NHL Pacific

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid is not happy with the NHL's decision to reschedule a game against the Calgary Flames directly after a memorial service to late Edmonton teammate Colby Cave on Saturday.

The Oilers fell 5-0 in the Battle of Alberta only hours after a remembrance for Cave, who died in April 2020 at age 25 as a result of a brain bleed.

“I think you’re asking a lot from guys to sit through something like that and remember your teammate and see what they’re going through – their whole family -- and expect to perform that night,” McDavid told reporters. “I’m not sure what the league was really thinking there.”

A number of COVID-19 postponements throughout the North Division have forced the NHL to reconfigure the schedule in order to finish a full, 56-game season on time. 

That meant moving Saturday's game against Calgary to April 10 after originally slating the contest for May 7. The NHL's decision came days after Cave's widow, Emily, announced the Oilers would be participating in the memorial service on the same day. 

Edmonton hosted the service at Rogers Place and live-streamed the memorial on the team website. 

The Oilers then had to head to Calgary for a rivalry game with major implications in the standings.

“Some days are a little bit more than just about hockey,” McDavid said. “Obviously the performance wasn’t there [against Calgary], but today is about Colby and his memorial and celebration of life.”

Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett clearly agreed. 

After the emotional toll Saturday took on the team, the coach announced he was giving players the next two days off. The Oilers are next scheduled to play the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, April 16, at Rogers Arena. 

“There’s times you can tell your team just doesn’t have it and there isn’t enough energy in the group," Tippett said. "And tonight was one of those times."

The NHL announced the Vancouver Canucks will resume team activities Sunday, pending COVID-19 test results Saturday, after an outbreak infected at least 20 players in recent weeks.

The league has rescheduled eight contests over the final month of the season, which will allow the team to complete a full 56-game season as originally planned.

The Canucks will play their first game since March 24 on April 16 against the Edmonton Oilers at 9 p.m. ET.

As a result of the pause in Vancouver's season, the NHL has altered the schedule of 15 games within the league's North Division—comprised of only Canadian teams—in order to make a 56-game schedule feasible.

Per the NHL's statement:

The Canucks' organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, provincial and federal agencies.

The NHL will continue to assess the progression of the regular season before announcing definitive dates for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the newly revised end date for the regular season for the North Division, it is possible that the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the East, Central and West Divisions could open a few days earlier than the North Division.

The regular season is currently slated to conclude May 16.

The top four teams in each division will play each other in the first two rounds of the playoffs to crown a division champion before facing a team from a rival division in the semifinal round to determine which teams advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

That group more than likely will not include the Canucks, who are 16-18-3 (35 points) and eight points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth seed in the North Division.

The NHL is hoping the Vancouver Canucks can resume playing games next week amid a COVID-19 outbreak within the organization. 

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that the league is looking at the end of next week as a potential return date for the Canucks. 

The Canucks announced Wednesday that 21 players and four coaches have tested positive for the coronavirus. The results also showed that a variant strain of COVID-19 was also among the positive tests. 

The Canucks added that an investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health, as well as contact tracing conducted by the team, determined the outbreak began with a single unidentified individual who contracted the virus in a "community setting."

Daly told Kaplan that the NHL is hopeful the Canucks will still be able to play a full 56-game schedule. The 2020-21 regular season is scheduled to end May 8. 

Kaplan noted the Canucks had no new players added to the league's COVID-19 protocol Thursday for the first time since April 1. 

Vancouver hasn't played a game since a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on March 24. The team has had five games postponed, with its next scheduled game set for Monday against the Edmonton Oilers. 

Yet, given Daly's timeline of late next week as a potential return for the Canucks, their first game back could be at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 17. 

The Canucks are in fifth place in the NHL's North Division with a 16-18-3 record and 35 points. 

The outbreak of COVID-19 among the Vancouver Canucks is continuing to spread.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, more than 20 players and coaches have tested positive for the virus, and family members are also contracting it. 

Vancouver has been dealing with issues related to COVID-19 since March 31, when two players and a coach were named to the COVID-19 protocol list, per Jimmy Hascup of USA Today. The team has not played since March 24. 

The Canucks have already had four games postponed, though Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN reported Saturday that the team is "certainly not playing next week." They are currently scheduled to play again on Thursday against the Calgary Flames. 

As of Sunday afternoon, there were 14 players officially on the COVID-19 protocol list, per Hascup: Travis Boyd, Thatcher Demko, Alex Edler, Adam Gaudette, Travis Hamonic, Jayce Hawryluk, Braden Holtby, Bo Horvat, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwan, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers, Antoine Roussel and Brandon Sutter. 

Thomas Drance of The Athletic said Saturday that the increased number of players includes some from the team's taxi squad as well as a "high-risk close contact." 

Dreger reported Saturday on SportsCentre that "many players" were "very ill," adding Sunday that they were suffering from symptoms including vomiting, cramping and dehydration. TSN's Farhan Lalji said Saturday that team medical staff has visited players at home for IV treatments. 

