It appears the New York Islanders won't be returning to Nassau Coliseum for the 2020-21 season after all.

Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, whose Onexim Sports and Entertainment operates the arena under a lease from Nassau county, is planning to shut down the venue while it searches for investors to carry on operations and pick up the debt that remains on the building, according to sources of Bloomberg's Patrick Clark.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in February that the Islanders would be returning to the Coliseum for all home games during the 2020-21 campaign before moving into their new building at Belmont Park the following season.

The Coliseum closed in 2015 for renovations and former Islanders owner Charles Wang moved the franchise's home games to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In 2017, Cuomo arranged for the club to share home contests between the two locations.

Originally opened in 1972, the Islanders have called the Coliseum home for the majority of 40 years and captured each of their four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s in the building.

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The Buffalo Sabres relieved Jason Botterill of his duties as general manager and replaced him with senior vice president of business administration Kevyn Adams, the team announced Tuesday.

"This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the general manager of the Sabres," owners Terry and Kim Pegula said in a statement.

"This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change."

Pegula said in May that Botterill would be back with the club as general manager for the 2020-21 campaign.

Botterill was named general manager in May 2017. The Sabres missed the playoffs and finished 25th or lower in league standings during all three years of his tenure.

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Dallas Stars defenseman Roman Polak will play with a team in his native Czech Republic for the 2020-21 season and has little interest in returning to the NHL if the 2019-20 campaign is able to resume this summer.

"I will not lie, it is not for me," Polak, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, said, according to Pavel Barta of Czech outlet sport.cz. "The idea that I should jump on the ice after three weeks of training and start playing live. This is unimaginable at my age."

The 34-year-old rearguard said he'd return to the NHL this summer if the league's return plan comes to fruition, but guaranteed he'll be back in the Czech Republic next season.

"I am already determined to stay at home," Polak said. "If I really had to finish the NHL, I would go. But I will do everything to make it unnecessary. I will definitely be here next season."

Polak also opened up about his experience in Dallas, and admitted that wanting to return home has been something he's contemplated all year.

"Sometimes, I was sitting on the bench asking myself: 'What am I doing here? I don't want to be here,'" Polak told sport.cz, per The Athletic's Sean Shapiro.

"When Stephen Johns started playing again after two-year break caused by concussions, they gave him big ice time. And told me and Andrej Sekera, that we will be rotating. I play one game, he play another game ... it was difficult to find motivation, because there doesn't matter how well or badly I play; I won't play next game in any case."

Polak recorded four assists while logging 16:40 of average ice time per game over 41 contests with the Stars this season, his 14th in the NHL.

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Connor Brown believes he could have done more during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Ottawa Senators forward says he's benefitted from his hometown club trading him last summer.

"The fact that it was my hometown team too, and the one team I've been a part of and never been traded whether it comes to junior or anything, so it was like a shock, an emotional shock to get moved," Brown said on the "Connor Carrick Podcast" earlier this week. "I felt like I was part of like the core there, so it was a shock and it was hard, but also I knew that for me and my career it was the best thing for me."

He added that “the guys and the culture that we have worked towards in Ottawa" have increased his happiness.

Brown played a big role in helping to accelerate the Leafs' rebuild during his 2016-17 rookie season. The Toronto native potted 20 goals while contributing to the team's first run to the postseason since 2013.

By 2018-19, Brown's third full campaign with the club, the Leafs had improved their wing depth, with Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson emerging as top-nine players. Brown saw his ice time decrease for a third consecutive season, and he finished with just eight goals while playing the majority of the campaign on the fourth line.

"80 percent of the game is between the ears once you’re playing. It’s just how you feel about yourself that night - wanting the puck," he said. "And it was just something that I definitely lost a little bit."

Brown says the opportunity to play a top-six role in Ottawa helped restore his confidence. The 26-year-old logged 20-plus minutes of ice time per game, racking up a career-best 43 points in 71 contests during his first year with the Senators in 2019-20.

"I don’t think I was playing bad or hurting the team or anything when I was in Toronto, but I definitely wasn’t maximizing my potential," he added. "So, it’s been nice to find that in myself and find that in my game. And I think a big part of it is just the belief in me that was given.”

