The Hockey News Money & Power 2022

KYLE BEACH HAS never appeared on any 100 People of Power and Influence list that The Hockey News had tabulated in the past 19 years. But in this, the 20th edition of our authoritative list, he not only appears on the list for the first time, but we have ranked him No. 2 overall because of the influence he and his experience has brought to the forefront in 2022. Beach and the circumstances surrounding the events of 11 years ago had a direct impact on the NHL updating its “…continuing efforts to ensure that our game is safe, inclusive and respectful, both on and off the ice, and that the NHL and its Clubs provide welcoming workplaces for all.” Senior executive vice-president Kim Davis at the board of governors meetings in…

PARTIES? CHECK. Glitz, glam and sights to be seen? Check. A potentially over-the-top extravaganza of the NHL’s finest? Most likely the biggest check of all. Any sort of big happening ramps up several notches when it takes place in Las Vegas, and the NHL All-Star Game should be no exception. The 2022 event, slated for Feb. 5, will be unlike any previous edition, as the game and its festivities will be part of a celebrity-filled weekend on the Strip. The NCAA will host its version of a football all-star game on Feb. 3, with the East-West Shrine Bowl at Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Twenty-four hours later, hockey’s top stars will dangle their showmanship in the NHL Skills Competition, with the All-Star Game itself following on Saturday. Then the NHLers…

A DRIVING FORCE behind discussions of revenue sharing, player mobility and team profitability relates to the disparity between market sizes in the NHL. With multiple franchises in both the United States and Canada, difference in market size can be a complex issue for both teams and the league. While hockey fans follow their favorite players and teams in many ways, ultimately what they’re really consuming is the uncertain outcome of the games. This is what separates sports from many other forms of entertainment. But the uncertainty of outcome is not limited to individual games. By creating leagues with teams in different locations, owners realized they could use close games as well as exciting playoffs races and a league championship to draw fans. To create an uncertain outcome requires combining two teams for…

THE HOCKEY NEWS: You’re a professional hockey player, an NHL scout and, now, you’re running “emBolden her,” a women’s hockey mentorship program in partnership with Play it Again Sports, working with 25 Canadian and American women aged 13 to 16. What attracted you to this opportunity? BLAKE BOLDEN: There are so many things that attracted me to mentorship. One, just being a young girl playing ice hockey, I seldom had access to female mentors, role models, unless I watched the Olympics every four years, unless I had the opportunity to see a collegiate game somewhere. Most of the time, it was just me playing on a boys team or doing my thing on my own. And so, when I was playing professionally in Boston, I decided to start a mentorship program…

MAKING THE HOCKEY world a better, safer, more inclusive place is an open-ended concept. The fight never ends. There’s no such thing as too much benevolence or too many role models contributing to good causes. That’s why, this year, we’re completely turning over last year’s social-impact list and introducing you to 20 new names making positive differences in the sport. They aren’t ranked, and we encourage readers to keep tabling any people who deserve recognition. Last year, we featured Akim Aliu, Harrison Browne, Anson Carter, Meghan Chayka, Maria Dennis, William Douglas, Ken Dryden, Yanic Duplessis, Kerry Goulet, Eric Guest, Renee Hess, Corey Hirsch, Sheldon Kennedy, Kwame Mason, Brock McGillis, Ted Nolan, Jessica Platt, Ryan Reaves, Harnarayan Singh, Kelsie Snow and Courtney Szto. They continue to wow us with their efforts. Now,…

BRINGING PROFESSIONAL hockey to Philadelphia was the greatest sports accomplishment of Ed Snider, but he also deserves credit for the construction of what is now the Wells Fargo Center along with the franchise-changing Comcast Spectacor merger. One of the most instrumental men working with Snider on those latter projects was Phil Weinberg, the executive vice-president and general counsel of Comcast Spectacor, who passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 1 while recovering from surgery. He was 66. Weinberg worked behind the scenes to bring numerous company plans to fruition. He served as the attorney for the Wells Fargo Center, the Wings lacrosse team and the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. “Though he was rarely in the public eye, Phil Weinberg spent three decades expertly performing the critical work that made the Flyers, the National Hockey League and…