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The United States hockey team came very close to adding a veteran presence to its roster Wednesday when it accidentally invited a 67-year-old Canadian to join the squad. Before Team USA announced its Olympic roster for the Winter Games, text messages were sent to potential players, letting them know they would be contacted if they made the team. One lucky man in Toronto presumably thought his childhood dreams were coming true, though, when he received a message intended for Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler informing him that he would be representing the United States in Sochi. Apparently, Kesler had changed...

The proof could be found in both dressing rooms and on the ice Tuesday at Michigan Stadium. "You can tell as soon as everyone walked in here, it was like a bunch of 13- and 14-year-olds in here," Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard said after practicing at Michigan Stadium. "We were all excited and messing around with our new stuff, the eye black, the hats and everything. Everyone is pretty fired up." The buildup for the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will finally end shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday...

On Dec. 14, the ECHL's Reading Royals will break out "Ugly Christmas Sweater" jerseys on "Teddy Bear Toss Night" in what should be a very cool experience for everyone involved In case you are unaware of what "Teddy Bear Toss Night" is, it's a pretty cool promotion. Fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to the game, and once the home team scores its first goal, they throw the stuffed animals onto the ice. The staff gathers the stuffed animals and gives them to kids for the holidays.

The Streak is over. After winning an NCAA-record 62 consecutive games, the University of Minnesota women's hockey team fell 3-2 to North Dakota on Sunday in front of 2,435 at Ridder Arena. The last previous loss for the top-ranked Gophers (13-1-0, 11-1-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) also came at the hands of North Dakota. That 2-1 overtime defeat on Feb. 17, 2012, came in the opening game of the final regular-season series that year.

Chad Myhrer remembers the horror he felt when the Zamboni he was driving stopped on the ice at the Sanford Center in Bemidji. "That's the first time it ever happened to me," Myhrer said. "Everyone's looking at you out there and there's not much you can do." The unplanned stop occurred between the first and second period of a Bemidji State University men's hockey game against Alaska-Anchorage. The Zamboni stalled between the blue lines -- right on top of a painted-on advertisement for the Hampton Inn. As it turns out, the gas line wasn't properly connected to the propane tank,...

Karl Subban knows the cost of being a hockey parent in Canada. The patriarch of one of Canada’s most successful hockey families – his boys P.K., Malcolm and Jordan have all been drafted by NHL teams – he and his wife paid $5,000 each in one year just to register them in minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). “And that’s not including equipment and what not,” Mr. Subban says. “It was very expensive. But you make sacrifices. That’s what we did.” It’s widely known that Canada’s national winter sport is expensive to play. But various factors have...

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<p>Fighting in hockey is a rare sight on the international stage (especially in the women’s game), but according to Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser, this isn’t the first dustup the two world powers have been involved in.</p> <p>“We had a similar scrap in 2010, so I guess we have one every Olympic cycle to get it out of our system,” Wickenheiser told reporters after the game, via Canoe.ca.</p>

UNIVERSITY PARK — The new building was beautiful, loud and packed to the rafters. And nearly all of those fans left with smiles on their faces. Aside from a few too many penalties, it was hard to ask for anything more of the Penn State ice hockey team in their new home, erupting for three third-period goals to put away Army 4-1 Friday night in the first game in Pegula Ice Arena. “When there’s a packed barn like that, and those fans are yelling,” said defenseman Nate Jensen, who scored the first goal in the new rink, “you get jitters,...

Need a few more teams to round out our Freeper league!! Anyone interested?? If so....freepmail me with your e-mail address and I will send you an invite!! Have been running a Freeper League for several years....it's been a blast!

Two men have been charged with the murder of a Jesuit college student who was beaten to death after he and a friend were 'jumped from behind' as they walked back to campus from a bar on Labor Day weekend. Craig Tyler Peacock, 22, of Clewiston, Florida, and Jarrett Mathis Chandler, 24, of Winnfield, Louisiana, were both charged with the murder of Kevin M. Figaniak. The men were found in a camp for oil and gas workers and were arrested overnight. They were arraigned and placed in the Northern Correctional Facility in Moundsville, West Virginia on $1 million cash bail...

Seth Jones, the hockey-playing son of former NBA forward Ronald “Popeye” Jones, a Maverick from 1993-96 and again in 2002-03, was selected fourth overall by the Nashville Predators. Jones, ranked No. 1 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, surprised many by slipping down and going fourth to the Nashville Predators. "First of all, I’m going to worry about myself and trying to get better and try to make Nashville next year, and then second of all, I’m going to try to make -- in a good way, though -- those teams regret not taking me," Jones told TSN....

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BOSTON (AP) -- An NHL-record unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season. Three straight victories to clinch the title. From beginning to end, the Chicago Blackhawks skated away from the rest of the league. Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored 17 seconds apart in the final minutes and the Blackhawks rallied to win Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final 3-2 on Monday night to clinch their second NHL championship in four seasons. < snip >

Blackhawks defense determined to keep east coast freepers up all night ... Bruins finally score

This shows one of the very best renditions of both the Canadian and American National Anthems. At a hockey game. In Vancouver. No mangling allowed.

Ilya Bryzgalov is at the centre of controversy after praising socialist icon Joseph Stalin. In an interview Wednesday with Russian sports website Championat, translated by Yahoo! Sports, the Philadelphia Flyers goaltender said he saw “logic” in former Soviet Union leader Stalin’s actions. Stalin is one of the most reviled leaders in history and is responsible for the killing of millions of people. Asked if there were any historical figures he’d like to talk to, Bryzgalov answered Genghis Khan, Stalin and Albert Einstein. Bryzgalov was then asked for his thoughts on Stalin. “Positive. I see logic in his action,” he said....

The family of the late Derek Boogaard has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the NHL. The former enforcer for the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers died in May 2011 from a lethal mix of alcohol and oxycodone. He had become addicted to painkillers while dealing with concussions and other injury issues during his six-year NHL career. From the New York Times: "To distill this to one sentence," said William Gibbs, a lawyer for the Boogaards, "you take a young man, you subject him to trauma, you give him pills for that trauma, he becomes addicted to those pills,...

There was an extraordinary moment Saturday night when Boston bombing victim Jeff Bauman served as banner captain for the Boston Bruins. “Now THIS picture should be plastered all over the media,” said one post on the 27-year-old’s Facebook page. “They put up enough photos of poor Jeff in a time of distress, show him in his glory.” Bauman’s lower limbs were blown apart when bombs went off near the finish of the Boston Marathon where he had been waiting for his girlfriend to finish. “I want to thank everyone for their amazing support for me and all those injured and...

NEW YORK -- The National Hockey League today announced the dates, times and national broadcast information for the 2013 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinal round, which begins Tuesday, April 30th. Information on the U.S. broadcast networks for games later in the round will be released as it is determined.