TAMPA WILL HOST 2018 NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND
NHL Commissioner Gary Bett
man said Tampa would host the 2018 All-Star weekend, the surest sign yet that the league will bypass the Olympics. The Lightning had been rumored to host the event, which will take place Jan. 27-28 at Amalie Arena, but the Olympics remained the elephant in the room. The league has said since early April that it wouldn’t be sending players to Pyeongchang, South Korea, and would be making its 2017-18 schedule as normal, but some held out hope. The previous time the NHL held an All-Star weekend and sent players to the Olympics was 1998, the first of five trips to the Winter Games. Bettman also announced that the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs’ previouslyreported outdoor game at the Naval Academy would be the start of a series of outdoor games at U.S. service academies.