With the NHL's regular season officially over, Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby joins legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players in league history to average more than one point per game over their first 15 campaigns, according to The Athletic's Josh Yohe.

Here are Crosby's points-per-game totals since he broke into the league 15 seasons ago:

Gretzky holds the record having gone 19 straight seasons averaging a point per game, only falling short in the year before retirement. Lemieux's streak ended at 15.

Teammate Evgeni Malkin has averaged over a point per game in 13 of his 14 seasons but missed the mark 2010-11.

Connor McDavid holds the only other active streak, as he's reached the mark in each of his first five seasons.

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The Carolina Hurricanes were one of two clubs to vote against the proposed 24-team playoff format on Friday due to the possible handicap it puts on the team.

"For where we were and where our team thought we could get to, it hurts our odds," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

"It's not like we don't want to play," he added.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were the other team to vote no, citing similar reasons.

At the time of the 2019-20 season's pause on March 12, the Hurricanes sat in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 38-25-5 record.

Martinook added that the format may give fringe teams an advantage, according to The Athletic's Sara Civian.

Under the proposed format, 16 teams will need to take part in a best-of-five play-in series in order to secure a spot in the playoffs. Only the top four teams in each conference are guaranteed a berth.

The Hurricanes would be set to take on the New York Rangers in their play-in series if the format is ultimately approved. After voting in favor to authorize further negotiations on the format on Friday, a formal announcement of approval is expected in the coming days.

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The NHL and NHLPA sent out a lengthy Phase 2 protocol memo to teams and players on Monday. The memo details the plan to reopen team facilities and allow small group workouts.

"Based on the current information available, we are now targeting a date in early June for a transition to Phase 2," the memo reads. "However, it has not yet been determined when precisely Phase 2 will start or how long it may last. We are continuing to monitor developments in each of the club’s markets, and may adjust the overall timing if appropriate, following discussion with all relevant parties."

The memo outlines how teams can safely return to practice facilities and the protocols players and staff must follow to do so. It adds that participation during this phase is strictly voluntary, and players outside of their home cities are not yet required to return.

Players may need to serve a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in their club's city. If they traveled via airplane or train, it will be mandatory to isolate. Players from teams who are sheltering in proximity to another team's facility may request access to that facility to train.

Phase 2 will allow a maximum of six players in a practice facility at one time, and no coaches or personnel will be allowed on the ice with them. Players will need to wear face coverings at all times - other than while exercising or on the ice - when entering or leaving the facility and while inside where social distancing cannot be maintained.

When it comes to testing players and staff during Phase 2, the NHL will do so as long as tests are available.

"As an over-riding principle, testing of asymptomatic players and club personnel must be done in the context of excess testing capacity, so as to not deprive health care workers, vulnerable populations, and symptomatic individuals from necessary diagnostic tests."

Players and staff will be given a COVID-19 nasal swab test two days before the commencement of Phase 2, and will be tested two times per week afterward, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston. They must also self-administer temperature and symptom checks daily.

There was no mention of Phase 3 (training camp) and Phase 4 (return to play) in the memo.

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Vegas Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer hasn't been with his new team for long, but he can already tell he has a special group in front of him.

"It's the most talented team I've had in my coaching career I've walked into," DeBoer said on Daren Millard's "The Chirp." "It seems like a great combination of talent and character and leadership. Great community, great ownership, great management.

"I think you coach in this league for opportunities like this, with teams like this. I'm really thankful for how everything played out this year, as tough as some of the moments were."

The San Jose Sharks fired DeBoer in December after a middling start to the 2019-20 season. A month later, the division-rival Golden Knights made him their new head coach.

Vegas has gone 15-5-2 - including an eight-game win streak - since DeBoer's debut Jan. 16. They sat in first place in the Pacific Division when the season was paused on March 12.

After spending over four seasons with the Sharks, which included a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, DeBoer saw his surprise firing as a sign of better things to come.

"I'm a big believer that everything in hockey happens for a reason," DeBoer said. "One door closing, the way that my career has gone, there's always been another door opens with a better opportunity. For me, as tough as it was to leave San Jose 33 games after going to the Conference Final the year before - for me, the Vegas situation is an opportunity of a lifetime."

