Why there’s no Plan B for Olympic hockey rinks, plus NHL betting integrity, more BOG rumblings
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The NHL’s senior leadership has remained steadfast about not formulating a Plan B in the event that construction delays or ice issues imperil the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The primary reason?
They are effectively an invited guest to the event and don’t want to create a “sensation,” in the words of one league source. Signaling a contingency plan wouldn’t be particularly productive at a time when everyone is trying to pull together to make sure the Feb. 11-22 tournament gets played as scheduled.
The International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation have also repeatedly assured the league that the two venues will be ready to go and up to the standard needed to host the first best-on-best tournament played in 12 years.
Still, even while saying he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the progress being made in Italy, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the league’s Board of Governors this week that it’s going to go right down to the wire before they can say with certainty that the tournament will go ahead.
That leaves an obvious question: What would the NHL do with the 19-day break it’s carved out of the regular-season schedule in the event the Olympic tournament was called off?
“I can’t tell you exactly what we’d do,” Daly said. “What I’d say is I think in emergency-type situations like that in the past, I think we’ve responded appropriately, came up with good solutions. And I have no doubt that we’ll be able to come up with good solutions if we’re faced with that.”
What does not seem to be in the cards is pivoting to another arena beyond the Olympic cluster or staging an international tournament somewhere in North America. There’s absolutely no evidence of those kinds of shadow plans being formulated in the background.
On Monday night, Daly was asked specifically if the NHL had contingencies in place and replied: “No. No.”
“It kind of is what it is,” he said. “Having said that, if you’re faced with that being the reality, then you have to think about what you do next.”
What they’re doing in the meantime is placing faith in the organizing committee to deliver the kind of facilities worthy of a world-class event, with an assist from the crew of NHL technicians and ice experts now on the ground in Milan helping with the final push.
Canada roster update
Team Canada’s management group wrapped up three days of its own meetings Tuesday, further cutting its list of players as the Dec. 31 roster submission deadline approaches.
“I thought it was very productive,” Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong told The Athletic on the phone from Florida, where the meetings were held. “Lots of good dialogue and debate over players, what we’ve seen since Game 1 of the season. I feel we’re in a very good spot. We have a number of players that we believe are solidly in the group that we’ve come to a consensus on. Now we’ll spend the next three weeks filling out the rest of the group.”
Team Canada had cut its scouting list of players down to around 40 at its Nov. 10 meeting in Toronto and has now reduced that to the “low 30s,” Armstrong said.
What remains is deciding on seven or so spots for the 25-man roster.
“You’re splitting hairs on a couple of guys where they fit,” Armstrong said. “We’re certainly a workable group now for the last three weeks.”
As far as the potential roster turnover from the championship team at last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, Armstrong said, “I would comfortably say that everyone that was on the 4 Nations is still on the list.”
That answer might not have accounted for goalie Sam Montembeault, who has struggled this season for the Montreal Canadiens. Armstrong probably meant that all 21 skaters from 4 Nations remain on the list.
Those 21 might not all secure an invite, though — with Tom Wilson perhaps replacing Travis Konecny, for example — but the overriding philosophy here is that there’s a comfort level for head coach Jon Cooper with the players who won at the 4 Nations.
The plan now is for Team Canada’s management group to keep going out and live-scout everyone on the bubble.
On the goalie discussion, specifically, no final decisions have been made.
“It’s probably still the most fluid part of our group,” said Armstrong.
Jordan Binnington was in net for Canada’s 4 Nations win. Will he be the top option for the Olympics? (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
World Cup planning
Planning is well underway for a World Cup of Hockey to take place in February 2028.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman indicated that the two host cities will be selected by the end of February, with 10 North American options and six more in Europe currently under consideration.
The plan is to split the tournament between continents. The U.S. and Canada will be part of a group that plays down to two semifinalists at a North American host city, which will also host the final four. Another group playing at a European host city will also play down to two semifinalists.
Of note is the fact that the league has resumed discussions with the IIHF on co-sanctioning the event after toying with the idea of hosting it unilaterally.
“We believe we’re in a good place with them in terms of being involved,” Bettman said. “Nothing has been signed, sealed or delivered, but we think we’re in a good place.”
Should it get finished, we may see a league (or leagues) in Europe shut down during the tournament just like the NHL does.
