League working back to worldwide audience
The NHL is ready to go worldwide again after two years of coronavirus restrictionsand a missed Olympics.
Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Friday that theNHL Global Series will return next season with preseason games in Germany and Switzerland, followed by regular-season games in Finland andthe Czech Republic.
The league also is engaged in discussions with the players on reviving the World Cup of Hockey for a possible 2024 return, the commissioner said before the AllStar weekend’s skills competition at T-Mobile Arena in LasVegas.
Notebook
“Internationally for us is a no-brainer,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “We had established momentum in terms of having a greater and more regular presence of games in Europe. I think with the pandemic waning and hopefully a return to normalcy, it only makes sense to restart those efforts and to further them. It’s important for us.”
Canadiens
Former enforcer Chris Nilan said he was fired from a Montreal sports radio station for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. In a letter advising listeners of his departure from TSN 690, Nilan, 63, said a request for an exemption was refused, and he received a letter Tuesday signed by a Bell Media executive informing him his contract was being terminated. Nilan said Bell Media ordered him to get vaccinated late last year. Nilan said he consulted with his doctor and, because of an unspecified medical condition, decided against vaccination.
Blackhawks
Bettman announced Chicago owner Rocky Wirtz won’t be disciplined or sanctioned for his angry, volatile reaction to questions from reporters earlier this week. Wirtz later said he reacted poorly to questions about what the organization was doing to address the power dynamic between players and coaches in light of the accusations made by Kyle Beach, who says he was sexually assaulted by the Blackhawks’ former video coach a decade ago. “I think this has been very emotional and frustrating and draining for the Blackhawks and Rocky in particular,” Bettman said. “I think it was an emotional moment, which Rocky promptly — on his own — apologized for. ... I think this was just, you know, all of us at one time or another have a moment. And this was a moment.”
Chicago said it has interviewed Davidson and Eric Tulsky for their open general manager position. Davidsonhas been serving as the team’s interim general manager. Tulsky is an assistant general manager with the Carolina Hurricanes. Davidson was elevated to the interim job after longtime general manager Stan Bowman resigned in October in the wake of the report that found the organization mishandled allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted Beach during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010.
Kraken
If there was a single game that served as a snapshot of how Seattle wanted its inaugural season to look, it came on the night of Jan. 23. The home arena was rocking during a 5-3 win against the Florida Panthers, at the time the best team in the NHL. Seattle’s goaltending was superb. Seattle’s five goals came from a mix of core players and younger players who have shown flashes of promise. The night ended with stuffed salmon being flung into the stands in celebration. “This market is going to be great for a long, long time, because you can just tell people are really, really into hockey here and really grasping it,” Seattle captain Mark Giordano said.