DeBoer has been a head coach in the NHL since the 2008-09 season when he started with the Florida Panthers. Before arriving in San Jose, he had a stint with the New Jersey Devils, whom he also led to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. Overall, he's compiled a 430-334-113 record.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning feel the proposed 24-team playoff format gives an unfair advantage to some teams.

"I brought the format to my team. They didn't feel it was fair that certain teams that probably wouldn't have made the playoffs would have a chance to make the playoffs in a best-of-five series," Lighting winger and NHLPA representative Alex Killorn said, according to The Athletic's Joe Smith. "My team also felt it was unfair that the teams with a bye would not be as well prepared for a playoff series as the teams that had already basically played a playoff series to get into the playoffs."

"I don't want people to think that we don't want to play. Everyone on our team wants to play. In saying that, we are fine with the vote the PA took and we are ready with it going forward," Killorn added.

Tampa Bay was one of two teams to vote against the 24-team format on Friday. The other was the Carolina Hurricanes, according to The Athletic's Sara Civian.

The Lightning were in second place in the Atlantic Division when the league paused the season on March 12 and are guaranteed a playoff berth under the proposed format. Instead of participating in a best-of-five play-in series, the top four teams in each conference will reportedly be given a bye and partake in a round-robin tournament to determine seeding.

"The only problem I have with that format is that the top teams that have a bye, I don't know how competitive their games will be going forward where the teams at the bottom will be playing playoff games right away and (would be) potentially more prepared for, I guess, the real playoffs," Killorn said.

The NHL is reportedly continuing to work out the details for the format, including whether to reseed or use a bracketed structure following the play-in round and if the first round after the play-in series will be five- or seven-game series. An official announcement is expected early next week.

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San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane still believes there's a long way to go as the NHL deals with racism and hatred tied to hockey.

"For me, it's really just disappointing, it's shocking. And the disappointment comes because I love hockey so much, and I think our sport is the greatest sport by far out of any," Kane said to TSN's Mark Masters and Rick Westhead.

"And all this racism does is drag it down," he continued. "For me, as a player, who really wants this game and this league to grow as big as it possibly can to get on some of the levels that other leagues are on, we're not going to be able to do that until we fix this massive issue that all we've done so far is just cover it up or try to cover it up."

"This is just kind of the beginning of people understanding that there's still racism in hockey whether you want to pretend there isn't or there is," he added.

The 28-year-old has been subjected to racist taunts from fans while playing in the NHL. During the 2019 playoffs, a fan in Colorado told him to "stick to basketball," which Kane later addressed on Instagram.

He believes players still face similar issues today, pointing to Akim Aliu, who recently revealed his past experiences with racism in professional hockey.

"I think there's a lot more stories like that. This wasn't racism from another player on another team or another coach on another team, this was from right in his own locker room," Kane said. "That happens as well, it's happened to me."

"This isn't about Akim being good enough to play in the NHL or not, it's about while he was playing in the NHL, or while he was playing in the AHL, or while he was playing in the OHL, he encountered racism," he added. "Whether that happened yesterday or whether that happened 10 years ago, it makes no difference because the people - specifically to Akim's story - that were causing that sort of racism and displaying those types of remarks and verbalizing that were still active participants in our league, so it is current. It is real. It's not about how long ago it was."

Aliu wrote a piece published on The Players' Tribune last week calling for change across all levels of hockey to improve diversity and inclusivity.

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Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber is aware that the proposed 24-team playoff format provides him and his team a chance to seize an unexpected opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup.

"Obviously, I think we're excited. Do I think it's fair to all the teams that were in the playoffs? No," Weber said on TSN 1040. "At the same time, that gives us a chance to win and it gives us a chance to keep playing."

The NHL is inching toward officially opting for a 24-team playoff format if the league returns to complete the 2019-20 season. On Friday, the NHLPA voted in favor of authorizing further negotiations with the NHL to examine additional details regarding the format.

Montreal sat 24th in the league standings when the season was paused March 12. Despite a near zero percent chance of making the playoffs, the Canadiens would squeeze in as the final team under the proposed format.

"Obviously, the situation we were in where we weren't officially out (of the playoffs) but it would have been a tough road ahead to get in, and I think now it gives us a little bit of hope," Weber added. "At the end of the day, I think everyone's going to consider it, whether they'll give it an asterisk ... it's still the Stanley Cup."

