Category: Sports News

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters on Wednesday that the league was caught off guard about the conversation that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump previously had regarding a hockey competition between American and Russian players. 

“We learned about it from the media reports,” Bettman said at the annual NHL GM meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I’m not going to speculate or anything else. It is what it is.”

According to a summary released by the Kremlin on Tuesday, United States president Trump reportedly lent support to Russian president Putin’s idea of organizing hockey matches in the U.S. and Russia featuring NHL and KHL players. The conversation between the two leaders occurred during a phone call about Russia’s war in Ukraine, though the White House’s statement did not mention hockey.

The NHL also released a statement on Tuesday, saying it became aware of the conversation between Trump and Putin after the fact.

“Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time,” the league’s statement said.

Bettman referred to that statement at a press conference recapping three days of NHL GM meetings in Florida, where he talked about the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the upcoming international calendar. NHL players are expected to attend the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy, after not participating in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. National hockey federations had to use players from outside the NHL during the last two Winter Games.

Whether Russia will have a team in Milan remains to be seen. 

The IIHF suspended Russia and Belarus from international competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. That suspension remains in place through at least the end of the 2025-26 season. But the International Olympic Committee decides on Russian participation in the Olympics.

When the NHL and NHLPA announced in February the 2028 World Cup of Hockey tournament – which will be run separately from the IIHF – both parties noted they will monitor world events before deciding on whether Russian players will participate or not.

“I'd love to see our Russian players playing in these tournaments again,” NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said in February. “They're incredible hockey players. The issues are political. Not political as far as the NHLPA – it's world politics we have to get through. I'm hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing Russian athletes back in the competition.”

“The international federation just voted to keep Russia out of many competitions, as have many other sports, and we're going to have to see what the International Olympic committee does,” Bettman also said in February before the 4 Nations Face-Off, which didn’t include Russian players. “But we have enough time to deal with the realities with what the world situation looks like before then.”

The KHL left the jurisdiction of the Russian Hockey Federation and became a non-member organization of the IIHF before the 2024-25 season. In May of 2024, the IIHF also fined the Russian Hockey Federation $1.1 million for violating the IIHF International Transfer Regulations when signing Philadelphia Flyers Ivan Fedotov to a contract with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.

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Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett is among this season's notable pending NHL UFAs.

The 28-year-old is in the final season of a four-year contract with the Panthers worth an average annual value of $4.43 million. 

Throughout that deal, Bennett emerged among the NHL's best two-way centers. A feisty performer, his 45 points this season mark the fourth straight year that he exceeded the 40-point plateau. He also played a key role in the Panthers' march to the Stanley Cup last season.

Bennett's UFA eligibility this summer made his future in Florida the subject of speculation leading up to the recent trade deadline. However, the Panthers retained him as they prepared to defend their championship. 

Sportsnet's Luke Fox included Bennett on his list of this summer's top UFAs. He indicated Panthers GM Bill Zito has been working hard to get him signed to an extension. Fox's colleague, Elliotte Friedman, reported last Saturday that contract talks have reopened between the two sides. 

Fox believes it'll come down to whether Bennett prefers life in South Florida or pursuing top dollar elsewhere.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Hockey Now's James Nichols wondered about the future of young defensemen Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey after the Devils signed Johnathan Kovacevic to a five-year contract extension on March 7. 

Nichols observed the Devils already have Brett Pesce under contract for five more seasons and Dougie Hamilton for three more, leaving little room on the right side of their blueline. He speculated Nemec or Casey could be dangled as trade bait this summer to add an impact scorer. 

Nemec surfaced in the rumor mill earlier this season when it was reported he wanted a fresh start elsewhere. He quickly denied the report, but Nichols pointed out that was before his path to become a blueline regular became less certain. 

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Unless you arrive at the Canadian Tire Centre from the south end of the city limits, it is impossible not to notice the massive advertisement adorning the northeast side of the arena.

Linus Ullmark's mask is predominantly featured in the ad, highlighting the fact its design was produced on Apple's iPad product. The mask designer, Dave Gunnarsson, or @daveart as he is recognized on Instagram, has been using the technology to help his business thrive.

Based out of Sävsjö, the 48-year-old Swedish artist estimates that he has easily made over 5,000 masks in his career.

"Drawing has been my biggest interest since I was a little boy," Gunnarson explained, describing his childhood. "I've been drawing and painting as long as I can remember.

"I knew I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I saw the cool goalie masks in the NHL because I'm a big hockey fan. This was at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, so I saw the masks, and I thought they were cool. I started to do masks locally here in Sweden for friends."

Word of Gunnarson's work spread as these friends played, and more eyes inevitably landed on his designs. He had so many clients that he was able to start his own professional business after graduating from high school in 1996.

Eventually, Gunnarson was approached to design masks for his local biggest professional team, the Elitserien's HV71. His first client was Boo Ahl. If his last name sounds familiar, it is likely because you recall the Senators drafting his son, Filip Ahl, in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft.

Once Gunnarsson's masks appeared at the game's highest level in Sweden, Gunnarson's phone blew up with interest. Next year will be his 30th year in the industry, and he admits he never could have envisioned how successful his business would become.

"I could never, ever dream that I could work this (job) full-time for 30 years and work with the best of the best goalies. I could not even dream it when I started.

"It's a dream. When I watch NHL hockey in the evenings and on TV, I see my paintings. It's a wonderful feeling."

For those interested, a mask design begins when a client or prospective client reaches out to Dave. He and a goaltender will talk and brainstorm ideas before Gunnarsson arrives at a design solution. Depending on whether a player has many ideas or very few, it can impact the timeline.

