NHL players won't be headed to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but their fate has yet to be decided for the 2022 Games in Beijing.
In April, the NHL announced it would not participate in the 2018 Games after unsuccessful negotiations with the IIHF and International Olympic Committee.
Still, it's no secret the league is intrigued by the Chinese market. Earlier this season, the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks faced off in a pair of exhibition contests in Beijing and Shanghai as part of the NHL China Games.
Attending the 2022 Olympics in Beijing would help the NHL build on these international efforts.
"Each Olympics is different. There's a different value proposition," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "These particular Olympics that are coming up, ultimately the negatives outweighed the positives for our owners.
"I don't know what Beijing will hold. The logistical issues that we have with South Korea will be the same with China, but maybe there are some other opportunities in China that aren't in South Korea. We will see."
The NHL previously participated in the past five Winter Olympics, beginning in Nagano, Japan in 1998.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - The difference in Friday's historic outdoor affair was motivation.
U.S. players acknowledged drawing inspiration from the previous night's stunning loss to Slovakia as they rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit against Canada and prevailed 4-3 in a shootout at the World Junior Hockey Championship in the open air at New Era Field.
“(We were) really motivated," Team USA captain Joey Anderson said postgame Friday. "We needed to make sure we came out and put a good foot forward, and showed some resilience, and we did that. We stuck together as a group. That was the biggest part, just making sure we didn’t turn on each other when we got down, and we stuck with it.”
Brady Tkachuk tied the game in the third, and said afterward that the defending gold medalists' surprising letdown one night prior was one they wanted to avoid duplicating.
“That definitely fueled the fire for our team, and you never want that to happen again, and our team bounced back well.”
American forward Kieffer Bellows, who notched a power-play goal in the second period against Canada, made it clear the impetus for Friday's comeback came the moment the final buzzer sounded Thursday.
“Guys were motivated the second that game ended (against Slovakia)," he said after the victory over Canada. "We knew we wanted to bounce back (Friday) and get a win, and I’m very proud of this group of guys. It’s hard to (describe). They’re really special.”
Bellows insisted the U.S. players didn't panic when they trailed by two goals in the final regulation frame.
“That (says) a lot about our group, how close we are as a family. There was never a doubt in whole entire (dressing) room, on the bench, never at any point.”
U.S. head coach Bob Motzko praised his team for coming together in the third period, overtime, and the shootout after their effort in the previous contest.
“That team showed a lot of character today to bounce back from what happened (Thursday night)," he said. "I gave Slovakia a ton of credit (after that game) … but that wasn’t a good showing for us and we needed to rebound. No matter what we did tonight, we played hard.”
Motzko also didn't hesitate when asked if the quick turnaround after the shocking loss was a good thing.
“It was a great thing," he quipped postgame Friday.
On the Canadian side, head coach Dominique Ducharme said they'd use the defeat in a similar way when they complete their own back-to-back with a game against Denmark.
“(If) we win (Saturday), we finish first, so we’ll be in a good position to go into the (medal) round," he said postgame. "We’ll learn from that game (versus the United States), I can promise you that.”
Canada's captain, Dillon Dube, echoed that sentiment.
“Overall, it was tough losing, but it’s just one game of the (preliminary round), and we can build off this," he said. "It’ll make us stronger for when it really counts.”
The U.S. next plays Finland on Sunday, indoors at Buffalo's KeyBank Center, in what will be both teams' final preliminary-round contest. The Americans (1-1-0-1) sit second in Group A with five points through three games, while Canada (2-0-1-0) leads the group with seven points after three contests.
The 20-year-old recorded a hat trick in the AHL on Friday, bringing his goal total to 18 through 29 games, good for a share of second in the minor league.
Drafted 46th overall in 2015, Sprong's offensive talents are unquestioned. He was sent to the AHL to begin the season to hone his all-around game.
The Penguins, however, currently find themselves outside the playoff picture after Friday's 2-1 loss to Carolina, and rank 21st with a goals per game average of 2.77.
Sprong appeared in 18 games for the Penguins in 2015, scoring two goals.
With his team sitting a dozen points outside of the playoff picture, the Senators forward realizes his time in Ottawa could be coming to a close.
"Let's say it it this way: I will play hockey anywhere," Brassard told George Richards of The Columbus Dispatch. "I'll play anywhere. I wouldn't refuse to go anywhere in the world or anywhere in the East."
Should Brassard be on the move, he'll have some say in his destination, as his contract carries an eight-team no-trade list, per CapFriendly. Still, it doesn't appear as if that stipulation will be much of an impediment.
