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You'll be shocked to know that Russian President Vladimir Putin led his team to victory in an exhibition hockey game in Sochi last night. Putin scored six goals and five assists in a 21-4 rout. The match wasn't entirely devoid of the Ukrainian crisis context. Before the game there was a moment of silence for pro-Russian separatists killed the day in the town of Mariupol. But then Putin hit the ice.

“People have been waiting a long time for this,” said Ducks forward Emerson Etem, who grew up rooting for the Kings in his native Long Beach. “It’s huge for the game down here.” And it’s huge for the Los Angeles sports scene, which has never experienced a matchup quite like the series that begins in Orange County on Saturday night. The Lakers and the Clippers have never met in the NBA postseason. The Dodgers and the Angels have never reached the World Series together. The Rams and the Raiders never reached the Super Bowl at the same time when they...

They represent great, old cities at the heart of each country's history. Each city has a unique spirit. If dropped blindfolded into one or the other, you would know at first glimpse: the brownstones of Commonwealth Avenue, the exterior three-story ironwork walk-ups of St. Denis. You are unmistakably in Boston, unmistakably in Montreal. You can be no place else in North America. Montreal is geographically closer to Boston than to Toronto. Montreal and Boston, each in their histories, has had this thing about the British. And during Prohibition, Montreal was where many strait-laced Brahmins escaped for fun—for booze, gambling and...

EASTERN CONFERENCE - ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS BOSTON BRUINS (1) vs DETROIT REDWINGS (4) TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (2) vs MONTREAL CANADIENS (3) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (1) vs COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (4) NEW YORK RANGERS (2) vs PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (3) ______________________________________________________WESTERN CONFERENCE - ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS COLORADO AVALANCHE (1) vs MINNESOTA WILD (4) ST. LOUIS BLUES (2) vs CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (3) ANAHEIM DUCKS (1) vs DALLAS STARS (4) SAN JOSE SHARKS (2) vs LOS ANGELES KINGS (3)

The clock is ticking for Minnesota's indoor ice rinks. By 2020, the refrigerant chemical now used at half the state's 240 arenas to make ice no longer will be manufactured or imported into the U.S. as part of a global effort aimed at ridding the world of greenhouse gases linked to depletion of the ozone layer. The phaseout of the odorless gas R-22 is expected to be costly for arenas -- most of which are publicly owned -- because of an anticipated rise in its cost. After the deadline, arenas still will be able to use the refrigerant gas for...

PHILADELPHIA -- Union College won its first NCAA hockey title Saturday night at the Frozen Four, scoring three times in a 1:54 span in the first period in a 7-4 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night. Mike Vecchione tied the score at 2 with 4:01 left in the first, Eli Lichtenwald gave the Dutchman the lead 57 seconds later, and Daniel Ciampini capped the spree with 2:57 to go. “I don't think anyone will call us Cinderella anymore,” said Shayne Gostisbehere, who had a goal and two assists. “These guys, my brothers, they do everything. I don't care about anything...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –Police in riot gear arrested 10 University of Minnesota students Thursday night after hundreds took to the streets of Dinkytown following the Gophers’ stunning last-second win over North Dakota in the Final Four. Hordes of hockey fans swarmed the intersection of 4th Street and 14th Avenue around 11 p.m., and law enforcement officials responded to the scene, wearing riot gear. “I saw the SWAT team, or whoever they were, marching down the street, and I’ve never seen that before,” said McKenzie Lagodinski, who was arrested. “And just, like, all of a sudden, it was like: Wait, guys, this...

Philadelphia – Senior defenseman Justin Holl’s shorthanded goal, in the last second of the game, gave the Gophers a 2-1 victory over North Dakota in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four on Thursday night in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. Just when it appeared the game would go into overtime tied at 1-1, Holl’s shot on a last rush changed everything. Kyle Rau and Brady Skjei had assists on the play. Sam Warning of the Gophers ended 51 minutes of scoreless hockey with a goal in the third periodd and seconds later North Dakota responded to knot up keep the...

