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KHL Announces Alignment, Schedule Changes For 2018-19

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We had already heard that the KHL will contract to 25 teams in 2018-19, losing Ugra Khanty-Mansiysk and Lada Togliatti. Now, the league has announced realignment moving several teams around. For next season, three divisions—Bobrov, Tarasov and Khalamov—will have just six teams competing, while the Chernyshev division stays untouched. The full divisions are as follows:

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Bobrov Division:

Dinamo Riga
Dynamo Moscow
Jokerit Helsinki
Severstal Cherepovets
SKA Saint Petersburg
Spartak Moscow

Tarasov Division:

CSKA Moscow
Dinamo Minsk
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Slovan Bratislava
HC Sochi
Vityaz Moscow Region

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Kharlamov Division:

Ak Bars Kazan
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Sibir Novosibirsk

Chernyshev Division:

Admiral Vladivostok
Amur Khabarovsk
Avangard Omsk
Barys Astana
Kunlun Red Star
Salavat Yulaev Ufa

The league will also be expanding their schedule to 62 games, up from the 56 games played in 2017-18. Though the league has been notorious for the lack of parity between their richest and poorest clubs, contraction and a longer schedule could work to reduce that performance gap. Just this week, Ak Bars Kazan upset CSKA in the Gagarin Cup Finals to win the KHL championship, a very unexpected outcome given the powerhouse teams CSKA and SKA St. Petersburg iced this year.

The KHL season begins on September 1st.

Snapshots: Round Two And World Championships

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The NHL is expected to wait on the result of Game Seven tomorrow night between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs before announcing a full schedule for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, they have at least put an end to the wait on the dates and times of the series openers. No one is more relieved than the Vegas Golden Knights, who have already been inactive for a week after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings. The Knights will host the San Jose Sharks, also fresh off a sweep of the Anaheim Ducks, at 10 PM ET on Thursday, April 26th. The second round will kick off earlier that evening with the third-straight postseason collision between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. With their Metropolitan Division rivals out of the way, that series will get underway in Washington at 7 PM ET on Thursday. Friday night, the 27th, will feature the much-anticipated match-up between the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets, the top two teams in the NHL in the regular season. That series starts in Nashville at 8 PM ET on Friday. Finally, the Tampa Bay Lightning await the winner of Bruins-Maple Leafs and the decision also affects when their second round begins on Saturday, the 28th. If the Bruins win on Wednesday night, they’ll travel to Tampa for a 3 PM ET puck drop, but if the Leafs pull off the comeback and take the series, they’ll take the ice against the Lightning later in the day at 8 PM ET. Stay tuned for more Round Two schedule updates in the next 36 hours or so.

  • Meanwhile, the “consolation playoffs”, the IIHF World Championships, will begin in Denmark on May 4th and teams continue to add talent from those NHL teams who have been eliminated from the postseason. Insider Juha Hiitela adds another name to the list, confirming that Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund will suit up for Finland at the tournament. Granlund scored at the highest clip of his career in 2017-18, recording 67 points in 77 games, including a career-high 46 assists. He added another three points in Minnesota’s first round playoff series versus Winnipeg, but the Wild were outmatched by the Jets and fell in five games. Now, Granlund will have a chance to return to the World Championships, where last he scored 12 points in 10 games to lead Finland to a second-place finish.
  • However, Hiitela adds that New Jersey Devils top defenseman Sami Vatanen will not be joining Granlund in Denmark. Per Hiitela, Vatanen suffered a concussion in the Devils opening series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This adds some clarity to the recent situation in which Vatanen missed most of Game Four and all of the deciding Game Five with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Just as he was missed by New Jersey, he’ll be missed by Finland at the World Championships. This would have been the first appearance at the tournament for the five-year NHL veteran.

NHL Releases Playoff Schedule

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A snow storm and significant flooding in Boston back in early January led to tonight’s rescheduled regular season finale between the Bruins and Florida Panthers. While the Philadelphia Flyers put an end to Florida’s impressive late-season playoff push with their win yesterday, the Bruins are still playing for something this evening, with the top seed in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference on the line. That could have potentially caused some delays in scheduling for the postseason, but the NHL has come armed and ready with two different schedules, depending on the result of tonight’s game.