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New York Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello believes the team's new arena at Belmont Park will give fans a feeling of nostalgia.

"I think what you're going to see is a Coliseum atmosphere in a new facility," Lamoriello told season-ticket holders Friday, according to Newsday.com's Andrew Gross.

"This is state of the art," he continued. "I think that when the fans see the results, they're going to be ecstatic."

In 2015, former Islanders owner Charles Wang moved the franchise's home games from Nassau Coliseum, which is known as one of the most raucous buildings in the league, to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In 2017, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo arranged for the club to share home contests between the two buildings.

Lamoriello claims the arena at Belmont Park will replicate many of the features that made Nassau Coliseum so special for Islanders fans.

"I think the major point of it is it's going to be a hockey facility," Lamoriello added. "They've paid 100% attention to the atmosphere in the building, the way the seats are located for the hockey experience and tight to the arena. It's not like some of these new arenas. When you talk about old arenas, you talk about Boston Garden. But you go to a new arena, everybody says it doesn't have the same atmosphere."

The Islanders were given the go-ahead to resume construction of the arena at Belmont Park in May after pausing work at the site in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

New York will play all of its home contests during the 2020-21 season at the Coliseum before moving to Belmont Park the following campaign.

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Edmonton Oilers farmhand Cooper Marody released a heartfelt song Friday in memory of his former teammate Colby Cave, who passed away April 11 at the age of 25 after suffering a brain bleed.

All proceeds from the song will go toward the Colby Cave Memorial Fund.

Marody wrote "Agape" as a tribute and gift to Cave's widow, Emily.

"I want to thank Cooper Marody for this song, and specifically for using words that meant so much to Colby and I," Emily said, per the Oilers. "'Agape' was a word that Colby and I said to each other because we felt that 'I Love You' never fully described the amount of love we had for each other.

"'Agape' is the highest form of love," she continued. "Selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love; it persists no matter the circumstance. I'm so grateful I got to experience this love with my best friend. Getting to love Colb is the best thing I will ever do and continue to do until we see each other again."

"Agape" is available for download on all music platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify.

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The Ottawa Sun issued a correction and apology to Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk after becoming aware of errors in a pair of columns by Rick Gibbons the publication ran last week, per Sportsnet's Wayne Scanlan.

One of the two articles is from June 5 entitled "Split between Senators and foundation boils down to money" and the other is from June 8 with the headline "Melnyk's tussle with Sens foundation could be a messy one."

"We sincerely apologize and regret any misunderstanding caused by the errors contained in the two columns," the Sun wrote.

"The Sun would like to clarify that it did not intend to suggest that Eugene Melnyk or the Ottawa Senators had exercised improper influence over the Ottawa Senators foundation or that they had attempted to misdirect, misappropriate, or misapply charitable funds of the foundation or The Organ Project."

According to the Sun, the June 5 article incorrectly inflated the amount that the team charged the Senators Foundation for rent. The original article cited that Melnyk charged "hundreds of thousands of dollars annually" when in fact that number was $78,750 in 2019.

The column also noted that charging charitable foundations for rent is not a common practice among sports franchises, but the Senators said they are "required by law to charge rent because of the arms-length structure of the foundation," also noting that the rent charged was below market.

The June 8 column referred to a Canada Revenue Agency filing that indicated Melnyk's private foundation, The Organ Project, donated just $5,000 to the Kidney Foundation in 2018. However, The Organ Project notified the Sun that its main goal wasn't to distribute money to other charities, but instead "to spend money it raised on activities aimed at promoting organ awareness and registration."

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The commissioners of the five professional sports leagues operating in Canada have banded together to impel the federal government to allow single-game sports betting in the country, according to the Windsor Star's Dave Waddell.

On June 8, the NHL's Gary Bettman, NBA's Adam Silver, MLB's Rob Manfred, CFL's Randy Ambrose, and MLS's Don Garber signed and sent a joint statement to several key members of government.

"The National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the Canadian Football League support an amendment to Canada’s federal laws that would authorize provinces to offer betting on single sporting events," the statement said.

