WASHINGTON, Oct 27, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Sunday's games:

NY RANGERS 8 2 1 29 21 17

PITTSBURGH 5 2 2 24 20 12

NEW JERSEY 5 2 1 20 18 11

PHILADELPHIA 2 3 3 29 34 7

NY ISLANDERS 2 5 0 17 25 4

BUFFALO 6 0 2 27 15 14

MONTREAL 5 1 1 27 17 11

TORONTO 3 2 3 18 25 9

WASHINGTON, Oct 27, 2008 (AFP) - Washington left wing Alex Ovechkin, last season's top scorer and National Hockey League Most Valuable Player, will miss his first game after 203 consecutive appearances because of a family illness.

DALLAS, Oct 25, 2008 (AFP) - Sergei Fedorov scored his 474th career National Hockey League goal here Saturday, moving him past Alexander Mogilny to become the all-time NHL goal leader among Russian-born players.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Friday's games:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHILADELPHIA 6, NEW JERSEY 3

NY RANGERS 3, COLUMBUS 1

FLORIDA 4, SAN JOSE 3

LOS ANGELES 4, ST LOUIS 0

NY RANGERS 7 2 1 26 19 15

PITTSBURGH 5 2 1 22 17 11

WASHINGTON, Oct 24, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Thursday's games:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23RD RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DALLAS 5, NY ISLANDERS 3

PITTSBURGH 4, CAROLINA 1

BUFFALO 4, MINNESOTA 3 (OT)

CALGARY 5, NASHVILLE 3

COLORADO 4, EDMONTON 1

PHOENIX 2, WASHINGTON 1

WASHINGTON, Oct 23, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Wednesday's games:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22ND RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEW JERSEY 5, DALLAS 0

SAN JOSE 7, PHILADELPHIA 6 (SO)

DETROIT 4, ST LOUIS 3

CHICAGO 3, EDMONTON 0

NY RANGERS 6 2 1 23 18 13

NEW JERSEY 5 1 0 15 9 10

WASHINGTON, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Monday's games:

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ST LOUIS 5, TORONTO 4 (SO)

BUFFALO 7, NY ISLANDERS 1

NY RANGERS 4, NEW JERSEY 1

DETROIT 3, CAROLINA 1

MONTREAL 5, PHILADELPHIA 3

WASHINGTON 5, VANCOUVER 1

MOSCOW, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - A New York Rangers draft pick, Alexei Cherepanov, died on Monday following a heart attack during a match in the Moscow region. He was 19.

The Avangard Omsk player collapsed while returning to the replacements bench towards the end of the third period of a match against Vitiaz Chekhov.

MOSCOW, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - Nineteen-year-old Russian ice hockey player Alexei Cherepanov died on Monday following a heart attack during a match in the Moscow region, Allsport.ru sports agency reported.

The Avangard Omsk player collapsed and died while going back to the replacements bench towards the end of the third period of a match against Vitiaz Chekhov, the same source added.

MOSCOW, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - Nineteen-year-old Russian ice hockey player Alexei Cherepanov died on Monday following a heart attack during a match in the Moscow region, Allsport.ru sports agency reported.

The Avangard Omsk player collapsed and died while going back to the replacements bench towards the end of the third period of a match against Vitiaz Chekhov, the same source added.

NEW YORK, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - The National Hockey League suspended Columbus Blue Jackets center Michael Peca indefinitely on Saturday in the wake of his game misconduct penalty in a season-opening victory over Dallas.

SAN JOSE, California, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - The Los Angeles Kings Saturday signed All-Star center Anze Kopitar to a seven-year contract extension worth a reported 46.7 million dollars.

Kopitar, selected 11th overall in the 2005 National Hockey League draft, has become one of the league's brightest young players over the last two seasons.

WASHINGTON, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - National Hockey League results and standings after Friday's games:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NY RANGERS 4, CHICAGO 2

CAROLINA 6, FLORIDA 4

NEW JERSEY 2, NY ISLANDERS 1

BUFFALO 2, MONTREAL 1 (SO)

ATLANTA 7, WASHINGTON 4

ST LOUIS 5, NASHVILLE 2

OTTAWA, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson will be out for at least two weeks following Friday's arthroscopic surgery upon his right knee, the National Hockey League club announced.

The operation will remove a bone chip that was dislodged Sunday during a 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Stockholm, Sweden.

PHILADELPHIA, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for the vice presidency of the US, will drop the ceremonial puck when the Philadelphia Flyers host New York in a National Hockey League game on Saturday.

Presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in the upcoming election, Palin has described herself as a 'hockey mom.'

PRAGUE, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Czechs shrugged off the bitter disappointment of not seeing national hero Jaromir Jagr and shelled out up to half a month's salary to enjoy super-powered NHL action at the weekend.

PRAGUE, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - The New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in a National Hockey League match Sunday, collecting four points from the two season-opening games played in Prague.

