The deadline for retired players to opt in to the $18.9 million

settlement of the concussion lawsuit against the NHL has been extended.Players’ attorneys confirmed the extension to The Associated Press on Friday night. It was not immediately clear what the new deadline was.The 318 former players who sued the league and accused it of failing to protect them from head injuries or warning them of the risks involved with playing initially had until the Friday to opt in to the settlement that was reached 75 days ago.Each player who opts in would receive $22 Authentic Stephen Johns Jersey ,000 and could be eligible for up to $75,000 in medical treatment. The settlement is significantly less than the billion-dollar agreement reached between the NFL and its former players on the same issue of head injuries.Charles Zimmerman, a lead attorney for players, said earlier in the day participation is “very good” so far, adding there were still some players who needed to be contacted for their decisions.“The vast majority of eligible retired players have agreed to participate in the proposed NHL concussion settlement,” players’ lawyers said in a statement. “Plaintiffs’ counsel, however, have encountered difficulties reaching some eligible retired players to discuss the settlement. Thus, at the request of plaintiffs’ counsel, the NHL has agreed to extend the participation deadline to allow completion of those communications.”Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly referred the matter to plaintiffs’ lawyers and said the NHL would have no comment.Daniel Carcillo Youth Tyler Pitlick Jersey , a vocal critic of the league and the settlement, said he would not be opting in and knew more 10-12 other former players who also were not. Carcillo said Friday he wanted his day in court with the league but didn’t begrudge anyone who wanted to opt in and take the $22,000.Carcillo said he has fielded calls from more than 20 heads of individual teams’ alumni associations and that he has tried to tell any player who asks the facts of the lawsuit without injecting his opinion. Carcillo pointed to“If 22’s enough for you and you need it, then go ahead,” said Carcillo, who played 474 regular-season and playoff games from 2007-2015. “I won’t judge anybody who takes it. I don’t judge the guys who (played) five games and they saw an opportunity. But I also say this so that people understand why it’s such a disrespectful number because right now (the NHL doesn’t) feel that threatened.”Reed Larson, who played 936 NHL regular-season and playoff games, said he signed on to be part of the settlement but understood why some players with serious health problems decided not to because the money wouldn’t cut it for them. There is a clause in the settlement that allows the NHL to terminate it if 100 percent of players don’t accept, but Larson said lawyers are not concerned.“They think everything will go ahead and move ahead and they don’t see any reason why it won’t,” Larson said. DENVER (AP) Colorado had speed and youth. Nashville brought experience and know-how.It was plain to see which won out – this time.Mattias Ekholm ignited the offense early with the first goal by a Nashville defenseman in the series Tyler Seguin Jersey , Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots and the top-seeded Predators advanced to the second round with a 5-0 victory over the Avalanche in Game 6 on Sunday night.Austin Watson , Filip Forsberg , Nick Bonino and Viktor Arvidsson also scored to help the Predators move on to face Winnipeg. They were 3-1-1 against the Jets in the regular season.”I’m very impressed the way (the Avalanche) played. They played very modern hockey, with a lot of speed,” said Rinne, who notched his fourth career postseason shutout as the Predators won the series 4-2. ”Great game. Great team effort. We didn’t give them any life.”Nashville removed any sort of drama with two goals in the opening period and two more in the second to hush the capacity crowd. That’s the sort of game plan the Predators envisioned.”I think that was our best game from start to finish,” Watson said. ”That’s good for us going forward, to be able to take the last game of this series and carry that into how we want to play in the next one.”Andrew Hammond ran out of magic in net, allowing five goals. The third-string goaltender nicknamed ”Hamburglar” had 44 saves during a Game 5 win in Nashville to extend the series. But he couldn’t turn back a formidable Nashville offense that won a second straight playoff contest in Denver. Before this, the Avalanche hadn’t lost two straight at the Pepsi Center since early December.”It’s disappointing to us and I’m sure it’s disappointing to fans http://www.avalancheshoponline.com/authentic-alexander-kerfoot-jersey ,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. ”It means a lot to us that they did give us a standing ovation at the end.”Watson tormented Colorado with four goals and seven points in the series. In all, 11 of Nashville’s forwards had at least a point over six games.The one thing missing was contributions from a blue line that tied a franchise record for goals during the regular season. The Predators `D’ was held scoreless until Ekholm’s slap shot at 7:20.Forsberg scored 38 seconds into second to give Nashville a 3-0 lead and completely drain the energy out of the arena. Bonino added another to go with his two assists.The closest Colorado came to scoring on Rinne was in the second period, when Nikita Zadorov sent in a shot, but it was waved off due to goaltender interference on Carl Soderberg.”Every line that went out there took a lot of pride in playing good defense, even at the end with the game 5-0. We still protected the net,” Rinne said. ”Guys wanted to get me that shutout.”It was quite a bounce-back season for Colorado, which boasts one of the youngest teams in the league. The Avalanche went from a 48-point team in 2016-17 to 95 points this season, earning the last playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. The Avs are the first NHL team to post that sort of turnaround from one full season to the next since Pittsburgh also jumped 47 points in 2005-06 (58) to `06-07 (105).”There are a lot of positives for sure,” said Nathan MacKinnon, who was held to one shot Sunday. ”Everybody thought we weren’t going to make it Womens Carl Soderberg Jersey , that we were going to be the odd-team-out in the West. Obviously, it’s nice to prove some people wrong and have a good young team going forward.”In the handshake line after the game, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette had some encouraging words for MacKinnon.”He thought our team was up-and-coming, similar to their team,” MacKinnon recounted. ”Definitely, it’s a good team to be compared to.”Colorado ran into a Predators squad that looked every bit like the team that went to the Stanley Cup Final a season ago and won the Presidents’ Trophy this season. They’re clicking on all cylinders heading into the Winnipeg series.”These guys have been flying around for six games, playing really fast hockey,” Forsberg said. ”We’ve been trying to play as fast as we can as well. If we can bring that speed into the next round that will be good.”NOTES: The Predators improved to 6-6 all-time in a Game 6 situation. … F Colton Sissons had two assists. … RW Ryan Hartman was a scratch after being suspended for Game 5 for a hit on Soderberg. … D P.K. Subban had high praise for MacKinnon: ”My expectations for him as a player is to be a Hall of Famer by the end of his career.”—