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Eric Fehr Signs In KHL

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Just like Jason Demers yesterday, another Canadian Olympic hopeful has found a new job overseas. Canada withdrew from the Spengler Cup yesterday, forcing players that were preparing for it to find other work. Eric Fehr will join Demers with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL through the end of the 2021-22 season after spending the last two seasons playing in Switzerland.

A veteran of more than 700 NHL games, Fehr was last active in North America during the 2018-19 season. He had seven goals and 15 points that year for the Minnesota Wild before taking his talents to Switzerland where he has become a star. In 94 regular season games with Geneve Servette, Fehr has scored 36 goals and 76 points, while racking up an incredible 199 penalty minutes.

A member of the last Spengler Cup-winning Canadian team, Fehr is a likely candidate to go to the Olympics should the NHL officially withdraw participation. In the meantime, he’ll hit the KHL for the first time in his career to continue his preparation. Fehr had previously played in Finland during the 2012-13 lockout, but this will be his first stint in Russia.

Canada Officially Withdraws From Spengler Cup

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Because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Hockey Canada has decided to withdraw from the 2021 Spengler Cup, an international tournament that was to serve as a pre-Olympic tune-up for players and coaches outside of the NHL. Claude Julien was set to coach the club, but as Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated reported yesterday, he’s already back home in Canada.

In their explanation, Hockey Canada said this:

We have a long-standing tradition of participating in the Spengler Cup, and it is disappointing that we are unable to attend the prestigious event this year. However, we strongly believe this is the right decision to maintain the health and safety of our players, coaches and support staff that were set to represent Canada.

The tournament was set to kick off later this month and would have included many of the same players that would be selected for the Olympics, should the NHL officially pull out as expected. Now, those players could be looking for contracts with other European club teams to keep in shape for the next few months. Canada has won more titles at the Spengler than any other participant, taking home the title 16 times (compared to 15 for HC Davos). That includes the most recent event in 2019–the 2020 tournament was canceled.

NHL/NHLPA Pause Cross-Border Travel, Issue Updates On Season And Olympics

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The NHL and NHLPA released a joint statement today that the league will postpone any games that require cross-border travel through the holiday break. The 12 postponed games are as follows:

Canadiens @ Islanders (12/20), Ducks @ Oilers (12/20), Blues @ Senators (12/21), Canucks @ Sharks (12/21), Canadiens @ Rangers (12/22), Jets @ Stars (12/22), Oilers @ Kings (12/22), Blues @ Maple Leafs (12/23), Hurricanes @ Senators (12/23), Canadiens @ Devils (12/23), Ducks @ Canucks (12/23), Oilers @ Sharks (12/23)

Adding on these 12 games, there are now 39 games that the league has postponed this year. As instances pop up of players stuck on the wrong side of the border and potentially unable to get home for the holidays, the pause comes now to prevent any future situations like this from occurring.

However, the NHL and NHLPA in today’s statement remained with their stance today against placing a pause on the entire regular-season schedule. The league will continue to monitor COVID outbreaks on teams on a case-by-case basis, stating that they “will be monitoring not only the number and pattern of positive COVID results but also the depth of Club line-ups so as to ensure both the health and safety of the Players and the integrity of League competition.”

The two parties also gave an update on the potential of Olympic participation, stating they’ll reach a final determination within the coming days. They’re “actively discussing the matter” and commit to remaining flexible. The NHL has until January 10, 2022, to opt out of the Olympics without incurring a financial penalty. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman speculates that an “Olympics without NHL players seems to be a reality,” but doesn’t expect a formal announcement for a few days.

Team Canada’s Alex Pietrangelo Uncertain About Olympic Participation

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In a piece by David Schoen of the Las Vegas-Review Journal, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who was one of the three players initially named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics, now says he’s uncertain if he’ll participate in the Games.

Pietrangelo’s concerns come after the International Olympic Committee confirmed a three-to-five-week quarantine period for a positive COVID-19 test. As Pietrangelo notes in the Schoen report, he has a young family and multiple kids and, understandably, doesn’t want to risk being away from his family for that long.

It’s a recent memory for a lot of NHLers, who were forced into a similar situation for the bubble-style 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After the fact, many players expressed concerns and regrets about being away from their families for such a long length of time.

