division, said the NHL could solicit more than $600 million annually for its entire package. He added that the NHL "would be best served to renew its other rights package with NBC, who has invested heavily in marketing the NHL and who can offer a tri-cast distribution model." "Something that has as much volume as hockey, they can go with a tri-cast model across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+/Hulu."
cnbc.comUS-Canada border decision looms in playoffs for NHL
AP Photo/Chris Seward)A year after the pandemic temporarily shut down the NHL, a handful of roadblocks remain to handing out the Stanley Cup again this season — including the U.S.-Canada border. The border remains closed to nonessential travel, an issue the NHL addressed before the 2021 season began in January by realigning its divisions. But the league has a decision looming on what to do when a Canadian team faces a U.S. opponent in the third round of the playoffs. Talks are ongoing with Canadian government officials, though nothing needs to be settled yet since cross-border play won't happen until mid-June. “We’ve got a little bit of time to deal with this,” Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said during a video interview Thursday.
ESPN, NHL announce comprehensive 7-year agreement
Players stand on the ice during the playing of the national anthem before an NHL hockey game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Detroit. The NHL and ESPN are together again after announcing a seven-year agreement that also includes extensive streaming rights. “This is a win, win, win. ESPN will produce 75 national games per season that will stream exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu. Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu and has been offering packages that include Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+.
AP sources: NHL reaches 7-year agreement with ESPN
FILE - National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to members of the media , Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Sunrise, Fla. The National Hockey League will be returning to ESPN beginning next season. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, file)The National Hockey League will return to ESPN beginning next season. ESPN started airing NHL games when it went on the air in 1979 by making deals with individual teams. It had the national NHL rights from 1985-88 and 1992-2004.
Avs beat Golden Knights 3-2 in delayed Lake Tahoe game
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Alex Tuch (89) races for the puck against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of of Outdoor Lake Tahoe NHL hockey game at Stateline, Nev., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli))STATELINE, Nev. – Nathan MacKinnon scored a dazzling goal more than nine hours after assisting on another to highlight a most unusual and lengthy outdoor game at Lake Tahoe that the Colorado Avalanche won 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Although it’s fair to say that none of those had the picturesque setting of this rink located on the 18th fairway of a golf course on the shores of Lake Tahoe and surrounded by trees with snow-covered mountains towering in the background. Fleury made 36 saves for Vegas and fell to 0-3 in three career outdoor game starts. AdPART 1The Avs controlled the play under the sun, getting an early goal from Girard and outshooting Vegas 17-8 in the first 20 minutes.
Bright sun, poor ice delay outdoor NHL game at Lake Tahoe
Members of the Colorado Avalanche, in white, and the Vegas Golden Knights, red play during the first period of the Outdoor Lake Tahoe NHL hockey game in Stateline, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. The NHL decided to halt the game Saturday afternoon because bright sun and temperatures hovering around freezing led to poor ice conditions that had players and officials repeatedly falling because of holes on the ice. We obviously didn’t want anyone getting hurt. The ice was great.”But the delay didn't alter Bettman's commitment to outdoor games, even in unconventional settings outside of a stadium venue like Lake Tahoe. Both teams were unable to practice on the specially built outdoor rink before Saturday's Vegas-Colorado game because of the ice conditions.
'Insatiable' Crosby hungry as ever as 1,000th game arrives
On the eve of his franchise-record 1000th regular season game, the superstar looks just as dangerous as ever, with no end in sight. Crosby will cross another milestone Saturday night when he becomes the first Penguin to play in 1,000 regular-season games. Ad“He’s not ready to relinquish the best player in the game attribute or that he’s carried here for a decade-plus,” Sullivan said. The idea of Crosby playing with regularity again — let alone getting to 1,000 games — seemed improbable at best. AdStill, despite the constant setbacks, Crosby remained committed to both the short game and the long one.
NHL takes big stride on data and analytics with AWS deal
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)The NHL is taking another step forward in data, analytics, and puck and player tracking. The league has reached an agreement with Amazon Web Services to put all its video and data on the cloud. AdNHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy unveiled the deal on NBC Sports Network late Wednesday. Later this season, fans looking up stats on the NHL's website will get corresponding video clips and vice versa. “It kind of melts your mind with the number of opportunities that are sitting in front of us.”___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
NHL says it will hold a 24-team playoff tournament if season resumes
The National Hockey League moved one step closer to resuming its season that was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Tuesday the league officially ended its regular season and will skip to a playoff tournament to determine its 2019-20 Stanley Cup champion. The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) executive board approved the 24-team postseason format proposal on Friday. The league will rank teams in each conference by percentage points used from March 11 standings, one day before the league suspended games due to Covid-19. The NHL is the latest league to gingerly resume operations after suspended its games due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
cnbc.comNHL commissioner outlines plan to resume play, hopes to start playoffs over the summer
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday announced the league's plan and tentative timetable to resume play. Bettman said the 2019-2020 NHL regular season is effectively over, and play will resume with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Once play is allowed to resume, the top 12 teams from each conference will enter the playoffs. The remaining eight teams in each conference will play best-of-five elimination series to determine which teams move on to the first round. Bettman said the league hopes to move to phase two of return to play in early June.
cbsnews.comNHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: No COVID-19 in NHL reported yet
Commissioner Gary Bettman says while no cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been reported in the National Hockey League, he wanted to get ahead of a worst-case scenario by pausing the season. "When the NBA had a positive test and they had to cancel a game at that moment, I decided to get ahead of it and not wait for one of our players to test positive," Bettman told CNBC's Scott Wapner. Bettman says while he's not aware of any NHL player testing positive for COVID-19, teams in the NHL have shared locker rooms that were also used by the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz. Two Jazz players have tested positive for COVID-19. That's not just my hope for the NHL and sports it's my hope for the country."
cnbc.comNHL relies on 'good judgment' of players on social media as it expands in China, embraces sports betting
Bettman said he hopes the service will allow NHL fans to feel "comfortable if they are placing bets." NHL China Games, sponsored by the Chinese company O.R.G. The Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks became the first to NHL teams to play in China in 2017. The feud between the NBA and China hasn't had any blow back on the NHL so far. He said the NHL hasn't has adopted a social media policy for its executives and players in light of the NBA's plight in China, saying the NHL hasn't issued a "memoranda" on the matter.
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