A top-level hockey tournament in Europe is set to experiment with some new rules for the upcoming season.
The Champions Hockey League will implement three changes involving penalties for its 2023-24 season:
A team that causes a minor penalty will remain shorthanded even if the opposing team scores a goal.
A minor penalty will be served even if a goal is scored while a delayed penalty is pending.
If the shorthanded team scores, the minor penalty against will end.
The new rules, unveiled by the IIHF on Wednesday, are meant to "change the game, add an extra later of excitement, but not undermine credibility."
"All three changes are non-intrusive and very easy for everyone to understand. They have the right balance of innovation, excitement, and credibility," Champions Hockey League CEO Martin Baumann said.
"The CHL wants to be a first mover. I'm very satisfied with the outcome and look forward to seeing how the new on-ice rules change the game."
The Champions Hockey League is made up of 24 teams across 11 leagues. The new campaign begins Thursday.
The WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes hired former Calgary Flames bench boss Bill Peters as their new head coach, the team announced Wednesday.
Peters resigned as head coach of the Flames in November 2019 during an investigation into his misconduct, including directing racial slurs at Akim Aliu during their time with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs.
Aliu, who is Black, said Peters "dropped the N-bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn't like my choice of music." Aliu played under Peters with the Chicago Blackhawks' AHL affiliate in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
The former NHLer expanded on the incident in an interview with TSN.
"He walked in before a morning pregame skate and said, 'Hey Akim, I'm sick of you playing that n----- shit,'" Aliu said. "He said, 'I'm sick of hearing this n-----s f-----g other n-----s in the ass stuff.'
"He then walked out like nothing ever happened," he continued. "You could hear a pin drop in the room. Everything went dead silent. I just sat down in my stall, didn't say a word."
Two players who were in the room at the time, Simon Pepin and Peter MacArthur, corroborated Aliu's account.
Peters acknowledged the incident and said he "meant no disrespect" for his "offensive language" shortly after Aliu came forward. However, Aliu condemned Peters' statement as "misleading, insincere, and concerning."
Prior to Lethbridge's hiring announcement Wednesday, Aliu said a current NHL head coach reached out to him last week to try and broker an apology on Peters' behalf. Aliu tweeted his response to the unknown third party, adding that he was "curious" about the timing of the attempt.
A current NHL Head Coach reached out to me last week to try and broker an apology on behalf of Bill Peters. So there is no ambiguity, this was my response verbatim. pic.twitter.com/i468vQ4erp
"Truth be told, if I never said anything (Peters) would still be coaching in the NHL," Aliu said. "I am all about second chances, but only if they are sincere."
Peters said during a press conference Wednesday he wanted to educate himself before making a genuine apology and that he hopes to contact Aliu at some point, according to TSN's Salim Nadim Valji.
"I apologize ... I now recognize the impact of my words. ... I regret my choice of words … I failed to create a safe space for Akim," Peters told the media.
A Lethbridge Hurricanes press release stated that Peters completed an anti-racism training and coaching certification program over the past year and the WHL is "satisfied" he is ready to return to coaching.
Per the team, Peters will continue to undergo equity training and anti-racism coaching.
Prior to his stint with the Flames, Peters served as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes from 2014-18. In the wake of Aliu's allegations, former Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan said that Peters kicked him in the back "pretty hard" during a game and punched players on the bench. Current Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour, an assistant on Peters' staff at the time, verified Jordan's account of what happened.
Peters was hired as head coach of the KHL's Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in 2020, but he was fired after a year and a half.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed head coach Sheldon Keefe to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.
Keefe was entering the final year of his existing deal. New general manager Brad Treliving reportedly said over the summer that he expected to discuss an extension with Toronto's bench boss this offseason.
Despite matching first names and sharing similar generational hype before ever playing in the NHL, Connor Bedard isn't buying into the comparisons to Connor McDavid.
The Chicago Blackhawks phenom has been training with the reigning Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner recently but wants to temper expectations from those who think Bedard can challenge the world's best player with his rookie season around the corner.
"You never want to be like, 'Oh, I can't do this.' I don't really think that mindset is great," Bedard said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "But I'm not him. I'm my own person and my own player. I think he's kind of the pinnacle right now. And you're like, 'This guy is the best, or one of the best, (so) how can I get closer to him?'"
McDavid authored one of the best individual seasons in recent memory in 2022-23 with 153 points, which led the league by 25 and locked up his fifth scoring title and third MVP in eight NHL campaigns.
Bedard dominated junior this past season with 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 regular-season games as a member of the WHL's Regina Pats. The 18-year-old also became the most prolific scorer in Canadian world junior history en route to capturing his second gold medal at the tournament in January.