He’s too young to play the lottery, but one South Bay teen has just beat 1 in 1.56 million odds: Cale McLellan sank back-to-back holes-in-one over the weekend. McLellan, the son of San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, was playing in a junior golf club tournament on the short course at Santa Teresa Golf Club in San Jose. The 14-year-old aced the 84-yard eighth hole and then scored another hole-in-one on the 116-yard ninth. McLellan finished third overall in the tournament.

The 2014 Winter Paralympics began on March 7 and runs until March 16, in Sochi, Russia. For anyone interested, the Opening Ceremonies will be broadcast today on NBC, and many events, including hockey, will be broadcast on NBCSN or other channels that showed the Olympics in February.I am posting this specifically for the 'Hockey Ping List' members, and also because as a wheelchair athlete myself, I am personally interested.If you want to see the main Paralympics site, click here - 2014 Winter Paralympics

It was over in a flash. A Finnish Flash. For Team USA, however, it was more like a flash finish. Team Finland scored two goals in 11 seconds early in the second period to snap a 0-0 tie en route to a 5-0 victory in the bronze medal game Saturday. Veteran Teemu Selanne, playing in his 35th Olympic hockey game, scored two goals including the game-winner to lead Finland. It was a wonderful conclusion to what has been a splendid Olympic hockey career for a classy gentleman. Selanne scored on a nifty backhand shot at 1:27 of the second period...

Rematch of the epic gold medal game from Vancouver. Winner will face Sweden in the gold medal game. Let's hope the USA can get its revenge.

See result in comment section.

Result in Comment section

Try as they might, some commentators during the U.S.-Russian hockey game could not muster much credible moral argument for making a comparison between Sochi of 2014 and Lake Placid of 1980. Of course, we all wanted the US team to win this time, just like in 1980. But as part of a larger world morality play, it pales to near nothingness in comparison. President Obama immediately moved to seize a political advantage, sending out a tweet claiming to “never stop believing in miracles.” The president’s grasp of history is self-evidently weak and self-serving. Back then, the joy of the American...

SOCHI, Russia ― The Russian fans were quite gracious in the aftermath of the Americans' epic shootout victory over their men’s hockey team on Saturday. The tech wizards at the Bolshoy Ice Dome? Nyet. The Olympic hockey palace has been putting the final scores of games on its roof at night, complete with dazzling lights and colored flags. Here is how it looked following Canada's 6-0 win over Austria:

On Saturday in Sochi, forward T.J. Oshie scored four goals in a climactic shootout to lead the United States to a dramatic victory over Russia. This was not the Miracle on Ice—this was no massive mismatch, Al Michaels was not on the microphone, and the letters CCCP were not emblazoned across the Russians’ chests. Even so, it’s impossible to suppress a swell of patriotic pride when the USA takes down Russia on Olympic ice. That goes double when the American hero hails from Hockeytown, USA. Earlier this month, the New York Times’ Jeré Longman filed a dispatch from Warroad, Minn.,...

Team USA won against Russia in Olmpics Men's Ice Hockey this morning after regular time had run out, as well as a 5-minute overtime period. A shootout finally determined who won, with T.J. Oshie of the St. Louis Blues (hometown: Everett, WA) scoring the winning goal.

SOCHI, Russia — T.J. Oshie scored four times in the shootout and got the winner in the eighth round, leading the United States past Russia 3-2 Saturday in the thrilling revival of an Olympic hockey rivalry. Cam Fowler and Joe Pavelski scored in regulation for the Americans in the marquee game of the preliminary round. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves and stopped five attempts in the shootout.

SOCHI, Russia—The ice surface is bigger, the pay non-existent and what used to mean bragging rights around the world in the days of dueling superpowers counts for less now that everyone wound up on the same side of capitalism. The trade-off is that you might see one, and as many four, hockey games better-played than anything in an entire season of National Hockey League contests. Here's a look at the upcoming Olympic men's hockey tournament. 1. HOME COOKING Both of the United States' wins were earned on home ice, in 1960 and 1980, as was Canada's eighth and most recent....