NHL Central

Veteran right wing Patrick Kane is aware that he might be a candidate to be traded by the struggling Chicago Blackhawks at this year's deadline. But the 33-year-old is holding out hope that he gets to remain with the team that he's spent his entire career with.

"I think there's always business decisions," Kane said Wednesday. "In the game of hockey, there's not many guys that play their whole career with one team. So it would be a privilege and an honor to do that. But I guess we'll see how it all plays out."

Selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Blackhawks in 2007, Kane has one year left on his contract after signing an eight-year extension in 2014. He is third in franchise history with 1,141 points (420 goals, 721 assists) behind legends Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull. Kane helped lead Chicago to three Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

The Blackhawks are 19-27-8 and seventh in the Central Division entering Wednesday. General manager Kyle Davidson acknowledged that the team is exploring potential trades and no player is untouchable, including Kane.

"Any time you can have someone of Patrick's caliber and experience in your organization, then that's something that's very valuable," Davidson said Wednesday. "Again, we're going to have very honest conversations going forward and he'll know what we're thinking; I'm sure we'll know what he's thinking and we'll go from there. But having those people around is always a good thing."

He added: "I don't necessarily subscribe to the untouchable theory, because whether it's realistic or not, there's always a situation where you might get offered something that you can't turn down."

Despite the team's struggles this season, Kane said he's not concerned about the Blackhawks potentially undergoing a rebuild. 

"Whatever the lineup is, whatever the team looks like, you're going to go on the ice and try to win," he said. "That's something I think as players you don't worry about too much."

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday that Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull has retired from his role as a team ambassador.

According to the Associated Press, the Blackhawks released a statement on Hull's retirement, saying: "When it comes to Bobby, specifically, we jointly agreed earlier this season that he will retire from any official team role."

Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito were named team ambassadors by the Blackhawks in 2008. Per the AP, the Blackhawks said they are now "redefining the role of team ambassador" following Mikita's death in 2018 and the passing of Esposito in August.

The 83-year-old Hull, who is the father of fellow Hall of Famer Brett Hull, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in Blackhawks history.

However, since his retirement, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer in 1986 and accused of battery against his first wife Deborah. During a 2002 interview with ESPN, his second wife Joanne said he abused her.

In 15 seasons with the Blackhawks from 1957-1972, Hull recorded 604 goals and 549 assists for 1,153 points in 1,036 regular-season games.

Hull is the franchise's all-time leader in goals, fifth in assists and second to only Mikita in points.

He also appeared in 116 playoff games for the Blackhawks, racking up 62 goals and 67 assists for 129 points.

Nicknamed The Golden Jet, Hull 10-time First Team All-Star, three-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL's leading scorer, two-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP and one-time Stanley Cup winner.

Following his time with the Blackhawks, Hull spent eight seasons with the World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets, piling up 303 goals and 335 assists for 638 points in 411 games.

He also appeared in 27 games for the NHL's Jets and Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, which was his final professional season.

Three more people have contacted the Chicago Blackhawks with allegations against the organization in regards to former team video coach Brad Aldrich, per TSN's Rick Westhead.

Former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach said Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2010 NHL season, and the front office did not take proper action, according to an independent investigation in October.

The organization reached a settlement with Beach in December.

Beach was initially referred to as John Doe in the lawsuit before coming forward. A John Doe 2 filed another lawsuit saying Aldrich sexually assaulted him in 2013 while in high school, but the case was dismissed in December. 

According to Westhead, a John Doe 3 has said Aldrich raped him while a student at Miami University in Ohio.

Aldrich quietly left the Blackhawks in 2010 before taking roles as a volunteer at USA Hockey, the University of Notre Dame, Miami University and Houghton High School.

A second allegation came from someone known as Black Ace 1, who said he was harassed by Aldrich in 2010 while he was on the Blackhawks playoff roster.

The third allegation is from Paul Vincent, the former Blackhawks assistant coach.