Once he has a theme, Gunnarsson does a sketch on his iPad.

When it is completed, he sends it to the goaltender for feedback. That process repeats until the client is satisfied, and once the design is locked, it is presented to the NHL and the player's organization for approval. Since the NHL clubs are the ones who pay for the mask, the team's equipment manager is the one who signs off on it.

After the two approvals are given, Gunnarsson begins to paint.

He often paints four or five masks simultaneously because his products take time to dry, creating a more efficient process. Gunnarsson takes a video of the mask when it is complete and sends it to his client for approval before applying a clear coat and finish.

If it is a notable project, Gunnarsson can have a mask finished and shipped in days. It typically takes him two to four weeks to have a product finished and in his client's hands.

It is an impressive operation, and his work has culminated with the artist working with some of the preeminent goaltenders of the modern generation, like Henrik Lundqvist. His impressive list of clients includes a trio of Senators goaltenders: Linus Ullmark, Anton Forsberg and Leevi Merilainen.

EA Sports recently added one of Ullmark's masks to its NHL 25 videogame.  

Gunnarsson describes the Senators' goaltenders as low-maintenance and easy to work with. His relationship with Ullmark and Forsberg goes back 14 years.

"Linus and Anton, I started to work with them at the same time because they played on the same team here in Sweden with MODO," Gunnarsson recalled. "I have done a lot of work with them since then, and I remember Linus Ullmark told me many years ago that he (wanted to pay homage to) Stefan Liv."

Liv was born in Gdynia, Poland, and given to an orphanage where a Swedish family adopted him when he was two. His family brought him back to Sweden, where he eventually played hockey and flourished as a goaltender. The third-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2000 NHL Draft never played a game in the NHL, but he spent many years in the Eliteserien playing for Gunnarsson's hometown HV71.

On September 7, 2011, the goaltender was one of the 44 who perished in the tragic Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.

"Stefan and I were very good friends," stated Gunnarsson. "He was one of my first clients and lived near me. I remember when Linus told me he (wanted to pay homage to) Stefan. I remember that when we started working together, we talked about Stefan."

Their relationship grew from that point, and Gunnarsson has worked extensively on Ullmark's masks as the goaltender transitioned from the Swedish league to a thriving NHL career. Ullmark's two most prominent masks this season -- the Patrick Lalime-inspired Martian design and the Senators logo and vertical stripe design featured on the aforementioned Apple iPad advertisement -- were designed by Gunnarsson.

"I've had a good relationship with Dave ever since I started my pro career as well in Sweden," Ullmark told the Senators' digital team. "We've come up with some pretty nifty ones.

"Which is good in a way, because we can be very honest with each other. I tell him right away if I don't like it. I will get something else going. This one came out really good. He was the go-to guy. He was the best one, obviously, back in the day, as well. Especially for a young Swede. My dream was always to have a mask painted by him after seeing guys like Henrik Lundqvist and those guys and their masks. To look back at it now, 14 years later, it's pretty special. Whenever I go into my little room with all the masks, I go through the memories and see the things I've done throughout my career."

Gunnarsson praised Ullmark for his diligence and passion for collaborating to create good designs. He enjoys their brainstorming sessions and Ullmark's attention to perfecting the finer Swedish motif details like the Viking helmet on the Martian, runes, Viking ships and splashing water. He also enjoyed the distinction in Ullmark's Apple advertisement mask because of the design's 3-D complexities and contrasts.

Anton Forsberg was a longtime client, but Gunnarsson fondly recalls the goaltender's fun nature.

"His requests had fun ideas," the designer recalled. "He really likes to have his dog on the masks, so it is always fun to paint (lighthearted material). I really enjoy paintings with humour, cartooning, and other funny stuff."

Forsberg has pivoted to Dave Fried's Friedesigns in recent years. That decision speaks to how Gunnarsson may be a victim of his success. When every goaltender seemingly comes to you for a design, some may be tempted to look for alternatives to differentiate themselves.

Leevi Merilainen, the Senators' young Finnish upstart who established himself as a viable goaltending prospect earlier this season, received a new Gunnarsson design (mask pictured below, on right) during his impressive January run with the Senators.

"We've been working for three years now," Merilainen stated. "It's been going great. I like his style and how he does it. He has a great hand, and you can tell he's done a lot of masks.

"They might have been pretty simple so far. I don't know if I'll do something a little crazier, but so far, so good."

In his current mask, Leevi afforded the artist some creative liberty.

"I let him do his thing," the goaltender clarified. "I wanted a fighting Senator thing with an old-school vibe. Same thing in the background. I didn't have my number on the last mask when I didn't know my number here yet.

"(Ullmark's mask) came and (had the) 35. That's (the concept) I wanted, with just the basic logos and a lot of color. I like that. There is nothing crazy (on the back), just the Finnish lion and the flag. Other than that, it's pretty basic, but I gave him a lot of options on what to do himself."

Gunnarsson referred to Merilainen's mask as featuring a storybook style.

"Leevi had an idea that he wanted a cool Senator soldier with an army behind him going for attacks, so I created it," he said. "It is like a storybook style with a lot of colours.

"The (warrior) was on one side, and on the other side, he wanted the team's logo. (The mask) has a lot of 3D effects, like the waving flag on the chin. It has a lot of stuff, so it feels like it tells a story."

"It tells a story" perfectly describes the truly fascinating part of Gunnarsson's job.

Every mask is a living piece of art that documents the NHL's history and becomes part of the game's fabric. To impact this league from thousands of miles away is remarkable and a testament to his work.

By Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News Ottawa

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