Welcome to Puck Pursuit, an interview-style podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.Brent Sopel, a former NHL defenseman, joins the show to discuss a variety of topics, including:

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Oilers Entertainment Group, the city of Edmonton, and the province of Alberta have made a joint bid to become an NHL hub city if the 2019-20 season resumes, Alberta premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday, according to Global News' Scott Johnston.While making his pitch to a group of reporters, Kenney dubbed Edmonton the "safest place in the continent" to host the NHL playoffs due to the city's low number of COVID-19 cases."We're down to (58) active cases in this population in Greater Edmonton of 1.2 million people, and a handful of people in hospital with hundreds of acute care beds that have been set aside for COVID(-19) patients, together with the highest per capita testing in North America, if not the world,” Kenney said.Additionally, Kenney believes Edmonton would be a top choice based on logistics."We've got one of the best facilities, I would say the best facility, with the brand new Rogers Place arena," he said.Rogers Place, the Oilers' state-of-the-art arena, opened in 2016. It features several dressing rooms, an in-house practice rink, and an attached 364-room luxury JW Marriot Hotel. OEG vice president Tim Shipton said there are enough rooms for 12 teams and their support staff in the immediate downtown area.Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, who tweeted out his letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday, agrees."In addition, the city of Edmonton is working closely with OEG on an agreement to use our high-quality civic recreational facilities, currently closed to Edmontonians during the pandemic, where NHL teams could practice and train safely while in Edmonton," Iveson wrote in his letter.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that the league is evaluating eight or nine potential hub cities that could host about a dozen teams in one location.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson believes he's ready to take his game to the highest level."My eyes are on the NHL right now," Robertson said, according to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke. "If I didn’t have (a) tenaciousness in my game, I wouldn't say I'm ready right now.”The Leafs selected Robertson with the 53rd overall pick in the 2019 draft after he tallied 27 goals and a team-high 55 points through 54 games in his sophomore season with the OHL's Peterborough Petes.This season, Robertson took his game to new heights. The dynamic winger exploded for a league-high 55 goals - which included a 14-game goal streak - and 86 points in 46 contests, and he attributed his strong performance to being able to focus solely on his play."My second year, I had the pressure of the draft and the combine and interviews," Robertson said. "Whereas in my third season, I know where I am. And I know that I’m already drafted and signed. So I’m not saying I’ve got nothing to lose, but I can go out there and do my thing and be confident."Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said in March that Robertson will get every chance to make the big club's opening-night roster next season. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old knows the Leafs have plenty of offensive depth and insists he could make an impact in a bottom-six role if need be.“I don’t have to be a top-six player to be effective," Robertson said. "It's not just my scoring or my playmaking. It's my tenacity. It's the way I work."The Michigan native also represented Team USA at the 2020 world juniors, contributing two goals and five points over five outings.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NHL resource Puckpedia.com polled 25 agents on a variety of topics and recently published most of the results.Agents answered questions about CBA jargon, draft eligibility, and some juicier subjects, including player contracts and which general managers are the best or worst to deal with.Here's a look at some of the results.Worst contract from team perspectivePlayerTeamCap hitVote %Milan LucicFlames$6M19%Brent SeabrookBlackhawks$6.875M14%Erik KarlssonSharks$11.5M10%Jeff SkinnerSabres$9M10%Lucic signed a seven-year deal with the Oilers in 2016, and his production dropped drastically after a solid first season. The soon-to-be 32-year-old was traded to Calgary to clear salary last offseason.Seabrook was rewarded by the Blackhawks after being a core member of the club's three Stanley Cup titles last decade. His play and his body have both deteriorated since his extension, and there are still four seasons to go on the deal.Karlsson cashed in with the Sharks after his lengthy run as the game's top defenseman, but persisting injuries have many wondering if the eight-year term was worth it.Lastly, Skinner parlayed a 40-goal debut season in Buffalo into an eight-year, $72-million contract. In the first year of his lucrative extension, he's mustered 23 points in 59 games.Most team-friendly contractPlayerTeamCap hitVote %Nathan MacKinnonAvalanche$6.3M33%David PastrnakBruins$6.67M14%Calle JarnkrokPredators$2M14%Kevin LabancSharks$1M10%MacKinnon and Pastrnak are no-brainers, as both are MVP candidates who make pennies on the dollar compared to players with similar levels of production.Jarnkrok is a bit of a surprise inclusion, as he potted 34 points in 64 contests this season. Labanc, meanwhile, made headlines for accepting a $1-million contract last season with the goal of being paid more when the team had more cap flexibility.Other notables receiving votes in this category were Aleksander Barkov, Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Blake Coleman.Best GM to get client a good deal fromGMTeamVote%Kyle DubasMaple Leafs29%Jim NillStars6%Jason BotterillSabres6%Doug WilsonSharks6%Toronto's boss was the only GM to receive multiple votes, likely due to the big-ticket contracts he doled out to core forwards Auston Matthews ($11.634 million), John Tavares ($11 million), Mitch Marner (10.96 million), and William Nylander ($6.9 million).Interestingly enough, the GM voted toughest to deal with was Lou Lamoriello, who joined the New York Islanders when Dubas took over the job in Toronto.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL was not happy that a handful of teams signed players to entry-level contracts with "to be determined" start dates, sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo.In a normal season, a team could sign a player to its "reserve list" on an ELC and later have that player join the club for the remainder of its campaign - much like the Colorado Avalanche did last season with Cale Makar, who made his NHL debut in the playoffs after his NCAA campaign wrapped up.But with the season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL made a rule that any contract signed at this time cannot include a 2019-20 start date. That rule would prohibit a team like the Minnesota Wild - who sat one point out of a playoff spot when the season was postponed - from bringing in KHL star Kirill Kaprizov for the stretch run. In a normal season, Kaprizov wouldn't be able to join the Wild this season because the KHL campaign would still be running.NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly made it clear to the Wild that the rule won't be changed, sources told Russo.However, a handful of teams and players - including the Montreal Canadiens with Alexander Romanov, the Florida Panthers with Grigori Denisenko, the Chicago Blackhawks with Ian Mitchell, and the St. Louis Blues with Scott Perunovich - later found a potential loophole, agreeing to terms with TBD start dates, which irked the league office.The NHL has not allowed any of those contracts to be submitted to its Central Registry with that terminology, Russo added.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Nashville Predators forward Matt Duchene hopes that if the Stanley Cup is awarded this season, the NHL does its best to prevent anyone from putting an asterisk beside the champion."I just think that you gotta keep ... as much integrity as possible," Duchene told Sportsnet's "Hockey Central" on Tuesday.“You don't want to have a COVID Cup, and I'm worried that if we come back and force this thing ... and it's a little gimmicky or if it's not quite right, whoever wins the Cup is gonna have people trying to take it away from them their whole lives and they don't deserve that, (the) guys that come back and ultimately win it. So I feel very passionately about this part of things."The NHL is reportedly progressing toward using a 24-team playoff format - which would include several clubs that have been virtually eliminated from contention - if the 2019-20 campaign is able to resume.The 29-year-old center expressed his distaste for an expanded playoff model and urged the league to implement a more traditional format instead."There's no fair way to say who should be in and who should be out because of not playing ... the full 82 - but, for lack of a better word, somebody's gonna get screwed," Duchene said."So I believe let's keep it as traditional as possible. I'd love to see us jump to a 16-team playoff. Normal (best-of-seven) playoff, maybe you're playing a little more frequently because guys are gonna be fresh and you can play a game at 3 o’clock on Friday and play at 7 on Saturday and there's no travel."Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby shared a similar sentiment last week, saying, "You want to win (the Cup) the right way, and that's four (best-of-seven) series."Duchene's Predators currently occupy the final Western Conference wild-card berth with the season on hold.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Everett Silvertips netminder and Calgary Flames prospect Dustin Wolf has been named the Western Hockey League's goaltender of the year, the league announced Tuesday.Wolf posted a 34-10-2 record along with a .935 save percentage, 1.88 goals-against average, and nine shutouts before the WHL canceled the remainder of its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The 19-year-old native of California has won 86 games across three seasons with Everett.Current Philadelphia Flyers goalie and Silvertips alumnus Carter Hart was the WHL's goalie of the year in 2016 and 2018.The Flames selected Wolf in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Somewhere, Digit Murphy still has the ski pants she was given at Nagano in 1998, a keepsake from women's hockey's groundbreaking entrance to the Winter Olympics - and her on-the-fly introduction to analyzing games on national TV. She was 36 and established as an elite college coach at Brown University when TNT hired her to work the tournament with Doc Emrick and Joe Micheletti, old broadcasting hands who were by her side as the stress of the stage set in."For people who know me, they're like, 'Dij, I can't even believe you would even think that it was nerve-racking.' But you're sitting there in the chair going, 'Oh, my God.' There's millions of people thinking about you," Murphy told theScore. "I was young. Now, I'd be all over it, but back then, it was the first time I'd ever even been on television."If there really is a first time for everything, Murphy's hockey resume might serve as sufficient proof. Over 22 seasons at Brown from 1989-2011, she became the NCAA's first Division I women's coach to reach 300 wins. Upon joining the Boston Blades in 2012, Murphy led the now-defunct Canadian Women's Hockey League club to a breakthrough pair of championships. She returned to the title game in 2018 with Kunlun Red Star, the CWHL expansion squad she coached for a year in Shenzhen as China sought to elevate its floundering national program ahead of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.Now comes the latest great challenge of Murphy's globe-trot through the game: spearheading the creation of a pro team at what can generously be described as an inconvenient time.Murphy, now 