NHL

12:19 AM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ducks defenseman Urho Vaakanainen was taken off the Honda Center ice on a stretcher after he crashed into the end boards in the first period of Anaheim’s preseason game against the San Jose Sharks on Friday night. The Finnish defenseman was conscious and alert with full movement

1:24 PM ET ESPN News Services TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning and team owner Jeff Vinik are donating $2 million toward Hurricane Ian relief efforts. The NHL team announced Friday that $1 million each will be donated by the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation and the Vinik Family Foundation. “This is a tragic situation

7:00 AM ET In hockey, it’s hard to go from the outhouse to the penthouse, because playoff contenders refuse to move out. Of the 16 teams that made the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, 12 of them were in the midst of multiyear postseason appearance streaks. If you include the COVID-19 bubble qualification series in 2020

4:39 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Rasmus Sandin has signed a two-year, $2.8 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the club announced on Thursday. The 22-year-old from Sweden was the 29th overall selection in the 2018 draft. Sandin had 16 points in 51 games with Toronto last season. He’s played in 88 career

11:19 AM ET Russian NHL players from the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators will be permitted to play games in Prague, despite the Czech government having previously said they weren’t welcome there due to the war in Ukraine. Nashville and San Jose are set to play regular-season games Oct. 7 and 8 at Prague’s

8:00 AM ET Expansion of the Stanley Cup playoffs is my hill to die on. My last breaths will be spent mouthing the words “play … in … round.” I’ve explained my philosophy and procedures before in this column, but to reiterate: There are now 32 teams in the NHL. In the pre-Gary Bettman expansion

5:30 PM ET ESPN News Services PHILADELPHIA — Veteran forward Sean Couturier will not need surgery on an upper-body injury, the Philadelphia Flyers said on Wednesday. Couturier remains week to week with the injury that was revealed when training camp opened earlier this month. He has not taken part in drills or preseason games. The

8:28 PM ET Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares will miss the start of the regular season with an oblique injury. The veteran center will be out at least three weeks, coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday. The season opener is Oct. 12 at Montreal. 1 Related Tavares, who turned 32 on Sept. 20, is entering

Sep 22, 2022 NHL Insiders Teams at the bottom see the future as a way to climb higher than their current station. Teams in the middle see the future as a way to break through to reach the elite. Teams at the top see the future as a chance to sustain their success or stave

2:38 PM ET Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser will miss the next three to four weeks after suffering a hand injury, the team announced Monday. The Canucks’ public relations account tweeted Boeser underwent successful hand surgery after injuring himself Saturday during training camp in Whistler, B.C. Boeser, 25, was scratched for both of the split

1:14 PM ET ESPN News Services TORONTO — The Canadian government confirmed Monday that noncitizens entering the country — including professional athletes — will no longer be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning in October. The Associated Press reported last week that the decision was imminent. Removal of the vaccine mandate means unvaccinated Major

7:00 AM ET MATT BOLDY LOVES playing hockey in Minnesota. The way the community supports the sport at all levels. The thousands of fans who watch the Minnesota Wild in warm-ups. And, if he’s being honest, the level of celebrity an NHL player can attain after just 47 games in the show. “It’s crazy. Everyone’s

7:00 AM ET Everything you’re about to read is going to happen in the NHL this season. OK, most of it will. Some of it? At the very least, the thing about the Leafs. Probably. In my first column of the 2022-23 NHL season, I’ve made 32 bold predictions, one for each NHL team. They

Sep 22, 2022 Patrick Kane is well aware he has been the subject of rampant trade speculation for months. The Chicago Blackhawks‘ winger just doesn’t believe the hype. “It was all just rumors,” Kane said Thursday from Chicago’s training camp media availability. “A lot of the rumors are just rumors, maybe people looking for things

Sep 22, 2022 Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Predators have brought back former goaltender Pekka Rinne in a new role as a special alumni adviser. General manager David Poile announced the move Thursday. Rinne is the only player in franchise history whose number has been retired. Rinne, a native of Kempele, Finland, was Finland’s

Sep 22, 2022 Associated Press PRAGUE — The Czech Foreign Ministry has told two NHL teams opening the season in Prague that any Russian players would not be welcome because of the war in Ukraine. It may not amount to an outright ban and league officials downplayed the potential impact, but it added a layer

3:23 PM ET The Philadelphia Flyers assume that defenseman Ryan Ellis will be out for the 2022-23 season because of a back injury. “Ryan Ellis is out indefinitely — no timetable for his return to play,” general manager Chuck Fletcher said at training camp on Thursday. “I’ll just say that my assumption is that he

3:58 PM ET The Vegas Golden Knights announced on Thursday that center Nolan Patrick will miss the 2022-23 season. Patrick played 25 games for the Knights last season, tallying two goals and five assists. He missed significant time due to an upper body injury early in the season and a concussion suffered in February 2022.