NHL News

5:26 PM ET Associated Press The NHL will emerge from an extended holiday break with taxi squads and other roster revisions, a move made to guard against more disruptions to the season amid more players and coaches going into COVID-19 protocol Sunday. Each team will be allowed to have a taxi squad of up to

5:27 PM ET Associated Press CALGARY, Alberta — The Calgary Flames have pulled out of a deal with the city for a new arena because of increased costs. John Bean, president and chief executive officer of Calgary Sports and Entertainment, said Wednesday that there is no viable path forward to complete the 19,000-seat Event Centre.

3:42 PM ET The retirement of Willie O’Ree’s No. 22 by the Boston Bruins will be a landmark moment, happening 64 years to the date that he became the first Black player in the NHL. A summit scheduled around the event is intended to honor the power of that moment while trying to make hockey’s

6:04 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Toronto forward William Nylander entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols Friday, giving the Maple Leafs 13 players on the list. Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, defenseman Morgan Rielly and goaltender Jack Campbell also are in the protocols along with coach Sheldon Keefe, two assistants and four other members of

6:59 PM ET The NHL announced that it will not resume its regular season until at least Tuesday. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to begin their holiday break last Wednesday due to the number of players and teams impacted by COVID-19. The original plan was to begin games again on Monday. That means the entire

8:52 PM ET The International Ice Hockey Federation is canceling all of its January events because of the rise in COVID-19 cases and could announce the move as soon as Friday, sources told ESPN on Thursday night. The cancellations include the 2022 U18 Women’s World Championships in Sweden, making it the second straight year the

9:00 AM ET It’s hard to think about leveling up at a time when hockey is sinking into an abyss of positive tests, postponed games and a best-on-best Olympic tournament that will exist only in our daydreams and video game simulations. So let’s remember the good times, shall we? Here are 10 players and teams

6:53 AM ET Associated Press The World Junior Championship is a holiday hockey tradition like no other. And it should look a little different this year. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2021 tournament was moved to Edmonton, Alberta, and played in “bubble” conditions with no fans allowed to watch the proceedings. This year, Edmonton and

10:20 AM ET On Monday, the NHL announced that it was hitting pause on the 2021-22 season through the Christmas break. On Tuesday, the second piece of disappointing news emerged, as the NHL and NHLPA came to an agreement that NHL players would not be participating in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, after such

9:16 PM ET ESPN News Services The Tampa Bay Lightning were without coach Jon Cooper on Tuesday night in the only game left in the NHL this week after he was placed in COVID-19 protocol earlier in the day, according to the team. Assistant coach Derek Lalonde took his place running the bench in Las

10:18 AM ET ESPN staff The headlines on Monday night were stark, if unsurprising: The NHL was going to pause the 2021-22 season Wednesday, and resume after Christmas break, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. This followed a flurry of team shutdowns that left a diminishing number of games on the schedule. In the aftermath,

7:00 AM ET Shane Wright remembers the first arm he was asked to autograph. “It was a forearm. I’ve signed a couple of them, actually,” he said. “Signing people’s skin has been a little weird for me.” Wright, 17, is a center for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. He’s also the consensus

8:12 AM ET The year in hockey 2021 began with a 56-game season, impacted the COVID-19 pandemic, that saw the league’s 31 teams realigned into four new divisions. It ends with the teams back in their usual divisions, although there are now 32 of them thanks to the Seattle Kraken. Oh, and it’s once again

12:32 AM ET The Toronto Maple Leafs are pausing team activities through next Sunday because of the coronavirus, the NHL announced. The league said that a decision will be made in the coming days on when Toronto’s facilities will open again. The move comes as the league postponed 12 games involving U.S. teams playing Canadian-based

4:51 PM ET The NHL has suspended games involving cross-border travel until after the Christmas break, the league announced Sunday. The league postponed 12 games involving U.S. teams playing Canadian-based teams from Dec. 20 to Dec. 23, citing concern about “the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions.” The NHL has already seen 27 games postponed

12:26 PM ET Associated Press The NHL reintroduced stricter COVID-19 protocols Saturday that include daily testing and other steps in a bid to limit a growing outbreak among players and team personnel. The enhanced protocols will be put into effect immediately and last through Jan. 1 with an evaluation of their impact no later than

2:40 PM ET The NHL made another round of postponements Saturday amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases around the league. Nashville and Boston will both be shut down through Christmas. The Predators have eight players and several coaches placed in COVID-19 protocols and were due to play Carolina on Sunday and Winnipeg on Tuesday.

12:41 PM ET NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has reduced the suspension of Toronto Maple Leafs center Jason Spezza from six games to four for kneeing the head of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk on Dec. 5. Spezza had been suspended for six games by the Department of Player Safety, which had called the hit “reckless”