NHL’s Gary Bettman sees value in the Olympic break, especially coming off 4 Nations success last season

SUNRISE, Fla. — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t the biggest fan of taking a nearly three-week break in the middle of the season so players can participate in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

That said, he obviously sees the value.

Bettman spoke at the season-opening game between the Florida Panthers — who raised their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship banner — and the Chicago Blackhawks. He made clear again that he knows what having NHL players back on the Olympic stage can do for the game.

“I think it’s going to be great,” Bettman said between the first and second periods. “It’s important to our players. That’s why we’re doing it. Listen, there are lots of reasons that I’m never thrilled about taking a couple of week break in the season. Changes a lot of things. But on balance, I think it’ll be worth it, A) for the exposure, B) for the fan engagement, but C) and most importantly, this is and has always been very important to our players. And that’s why we’re doing this.”

The NHL got tons of exposure and engagement during last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off event, and the Olympics obviously are going to be bigger than that tournament.

“We came off of 4 Nations on a high,” Bettman said. “It shows you what our players can do representing hockey and what we think is the best best-on-best in international competition.”

In other matters covered by Bettman:

Panthers-Lightning penalties

The league wasn’t overjoyed by the way the Tampa Bay-Florida preseason game played out, with 65 penalties, 13 game misconducts and 312 penalty minutes.

“I think we made our position clear in terms of our response,” Bettman said. “That’s not what the game is all about.”

The NHL suspended Tampa Bay forward Scott Sabourin four games and defenseman J.J. Moser for two games for their actions in that game. Additionally, the Lightning organization was fined $100,000 and Lightning coach Jon Cooper was fined $25,000, the NHL said.

“We didn’t think what happened was appropriate for a variety of reasons,” Bettman said.

Outdoor games in Florida

Bettman said ticket sales are going “great” for outdoor games to be played later this season in Florida. The Panthers will play host to the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami — home of baseball’s Marlins — on Jan. 2 in the Winter Classic, and the Lightning will host the Boston Bruins at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1 in a Stadium Series game.

“I think we’re going to have a public sale at some point for tickets that are left, but so far ... the response has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re excited to come to Florida with two outdoor games,” Bettman said. “There are some people who question our sanity, but the combination of being able to prep the ice at loanDepot — where we can control the elements until we open the roof — and that we’re able to create a structure in Tampa, we think we’ll be fine.”

The Marlins’ loanDepot Park has a retractable roof and that will play a big role in getting that stadium ready for hockey. The air conditioning will be cranked up — way up — and the Panthers-Rangers game will be played at night with the roof open. For the Lightning-Bruins game inside the open-air stadium in Tampa, the NHL will build a temporary roof over the ice surface and remove it just a few hours before game time.

Cross-country running and cyclocross could be added to Winter Olympics by 2030

  • Indoor sports such as judo could switch to winter Games

  • Coe wants athletics events outside stadium at LA 2028

Cross-country running and cyclocross have a good chance of being added to the 2030 winter Games in France, Sebastian Coe has predicted, as part of what could be the biggest overhaul of the Olympics in a generation.

The World Athletics president also confirmed that switching some indoor sports – such as judo – to future winter Games was on the table as part of the International Olympic Committee’s new “fit for the future” plans, designed to keep the Games relevant.

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Basketball at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to tip off two days before opening ceremony

Basketball is going to get a head start at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

FIBA — the international basketball governing body that oversees Olympic basketball — announced this week that the revised schedule for the event has the first games on July 12, two days before the July 14 Opening Ceremonies.

"This adjustment allows the Quarter-Finals to be played over two days and will also ensure that no game will start earlier than 12:00 PM, enhancing the overall experience for players, teams, fans and broadcasters," FIBA said in a statement announcing the change.

What was not announced is whether this change impacts the men's or women's tournaments, or both. Those tournaments are made up of a dozen men's and women's teams — who qualify for the Olympics via results at the World Cup as well as qualifying tournaments — and those tournaments will run through the gold medal games on July 29 and 30 (July 30 is the final day of the Los Angeles Olympics). All the basketball games are scheduled to be played at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, the home of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The USA is the defending gold medalists for both the men (who have won five Olympic golds in a row) and women (the eight-time Olympic defending champions).

US women set world record in relay at swim worlds, while Summer McIntosh wins fourth gold

  • US break own record in last event of worlds

  • China’s 12-year-old prodigy Yu Zidi finishes off-podium

Summer McIntosh capped a brilliant world championships with the 400 meters individual medley (IM) title and a fourth individual gold medal, while the United States set a world record in the women’s 4x100 medley relay to win the final title in Singapore on Sunday.

France’s Leon Marchand roared to victory in the men’s 400 meters IM, while the United States topped the medals table with nine golds, one more than Australia.

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German Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier dies after mountaineering accident in Pakistan

  • Former biathlete struck by rockfall at altitude of 5,700m

  • Tributes paid to athlete ‘with heart, attitude and vision’

The German double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management confirmed on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at around noon on Monday, at an altitude of approximately 5,700 metres at Laila Peak, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Tuesday. Dahlmeier was climbing with her mountaineering partner when she was struck by a sudden rockfall in the Hushe Valley, part of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

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Katie Ledecky captures yet another gold in signature event at swimming worlds

  • Ledecky’s 1,500m gold is her 31st overall

  • American now has two medals at Worlds

Katie Ledecky has ceded a tiny bit of ground in other events, but she’s still unbeatable in the 1,500-meter freestyle.