While it's easy to see the similarities in Bedard's and McDavid's offensive production in junior, this year's No. 1 overall pick doesn't have his heart set on matching the Edmonton Oilers captain in the pros just yet.
"I think that's such a great thing in sport. You're always competing against guys. For me to get to spend some time with him on the ice and just try to compete with him ... he's obviously unbelievable. You can barely talk about his stats because they're so ridiculous. But for me, it's just trying to be my own player. Be the best I can be," Bedard added.
Bedard does have a chance to accomplish something McDavid never did in his rookie year, though: win the Calder Trophy. A shoulder injury limited McDavid to 45 games in his debut season, and Bedard is the odds-on favorite entering 2023-24.
Bedard and McDavid are set to clash for the first time on Dec. 12 in Edmonton.
He added: "When you play in a Canadian market you can't have a quiet year. There's a lot of media and passionate fans evaluating everyone. You can't hide from it. You've just got to embrace it and stick with it, and believe in guys in management."
The Flames missed the playoffs this past spring, one year after winning the Pacific Division with 111 points. Failure to meet expectations prompted the club to part ways with general manager Brad Treliving and head coach Darryl Sutter.
On top of changes to the staff, the direction of Calgary's on-ice future was in question as core players Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Mikael Backlund - all unrestricted free agents next summer - were common subjects in trade rumors with their desire to play in Alberta reportedly waning. The club traded last season's leading scorer Tyler Toffoli after he said he wasn't interested in an extension.
"We all know what happened last year, and I get all the speculation with people," Andersson said about his teammates on the trade block.
"A year left on their deals, with Connie (GM Craig Conroy) and (coach Ryan) Huska coming in, a new coaching staff - I get it, there are a lot of questions, and rightfully so. Lots of people question what kind of team we can be."
The Flames are no strangers to offseason drama. In 2022, the club traded Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers and saw Johnny Gaudreau walk in free agency. Andersson believes the departures of the two leaders held Calgary back last season.
"There were a few new players, and the dynamic of the team changed quite a bit when Matthew and Johnny left - everyone kept looking around the room, wondering, 'who's gonna be the guy?' instead of just grabbing it."
The Flames collected 93 points in 2022-23 and missed the Western Conference playoff cutline by two points. Their effort included a league-leading 17 overtime losses.
Matt and Blake discuss the season ahead for Andrei Kuzmenko coming off his sensational 39-goal campaign in his first NHL season; the problems at Rogers Arena with the videoboard installation postponing Monday's Drake concert; and a theory on how Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton turned up at Francesco Aquilini's birthday party.
NHL player agent Dan Milstein joins the show to tell us about Kuzmenko's worldwide/whirlwind summer, how the Canucks were not on board to start, how he knew Kuzmenko needed to be in better shape for his second NHL season, and about the trainer who put the player through his paces. He also updates us on the Ilya Mikheyev's recovery from knee surgery, his expectations for Danila Klimovich this season ("NHL games") and mentorship amongst his clients (which include Hall-of-Famer Pavel Datsyuk).
Jeff Paterson joins to talk about the task ahead for the Canucks, both early in the season to avoid another wretched start, and for the entirety of the season to keep Elias Pettersson believing in the organization. Jeff also speaks on Kuzmenko's second season and attempting to reach 40 goals, as well as where Mikheyev was missed last year.
The Professional Women's Hockey League has arrived.
The newly formed PWHL officially unveiled its name along with key details regarding the inaugural six teams and the player selection process in a video conference call on Tuesday.
Six teams based in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto will comprise the first PWHL campaign. Arenas and team names were not announced.
A free agent period begins Sept. 1, where each team can sign up to three players before Sept. 10. A 15-round draft will take place Sept. 18 in Toronto, after which point undrafted players can sign as free agents or tryout for teams.
Training camps commence the week of Nov. 15 ahead of an anticipated regular-season start in Jan. 2024.
Brian Burke was officially introduced as the PWHL Player Association's executive director. Most recently the Pittsburgh Penguins' president, Burke was an advisor for the defunct Canadian Women's Hockey League.
The Mark Walter Group purchased the Premier Hockey Federation in June to unify the North American women's hockey landscape with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association.
Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, and Toronto each had active teams operating in the PHF last season. The Metropolitan Riveters were based in New Jersey and previously played out of Brooklyn from 2015-17. Ottawa had a CWHL team from 2007-10.
Buffalo and Connecticut - two original PHF cities dating back to 2015 - didn't receive a franchise.