With under one month to go until the 2022 Beijing Games, Hockey Canada unveiled the management and coaching staff for Canada's men's Olympic team Friday.

Former NHLer and current Arizona Coyotes executive Shane Doan will take the reins as general manager, while ex-Montreal Canadiens skipper Claude Julien will lead the way as head coach.

"We are excited to continue working with the entire staff as it prepares to represent Canada and build a roster that Canadians can support as it looks to bring home an Olympic gold medal," Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney said in a statement.

With NHL players no longer attending the Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Doan steps into St. Louis Blues executive Doug Armstrong's place as GM, while Julien replaces Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper behind the bench.

Doan, who is currently the Coyotes' chief hockey development officer, has plenty of experience guiding Team Canada in international competition. He served as general manager and assistant coach at the 2021 Channel One Cup in December, where the national team finished in third place. He captured gold as Canada's assistant general manager at the 2021 IIHF World Championship.

The 45-year-old represented Canada as a player during the 2006 Winter Games in Italy.

Julien has a wealth of coaching experience at the international level, having won Olympic gold as an assistant coach at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. He served as Canada's head coach at the 2021 Channel One Cup as well.

The 61-year-old also has no shortage of NHL experience; Julien has coached a total of 1,274 games and has one Stanley Cup championship.

Rounding out Canada's management group are senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager Scott Salmond and director of player personnel Blair Mackasey.

Joining Julien on the bench are assistants Nolan Baumgartner, Jeremy Colliton, and Tyler Dietrich. The Chicago Blackhawks fired Colliton as head coach earlier this season.

"Shane, the entire management, and the coaching staff have been working extensively to evaluate players and build a roster that gives us the best chance to compete for a gold medal, and we look forward to unveiling that roster in the coming weeks," Salmond said.

Canada's men's team will kick off its Olympic competition in a preliminary-round clash against Germany on Feb. 10.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman has been suspended one game for headbutting Boston Bruins forward Erik Haula during Wednesday night's contest, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Thursday.

The incident occurred in the middle of a scrum during the third period. Haula entered the fray and grabbed Wideman from behind. In the ensuing scuffle, Wideman thrust his head against Haula's.

The Department of Player Safety ruled that Wideman's contact was intentional and direct.

He received two minor penalties for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct.

This is the first time that Wideman has been fined or suspended by the league in his 204-game NHL career.

The 32-year-old will forfeit $3,750 in salary as a result of the suspension.

Boston won the contest 5-1.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NHL veteran Eric Staal signed a professional tryout contract with the Minnesota Wild's AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild announced Thursday.

The 37-year-old Staal plans to see where he's at physically with Iowa in hopes of playing for Team Canada at the Beijing Olympics, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.

NHL players won't compete in the international tournament this year due to COVID-19 issues.

Staal, who was an unrestricted free agent, spent four seasons with Minnesota from 2016-20. He last played for the Montreal Canadiens during their Stanley Cup Final run, registering eight points in 21 games while averaging 11:31 of ice time per contest.

The forward has represented Canada at the Olympic Games before, winning a gold medal in 2010 in Vancouver.

Staal hasn't played in an AHL game since 2005 when he put up 77 points in 77 contests for the now-defunct Lowell Lock Monsters. He's set to play Friday when Iowa squares off against the Chicago Wolves, per Russo.

The Ontario native was drafted second overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003. He has 441 goals and 593 assists in 1,293 career NHL games.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Kingston Frontenacs forward Shane Wright tops Central Scouting's midseason North American skater rankings leading up to the 2022 NHL Draft.

The latest lists for North American and international players were released Wednesday.

Here are the top 10 for each pool.

North American skaters

Wright has dominated the OHL, registering 11 goals and 19 assists in 22 games. That production is par for the course for the young star, who put up 66 points in 58 games during his rookie year.

The 18-year-old added one assist in two games during the short-lived 2022 World Junior Championship, which was canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

International skaters

The 2022 NHL Draft will take place from July 7-8.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL has informed teams that it is investigating Evander Kane for crossing the U.S.-Canada border eight days after he tested positive for COVID-19 in December, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The development will likely prevent the free-agent forward from signing a deal in the short term as teams await the investigation's results, Friedman added.

Kane reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 21 and flew to Vancouver on Dec. 29, according to Friedman. The San Jose Sharks apparently say that Kane didn't have medical clearance to do so.

The Sharks placed Kane on unconditional waivers Saturday for the purpose of terminating his contract, citing a "breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols."

The 30-year-old cleared waivers Sunday and is an unrestricted free agent. The NHLPA reportedly filed a grievance Sunday night to challenge the voiding of his contract.

Kane is free to sign elsewhere while awaiting the results of the grievance, sources told TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Despite the controversies surrounding Kane, some teams are still showing interest.

Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland confirmed Tuesday that he's spoken to Kane's agent, Dan Milstein, and said he believes in "second chances."

This isn't the first time Kane has been at the center of a league investigation.

The NHL cleared Kane in a September investigation focused on allegations from his estranged wife, Anna, that he gambled on NHL games.

Two subsequent league probes looked into Kane's alleged use of a fake vaccination card and allegations that he'd abused Anna. He was suspended 21 games for violating the NHL's COVID-19 protocol in October, while the league said the domestic abuse investigation "could not be substantiated."

Kane cleared waivers in late November before reporting to the AHL's San Jose Barracuda, where he put up eight points in five games.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres' crease continues to take hits.

Goaltenders Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Malcolm Subban are week-to-week and month-to-month, respectively, after suffering injuries in Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sabres announced Wednesday.

Veteran netminder Craig Anderson is still listed as month-to-month, while Dustin Tokarski remains week-to-week after a bout with COVID-19.

