NHL: Canada OKs home games
The NHL believes all seven Canadian teams will be able to start the season playing in their home arenas.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday the league believes it’s clear to play in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic after discussions with the five provincial governments that have NHL teams to try to gain approval to start Jan. 13.
The NHL-realigned its divisions for the season so that the North Division — which features all seven Canadian teams — would not have to cross the U.S.-Canada border, which remains closed to non-essential travel until at least Jan. 21.
The league released its schedule Wednesday, with each team playing just 56 games.
The Maple Leafs are scheduled to host the Canadiens, while the Oilers are slated to face the visiting Canucks on Jan. 13 as part of a five-game schedule on opening night.
The Jets open Jan. 14 against the visiting Flames, while the Oilers and Canucks meet again in Edmonton.
The Senators start their season Jan. 15 against visiting the Leafs, the first of two games in two days between the Ontario rivals in the nation’s capital.
Baseball-style series are common as the league attempts to reduce travel. For example, the Canadiens and Senators are each scheduled to play three straight games in Vancouver in January.
The Lightning re-signed F Anthony Cirelli to a threeyear, $14.4 million contract. Cirelli, 23, posted a careerhigh 44 points for the Stanley Cupchampions last season. ... The Ducks re-signed G Ryan Miller to a one-year, $1 million contract. Miller, 40, the winningest Americanborn goalie in league history, will serve as backup to John Gibson.
NBA: LeBron James said he will be “ready to go” for the Lakers’ game against the Mavericks on Christmas despite rolling his left ankle in the season opener. James sat out the final eight minutes of the Lakers’ opening-night loss to the Clippers on Tuesday. ... Hornets C Cody Zeller underwent surgery for a fractured left hand and likely will miss four to six weeks, ESPN reported. Zeller suffered the injury in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Cavaliers. ... In a memo to all teams, the league delivered a warning that franchises are forbidden from pursuing and administering newly-released coronavirus vaccines on a team-wide basis ahead of public health guidelines for prioritization, ESPNreported. The league told teams that it will work to vaccinate players and staffs “consistent with the timing and prioritization set by applicable public health guidelines.” The league also said in the memo that exceptions will be allowed for team physicians and health-related personnel and older staff members or those with conditions that deliver a higher risk for complications upon contracting the coronavirus.
NFL: The 49ers will active All-Pro TEGeorge Kittle from IR before Saturday’s game against the Cardinals. Kittle sufered a fractured cuboid bone in his right foot in a loss to the Seahawks on Nov. 1. ... The Chargers placed TE Hunter Henry on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Henry is the team’s second-leading receiver.