From TSN's Rick Westhead:

Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and other high-profile NHL players may find their endorsement contacts with Bauer hockey cancelled as early as Monday because the equipment manufacturer’s parent company is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection, a person familiar with the matter told TSN.

Bauer’s parent company, Performance Sports Group Ltd., has been struggling in recent months. The Exeter, N.H.-based company, which also owns Easton, expects to end 2016 with $424 million (U.S.) worth of debt and its shares have been battered as the company’s own audit committee has been investigating PSG for undisclosed reasons.

PSG is also under fire from shareholders who have filed a class-action lawsuit in New York, charging the company has inflated its sales figures and misled the market about its future growth prospects.

PSG may file for bankruptcy protection as soon as Monday morning, both Reuters and The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday. A source close to the company later confirmed the reports to TSN.

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