Oilers Entertainment Group is making a strong push for Edmonton to be selected as one of the NHL's hub cities.
The company provided details Monday about its proposal, including those related to the player experience and safety measures it plans to implement, according to TSN's Ryan Rishaug.
All players will stay at the JW Marriott hotel, which is across from Rogers Place. A village-style setup - similar to that used during the Olympics - will provide players with outdoor and indoor activities, including golf simulators, basketball courts, movie nights, video games, live entertainment, ping pong, pool tables, lounge areas, and rooftop patios.
Arrangements will be made with more than a dozen of the city's top-end restaurants to provide players with a wide variety of food delivery options. Local golf courses will also have days dedicated to hosting only the participants living in the bubble.
The players are unlikely to be joined by their families immediately upon arrival, but OEG is working with Alberta Tourism to create vacation experiences across the province for family members to take part in as the season resumes.
Safety and testing protocols will be strengthened for all players, staff, and employees. Edmonton police will also help plan dedicated routes for players to use when traveling to and from the arena.
The league is expected to announce by the end of this week its choice of the two hub cities. After reportedly cutting down the list from 10 cities to six on Saturday, Edmonton remains in the mix alongside Vancouver, Toronto, Las Vegas, and two others.
The NHL is reportedly not considering delaying its tentative July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 during Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan.
The Ohioan capital is no longer being considered to host teams if the NHL returns to finish the 2019-20 season, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.
Columbus was one of 10 cities under initial consideration, but that list was reportedly slashed to six Saturday. Las Vegas, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto are among the cities still in the mix.
"They had a lot of positives about our presentation, but they've gone in a different direction," Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "It's disappointing, but we were also among the last few cities to be considered. You take the positives along with the disappointment and you move on."
The NHL is expected to announce its decision on its two hub cities by the end of this week. The league is reportedly not considering delaying its tentative July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 during Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan.
Veteran forward Chris Thorburn announced Monday that he has officially retired from professional hockey.
Thorburn, 37, was unsigned for the 2019-20 campaign and last suited up for the St. Louis Blues, winning the Stanley Cup last year.
"It was an unbelievable ride with a storybook ending. As tough as it is to close this chapter, I am excited for the new adventures ahead for myself and my family," Thorburn said.
The Buffalo Sabres drafted Thorburn 50th overall in 2001. He had stints with the Sabres, Penguins, Thrashers, Jets, and Blues over his 14-year career.
The 2021 World Championship will take place from May 21 to June 6, the IIHF announced Monday.
The tournament will be split between Minsk, Belarus, and Riga, Latvia. The 16-team field will be divided into two groups. Group A features Belarus, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, and Great Britain. Group B includes Latvia, Canada, Finland, United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, and Kazakhstan.
This year's World Championship was supposed to be held in Switzerland in May but was canceled in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Finland defeated Canada in last year's final to capture gold.
Vince Vaughn's fast-talking everyman LaFleur shines as the only clear-minded inhabitant of the chaotic world of semi-professional dodgeball, and the foil to the over-the-top fitness guru White Goodman (Ben Stiller), leader of the rival Globo Gym Purple Cobras.
99. Robert Hatch
"Escape to Victory" (1981)
Though far from his signature sports role, Sylvester Stallone is every bit the underdog hero as Hatch, a World War II prisoner of war who uses a soccer match versus his German captors as cover to orchestrate an escape for his fellow Allied soldiers.
98. Jack Elliot
"Mr. Baseball" (1992)
Elliot (Tom Selleck) is a brash and arrogant veteran ballplayer whose world is turned upside down when the New York Yankees ship him off to Japan. The slugger is forced to contend with the high expectations of being dubbed "Mr. Baseball," while also overcoming cultural differences and a pitch he can't hit called the shuuto.
