4 Nations Face-Off success has NHL
rethinking 2026 All-Star plans at the New York Islanders' arena
[March 20, 2025]
By STEPHEN WHYNO
MANALAPAN, Fla. (AP) — The smashing success of the 4 Nations
Face-Off replacing All-Star festivities with a compelling,
competitive international tournament has the NHL rethinking what to
do next February before players go to the Milan Olympics.
The league announced 13 months ago that the New York Islanders would
host All-Star Weekend in early February 2026, and Commissioner Gary
Bettman envisioned it as the ideal jumping off point for the
Olympians to board planes for Italy. What that looks like, or when,
is now up in the air.
“We’re reevaluating how we want to do things because I think we’ve
raised the bar about as high as you can for an all-star game in any
sport," Bettman said Wednesday at his news conference wrapping up
the general managers' annual spring meeting. "And so we want to make
sure whatever we do is up to the standards that we’ve created.”
Putting aside unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic, postponing
or canceling a marquee event is not something the league is known to
do. Asked about a different format or even shifting the event at UBS
Arena to 2027, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly multiple times said,
“Everything's on the table.”
Daly added that a decision must be made “relatively soon" — at least
before the playoffs begin April 19. An Islanders spokesperson
deferred comment to the league office.
NHL players are participating in the Olympic men's hockey tournament
for the first time since 2014, and there was not an All-Star Weekend
then or in 2010 or '06. The last time the league did both was 2002.
No rule changes
NHL GMs spent a lot of time looking at video reviews, specifically
coach's challenges for goaltender interference, but Bettman
confirmed that no rule changes are being considered for next season.
“Three days of discussion about the game, no rule changes, which
gives you a pretty good indication that the managers are certainly
comfortable, if not more than pleased, with the current state of the
game,” Bettman said.
After trying out 10-minute 3-on-3 overtime at the 4 Nations, there's
no consideration to asking the players about going to that full
time.
“I’m not a fan of the extended overtime because of ice conditions
and the wear and tear on the players who would be playing the
additional five minutes, and I worry about that in injuries,"
Bettman said.
Daly confirmed the 2025-26 season will begin Oct. 7.
[to top of second column] |
Fans wait to enter the new UBS Arena for the first New York
Islanders NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, on Nov. 20,
2021, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
Playoff format
Bettman for quite some time has shut down the idea of expanding the
Stanley Cup playoffs beyond the 16-team tournament that has existed
for decades, even as the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball tweaked
their formats. That has not changed.
“I like exactly what we have, and if you look at the races that
we’re having for the regular season, playoffs have started already,"
Bettman said. "We’re in our play-in tournament, and I think it’s
terrific.”
LA draft
The draft at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 27 and 28
will be the first to be decentralized, with team front offices at
home or any location they choose but not in person to make picks.
Teams voted 26-6 in favor of abandoning the centralized format to go
to a model similar to what the NFL and NBA use, though GMs may be
getting some cold feet about the decision.
“This is what the clubs said they wanted," Bettman said. “If there’s
a desire to go back because the clubs miss each other, miss being on
the floor together, we’ll put it back to a vote again. We can be
flexible.”
Changing landscape
Some big changes are coming to hockey’s development pipeline, with
the NCAA making a landmark change to its eligibility rules that
allows Canadian junior players to compete at U.S. colleges, as long
as they are not paid more than actual and necessary expenses as part
of that participation.
Bettman said the league and union are expected to discuss what might
come of that shift and how it affects the draft, entry-level
contracts and other things, though he refused to address
hypothetical possibilities.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