58, is the president of the National Women's Hockey League's Toronto Six franchise, the construction of which before and since its launch in April has been complicated by circumstance. Murphy has been building the team - conducting head coach and general manager searches; signing half of her potential 2020-21 lineup - not from Toronto, but from her home in Providence, Rhode Island. It's a necessary concession to the physical distancing protocols that have grounded sports and so much else.Digit Murphy. Mike Coppola / Getty ImagesThe NWHL is expanding to Toronto, its sixth city, at a unique moment for women's hockey specifically, one in which the sport's most recognizable players - the Americans and Canadians who line up on either side of that splendid international rivalry - continue to spurn their continent's lone pro option. Under the banner of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, stars from Hilary Knight to Marie-Philip Poulin to Kendall Coyne Schofield spent the 2019-20 season headlining the Dream Gap Tour, a traveling series of privately sponsored exhibition games intended to magnify their call for a new league."Our mission … has not changed and we are still moving forward with next season - in full force," the PWHPA wrote in a statement the day the NWHL announced its Toronto expansion. "Simply put, the opportunities that the NWHL will provide may be good for some players, but it's not the opportunities that we want for our players or for future generations of young girls who will play the game at the highest level."Into this chasm - the gulf between opposing ideas of how to safeguard and grow the game's pro prospects - steps Murphy, the pioneering figure with ideas of her own. In September, the Boston Pride became the NWHL's first privately (rather than centrally) owned team. Toronto is the second, nudging the league in the direction Murphy thinks it needs to go: toward independent owners making long-term plays for the support of their chosen markets, focusing all the while on empowering women on and away from the ice."The vision that I see is: women owning the sport themselves, playing the sport, driving the sport not only from a player perspective, (but) from an ownership perspective, from GMs, coaches all being female," Murphy said. "Now, we can collectively own the space where women can actually watch it, play it, and thrive in it."––––––––––Murphy was fundraising for a startup to connect women athletes and business leaders when the onset of the coronavirus shutdown stalled her momentum. She wound up instead taking charge of this unusual expansion team - the rare pro club to come into being with sports paused.Murphy had been in regular contact with Johanna Neilson Boynton, a former Harvard hockey captain who liked to pick Murphy's brain about her years in the game. Boynton, the CEO of a home construction company in Massachusetts, is also the Toronto Six's lead investor. Soon enough, she convinced Murphy to join her and team chairman Tyler Tumminia in senior management.Toronto forward Shiann Darkangelo (right) plays for Kunlun Red Star in 2017-18. Visual China Group / Getty ImagesTheir roster is taking shape. The franchise hired a GM last week - Mandy Cronin, a retired goalie who helped found the CWHL back in 2007 - and participated in the NWHL's five-round online player draft last month. Murphy has so far signed 13 players; seven of them, including former U.S. national team winger Shiann Darkangelo, took part in last season's Dream Gap Tour following the demise of the CWHL in spring 2019."She's very for the players, making sure that we're taken care of," Darkangelo said of Murphy, whose Kunlun team she played for in 2017-18. "She's a big visionary and doer and dreamer. That's what she's best at, I think: painting the picture for the future of women's hockey and getting people to buy in."Even when set against hundreds of wins and an Olympic sojourn, Murphy's year in Shenzhen - her most recent stint behind the bench, during which she also coached China's women's team in the third division of the world championships - rates as memorable. Buoyed by the brilliance of Finnish goalie Noora Raty, whose .944 save percentage led the CWHL, Murphy guided Kunlun to a 21-6-1 record and an overtime loss in the 2018 Clarkson Cup title game.Despite the gap in quality between the national programs of the U.S. and Canada and those of every other country, the resources afforded to Murphy abroad far exceeded those of women's pro franchises in North America. Coaching in China was phenomenal, she said, thanks in part to the professionalization of the experience: the first-class flights, the televised games, the big banners featuring likenesses of the players - with costs funded by deep-pocketed team ownership."It was legit," Murphy said. She added: "It's interesting that when you go outside of the U.S., you think about it as less gender equity because they don't have Title IX (a federal civil rights law passed in 1972)."Instead, Murphy said, "the (women's) sports programs, some of them, are more elevated."Murphy coaches Kunlun Red Star in 2017-18. Visual China Group / Getty ImagesSecuring what its members consider to be fair compensation and working conditions was the animating purpose behind the PWHPA. Throughout last season, the Olympians at the fore of the Dream Gap Tour expressed their desire for a new league in which all players are supported by training and game-day staff; can play, practice at reasonable hours, and store their equipment in one all-purpose facility; and, crucially, earn a living wage. In the NWHL in 2019-20, some players earned up to $15,000 under the league's $150,000 salary cap, and every player received a further 26% raise through a split of sponsorship and media revenues.Murphy, who said she respects the PWHPA and supports its ideals, doesn't believe its presence is antithetical to the NWHL's. Competing women's hockey organizations can coexist, she said, though she figures all parties would be stronger if aligned - ideally with the NHL involved in a top league as a partner, not as an owner or operator. In that vein, she's convinced a prevailing future business model shouldn't mirror that of the NCAA, wherein women's teams don't have to be sustained through supply and demand."That's where the players, now, have to step up and be part of this new leadership model that grows professional sports," Murphy said. "They can't just think that money's going to (fall) from the sky or someone else is going to take care of them. They need to be part of this growth mindset."––––––––––Katey Stone, the head coach of Harvard's women's hockey team since 1994, shared a story about the tight-knit nature of the world she and Murphy occupy. Despite a rivalry pitting Harvard against Brown numerous times each season - including three conference playoff games in one four-year span - Stone and Murphy used to occasionally hit the road together for joint recruiting trips, an arrangement between friends to maximize the reach of their respective budgets.Those excursions and fiery matchups attuned Stone to her coaching counterpart's relentlessness and competitive bent. It's those traits, Stone said, that make Murphy optimally suited to navigating the complications of her Toronto assignment."I call her 'The Tornado' for a reason. That's the kind of energy she has," said Stone, who for a while supplanted Murphy as the winningest coach in Division I history. "She's going to do what she can to make the NWHL Toronto franchise the best it can be. She'll create energy and enthusiasm that people are going to want to be a part of."They're going to want to play there, they're going to want to work there, and they're going to want to go see those games when they can."Kaleigh Fratkin of the Boston Pride. Boston Globe / Getty ImagesWhether the 2020-21 season begins in November, as the NWHL hopes, or at some later time due to public-health guidelines, Toronto's expansion lineup will have to take aim at the Pride, the league's new standard-setter. In lead investor Miles Arnone's first year at the helm, Boston topped the league standings at 23-1-0 with a plus-77 goal differential - only to miss out on a title shot in mid-March when the Isobel Cup championship game was called off the day before puck drop.There are key personnel and logistical matters left to settle - Toronto's head coach and home arena remain undetermined - but Murphy said contending for the Isobel Cup will be an immediate expectation. In that pursuit, she can lean on precedent, and not just the titles she won with Boston's old CWHL team. As part of a committee of college coaches, Murphy helped select the U.S. Olympic players whose gold-medal victory she analyzed next to Emrick and Micheletti in Nagano.Though Murphy's club won't exclusively hire women off the ice, she thinks it essential that the NWHL promote their candidacy for major jobs that usually go to men: "The more women in (hockey) ops, in game ops, in coaching that we can employ, I think the better for our model."As for the importance of thinking local, the other key in her blueprint for advancing the game, Toronto has a high number of registered women's players fortifying the ranks of the latest hockey-loving population she's out to court.This squad isn't Toronto's first women's pro team. The CWHL-owned Furies won a title by beating Murphy's Blades in the 2014 Clarkson Cup. The Markham Thunder, operating out of a Toronto suburb, edged Murphy's Kunlun club in the 2018 final. Both folded along with the rest of the league.If it seems daunting to try to prosper in their stead - at this demanding time in a place where so many pro sports are already entrenched - Murphy isn't stressed."We're not going to, off the bat probably, sell 5,000 (tickets), but maybe we could in one game. You never know," she said. "And if we can consistently sell out a 1,000-1,500-seat arena, good, let's do that - and then step it up and build a loyal fan base."Note: This story has been edited to reflect the name of the franchise, which was revealed on Tuesday.Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly remains optimistic about the league's potential resumption despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement Tuesday that the border between the United States and Canada will remain closed for all non-essential travel for another 30 days.Daly is hopeful the decision "will not materially affect the resumption of play timelines we are currently contemplating," according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.Though players and staff remain in self-quarantine, the league hopes to initiate Phase 2 of its return plan by late May. At that point, players would be permitted to train in team facilities in small groups while following health and safety guidelines.The league is reportedly looking to utilize a 24-team playoff format. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that approximately eight or nine locations are being looked at as potential hub cities to host up to a dozen teams in one location.Trudeau said earlier this month that any players crossing over into Canada would need to follow quarantine protocol if the NHL should return.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand attributes his arrival as an NHL superstar to the confidence he gained from skating alongside some of the most talented players with Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey."Obviously I think winning a (Stanley) Cup will always be the top thing, but one of the things I'm most proud of is being part of the World Cup team with Canada," Marchand said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "It kind of put me on a different level, a different caliber of player."Marchand played alongside Sidney Crosby and Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron on the top line throughout the tournament. The trio combined for 25 points over six games en route to leading Canada to the championship. The pesky winger contributed five goals and eight points, including the tournament-clinching tally in the final minute against Team Europe."Before that, I never really thought I could play with guys that were on that team," Marchand said. "I never put myself in the same category as anybody on that team. Coming out of that, I felt a lot more confident about my abilities and my game and where I could play in the league, and it just kind of elevated from there.”That NHL season, Marchand erupted for a career-best 39 goals and 85 points with Boston. In 2018-19, he became the first Bruins player since 2002-03 to record a 100-point season and finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting.Since the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign, Marchand ranks fifth in both assists (220) and points (357) and sits 10th in goals (137) among all NHL skaters.