According to the investigation, Beach said Vincent was the first person he told of his encounter with Aldrich. Vincent responded by telling team counselor Jim Gary and was part of a meeting with general manager Stan Bowman, senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac and CEO John McDonough, urging them to call Chicago police.

Not only was he ignored, but Vincent also says the Blackhawks "derailed his career," according to Westhead.

None of the three allegations have yet been brought to court, but they come after team owner Rocky Wirtz refused to discuss the 2010 incident during a town hall with fans.

"The people that were involved are no longer here," Wirtz said Wednesday. "We're not looking back at 2010; we're looking forward. And we're not going to talk about 2010."

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has reportedly been diagnosed with a broken nose after suffering the injury on a hit during his team's 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, per ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

"He's still being evaluated and the team should have a better sense by the weekend of how long he will be out," Kaplan added.

During the first period, Bruins left wing Taylor Hall hit MacKinnon with his shoulder in the open ice. This caused the Avalanche forward's own stick to hit him in the face, resulting in the injury.

MacKinnon skated off the ice but did not return to the game.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters that medical staff treated MacKinnon at Ball Arena before he went home. Bednar also reported that MacKinnon was feeling better and was set to undergo further evaluation Thursday.

Hall was initially assessed a five-minute major before going to the penalty box for a two-minute minor for interference upon the referee's review.

MacKinnon has nine goals and 34 assists for 43 points in 31 games for the 30-8-3 Avs, who are tied with the Florida Panthers for the most points in the league (63).

Sans MacKinnon, the Avs rolled with these lines against Boston, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic:

The Avs will presumably have to plan to be without one of their stars for the time being. Colorado's next game is scheduled for Friday at the Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Caleb Jones and Connor Murphy had their vehicles stolen while having dinner at a Chicago restaurant last week.

Police sources told TMZ Sports on Wednesday they are investigating the incident, which took place Dec. 29 when the alleged thieves approached the valet, stuck an object in their back and demanded keys to the players' cars—Murphy's 2017 Porsche Panamera and Jones' 2021 Jeep Trackhawk.

There has been no indication of whether the players were targeted or if it was a random crime, per TMZ.

The alleged theft of the two cars, which have a combined new value of nearly $200,000, took place around 8 p.m. local time last Wednesday and occurred just blocks away from United Center, the Hawks' home rink, according to the report.

Chicago was scheduled to have a road game against the Winnipeg Jets that evening, but it was postponed because of COVID-19 issues. The team had four straight postponements before returning to action Saturday against the Nashville Predators.

Neither the players nor the Blackhawks have publicly commented on the matter.

Jones, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 draft. He made his NHL debut with the Oilers in December 2018 and spent his first three seasons with the franchise before landing with the Hawks in a July trade.

He's recorded three points (one goal and two assists) in 12 appearances this season while playing on the same team as his older brother, Seth Jones.

Murphy, 28, is in his fifth season with Chicago after playing his first four years with the Arizona Coyotes, who made him a first-round pick in 2011.

He's tallied two goals and two assists across 30 games in 2021-22 while averaging over 22 minutes per game for the second straight season.

The Blackhawks are back on the ice Thursday night when they open a three-game road trip against the Coyotes.

The NHL has postponed three more games this week because of COVID-19, the league announced Sunday. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators are the teams impacted.

The NHL and NHL Players Association also agreed to the reintroduction of taxi squads in order to provide teams with players who can be recalled to avoid having games postponed in the future. 

Each team will be allowed to have a taxi squad of up to six players. In addition, teams are allowed to make emergency recalls from the minors if COVID-19 were to prevent them from playing with a full lineup. 

Taxi squads will be in effect until at least the All-Star break in February. Players on the taxi squad will count as being in the for the salary cap and can be there for a minimum of 20 days. 

The NHL also had taxi squads during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. 

Several players have entered COVID-19 health and safety protocols since returning from the holiday break, including Bruins forward Charlie Coyle, Maple Leafs forward Williams Nylander and Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues. 

