Ice hockey: the main stories of 10.09.2026

Barry Melrose, who played 300 games in the NHL and coached Los Angeles to the 1993 Stanley Cup final, has died at 70, ESPN reported. For most viewers he was not a coach at all but the man in the loud suits who explained the game on television for two decades, a job he held far longer than any bench he sat on. He stepped away from ESPN in 2023 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His death follows that of André Pronovost, the four-time Cup winner who died a day earlier at 90.

Spartak beat SKA 3-1 in Moscow, a sixth straight win over the St Petersburg side. Hours later the league confirmed that three SKA fixtures have been moved, easing a schedule that had them playing back-to-back. The KHL board also signed off a record payout to clubs of 2.364bn roubles for the 2025/26 season, with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl top of the list — the same club that then won 2-1 in overtime against Severstal.

Sixteen former Michigan players have filed suit over hazing said to have run from 1984 to 2001, according to a single report in the Detroit Free Press. The university denies all liability, pointing to anti-hazing rules adopted in 1982. One outlet also reports that the IIHF has banned Patrick Fischer for four years over a forged vaccination certificate at the 2022 Olympics; the former Switzerland coach cannot work with national teams until 2030.

• Dmitry Kvartalnov took his 79th win with Lokomotiv, third in club history, past Kari Heikkilä.
• Metallurg say they sounded out Yevgeni Malkin in the close season; he extended with Pittsburgh instead.
• The same club is in talks with Spartak over Ivan Morozov, with nothing agreed.
• Sibir won 2-0 at Amur for their first win of the season and placed forward Ilya Fedotov on waivers; Mikhail Berdin stopped all 25 shots.
• Amur coach Alexander Andrievsky, after a third straight defeat, said the side are not shooting enough.
• Avangard beat Sochi 4-1; Shanghai Dragons won 4-3 in overtime at Dynamo Minsk.
• The NHL is reported to be in talks with investor groups over expansion to Atlanta and Phoenix.
• Vladislav Tretiak said Alexander Ovechkin's future is nobody's call but his own; Ilya Kovalchuk expects the 11 goals needed for Gretzky's record this season. Ovechkin leaves Moscow for the United States ahead of his 22nd campaign.
• Connor McDavid said the Edmonton room suits Mike Babcock, who replaced Kris Knoblauch in the close season.
• The KHL is weighing shootout series before puck drop from next season; Sergei Andronov replaces Boris Korol on the board.