The NHL's North Division—which consists of all seven Canada-based teams—had managed to avoid COVID-19 issues for most of the season. A March 22 game between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers was the first to be postponed in Canada when Montreal had two players moved to the COVID-19 list. Four Canadiens games were postponed as a result. 

COVID-19 cases are rising in British Columbia, where new restrictions are in place that prohibit indoor dining and make masks mandatory in schools. The province previously rolled back restrictions in mid-March, allowing gatherings of up to 10 people in outdoor spaces, according to Gordon Hoekstra of the Vancouver Sun.

News emerged Saturday that 14 Vancouver Canucks players are on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list after seven more were added Saturday, per NHL.com's Mike Battaglino.

The Canucks' season is already paused through Tuesday after two players and a coach landed on the list, but Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported Saturday that the expectation is it will be even longer, noting that 16 players and three coaches are affected.

LeBrun also reported on the league's potential contingency plans in light of the Canucks' extended pause:

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet previously reported who the first 14 players on the list were earlier Saturday:

The NHL initially postponed a March 31 game between the Canucks and Calgary Flames after two Vancouver players and one coach were placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.

The league then followed up with a statement that the Canucks' next three games through April 6 would also be postponed as a result.

Currently, Vancouver's next scheduled game is Friday against Calgary. If they don't play at all next week as LeBrun posited, then the next matchup on the ledger is April 12 against the Edmonton Oilers.

However, the Canucks' season status obviously pales in comparison to the health of the players as the clear majority of the roster finds itself on the COVID-19 protocol list.

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid has avoided a suspension for his hit on Jesperi Kotkaniemi in Wednesday's 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. 

Per the NHL department of player safety, McDavid did receive a $5,000 fine for elbowing Kotkaniemi in the first period. 

The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 16 minutes in the first period.

On the play in question, Kotkaniemi dumped the puck off to Paul Byron near mid-ice. McDavid appeared as if he had time to stop his momentum, but instead, he lifted his elbow up to Kotkaniemi's head and neck region as he delivered the hit. 

McDavid was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing. The fine is the maximum punishment allowed under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement.

Kotkaniemi was able to stay in the game. He played a total of 15 minutes, 53 seconds, and scored Montreal's first goal of the game 18 seconds into the first period. 

McDavid played a season-low 16 minutes, 55 seconds in the loss. 

The Calgary Flames announced head coach Geoff Ward was fired following Thursday night's 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators and replaced by Darryl Sutter, who previously coached the Flames from December 2002 through July 2006.

Ward had compiled a 35-26-5 record since being hired in November 2019. That included an 11-11-2 mark this season, which put the team fifth in the NHL's North division.

The Flames decided to make a change after losing six of their past nine games, including a four-game series with the Senators, who sit at the bottom of the North division, during which Calgary allowed 17 goals.

Frustration started to mount in mid-February, and it was evident in Ward's postgame comments following a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 17.

"It's time to put this thing to bed and take charge and take control of what we can," he told reporters. "We certainly can control the way start, we certainly can control how we pay attention to details, how hard we compete, how much we care. All those things are certainly within our control. It's time for us to start giving a s--t about it."

Ward held his typical postgame media session after Thursday's triumph over the Sens and didn't appear aware the team was about to make a coaching change.

"We've got to get ourselves ready again for another hard hockey game," he said. "We're really not thinking about what's happened in the past; we're thinking about what we need to do to prepare ourselves [for] the next one."

Sutter last served as a head coach for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2016-17 season. He led the Kings to Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014.

He most recently worked as an adviser to the Anaheim Ducks beginning in July 2019 and previously spent time as a head coach for the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks in addition to his stints with the Flames and Kings. His career record stands at 634-467-101-83.

In 2018, Sutter mostly ruled out a return to full-time coaching, but the 62-year-old Alberta native left the door open for a possible return to the Flames.

"I would have listened for sure," Sutter said about the Calgary vacancy before the team hired Bill Peters, who resigned in November 2019 after being accused of using a racial slur and was replaced by Ward.

Sutter's return to the Flames' bench will come Saturday night when they visit Rogers Place to face off with the Edmonton Oilers.

Less than two years after Alex Meruelo's purchase of the Arizona Coyotes was finalized, the franchise is reportedly in a state of disarray off the ice. 

Per The Athletic's Katie Strang, in interviews with more than 50 people associated with the Coyotes, including current and former employees, the organization was accused by multiple people as having a "toxic" work environment under Meruelo. 

"If I was talking to a future employer, I'd say it's been a learning experience,” one employee told Strang. "If I was being frank with you, I'd say it's a s--tshow."

Strang's investigation found that representatives from a law firm met with members of the organization in January to ask about "potential financial irregularities, workplace culture, at least one case of alleged sexual harassment, and other matters."

