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SALEM, N.J. (AP) — The family of NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew listened in pain Tuesday as lawyers debated whether the men's own drinking contributed to their deaths when they were hit by an allegedly drunken and enraged driver as they cycled at night. After nearly two hours of argument, a judge agreed the issue was moot under New Jersey criminal law — upholding all of the charges against the driver, including manslaughter and vehicular homicide. “There’s no credence in the argument there was contributory negligence on the part of the cyclists,” said Superior Court Judge...

Professional sports are all about mom, apple pie and the flag, right? Baseball is our “national pastime,” football is our national religion, basketball is…well…marketing for athletic shoes? And hockey is an advertisement for restorative dentistry? Anyway, these leagues are supposed to be red, white and blue. Apart, that is, from some knee taking and refusing to stand for the National Anthem, buying into the whole “America is systemically racist” thing, supporting trans this and that, and OK, the Budweiser debacle, which is at least sort of associated with them. Sigh. Sports used to be so simple. Players were expected to...

Ray Shero, a longtime NHL executive who constructed the Penguins’ Stanley Cup-winning roster in 2009 and assembled the Devils’ current star-filled core, died Wednesday, the league announced. He was 62 years old. No cause of death was announced.

Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's NHL record with career goal #895 The Washington Capitals’ captain made history Sunday against the New York Islanders by beating fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin on a power play with 12:34 left in the second period

Alex Ovechkin tied the NHL record for most career goals, putting him side-by-side with The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. The Capitals star scored the history-tying goal — the 894th of his career — on Friday when he found the back of the net at the 6:13 mark in the third period against the Blackhawks on home ice at Capital One Arena. It was his second goal of the night after he notched No. 893 in the first period. With Washington on the power play in the final frame, the Capitals entered the zone with Ovechkin skating down the left side....

The fists flew when Team USA faced off against Canada on Saturday night, and the war of words continued. Now, President Trump is weighing in.In a Thursday post on Truth Social, Trump not only once again suggested that Canada should become the “51st State,” he even invited “Governor Trudeau” to watch the game with him.“I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” the future president of Canada...

Former hockey player PK Subban has been branded 'a sell-out of the highest proportion' by fellow Canadian Akim Aliu, who accused the ESPN star of siding with 'the oppressor' Donald Trump ahead of Thursday's much-anticipated rematch against Team USA. 'You are the perfect example of why people of color haven’t progressed at the highest levels of society... you're a disgrace,' Aliu told Subban in an explosive social media statement. It comes after the former NHL star shared a post from President Trump about the upcoming Four Nations final between USA and Canada. The game will be played amid heightened tension...

Bill Guerin, general manager of the U.S. men’s national ice hockey team, invited President Trump to Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship game in Boston following the president’s history-making visit to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. “We would love it if President Trump was in attendance. We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff,” Guerin, who is also general manager of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, said during a Monday appearance on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.” “And listen, we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can,” he added. Thursday’s championship game of...

The homes of professional athletes have become the target of a recent burglary spree that has hit players from the NFL, NBA, and now, the NHL. Evgeny Malkin, the longtime star and Stanley Cup champion center for the Pittsburgh Penguins, was burglarized on January 11 at his home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, while playing a game in Pittsburgh, TMZ Sports reports. According to TMZ Sports, the security system at Malikn’s home was not functioning during the break-in. All three of Malkin’s Stanley Cup rings were stolen. As of this writing, no arrests have been made ... The burglary spree has targeted...

Donald Trump is having the time of his life as he barrels toward a second term in the White House after crushing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Naturally, Trump was already reveling in his own brand of humor and confidence long before any of this came to fruition. He epically trolled Kamala Harris by working a shift at McDonald's during the campaign. Then, when Joe Biden called Trump supporters garbage, he held a press conference from a garbage truck with the Trump 2024 campaign logo on it.Just yesterday, Trump trolled Canada once again, this time suggesting that hockey...