If the Bruins can pull off a win, in any fashion, to finish their impressive regular season, Sportsnet’s John Shannon reports that this is how the first round schedule will shake out for both conferences:

If instead the Panthers play spoiler and the Bruins can’t land two points, the Tampa Bay Lightning will retain the top spot in the East and the schedule will look like this:

Keep an eye on the final score of tonight’s regular season culmination before beginning to schedule your postseason watching. In either scenario, the puck drops on the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night.

Coyotes-Sabres: Lottery Odds On The Line

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Normally, this time of year brings match-ups with major playoff implications as teams jockey for position atop conferences and divisions or fight for the final wild card spots. Instead, all eyes will be on the KeyBank Center tonight as the puck is about to drop on a battle of the league’s two worst teams, the 31st-place Buffalo Sabres hosting the 29th-place Arizona Coyotes. Both teams will have just nine games remaining after tonight’s result and the loser (winner?) may very well end up with the worst record in the league and the best lottery odds for the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and the right to draft wunderkind defender Rasmus Dahlin.

It’s a strange time for two of the league’s least-successful to go head-to-head, as the argument is that the worse team tonight is actually the beneficiary, but both teams are playing some of their best hockey of late. The Coyotes, dead in the water at the midway point and on pace for a measly 46 points this season, have had a resurgence in the second half. The team is 12-5-2 since February 8th, with wins over divisional foes in playoff spots in the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. They have already far surpassed 46 points, hitting 59 on the year with their sixth win in their last ten games on Monday night. Not only that, but Arizona has actually climbed out of the basement of the league, something most did not expect. Filling that bottom-feeder role now are the Sabres, but Buffalo too has been hot, with six wins in their last 11 games. It’s the first time all season that Buffalo has had less losses than not in a ten-game span, and that’s included wins over three of the league’s best teams – the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Neither team looks ready to lose tonight, but one has to and it could be the blow that knocks them out of their winning ways. Buffalo faces a tough stretch to close out the year, with road games in Tampa, Florida, Nashville, New York and twice in Toronto. The rest of their contests are home against division rivals. Tonight could be the last time the Sabres are favored by anyone to win in 2017-18. Meanwhile, Arizona is about to be run the gauntlet. Tonight’s game in Buffalo begins a road trip that goes through Carolina, Florida, Tampa, Vegas, and L.A. before they return home to face the playoff-hungry Blues and Ducks in two of their final four games. The one bright spot left on the Coyotes schedule is a trip to Vancouver on April 5th. With neither team facing a very winnable schedule, tonight’s result really could determine who ends up with the best lottery odds when the season ends.

Speaking of the Canucks, they’re not to be forgotten in this equation either. Vancouver has lost seven straight and now sit in 30th, with as many points as Arizona but with one fewer game left to play. However, the Canucks face Chicago tomorrow night and Edmonton twice, as well as the Coyotes, in this final stretch and seem more likely to pick up some extra points as the season winds down.

Yet, like Buffalo and Arizona, Vancouver likely won’t mind finishing last either. The prize, Dahlin, would be a major addition to any team, but especially to any of these three struggling franchises. Buffalo, currently in the best position to win the lottery, is sorely lacking in high-end defensive prospects outside of players already on the roster like Rasmus Ristolainen and Brendan Guhle. Dahlin would be an upgrade not just to any of their current prospect blue liners, but quite possibly their veterans as well. Vancouver continues to wait for Olli Juolevi to be NHL-ready and have a long-term project player in Jack Rathbone, but Dahlin would look awfully nice alongside Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher next season and beyond. Finally, there’s Arizona, where many have projected Dahlin to land all season. It could be the perfect spot, as fellow countryman and talented defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson could mentor Dahlin just long enough before the Coyotes to trade him before he hits free agency in 2019. Like Buffalo, Arizona lacks difference-makers on the back end in the pipeline and could desperately use Dahlin. He could be a fit for a long time with Jakob Chychrun. 

Who will end up with Dahlin? It may not be Buffalo or Arizona. It could be Vancouver, or it could be any of the other 12 teams who miss the playoffs, but win the lottery. However, the top odds and the race for the worst record in the league weigh heavily on tonight’s result. Stay tuned.