If he does proceed to opt-out, Pietrangelo would be the first confirmed member of an Olympic roster to do. Golden Knight teammate Robin Lehner said publicly last week that he wouldn’t be attending, but was not one of the first three players named to his native Sweden’s Olympic roster.

Obviously, losing a player of Pietrangelo’s caliber won’t be great for Team Canada. However, assuming they still have a large pool of NHLers to select from, they still prove to have the most dynamic puck-moving group of defensemen in the tournament.

Pietrangelo is third on the Golden Knights with 18 points in 26 games this season.

Latest On NHL Olympic Participation

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The opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, is now just under two months away.

Yet it’s still not clear whether or not NHL players will be a part of the multi-week-long tournament, with the possibility of the league missing two straight Winter Olympics looming large. Information provided Saturday by the International Olympic Committee provided some more clarity on the situation, for better or for worse.

The key portion of all of it, summarized in this Twitter thread by TSN’s Chris Johnston, is the official word on the quarantine regulations if an athlete does test positive for COVID-19 while in China. Any positive test will yield an automatic quarantine that can last between three and five weeks. While players can test negative twice within a 24-hour span to exit protocol, similar to NHL guidelines, this is only applicable in China after the mandatory minimum 21-day quarantine.

That poses some serious issues for a variety of reasons. For one, if a player tests positive, they won’t get a chance to rejoin their team for the rest of the tournament as the quarantine period is simply too long. It’s also a giant question mark for players financially, especially if they test positive near the end of the tournament, as Johnston notes that teams aren’t required to pay players if they miss time on the other side of the Olympic break. However, a joint call between the IOC, IIHF, NHL, and NHLPA is expected soon to “review these matters,” per Johnston.

It’s a lot of food for thought for players, and the league is now making it clear that it will be entirely the players’ choice on whether they go, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly stating that “[he doesn’t] anticipate being on a different page than the players’ association on these issues.”

There are two paths in that regard. Players could just individually opt-out of playing in Beijing, something Vegas Golden Knights netminder Robin Lehner already did, justifiably citing mental health reasons. However, the possibility remains that the players could collectively elect to not attend the Olympics, marking the second straight Winter Games without an NHL presence.

While it was previously believed that the NHL had a strict deadline of January 10, 2022, to decide on their Olympic participation, it’s now clear, per Johnston, that it’s only a soft deadline. The NHL can opt-out after that point, but will incur financial penalties if they do so.

Gary Bettman: Olympic Participation “Ultimately A Players’ Decision”

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The NHL has more than a few concerns about participating in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Speaking with the media, including CBC’s Joshua Clipperton, following the conclusion of Friday’s Board of Governors meeting, Commissioner Gary Bettman didn’t shy away from expressing his hesitations either:

We have real concerns on a whole host of issues… We have concerns, and we’ve expressed those to the players’ association… Our concerns have only been magnified… I actually find it difficult to believe that a player would want to go…. I don’t think that this is going to be the ideal Olympic experience in terms of the lockdowns in the Olympic Village and everything else that’s going on.

The league’s apprehension is based mostly on the continued issues with the spread of the Coronavirus, not only across the league but on a global basis, China included. The NHL has seen the majority of its teams impacted by COVID-19 already this season, including at the cost of some games. Olympic participation would mean sending its biggest stars off, out of the protection of the league’s protocols and to the origin point of the virus and to protocols that have yet to be finalized and announced. In that same vein, Bettman discussed the possibility that China could mandate a three-week quarantine for any athletes who test positive for COVID and stated that he would be surprised if any NHLer would risk an additional three weeks in the country in order to play at the Olympics. Beyond the COVID conversation, there are also a number of political red flags as the governments of both Canada and the United States have become more vocal of late about the human rights violations taking place in China.

Yet, with all that said, Bettman is standing by his word. Barring a joint decision between the NHL and NHLPA – with Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stating his expectation that the two sides would be on the same page should it reach this point – to disallow participation, the final decision will lie with the players themselves:

We made a promise to the players, and I’m going, to the best of our ability, adhere to it, understanding that there may be consequences that nobody’s gonna like… It’s not like we haven’t expressed our concerns. But in the final analysis, subject to some caveats, with all of the issues that are being raised… the players, for the most part, seem to continue to be saying they want to go… ultimately, this is going to have to be a players’ decision.