The Senators are expected to be sellers ahead of the Feb. 26 trade deadline, with general manager Pierre Dorion reportedly willing to consider all options, save for defenseman Erik Karlsson and winger Mark Stone.
Brassard has been a key contributor since arriving in Ottawa, including an 11-point output in last year's run to the Conference Finals. He's scored 24 points in 36 games this season.
Connor McDavid failed to reach his ultimate goal of carrying the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but that didn't stop him from making 2017 his own.
The Oilers phenom has been nothing short of sensational over the last 12 months, taking his game to the next level and firmly entrenching himself in the conversation for best player on the planet.
While that debate rages on, the discussion surrounding which hockey player had the best calendar year is much more one-sided.
Team success, stellar offensive numbers, and a mantel full of hardware made 2017 one to remember for No. 97.
Here's a look at why Connor McDavid is our NHL Person of the Year:
Offensive juggernaut
No one has more points than McDavid over the last calendar year, as the Oilers' captain has combined clutch scoring with deft puck distribution to give opposing goalies fits.
Check out his regular-season numbers over the last 365 days:
Games (Season)
Goals
Assists
Points
+/-
GWG
44 (2016-17)
16
41
57
+18
3
37 (2017-18)
14
31
45
+11
3
McDavid was the only player to hit triple digits in points last season, and was on the ice for more goals than any other player (131). He also led the league in points per game at an impressive 1.22 clip. As one of the fastest skaters in the league, with a career Corsi For percentage north of 55, expect those numbers to continue to increase.
Simply put, the kid did it all in 2017. And the scary thing is, he hasn't hit his prime.
Oilers' revival
In McDavid's first full season in the NHL, he took the Oilers from pretenders to contenders seemingly overnight.
The Oilers qualified for the playoffs for the first time in a decade on the back of his unreal regular-season performance. Edmonton's captain also added nine points in 13 postseason games.
McDavid's skill and impact were felt up and down the Oilers' lineup. He made all of his teammates better with his all-world offensive talent and stellar vision. Nowhere was this more evident than with Patrick Maroon, who scored more goals in his one year playing with McDavid (27) than he did in the previous three without him (21).
McDavid has also brought the Battle of Alberta back to life, reviving an Edmonton team whose mediocrity over the past decade diminished the competitiveness of one of the game's best rivalries. With his leadership, the Oilers won five of six against the Flames last season.
Edmonton might not be the team we thought it was going to be this season, and it's far too soon to predict the team is ready to return to the glory years of the '80s. But with McDavid firmly at the helm, the Oilers are once again a force to be reckoned with.
Summer to remember
The spring may not have gone his way, but No. 97's summer sure was sweet.
McDavid kicked off his stellar summertime by cleaning house at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas in June, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top point-getter, the Ted Lindsay Award for MVP as voted by the players, and the Hart Trophy for league MVP.
He also signed a whopping eight-year, $100-million contract to remain in Edmonton for the foreseeable future.
However, it was his unselfish decision to take less money on a shorter term that's perhaps his biggest contribution in 2017 to the future success of the team. McDavid's choice to take less loot allowed the club more financial flexibility, helping general manager Peter Chiarelli sign another franchise cornerstone in Leon Draisaitl to a long-term deal of his own.
Face of the game
While gracing the cover of the latest installment of EA Sports' NHL video-game series literally puts his face on the game, McDavid is becoming so much more, as the now-20-year-old talisman is quickly becoming the face of the sport.
Highlights, commercials, social media - you name it. McDavid has dominated the popular streams of the hockey consciousness over the past 12 months, embedding himself in the game's fabric.
He's the complete package - both on and off the ice - fans can't stop talking about, and he's the keystone player the league will build around. The last generation of hockey fanatics grew up rocking No. 99. But this generation will be wearing No. 97, instead.
The uber-fast style seen in rinks around the world is being ushered in on the backs of players like McDavid, which is perhaps the biggest indication of his impact on hockey.
That alone makes him worthy of the title of NHL Person of the Year.
"Something I dreamed of, never thought it would come true," Glass said of the win postgame.
Glass was a third-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2004. He spent four seasons with the club's AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, but never earned a call-up.
He moved onto the KHL and spent the next seven years there before returning to the AHL last season.
Glass signed with the Blackhawks in February and played with the Rockford IceHogs. This week, Chicago placed starter Corey Crawford on injured reserve, and as they say, the rest is history.
Winners of four straight and seven of their last eight games, the Carolina Hurricanes seem to have found an answer between the pipes - but it's come from an unexpected source.