The NHL began its holiday break earlier than expected this year because of a rise in positive COVID-19 cases across the league. Every team was shut down beginning Dec. 22, though most were on pause before that point. 

Several teams are set to return to action on Tuesday, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks.

Because of postponements across the league and rise in COVID-19 cases, the NHL and NHLPA also recently decided that players would not attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The league needs the two-week break in the February schedule to make up more than 50 postponed games.  

The Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers have been shut down through the NHL's holiday break because of COVID-19 outbreaks within each club, the league announced Friday.

Calgary has already missed matchups with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs. It will also miss games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken.

Colorado's postponements are for games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins, while Florida will miss contests against the Minnesota Wild, Blackhawks and Predators. 

The Flames have 19 players and 13 club employees in COVID-19 protocols. Five Avalanche players are in protocols, and the Panthers have seven, per ESPN's Kristen Shilton. 

Other NHL franchises are also experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, including the Boston Bruins, whose matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday was postponed. 

The NHL has mandated enhanced health and safety protocols amid the outbreaks across the league, including increased mask-wearing, virtual meetings and daily testing. 

ESPN's Emily Kaplan noted that the more games are postponed, the less likely NHL players will participate in the Winter Olympics. The league may need that time for makeup games.

NHL Players' Association Executive Director Don Fehr said last week that players are uncertain about participating in the Beijing Olympics because they haven't received definitive answers about COVID-19 protocols for the Games, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. 

It's unclear if the NHL is considering a leaguewide shutdown given the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases. 

The Winnipeg Jets announced Friday that Paul Maurice has resigned as the team's head coach:

Dave Lowry will be the Jets' interim head coach.

Darren Dreger of TSN noted "there's nothing sinister" to the surprising decision, which was a personal choice.

Maurice was in his ninth year as coach of the Jets, entering the day in fifth place in the Central Division with a 13-10-5 record.

The Jets have made the playoffs in each of the last four years, reaching the conference final in 2018.

Over nine seasons with Winnipeg, Maurice has led the team to 315 wins in 600 regular-season games.

The 54-year-old has been a head coach for four different organizations in his NHL career, spanning 24 seasons. His 775 career regular-season wins are the sixth-most in league history and the most of any coach without a Stanley Cup title.

Winnipeg will need to regroup after losing its veteran coach, hoping to also turn things around after back-to-back losses.

Lowry will take over for his first head-coaching job in the NHL after joining the team as an assistant last year. He spent 19 years in the league as a player from 1985 to 2004, totaling 351 points for five different organizations.

The 56-year-old has experience as a head coach in the Western Hockey League.

Winnipeg is scheduled to host the Washington Capitals on Friday.   

Tuesday night's game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild has been postponed because of the NHL's COVID-19 protocols.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan first reported the decision came after the Canes registered four positive coronavirus test results earlier in the day.

Carolina played against the Calgary Flames on Thursday. The Flames have since had three games postponed because six players and a staff member entered the league's COVID-19 protocols.

Calgary proceeded to play the Boston Bruins on Saturday. The Bruins placed Brad Marchand and Craig Smith in the protocol on Tuesday.

The Hurricanes placed Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and a staff member in protocols Monday. Today's positive tests bring the number of people on the Canes list to seven with Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo having returned to the active roster last week.

A sudden rise in COVID-19 cases around the league comes as players face a decision about whether to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Preliminary guidelines suggest they could face a five-week quarantine in China if they test positive during the Games in February.

"It is concerning when you hear about the three- to five-week quarantine, having to stay back and stay in China," the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron told reporters Tuesday. "I think there's a lot of questions right now that need to be answered, and that's how I feel about it. Obviously as an athlete I think you're torn because you want to be there and, as I said, the biggest sports event in the world."

The Olympics are scheduled to begin Feb. 4. The NHL, which barred participation in the 2018 Winter Games, said it would honor an agreement with the NHL Players' Association to let players go this time despite the rising coronavirus concerns.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are scheduled to play three home games in a span of four days beginning Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.