Luukkonen, 22, exited Tuesday's 6-1 loss to Tampa Bay after the opening frame with a lower-body injury. Subban, 28, played the second and third periods in relief but suffered an upper-body ailment in the process.

Anderson has been out since Nov. 2. Tokarski returned to practice on Dec. 27, but it's not clear when he'll be ready for game action.

The Sabres signed goalie Michael Houser to a one-year, $750,000 deal on Wednesday to help mitigate the losses. The 29-year-old has spent the 2021-22 season with the AHL's Rochester Americans, sporting a 5-4-0 record and a .900 save percentage. Houser has played in just four career NHL games, all of which came last season.

Houser and Aaron Dell - whom the Sabres recalled Wednesday - are Buffalo's only healthy options in net.

Dell has an .872 save percentage across seven appearances in 2021-22.

Several Buffalo skaters are also banged up: Drake Caggiula is week-to-week, Casey Mittelstadt is month-to-month, and Robert Hagg is day-to-day.

The Sabres sit sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 10-19-6 record.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Chicago Blackhawks called up top prospect Lukas Reichel and assigned him to the taxi squad, the team announced Wednesday.

Reichel, 19, leads the AHL's Rockford IceHogs with 20 points in 20 games and was recently named Player of the Week after logging three goals and three assists in two games.

The Blackhawks selected the German product 17th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.

The team hopes to give him his NHL debut soon, according to NBC Sports Chicago's Charlie Roumeliotis. Their next game is against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Chicago currently sits seventh in the Central Division with a 13-18-5 record. The team's scored the fifth-fewest goals in the league (87) and has the third-worst goal differential (-34).

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

One day after signing a one-year deal to rejoin his beloved Boston Bruins, longtime goaltender Tuukka Rask took a moment to reflect on his fellow veterans' futures in Beantown.

"We're realistic that we're getting older and the window is closing, (whether) that's a year, two or three years, who knows?" Rask said when asked about his conversations with Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron regarding their long-term outlook, according to NHL reporter Amalie Benjamin. "But it's closing, and we know that."

Though Rask added he and Bergeron haven't talked much about their future, he did have some advice for how the 36-year-old can boost his longevity.

"He should do what I did - take half the season off," Rask joked, according to Boston Sports Journal's Conor Ryan.

Rask has yet to play in a game this season after undergoing surgery on a torn hip labrum in June. He signed a professional tryout with Boston's AHL affiliate on Thursday with the intention of making a couple of starts with the Providence Bruins, but Providence's games on Friday and Sunday were postponed due to COVID-19 issues.

Rask inked a $1-million deal with Boston but will only earn $545,000 because he signed so late in the campaign, according to PuckPedia.

"I think the biggest motivation is to play with the group I've played with my whole career and have another chance to win. That's about it," he said.

As for his next deal, the 34-year-old isn't focusing on it.

"We'll see. I haven't made any plans for the future. ... I haven't made any long-term plans yet. We'll see what happens," he said, according to Ryan.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Rask will serve as Linus Ullmark's backup for Wednesday's contest against the Montreal Canadians, while Jeremy Swayman will be assigned to Providence.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After scoring the overtime winner in his first game back from a stint in COVID-19 protocol, not even an octopus could cramp San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture's style against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

The incident in question occurred under a minute into overtime when a fan tossed an octopus at center ice while play was in the Sharks' end. After San Jose had control of the puck, Couture seemingly directed the linesman's attention toward the tentacled intruder before the official swept it out of harm's way.

Play continued, and Couture eventually banged the puck past Detroit netminder Alex Nedeljkovic at the goal line to complete the 3-2 victory.

"It was weird because the crowd was screaming and yelling, and I didn't know what was going on," Couture said, according to Sharks beat writer Curtis Pashelka. "I looked up; I thought there was a jersey on the ice. Then I got closer and saw it was an octopus."

The goal was reviewed for a potential offside call, but the octopus certainly had something to do with it.

"I went over to the ref, and he said, 'We're making sure that the octopus wasn't part of the play,'" Couture said, according to San Jose Hockey Now's Sheng Peng.

Tossing an octopus onto the ice is a beloved tradition in Red Wings history, but the ritual looked a little out of place at San Jose's SAP Center.

"It's something you don't see every day. It's their tradition. But I guess it brought us luck today," Sharks forward Timo Meier said after the game, according to Peng.

Couture, 32, had missed the Sharks' previous three contests after landing on the NHL's COVID-19 list on Jan. 4.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL revealed the bench bosses for the 2022 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The coach of the team in each division with the highest points percentage through Jan. 10 received the honor: Andrew Brunette of the Atlantic Division's Florida Panthers, Rod Brind'Amour of the Metropolitan's Carolina Hurricanes, Jared Bednar of the Central's Colorado Avalanche, and Peter DeBoer of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division.

Panthers interim head coach Brunette doesn't have much head coaching experience and was thrown into the fire when Joel Quenneville resigned from his post earlier this season. The Panthers have done just fine during his limited tenure, cruising to a 16-7-5 record since the 48-year-old took over.

Brind'Amour won the 2021 Jack Adams Award. His Hurricanes are tied for first in the Metropolitan alongside the New York Rangers with a record of 24-7-2, but the Canes have four games in hand.

Bednar has led the perennially contending Avalanche to a 22-8-2 record while helping them navigate a myriad of injuries to their top players.

Finally, DeBoer's Golden Knights rebounded from a sputtering start to the season to take the top spot in the Pacific with a record of 23-14-1.

The All-Star Game rosters and captains will be unveiled Thursday, and All-Star Weekend festivities are set to take place from Feb. 4-5.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.