Expectations are that the league will formally announce the approval of the format in the coming days, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie, who adds that a timetable or return date is unlikely to also be included.

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Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine is excited to hopefully get back on the ice this summer and compete for the Stanley Cup, but he knows his game won't pick up where it left off.

"My game is probably gonna look terrible since I haven't skated for two months," Laine said on a video conference call Friday, according to The Canadian Press. "It's always a struggle to come back after a long period when you haven't skated."

The NHL is reportedly voting on a 24-team playoff format that'll be used if the league returns to finish the 2019-20 season. Under the proposed format, the Jets would take on the Calgary Flames in a best-of-five play-in series.

Despite the potential expanded field, tougher path to the title, and the likelihood of being quarantined in a hub city, Laine is simply looking forward to competing.

"I just want to play, and I can do whatever format they decide. It's still hockey, but I don't mind the format. It's not an issue for me," Laine said. "I'll have to bring my computer so that I can play some video games. It will be boring, but if that's what it requires to play hockey this summer, that's fine with me. I don't mind and I don't need to go anywhere but my hotel room. So that would be just normal for me on the road.

"If that's necessary, I don't mind it."

The 22-year-old was having a solid season before the pause, recording 28 goals and 35 assists in 68 games.

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With the NHL reportedly in the midst of voting on an unprecedented 24-team playoff format, clubs weren't willing to give two of the league's biggest stars an easy chance to disrupt the postseason.

"The league initially suggested this play-in round be best two out of three and the players said no way," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said Friday on Sportsnet 590's "Lead Off." "They felt it was not acceptable enough for the teams that had a better regular season and Pittsburgh looked at its matchup and it said 'two out of three against Carey Price is not fair for a team that had zero percentage points to play in the playoffs.'"

Friedman added: "If the players feel that way, the players feel that way. They're the guy that they gotta shoot against and they clearly believe that he is a difference-maker ... The players fought the two-out-of-three because of him."

Under the current proposed 24-team format, the Pittsburgh Penguins would be tasked with facing the 24th-placed Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-five play-in series. The Penguins were nearly guaranteed a playoff berth at the time of the season's pause on March 12, whereas the Canadiens seemed destined for a lottery pick.

Price has a career .914 save percentage in the playoffs and is widely seen as the league's best goaltender despite his lackluster play of late. He was voted the best goalie by his peers in the 2019-20 NHLPA player poll.

Similar sentiments were felt in the Western Conference about Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks in a short series.

"I did hear that the Western teams - and now it's going to be Edmonton - they were like, 'two out of three with Patrick Kane? I mean come on.' But it wasn't at the same level as Price."

Friedman added that the results of the vote on the proposed 24-team format are expected to be known on Friday evening or Saturday.

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E.J. Johnston - founder of the new three-on-three hockey league, 3ICE - said last year that the players and coaches who participate will be familiar faces, and he has yet to disappoint.

Grant Fuhr, Bryan Trottier, Guy Carbonneau, Larry Murphy, Angela Ruggiero, John LeClair, Joe Mullen, and Ed Johnston round out the group of coaches for the league's eight teams. In total, they've combined for 23 Stanley Cup victories and six of the eight have made their way into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The three-on-three league is set to debut in June 2021 and travel across North America where teams will play in bracket-style tournaments in different cities every weekend.

"We’re anticipating that we’re going to be able to have a lot of exciting hockey," league commissioner Craig Patrick said, according to USA Today's Chris Bumbaca. "Even more than the NHL’s overtime format, because we’re going to go for a lot of speed and skill throughout and we’re going to look at different rules that enable that to happen more frequently in our game."

While the players remain unknown, Johnston believes he'll be able to attract a good group to join his league. He described the ideal 3ICE participants as "shorter, faster players, with elite hands and stick speed."

"These guys will have NHL pedigree. If the NHL was overtime all the time, they’d still be playing in the league," Johnston added. "The creativity is really what we’re looking for.”

Games will be aired on CBS Sports in the United States and TSN in Canada. They will consist of eight-minute halves and have a running clock. There will be no penalties in the league, only penalty shots.

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