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Former NHLer Akim Aliu penned a powerful piece published on The Players' Tribune on Tuesday, calling for change across all levels of hockey when it comes to diversity and inclusivity.Aliu took aim at the NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" campaign, outlining how he feels the initiative is a facade, and what the league can do to fix it."You know what I think is amusing?" Aliu wrote. "The NHL’s title for their annual diversity campaign, 'Hockey is For Everyone.' Makes me crack up. Because, right now, hockey is not for everyone."The NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" website describes the initiative as using "the game of hockey - and the league's global influence - to drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities."But Aliu, who experienced racial abuse starting during his time in minor hockey and continuing as a professional, said there needs to a stronger effort to eliminate mistreatment of minorities at all levels of the game, and that intolerant behavior is cultivated in hockey's culture from a young age."I’m talking about the racism, misogyny, bullying, and homophobia that permeates the culture of hockey. These issues have ramifications that most cannot - or will not - see. They are not fun to talk about," Aliu said."We should be showing off the diversity our game is capable of having," he added. "This has an immediate impact on youth involvement. Because I know there are kids like me out there who have a hard time seeing themselves in the NHL. Or there’s a little black boy or girl who wants to be an NHL coach, but he or she doesn’t see anyone in the league who looks like them."In November, Aliu accused former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters of calling him the N-word during their time together in the AHL. Peters resigned from his position with the Flames after admitting to using the racist language. He was hired as a KHL head coach in April.Aliu was also at the forefront of a controversial incident during his time in the OHL when he refused to participate in rookie hazing and fought Windsor Spitfires teammate Steve Downie.The 31-year-old met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in early December, saying there's "big change coming" after the league called the discussion "productive and candid."Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators forward and pending unrestricted free agent Mikkel Boedker has signed a two-year contract with Lugano in Switzerland, the European club announced Tuesday.Lugano will wait for Boedker to finish any potential games in 2019-20, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, but it's unlikely Ottawa will play again this season as the NHL works toward initiating a 24-team playoff upon its return.The Senators acquired Boedker from the San Jose Sharks in 2018 in the trade for Mike Hoffman. Boedker carries a $4-million cap hit and has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, recording only four points in just 20 games.Boedker, 30, was originally selected eighth overall by the then-Phoenix Coyotes in 2008. He's amassed 327 points in 709 career NHL games.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Bruce Boudreau hasn't coached the Washington Capitals since 2011, but his praise for center Nicklas Backstrom remains at an all-time high.Boudreau joined NBC's broadcast of a throwback Capitals game from the 2007-08 season on Monday. Even though Boudreau was in his first season as an NHL bench boss and Backstrom was in his rookie campaign, the coach could tell early on he had something special in the Swede."Backstrom, even though he was really young at that age, was going to be a great player," Boudreau said, according to NBC's J.J. Regan. "(His) mind was thinking a thought ahead over everybody."Backstrom has spent most of his career in the shadow of teammate Alex Ovechkin. The 2007-08 campaign was no exception, as Backstrom finished second in Calder Trophy voting to Patrick Kane with 69 points, but Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy after potting 65 goals.When Boudreau was asked who Backstrom reminded him of, the coach put the pivot in some elite company."A player who's not overly fast or overly strong, like a Brian Trottier," he said.Trottier, a Hall of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup champion, is regarded as one of the best centers of all time. Playing on the great New York Islanders teams of the early '80s, he was also sometimes overshadowed by legendary teammates, like Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin.Backstrom, meanwhile, has established himself as one of the best playmakers of his generation. Since entering the league, no player - not even Sidney Crosby or Joe Thornton - can match Backstrom's 684 assists, and he ranks fifth with 927 points during that span.If the 32-year-old can remain productive during the back nine of his career, he too could have a case for the Hall of Fame one day, but a lack of individual hardware may eventually keep him out.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Despite battling multiple injuries over the last few seasons, New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider is not considering hanging up his pads in the near future."It's all about trying to be in peak physical condition because I feel good, mentally," Schneider told NHL.com's Mike Morreale. "I want to continue my career. I haven't entertained thoughts of retirement at all."Schneider had surgery to repair a core muscle injury after the 2015-16 season. Two years later, he had another procedure to repair torn cartilage in his hip.Before the injuries, Schneider was one of the game's elite goaltenders. He posted a 2.14 goals-against average and .924 save percentage while averaging 56 starts per campaign over his first three seasons with the Devils from 2013-16. Over the four seasons since the core muscle surgery, the netminder owns a 2.96 goals-against average and .906 save percentage while starting an average of 33 games.The 34-year-old hit rock bottom in 2019-20, going 3-6-2 with a 3.53 goals-against average and .887 save percentage. He was sent down to the AHL on two different occasions.Even with 23-year-old MacKenzie Blackwood showing the promise of a capable long-term starter, Schneider still thinks he can be a contributor to the rebuilding Devils."I have two years left on my contract and my obligation and my goal is to do that and see where it goes from there," he said. "I'm not naive to the business side of things, but feel that when I'm playing well, I can do a lot for our team on the ice and off the ice. That's the role that I want to fill."The veteran is signed through the 2021-22 season with a $6-million cap hit. The Devils could buy him out for $2 million against the cap through 2023-24, according to CapFriendly.Schneider was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in the 2013 offseason in exchange for the ninth overall pick in that year's draft, which turned into Bo Horvat. Then-general manager Lou Lamoriello signed the goaltender to a seven-year, $42-million deal the following summer.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares knows there isn't an easy answer when it comes to the NHL's options for playing out the 2019-20 season."I'm not sure I'm completely 100% sold on any format," Tavares said, according to Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt. "But the biggest thing is honoring the regular season as best as we can while still giving each team that deserves the opportunity, or still has an opportunity to make the playoffs, to be a part of that."Tavares added: "It's difficult to determine the fairest way of going about it, with so many different variables that were out of your control, in terms of games teams have played, the opponents they have left to finish the season, how many home games."The 2019-20 campaign was paused on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many ideas for a potential return to action have been floated, while a modified 24-team playoff format has reportedly gained the most traction lately.Tavares, alongside four other players - Connor McDavid, James van Riemsdyk, Ron Hainsey, and Mark Scheifele - are part of the NHL's Return to Play Committee that's been working with the league to figure out a plan.Tavares confirmed that players do want to resume the season but that a number of factors must be taken into account, including the issue of separating those players from their families."Guys understand how fortunate we are to play a game for a living, and if we have that opportunity, we would be very excited about that, especially knowing the state the world is in, and the positivity that could bring back," Tavares said. "But, at the same time, the health and safety measures have to be at the highest of standards."While Tavares knows things can change dramatically every day, he feels a "sense of urgency" to get a concrete plan in place so that players can have a better understanding of what a return would look like if the NHL gets the green light to resume.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Two more states are getting ready to welcome back professional sports.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that professional sports will be allowed to reopen in his state May 31, according to Karina Kling of Spectrum News Austin.Seven professional sports - basketball, baseball, auto racing, football, golf, softball, and tennis - were given the green light to resume in Texas, pending approval from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), according to Jori Epstein of USA Today. Hockey and soccer were not mentioned; it's unclear if that will mean a longer wait time for the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars or Major League Soccer's FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo.Abbott's office detailed a list of requirements that professional leagues must meet before being allowed to resume in Texas. All leagues must first present "a plan that incorporates applicable minimum standard health protocols" to the state, which will then be reviewed by both the DSHS and the governor's office.Out west, Gov. Gavin Newsom stated California is hoping to allow sports events beginning in the first week of June.Newsom cautioned, however, that early June is merely a target at this time. There would also be "modifications and very prescriptive conditions" required to host events in California.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is looking at approximately "eight or nine" potential hub cities that could host up to "a dozen or so teams in one location," according to NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika.Several cities, including Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton, have openly expressed interest in hosting teams for a potential return to the 2019-20 season. However, previous proposals included using four hub sites.The league needs to find an area with a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, hotel space to accommodate players and their families, suitable playing and practice facilities, and adequate testing areas, Cotsonika adds."I am told that there can be enough capacity, and certainly over the next couple of months, there will be more capacity," Bettman said. "But that is a fundamental question, and we certainly can't be jumping the line in front of medical needs."It was reported Sunday that the league and players' union are making progress toward a 24-team playoff format, though there's still work to be done before anything is finalized.The NHL's Board of Governors is set for a conference call Monday afternoon to continue discussions on a return to play.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It remains unclear whether or not the NHL will allow its players to participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympics after they missed out in 2018. If they do, the Americans will be in a great position to put forward perhaps their strongest team yet.When the IIHF unveiled the groups for the 2022 Games in April, we looked back at some of the best lineups Team Canada has ever assembled. In this edition, we look south of the border and focus our attention on the United States.Though we considered the raw talent on each roster, we also prioritized how each team performed and where it finished in the tournament.5. 1998 Nagano Brian Bahr / Getty Images Sport / GettyGM: Lou Lamoriello

