NHL News

6:25 PM ET Associated Press The International Ice Hockey Federation says eight players from Germany’s team at the world junior hockey championship have tested positive for COVID-19 inside the Edmonton, Alberta, bubble. The IIHF says the Germans will all remain in quarantine until Thursday. The country is scheduled to open the tournament against Finland on

8:29 PM ET ESPN News Services The National Hockey League and players reached a tentative deal Friday to hold a 56-game season in 2021, pending the approval of each side’s executive board and Canadian health officials. The season would start Jan. 13. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the sides have an agreement, pending the approval

1:53 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — Stan Bowman has a new job title and the same goal to set the Blackhawks back on a championship course. He insists no one is hungrier than he is to see it happen. “I’m very determined, very focused and extremely competitive,” Bowman said Friday. “The challenge is what’s

1:19 PM ET The next chapter of Henrik Lundqvist‘s NHL career is on hold because of a heart condition that will prevent him from playing for the Washington Capitals this season. The longtime New York Rangers goalie posted the news on social media Thursday. “It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will

7:15 AM ET As the NHL inches closer to the 2020-21 season, the rest of the hockey world has been in flux. With many North American junior leagues either not yet started or frequently interrupted by postponements or cancellations, and European pro leagues doing all they can to complete seasons, tracking prospects has never been

1:37 PM ET The Chicago Blackhawks are doubling down on Stan Bowman, elevating him to president of hockey operations in a front-office reorganization. Bowman had been general manager and will retain that title as well. The Blackhawks split the duties of the previous president John McDonough, who was fired in April. Bowman will handle the

2:46 PM ET Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild signed goalie Andrew Hammond to a one-year, two-way contract Wednesday, adding insurance at the position in light of a long-term injury for Alex Stalock. The Wild announced Stalock, who took over as their primary goalie down the stretch last season, has an upper-body

3:57 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — Pierre Lacroix, the astute executive who was the architect of two Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup championship teams, has died. He was 72. The Avalanche confirmed his death Sunday. No cause of death was given. Lacroix was a driving force behind turning the Avalanche into a perennial power after

7:00 AM ET There is no “best and worst of 2020.” Every “worst” doesn’t quite do justice to how challenging this year was, in every way imaginable and previously unimaginable. Every “best” has a caveat anchored to it. What does that even look like? “Best: No one tested positive for COVID-19 while the NHL was

7:15 AM ET Pro Beach Hockey. Even the name itself is jarring, and the words don’t sound like they belong together. But for three seasons from 1998 to 2000, Pro Beach Hockey (PBH) was very real, and it was glorious. It has now been 20 years since the innovative inline hockey league last overtook Huntington

9:21 AM ET The NHL and NHL Players’ Association have cleared their financial hurdles and are pushing forward with planning talks for the 2020-21 season. The sides are now aiming for a Jan. 13 start date, with either a 52- or 56-game schedule, sources confirmed to ESPN. The sides have communicated daily since Thursday, and

9:00 AM ET Considering the way the 2020-21 NHL season has gone — or more accurately hasn’t gone — we have to look at all prospects and young players like we’re grading on a curve. Many of these players have never gone this long between games in their entire playing careers. Some are closing in

7:45 AM ET The 2019-20 NHL season started on Oct. 2, 2019, and didn’t finish until Sept. 28, 2020, thanks to a pause of nearly five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. December is usually when we start to hear significant trade rumblings begin — Taylor Hall was traded on Dec. 16 of last season

7:00 AM ET ESPN’s 64-player “Greatest NHL Name” tournament bracket dropped this week and garnered the expected reaction from hockey fans: passion, amusement, obsession and countless people vehemently protesting that Slater Koekkoek should have been a No. 1 seed. To recap, we took some of the greatest names to grace NHL ice — and Ukko-Pekka

8:50 AM ET The Stanley Cup is something that sets the National Hockey League apart from other sports. Not only because it’s the rare championship trophy from which you can drink, but also because the names of those who won it are etched along its rings, forged into hockey history. Oh, the names hockey has

5:00 PM ET University of North Dakota players Jasper Weatherby and Jacob Bernard-Docker took a knee during the national anthem before their game against Miami (OH) on Wednesday, in what is believed to be the first such demonstration against racial injustice during an NCAA Division I men’s hockey game. The game was held in an

10:47 AM ET The NHL is now aiming for a mid-January start date with a 52 or 56-game schedule, at best, sources confirmed to ESPN. That NHL’s initial target of Jan. 1 became unfeasible, because of necessary time for training camp — plus extra time promised to the seven teams that did not make this

7:00 AM ET Nearly 15 years ago, Erik Cole lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed with two fractures in his vertebra, wondering about his future. Brooks Orpik had crushed him with an illegal check from behind in a game on March 4, 2006, an act for which the Penguins’ punishing defenseman was suspended three games.