Kendall Coyne Schofield, the captain of the United States Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team, wants to inspire the next generation of athletes.

Team USA hockey forward Brianna Decker is getting ready to attend her third Olympic Games in Beijing, where she hopes to help the United States defend its gold medal win from 2018.

Three-time Olympic medalist Hilary Knight will be heading back on the ice to compete for Team USA in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Hockey Hall of Famer and New York Rangers legend Ron “Mr. Ranger” Gilbert has passed away. The team announced his passing on Sunday evening.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Gilbert — one of the greatest Rangers to ever play for our organization and one of the greatest ambassadors the game of hockey has ever had,” Rangers owner James Dolan said in a statement. “While his on-ice achievements rightly made him a Hall of Famer, it was his love for the Rangers and the people of New York that endeared him to generations of fans and forever earned him the title, ‘Mr. Ranger.’ Our thoughts are with Rod’s wife, Judy, and the entire Gilbert family during this difficult time. They will always be a part of the Rangers family.”

Gilbert spent 18 seasons with the Rangers from 1960 to 1978. During his playing career, he tallied 406 goals and 615 assists as a winger for a total of 1,021 points in 1,065 games.

Gilbert played with the Rangers from 1960 to 1978. Across parts of 18 seasons, Gilbert tallied 406 goals and 615 assists as a winger, for a total of 1,021 points in 1,065 games. Gilbert added 34 goals and 33 assists in 79 playoff appearances, including two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the playoffs, Gilbert had 34 goals and 33 assists in 70 playoff appearances. He led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals twice, but the team failed to win the cup.

Gilbert’s No. 7 jersey became the first number ever to be retired by the Rangers and was raised to the rafters in 1979. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982. In his post-playing career, he dedicated himself to humanitarian efforts and partook in various charities including the Garden of Dreams Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House.

On Monday, Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop became the first active player under NHL contract to come out as gay.

Prokop announced on Instagram and Twitter. “While the past year has been crazy, it has also given me the chance to find my true self,” Prokop said. “I am no longer scared to hide who I am. Today I’m proud to publicly tell everyone I am gay.”

“It has been quite the journey to get to this point in my life, but I could not be happier with my decision to come out,” Prokop wrote. “From a young age I have dreamed of being an NHL player, and I believe that living my authentic life will allow me to bring my whole self to the rink and improve my chances of fulfilling my dreams.”

The predators immediately showed support for the defenseman. “The Nashville Predators organization is proud of Luke for the courage he is displaying in coming out today, and we will support him unequivocally in the days, weeks, and years to come as he continues to develop as a prospect,” the team wrote on Twitter.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman showed solidarity as well. “On behalf of the National Hockey League, we are proud of Luke Prokop for today’s announcement, and I would like to thank him for sharing his truth and for being so brave.”

“I share his hope that these announcements can become more common in the hockey community,” Bettman said. “LGBTQ players, coaches, and staff can only perform at their absolute best if they live their lives as their full and true selves. We do not take the meaning and importance of this announcement lightly.”

NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr also released a statement supporting Prokop.

The NHL announced that it will only fine Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson for a recent hit.

The incident occurred on Monday night when the Capitals were facing off with the New York Rangers. The two teams got into a scuffle in the second period. Wilson repeatedly punched Pavel Buchnevich in the head once Buchnevich was down on the ice after the play was stopped. Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin came to pull Wilson off from Buchnevich, but Wilson then proceeded to attack Panarin. Wilson attacked Panarin and pulled his hair before slamming his head down onto the ice. Wilson then punched him before slamming Panarin back onto the ice when the left winger attempted to get up.

Many fans, players and teams were upset at the league’s punishment for the right-winger. “Washington’s Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Roughing NY Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich,” the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced.

Former NHL player John Scott released his own response to the league’s decision. “Shame on you, NHL, you should have [done] something to protect Panarin, and shame on Wilson, you ought to know better,” Scott said. “It was a joke of a fine. Listen, I love this kind of hockey, I think we all do, but what Tom did, there’s no excuse for that. It’s insane to me that he only got a $5,000 fine.”

The former player went on to describe it as a bad precedent that the league is setting by only fining Wilson. “What this means: It’s fair game, baby, in any scrum,” Scott said. “If you go into a scrum anywhere on the ice and you see a star player, I’m throwing sucker punches, I’m grabbing this guy, I’m twisting ankles, I’m doing whatever I can because the worst thing that’s going to happen to me is a $5,000 [fine] because I don’t see anyone doing more than what Tom Wilson did to Panarin.”

The Rangers released their official team statement in response to Wilson’s fine. “The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence,” the team’s statement read. “Wilson is a repeat offender, and we find it shocking that the NHL and their department of player safety failed to take appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL Head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue his current role.”

Following the hit, Panarin did not return to the game. The team then announced that Panarin will not play for the remainder of the season because of a “lower-body” injury.

