NHL

10:33 AM ET The NHL is ready to move to Phase 2 of its plan to return to play, and it will soon allow players to train in small groups at team facilities, according to a memo circulated to teams over the weekend. The NHL didn’t put an exact date on when Phase 2 will

5:43 PM ET Associated Press Canada’s NHL teams have offered season-ticket holders rebate or refund options in acknowledgment that no more 2019-20 regular-season games will be played in front of fans in their respective buildings. In a four-day span May 13-16, all seven teams contacted their season-ticket bases with options and, in some cases, deadlines

10:33 PM ET The National Hockey League Players’ Association executive board voted to approve a 24-team, conference-based playoff format for a potential restart of the 2019-20 NHL season this summer. “The Executive Board of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) has authorized further negotiations with the NHL on a 24-team return to play format

7:40 AM ET For a goalie who had just faced 102 shots on goal, Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils was looking curiously rested in his postgame interview. In fact, he hadn’t even broken a sweat during the game. “There are games where you just have to give a lot of credit to your

7:00 AM ET With the 2019-20 NHL season on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic (here’s the latest update on where things stand), we’ve started the NHL Viewers Club, highlighting some of the most rewatchable games from this season — such as when EBUG David Ayres beat the Maple Leafs — along with some cool

7:00 AM ET Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet made news during the NHL’s season pause for a painful reason. “This is when you get cocky rollerblading,” Tocchet tweeted last month, along with a couple of nasty images of scrapes on his body. Since then, he has rediscovered biking. “I’ve explored Arizona a little bit more

9:00 AM ET There’s this perception about the hockey media: that we’re all bitterly jealous of the players we cover, because we secretly want their careers. Nothing could be further from the truth: Most of us are bitterly jealous of the executives who sign those players, because secretly we want their careers. We create trades.

7:30 AM ET Yaroslav Askarov is special. Any goaltender who can be comfortably projected to go in the top half of the first round anymore is. But 2020 NHL draft prospect Askarov stands out even among those few for so many reasons. The Omsk, Russia native has been described by some as the best goalie

10:08 PM ET The NHL and the NHLPA are discussing a 24-team, conference-based playoff format for a potential restart to the 2019-20 season this summer, sources confirmed to ESPN. The proposed format was first reported by Sportsnet. The NHL season has been on pause since March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The playoffs would

5:05 PM ET Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet says he’s confident his team will be among the finalists for pending free-agent star Taylor Hall. “I’m not saying he is going to sign here, but I definitely think we’re a team he’s very interested in staying with,” Tocchet told the ESPN On Ice podcast this week.

7:30 AM ET The NHL draft by its very nature is all about comparison. How one player compares to another ultimately decides a team’s draft board. And in the 2020 NHL draft, the gap between the top two prospects and the rest of the class is fairly substantial. Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield project favorably

5:18 PM ET Associated Press Veteran New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider said Monday that a growing number of players are concerned the NHL will announce a “drop-dead” deadline for returning to play as the coronavirus pandemic lingers with summer coming up fast. The 34-year-old Schneider said some Devils are apprehensive because the NHL has

4:54 PM ET The NHL has narrowed its list of potential venues to eight or nine sites that can accommodate “a dozen or so teams in one location” if the league resumes play this summer after pausing because of the coronavirus pandemic, commissioner Gary Bettman said on Monday. According to sources, roughly 15 markets submitted

9:08 AM ET It has been 67 days since the NHL hit the pause button on the 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. As the cancellations and postponements around the world of sports continue, there have also been continuous nuggets of new information being provided regarding the potential resumption of the season, the draft,

7:00 AM ET Brendan Gallagher is not a cop. He just plays one on TikTok. The Montreal Canadiens winger has lip-synced a scene from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” in which actor Andy Samberg’s character, detective Jake Peralta, sings The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way.” He has cos-played as both Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert-as-Dwight Schrute

7:00 AM ET Now that Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks defenseman (and fan favorite) Kevin Bieksa has retired, he is getting started on a career in media, which has included working for Sportsnet in Canada and — while in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic — doing TikTok videos with his daughter. In an appearance on

7:03 PM ET Montreal Canadiens center Max Domi isn’t sure when he’ll play again and he isn’t sure for whom he’ll play next season. But amid a global pandemic, he says none of that matters much at the moment. Domi, 25, is a restricted free agent after this season after his two-year, $6.3 million contract

4:27 PM ET Forward Dominik Simon is recovering from shoulder surgery and will be sidelined for six to seven months, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced Thursday. He had a torn labrum repaired in his left shoulder during the surgery that took place on April 29, the team said. Simon, 25, suffered the injury against the San