The Czech Republic's ice hockey federation says it has fined a club after its fans aimed racist chants toward Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, who is playing in the top Czech league during the lockout.
March 2012 - Hockey Wiretap
Although there was communication between NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly over the weekend, the stalemate between the sides continues, making it likely that the Winter Classic will be canceled, according to an ESPN.com report.
Daly said Monday that the two sides had no plans to meet but that the league is ready and willing to meet.
The KHL says two games between Dynamo Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg that had been set for Brooklyn's new Barclays Center have been moved back to Russia, according to an ESPN.com report on Friday.
On the day the NHL wiped out the remainder of the regular-season games in November, Ryan Suter is now wondering if his contract was negotiated in good faith.
"From what's going on right now? Yes. Definitely," Suter told ESPN The Magazine. "I haven't done any interviews. I haven't said anything, but yeah, it's disappointing that the owners, they sign all these guys and some guys were signed within the last week before the CBA was up. Now, they're trying to go back on their word. It's frustrating, disappointing. It doesn't seem like that's the way you operate a relationship or business."
The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through November 30 because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL.
A total of 326 regular-season games - 26.5 percent of the season were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Nov. 30.
The NHL will withdraw its latest proposal to the NHLPA once Thursday's deadline to have a new deal in place comes and goes.
There were no talks held again Thursday and none have been held since last week's NHL proposal and counter-proposals from the NHLPA.
"When we delivered the proposal last Tuesday, we told them it would be on the table through today," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.com.
The Blue Jackets today announced the hiring of longtime NHL executive, Hall of Fame broadcaster and former goaltender John Davidson as the club’s president of hockey operations. In a newly created role, Davidson will oversee all hockey operations activities for the organization and serve as an alternate governor to the NHL’s Board of Governors. He signed a multi-year contract with the club.
“This is a very exciting day for the Columbus Blue Jackets and our fans as John Davidson is a proven winner who brings a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge and leadership to our organization,” said Blue Jackets Majority Owner John P. McConnell. “We believe he is the perfect person to lead our hockey operations efforts.”
With labor negotiations stalled, there does not appear to be any hope of preserving a full 82-game NHL season by Thursday's deadline.
"Unfortunately, it looks like an 82-game season is not going to be a reality," commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Bettman painted a bleak picture on the state of negotiations with players and said the union "has chosen not to engage on our proposal."
The New York Islanders will announce their intent to move to Brooklyn in 2015 to play at the Barclays Center.
The Islanders are locked into their lease at Nassau Coliseum until 2015.
Bruce Ratner had said earlier that he was "trying like hell" to lure the Islanders to Brooklyn from Long Island.
The NHL and NHLPA can't agree to meet, according to a late report by ESPN.com.
The NHLPA says it has invited the league back to the table as long as there are no strings attached.
After the union's executive board call Tuesday, the NHLPA "informed the NHL we are willing to meet tomorrow or any other date, without preconditions, to try to reach an agreement," spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said via email. "We hope to hear from them soon."
But the NHL's response was swift.
"They have made it clear to us that they have very little interest in the proposal we made last Tuesday," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday night. "They also told us they have no intention of making a new proposal. I'm not sure what we would be meeting about."