The NHL will have another home for broadcasting its games and the Stanley Cup. The NHL and Turner Sports have agreed to a seven-year rights agreement that will begin in the 2021-22 season.

The deal is worth $225 million per year, and it will effectively end the league’s 16-year partnership with NBC. Not only that, but the NHL had previously signed a seven-year deal worth $400 million per year with ESPN. The deal made ESPN its primary rights holder next season.

Regarding the departure of the league from NBC Sports, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman explained, “Despite a lot of speculation to the contrary, we part friends, each understanding why we made the decisions that we both made to reach this point,” Bettman said.

The latest deal with Turner Sports means that the league has increased its rights fees to more than $625 million per year. This is an increase compared to its previous value of $300 million in agreements with NBCUniversal and, for streaming, Disney.

Turner Sports will present up to 72 regular-season games and half of the first three Stanley Cup playoffs rounds each season. The Stanley Cups that Turner will host will air on TNT. ESPN will air the Stanley Cup on ABC when it hosts the big event. Part of the deals made will assure live streaming and simulcast rights for HBO Max and expansive digital and highlights rights for Bleacher Report.

Turner Sports will also have “TV Everywhere” rights that will enable subscribers across all WarnerMedia platforms to access NHL games and related programming. The NHL’s streaming package, NHL.TV is also moving to ESPN+ as part of the deal.

Bettman stated that the rights for the World Cup of Hockey will be negotiated with media partners when the league and the NHLPA jointly decide to move forward with the next edition. ESPN last hosted the 2016 edition of the World Cup of Hockey.

While the NHL is set to depart from NBC, it will still retain the rights to air the next two winter games. “There are still a lot of things that have nothing to do with NBC that will have to be resolved before we go to the Olympics in Beijing [in 2022],” Bettman said.

The NHL season is set to start on January 13 after the league and players reached an agreement for the season. The 2020-2021 season will be shortened from the usual 82 games to 56 games. The playoffs will last until July where a team will win the coveted Stanley Cup.

On Friday night, the Board of Governors voted to approve an agreement that was backed by the player’s association. The regular season will conclude on the eighth of May, it will be followed by a 16 team playoff format.

The NHLPA executed director Don Fehr announced the agreement saying, “The players are pleased to have finalized agreements for the upcoming season, which will be unique but also very exciting.”

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement saying, “The National Hockey League looks forward to the opening of our 2020-21 season.” Bettman went further to reiterate their priority on the safety of the players, “While we are well aware of the challenges ahead, as was the case last spring and summer, we are continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our participants and the communities in which we live and play.”

The NHL clarified on whether there will be fans in the arenas, “It is the current plan to play games in the home arenas of participating teams while understanding that most arenas will not, at least in the initial part of the season, be able to host fans,” the league said.

The regular season will only have four divisions – North, East, Central and West. In three of the four divisions, teams will play against one another eight times. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, games will be limited to within their divisions in order to limit travel. The full NHL schedule will be released in the coming days.

It is possible for teams to play in neutral sites if needed. However, it is still unknown where Canadian teams will play until there are agreements with federal and provincial health officials.

Training camp will begin on January 3. However, the seven teams that missed the playoffs will be allowed to start three days before the official training camp date. There will be no exhibition games before the regular season starts.

The teams that will be in the Northern division are the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets.

The Eastern Division will be composed of the following teams, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres.

The Central division will feature the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The teams making up the West division are the Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks and the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

As the NHL continues to assess how it will conduct its upcoming season in the current pandemic environment. One of the biggest roadblocks for the league is the interplay involving its Canadian and American teams. Now there is a chance that the Canadian teams will have to play in the U.S. instead of their home arenas in Canada.

On Thursday, the league informed their seven Canadian based-teams that there is a possibility they will have to play in the United States. The league was hoping for their season to start on January 13 with a 56-game schedule. The original plan was for the NHL to adopt a temporary divisional realignment with an all-Canadian division. The league wanted all teams to play in their home arenas because the U.S.-Canada border is closed to non-essential business. However, the roadblock for the plan came as health authorities in Canada challenged the NHL’s plan.

Both the NHL and the NHLPA were hoping to have a proposal ready by the end of the week. Doing so will have allowed the board of governors to vote whether to accept the plan or not.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been busy the past few months consulting experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and other leading infectious disease experts to help formulate strategies.

The NHL had been hoping to have awarded the Stanley Cup to a winner before the Tokyo Olympics begin in July 2021. It would allow the league to restore their normal schedule for the 2021-2022 season.

That is not the only issue that is impacting the league. Another is the local restrictions in each city that is hindering any possible plans by the league. An example is the San Jose Sharks, which are making plans to open their training camps in Scottsdale, Arizona, because of a sports contact ban in Santa Clara County.

The league is willing to play in a bubble format as the NBA did. Bettman said to the World Hockey Forum panel, “Right now, we’re focused on whether or not we’re going to play in our buildings and do some limited traveling or play in a bubble. That’s something we’re working on and getting medical advice on.”