Category Archives: Ice Hockey

Brady Tkachuk decries White House’s AI video of him insulting Canadians after US gold

Posted on by

  • Player is captain of NHL’s Ottawa Senators

  • Tkachuk expresses regret over Trump joke

US ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he does not appreciate an AI video released by the White House that shows him insulting Canadians.

Tkachuk played in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which secured the US men their first gold medal since 1980. In the wake of that win, the White House’s TikTok account published video of Tkachuk saying: “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fuckers a lesson.”

Continue reading...

Ibiza venue cancels music events after deaths of two British men in two weeks

Posted on by

Ice hockey player Gary Kelly died at Ibiza Rocks Hotel as did fellow Scot Evan Thomson, who fell to his death on 7 July

An Ibiza hotel and music venue has cancelled a number of music events after the deaths of two British men on its premises in the space of two weeks.

Gary Kelly, 19, who was a professional ice hockey player for the Dundee Stars, died at the Ibiza Rocks hotel on Monday. His club paid tribute to the “hugely talented and charismatic individual” who “had a great future ahead of him”.

Continue reading...

Canada’s Green party removed at last minute from election debates

Posted on by

Upheaval follows decision to shift timing of first debate over fears of clash with Montreal Canadiens ice hockey game

Canada’s Green party has been removed from the country’s two election debates amid accusations it would “undermine the integrity” of the events, just hours before leaders square off in Montreal.

The last-minute upheaval follows a decision to shift the timing of the first televised debate on Wednesday evening over fears the French language showdown would clash with a closely watched Montreal Canadiens ice hockey game.

Continue reading...

Helsinki arena to reopen in spring after being left in limbo by Russian sanctions

Posted on by

Finnish real estate company says deal for sports and entertainment venue will restore it to its former glory

Helsinki’s main sports and entertainment arena is expected to reopen in the spring after getting caught in a Russian sanctions drama that left it disused, without power and starting to smell.

Helsinki Halli, formerly the Hartwall Arena, has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, when its Russian oligarch owners were subjected to sanctions from the EU and US, which meant they were boycotted by the entertainment industry, and banks and insurance companies refused to provide essential services. The last events to be held at the 14,000-capacity venue were an ice hockey game and the televised Finnish sport gala in January 2022.

Continue reading...

Police investigate UK ice hockey tragedy amid tributes to Adam Johnson

Posted on by

South Yorkshire force looking into death of American Nottingham Panthers player during match in Sheffield

Police have said they are investigating the death of a professional ice hockey player during a match in Sheffield on Saturday night and have encouraged people to avoid speculation about the incident.

Adam Johnson, 29, died after appearing to receive a catastrophic cut to his neck from the skate blade of another player during the Challenge Cup game between his team Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers.

Continue reading...

Jubilant Latvians given national holiday after shock ice hockey win over USA

Posted on by
  • Team won bronze at ice hockey world championship
  • Members of parliament pass bill to commemorate win

Latvians woke up to go to work Monday morning, only to find they didn’t have to. Their parliament had met at midnight to declare a holiday after the national ice hockey team chalked up its best result at the world championship.

Latvia, where hockey is hugely popular, co-hosted the men’s championship with Finland, and the country’s 4-3 overtime victory over the United States for the bronze medal on Sunday was greeted with jubilation.

Continue reading...

NHL’s Blackhawks will not wear Pride jerseys due to Russian anti-LGBTQ laws

Posted on by
  • Team says wearing jerseys could endanger Russian player
  • Pride jerseys have sparked debate among NHL teams

An NHL team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who have an additional two players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Vladimir Putin signed the law in December.

Continue reading...

Hockey Canada’s board and CEO resign amid fallout from sexual abuse scandal

Posted on by
  • Ice hockey body had secret fund to deal with abuse allegations
  • Politicians and sponsors have attacked handling of claims

The head of Hockey Canada and its entire board of directors have resigned amid a growing scandal over how the sport’s governing body failed to address allegations of sexual assault.

On Tuesday morning, Hockey Canada announced its CEO, Scott Smith, was leaving the embattled organization.

Continue reading...

Trudeau intervenes as sexual abuse scandal rocks Canada’s ice hockey body

Posted on by

Prime minister hints at setting up new governing body after major firms pull support for Hockey Canada over handling of allegations

Justin Trudeau has warned Canada’s ice hockey governing body that it has “lost the confidence” of Canadians and could be easily replaced by a new organization, amid growing outcry about its handling of a string of sexual assault allegations.

