Cigna becomes NHL's official insurer while IIHF agrees to cover Olympic insurance if needed
The National Hockey League has announced a new league-wide development.
No, it's not a second expansion franchise to pair with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who will commence play next season. It's Cigna, the Bloomfield, Connecticut company that is set to become the NHL's official health insurance provider.
Cigna certainly isn't new to the NHL. Since 1998 it has been the league's benefits provider. This new agreement will serve to strengthen ties between the two organizations.
What it will also do is give the NHL a strong charitable presence in its ranks. Cigna will be heavily involved in the league's Hockey Fights Cancer effort, taking over as the presenting sponsor of the Every Save Counts campaign. It has already pledged to donate $1 for every save made this season, including those that will soon take place in the playoffs. Additionally, it will match any online donation towards the effort that falls between $25-$100,000.
On the insurance front, there has also been some other intriguing NHL news. Yesterday word got out that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has agreed to step in and cover insurance and travel costs for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Previously this cost had been covered by the International Olympic Committee. This time, however, it was not amenable to continuing the arrangement. The IIHF contribution could end up totalling as high as $20-million.
While this is a huge boost to the hopes of the many players and fans who want the NHL to participate in the Games, it still remains unclear whether it'll be the thing that fully moves the needle to where it ends up happening.
Just under a week ago, Commissioner Gary Bettman came out and said, "As things stand today, you should assume we're not going."
Insurance and travel costs were certainly one roadblock towards that happening, but the bigger one still seems to be the frustrations that are caused by disrupting the season. It is something that the owners are particularly not keen on seeing happen. They would likely need a greater commercial incentive from the Olympics to consent to participation.