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.While Anaheim Ducks backup goaltender Ryan Miller hopes to keep playing hockey next season, the COVID-19 pandemic could push him to call it quits earlier than expected."I mean the desire is there, but there's going to be a lot of factors. First of all, we're all going to have to address this new normal. What that means for sports and life - and wrapped up in that is family and how family is going to need to be taken care of during this time," Miller said to Sportsnet's Gene Principe. "There's a lot of talk here in California that schools are not going to be fully in session possibly into next year, that changes the dynamic around the house and what needs to happen and what's important."The 39-year-old netminder has spent 17 seasons in the NHL, most recently serving as the backup in Anaheim over the past three years. Miller has performed well with the Ducks, appearing in 71 games while compiling a 29-19-12 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.72 goals-against average.Miller turned in the best years of his career with the Buffalo Sabres, where he spent 11 seasons from 2002-14. He took home the Vezina Trophy in 2010 and put together an impressive 284-186-57 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average with the franchise.While he believes he still has some gas left in the tank, Miller knows the evolving situation may force his hand."Hockey is very important to me but I'm trying to be realistic," he said. "I'm at the tail end of a long career and I would love to play so I'm going to hum and haw for you guys. I really like to play, it's a lot of fun, but I really want to see where things end up."Miller, who will turn 40 in July, is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is incredibly optimistic about the NHL's chances of completing the 2019-20 season during the coronavirus pandemic.Melnyk said he's "100%" confident that the Stanley Cup will be awarded this season and that the 2020-21 campaign will be played in full, according to TSN's Bruce Garrioch.Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis agrees with Melnyk that the 2019-20 season will resume, telling CNN on Sunday that he believes play will return in hub cities without fans, according to The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this week that canceling the remainder of the 2019-20 season and playoffs is "not something I'm even contemplating."The league is reportedly leaning toward jumping straight into the postseason upon its potential return. However, the NHL and NHLPA are also reportedly progressing toward a 24-team playoff format that would involve games being played beforehand in some manner.NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has already made it clear that the league intends to avoid a scenario that would prevent a full season from taking place in 2020-21.Some players, including Los Angeles Kings star Drew Doughty, have voiced their pessimism about the 2019-20 campaign resuming this summer.While players and staff remain in self-quarantine, the league hopes to initiate Phase 2 of its return plan by late May. At that point, players would be permitted to return to club facilities to work out in small groups.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL postseason is unpredictable in a normal year. But under current circumstances, which may include a three-to-five month wait before 24 teams head into a revamped Stanley Cup Playoffs after a brief tune-up at most, there's no telling what could happen.With the league and players' union reportedly progressing toward an expanded 24-team postseason format, we decided to put together a list of three dark-horse teams that could surprise and embark on a deep playoff run.Only clubs that wouldn't have made the playoffs in a normal 16-team format based on points percentage were included.New York Rangers Jonathan Kozub / National Hockey League / GettyRecord: 37-28-5 (.564 PTS%)

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.The NHL and the NHLPA are making progress on a 24-team playoff format, sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.While there's still work to be done, the Return To Play committee's meeting over the weekend produced some traction, LeBrun reports.It was reported Monday that the league was focusing on going straight to the playoffs rather than finishing the regular season if it's able to resume play. But LeBrun was told the 24-team format involves games being played beforehand in some way.The format would put every Western Conference team except the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks into the playoffs. In the East, only the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, and Detroit Red Wings would miss out.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.There's clearly no precedent for a work stoppage like what we've seen as a result of the coronavirus, and bettors trying to find one will be disappointed. Still, when the sports world returns to "normal," teams will deal with some of the same issues that we've seen after previous stoppages - limited practice time, shortened seasons, and more schedule-related adversities.For bettors seeking an edge when leagues resume play, could there be something to learn from past delays?To find out, we studied every strike, lockout, and other work stoppages over the last 30 years that either shortened the offseason or delayed the start of the schedule. We left out brief midseason interruptions or delays that resulted in canceled postseasons, as those don't help us find an edge in upcoming betting markets.Here are the six seasons that guided our research and impressions on how this unprecedented delay can guide bettors when major sports leagues eventually return:Work stoppageSeason affectedGames missedChampionNHL lockout1994-9534New Jersey DevilsMLB strike199518Atlanta BravesNBA lockout1998-9932San Antonio SpursNFL lockout20110New York GiantsNBA lockout2011-1216Miami HeatNHL lockout2012-1334Chicago BlackhawksBet the favoritesIt may seem obvious, but it's by far the strongest trend from the sampled seasons - the best teams win in adverse conditions, often in convincing fashion.The eventual champion entered the year as one of the top five favorites in five of the six seasons. Only the 2011 New York Giants (+2200) defied the odds, and they had to beat the preseason favorite New England Patriots (+500) in the Super Bowl and the second-favorite Green Bay Packers (+650) in the divisional round during an improbable playoff run.Some of the most dominant performances in recent memory have come after a shortened offseason, particularly early in the year.Those 2011 Packers opened the year with 14 straight wins behind preseason MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers (+550). The 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks (+1200) began the season by playing 24 games without a regulation loss, setting an NHL record en route to a Stanley Cup. The 1995 Atlanta Braves (+400) remain tied for the third-shortest odds of any MLB champion since 1985, while the 2011-12 Miami Heat (+225) are tied among the third-shortest NBA favorites to win since 2002.The betting favorites usually reach the postseason, too. In the NHL, teams with the best title odds comprised most of the playoff field in 1994-95 (14 of the 16 shortest title prices) and 2012-13 (11 of 13). It was a similar story in the NBA in 1998-99 (11 of 12) and 2011-12 (16 of 20), with all 10 of the shortest title favorites making the field in the latter year. This doesn't always occur in sports; the four listed seasons stand in contrast to the relative diversity by preseason odds in the 2018-19 NHL and NBA playoff fields.So what does that mean for bettors if upcoming seasons or training camps are shortened? Expect dominance from likely title contenders, ride early winning streaks, and don't get too cute with your playoff fields. The best teams - and players - are likely to shine through uncertainty.Bad teams risingThis is where things get interesting. While the best of the best tend to excel after a reduced offseason, the worst teams also seem to surprise relative to expectation.Entering the 2011 NFL season, eight teams had title odds of 100-1 or longer. Six of those teams went over their preseason win totals and two of them made the playoffs. Compare that to 2018-19, when just four of the eight teams with comparable odds went over and only one reached the postseason.We saw similar results in the two most recent lockouts: Five of the six worst teams by title odds went over in the NBA (2011-12), and eight of the 12 worst went over in the NHL (2012-13). It didn't always translate to a playoff berth, but it's worth betting high on some of oddsmakers' least favorite teams.Interestingly, after each of the three work stoppages in the 2010s, there were more overs than unders among all teams' win totals - with many of them coming from the top and bottom crop of clubs. If you can't decide which middle-tier teams to ride, just bet high on the extremes using history as your compass.Expect scoring lullPrevious work stoppages have taught us that offenses can have a tough time getting going.In 1994-95, the NHL saw a significant drop in goals per game (2.99) after years of hovering around 3.5 or higher. The NBA's offensive rating in 1998-99 (102.2) still ranks as the lowest since 1978, and the league's rating in 2011-12 (104.6) is the worst since 2004.We didn't see a dip in scoring after the NFL's 2011 lockout, but that could change this year if the summer schedule is affected. Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader, said he expects totals could drop by 3-4 points if the NFL schedule is affected by delays. That could prove even more costly for offenses with new pieces in place, as we broke down on Thursday.The market will likely catch up to this right away, so there may not be any value for bettors. But don't be afraid to fade offenses if totals seem a bit high to start the NFL, NBA, or NHL seasons after any potential delays, even with all three leagues trending up in scoring.C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Athletes everywhere continue to get creative as they deal with their respective leagues being on hiatus. Some are better at it than others. Every Sunday throughout May, we'll look back on the week that was before crowning a quarantine king or queen. Here are the top isolation moments from the sports world over the last seven days.10. Harper's bat-drop in midseason formBryce Harper is taking the night-owl approach to his training regimen. His late-night trip to the batting cages revealed his smooth swing is right where it ought to be, but more importantly, he's got that effortless bat-drop in fine form. Someone's ready for the season to start.