The game was livelier than Saturday's lukewarm opener, won by the same scoreline, with the Rangers dominating the first two periods.

MOSCOW, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - Intent on challenging the pre-eminence of America's National Hockey League (NHL), hockey powerhouse Russia has established a rival organisation - the Continental Hockey League (KHL) - uniting 24 clubs from four countries.

The question now, say devotees of the sport, is whether the upstart will give the august NHL a run for its money.

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - Zach Boychuk got a birthday present he will never forget, as the Carolina Hurricanes first-round pick signed a three-year contract with the National Hockey League team on Saturday.

The 14th overall pick in the June entry draft, Boychuk signed the deal worth 787,000 dollars a season on his 19th birthday.

PRAGUE, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - The New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 after a slow start in the National Hockey League season opener here on Saturday.

Both sides took a while to warm up before Rangers winger Markus Naslund scored the season's first goal 18 minutes into the second period with a low shot after a pass from Scott Gomez.

NEW YORK, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - The New York Rangers named center Chris Drury captain on Friday, filling the void left by the departure of Jaromir Jagr.

Drury becomes the 25th captain in the history of the National Hockey League club.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The National Hockey League's overseas opening and riveting outdoor game proved to be so popular last year they decided to repeat both showcases in the 2008-09 season.

TORONTO, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - The Chicago Blackhawks placed Russian star goalie Nikolai Khabibulin on waivers, Canadian broadcaster TSN reported on Monday.

The 35-year-old Khabibulin's future in Chicago was uncertain after the Blackhawks signed free-agent goaltender Cristobal Huet, of France, over the summer.

ANAHEIM, California, Sept 28, 2008 (AFP) - Finland's Teemu Selanne, who took the first half of the 2007-08 season off, will return for a full season this year after re-signing with the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

The club's all-time leading scorer inked a two-year deal worth 5.25 million dollars, the Los Angeles Times reported.

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mathieu Carle was stretchered off the ice in the first period of a National Hockey league pre-season game Wednesday after he was hurt by a hard hit.

Carle was knocked to the ice by Detroit Red Wings right wing Tomas Kopecky after making a pass just 5 1/2 minutes into the contest.

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - The National Hockey League pre-season game between Montreal and Detroit here Wednesday produced two casualities in Canadiens defenseman Mathieu Carle and Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept 25, 2008 (AFP) - Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom will miss at least three games after he suffered a broken nose when he was hit in the face by a puck in a National Hockey League pre-season game.

RALEIGH, September 11, 2008 (AFP) - The Carolina Hurricanes inked All-Star center Eric Staal to a seven-year contract extension worth 57.75 million dollars on Thursday.

The new deal won't take effect until the 2009-10 season.

Staal will make five million dollars this season, the last year of a three-year contract he signed in 2006.

MONTREAL, September 11, 2008 (AFP) - The Montreal Canadians parted on bitter terms with Patrick Roy, but will honor the Hall of Famer by retiring his No. 33 in November.

The National Hockey League team said they would make Roy the 15th player to have his number retired by the storied franchise on November 22, prior to a game against the Boston Bruins.

DETROIT, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - The reigning Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings inked evergreen Chris Chelios and youngster Kyle Quincey to new contracts on Tuesday.

Chelios, 46, signed a one-year deal and Quincey, 23, signed a two-year contract.

DENVER, August 27, 2008 (AFP) - Colorado star Joe Sakic decided to return to the Avalanche, signing a one-year deal with the National Hockey League club on Wednesday.

It will mark the 20th season for Sakic who had pondered retirement during the off season.

The 39-year-old Canadian played in a career-low 44 games last season after undergoing hernia surgery in December.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will square off against HC Slovan of the Slovak Extraliga in an exhibition ...

The Tampa Bay Lightning will square off against HC Slovan of the Slovak Extraliga in an exhibition ...

BERLIN, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - Four German international ice hockey players have been suspended for three months after failing to take a drugs test, for the second time in 18 months, according to the German Ice Hockey Federation Friday.

EDMONTON, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Steve Tambellini, who spent the past three seasons as vice president and assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, was named general manager of the Edmonton Oilers here on Thursday.

CHICAGO, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in National Hockey League history, accepted a job as senior advisor for the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

ANAHEIM, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - Randy Carlyle signed a two-year contract extension here on Wednesday to remain coach of the Anaheim Ducks through the 2010-2011 National Hockey League season, the team announced.

CHICAGO, July 19, 2008 (AFP) - The Chicago Blackhawks are counting on youthful energy to make up for any lack of experience on the part of new captain Jonathan Toews.

The National Hockey League Club on Friday made the 20-year-old Toews the third-youngest player in the history of the league to hold the title of captain.

He has played 64 NHL games.

PITTSBURGH, July 18, 2008 (AFP) - The Pittsburgh Penguins inked coach Michel Therrien to a new contract on Friday that will keep him with the National Hockey League club through the 2010-11 season.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Penguins did reveal that Therrien will receive a pay rise next season.