"Sports betting gives fans another exciting way to engage with the sports they love. Because a legal and regulated sports betting market in Canada would be beneficial to sports and their fans, we urge prompt action to make this a reality."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and Attorney General of Canada Dave Lametti each received a copy of the statement. Other prominent members of government, including Ontario premier Doug Ford, were also sent a copy.

"Sports betting already happens illegally in Canada; creating a legal framework would shift consumers from illicit, unregulated markets to a legal and safe marketplace," the statement continued. "Regulating single-game betting would allow for strong consumer protections as well as safeguards to further protect the integrity of sports."

Professional sports leagues have taken a financial hit amid the coronavirus pandemic after all five operating in Canada were forced to halt play. The leagues have lost large sums on ticket sales from canceled games, and it's unclear how long it will be until spectators are permitted to once again attend venues.

MP Kevin Waugh (Saskatoon-Grasswood), alongside Windsor West NDP MP Brian Masse, reintroduced a bill after Masse's private bill died at the cabinet level last year.

"The government can do this with an order of council like they did with the new gun control laws a month ago," Waugh said. "We'll be putting pressure on the government to get this done before Parliament finishes June 17."

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Kim Pegula will remain president of the Buffalo Sabres with a continued focus on making the small-market franchise economically sustainable, despite facing criticism that the team has been mismanaged under her direction, according to The Associated Press.

Pegula acknowledges the process of building a competitive club is taking longer than expected.

"Sometimes I kick myself in, saying, 'How come I didn't see this sooner?' That's on me," Pegula said regarding the franchise's restructuring that began last year.

"But that's what I'm trying to do now, trying to really remold and reshape the organization into what Terry (Pegula) and I envision," she said. "One thing I've been preaching is sustainability, about how to ensure that we are here in this Buffalo area for a long time."

The Sabres, who were forced to place a cap on season-ticket sales the year the Pegulas purchased the team, have recently struggled to sell out games. With $1.9 million in operating revenue in 2018-19, Buffalo ranked 24th among NHL teams, according to Forbes.

Poor economic conditions due to the coronavirus pandemic, paired with the organization's NHL-worst nine-year playoff drought, has led to uncertainty about the team's ability to draw fans next season.

"There's tough decisions that are going to have to be made, but anyone at the top has to make them," she said. "I think we're in a better place, just not done yet."

Since the Pegulas purchased the team in 2011, the Sabres are on their sixth coach and third general manager. The club has finished sixth or lower in the Atlantic Division in seven straight seasons.

The Pegulas were most recently criticized for laying off 21 employees while looking to cut costs. Several high-profile executives were among the cuts, including longtime ticket sales vice president John Sinclair.

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly says his club is hungry to silence the critics with the league inching closer to a return.

"We're very motivated, we have a goal in mind," Rielly said following the NHL's announcement Thursday that permitted teams to begin training camp July 10, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

"We have an opportunity here in the next month and after training camp gets going. We want to be as prepared as possible because there's a chance to come back and prove people wrong."

The Leafs entered the 2019-20 campaign with Stanley Cup aspirations, but a 9-10-4 start to the season resulted in the firing of head coach Mike Babcock in November and put the club's status as a title contender in question.

Toronto replaced him with rookie bench boss Sheldon Keefe, who coached the team to a 25-15-5 record. Despite the overall improvement, the Leafs still struggled to find consistency.

League play was suspended March 12, and Rielly called the hiatus a chance for the team to "take a look in the mirror."

"Going into this break, we didn't feel all that good about where we were at and I think we've all had some time to think about that and we have a chance to change the narrative a little bit and we have to take that opportunity," he said, per Shilton.

The Leafs are slated to play the Columbus Blue Jackets in a best-of-five qualifying series as part of the league's 24-team playoff format. With clubs working hard to prepare for a return, Rielly understands the tall task at hand.

"They're a good team, they play hard, have their certain style and they're well-coached," he said. "That play-in round will be extremely competitive, with a lot of teams that understand what's at stake and don't want to be gone after a couple of games."

Toronto will likely welcome forward Ilya Mikheyev - who's been out with a wrist injury since December - back into the lineup, along with defenseman Jake Muzzin.

Several Leafs players, including captain John Tavares, Mikehyev, and Muzzin returned to the ice this week as part of Phase 2 of the NHL's return plan.

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