NHL Announces Global Series Schedule

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This season, the NHL returned to their Global Series with events in China and Sweden. Both were considered successes, and now the league has released their plan for the 2018-19 season, which will include four different international cities.

In the preseason, the Global Series Challenge will continue in Switzerland and Germany, while regular season games will be played in Sweden and Finland. The New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets will be the four teams representing the NHL, all four with international stars leading the way.

On October 1st, the Devils will take on SC Bern in Bern, Switzerland, an opportunity for standout rookie Nico Hischier to play once again in his home country. Hischier is the highest ever draft Swiss-born player, selected first overall in 2017.

October 3rd will bring the Oilers to Kolner Haie in Cologne, Germany, to face off against the club team coached by Leon Draisaitl’s father. Draisaitl is from Cologne, and will be a huge draw for the NHL squad in the preseason match.

The season will then be kicked off by a game between the Devils and Oilers in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson and Jesper Bratt should all be among the prime attractions. Obviously, a matchup of Connor McDavid vs. Taylor Hall is exciting wherever it is, and the league knows marketing their young superstars is an important part of expanding the global brand.

Just a month later, on November 1st and 2nd, the Panthers and Jets will face off in Helsinki, Finland. It’s easy to understand the draw for this game, as Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine are among the best Finnish players in the entire league. They’ll put on quite a show for the fans in Helsinki, a city the NHL has visited several times before.

Minor Transactions: 02/17/18

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Though teams made several transactions yesterday to make their younger players eligible for the AHL playoffs, the rest of the season will still be filled with call-ups to help out the NHL team. Remember, after the trade deadline that though rosters have no limits in terms of total players, teams are allowed only four non-emergency recalls.

  • The Washington Capitals have recalled Travis Boyd, who had been playing with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. For the third consecutive season, Boyd is among the scoring leaders for Hershey with 44 points in 56 games. While it’s unclear if he’s scheduled to enter the Capitals lineup right away, he can definitely give them some offensive punch if inserted down the stretch.
  • Cory Schneider was assigned to the Binghamton Devils on a conditioning stint today, but is expected to be brought back on Wednesday to rejoin New Jersey on their current road trip. While that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be back in the crease right away, it is a good sign that he’s approaching his return to the lineup.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Tristan Jarry on an emergency loan after announcing that Matt Murray has been diagnosed with a concussion. Jarry had been sent down to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but will now have to help Casey DeSmith with the NHL duties. DeSmith is expected to start tonight for the Penguins, but Jarry has more experience in the starting role and could be asked to take over while Murray is out.
  • The Calgary Flames announced that they have sent Andrew Mangiapane to the AHL, but the move was actually completed yesterday to make sure he was eligible for the minor league playoffs. With the addition of Chris Stewart off waivers, Mangiapane was likely looking at some healthy scratches and now can help the Stockton Heat instead.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Seth Griffith from the AHL, spending one of their recalls to bring up the 25-year old forward. Griffith has played 76 NHL games over his career and is a point-per-game player at the minor league level. The undersized forward has excellent creativity and playmaking ability, but hasn’t ever been given an extended chance in a team’s top-6.
  • As expected, the Minnesota Wild have brought Luke Kunin back up from the minor leagues. The Wild are extremely close to the cap, and needed to move out some salary at the deadline in order to bring Kunin up for the stretch run while keeping enough room to sign Jordan Greenway. Kunin has just 19 points for the Iowa Wild this season, but is a hard working two-way center that could jump right into the lineup for the Wild.
  • Ethan Bear will be one of the Edmonton Oilers’ four call-ups for the remainder of the season, and will get a chance to show what he can do after an outstanding junior career. Bear was a 70-point defenseman in his final season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, and was a huge part of their qualifying for the Memorial Cup in 2017. The undersized but super-skilled Bear has 16 points in his first professional season for the Bakersfield Condors.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have returned winger Kalle Kossila and goalie Reto Berra to San Diego of the AHL, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register.  Berra’s demotion was expected with John Gibson likely to return to the lineup on Friday. As for Kossila, he didn’t get into any games after being recalled back on the 24th; he has a goal and an assist in ten contests with Anaheim from earlier this season.

Minor Transactions: 02/21/18

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After a busy night in the NHL, the league has just three games on tap for today. Instead, teams might use their time off to cement their status for the trade deadline and make inquiries around the league. All the minor moves we’ll keep track of right here. Refresh the page throughout the day to make sure you stay up to date on all the comings and goings.

Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament Schedule Released

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With the group stage of ice hockey has now been completed, Olympic Men’s Hockey in Pyeongchang will continue with the elimination portion. The top teams from each division each got a bye in the first round of the playoffs as well as a the top second-place team, which includes Sweden, Canada, the Czech Republic and the Olympic Athletes of Russia.

Canada, who had the best record among second-place teams, will play the winner of Finland and Korea on Wednesday. Canada hasn’t lost a game in regulation yet, but did lose in a shootout to the Czech Republic.

The U.S. Men’s Hockey team will face off against Slovakia on Tuesday in a qualification round game. The winner will face the Czech Republic on Wednesday. The U.S. finished the group stage with a 1-1-0-1 record, but the win was a 2-1 victory over Slovakia Thursday. The two teams will meet again.

Sweden will play the winner of Switzerland and Germany, while the Olympic Athletes of Russia will play the winner of Norway and Slovenia. The semifinals will be Friday, while the bronze medal game will be Saturday and the gold medal game will be Sunday.

An official schedule with times can be found here.

IIHF Releases 2018 Olympic Schedule

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This article was originally published in September when the schedule was first released. After a request in our live chat yesterday, we’re pushing it to the top again.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) released the schedule for the 2018 Olympic Men’s Hockey tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea today, and as expected the games will go from February 14th to 25th—though, because of the time difference North America will be watching the gold medal game late on the 24th. The first matchups will be Slovakia vs Russia and USA vs Slovenia, both games featuring Group B opponents.

The host South Korean team will make their Olympic debut on February 15th against the Czech Republic, while reigning champion Team Canada starts against Switzerland, a team that has given them quite a bit of trouble on the international stage in the past. The entire schedule is listed below, all times Central.

February 14th

Slovakia vs OAR – 6:10am

USA vs Slovenia – 6:10am

Finland vs Germany – 9:10pm

February 15th

Sweden vs Norway – 1:40am

Czech Republic vs South Korea – 6:10am

Canada vs Switzerland – 6:10am

USA vs Slovakia – 9:10pm

February 16th

OAR vs Slovenia – 1:40am

Finland vs Norway – 6:10am

Sweden vs Germany – 6:10am

Canada vs Czech Republic – 9:10pm

February 17th

Switzerland vs South Korea –  1:40am

USA vs OAR – 6:10am

Slovakia vs Slovenia – 6:10am

Germany vs Norway – 9:10pm

February 18th

Czech Republic vs Switzerland – 1:40am

Canada vs South Korea – 6:10am

Sweden vs Finland – 6:10am

February 19th

TBD Playoff – 9:10pm

February 20th

TBD Playoff – 1:40am

TBD Playoff – 6:10am

TBD Playoff – 6:10am

TBD Quarterfinal – 9:10pm

February 21st

TBD Quarterfinal – 1:40am

TBD Quarterfinal – 6:10am

TBD Quarterfinal – 6:10am

February 23rd

TBD Semifinal – 1:40am

TBD Semifinal – 6:10am

February 24th

TBD Bronze Medal Game – 6:10am

TBD Gold Medal Game – 10:10pm

A few things to remember about these Games. One, the NHL will not be sending players to compete in the tournament, including all those in the minor leagues signed to two-way contracts. AHL-only deals will be allowed to go, as will those playing abroad. Two, the NHL trade deadline is set for February 26th, giving teams a bit of time to sign any international players and still have them eligible for the playoffs.

The IIHF also released the Women’s hockey schedule, a tournament that may actually get a boost from the lack of NHL presence at the Games. The Canadian team has won four straight gold medals and should be a powerhouse once again. They will however be without long-time leader Hayley Wickenheiser, who retired from the sport this January. Team USA will try to follow their impressive overtime win at the World Championships in April with another gold medal; they won the inaugural women’s tournament in the 1998 Nagano Games. The schedule for their tournament is as follows:

Read more

Minor Transactions: 02/05/18

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After a light Sunday schedule because of the Super Bowl, the NHL has just four games on tap for Monday night. Despite the lack of on-ice action, there will be plenty of minor moves around the league. As always, we’ll keep track of all of them right here.

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