Jan 6, 20223 min read

Breaking news around the NHL today

Updated: Jan 6, 2022

Here's a breakdown of all the news around the NHL on January 6, 2022.

Tuukka Rask could return to the Boston Bruins soon

Rusk has signed a PTO (Professional Tryout Contract) with the Bruins AHL affiliate Providence. Putting him 1 step closer to rejoining this Boston Bruins team that is holding on to the second wild card spot in the East.

A return into the lineup for Rask could be coming as early as next week.

Rask, 34 is an unrestricted free-agent goaltender who is attempting to work his way back up from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.

“I feel great … I don’t have to think about (the hip) locking up on me again and creating that pain,” Rask said Thursday.

He is expected to start for Providence when they take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday evening.

Rask played in 24 games for Boston last season, posting a 15-5-2 record with two shutouts, a .913 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average. So having their number 1 goaltender back in Boston would help them in their current playoff push.

Teen suffers frostbite at the 2022 NHL Winter Classic

Target Field, Minneapolis ahead of the 2022 Winter Classic

The Winter Classic was on record one of the coldest outdoor sports events of all time, and the coldest Winter Classic ever.

For one unlucky teenager, it only took 8 minutes for him to get frostbite while he was in attendance at the 2022 Winter Classic in Minnesota last Saturday.

The wind chill sent temperatures plummeting into the minus-20's (F) , which according to the National Weather Service can cause frostbite in less than half an hour.

The first-degree frostbite at first turned his hands a red color, and then they became swollen in the days ahead.

After only five days, most of the pain in his hand was gone. He said he had to miss some shifts at his job due to the pain as he could not even touch a computer screen.

Flyers goaltender Carter Hart slams NHL on its COVID-19 protocol

• Carter Hart on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols: “Guys are testing positive with no symptoms or mild symptoms. I mean, the league’s got to find a way to change that. We’re either going to keep playing shorthanded all season long or games are going to keep getting postponed. I think it’s a joke. It’s got to change.” [NBC Sports Philadelphia]

Hart is not the first player to speak out on the COVID-19 protocols that cause a lot of postponements around the league, and he won't be the last.

20 teams, NHL file $1 billion COVID insurance Lawsuit

In a lawsuit filed last June in the Superior Court of California, the NHL and 20 teams are suing five of their insurance provider, claiming that the companies breached contract by not reimbursing losses incurred by the NHL and teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams named in the lawsuit include the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs and others.

The lawsuit claims that losses in the NHL have gone beyond $1 billion throughout the pandemic.

"Fan attendance is a life-blood of the plaintiffs' revenues," the NHL's claims said, reported by TSN. "A significant source of the plaintiffs' revenue comes from arena-related activities, such as ticket sales, concessions, parking and in-arena merchandise sales. The extra expense the NHL incurred to host the 2020 playoffs and Stanley Cup finals was enormous."

The insurance companies attempted to dismiss the case, but in late December, the NHL and 20 of its teams objected the attempt.

The NHL and Factory Mutual had a policy, the NHL claimed, in which the company would provide coverage for financial losses the teams face due to COVID-19. Including losses incurred when a communicable disease makes clubs' arenas unfit for their intended use.