Hockey Hall of Fame member Mark Recchi believes Sidney Crosby is hockey's closest comparison to NBA legend Michael Jordan."Obviously, there's some great ones along the way, but in terms of the work ethic, I heard somebody say Sidney, and Sidney's probably about as close as you're gonna get, except he's not as confrontational as Michael Jordan was, it seems like," the Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach said on Sportsnet's "Hockey Central." "Sid's work ethic is the hardest, the teammates have no choice but to follow."Recchi has had a front-row seat to the Crosby show over the last several years. In 2014, he was hired as the Penguins' player development coach before being named an assistant coach in 2017.One of the main reasons Recchi chose Crosby is due to the 32-year-old's desire to keep improving on his game while helping his teammates do the same."Our practices are unbelievably fast. When we get new guys in, they're not used to practicing at that pace and it takes them about three weeks to a month to catch up to that pace, and Sid leads the way every day," Recchi said. "After practice, he tries to get better at something every day. It's almost, like, lead by example: 'Guys you gotta stick with me and follow along and do the things I'm doing and we're gonna get there.'"Crosby and Recchi were teammates for three seasons from 2005 until 2007.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After looking at each NHL team's biggest busts, theScore's hockey editors are examining the league's best draft steals. Our final post of the series focuses on the Atlantic Division.Central | Metropolitan | PacificBoston Bruins Mike Stobe / National Hockey League / GettyThe pick: Brad Marchand (No. 71, 2006)

After looking at each NHL team's biggest busts, theScore's hockey editors are examining the league's best draft steals. With some exceptions in extreme circumstances, the players included must have made significant contributions to the organization that drafted them. Today, we're focusing on the Pacific Division, excluding the Vegas Golden Knights due to their lack of draft history.Central | Metropolitan | AtlanticAnaheim Ducks Dave Sandford / Getty Images Sport / GettyThe pick: Corey Perry (No. 28, 2003)

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Although the return of professional sports may be looming, Toronto mayor John Tory is cautioning that his city likely won't be hosting any games in the near future."I would just say to people, don't hold your hopes out that you're going to see professional sports played in Toronto, even in front of an empty stadium, before sometime into the fall," Tory said on Sportsnet's "Writers Bloc" podcast.The mayor said he's spoken recently to Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro, and the Toronto Maple Leafs organization about the possibility of pro sports returning to the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The NHL is considering potentially using Toronto as a hub city to host multiple teams in order to finish the rest of the season. Tory added that while he's spoken to the Maple Leafs about the matter, talks haven't gone into great detail."They described to us about how that would work with teams staying in hotels and going back and forth in busses and all of this, and we've really not heard much more about it," Tory said. "Suffice it to say, in respect of a lot of things, we are not contemplating any situation in which there would be large crowd scenes."Tory added that even if teams were to play in front of empty arenas, it wouldn't necessarily remove the risk of the virus spreading. Focusing on hockey, he mentioned factors such as team size, players sitting next to each other on the bench, the physical nature of the sport, and having to test everyone involved.Still, Tory remains optimistic about the return of sports to Toronto. He added that the decision isn't ultimately his, and said that one will come with the help of guidelines from local medical authorities."In Toronto, in stadiums, even without spectators, there's probably a way to work it out - subject to all those questions that I asked earlier about contact between players, size of teams, arrangements on the bench," Tory added. "As time goes on, if you were saying, 'OK, in September, is there a chance we could have some of that,' I would not say no."Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Former Edmonton Oilers forward Ales Hemsky has retired from pro hockey after 15 seasons, the team announced Friday.Hemsky played 11 seasons with the Oilers from 2002-2014 and ranks eighth in franchise history with 477 points recorded in 652 games. He posted a career-high 77 points during the 2005-06 campaign and added six goals and 17 points in 24 playoff games during the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final that spring.The Czech winger is also responsible for scoring one of the most memorable regular-season goals in NHL history when he took advantage of Dallas Stars forward Patrik Stefan's infamous empty-net blunder in 2007.After leaving Edmonton, Hemsky spent half of a season with the Ottawa Senators and three with the Dallas Stars before playing his final seven games as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 2017-18.He finishes his NHL career with 174 goals and 572 points in 845 games.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Not all records are made equal. Some records have been set so high, or so long ago that they will never be touched. How much do you know about some of these unbreakable records? Take our quiz below to find out.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman and Colorado Avalanche forward J.T. Compher are teaming up to run the NHLPA Open featuring Fortnite, a charity tournament set to feature 60-plus NHLPA members facing off in the video game, the players' association announced Friday.The tournament will take place May 18, and it will be streamed over three hours on ESPN's esports Twitch channel. Contestants will compete in trios, with the winners claiming a $200,000 prize to be donated to the charities of their choice."Players across the league are passionate Fortnite players. While we cannot compete on the ice right now, it is important to the guys that we give back in a meaningful way," Compher said. "We are excited to showcase our competitive skills online to an ever-growing audience, and I can’t wait to watch our event unfold.""When J.T. approached me about creating the NHLPA Open featuring Fortnite, I was on board right away because I knew teammates and friends around the league who would be thrilled to be a part of this," Hyman added.Compher will participate with Avalanche teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Nieto, while Hyman will serve as the color commentator for the event. Other notable players on board include Sebastian Aho, Thomas Chabot, Johnny Gaudreau, William Karlsson, Clayton Keller, Travis Konecny, Mitch Marner, Bryan Rust, and Alex Tuch.Fortnite, the free-to-play battle royale-style game, generated an estimated $1.8 billion in revenue last year.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Through 71 games of their 2019-20 schedule, the Edmonton Oilers were on track to erase back-to-back seasons of futility and qualify for the playoffs before everything came to a halt.Superstar forward Leon Draisaitl says the coronavirus-induced stoppage couldn't have come at a worse time for his club's momentum."It’s definitely bad timing, no question," Draisaitl told Sportsnet's Tim & Sid on Thursday. "More so for our team, I think, other than maybe the last game we were in a good run and we were on a really good way to clinch a playoff spot.""We felt good about it, we felt good about our game, and then it was obviously terrible timing," he added. "But, again, I think we all agree that the health of people and the health of the world is just more important at this moment, so I think that the right decisions were made at that point."The NHL was shut down on March 12 with Edmonton owning a 37-25-9 record, good enough for second in the Pacific Division at 83 points. The Oilers had earned a 93.3% chance of qualifying for the postseason with 11 games remaining, according to Money Puck.On top of management and coaching changes, Draisaitl has played a massive role in the Oilers' turnaround this season. The 24-year-old is the front-runner to win the Hart Trophy, and he holds a considerable lead in the Art Ross race too with 110 points.Edmonton has made the playoffs once during the Draisaitl-Connor McDavid era, a run that ended in Game 7 of the second round in 2016-17 versus the Anaheim Ducks.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Dave Andrews had it all mapped out five years ago.After two decades presiding over the American Hockey League, he would smoothly transition into retirement, moving with his wife of 40 years, Marleen, from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia, where he grew up. Andrews even managed to sell the couple's beloved Springfield-area home to an acquaintance, allowing them to avoid real estate agent fees."It was a great plan," he said, "except it didn't work."It was obvious Andrews - whose career has been defined by executed plans - was smiling over the phone as he recounted the events of early 2015. The gigantic headache that was the creation of the AHL's Pacific Division wasn't moving along fast enough, which meant Andrews didn't feel comfortable stepping down from his highly influential post.So, the couple recalibrated and found a house to rent. Andrews has renewed one-year contracts with the league ever since, contemplating each spring if he's ready to retire, finally.That time has arrived. June 30 will be his last official day on the job as the AHL's longtime president and CEO.Mind you, neither transitioning into retirement nor attempting again to move to Digby, Nova Scotia, will be easy during a global pandemic.Over the past two months, Andrews, 71, has been staring down the stiffest test of his working life. On Monday, the AHL canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season because of COVID-19. The Calder Cup won't be handed out for the first time in the league's 84-year history."I've been involved in some pretty difficult challenges over the years," Andrews said. "But I would say this is the most troubling because you just don't know where it's going."Strategic thinking is really about being very proactive and very well prepared for what we anticipate as future challenges. I think that has been one of my strengths. That is also why today's situation is so difficult - so many uncertainties."Andrews speaks at a press conference HandoutThe decision to cancel the season wasn't Andrews' call. He deferred to government and public health officials, developing a strong feeling in mid-March that the AHL would not finish the season. Andrews and his successor as league president, former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager and outgoing Edmonton Oilers executive Scott Howson, have turned their attention to blue-skying the 2020-21 campaign."We have to be very flexible and understand there may be teams who can play before the rest," Andrews said of what may be varying crowd-restriction policies in the AHL's 31 markets. "We need to be flexible enough to allow that to happen in some format. Once everybody can play - or most of everybody can play - we get into our regular season."Andrews, the architect of a sustainable, profitable AHL, will stay on as chairman of the board for three years and continue to advise Howson through this unprecedented period. Pandemic or not, it didn't make sense for the board to let Andrews go, no strings attached. He was the perfect man for the job and the job was perfect for him.In fact, the AHL's rise is thanks to Andrews' leadership.