In a response to Strang's report, the Coyotes issued a statement accusing The Athletic of condoning a "harassment campaign against Mr. Alex Meruelo, the Arizona Coyotes, the Meruelo Group and dozens of current employees and former employees."

One employee told Strang that Meruelo "berated" a senior team employee in a meeting with about 20 other people "for a variety of issues." Per Strang, "outbursts from those at the very top of the organization were not uncommon."

Employees also told Strang they had reported the issues to the NHL "to document what they were experiencing and, in some cases, to seek help."

Strang previously reported in September that the Coyotes "have been late on paying at least a few players their contractually-stipulated signing bonuses on time." She did note at the time the issue had since been resolved, but "it has raised some concerns."

The Coyotes announced last March amid the COVID-19 pandemic they would continue to pay part-time and hourly employees at Gila River Arena and with the team.

The team subsequently announced in April that 50 percent of its staff was being furloughed due to financial concerns caused by the pandemic. 

"We never anticipated that the situation would escalate to the point of shutting down some of our businesses. It doesn't appear that the NHL will resume play in the immediate future, so this decision was necessary," Meruelo said in a statement about the decision. 

In addition to potential financial and workplace issues, Strang noted the Coyotes' use of their first pick in the 2020 NHL draft to select Mitchell Miller led to criticism. 

Miller admitted to bullying a Black, developmentally disabled student four years ago in juvenile court, per an October report from Craig Harris and Jose M. Romero of the Arizona Republic. 

Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, the classmate, told Harris and Romero that Miller also used racist language when referring to him, including calling him "brownie" and the "N-word."

The Coyotes announced on Oct. 29 they had renounced Miller's draft rights. Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez said said the decision was made after they learned about the situation involving Meyers-Crothers.

Meruelo, 56, attempted to purchase the Atlanta Hawks in 2011. It fell through when Atlanta's ownership group and Meruelo mutually agreed to terminate the deal, but Strang reported the NBA "harbored doubts about Meruelo's ability to withstand operating costs and did not receive the financial assurances needed to assuage those concerns."

The NHL finalized Meruelo's purchase of the Coyotes from Andrew Barroway in July 2019. They made the playoffs last season for the first time since the 2011-12 season, but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round. 

The Vegas Golden Knights announced that general manager Kelly McCrimmon would coach the team for Tuesday's game vs. the St. Louis Blues with the coaching staff "self-isolating ... due to COVID-19 protocols."

The Knights added that members of the Henderson Silver Knights' coaching staff—Las Vegas' AHL affiliate—would assist McCrimmon.

The Golden Knights have started the season out 5-1 as they seek to reach the postseason this year for the fourth time in as many years. Since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in their maiden season of 2017-18, the organization has never missed the postseason. 

McCrimmon, 60, has experience as a head coach, holding the position for the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings from in three separate stints (1990-1992, 2004-2011, 2013-2016). He was also the team's sole owner from 2000-2020 and also held the role of general manager for the team. 

He's served as the Golden Knights' general manager since May 2019. He first joined the team in Aug. 2016 as an assistant general manager.

The Golden Knights face the Blues (3-2-1) again on Thursday evening. It's unclear if McCrimmon will have to reprise his role as head coach for that contest as well. 

The NHL has suspended former Arizona Coyotes general manager and president of hockey operations John Chayka through 2021 for conduct detrimental to the league, according to Scott Burnside of The Athletic.

Chayka resigned from the Coyotes in July, just before the NHL's bubble playoffs began, despite having three years remaining on his contract.

"I love our players, coaches, staff and fans and I very much wish I could be with the team in Edmonton. Sadly, the situation created by ownership made that an impossibility," Chakya said in a statement at the time. "That's all I intend to say on this matter for now. A fuller, more detailed explanation may be necessary in the near future."

The Coyotes, who had signed him to an extension in November 2019, were not pleased, releasing a statement of their own:

"John Chayka has quit as the General Manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Arizona Coyotes. The Club is disappointed in his actions and his timing as the Coyotes prepare to enter the NHL's hub city of Edmonton, where the team will begin post-season play for the first time since 2012. Chayka has chosen to quit on a strong and competitive team, a dedicated staff, and the Arizona Coyotes fans, the greatest fans in the NHL."

Burnside reported that "there was plenty of bad blood on both sides and it's believed Chayka was angling for another NHL job at the time of his quitting." With Monday's announcement from the NHL, it would appear the league has taken Arizona's side in the dispute.

As for Chayka's reputation going forward, Burnside noted that he's "considered a bright, forward-thinking executive who's a strong proponent of advanced statistics and the use of analytics in building a team," though he added that Chayka leaving right before the playoffs "will serve as a significant red flag to any NHL team looking to bring him aboard."

The 31-year-old was hired as the team's general manager in 2016 at the age of 26. The Coyotes went 131-147-38 under his watch, making the playoffs just once.

Previously he was the co-founder of an analytics firm, Stathletes Inc.