97. Walter Sobchak
'The Big Lebowski' (1998)
Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio / Getty
John Goodman's paranoid Vietnam War vet Walter highlights a film featuring many zany characters. The Dude's foul-tempered bowling buddy is quick to fly off the handle if an opponent dares to violate the rules of the lanes.
"Smokey, my friend, you're entering a world of pain. If you mark that frame an eight, you're entering a world of pain," Walter says while brandishing his sidearm.
96. Phil Brickma
"Rookie of the Year" (1993)
Brickma (Daniel Stern), the wacky Chicago Cubs pitching coach in "Rookie of the Year," is supposed to mentor flame-throwing Little Leaguer Henry Rowengartner. Instead, he amuses the audience with his nonsensical advice and hilarious blunders, like getting himself trapped between two hotel-room doors.
95. Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney
"D2: The Mighty Ducks" (1994) and "D3: The Mighty Ducks" (1996)
Joining the series for the second and third films, fierce and confident goalie Julie (Columbe Jacobsen-Derstine) is a welcome addition to the Ducks. "The Cat" comes up clutch for Team USA, stonewalling Iceland's top player during a shootout to cap the team's tournament win at the Junior Goodwill Games.
94. Cole Trickle
"Days of Thunder" (1990)
On paper, Tom Cruise and NASCAR is the perfect marriage of actor and subject - a fearless, physical performer, and a sport in which fearing anything could lead to a tragic end. Trickle is right out of the Cruise playbook, as he's basically Maverick from "Top Gun," but on a blacktop. Even 30 years later, the race sequences never fail to get the blood pumping.
93. Tong Po
"Kickboxer" (1989) and "Kickboxer 2: The Road Back" (1991)
Michel Qissi stars as Tong Po opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in this 1989 sports action-revenge flick pitting the two combatants against each other after the villainous Muay Thai fighter paralyzes Van Damme's brother during a match. Qissi returned to play Po in the sequel, which didn't include Van Damme.
92. Henry Rowengartner
"Rookie of the Year" (1993)
After an accident gives him incredible pitching talent, Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas), a previously unskilled Little Leaguer, helps transform the middling Cubs into a major-league powerhouse, all while trying to balance the challenges of living the big-league life with being a teenager.
91. Lola Bunny
"Space Jam" (1996)
Like many other female characters in the "Looney Tunes" franchise, Lola Bunny (voiced by Kath Soucie) didn't get the central role that she deserved. The filmmakers did subvert some of that historical baggage with a recurring "don't call me doll" bit, but Lola could - and should - have been much more than Bugs' love interest; something that "Space Jam: A New Legacy" will hopefully correct. Despite the filmmakers' faults, Lola is an instantly recognizable character from the canon, and her on-court skills - as evidenced above - are easily the best of any non-Michael Jordan figure in the movie.
Vince Vaughn's fast-talking everyman LaFleur shines as the only clear-minded inhabitant of the chaotic world of semi-professional dodgeball, and the foil to the over-the-top fitness guru White Goodman (Ben Stiller), leader of the rival Globo Gym Purple Cobras.
99. Robert Hatch
"Escape to Victory" (1981)
Though far from his signature sports role, Sylvester Stallone is every bit the underdog hero as Hatch, a World War II prisoner of war who uses a soccer match versus his German captors as cover to orchestrate an escape for his fellow Allied soldiers.
98. Jack Elliot
"Mr. Baseball" (1992)
Elliot (Tom Selleck) is a brash and arrogant veteran ballplayer whose world is turned upside down when the New York Yankees ship him off to Japan. The slugger is forced to contend with the high expectations of being dubbed "Mr. Baseball," while also overcoming cultural differences and a pitch he can't hit called the shuuto.
97. Walter Sobchak
'The Big Lebowski' (1998)
Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio / Getty
John Goodman's paranoid Vietnam War vet Walter highlights a film featuring many zany characters. The Dude's foul-tempered bowling buddy is quick to fly off the handle if an opponent dares to violate the rules of the lanes.