––––––––––Nobody who knows Andrews personally would describe him as a heavy-handed leader. He's too calculated, too rational, too prudent, too bookish.But Andrews does possess a unique brand of toughness, the type befitting a mild-mannered professional sports executive with little patience for nonsense."He doesn't suffer fools gladly," is how longtime associate Mark Chipman puts it.Back in 2001, Chipman and five other owners joined the AHL after disbanding from the International Hockey League. It didn't take long for one of the new guys - "He shall remain nameless," Chipman says, the disgust fresh to this day - to find out the hard way who was in charge during the group's first board meeting."He said something like, 'Well, this isn't how we did it in the IHL.' Dave, quickly and abruptly, said, 'Well, this isn't the IHL,'" recalled Chipman, executive chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose."Dave could have been even more forceful, but it was definitely message received," Chipman continued. "So, on Day 1, we knew who was running the league, and I was thankful, frankly, that this guy got tuned because he conducted himself that way all the time. The other five of us kind of smiled at each other. It was good to feel like we were part of something strong."Andrews' matter-of-fact response was emblematic of the AHL's mindset in the early 2000s. His ambitions as AHL president started to come into focus. The long-term plan - first imagined in 1994 when he took over for Hall of Famer Jack Butterfield - aimed to vault the AHL into its own tier amid North America's bloated minor-league hockey landscape.First, Andrews limited the number of veteran players eligible to dress for a given game in an effort to reposition the AHL as a development league. Then, with an eye on eventually having a one-to-one affiliation relationship with the NHL, he increased the franchise count through rounds of expansion, including the watershed IHL merger.Andrews presents the Calder Cup HandoutAll of this upheaval occurred at a time when animosity between the AHL and IHL was boiling over. Some AHL executives would rather have watched the IHL disappear into thin air than welcome its strongest owners into the fold. However, Andrews and Chipman saw an opportunity and slyly concocted an enticing merger agreement."When we got it done, the deal we put together was really attractive to our owners," Andrews said. "It was an expansion, so the teams that came in were paying a ($1-million) expansion fee, which provided relief for teams that were going to have to jump into all of this air travel to get to places like Salt Lake City and Winnipeg. We were essentially a bus league, right? This was something that would have been troubling for our teams to deal with. It took some work, but the final deal was really a win-win."Andrews doesn't play chess, though he arguably knows his way around pro hockey's chessboard better than anyone. The master mediator has been a step or two ahead of his constituents for the bulk of two decades. He says he tries his best to ensure every party involved in an AHL business deal leaves the negotiation table satisfied.The creation of the Pacific Division might be Andrews' finest work. It took more than two years of negotiations and lost sleep to relocate five clubs and change the ownership of another. The end product isn't perfect, with the Pacific's seven squads - five in California, plus one each in Colorado and Arizona - playing eight fewer regular-season games a year than the rest of the AHL. Yet, most NHL teams have never been so close to their prospects, a real boon in a salary-cap era of endless call-ups and demotions."That could have been a real trainwreck, if those teams had decided to form their own west coast league," said Rick Pych, the former governor of the San Antonio Rampage.But Andrews was persistent and uninterested in cutting side deals, Pych said."At the end of the day, he's always been driven by what's best for the league collectively," he added.Andrews has encountered a revolving door of obstacles over a 26-year run, including managing more than 230 changes in ownership, affiliation, and location. The modern AHL has at least one franchise in 15 states - 16 as of next season, when the Vegas Golden Knights relocate the Rampage to nearby Henderson, Nevada - and three provinces. Its footprint stretches across the continent, from Laval, Quebec, to San Diego."He's had this ability to anticipate, to see above the tree line," Chipman said."When those (affiliation) relationships sour - and when they do, they can sour in a hurry - then you've got to be able to move quickly and find a fix," Chipman continued. "He's always been able to do that without the hockey world going, 'Oh my god, what happened here? Why did this relationship end? Why is this team moving here?' He always seems to be ahead of it. You go to a board meeting and the problem would be solved before you even got there."––––––––––Compared to the buttoned-up major leagues, minor pro sports affords its commissioners and presidents greater access to players, and vice versa. It's closer to a grassroots organization, and the wall between the players' union and the league is usually thinner. A commissioner or president can choose to ignore or take advantage of this dynamic.Based on Mike McKenna's experiences, Andrews took advantage. Despite a 34-year age gap, the two would meet for lunch occasionally during McKenna's career as a journeyman goalie and engaged in some friendly competition at a corporate league event."He's a mean tennis player," reports McKenna, who for a decade was a member of the executive committee of the Professional Hockey Players' Association (PHPA).Andrews attended the PHPA's annual meeting each June in Orlando, where he would sit in a room filled with player reps from across the league and field complaints and concerns. He would then take the most reasonable grumbles directly to the AHL's board of governors. This pragmatic approach garnered Andrews respect inside locker rooms."Players who had never been to the annual meeting, who had never met Dave, would have a certain opinion of the league," said McKenna, who dressed for AHL teams in 13 different locations. "The moment they showed up to the meeting and heard everything from him firsthand, they suddenly had a very different perception of how the league was run."Andrews at an NHL game in San Jose in 2015. Don Smith / Getty ImagesAndrews was a minor-league goalie himself, albeit under different circumstances. In the early 1970s - sandwiched between three years of netminding and schooling at Dalhousie University and one year at the University of British Columbia - the 5-foot-7 Andrews took his talents to the Netherlands."I had a friend who was playing in Europe," Andrews said. "He said, 'You know, you're not going to play in the NHL,' and I said, 'Yeah, I know that.' 'Well, go to Europe. You'll have a great time and you'll make a little bit of money.' So I went for one year, one year became two, two became three, and three became four."Upon his return to Canada, Andrews padded his resume with an assortment of roles, including the hockey development coordinator for the province of British Columbia, the head coach for the WHL's Victoria Cougars, and a consultant for Sport Canada. His big break arrived in the late 1980s. Glen Sather, then the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, wanted Andrews to run the club's AHL team."I had a government job, I had three kids, I had tenure. It was easy to just keep doing it, but (Marleen) said, 'You know what, life's an adventure. You should do it.' Back then, the Oilers were the Oilers, right? They were in the middle of the five Cups," Andrews said.That gig as the Cape Breton Oilers' GM led him to the AHL's top job seven years later.The AHL has doubled in size under Andrews' watch. Palm Springs, California, will play host to the league's 32nd franchise, with the team also serving as the 20th AHL affiliate owned by its parent club when it begins play in 2021 as the affiliate for the NHL's expansion team in Seattle. Meanwhile, annual league revenues have jumped from around $25 million in the early 1990s to around $160 million in the late 2010s. Franchises valued at roughly $1 million 10 years ago are worth closer to $10 million.The AHL promotes collaboration to keep its franchises pulling on the same end of the rope. For example, the league developed an internal analytics program that allows for a business executive from, say, the Grand Rapids Griffins to share best practices on how to retain sponsors with a colleague in another front office, like the Stockton Heat's. This program has been so successful the AHL licenses it out to the Canadian Hockey League."The American Hockey League, from where it was when he took over to where it is today, as a business, has progressed enormously," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Andrews' main point of contact, said. "His legacy will be as an innovator."On the ice, the AHL has been a natural testing ground. Not every rule and safety change has made its way to NHL games, but there's a long list of graduations, such as the trapezoid, hybrid icing, mandatory visors, the puck-over-glass penalty, both four-on-four and three-on-three overtime, and awarding a point for an overtime or shootout loss."Our relationship with them has been so important to us," Andrews said of the NHL. "As long as it didn't jeopardize the competitive integrity of our league, why not?"Nearly 90% of NHLers pass through the AHL. Managers, coaches, officials, and business-side employees from the minor league reach the NHL at high rates, too. Andrews is particularly proud of the league's all-around professionalism."He took the American Hockey League to a place where, honestly, I would have never thought," PHPA executive director Larry Landon, Andrews' bargaining adversary for 26 years, said. "He strategized, he was forward-thinking. He set out to make the AHL the best-run league outside the NHL, and did it."Andrews has spent a total of 33 years in a high-profile AHL role, or close to half of his life."There's no question," he said, "a lot of my identity is tied to this."