1:14 PM ET Associated Press Just months after winning the Stanley Cup, officials with the Tampa Bay Lightning said Monday they are eliminating 30 positions in a sign that even winning a championship does not spare a team from the effects of the coronavirus. The positions were across the company and cut effective immediately, team
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7:27 PM ET The NHL and NHLPA are still hoping to begin the 2020-21 season on Jan. 1, but talks between the two sides hit a significant snag this week as players felt “blindsided” when owners asked to change the terms of their new CBA, just four months after it was agreed upon, according to
10:45 AM ET The National Hockey League is not exactly known for its ingenuity. Its most successful invention in the past 15 years was “a hockey game, but outside.” They moved from 5-on-5 overtime to 4-on-4 overtime, added a shootout, realized the shootout was terrible, and the solution was 3-on-3 hockey. Again, not exactly reinventing
12:03 PM ET The ECHL’s entire North Division has elected to voluntarily suspend operations for the 2020-21 season due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, sources confirm to ESPN. The six teams impacted are the Adirondack Thunder, an affiliate of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils; the Brampton Beast (Ottawa Senators); the Maine Mariners
3:25 PM ET The majority of American sports fans are waiting for the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine before they feel comfortable returning to the bleachers, according to a new study conducted this past weekend. Two-thirds of the survey respondents said they would not attend an indoor sporting event without a vaccine — even if
7:00 AM ET Even before Julien Gauthier got to the NHL, he was a fascination to many NHL teams. “Every year at the scouting combine, there are players everyone is curious about,” said one NHL team exec. “In 2016, one of those guys was certainly Julien Gauthier. He was a late birthday and already played
3:41 PM ET Brett Peterson has been hired by the Florida Panthers, who believe that he is the first Black assistant general manager in NHL history. “If it means that we’re expanding opportunities for people in hockey, then I’m humbled. But this was a hockey hire,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito told ESPN on Tuesday.
9:00 AM ET It was the most abnormal postseason in NHL history, with 24 teams competing in two Canadian bubble arenas in front of empty seats. Yet its finale was inherently predictable: The Tampa Bay Lightning, among the wagering favorites before the tournament, raising the Stanley Cup in victory. But never tell Julien BriseBois the
10:00 AM ET Nostalgia might be the National Hockey League’s most reliable export. In a recent NHL survey that asked fans to rank the 25 best team jerseys, around 90% of them were throwback jerseys. As Adidas hockey considered its next NHL jersey collection, it felt it needed more than just nostalgia as a selling
7:00 AM ET Welcome to the dead of the offseason. The NHL awarded a Stanley Cup in September after a most unusual 2019-20 season, and the league is hoping to get back on track in January. While GMs have been faced with several challenges — including managing a flat salary cap, preparing for next season’s
8:01 PM ET The NHL is considering a temporary realignment of its teams for the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, according to commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman said that restrictions on travel through the Canadian border, as well as “limitations in terms of quarantining when you go from certain states to other states” within
7:29 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Howie Meeker, who won four Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs, served in Parliament during his playing days, and went on to become a Canadian icon as a respected and colorful television hockey analyst, has died. He was 97. A spokesman for the Maple Leafs confirmed Wednesday
7:15 AM ET As Brett Riley paced the streets of his girlfriend’s Vermont neighborhood in early June, cell phone to ear, stretching the definition of what an unlimited minutes plan is supposed to look like, he was selling a dream. It was a dream of which he had no inkling just months prior, and one
7:00 AM ET It’s hard not being the Colorado Avalanche these days. They’re a Stanley Cup favorite, with only six of the 20 players under contract over the age of 30. They have Nathan MacKinnon, considered by many to be the best all-around hockey player in the world. They have defenseman Cale Makar, the 22-year-old
7:00 AM ET For Ben Stafford, it was the kind of hockey moment that young players dream about: scoring the game-winning goal in Game 4 of the 2005 Calder Cup Final, which clinched the championship for the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms. But even at the height of his hockey career, Stafford knew his dream was over.
7:15 AM ET The 2020-21 men’s college hockey season is going to happen. On Friday night in South Bend, Indiana, Wisconsin will face Notre Dame in the first official game of the season — only about a month after the season would normally start. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, this did not always seem possible. Players
9:04 PM ET Associated Press SEATTLE — The expansion Seattle Kraken expect to have the main portion of their training facility open in plenty of time for the team’s first NHL season. The primary NHL rink, locker rooms, training areas and front office space are on target to be finished by mid-July, Kraken senior vice
5:03 PM ET ESPN News Services FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Stars have signed restricted free agent forward Roope Hintz to a three-year, $9.45 million contract. Hintz had 19 goals and 14 assists in 60 games during the regular season for the Western Conference champions, including five game-winning goals. He had two goals and 11