A return to the Olympics was in fact collectively bargained when the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a new CBA last year. The players have right to compete for gold if they so choose, though it is obvious that the league would rather they not. Bettman does note that more players have expressed their concerns of late, but will it be enough? That remains to be seen with time ticking away before the opt-out deadline of January 10 and the opening of the tournament in two months.

China Will Play In Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament

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Dec 7: After weeks of deliberation and a two-day meeting of the IIHF Council, it has been determined that China will be given a host qualification position and participate in the men’s tournament. They will play in a group with the U.S. and Canada.

Nov 23: As the 2022 Winter Olympics draw closer, there are still more than a few major questions looming over the Beijing games. One that seemed to have been answered is the status of the host nation’s entry into the Men’s Hockey tournament. Though the host nation typically earns an automatic bid into the tournament, the IIHF has expressed concerns about the talent level of the Chinese team and its impact on the tournament. Yet, just a few weeks ago the international governing body announced that it was moving forward with China taking part in the tournament and had scheduled a pair of preparation games for the national team against KHL competition. After China lost both games last week, the issue appears up for debate once more. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the IIHF will meet, along with the Chinese Ice Hockey Association, on Friday to discuss whether the team is competitive enough to compete at the top international stage. The International Olympic Committee has granted them the power to make the ultimate decision.

China is currently ranked No. 32 in the world by the IIHF. That ranking is out of 55 registered nations, putting China in the lower half of the world’s hockey playing countries. They sit behind powerhouses like Spain, Estonia, and Lithuania and just one spot ahead of Australia. Yet, they are expected to skate in group play with Canada, the United States, and Germany, the countries ranked No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 respectively. For whatever reason, the IIHF has maintained through the long Olympic qualifying process that they would honor the tradition of the host nation receiving a qualifying bid. Even after new IIHF President Luc Tardif took over the mantle, he agreed that the IIHF would not make the solo decision to remove China from the tournament. However, his tune has changed slightly of late, as he was quoted in a recent interview with the Agence-French Presse as stating “Watching a team being beaten 15-0 is not good for anyone, not for China, or for ice hockey.”

Having now watched China square off with two KHL clubs, the IIHF feels they have the information they need to make an educated decision. While the KHL is one of the best leagues in the world, it’s team are significantly less talented than NHL clubs and most Olympic entries – especially China’s group opponents like Canada and the U.S. – include only the best of the best in the NHL. No one expects China to win, but what good does it serve anyone if they just embarrass themselves?

If China is removed from the tournament, the highest-ranked team not currently in the field will take their place. As Tardif recently noted when speaking on this possibility: “Norway is ready.” The Norwegians were somewhat stunned by Denmark in Olympic qualifying, but the No. 11-ranked nation may still get a second chance yet. Norway would of course still be an underdog in each of its group play matches, but would at least have a shot and could be competitive. Mats Zuccarello, Andreas Martinsen, Mathias Emilio Petterssen, and company would be ready for the challenge, far more than China anyway. Whether the IIHF takes into account the vast superiority of the replacement option remains to be seen however.

 

Goalie Notes: Lehner, Bishop, Rask

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Jacob Markstrom is a likely candidate for the starting goaltender position for Sweden at the upcoming Olympics, but another promising option was Robin Lehner. That isn’t the case anymore, as Lehner tweeted last night that he will not be attending the Olympics.

Lehner, who has been very open about his struggles with mental health over the years, notes that this is a decision that puts that health ahead of his desire to compete for his country in what he calls a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” The uncertainty around what would happen if an athlete tests positive for COVID-19 while in China is part of why he made the decision.

  • The Dallas Stars are expected to send Ben Bishop to the minor leagues on a conditioning stint this week, according to Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News. Bishop hasn’t played since the 2020 bubble playoffs, but is finally getting close to being healthy enough to play again. The 35-year-old netminder is still signed through 2022-23 and carries a $4.92MM cap hit. He’ll become the fourth NHL-level goaltender for the Stars once he’s cleared to return to action, joining Anton Khudobin (who has been on the trade block in recent weeks), Braden Holtby, and Jake Oettinger.
  • There was a pretty impressive emergency backup goaltender at Boston Bruins practice today, as Tuukka Rask joined his former teammates despite still not having an NHL contract. Rask is still working his way back from offseason surgery, and has previously expressed that he would only return to the NHL for the Bruins. For now, he remains unsigned, but that could change at some point in the near future if he shows he’s healthy enough to help the team.