Two professional sports teams distanced themselves from rapper Macklemore after he told concertgoers at a pro-Palestinian event in Seattle, "F--- America!" Macklemore is a part of the ownership groups of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and MLS’ Seattle Sounders FC. Both teams released a joint statement on Macklemore’s remarks. "We believe that sports bring people together and unite us. We are aware of Macklemore’s increasingly divisive comments, and they do not reflect the values of our respective ownership groups, leagues, or organizations," the teams said on Monday, via KOMO News. He joined the ownership group of the Sounders in August 2019...

The Florida Panthers made history Monday night in front of more than 19,000 fans at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, beating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 to win their first Stanley Cup. As expected, Game 7 was a hard-fought contest with both teams going toe to toe throughout the game. Panthers' Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves. This time, they were on the right side of history — after avoiding what would have been a historic collapse. The Panthers won the first three games of the series, then lost the next three and needed...

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Welcome to the unimaginable. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final has been played 17 times since 1942, most recently in 2019 and before that 2011, 2009, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2001 and 10 times before the turn of the century.But not since 1945 has Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final been necessary after a team took a 3-0 lead in the series.Not until now that is, or, rather, Monday, when the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers play Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, play for everything from the Stanley Cup to history to legacies at Amerant...

The Rangers hadn’t trailed in a series this postseason, until the Panthers made themselves right at home in the Concrete Jungle to kick off the Eastern Conference Final.It took 10 games and two rounds to get here, but the Blueshirts have finally met their match in a Florida team that became the first club to shut them out this postseason with an empty-net-goal-abetted 3-0 win in Game 1 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, landing the first blow in the fight for a Stanley Cup Final berth...

Social media is a fickle mistress. She’ll shine a light on a product and then just as quickly cast a shadow over it. That’s basically the abridged life story of the Stanley cup, that enormous, pastel-colored insulated tumbler peddled so hard online that even your dad’s accountant probably owns a couple. Now, a flood of social media posts are circulating the fact that Stanley cups are manufactured using lead—a known toxin. (Stanley’s website does disclose the use of lead.) The discourse has spawned a flurry of jokes about the wholesome brand, which started as a thermos for tough guys and...

Four current and one former NHL player are accused of sexual assault in 2018... A US F-16 warplane crashed off the west coast of South Korea... Politics in Israel the "National Unity" party of war cabinet minister Benny Gantz continues to lead the polls... Joe Biden said today he has made a decision about striking back... The "Kataib Hezbollah" group said it's suspending military operations against US troops in the Middle East... The Arizona National Guard saying that some of its members were hurt... An appeals court in Argentina ruling against President Javier Milei's decree changing labor laws... "the worst...

The billionaire owner of Washington, DC's NHL and NBA teams has decided to move their home base to Virginia seemingly due to a child's loud rapping. Ted Leonsis announced last month that he will be moving the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards out of its current home - Capital One Arena in downtown DC - to a newly developed arena in the DC suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. Virginia State lawmakers have approved the funding and the plans to build an arena in the city's Potomac Yard Neighborhood, according to the Washington Post. Despite the mayor announcing a $500 million funding...

The NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals plan on moving to a proposed new arena in suburban Virginia in 2028, ownership group chairman Ted Leonsis announced on Wednesday. The $2 billion deal would see an entertainment district constructed at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, about four miles south of the current home arena for the clubs, Capital One Arena in the heart of the nation’s capital.

A professional hockey player’s brutal death during a match has ignited controversy online, with the media attributing the incident to an accident, while social media users remain skeptical. Over the weekend, hockey player Adam Johnson, 29, suffered a fatal injury during an Elite Ice Hockey League game at Sheffield Arena in England caused by an opponent’s ice skate blade slicing open his neck.

Former NHL executive Brian Burke has sharply criticized the league's decision to ban players from using rainbow-colored stick tape in support of the LGBTQ+ community this season. Burke, who spent six years as the NHL's executive vice president and director of hockey operations, said Wednesday in a statement posted to social media that the leaguewide ban on rainbow tape removes meaningful support to protect a select few who don't want to answer questions about their choices.