Sports
Elliott: The real reasons why Gary Bettman is letting NHL players back in the Olympics
The return of NHL players to the Olympics at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games makes so much sense, it’s almost difficult to believe commissioner Gary Bettman agreed to let players represent their respective homelands in Italy and at a still-to-be-determined site in 2030 after holding them out of the two previous Olympic tournaments.
Persuading team owners that it would be worthwhile to pause the season for the Olympics was no small feat. Bettman, who this week celebrated his 32nd anniversary in office, still has that power. And this time he could guarantee they wouldn’t have to pay the hefty costs of players’ insurance or for housing them and their families at the Games, thanks to the International Ice Hockey Federation’s decision to take on that responsibility.
He framed it as a gift to players. But, as always, follow the money for the real motivation.
“There is a recognition of how important this is to the players. And in the spirit of cooperation, particularly the work that we did together during COVID, everybody felt on our side that it was the right thing to do,” Bettman said Friday at a news conference in Toronto during the NHL’s All-Star weekend.
“This really came down to doing something because the players really wanted it,” he said as he sat beside Marty Walsh, executive director of the NHL Players’ Assn., and Luc Tardif, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
This will be the sixth tournament involving NHL players. The first was in Nagano, Japan, in 1998, followed by Salt Lake City in 2002; Turin, Italy, in 2006; Vancouver in 2010, and Sochi, Russia in 2014. The tournament will be played on NHL-sized rinks, as they were in 2010 and 2014.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks during a news conference in Denver on June 15, 2022.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
The time difference between Italy and North America is more suitable for scheduling prime-time TV events in the U.S. than were the vast time differences between North America and South Korea in 2018 and between North America and China in 2022. Also crucial to Bettman’s decision is the league will have greater ability to promote its players than it had been given before.
At previous Olympics, the NHL wasn’t allowed to market players and use video of them competing at the Games, a big source of frustration for Bettman that left him butting heads with the autocrats of the International Olympic Committee, some of the few people in the world who are more stubborn than he is. He leveraged that obstacle, the long travel, and the disruption of the league’s regular-season schedule to contend it did the NHL no good to allow players to compete at the Olympics.
The IOC’s softening of its stance made the 2026 Olympics an opportunity too good for Bettman to pass up.
“The discussions are constructive and positive enough that we think we’ll have enough content access, better than we’ve had in the past,” he said. “That’s one of those things that we’ll work our way through.
Russia center Pavel Datsyuk, left, and U.S. center Ryan Kesler face off during a game at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
“But in order for us to be able to participate in 2026 we couldn’t dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ but on the big items that were essential, we were able to do that. And the other things, we’ll work out.”
Increasing its international exposure is a crucial strategy for a league that always will lag behind the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball domestically in popularity and revenues. The Olympics still draw huge global audiences.
But the IOC wanted to dictate all the terms and not dip into its obscene profits, freezing out the NHL. That arrogance took a hit when the quality of play at Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022 was far inferior to the tournaments that had included NHL players. It wasn’t best-on-best, as the Olympics are supposed to be. It wasn’t what fans deserved and it didn’t showcase the sport well.
Milan-Cortina should provide the NHL more exposure here and around the world. The 2030 Olympics site won’t be chosen until this summer, when the IOC meets during the Paris Summer Games, but it’s expected to be awarded to the area of the French Alps, with figure skating, speed skating, and hockey to be staged in Nice, in the south of France.
“That sounds nice,” Bettman said.
Um, yes.
Amplifying the international theme, Bettman and Walsh announced the creation of the Four Nations Faceoff tournament, which will — hooray! — replace the outdated All-Star festivities next year.
In a hockey-tailored version of the NBA’s new in-season tournament, this event will involve teams of NHL players from the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland playing seven games from Feb. 12-20, 2025 in two North American cities, one in Canada and one in the U.S. Presumably, the winner will get to hang a banner as the Lakers did, for all the good that has done them.
“NHL players are the best players in the world who crave competition and an opportunity to measure their game against their peers,” Walsh said. “This marks a new era for international hockey,”
The Four Nations field skirts the politically hot issue of whether Russian players should be allowed to participate in international competitions by excluding them, in addition to excluding other significant hockey-playing nations such as Czechia, Slovakia, and Germany. Walsh and Bettman said time and logistics preclude inviting a bigger field, adding that other nations will have chances to participate in future events.
As planned, the Four Nations tournament will give fans a taste of international competition, to be followed by a buffet of the 2026 Olympics, a 2028 World Cup, the 2030 Olympics, and another World Cup in 2032.
“That’s the cycle we want to get on,” Bettman said. “This gets us started and puts us on a schedule that I think everybody is not just excited about but really comfortable with.”
Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, in Toronto for All-Star weekend, said representing Canada in the Four Nations event will be “a dream come true.”
He added, “I feel like it’s important for hockey as we continue to try to grow our game internationally and at home. I think it’s a great thing, an exciting schedule, something that people can look forward to every two years, every second year.”
It makes sense. Bettman says he thinks it also will make dollars. It’s a win-win situation and essential for the NHL’s future.
Sports
‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42
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LAS VEGAS – Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.
As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.
The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.
Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.
JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.
The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.
Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.
As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.
Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.
Sports
Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies
DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.
Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.
Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.
Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.
“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
Sports
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
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