––––––––––There is no doubt Andrews will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.His immense impact on the sport can be best viewed through the three aforementioned landscape-changing milestones: transforming the AHL into the top NHL development league, absorbing the IHL clubs, and creating the Pacific Division. He's a well-respected leader who's always had a plan in motion.Andrews with the late Johnny Bower. HandoutMcKenna lauds Andrews' ability to find common ground between owners and players, leading to a decent living for those below the NHL, a luxury some other sports can't claim. Landon salutes his lack of ego and adaptability. Chipman believes Winnipeg wouldn't have Jets 2.0 if not for Andrews' open mind 20 years ago. Pych - who in his career dealt with leaders from a variety of sports leagues, like the G League and WNBA - counts Andrews as the best of the bunch.The post-pandemic calendar for Andrews and his wife sounds idyllic: Nova Scotia for half of the year, Arizona or Florida for the rest; sailing, racquetball, quality time with the couple's eight grandkids. That's all while keeping one foot in the hockey world as AHL chairman, as well as serving as the chair of both the Hockey Canada Foundation and the Order of Hockey Canada.Andrews learned five years ago that retiring from a dream job isn't an easy task. So, in a strange way, he's been prepared for an unusual end to his tenure. There will be no last handshakes at AHL headquarters, no send-off party, no farewell tour during the Calder Cup playoffs, no final walk to the exit door."I'll be turning a switch off rather than tapering into the exit," Andrews said, smiling over the phone once again. "It's going to be odd."John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writerCopyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

"If you look good, you play good." - Deion SanderstheScore is counting down the 100 best uniforms in sports history, with a new post every weekday until May 15.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51

"If you look good, you play good." - Deion SanderstheScore is counting down the 100 best uniforms in sports history, with a new post every weekday until May 15.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51

"If you look good, you play good." - Deion SanderstheScore is counting down the 100 best uniforms in sports history, with a new post every weekday until May 15.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51

The world of sports is getting another No. 66 with the last name Lemieux.The NFL's New York Giants revealed their rookie jersey numbers on Thursday, and offensive lineman Shane Lemieux will don No. 66.

The 2010s could have looked much different for the Chicago Blackhawks had the club gone through with a supposed deal that would have sent perennial star defenseman Duncan Keith to the Philadelphia Flyers.Although he called it a "grapevine thing," former Blackhawks general manager Mike Smith, who drafted Keith with the 54th overall selection in 2002, said his successor, Bob Pulford, came "this close" to trading the then-prospect to the Flyers, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. The deal apparently would've seen Keith and three other players going to Philadelphia in exchange for forwards Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte.The only reason the deal didn't come to fruition, according to Smith, was because of the 2004-05 lockout, as the trade market was frozen for that entire season. Keith starred for the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League during that campaign and went on to make the Blackhawks' roster the following training camp.Amonte and Roenick were each 34 years old at the time and were nearing the end of their careers. By the time Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 2010 - the team's first of three last decade - both veterans were out of the league.In addition to those championships, Keith owns a pair of Norris Trophies and also earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for his dominant postseason in 2015. The 6-foot-1 blue-liner ranks second in franchise history in games played (1,138), seventh in assists (509), and 10th in points (610).Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Max Domi isn't focused on his next contract at the moment, but he knows that he wants to stay in Montreal."All I can really tell you is that I want to be with Montreal. I want to be here," Domi said Thursday, according to NHL.com's Dave Stubbs. "I love playing in Montreal, I love my teammates, I love this team, and I love the city. My hope is to play here for a long time. That's never changed since the time I played my first game here. That's that."Domi is in his second season with the Canadiens after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes in 2018. In his first season with the Canadiens, he led the team in scoring with a career-high 28 goals and 72 points.The 25-year-old is set to be a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. However, he says a new contract isn't a priority right now."I understand there comes a point where your contract is up, negotiations and all that stuff," Domi said. "As of right now, there's just (so) much other stuff in the world going on that's just so much more important than my contract. ..."I couldn't care less about an NHL contract right now. I want to make sure we're doing everything we can to stay safe and get ready for whenever things come back to somewhat normal. I'm making sure I'm staying in contact with my family and my family is staying safe. That's what means most to me right now."Domi recorded 17 goals and 44 points in 71 games before the season was paused March 12.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After looking at each NHL team's biggest busts, theScore's hockey editors are examining the league's best draft steals. With some exceptions in extreme circumstances, the players included must have made significant contributions to the organization that drafted them. Today, we're focusing on the Metropolitan Division.Central Division | Pacific | Atlantic (Saturday)Carolina Hurricanes Steve Babineau / National Hockey League / GettyThe pick: Sebastian Aho (No. 35, 2015)

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Dominik Simon will be out six-to-seven months after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder on April 29, general manager Jim Rutherford announced Thursday.Simon, 25, suffered the injury Feb. 29 during a game against the San Jose Sharks and missed the team's five contests before the season was suspended March 12.The 5-foot-11 pivot has recorded seven goals and 22 points while logging 14:24 of average ice time through 64 games. He's set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2019-20 season.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner believes safety is paramount if the NHL hopes to successfully organize a return plan for the 2019-20 season."My thought on this is: OK, I'm all down for starting everything back up, let's rock," Marner said on a Twitch stream Wednesday. "But what if someone gets sick and dies? What happens?"It's awful to think about, but still."Eight players - five with the Ottawa Senators and three with the Colorado Avalanche - have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus since the NHL went on pause March 12 due to the pandemic. Players and staff are still under self-quarantine, but the league hopes to initiate the second phase of protocols by late May.Plenty of proposals for a return are on the table, but ESPN's Greg Wyshynski reported earlier this week that the NHL is leaning toward jumping straight into the playoffs rather than playing out what remains of the regular season.When the league came to a halt, Marner's Maple Leafs occupied third place in the Atlantic Division. The 23-year-old was in the midst of another productive campaign, registering 67 points in 59 games.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed forward Adam Brooks to a two-year, two-way contract extension worth $725,000 at the NHL level, the team announced Thursday.Brooks, 24, made his NHL debut this season, appearing in seven games for the Maple Leafs while registering three assists. At the AHL level, Brooks managed 20 points in 29 games in 2019-20.Toronto drafted the Winnipeg native in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Wendel Clark knows the Maple Leafs left everything on the ice 27 years ago later this month when Toronto famously fell to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 of the 1993 conference finals. One variable, though, was completely uncontrollable."We got Gretzky'd that night," Clark said in this week's episode of Puck Pursuit, theScore's hockey podcast, referring to the legend's memorable four-point performance in a 5-4 Kings road victory.Clark scored twice - he was always clutch in Game 7s - but it wasn't enough."We played as hard as we could, as well as we could," Clark said. "We maybe didn't get a bounce here or there the odd time, but that's sports. That's why you play the game. As long as you leave it all on the ice and did what you could, there is no second-guessing anything." Tony Bock / Getty ImagesIf the Leafs had defeated the Kings to advance to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, the spotlight would have surely landed on superstar center Doug Gilmour. The man nicknamed "Killer" was in his prime. A tenacious workhorse with plenty of skill, Gilmour would have given the Montreal Canadiens, the eventual Cup champions, a fit every game."Really, from 1992 to 1994, I don't know if there was a better player in the NHL than Dougie," Clark said. "For what he did for our team and how he played in every single situation there was - offensively, defensively, penalty kill, and power play. … He could play at the (high) skill level, or he could play in the trenches as a little guy. And with his personality, we just jumped on the bandwagon when he was doing his thing."Clark, 53, who retired from the NHL in 2000 with 564 points in 793 games, is self-isolating with his family. Regarding COVID-19, the former Leafs captain shared a message for hockey fans."The smarter we are now, the better off we'll be down the road," he said. "Let's not cut corners now."To listen to Clark discuss his storied career, how the current Leafs squad can tap into toughness without acquiring enforcers, and much more, click below to hear the entire Puck Pursuit episode.Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.While many of the NHL's general managers seem opposed to holding the draft in June if the season remains paused, a representative for some of the prospects said they'd like it to happen sooner rather than later."Surprisingly, they want to get it over with," player agent Andy Scott told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "They’d rather have the draft in June and not have all of the anxiety the entire summer of where they’re going to go in the draft. They’d rather ... understand what team owns their rights, and be able to have some communication with that team throughout the summer."Scott works for Octagon Hockey, which is representing several draft-eligible players, including top-ranked European skater Tim Stuetzle. He also works with current players such as Leon Draisaitl, Patrik Laine, Kaapo Kakko, and Rasmus Ristolainen, according to PuckPedia.The player rep believes time is of the essence when it comes to figuring out when the draft is going to be held."I think they need to make a decision soon on whether there’s going to be a draft in June because guys want to know," he said. "There needs to be at least a month of lead time to make sure everybody understands their marching orders."The 2020 draft was originally scheduled for late June in Montreal before it was postponed in late March, less than two weeks after the league paused the season. In April, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league was considering conducting a virtual version of the draft in June before the season potentially resumes.Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman publicly questioned the idea, Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said most of their contemporaries don't want it, and outspoken player agent Allan Walsh echoed the latter when he said none of the GMs he'd spoken to were in favor of an early draft.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban still believes he's one of the league's top defenders despite his poor performance during the 2019-20 season."In my opinion, I'm still one of the top defensemen in the league," Subban said when asked how important winning a second Norris Trophy is to him in an interview with Men's Journal. "In the biggest games, in the biggest moments, I feel that I'm one of the players that teams would love to have on their team and that they can rely on, and that's always been my game."Subban was in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his career before the NHL's current hiatus. He posted seven goals and 18 points in 68 games while averaging a career-low 22:07 of ice time in his debut campaign with the Devils.The 31-year-old previously spent three seasons with the Nashville Predators and seven with the Montreal Canadiens. He played integral roles on both teams, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals with Nashville in 2017 and winning the Norris Trophy as a Canadien in 2013."The past two years, definitely, have been different experiences," Subban added. "When you're on a team like Nashville that's got one Presidents' Cup Trophy, Stanley Cup Finals, conference finals, winning divisions, and then going to (New Jersey, which) hasn't made the playoffs or has made it one year and out - and is a younger team - it's just a different situation."So, it's an adjustment, but I definitely believe that there's better things to come for me in my career, whether it's winning a Norris Trophy or Stanley Cup."Subban has two seasons remaining on his eight-year, $72-million contract.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.B.C. Premier John Horgan shed some light on his conversation with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after the two talked late Tuesday about the possibility of the province hosting NHL games if this season resumes."We had a wide-ranging discussion about our desire in British Columbia to support the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks - who have been initiating these discussions with government - to see if we could put in place a framework where the NHL could use Vancouver as a hub city in part of the many plans that are floating around out there ... about the Pacific Division having a hub," Horgan told the assembled media, including CBC, at a news conference Wednesday.The premier said the league knows the province has handled the coronavirus pandemic relatively well, but also acknowledged hosting games wouldn't come without further challenges."Mr. Bettman and his team recognize that British Columbia has had a pretty positive response to COVID-19 in terms of flattening the curve," he added. "Mr. Bettman also knows that this is a hockey-crazy province (that) would be happy to have hockey take place here so that we could see current games on our televisions, but there are obstacles, obviously, in the way."(A) 14-day isolation period would be required effective today," Horgan continued. "Where we are in two weeks, three weeks, (or) four weeks is up to (provincial health officer) Dr. (Bonnie) Henry and how she feels we're doing at managing the curve as we restart the economy. But Mr. Bettman was well aware of that, as are the NHL Players Association representatives, who are focused on making sure the players are safe, and of course the NHL's concerned about players and the communities they operate in."The premier also said he's listened to ideas from others, including a scenario in which B.C. would host all of the NHL games upon returning, citing the many WHL facilities across the province that could help facilitate that.Also present on Tuesday's call was NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and Lisa Beare, B.C.'s Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, who is also responsible for sport in the province.The Canucks were reportedly one of multiple teams that submitted bids to the NHL to serve as a hub for games. Earlier this month, Dr. Henry said there are ways B.C. could do so safely.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Following a trade request in December, Canucks forward Sven Baertschi knows the decision to move him ultimately rests with Vancouver with one season left on his contract."I don't want to be back in the minors ... It’s up to them (Canucks management) really what they’re going to do next. That’s their job and that’s what they do. I’m just going to work my ass off going forward making sure I’m ready to go to whatever camp I’m going to," Baertschi said, according to TSN 1040's Jeff Paterson."I have no plans of going back to Switzerland or to Europe - I think personally I can play on any team in the National Hockey League. I can do it. I can just focus on myself and making sure I’m ready for another year. I think I’ve proved to everybody that was worried before. I'm 100% healthy, my game's going well and I'm preparing for whatever is next."The 27-year-old was placed on waivers at the beginning of the 2019-20 season after failing to crack the Canucks' opening roster. He appeared in six NHL games this season, tallying two assists. He skated in 43 contests with the AHL's Utica Comets, recording 13 goals and 46 points.After spending nearly a full season in the minors, he believes he's ready to be a full-time NHL player again."There were some moments in the AHL when I thought there are some darn good players - like really, really skilled players. Sometimes I looked at it as the best players aren’t always in the NHL," Baertschi said. "There are definitely some players in the AHL that don’t belong there. For me, it was more confirmation that I don’t belong there in many ways. I don’t want to be rude or look down on people, but the way I look at the game is a lot different than a lot of other guys."Baertschi has appeared in 291 career games with the Canucks and Calgary Flames, recording 66 goals and 138 points.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Sidney Crosby does not want to see the NHL resort to anything overly unorthodox when it comes to the postseason."The safety of players is No. 1, and if you're able to establish that, then you want to keep the integrity of what the playoffs have been for a long, long time," he told TSN's Darren Dreger.Asked to choose between an NCAA-style tournament or the reported 24-team format, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain said he'd prefer the latter - as long as the postseason remains a grueling grind."It's difficult to win the Stanley Cup and you want to win it the right way, and that's four (best-of-seven) series," he said. "That's how we know it. With a time like this, we're all open to ideas and formats and things like that, but you hope that we can keep that."The NHL was apparently willing in April to condense the playoffs in order to finish the regular season, but the league is now reportedly focusing on proceeding to the postseason immediately if hockey is able to return. Crosby said in March he'd be fine going straight into playoff action.Crosby's Penguins were on pace to meet the state-rival Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round of a 16-team postseason when the league suspended the campaign.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford isn't crazy about the NHL's proposed expanded playoff bracket, but he'll give it a chance if it provides a chance to play again."It's not ideal, but we're not in ideal times right now," Clifford said Wednesday, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "But a Stanley Cup Playoffs that includes 20-24 teams is better than no playoffs at all. It's going to be different, not what we're used to, but different can be good."The NHL has proposed both expanding the playoff field and maintaining the traditional 16-team format. It was reported Monday that the league is leaning toward jumping straight into the postseason rather than playing out the remainder of the regular season."There's a real appetite among the players and coaching staffs to get back playing," Clifford said. "We're waiting, we're staying ready, we're all training, (everyone) is putting the work in. We're staying patient."Clifford was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the season along with goaltender Jack Campbell. He appeared in 16 games with the Maple Leafs before the season went on pause March 12, registering one goal and two assists. The 29-year-old winger won two Stanley Cups during his tenure with the Kings.The Maple Leafs sat third in the Atlantic Division with 81 points through 70 games, three points clear of the Florida Panthers. They were slated for a first-round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.