Canada Preparing Spengler Cup Coaching Staff

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11/26: TSN’s Darren Dreger has confirmed much of Friedman’s initial report this morning, reporting that Julien will indeed be the bench boss of the Spengler Cup team with Boudreau as his assistant and notes that this staff will in fact coach in the Olympics if the NHL pulls out. However, Dreger didn’t stop there. He reports that Julien’s second assistant will be Scott Walker and the architect of the roster as GM will be a former Canadian Olympian in Shane Doan. 

11/25: The NHL’s participation in the 2022 Beijing Olympics is still not set in stone, with a January opt-out date still upcoming. Should the league feel as though there have been too many COVID-related postponements to afford a three-week break, they could pull the plug on the whole thing and reorganize their schedule without the international competition. If that were the case, suddenly the Canadian and U.S. teams would be without a coaching staff as well, because right now it is NHL bench bosses set to lead the groups.

In Canada’s case, it’s Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning that will be in control of the men’s team, alongside assistants Bruce Cassidy (Boston Bruins), Pete DeBoer (Vegas Golden Knights), and Barry Trotz (New York Islanders). If the NHL doesn’t go, neither do they, meaning a new staff would have to be brought in.

They’re already preparing for that instance, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweets. Claude Julien is expected to coach the Canadian contingent at the Spengler Cup in late December, and would take over the Olympic squad if the NHL doesn’t participate. He’s expected to be joined by Bruce Boudreau as an assistant coach, though Friedman does note that this is assuming neither is hired elsewhere in the meantime.

The Spengler Cup roster would likely have a large amount of crossover with the Olympic unit if the NHL chooses not to go, though some AHL, junior or college players would also likely be involved. With coaches like Julien and Boudreau, they would also have NHL-level coaching even if the league failed to participate.

Snapshots: COVID, Olympics, Canucks

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The postponement of the Ottawa Senators’ upcoming slate of games amidst a Coronavirus outbreak in the locker room has certainly raised some flags across the league. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that many are concerned not only about the ongoing crisis the in Ottawa, but about the frequency of cases popping up around the league. With more than 99% of players and all coaches and staff vaccinated, it is alarming how frequently individuals are being forced to enter the NHL’s COVID Protocol. There was talk earlier this season of reducing testing due to many of those in the protocol being asymptomatic, but in Ottawa and recently in San Jose as well, those sidelined by COVID have in fact been very symptomatic. The league had no choice but to postpone Senators games as the roster had been depleted by the sickness sweeping through the locker room and keeping players off the ice for far longer than just a simple formality might for others in the protocol. As Dreger points out though, the league cannot afford multiple postponements such as this. On one hand, the season is already longer than usual due to the Olympic break and on the other the league cannot take the revenue hit of missed games after two consecutive shortened seasons. As of right now, the only steps being taken by the league to combat the COVID issue is to recommend boosters to its players and personnel. However, re-enacted restrictions could be coming down the line if cases continue at this rate.

  • The Olympics could be at risk if the NHL is unable to control their COVID cases and postponements continue. However, Pierre LeBrun does not believe that this conversation is being had just yet. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to terms – with each other and with the IIHF – to return to the Winter Games this year and that remains the plan. However, there is a January 10 opt-out date should the league decide that they need the currently-scheduled break to make up games postponed due to COVID. LeBrun says that there is no hard number that would trigger the NHL to pull out of the Olympics, but it will have to be an ongoing discussion between the league and players’ association. For now, he states that the two sides just met recently to discuss Olympic plans and are moving forward as planned.
  • Also moving forward as planned: the Vancouver Canucks. Patience is wearing thin amongst the fan base as the Canucks are off to another rough start this season, winning just five of their first 16 games and holding a bottom-five scoring differential league-wide. Despite adding more talent this off-season to an already-healthy payroll and largely avoiding injuries to key players thus far, the Canucks again look like they are far from a contender. Dreger reports that GM Jim Benning was called to meet with ownership about a path forward and they ultimately decided… to stay the course. Ownership apparently still believes in the plan that Benning and coach Travis Green have for the team, even though it has yielded few results thus far. Both sides will continue to preach patience to a rabid fan base that is growing tired of continued mediocrity. If things don’t change in Vancouver this season, it won’t be long until ownership joins the malcontents.

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