The prime minister’s comments come as a wave of major companies publicly pulled support for the embattled organization on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Russia’s NHL hero Alex Ovechkin has a rare chance to hit Putin where it hurts

Posted on by

The Washington Capitals star is popular among Russians who may not usually question their leader. And he has debated the need for war

In 2017, Alexander Ovechkin, inarguably the best Russian hockey player alive or dead and the country’s most famous male athlete, started something called PutinTeam.

“I have never hidden my attitude towards our president, always supporting him,” the Muscovite and captain of the NHL’s Washington Capitals wrote, three years after Russia annexed Crimea. “I am confident that there are many of us, supporting Vladimir Putin. So let’s unite and show everyone a united and strong Russia!”

Continue reading...

Russian ice hockey player Timur Faizutdinov dies after being hit by puck

Posted on by
  • Nineteen-year-old was struck during game on Friday
  • Teenager was in hospital over weekend before passing away

A 19-year-old Russian hockey player has died after being hit in the head by the puck during a game, his club and the league said on Tuesday.

Defenseman Timur Faizutdinov was playing for Dynamo St Petersburg’s junior team in a playoff game against Loko Yaroslavl on Friday when he was struck by a puck hit from the neutral zone.

Continue reading...

Belarus axed as host of ice hockey tournament over ‘security concerns’

Posted on by

Sponsors of IIHF championships had begun to drop out after violent government crackdown on protests

The international ice hockey federation (IIHF) has said it will not hold this summer’s world championship in Belarus, amid concerns that it would be a propaganda coup for the country’s hockey-mad dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

In a statement, the federation said it had made the decision “in the face of the growing safety and security concerns related to both the rising political unrest and Covid-19”. Minsk and the Latvian capital, Riga, were due to co-host the tournament in May and June.

Continue reading...

Driver who caused Canada crash that killed 16 gets eight years in prison

Posted on by

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who crashed truck into bus carrying junior hockey team, pleaded guilty to 29 counts of dangerous driving

The driver who caused the deaths of 16 people on a rural Canadian road in Saskatchewan after crashing his truck into a bus transporting a junior hockey team has been sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison, Canadian media reported.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 30, pleaded guilty in January to 29 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death or bodily harm, saying he did not want to make things worse by proceeding with a trial.

Continue reading...

An open letter to John Bolton

Posted on by
National security adviser John Bolton has spent his adult life warning against fuzzy-headed foreign diplomacy in which we imagine that our enemies are just misunderstood and have the same peaceful aims as we do. He has been early to point out - with Iran, for example - the dangers of relying on empty statements.

Sports betting: When live wagering hits stadiums, the end of games will sound much different

Posted on by
Sports betting: When live wagering hits stadiums, the end of games will sound much different Legalizing betting on sports will greatly alter the way the game is watched. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2rJyP0o SportsPulse: Supreme Court reporter Richard Wolf breaks down the SCOTUS ruling on sports betting in the United States, and what it could mean for the future of gambling in professional and college sports.

USA Women’s Hockey Team Stuns Canada – The Gold Medal Is Coming Home

Posted on by
The USA women's hockey team stunned the world Thursday morning when they beat Canada to win the gold medal at the 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea. The game was tied 2-2 before heading into a shootout, and the tension couldn't be higher as American Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson secured the winning goal for the red, white and blue.

Cybersecurity firm: US Senate in Russian hackers’ crosshairs

Posted on by
The same Russian government-aligned hackers who penetrated the Democratic Party have spent the past few months laying the groundwork for an espionage campaign against the U.S. Senate, a cybersecurity firm said Friday. The revelation suggests the group often nicknamed Fancy Bear, whose hacking campaign scrambled the 2016 U.S. electoral contest, is still busy trying to gather the emails of America's political elite.

Joe Hockey discussed Alexander Downer’s Russia revelations with FBI

Posted on by
The ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey personally steered Australia's dealings with the FBI on explosive revelations of Russian hacking during last year's presidential campaign in a sign of how politically sensitive the Australian government regarded the bombshell discovery, Fairfax Media understands. It is also understood there is now annoyance and frustration in Canberra that the High Commissioner to Britain Alexander Downer has been outed through leaks by US officials as the source of information that played a role in sparking an FBI probe into the Trump campaign's dealings with Moscow.