John Wroblewski was named the head coach of the U.S. national women's hockey team on Tuesday after recent success guiding the men's development program.

Wroblewski's hiring is currently limited to coaching the American women at the world championships in Denmark in August. He replaces Joel Johnson, who is stepping down after one year as part of his commitment to coach the University of St. Thomas women's program.

Wroblewski takes over an aging U.S. team that's in transition after settling for silver medals following losses to Canada at both the Beijing Winter Games in February and the world championships in August.

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington confirmed Tuesday that he threw a water bottle at Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri after Game 3 of their second-round series.

On May 21, Binnington left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury that he suffered after Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen crashed the net seeking a loose puck. The injury ended Binnington's season, as Blues goalie Ville Husso played the rest of the six-game series, which St. Louis lost to the Avalanche.

All eyes will be on the superstar matchup of Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton's Connor McDavid when the NHL's Western Conference finals open on Tuesday.

At least, that's what MacKinnon is hoping for. But it's got nothing to do with besting McDavid.

"Hopefully, that [storyline] gets more viewers and lowers escrow [for players], but other than that I don't care," MacKinnon said Monday. "I'm not really thinking about [McDavid] a whole lot, but obviously I see that stuff. I think he's the best, I've said it. I think he's been the best for a little bit now and it's going to take a full team effort to stop him."

Veteran Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza announced his retirement Sunday after a 19-season NHL career.

The 38-year-old is moving into the Maple Leafs' front office as a special assistant to general manager Kyle Dubas.

Taken second overall by Ottawa in the 2001 draft, Spezza spent his first 11 seasons with the Senators before joining the Dallas Stars in 2014 and Toronto in 2019.

St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube, after originally declining to comment on the matter, said Wednesday that the racist comments and threats directed at Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri are "in no way acceptable."

"I just want to comment on my 'no comment' the other day," Berube said before Game 5 in Denver. "I'm not on social media. I was aware of a threat made to Nazem. Not the racist stuff. In no way is it acceptable by the St. Louis Blues or anybody else for him to have to go through that."

Calgary now faces elimination in Thursday's Game 5 against the Oilers. The Flames have never overcome a 3-1 series hole in franchise history.

"I thought we showed a lot of resolve or resilience," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "It was a winnable game for us for sure tonight, and we damn near did it. I like how we played. I know we're in a hole. But we hung around tonight. I thought we played a good game. It was close."

Still, the Flames might need a few more bounces to see this series extended. While Calgary's mood was upbeat after Tuesday's loss, it won't shrink the mountain ahead.

Veteran center Joe Thornton, who just completed his 24th season in the NHL and first with the Florida Panthers, said Wednesday that he has not decided whether to retire or continue playing.

"My wife was kind of asking me last night," Thornton said. "And really, I have no plans. It's kind of exciting that way. I came here to win a championship, and we fell short of that. But I think the Florida Panthers are going to be good for a long time. It's exciting around here now."

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall says he wants to find a way to have Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang stay with the club for the rest of their careers.

"In a perfect world, [Malkin] retires a Penguin," Hextall said Monday. "And I think Tanger's the same."

In a perfect world, anyway.

The NHL in the salary-cap era is hardly that.

The Colorado Avalanche are working with St. Louis law enforcement regarding threats made towards center Nazem Kadri after their Game 3 victory against the Blues Saturday night.

The threats followed a series-ending injury to Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington after a collision involving Kadri.

If the Hurricanes were looking to send a message after their Game 3 loss, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant cautioned that they might not like the response.

"I wasn't happy with the bulls--- at the end of the game that they initiated," Gallant said after the Rangers' 3-1 win on Sunday that cut Carolina's lead to 2-1 in their series. "We didn't do that when the games were close. They put their guys out. That's fine. If they want to play like that, we've got the guys that can match them."

As the buzzer sounded to end Game 3, Carolina forward Max Domi gave Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren a cross-check in New York's zone. Lindgren responded with a slash on Domi. That brought all the players on the ice together, with Lindgren wrestling Domi to the ice in a headlock.