“What we’ve talked to them about over a long period of time now is them essentially delivering all of the European elements of the World Cup,” Daly said. “Country participation. Player participation. Obviously, we wanted to have the World Cup in February, which they originally objected to, and we wanted to use a European host city, which they originally objected to. I think we’re getting through those issues.”
‘Betting integrity and security’
That’s what the agenda item was listed as for Tuesday’s Board of Governors session. And that became a rather interesting 40-minute combined presentation.
“Joe Gillespie, deputy assistant director of the FBI, was with us when we had a discussion reinforcing the rules concerning sports betting, how it applies to us and generally raising consciousness and the importance of maintaining the integrity of our game,” Bettman said.
What points did the FBI emphasize?
“The fact is, our people do know and have been constantly briefed on what you can and can’t do,” Bettman said. “Not just no gambling on hockey, but with respect that, if you’re going to gamble, you need to do it legally and you need to make sure you’re in compliance with the rules. You can’t share accounts. Don’t do it from out of jurisdiction. And if you’re approached by anybody seeking to get information, you need to report it to us so that we can take the appropriate response.
“If you want to focus on what we do with respect to ensuring we’re getting compliance, we’re monitoring data points in every game in real time, everything that goes on. And we do the same thing with our betting partners and our prediction-market partners to make sure that there are no unexplainable shifts. If you compare that with the data of what’s going on in the game, you can’t do this and get away with it.”
Jared Maples, senior executive vice president and chief security officer for the NHL, also spoke to governors on Tuesday, as he did last month to the GMs in Toronto.
His key message?
“Providing clarity on the rules and regulations that we monitor,” Maples said. “It’s the message that we’ve had as a steady drumbeat across the league to every entity group. Specifically, there are rules that govern everyone’s ability in the integrity space. Betting on sports — you can’t bet on hockey, by the way; there’s your news break — but really clarifying the rules that we monitor for and what we’re actually enforcing. And then the training piece of it, the constituency groups that we’re going to around the league.”
So, for example, if anyone within an NHL organization is approached by someone seeking injury information, the message from Maples to governors was that they should immediately communicate that to the league.
Junior-NCAA logistics
The NHL updated governors on the seismic shift in the grassroots of North American college and junior hockey.
“I gave a higher level of review of the dynamics of the leagues and the discussions and the interactions and suggested that we’ll continue to report back to them on it,” Daly said.
As per the new collective bargaining agreement, the plan remains for each NHL organization to be able to send a 19-year-old prospect to its AHL affiliate if it wishes, starting next season. But there are still discussions on how exactly that will work.
“There’s a couple of steps to get there,” Daly said. “We have to reopen our agreement with the CHL, and we have to negotiate what that provision (regarding 19-year-olds) looks like. But certainly that’s the expectation that everybody has.”
The NHL-CHL agreement has four more years on it but can be reopened on the 19-year-old rule prior to June 30 this year.
Revenues
The NHL told governors it is projecting revenues in the neighborhood of $6.8 to $6.9 billion for the 2025-26 season.
If that’s where it lands, Bettman indicated that it won’t result in any change to the payroll range the league has previously agreed to with the NHLPA. That agreement, signed in January of 2025, calls for the cap ceiling to go from $95.5 million this season to $104 million next year.
“We’re right on projections,” Bettman said. “When we did it, we kind of had a good guess as to what the Rogers (national Canadian media rights) deal would be. So we took that into account before it was done, and we made good projections.”
Of note, though: Daly confirmed that players are “probably” going to receive a top-up on their salaries after the season to ensure a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues with owners.
That means NHL players will likely each be paid a little more than each of their contracts calls for in 2025-26.
Nordiques retro jerseys
Plans are afoot for the Colorado Avalanche to wear their Nordiques retro jerseys in Montreal when they play the Candiens at the Bell Centre on Jan. 29. That would mean both clubs that night will have on their dark jerseys, which requires league approval, with the Avs in Nordiques blue and the Habs in their home reds.
“It’s not ironed out quite yet, but yes, very possibly,” Avalanche president Joe Sakic said Tuesday.
Expect a joint announcement from the two clubs soon. Daly said the league would sign off on it once both teams are ready to announce it.
