Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers to play NHL games in Germany in 2027

NEW YORK (AP) — The Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers will each play two regular-season games in Germany next year as part of the NHL and NHLPA’s efforts to grow hockey in the country, the league announced Thursday.

The Bruins are to play two games in Munich, while the Oilers will play two matches in Leon Draisaitl’s native city of Cologne during the 2027-28 NHL season. The opponents have yet to be determined.

“These events represent an important step in our commitment to grow the game in Germany. By bringing more NHL games to one of Europe’s most dynamic hockey markets, we hope to continue to deepen engagement amongst our fans, partners and local communities, while at the same time creating a significant opportunity to grow the game throughout the country,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators were already slated to play two games in Düsseldorf in December. Those Global Series games are the second and third regular-season games the league has staged in Germany after the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin in 2011.

More are to follow with the NHL and NHLPA committed to bringing regular-season games to Germany for at least the next three seasons.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl, speaks during a joint press conference by FC Bayern Munich and the National Hockey League, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Munich. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)

Boston Bruins’ John-Jason Peterka, speaks during a joint press conference by FC Bayern Munich and the National Hockey League, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Munich. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)

Rouven Kasper, left, chief marketing and sales officer for FC Bayern Munich AG, and Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the NHL, pose during a joint press conference by FC Bayern Munich and the National Hockey League, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Munich. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)

Boston Bruins’ John-Jason Peterka, from left, FC Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies, and Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl, pose with jerseys during a joint press conference by FC Bayern Munich and the National Hockey League, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Munich. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)

FILE - Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, left, controls the puck as Anaheim Ducks right wing Beckett Sennecke defends during the second period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong), File)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Mondo Duplantis called his victory Thursday in a vibrant lakeside Diamond League event “the greatest pole vaulting competition ever.”

The Olympic and world champion then took two attempts at a new world record of 6.32 meters and just failed to delight a noisy crowd at a pop-up venue near the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

Duplantis had cleared the bar at 6.21 meters — with first-time clearances at each of six different heights — for his best result since March, the month that he raised his own world record to 6.31 at an indoor meet in his native Sweden.

Emmanouil Karalis, Duplantis' great friend and rival, cleared 6.16 on Thursday and barely failed on his second attempt at a lifetime best of 6.21.

Three more athletes cleared 5.91, which would have been enough to take bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Duplantis raised his world record to 6.25 and silver medalist Sam Kendricks went over 5.95.

The high-class competition that lasted 2 1/2 hours Thursday also saw four more men, including Kendricks, clear 5.81.

The men's pole vault in an intimate venue by Lake Geneva in Lausanne has become a traditional curtain raiser for the main Athletissima meeting one day later.

On Friday, new Swiss star Audrey Werro is the main attraction in the women's 800 meters chasing track's oldest world record set 43 years ago, in which she is now the third-fastest in history.

See full AP coverage of European sports here

Emmanouil Karalis, of Greece, celebrates after clearing the bar in the men's pole vault competition at the Diamond League athletics city meet in Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, August 20, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Emmanouil Karalis, of Greece, competes in the men's pole vault competition at the Diamond League athletics city meet in Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, August 20, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Sondre Guttormsen of Norway competes during the men's pole vault competition at the World Athletics Diamond League Athletissima City event athletics meeting, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Armand Duplantis of Sweden celebrates during the men's pole vault competition at the World Athletics Diamond League Athletissima City event athletics meeting, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

Armand Duplantis, of Sweden, competes in the men's pole vault competition at the Diamond League athletics city meet in Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, August 20, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)