"Smokey, my friend, you're entering a world of pain. If you mark that frame an eight, you're entering a world of pain," Walter says while brandishing his sidearm.
96. Phil Brickma
"Rookie of the Year" (1993)
Brickma (Daniel Stern), the wacky Chicago Cubs pitching coach in "Rookie of the Year," is supposed to mentor flame-throwing Little Leaguer Henry Rowengartner. Instead, he amuses the audience with his nonsensical advice and hilarious blunders, like getting himself trapped between two hotel-room doors.
95. Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney
"D2: The Mighty Ducks" (1994) and "D3: The Mighty Ducks" (1996)
Joining the series for the second and third films, fierce and confident goalie Julie (Columbe Jacobsen-Derstine) is a welcome addition to the Ducks. "The Cat" comes up clutch for Team USA, stonewalling Iceland's top player during a shootout to cap the team's tournament win at the Junior Goodwill Games.
94. Cole Trickle
"Days of Thunder" (1990)
On paper, Tom Cruise and NASCAR is the perfect marriage of actor and subject - a fearless, physical performer, and a sport in which fearing anything could lead to a tragic end. Trickle is right out of the Cruise playbook, as he's basically Maverick from "Top Gun," but on a blacktop. Even 30 years later, the race sequences never fail to get the blood pumping.
93. Tong Po
"Kickboxer" (1989) and "Kickboxer 2: The Road Back" (1991)
Michel Qissi stars as Tong Po opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in this 1989 sports action-revenge flick pitting the two combatants against each other after the villainous Muay Thai fighter paralyzes Van Damme's brother during a match. Qissi returned to play Po in the sequel, which didn't include Van Damme.
92. Henry Rowengartner
"Rookie of the Year" (1993)
After an accident gives him incredible pitching talent, Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas), a previously unskilled Little Leaguer, helps transform the middling Cubs into a major-league powerhouse, all while trying to balance the challenges of living the big-league life with being a teenager.
91. Lola Bunny
"Space Jam" (1996)
Like many other female characters in the "Looney Tunes" franchise, Lola Bunny (voiced by Kath Soucie) didn't get the central role that she deserved. The filmmakers did subvert some of that historical baggage with a recurring "don't call me doll" bit, but Lola could - and should - have been much more than Bugs' love interest; something that "Space Jam: A New Legacy" will hopefully correct. Despite the filmmakers' faults, Lola is an instantly recognizable character from the canon, and her on-court skills - as evidenced above - are easily the best of any non-Michael Jordan figure in the movie.
New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur isn't ready to become the club's general manager if the opportunity arises in the near future.
"I know what it takes to be a GM," Brodeur said Thursday, according to The Hockey News' Matt Larkin. "I've been around Doug Armstrong (with the St. Louis Blues) for a long time and Lou Lamoriello (with the Devils).
"I'm just not ready for the commitment, regardless of whether it would be offered to me."
The Hall of Fame netminder spent three years as assistant general manager with the St. Louis Blues after ending his playing career in 2015. In August 2018, he joined the Devils and took on a business-development position before moving to a hockey operations role in January 2020 following the firing of former general manager Ray Shero.
New Jersey replaced Shero with Tom Fitzgerald, who said earlier in June that nothing has changed regarding his interim status. Though Brodeur isn't immediately interested in the position, the 48-year-old didn't rule it out down the road.
"I’m not saying that one day, I won’t say, 'You know what? This is the time for me to do it, maybe,'" Brodeur said. "But right now, I value my time off too much to get myself involved. Not that I’m not involved, as in my role I need to be pretty much present, but I’m able to kind of make my own schedule and not rely on the general manager setup."
Brodeur logged 1,259 games with the Devils before playing his final seven contests with the Blues in 2014-15. He holds NHL records for wins (691) and shutouts (125), and Brodeur captured three Stanley Cups with New Jersey (1995, 2000, and 2003). The Quebec native was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