She won it again Tuesday in the swimming world championships in Singapore, finishing in 15 minutes, 26.44 seconds. Simona Quadarella of Italy took silver in 15:31.79 – a European record – with bronze for Lani Pallister of Australia in 15:41.18 in a very quick-paced race.

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US Olympics officials quietly bar trans women from competing in women’s sports

Olympic and Paralympic committee tells federations it has ‘obligation to comply’ with executive order issued by Trump

The US Olympic and Paralympic committee has in effect barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by Donald Trump.

The new policy, announced on Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

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Qatar wants to host Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036

  • Country in discussions with IOC over staging the Games

  • A move from event’s traditional summer slot may be required

Qatar has confirmed its interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The country’s Olympic committee (QOC) confirmed on Tuesday it was in “ongoing discussions” with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over staging the Games.

The Middle East nation hosted the men’s football World Cup in 2022.

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Former MMA fighter ‘died four times’ amid double lung transplant

Ben Askren, a former Olympic wrestler, had been hospitalized in Wisconsin with a severe case of pneumonia

Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren, who has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after a severe case of pneumonia, said in a post on social media Wednesday that he had undergone a double lung transplant and is in recovery.

Askren said during the Instagram video that he recalls very little of what happened over a month-long stretch from late May through the first two days of July. His wife, Amy, had said in a series of social media posts that Askren was put on a ventilator in June and placed on the donor list for a lung transplant on 24 June.

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French fencer cleared of doping charge on account of kissing her partner

  • Ysaora Thibus tested positive for ostarine in 2024

  • Partner Race Imboden was taking ostarine, Cas says

French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus was cleared of a doping allegation Monday because the judges accepted she was contaminated by kissing her American partner over a period of nine days.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruling echoed a verdict clearing another French athlete with a similar defense in a doping allegation – tennis player Richard Gasquet in the celebrated “cocaine kiss” case in 2009.

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NHL, NHLPA, IOC and IIHF finalize agreement for players to participate in 2026 Olympics

ZURICH — The NHL, NHLPA and international officials finalized a long-ago agreed-to deal to send players to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

The league, union, International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee confirmed the participation of NHL players at the games for the first time since 2014. The groups negotiated the agreement and announced it initially last year.

IIHF president Luc Tardif called it “a major step forward for our sport.”

The final touches took time to figure out after officials insisted for months they were not concerned about the lack of a signed document. The deal opens the door for NHL participation to continue in 2030, something that had also been agreed to in February 2024.

The 12 participating countries unveiled the first six players on their Olympic rosters. The men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Games is scheduled to run from Feb. 11-22.

IOC’s Kirsty Coventry announces ‘scientific approach’ to protect ‘female category’

  • Task force of scientists and federations to revise policy

  • Trans and DSD athletes expected to be banned from female category

Kirsty Coventry has said there is now “overwhelming support” among International Olympic Committee members to protect the female category in a significant shift in its gender eligibility policy.

Coventry, who was chairing her first meetings as the IOC’s new president, said that a taskforce of scientists and international federations would be set up within weeks to come up with a new policy.

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Kirsty Coventry takes over as Olympic president and promises to change lives

  • First woman in the role replaces Thomas Bach

  • ‘We are guardians of the Olympic movement’

Kirsty Coventry has promised to change lives and inspire hope during an official ceremony to mark her taking over from Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee.

The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe, who in March became the first woman and the first African to be elected to the most powerful job in sports politics, also paid tribute to the strong women in her life as she was given the golden key to the IOC by Bach.

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Coventry makes history and has steel to make IOC role more than a puppet show | Sean Ingle

Bach’s successor is already making a positive impression but will need all her resolve at mammoth organisation

A new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history.

It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne.

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Canada Olympic hockey roster: Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid among first players named for Milan Cortina 2026

Sidney Crosby is going to his third Olympics in 2026, and he'll be joined by a decorated Canadian cast of Olympic rookies.

Crosby, a gold medalist in 2010 and 2014, headlines the first six players named to the Canada men’s hockey roster for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

The others: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart.

All 12 Olympic men's hockey teams are naming their first six players on Monday.

2026 Olympic hockey rosters
All 12 Olympic men’s hockey teams are naming their first six players on June 16.

Crosby, 37, can become the first men's hockey player to win a third Olympic gold medal since the NHL began participating in 1998.

Other Canadians who won gold in 2010 and 2014 are still active and could also be named to the final 25-man roster closer to the Games.

The rest of Canada's first six, though, are going to their first Olympics as the NHL participates for the first time since 2014.

McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP, is the most decorated active player yet to play at an Olympics. The Edmonton Oilers forward scored the golden goal in February's 4 Nations Face-Off final against the U.S.

MacKinnon, the 2024 Hart Trophy winner for the Colorado Avalanche, makes it two Halifax-born players among the first six along with Crosby.

Makar, MacKinnon's teammate on the Avs, is the two-time and reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman.

Point is a Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose coach, Jon Cooper, will be Canada's Olympic head coach.

The Florida Panthers' Reinhart is already a gold medalist at the junior and senior World Championships, plus a Stanley Cup champion. He will be looking to join the Triple Gold Club, of which Crosby is one of the 30 current members.

Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey Men
France replaces Russia in the 2026 Olympic men’s and women’s hockey tournaments.