Cam Ward - who burst onto the scene as a rookie - winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe as a 21-year-old, is playing some of the best hockey his career at the ripe age of 33. After defeating the Penguins 2-1 on Friday, he's now 10-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .917 save percentage. The latter would stand to be the second-best of his career.
The strange part about Ward's play this year is that it's come when Carolina least expected it.
Ever since his magical run as a rookie, Ward has been Carolina's primary goaltender, but for the most part, he's been pretty mediocre as far as starting netminders are concerned.
In an effort to upgrade their play in the crease, the Hurricanes went out this offseason and acquired Scott Darling - widely considered the best backup in the league over the past few seasons.
Darling is in the first season of a four-year contract that comes with an annual cap hit of $4.15 million per year, but so far he's been a major disappointment, owning an .896 save percentage and a 2.87 GAA in 24 games.
Darling was supposed to come in and be the guy on a team expected to take a big leap, but Ward has seemingly stolen his job, starting six of the team's last eight games, winning all six.
Ward was expected to ride out the last year of his contract as the backup to Darling, then probably find work elsewhere come the offseason.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
This scenario has put the Hurricanes in an interesting predicament. The club is ready to win now, as they sit just one point out of a playoff spot. Riding the hot goalie in Ward is the obvious answer in the meantime, given that they're looking to make the postseason for just the second time since winning it all in 2005-06.
But what happens if Ward keeps up his play all year long and Darling doesn't recover from his early-season struggles? Does Ward come back on another one-year contract and they ride out this tandem for another season?
What if Ward comes back to earth, but Darling still fails to find his game? Carolina would need to upgrade in goal once again, but Darling's cap hit makes that difficult to do, considering many of the team's young players are due for raises.
The Hurricanes need Darling to find his game before his confidence is gone for good, but that's going to be tough to do if Ward refuses to give up the crease.
Carolina allows the fewest shots per game, and the fourth-fewest scoring chances per game (at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick), so they don't need Darling to come in and stand on his head night in and night out, they just need him to be serviceable.
In a perfect world, Darling and Ward both play well simultaneously, giving the Hurricanes a nice 1-2 punch this season, before Darling fully takes on the reigns next year. That's a problem head coach Bill Peters would love to have, but unfortunately, that just isn't the case right now.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Mikael Granlund had the second three-goal game of his career and Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves in his first start since Dec. 12 to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Friday night.
Matt Dumba had a goal and assist for Minnesota, which has won two in a row coming out of the league's holiday break. Dumba scored the go-ahead goal, his seventh of the season, midway through the second period in the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home series between the two teams.
Pekka Rinne made 34 saves, but Nashville lost for the fourth time in five games. P.K. Subban and Kyle Turris scored for the Predators.
Dubnyk made his return after missing six games with a lower-body injury. He wasn't tested much early as Nashville went the first 7:57 without a shot.
The Wild had the first 11 shots and Granlund scored 7:34 into the game to give Minnesota the early lead. Turris made a quick play to save a loose puck behind Rinne. But the errant pass went out to Dumba, who fed Granlund for a one-timer.
Rinne made several big saves to keep the game close before Subban tied the game with his eighth goal of the year in the first. Granlund added his 10th goal of the season less than a minute later on the power play for his third multi-goal game of the season.
Granlund scored an empty-net goal with 50.3 seconds for the hat trick.
The Wild set a season-high with 18 shots on goal in the first period. The Predators returned the favor with 18 shots in the second and held a 43-38 advantage in the game.
Minnesota (20-15-3) faced a critical stretch after the league's mandated holiday break with three games against divisional opponents. The Wild beat Dallas before the back-to-back against Nashville (22-10-5), which was leading the Central Division heading into Friday.
NOTES: Wild coach Bruce Boudreau left the bench with 5:44 left in the game, bleeding after taking a puck to the head. Assistant coach John Anderson took control for the remainder of the game. ... Zach Parise returned to Minnesota after a one-game conditioning assignment with Iowa of the American Hockey League. Parise has been out all season after undergoing back surgery on Oct. 24. He played 15:26 with one assist and one shot on goal for Iowa. ... Wild F Nino Niederreiter skated on Friday. He missed his third game with a lower-body injury. Boudreau was hopeful Niederreiter could return next week. . Nashville has been outshot 103-52 in the first period over the past seven games. ... Subban has four goals and five assists in his last eight games after going scoreless in seven straight.
UP NEXT
The two teams reunite for their home-and-home series Saturday in Nashville.
