NHL

3:03 PM ET When the NHL restarts its season on Aug. 1 in Toronto and Edmonton, neither commissioner Gary Bettman nor deputy commissioner Bill Daly will be on-site. “Bill and I have actually put ourselves on the back burner because we don’t have the requisite approvals to enter Canada or the bubble without a 14-day

7:00 AM ET We have known since 2018 that Seattle would be the NHL’s 32nd franchise. But until Thursday, we didn’t know the team name, nor the logo, nor the colors — although speculation ran wild over what all of that would be. Now we know: It’s the Seattle Kraken, and upon the release (sorry)

11:11 PM ET The NHL will have a five-second delay and artificial crowd noise when it restarts its season in Toronto and Edmonton beginning Aug. 1. The league distributed “Phase 4” information to teams and media this week, detailing life in the two city “bubbles” for the 24 teams returning to play. That includes how

6:08 PM ET Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — Carolina Hurricanes All-Star defenseman Dougie Hamilton didn’t practice Thursday and his status is unclear as the team prepares for the NHL’s return to play next week. The team’s website reported Wednesday that Hamilton left that day’s practice early “in some visible discomfort.” Asked about Hamilton not practicing

12:09 PM ET The Kraken has been released. Seattle’s NHL team, which will make its debut in the 2021-22 season, on Thursday finally announced its name — the Kraken — as well as a color scheme: icy blue and navy blue with sharp red accents. The NHL officially named Seattle as its 32nd team in

12:08 PM ET When NHL Seattle first installed signage on its downtown office in 2018, employees arrived at work the next morning to a surprise. Stuck to the door was a Post-it note with a handwritten message: “Release the Kraken.” “That may have been the first time I heard or thought of Kraken,” said Heidi

7:00 AM ET Let’s begin by stating the obvious: What we’re rooting for the most when the NHL restarts its season a week from Saturday in Toronto and Edmonton is health and safety. That the bubbles are secure, and the protocols are followed. That the physical and mental health of everyone involved in this reboot

1:35 PM ET Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom has signed a three-year, $9 million contract extension just weeks after completing radiation treatment for a rare form of bone cancer. Lindblom, 23, has not played since being diagnosed in December with Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around

7:00 AM ET John Tortorella gathered around his Columbus Blue Jackets for their first day of training camp in the NHL’s restarted season. The famously direct coach explained what he expected from them under the league’s COVID-19 “return to play” protocols. “We don’t want a bunch of drama. We’re trying to win a Stanley Cup,”

7:00 AM ET The 2019-20 NHL season will be remembered for quite some time, thanks to a pause because of the coronavirus pandemic that kept players off the ice for months and ended seven teams’ seasons. As we bear witness to the first 24-team postseason tournament, we continue to look ahead to what’s next. As

2:36 PM ET Montreal Canadiens center Max Domi, after “extensive conversations with doctors,” has decided to play in the NHL’s restart, despite the risks associated with his Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. Domi, 25, joined his teammates on the ice Monday and Tuesday after taking the first week of training camp off to evaluate

1:28 PM ET Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin are the finalists for the Hart Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL player “judged most valuable to his team.” The winner, which will be revealed during the conference final round set to begin Aug. 1,

7:00 AM ET By the time Jake Adkins and Andrew Walker call on Thursday afternoon, they’re sitting alongside a river in Pennsylvania after having just woken up from a nap. To be honest, they don’t know exactly where they are, but they know it’s their second of four days in the state. Walker’s legs are

5:16 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux has been suspended by the NHL for the first two games of the team’s preliminary-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes because of an illegal check that injured Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi in March. The league’s department of player safety announced the suspension

1:21 PM ET For the 9th straight season, Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward, building on his NHL record. Bergeron joined Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier and St. Louis Blues center Ryan O’Reilly, who won the award last season. The Selke Trophy is voted

7:00 AM ET It has been 130 days since the NHL hit the pause button on the 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. As the sports world continues to reckon with adjusted schedules around the world, there also have been continuous nuggets of new information regarding the resumption of the NHL season, the draft,

2:30 PM ET ESPN News Services Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby did not practice Sunday, a day after leaving a team scrimmage with an undisclosed health issue. The team captain and two-time NHL MVP scored during an organized scrimmage Saturday. Coach Mike Sullivan declined to offer specifics on what happened to Crosby in the immediate

12:26 PM ET Associated Press Sidney Crosby was two months removed from lifting the Stanley Cup when he turned his attention to winning another championship. It was early September 2016, and the Pittsburgh Penguins captain stepped on the ice in Ottawa for Canada’s training camp ahead of the World Cup of Hockey. Players had gone